Page 47 of Fighting a Riot

Turk’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“Yak and I believe the security is still needed, Volt. It may not seem like having four extra men on hand is helping, but my gut says the moment we lay off is the moment another dancer gets mugged.”

Rage, who sat next to Turk, aimed a sideways glare at Turk. “A brother walks all those girls to their cars, though.”

Yak glanced at Punc, expecting him to speak up. Finally, Yak said, “And a brother was laid out not that long ago, too. Those assholes had been lying in wait. I say we keep brothers in the lot until we can hire a security firm—”

Patch, their treasurer, shook his head. “Platinum’s is finally turning a decent profit. You hire a firm for this, it’ll cut that margin by more than half.”

Yak tossed his hands out with his palms up. “Beats the fuck out of losing one or more of our staff because they got accosted in our lot.”

Tundra, who rarely spoke up in meetings, raised a hand for a moment. “For all we know it’s random tweakers and they’ve moved on by now.”

Yak stared at Tundra. His earnest expression didn’t raise a single doubt for Yak. Tundra believed what he just said, but it still surprised Yak. He saw Prime sitting next to Tundra, nodding. They were both young enough they didn’t know how underhanded other clubs could be.

Yak caught Tundra’s gaze. “You know better, Tundra. You saw Punc that night. They didn’t even touch his wallet. That’s how we know it isn’t tweakers. They’d take the money and find their next hit.”

Volt leaned forward. “Enough. I’m with Turk and Yak on this. Let’s keep the watch shifts going for at least another week. Then, I’ll assess with them and get financial reports from Patch.”

Yak hurried out of the meeting room. He turned the corner toward the stairs when Trixie stepped in front of him.

She stood glaring at him with her arms crossed under her breasts. “What’s the big idea, mofo? You treat Nora like she’s made of glass, then ghost her when shit gets real? I thought you were better than that.”

He shifted his jaw from side to side. “Step aside, Trixie. You’re way the fuck out of line, here.”

Trixie’s eyes blazed with anger. “She came home from her surgery and you weren’t even around for her!”

“I didn’t need to be since she had her family in town.”

“They won’t be here for much longer. She’s gonna start chemo and probably lose that beautiful hair of hers. What then? Are you that shallow?”

He blew out a breath and shook his head. “You’re not making sense, Trixie. Her hair will grow back.”

Trixie’s eyes widened. “Yeah, but you made out with her in front of a dozen bikers and then ghost her… for what? Shits and giggles? You care about her.”

Roll lumbered up to them. “Woman, lay off. It isn’t your business why he kissed her that night.”

Trixie glowered at Roll. “He’s sending mixed signals. That shit isn’t cool.”

Yak leaned toward her. “It isn’t your business. Keep at me and that isn’t cool.”

Trixie let out a sigh and moved out of the way.

While he climbed the stairs two-at-a-time, he heard Roll say, “She’s his neighbor, but he doesn’t have to hold her hand through shit like this.”

Unfortunately he didn’t take the stairs fast enough to miss Trixie’s response. “He should though.”

The fuck of it was, she was right.

Yak rolled out of bed at one o’clock Monday afternoon. Trixie’s tirade had haunted him all night long. After he ate breakfast, he made a call to Fred, a barber he hadn’t seen in over a year. The idea had struck him shortly after meeting Nora, but he wasn’t sure how she’d take the gesture. He still didn’t know how she’d take it, but hesitation never got him anywhere worth while in life.

An hour later, he had a white collar protector tied around his neck and Fred secured the cape around him.

“I misspoke on the phone earlier, man. You can donate your hair, but the program we use, there’s no guarantee it’s going to a specific patient.”

Yak stared at Fred’s reflection in the mirror. After a beat, he nodded. “Yeah, that’s cool. Might be rather forward to give this woman a wig made from my hair. Besides, no kid should have to face cancer, so anything I can do to help is a small sacrifice.”

“She must be something, this woman.”

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