His Old Lady - Debra Kayn Page 0,52

wasn't around.

Knowing the Tarkio members would keep drinking, and her friends would serve the new customers, she sat at the back of the room by herself and listened to the music while keeping an eye on everyone.

But mostly, watching the door for Curley.

Chapter 22

Curley

Frank held open the door to the Tarkio clubhouse and motioned Curley inside. He toed the kickstand on his Harley and jogged forward.

"You made good time." Frank shut the door behind him.

At least fifty members hung out in the main room. Curley walked with Frank toward the meeting room. "When did the call come in?"

"A little over an hour ago. Priest sent Elliot to check things out before we bothered you at Promise, knowing it was opening night." Frank opened the meeting room. "Go ahead. Priest already updated me. I'll get a crew ready to roll as soon as you're ready."

He lifted his chin in thanks and strolled inside. Priest sat at the head of the table, a phone to his ear.

Curley leaned over and gripped the back of a chair, not wanting to sit down and wait. When the call came in at Promise, he'd taken off immediately. Luckily, he'd had time to tell Paco to watch Faye and the Bar, while he took care of business.

Priest hung up from the call. "Good timing. That was Elliot. The fire department has cleared the scene."

He gritted his teeth, not liking the news. "Are they pointing toward arson?"

"Doesn't sound like it." Priest stood. "I'd be surprised if it happens. The fire department is made up of volunteers. The police were never called. From what Elliot overheard, there were chemicals that, when mixed together, can heat up and combust. That, along with the temperature-controlled environment inside, the greenhouse went up instantly. The firefighters can only guess what caused the fire."

"At least we won't have the cops involved." His shoulders ached since getting the news. "What's Elliot's opinion?"

"He looked it over while they were putting out the flames, but couldn't tell how the fire started or where." Priest widened his stance. "He asked a few people in the neighborhood who came to gawk, and the neighbor across the street who called the fire in said flames were shooting above the roof of the house when she looked out her window. I'm going to assume it wasn't an explosion since nobody heard anything."

"Fuck." He rubbed the back of his neck. "This is going to kill Faye."

"You need to tell her. Sooner rather than later in case she hears about it from someone else."

"Yeah. I plan on it." He exhaled loudly. "I'll take her back to her house. She rode to work with Angela."

Priest clamped his hand on Curley's shoulder. "What do you want Tarkio to do?"

"Nothing yet." He grimaced. "I need to talk to Faye first and try to find out if she has an idea of how it happened. If I find out this was arson, I'll take care of who is responsible."

"Do you think it's blowback aimed at Tarkio?"

"I've kept my relationship with her within the club. Nobody else knows." His body tensed. "Except for her ex-boss. I threw the truth at him when he showed up at Faye's house."

"Is he a suspect?"

"I don't know." He headed toward the door. "Keep Elliot at her house. Tell him I'll be bringing her home. We should arrive around one o'clock."

"Will do."

He left the clubhouse and went back to Promise. It was close to midnight. There were still two hours to go until the place closed. Though, he had no problem taking Faye out of there early. His MC brothers would watch over the bar and see that all the women got home safely.

Inside Promise, Faye sat in the back corner of the room, talking to Roddy and Jerry. He stopped and talked to Paco, updating him on what had happened in Superior. Once he handed over control of the bar to Paco, he gathered Faye and told her to get her purse and meet him outside.

"Wait." She tugged on his arm. "Why?"

"I need to take you home." He rubbed her back, knowing she would be upset once she arrived home and found out the damage from the fire. "A few of the guys will escort your friends home after they lock the bar at closing."

She frowned. "I'd rather stay and go home with the others. You can leave if you have something else to do. It's mostly Tarkio members here, anyway."

He pulled her close. "Something happened. I need to take you