Page 46 of Vex

“I’m okay. I’m scared for Tessie. I just want her home,” I answer quietly.

“They’ll bring her home, Taja. You both work for the club so you’re both family to us. Vex won’t let you down. He’s got Cash and Pooh with him, and the three together can be hell on wheels for anyone. Several other members left a while ago to assist.”

“That makes me feel better. I’m glad Vex has good men with him.”

“He does. No worries there. If you want to come stay at my house with me, you’re welcome to. Vex just doesn’t want you at your house or alone at any time,” Freddy offers with sincerity.

“Thank you, Freddy. That’s so nice of you to offer. Where will they bring Tessie when they get back?”

“Here to the clubhouse, I’m sure.”

“Then I think I want to stay here for now. Thank you for the offer, but I want to be here for her,” I explain.

“I get that. The offer stands though if you change your mind.”

“Taja? I’m Rex. We met at Dreams. You doing okay?”

“Hi, Rex. Yes, I remember. I’m hanging in there,” I answer as he takes a seat across from me.

“Is there anything you can tell me about Rooster and his club members that I can use? Even some small piece of info might give me something we can use to find Tessie,” Rex questions.

“I don’t know much. Rooster’s woman’s called Kiki. Don’t know if they’re married or not. She used to be a hair stylist with her own shop in Santa Fe. I don’t know if she still owns it or not. It was called Kiki’s Kut and Kurl, all starting with K’s,” I say rolling my eyes at the name.

“Okay, I can look for that. Anything else?”

“His go to guy is Popeye if he wants something done right. Bear and Tats are the two he uses for dirty work. I don’t even know most of the members. I just remember some of them from when I was a kid and from the few times he’s been around since then. None are upstanding type citizens,” I tell him.

“If you think of anything else, come find me,” Rex says as he stands up and walks off.

As soon as Rex exits, a gorgeous blond woman takes his seat and introduces herself as Ava, Gunner’s wife.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for the beautiful cake for Tessie’s party. She loved it,” I say.

“You’re very welcome. It’s kind of my thing. I feed people and make cool cakes,” she answers with an impish grin. I like her already.

“You’re Petey’s daughter and Bella and Axel’s sister, correct?” I ask.

“Yes, and mom to Mia, Zoe, Loki, Gee, Mac and Duffy. I don’t always claim Axel and Mac. Depends on what havoc they’re wreaking,” she answers with a laugh. “Has Duffy been a problem yet?”

“No! Not at all. He’s been my sidekick all morning. He’s even stretched out in bed and napped with me.”

“Napping’s his thing. If it were an Olympic sport, he’d win gold,” Ava tells me with another grin.

“I’ve met Mac. He’s hilarious. He must really like cashews because he asked me for some right away.”

“He’s saving them. He’s got it in his head that he can take a bounty out on Axel’s life if he has enough of them to use as payment,” Freddy interjects with a chuckle.

“Damn bird needs to come up missing,” Axel states as he, and little Alex, take the last chair at our table.

“You’re as much the problem as Mac is,” Ava replies while giving Axel that special mom-look we all know about. “Let me hold my niece.”

“Nope. Just got her back a while ago. It’s still daddy time. Besides, the guys wouldn’t let me go with them to Santa Fe, so Alex is my reward for staying here,” Axel answers while once again leaning away and cradling his girl.

“Pops is getting tired of you not letting the rest of us hold her. He said when they get back, you and him are going to have a come to Jesus moment,” Ava informs Axel with a wide, and slightly evil, grin. “Trudy said she’s not waiting that long. Good luck telling her no again.”

“That woman’s like a pitbull about holding my child!” Axel exclaims.

“And that pitbull’s standing right behind you,” Trudy says softly in Axel’s ear.

---