understood how the MC worked, but I hadn’t seen as much of it as I thought. In the following weeks I got to know Mad Dog better, and Dementor, and Squatch. Bobcat changed his bottom rocker out, meaning he was staying in the Birmingham chapter for good, and we had yet another huge party.
Gil and the kids came to Bobcat’s party for about an hour. The kids had a blast, but Gil was clearly uncomfortable. He did okay, but I don’t think he fooled anyone into thinking he was there for the party.
And Frost moved his first piece of furniture into my house — a fancy chess table, with fancy chess pieces. He’d had it at his house in the spa complex, and it seemed like a big deal.
His house was really nice, but he never stayed there. He was always at either my house, or the clubhouse.
So, I didn’t even think about stopping him when he walked in with the chess table, even though I knew that letting him move furniture in was huge.
In the weeks following, watching him teach the kids the rules and strategies gave me an idea for what to give the man who has everything.
I’m not much of a sculptor. I mean, I did okay with it in class when I had to. However, I’d played around with 3D printing enough I knew how to create the right kinds of graphics to hand to someone who was an actual expert.
So, I sketched and drew biker chess pieces, with little cuts. The knight was on a motorcycle instead of a horse. I put a little of Frost into each piece, and then I worked with someone who could turn my drawings into 3D renderings. Having them made into metal pieces instead of plastic cost more than I expected, but that was okay.
We fell into a routine of two nights at my house with all four of us, and another night with just me and the kids while Frost was at the clubhouse. Most weeks, I spent two nights at the clubhouse with him, and we had two nights at my house without the kids.
I had a minor freakout one night when he casually told me he needed to leave in time for a meeting with Brooke at midnight. I had no idea he was doing a job for Birmingham’s Master Vampire. I’d never actually met her, but I’d heard enough stories, it scared me. A child who is thousands of years old and scary powerful? I didn’t want him anywhere near her.
But, as he calmly pointed out, she needed her club rebuilt, and someone had to do it. She and the bikers had a working relationship, so of course she’d come to him. He mostly dealt with her daytime people, but she wanted an every-other-week face-to-face meeting with him while they walked the site. Frost didn’t think her request unreasonable.
“No, it isn’t unreasonable, but I feel like I should’ve known you’re working for her!” I threw my hands up at his expression. “No, you don’t have to tell me everyone you’re working for. I realize I’m not making sense. Just... fuck. Just give me a few minutes.”
And he did just that. He opened his arms in invitation, I went into them, and he held me while I got used to the idea of him in a meeting with the scary-as-fuck Master Vampire of Birmingham.
Finally, I said, “If she has a good working relationship with the MC, she won’t throw that away just to have you as a party favor. It’s going to be okay.”
“That’s right. I’ll be fine.”
“You’re going by yourself?”
“She’s meeting me at the jobsite. We’ll walk through. I’ll make notes about what she likes and doesn’t likes, and any concerns.”
“She can get into your head.”
“Yes. She frequently responds to what I’m thinking before I speak. She doesn’t even try to hide it, and I respect that about her.”
Frost
The only inquiries we’d had about the prospect we’d given to Brooke had been from his supposed parole officer. We’d told the asshole that the prospect told us the club wasn’t for him and he’d left. We didn’t know where he’d gone. He’d been sharing an apartment with another prospect, and he’d taken some of his clothes with him, but had left a lot.
Mad Dog had torn the prospect’s bike apart, melted down the stuff with a serial number, and gotten rid of the rest, a little here and a little there, along with the regular discards.