Chapter Eight
L ocks walked in along with the others to council. He and Hope had passed in the hallway a couple of times, but she and Benji had been scarce in the evenings. There wasn’t any watching movies together in the main family room or having supper together.
He had yet to read the letter from Kathryn. Every time he started to, he just couldn’t. His girls had invited him for lunch at Sarah’s house, and he was looking forward to seeing them. Sarah had said that Beth was even going to attend via video. He’d raised strong girls, but his preference would be that he’d be close enough to help out if needed. With Beth and Flick undercover near Dallas, he was five hours away, which in an emergency was a lifetime.
Their Cider Creek Chapter was helping out, but still, he wanted to be there.
“Let’s get started. We’ve got a lot to go over. Let’s start with money. Roam?” War said.
“The diner, gun range, and garage are all up by at least twenty-five percent in profits. Even with the money set aside for construction, everyone will be getting a really nice May dispersal,” Roam said.
“What about the tattoo studio?” Dex asked.
“That’s what I need to talk to everyone about. The tattoo studio has a waiting list of six months, and that is with Rascal working more hours than he’d like, and Sprite and I having zero time off. Pit called with a suggestion,” Roam said then paused.
Locks wondered why Roam just didn’t share the suggestion.
“Well? We don’t have all friggin’ day,” War muttered.
“There is a family of tattoo artists Pit knows. Their oldest sibling is getting out of jail. They’ve been a mobile tattoo studio for the last fifteen years. Pit said with the brother getting out that he thinks they’d like to have a home. I’ve done some research, and I’d really like to offer them all jobs,” Roam said.
“What did he do time for?” Bear asked.
“His dad was beating his mother again and was getting ready to rape the youngest sister. The brother had a crap attorney and a judge with a grudge. He did twenty years. Pit vouches for him,” Roam said.
“Sounds like the man deserved a medal, not to do time. Defending the innocent from someone evil sounds like a new prospect to me,” Cannon said.
“I agree,” said Scoop. “Roam gave me their names and info. I’ve also done some research. They deserve a break and a home. If you all want the particulars, I can send them to you, but I’m confident they’ll be a good addition.”
“How’s that going to work? There’s not enough room at the studio,” Locks asked. The shop wasn’t super large anyway.
“We’ll expand. We have the money, and Bootstrap called. They have time because the job in front of ours fell through. They’ll be here tomorrow to start the foundations for the houses being built and can work on the studio while the foundations cure. He’s only coming up to be an extra pair of hands and then heading back because of Flick and Beth. It will add some additional money to the total unless anyone wants to put in some free labor. We’ve cleaned the upstairs for Sprite to have the monthly manicure nights, which Sprite and I discussed could still be in the open area we’ll have up there. We’ll move the piercing room upstairs for more privacy along with a special tattoo room for one of the sisters. Her primary focus is tattoos for women who’ve undergone mastectomies, but she also specializes in camouflaging scars or disfigurements. With the additional six employees, it will take no time to recoup the money,” Roam said.
“Six new employees?” War asked.
“Yep, oldest brother, sister, her best friend, twin middle brothers, and the youngest sister who is thirty-two. They live in their RV, which is a traveling studio. The brother gets out in June. I think we designate one of the new houses for them if they’d like. We were already creating an area near the houses for pads for RV hookups. Their house could have one.”
“All in favor?” War asked.
“Yes,” sounded from everyone.
“Scoop, what about the surveillance on the barn?” War asked.
“Nothing, and I truly mean nothing. Since we added the cameras, no one has been there. I’m guessing they cleared out before we set the cameras. I’ll let you know if we pick up anything,” Scoop said.
War nodded. “Maybe while the construction crew is here, we could have them look at expanding the animal area. At the rate Dad is irritating Mom, we might need a whole other barn and corral.”
Locks chuckled along with everyone else while Baron glared at War.
“Okay, one last item. Slice?” War said.
“Although I love my sister-in-law, we have a lot going on at our house. Hope has indicated she’d like to stay on the compound but needs a permanent place to stay. I’d love it if one of the smaller houses could be allotted to her and Benji,” Slice requested, staring at Locks.
Hope wanted to move out of his house? Of course she did, because he’d treated her like a commodity. Satisfying his urges without ever doing the things people in a relationship did. He deserved the glare that Slice was sending his way.
Although he’d like to say Hope didn’t need a house, he was confused and not sure where he wanted to go with her. Would his girls accept Hope if he did something permanent?
“I don’t think there should be a problem allotting one of the houses to Hope. We take care of family,” Rascal said.
“Agreed. Do we have enough houses being built, or should we add more? It seems like we’re growing pretty quickly,” Dex asked.
“This round we have ten houses being built with a range of sizes, with the smallest being a three-bedroom, two-bath. All include basements. We have six RV pads with hook-ups. If we’re thinking we need to add more, I think they’ll have to check their schedule,” Roam said.
“We also have room over by the bail bonds houses to add a couple more if we need to use the space,” Locks said.
“Roam, why don’t you look at what we have planned and how many of the houses would be filled if all the guys found a woman and wanted to move out of the clubhouse,” War said.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s not get hasty. I love living in the clubhouse. And, God love your women, but they are more trouble than I need right now. I enjoy doing what I want, when I want. In fact, Halligan invited me to go to a guy’s weekend later this year in Vegas. I do not need a house,” Dex stated.
Locks hid a smile because Dex’s emphatic declaration probably would have karma biting him on the ass.
“Okay, Roam, don’t count Dex in as possibly needing a house,” War said, chuckling.
“Now my wife is going to be busy for lunch with her sisters and dad. Who is up for a ride and then lunch at the diner?” War asked.
“I would, but I’m in charge of the kids while my wife goes to lunch,” Bear said.
“I’ve got kid duty, too,” Cannon said.
“I’m free,” Scoop said. “Let’s go. I need some time on the bike.”
War stood up. “We’re done. Dad, you joining us? No bullets this time. Just a ride.”
Baron rolled his eyes, and Locks chuckled.
“Sometimes you’re such an ass, War,” Baron said.
“I’m in, and I’d appreciate just riding,” Compass said, patting Baron on the back.
Roam laughed. “I’m in. Kids are at daycare, and Sprite has a huge back piece and won’t be available for a while.”
Locks walked out of the room and grabbed his phone. He was looking forward to lunch with his girls.