Page 73 of Jack

__________

Jack

Holiday parties at the Viking Den are great. Only family members and close friends are invited. It’s good to see all the kids running around and playing. It’s also nice not to have the stress of outsiders, excessive drinking, and fights. There’s no live band today. We have music, but it’s coming through speakers around the room and controlled behind the bar. The bartender decides on the music. Kayla’s playing a mix of rock and country music. Most of my brothers hate country music. They loudly grumble and complain every time one starts. Kayla just laughs and dances along with the music. That little twig is doing this on purpose.

The food at our holiday celebrations is always the best, especially at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. The women in our club spend days preparing every dish you can imagine.Most of them are made from scratch. You can’t beat southern home cooking.

With all the threats going on, everyone is on edge today. We’ve doubled security until all this is over. So far today, it’s all quiet in Willow Creek. No emergency Church meeting has been called. I don’t believe I can handle another one any time soon. The last one almost killed me. It’s a bad night when your cousin, best friend, and father have to hold you down. Mark my words. I will find Joel Clark. He will pay for what he’s done to Lily.

You know what else is trying to kill me? The universe. Yep, it’s lining up tight against me. And to top it all off, my family is helping. Dad always pairs Coty with me in any level of lockdown. His dad is more than enough protection for their family. Since Hendrix lives next door, he gets paired with the Micheals family anyway. He ups their protection tenfold.

We don’t just protect our families when trouble arises. Our protection extends to our friends around town. If someone lives alone and there’s no one close by to pair them with, we bring them to the clubhouse. My grandmother pairing Lily with Kayla was fine. It would have been better if she still lived in the guest house. I’d even call it a blessing. With the day Lily had and it being her first club lockdown, she needed a friend with her. Having Kayla there last night wasn’t good. It wasn’t a blessing. It was a curse. It’s proof the universe will never be on my side.

Having Rodeo and Kayla in my house last night was a disaster. After Church, I wanted to go home, help Lily come to terms with our new living arrangements, and hold her in my arms all night for the first time. It was a great plan. But NO! My best friend can’t get along with the woman he’s obviously in love with for five minutes. Okay. Maybe they didn’t argue and bicker every five minutes. It was still enough to have a headache today because of them. I’m about ready to toss the two of them in the backyard of the clubhouse and demand they work itout within the fence. It’s what we do when our brothers have disagreements. Vikings protect and love one another like family, whether we’re blood-related or not. We also fight like family, too. Sometimes, it takes slugging it out.

“Hey, angel. You enjoying yourself?” I lean down to press my lips to her temple.

Lily’s sitting with Mom and a few ole’ ladies. The women in my family made it their mission today to introduce Lily to all the wives. Even Harley helped. We got to the clubhouse around two this afternoon. We ate Thanksgiving dinner around five. Now everyone is in little groups relaxing. Families with babies and small children have already gone home.

She turns and kisses my cheek. “I am.”

“Go away, Jack,” Mom orders.

I’d rather not, but I’m not about to ruin this day. I walk away, keeping their table in sight. Lily turns back to the conversation and laughs. She’s been happy all afternoon. Some of the moments were fake. None of us can forget yesterday. Moments like now it’s real and beautiful to watch. She’s not even trying to hide her bruised nose. She belongs here. She doesn’t realize it yet or understand our world, but this is her world, too.

Movement at the entrance of the hallway catches my attention. Jay’s motioning me over. Rodeo’s heading that way. I don’t see Dad or Worley Bird. I walk toward my cousin at a pace that won’t alarm our families. Maybe whatever is going on will be good news. Only, there’s that thing with the universe not liking me.

“Your dad wants to see us in his office.” Jay leads the way.

Dad, Worley Bird, and Nick are waiting for us. Nick looks exhausted. He won’t rest while there’s an active threat against us. When this is over, he’ll hibernate for a few days.

“Nick has news.” Dad motions to him.

“Joel Clark is back in LA,” Nick says.

That makes no sense. No one says anything, not even Dad. I look between Jay and Rodeo.

“How’s that possible?” Jay asks.

“He was here yesterday, right? We all say him on the library footage.” Rodeo’s as shocked as I am.

It’s good for Lily that he’s not here anymore, but I wanted him. Every member of this club wanted to get their hands on him. My legs can’t hold my weight anymore. I drop down into one of the chairs in front of Dad’s desk.

“It was him in the library,” Nick confirms.

The only way Clark could get out of here and back to LA that fast was to fly.

My eyes lift to meet Nick’s. “You were watching the flights all night.”

“I was.” Nick nods once. “I watched every flight out of Tennessee from the time he left the library. Nothing. Clark wasn’t on any of them.”

Dad and Worley Bird are as disappointed as I am. Worley Bird watches Dad close. As an Ariel’s Angel, Lily had the club’s full protection and everything it offered. She’s no longer a file on Dad’s desk. She’s not another case or rescue anymore. She’s family. Lily has something more now, something greater. It comes with a price, though.

It doesn’t matter how long ago we lost my sister. The pain never ends and will never go completely away. My family tries to function as normally as possible, as others think we should. Those people have no clue what dark hole we live in. When something happens within our immediate family, no matter how small or great that something is, Dad remembers losing Ariel like it was yesterday. We all do. The rest of us have gotten better at hiding our explosions than Dad has.

“How did he pull it off,” Jay asks.

“I started checking the flights landing in LA just in case I missed something.”

---