Page 115 of His Old Lady

Epilogue

Curley

Winter 1991

Inside the Tarkio Clubhouse, Eddie Money sang Shakin' on the stereo. Curley leaned against the back of the sofa and tipped a bottle of beer to his lips while watching Faye gab with Tracy and Nicole. In the dead of winter, everyone found an excuse to get together any chance they could.

They were all sick of being snowbound, and now that the roads stayed clear for more than a couple of days, it wasn't unusual to find a hundred or more members packed in the room.

Faye looked at him, dropping her gaze down his body. Deep in conversation, her mouth kept moving, but her eyes stayed fixed on him. His chest rumbled in amusement. Either she wasn't aware of checking him out, or his old lady had something on her mind—something that involved him, which he would be one-hundred percent behind.

He nudged Paco with his elbow. "Let me bum a cig."

Paco handed him the pack. He lit the cigarette and exhaled the smoke, letting it roll out of his nostrils.

"Good crowd tonight," said Paco.

"That's because Promise is closed." He hooked his thumb in his pocket, ogling his old lady who not only stared at him but turned her body toward him while talking to the others.

"Right." Paco pushed off the back of the couch. "I got an itch to scratch."

"Don't forget about the meeting in the morning," he said, reminding him.

Paco's mouth hardened, and he leaned closer. "I still think it's a good idea for me to ride over there and not wait another day."

The rumors that the missing girls were seen at the Blackfoot Casino and Resort bothered them all. Going inside the reservation was always risky. That's why they had to take their time and be careful. It wasn't only their lives at stake, but the girls.

"Don't go over there tonight." Curley put the cigarette between his lips. "It's a good way to disappear."

Paco's eye twitched, and he nodded before wandering toward the group of women dancing on the other side of the room.

He looked back at Faye. She raised her gaze, her eyes warming. He cocked his brow. Paco wasn't the only one in the room getting horny.

Faye leaned in toward Tracy and talked close to her ear. Those girls and their secrets. Usually, it involved him and Rick. Together, they could get into trouble.

He'd arrived home many times to Faye decked out in some sexy lingerie, greeting him before he could even get his boots off—not that he was complaining. Later, he'd find out Tracy was doing the same thing with Rick because the girls had gone shopping together earlier in the day. It was a friendship he'd never step between because he seemed to be the one that benefitted from Faye spending time with Tracy.

Tracy walked away, leaving Faye alone with the others. Instead of joining into the conversation going around her, Faye looked his way and rubbed her hand down her arm.

He finished his beer, ready to take her home.

The music switched over. Jon Bon Jovi's Let's Make It, Baby rocked the room.

Tracy returned to Faye, holding a bottle of Tequila. He tossed his cigarette on the concrete floor and ground the toe of his boot to extinguish it. For as long as he knew her, Faye had never consumed anything stronger than a beer, and even that was on a rare occasion when she sat down with Angela, Stephanie, and Jenna after work and caught up with her friends.

Tracy handed over two full shot glasses. Faye turned her back to Curley. Thirty seconds later, both girls knocked back their drink.

His lips quivered, trying not to laugh. The girls leaned against each other, whacking each other's back as they coughed.

Rick walked in front of Curley and then leaned against the back of the sofa beside him. "Are you watching them?"

"Yep." He moved his hand to straighten his necklaces and found them missing.

After visiting with Walker, he'd taken every necklace off, not needing reminded of each crime he'd committed. But once in a while, the habit of touching them showed up, reminding him of his past, anyway.

"Tracy hasn't drank since she got pregnant with the first kid," mumbled Rick over the music blaring.

Faye poured two more shots and handed one to Tracy. Curley realized the other ladies had noticed their activity, and the conversations around them had stopped.

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