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Epilogue

Sawyer

December 1

I walked into the clubhouse and was surprised to see T-Roy on his hands and knees putting down a new subfloor in the common room. Rock music was blaring, and nobody else was around, so I had to wonder what the hell he was doing.

“Hey!” He didn’t even flinch.

I jerked the saw plug from the outlet but it took him a second to catch on. He glanced behind him and grinned. “Whoa, brother, where you been and what the hell happened to your hair?”

I smirked as I brushed my fingers through my short locks. I’d had it cut like a model I’d seen in one of the books at the salon that Monty Montgomery had recommended. Fitz and I had been fucking like rabbits and had spent the week holed up in the East Windmill house after we said goodbye to my parents, TJ, and Jim. My mother was pissed that we got married without her, but my father just nodded and winked.

“Going for a new look. My husband says it looks great. What the fuck are you doing?”

“Yeah, the wedding. Hobie told us about it. You’ve been gone for a week so I couldn’t congratulate you. You could have invited all of us, you know. Anyway, Hobie said we shouldn’t bother you.”

T-Roy took off his safety glasses and grabbed a towel from his back pocket, wiping his hands before we shared a backslapping hug. I was glad he wasn’t pissed about everything that had gone down. I’d heard some of the others weren’t thrilled that they weren’t invited, but I knew they’d get over it.

“We thought we’d have a big party after the first of the year. We’re going to Texas for me to meet my new in-laws at the end of the week. I just dropped by to talk to Hobie. Is he around?”

“Yeah. He’s over at your—I guess it’s his now—place. He said he was going to decorate. I can’t wait to see how that shit turns out.” We both laughed.

“Okay. Why are you taking up the floor?”

“Blood seeped through the old wooden one. I’m replacing all this and putting down a solid sheet of linoleum. It’ll take me about a week, but it’ll be fine. Hobie suggested it needed to be done when we had the emergency church meeting on Sunday evening, and I took on the project. I’ve been shorting the club on time, and I’m trying to make up for it.”

God knew; it wouldn’t hurt the look of the place. “Good call on his part. I’ll drop back by before I leave. Don’t cut off a finger.”

T-Roy snickered and went back to work.

I walked around the clubhouse and down the hill, seeing Hobie’s SUV and his bike parked in the garage. My stuff was already at Fitz’s house—what little there was. Hobie was moving out of the clubhouse and into my old place. It was only right since he was the new president of the club. I’d talked to him about things before Fitz and I took my bike for a ride.

Sunday, November 24

Fitz was on the phone talking to Sparky, so I pulled Hobie aside. “We need to talk. I’m stepping down as the president. I can’t do the job properly because the members won’t trust me after the shit that went down. I’m naming you acting president now, but call an emergency meeting of the executive committee, and get the vote to make it official.”

“What? No. No fucking way. The guys might be concerned for a while, but they’ll come around, Bones. You know that.” The expression on his face as he spoke told a different story.

“Look, Hobie. My life is going in a different direction now. We’re staying in Vegas because this is where Fitz’s job is, but I need to lie low for a while. I don’t want to bring additional heat to the club, so I’ll stay away.”

“Wait, are you quitting? Dude, you know what that looks like. We all witnessed what happened when Ferg wanted out. That blowtorch your dad took to his club tat had to hurt like a motherfucker.”

Ferguson Wright was the club secretary under Keller, and the guy had stolen money from the club. When Luke Gephardt, the former chaplain under Keller, discovered the discrepancy in the books from sales of pot and whatever else they were into back then, he reported it to my father, and after Keller got over being butt hurt that Ferg would steal from the club, he kicked him out and exacted club justice, burning off the cowboy skeleton on his back.

It was a right of passage when you patched in. You got the club’s cowboy skeleton tattooed on your back and when it was done, all the members cut their hands and rubbed the blood over the tat to signify we were all brothers and loyal to the Cowboy and each other.

By the same token, if you left the club for any reason, the club took it back one way or another.

“I don’t want to leave the club unless the members vote me out completely. I need to step back from the club so the cops don’t poke their noses where it’s not needed. The dispensary license is in my name, and I’m not going to change it, but it’s better for me to not be seen around the clubhouse. If they think I’ve left, the cops won’t hound you guys about anything they think I did.” It made sense in my head, anyway.

“I don’t like it, but I’ll do as you’ve asked. Let me find out what the club wants, and I’ll call you. They want Abner out, Sawyer. Maybe I can suggest a small token of good faith from your father.”

I expected as much. “I’ll give it. Leave Abner alone. Let it be over with, Hobie, please?”

“I’ll try.”

Present

Hobie called me this morning and asked me to come by the club, so there I was, ready to do as they asked.

“I’m assuming this is about what we discussed after the wedding. What did they decide?”

“They voted me in as president. We talked about Abner, and I told them what you said about paying Abner’s debt to the club. The vote was tied, so it was up to me. We’re going to classify you as a nomad. You are still a member of the club, but you’re not required to attend events or help with club business. In exchange, you keep the license to the dispensary current. We’ll run it, but you won’t receive a cut of the profits. We’ll pay you rent to cover the charges for the property, but that’s it.”

It was better than I thought, until I noticed he hadn’t said anything about Abner. “What else?”

“This wasn’t my idea. It was Spider’s. He’s pissed you didn’t suggest him to be president. They want a piece of Abner to display so anyone who thinks they can fuck over the club see there’s a price to pay. They took a vote, Bones. Arlo and I voted no.”

“Do you think Spider will be a problem?” That wasn’t what I needed as I tried to begin my life with Fitz.

“Naw. He’s just pissed for right now. He’ll get over it.”

“Okay, let’s do it.” I motioned for him to follow me, and we walked back up to the clubhouse where T-Roy was still working away.

I put my pinky finger on one of the boards T-Roy had on the sawhorse and stared at them. “I can’t let you hurt my father because at the end of the day, he’s still my father. I’ll take his punishment. Cut it off.”