Page 20 of Savage Spades

“You’re not spending the night?” Cam asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Jen shook her head. “No, I have plans for breakfast with my mom in the morning.”

Jen’s parents lived about an hour outside of town, so she was able to see them often. Jen raised an eyebrow at her waiting for an answer. God, she was tired, but she knew Jen would return the favor if she had asked.

“Fine, but just for a little while.”

Jen squealed and pulled her in for a tight hug. “You are the best! I owe you.”

“Yes, you do. Now, let’s clean up so we can get this over with.”

Jen cleaned behind the bar while Cam took care of the lobby. Amire finished before both of them and left. Once they finished, Cam locked the door and followed Jen out to her car.

“We can get your truck after I get back from breakfast with my mom,” Jen said as they climbed into her small, silver car.

“That’s fine.” She wanted to sleep in tomorrow anyways. Her class didn’t start until eleven o’clock, so that meant if they got out of the bar early enough, she might get seven hours of sleep.

She leaned her head back against the headrest as Jen followed the GPS. If she allowed her eyes to flutter closed, she’d be asleep in a matter of minutes. As they traversed onto a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, her eyes flickered to Jen. “Are you sure this is the right address? There’s nothing out here.”

“This is what Hugo gave me.”

As Jen got closer, Cam realized why she never saw the clubhouse before even though it was huge. The long, sheet metal building stretched across a couple of acres of land. The building wasn’t one color. It looked like pieces of the building had been added on over the years. It was in a valley, so Jen had to turn off the main road and drive down a steep hill to get there. As soon as they pulled up, Cam could hear the music from inside. The same kind of rock music they played out of her jukebox. The front door to what must have been the bar part was wide open, allowing the music to spill out. The entire area was surrounded by tall stadium lights, which probably kept the coyotes and other wild animals away. It would have been impossible to find the place without the stadium lights on. Everything around the clubhouse was pure wilderness.

“Damn, this place is huge,” Jen said as she turned off the car.

“Like a cult,” Cam grumbled.

Jen laughed. “I heard that. It’s not a cult; it’s a club.”

“Tomayto. Tomahto.”

They got out of the car, and she followed behind Jen into the clubhouse. Cam’s short cowboy boots thudded against the wooden porch. As they walked inside, she noticed the whole place was wood. It looked like an actual cabin. She imagined it would be a beautiful place to sit by the fire in the winter. The bar was double the size of Cam’s, and she wondered again why they would come all the way out to her bar to drink.

“Let’s get a drink,” Jen said, looping her arm through Cam’s and steered her to the bar. She was surprised to see that not only were there other women in the bar, but also, they were all half-naked. Most of them wore short halter tops and denim skirts with flip-flops. Their makeup was heavily applied. A blonde haired woman gave them a dirty look as she and Jen sat down at a stool.

“What can I get for you, ladies?” the guy behind the bar asked. He looked like he was barely eighteen. Not old enough to be bartending.

“Can I get a gin and tonic?” Jen asked.

“Coming up, and for you?” the boy asked.

“Just a Coke,” she said.

“Got it. One gin and tonic and one rum and Coke."

“Oh no, I--”

He walked to the other end of the bar before she could correct him. Whatever, she probably needed a drink anyway to get through the next hour or so since she was going to be stuck at this place.

“It’s crazy how big this place is,” Jen said.

“Yeah, it’s so far out too.” The location of the clubhouse made her suspicious. As if maybe the motorcycle gang wanted to keep themselves hidden. As she looked around the bar area, she started to wonder what they did. Were they really just a group of guys who liked to ride motorcycles together? The way Kit called them his brothers the first night she met him made her think it was more than that.

“Hugo said they all have bedrooms here, and there is a car repair shop on the corner that Kit owns.”

Two drinks were placed in front of them. Cam took a sip, feeling the burn as it went down her throat. There was way more rum than Coke in the drink, and she made a mental note not to order a second one.

“Oh, there’s Hugo. I’ll be right back,” Jen said before hopping off from the stool and taking her drink with her.

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