Page 61 of Biker's Tribute: Property of Bear

“NO!” Avery shrieks as her father holds her hand. I don’t know what happened there, but the kid doesn’t really look like Deacon, aside from her copper-colored hair.

“Hi, Avery,” Keyshawn says. “I like your hair band.”

Avery looks up warily at Keyshawn.

“Tank.”

Tanner groans and lifts Avery, walking her inside.

“Got any of that Cocomelon crap? She loves it.”

“I’ll take her,” Keyshawn offers once Tanner gets inside and sets Avery down. “Cocomelon and a snack might be fun.”

“Snack?” Avery asks, toddling away from her father and towards Keyshawn. Kids will run straight into the arms of the devil for a snack and some damn Cocomelon.

Keyshawn sets her up on the floor so she doesn’t fall off the couch and we all sit in the little breakfast nook where we can talk privately and cast an eye on Avery so she doesn’t toddle off into trouble. She’s pretty good for a kid that young. Girls are like that. We’ll have hell on our hands when John Henry Hollingsworth gets his legs.

Tanner helps himself to a beer in my fridge. Keyshawn sits on my lap so she can leave the bruised part of her ass hanging off and because my lap is a lot softer to sit on than the breakfast nook chairs. Tanner reaches into his cut’s inner pocket for a manila envelope.

“Crazy shit went down in Boston,” he says. “Three men dead pretending to be Midnight SS. Only thing is, they weren’t Midnight SS at all and one of them had a piece of paper in his pocket.”

Keyshawn looks at me, worried.

“Is there a chance they killed my cousin? She’s… normal. She went to college and works in Cambridge. I can’t imagine her getting involved with bikers.”

Tanner raises an eyebrow.

“Yancey,” he says. “That was the word printed on the paper.”

“As in, Keyshawn Yancey?” I ask.

“Is that her last name?” Tanner asks.

“It was,” Keyshawn says. I worked out all the paperwork for her name change expeditiously. “I’m a Hollingsworth now.”

“Any relation to Amanda Yancey?”

Keyshawn jumps up off my lap. “Yes! That’s my cousin.”

She grasps my shoulder as her fingers sink in with worry. “Is she…”

“She’s fine,” Tanner says. Then he smirks. “Unless you think Ethan Shaw is a problem.”

Keyshawn shakes her head. “I don’t know enough about him. Deacon?”

I exchange quick glances with Tanner. What can I say about Ethan that won’t worry her? He’s a degenerate gambler with a heart of gold. Aren’t they all… once you can get past the lying and all that.

“He’s decent.”

“He brought Amanda from Boston,” Tanner says. “Wyatt didn’t know if it was some type of trick. He sent a picture.”

Tanner produces a picture of a very – no disrespect – voluptuous woman, who looks similar to Keyshawn, but not exactly like my wife. Keyshawn reacts instantly, clutching her chest.

“That’s her! How did she end up with a biker? What the hell is going on?”

Tanner addresses both of us.

“There appears to be a rogue gang of bikers looking for trouble. They stole a mix of cuts. A few Midnight SS cuts and then… two from another gang. We don’t know how they met each other or what they want.”

---