Page 47 of Blue-Eyed Jacks
“Do you?”
Zoe deserved an honest answer.“Not one that I can use.I’m sure he’d track it down.”
“That’s why you work for Crystal.”
I nodded.
“Does she know?”
“Yes, she does.She knew your father when he was younger.”
The shift in her demeanor was unnerving.“How well?”
That I could not answer.Crystal hinted at sleeping with Jackson’s father, but she didn’t stop there.When I first suspected, it put up a wall of distrust between us.And she noticed.He’d gotten his experience from his mother’s hooker friends.That circle included Crystal.We both decided not to delve into details to maintain our own friendship.
“Ew, Mom.”
“Zoe, don’t.Crystal is a good friend.Just because she wasn’t a saint doesn’t mean you need to yuck on her.I’m not a saint, either.”
At my admission, she measured me with her gaze.“Was Dad a biker?”
“Is.Another reason he can’t be here.They’re in the same organization.”I used the word deliberately, as in organized crime organization.
“Which one?”
“If I tell you, what will happen?Will you ask questions, lead them here?”
“No.God, no.”
“I want you to be careful aroundallbikers, okay?Especially those who wear club patches on their coats, three-part rockers.Do you know what I mean by that?”
She nodded.Despite being tucked away on an island in Maine, we weren’t isolated completely.There were clubs and problems occasionally.Mostly farther south in urban areas.But every once in a while, riders would loop around the islands and check out the scenery.Most of them were just average everyday people with a love for riding.I couldn’t fault them for that.Before Shock, I’d enjoyed riding on the back of my high school boyfriend’s bike.But that was exactly why Shock noticed me.We went to the wrong party when it was the wrong time because my father owed him a favor.
“Would he ever come up here?My dad, that is.”
“No.He said he’d stay away so no one would connect him to this place.”
Zoe frowned.“I want to meet him someday.”
That would benever.“It’s not safe.”And she might not like him.I had no illusions that he was rough around the edges.For four days, I found that charming.My poor, abused heart wanted to love him so badly that I ignored all the warning signs.
“You’re always saying that.This isn’tsafe, that isn’tsafe.Mom, live a little.”
I perused her from head to toe.“That’s how I got you.”
She fired back, “Low blow, Mom.”
“The best thing I ever did was live just enough to have you.But I’m scared to death of losing you.”Despite all my good intentions, I was trying too hard to keep her in a bubble where she could never ever be hurt.And even knowing that, I had an overwhelming urge to pack everything up and flee.Sixteen years of safety, and it wasn’t enough.Nothing would ever be enough as long as Shock Weaver was still alive and kicking.
Unfortunately, he was.I subscribed to online Pittsburgh news outlets to watch for his obituary or news on the Destroyers.He’d been arrested for batterya year ago and was released without charges.It made headlines because while the police did their jobs, so did my father.Shock got off on a technicality.
She shifted subjects.“You’re a sap.Weekdays, huh?That means I can use the car tonight to go down there for orientation, right?”
I bit my tongue.“No,” was right there.Instead, I capitulated.“Be home before nine-thirty.”
“Mom.”
Oh God, that tone.“Zoe, it’s a weeknight and—”
