Page 21 of Eagle

I grabbed a chair and flipped it around backwards before sitting. “I did.Finally. Sorry last night was a bust.”

He waved me off. “We’ll keep chasing leads until we find what we need. You off today?”

“Yeah. And it was sorely needed.” I turned to look out the window to the front courtyard, but didn’t see any women walking or sitting around.

“Who you looking for, man?” Hawk asked nonchalantly as he took a bite of his sandwich.

“Lacy. You seen her in here today?”

Hawk shook his head. “No. Sorry. But I just came down about twenty minutes ago, myself. Maybe Ma’s seen her.”

As if on cue, Mama Hen came walking through the door and headed over. “Hey, hon. You hungry?”

“Yeah, actually.” My stomach was empty. The last time I ate was at the bar with my dad and that was peanuts. Between Church and the riding we did, I was too busy to grab a bite and too tired to eat once we got back.

Mama Hen shuffled off before I could ask if she’d seen Lacy, so I put my focus back on Hawk. “Any word from Keys on potentials?” I asked. He knew I meant potential rats. Hawk had told me he had our IT guy doing some cross checks, reviewing timelines, anything he could piece together from the night Raven was killed. He was keeping it pretty hush hush for obvious reasons, but I knew, and so did Falcon. He knew, if anyone, he could trust the two of us.

“Nothing solid. They’re smart. But something will come out. Always does.”

Mama Hen came back out with a plate and soda for me. “You look better,” she said with a smile after putting my meal in front of me.

I grabbed the sub sandwich filled with meat and cheese and took a hearty bite. I was hungrier than I realized, because I wolfed more than half down, barely breathing between bites before I realized Mama Hen had disappeared again. Makingsure nobody was within earshot, I picked up the conversation. “We need to plan to go drop in on Scotty soon. Check those cameras like he said.”

Hawk agreed. “Sounds good to me. Take Jackal with you.”

“He said he plans to stick around ‘til this is sorted out. Damn shame to lose him when this is behind us.” Jackal had years of experience, and life lived, on all of the current officers. Butch was the oldest, but not by much. We all gradually replaced the older generation. Hawk was the new President simply because Raven was assassinated and he was being groomed for it. He had taken on the VP spot when the previous one, Viper, was killed in a motorcycle accident a few years back by a careless minivan driver. Falcon and I started out as prospects, then members just like everyone else, but our commitment and willingness to get the job done, no matter what that entailed, earned us spots at the table as roles were vacated due to death.

Recalling how we all got where we were now had me thinking of Lacy. I was so worried about losing her, I hadn’t thought about how she would handle losing me. We never thought of dying, really. You couldn’t. If you did, you’d never make it. You had to go into every situation thinking you’d come out on top. What set us apart from everyone else was that we were crazy enough to believe it.

“What do you think?” Hawk asked.

Realizing I spaced out and didn’t hear him, I had no choice but to fess up. “Shit, man. Guess I wasn’t as caught up on sleep as I thought. I missed that last part.”

Hawk grinned. He was my best friend before he was even a member. He was my President now, but he was the same idiot that used to sneak beers with me during the parties and peeked in the windows to see what kind of wild shit was happeninginside. “I was asking what you think about asking Jackal to stick around on a more permanent basis. But clearly your mind is elsewhere. We can talk about it later.”

I pushed my plate away and blew out a heavy sigh. “We can talk whenever you want, Prez. The club comes first.”

“You trying to convince me, or yourself of that?” he asked as he leaned back, draping his arm over the back of the booth seat.

“Not trying to do shit. The club comes first. Always has, always will.”

“Good. Just don’t fuck up everything else. Club business is the first thing, but not the only thing.” His blue eyes pierced into me.

“Trying to learn to manage that, brother.” I pulled my plate closer and finished off my sandwich then downed the soda. “I’ll be around. Need to talk to Lacy.”

Hawk smiled and waved me off. I stood up, turning the chair around and pushing it in before heading outside. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the bright sun. The bar had windows and lights, but it was still dim compared to stepping out into the light of day.

Looking around, I didn’t see anyone lingering. I walked around the side of the building and it was empty, too. Light clanking sounds came from the garage so I walked over to see who was over there.

Rooster was elbows deep in the hood of a black ‘67 Mustang. It was his toy and he was always tinkering with it when he wasn’t working at the shop with Dad.

“Hey man, you happen to see Lacy around today?” I asked as I walked over to peek inside at the engine.

He shook his head and leaned back in. I didn’t realize anyoneelse was there so when Squatch said, “Ain’t seen her since the party for Falcon and Daisy,” I whipped my head back.

“You been busy?” I asked as I walked toward him.

“Nope. Quiet weekend for me. I’ll be back at work tomorrow.” Squatch also worked at the mechanic shop we owned. But he was handy for body work. He was huge with a gravelly voice and the most impressive beard in the club. Plus, he was just an overall hairy fucker with wavy brown hair past his shoulders. He was solid as fuck though and would probably be an officer someday.

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