Page 80 of Break Out

“You ever been to Augusta?” I asked as I veered the truck onto I-16 West.

“No, I haven’t,” she said.

“Not sure what you do at your computer job, but the city’s known for the Cybersecurity facility.”

“Yeah, but that’s part of the Army.”

“There are likely contractors that work with them.”

She turned to me. “Are you trying to talk me into moving?”

“I’m just letting you know some things that might interest you,” I hedged.

We needed to have a conversation about where she wanted to raise the baby. I didn’t want to split my time between two cities, so I knew she wouldn’t want to do that with a newborn in the picture. But, I figured I could put that off – after all, it flew in the face of what I’d said to her at Bike Week about taking things one day at a time.

“Do your chapter presidents ever come in for visits to the Mother chapter?” she asked.

I glanced at her and back to the road, exiting onto Highway 25. “How do you know… Volt tells you when he’s visiting the mother chapter?”

She wobbled her head. “Not exactly. He and Har, the president of the Biloxi chapter, talk about it.”

My gaze cut to her. “You overheard them talking about it, you mean.”

“That’s neither here nor there. Does your club do things like that?”

“I try to make that shit happen at rallies instead, but sometimes they do. Surprised you would be in a position to overhear Volt and Har discuss anything. Most chapters seven hours apart don’t see each other that often.”

“Aunt Abby went to college with the daughter of the Biloxi president before he was taken out in a crash.”

“The president before Har.”

“Right. And then there’s Stephanie and Suzie, they’re sisters who both wound up with Riot members.”

“So it’s women that tie the two chapters together. Typical Riot.”

She looked at me askance, irritation shining from her eyes.

I shook my head. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing.”

She scoffed. “You’re not saying it’s a good thing either.”

I tilted my head. “It’s unusual, that’s all.”

“Probably so. Are we hitting the clubhouse first? Or your pad?”

I chuckled. “I have a four-bedroom house, I wouldn’t call it a pad.”

“Wow. Why so many bedrooms?”

“I’d intended to move Debra and Jordan in there as a surprise once the threat to Jordan was resolved, but a week before closing on the house, I found out she was cheating with a member of a different MC.”

“That’s… harsh. And you never tried to find someone else or thought about selling it?”

I shook my head. “It’s a fuckin’ great house with everything I ever wanted, plus my nearest neighbor is five miles away.”

“Anti-social, much?”

“I prefer the term ‘private.’”

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