Coral rolled into the parking lot of the Renton chapter of the Steel Brotherhood just after ten at night. Her blonde hair was braided back under her helmet, and the Prospect at the gate smiled at her as she went by. She backed into a spot, taking off her helmet and setting it on the handlebars as she put the kickstand down. "Hey, pretty lady," a man in a Brotherhood cut said, "Welcome to our clubhouse. I'm Toad."
"Corey," she said as she unzipped her leather jacket, folding it and setting it over the seat before she turned to him. Her heels clicked on the concrete as she walked towards the door, taking Toad's arm as she went.
"I haven't seen you here before," he said. "You with someone?"
"Kind of. I ran into one of your brothers, Nuke, a few nights ago and he bought me a drink. He said I should stop in and party sometime, and here I am."
"Too bad, you just missed him. He and a few others went to Florida for a wedding. You can still party with me, though."
They reached the door, and Toad opened it for her. She had to force back her revulsion at the smells; stale beer, vomit, blood and sex all present in noticeable quantities. Looking around, it was a fairly typical clubhouse; dominated by a bar, some tables and booths, pool tables and drunk men playing with skanks. This was no different; a biker was in a corner booth with a woman's head in his lap, while a drunk topless girl danced on top of the bar while four drunk men shouted encouragement. "Nice place," she said as she walked in.
"Can I get you a drink?"
"Lite beer in a bottle," she said. She watched as the Prospect tending bar pulled out two bottles, opened them and handed them over. She always watched for evidence of girls getting roofies, it had only happened to her once and that was enough. Luckily, her werewolf metabolism and healing cleared things up quickly, and the would-be assailant was found dead the next morning. "Where's Nuke?"
"He's out of town tonight," Toad said. "No worries, there's plenty of things to do tonight. Do you play pool?"
"I've played before," she said.
"Let's rack 'em then." He brought her over to the open table, selecting a cue as she looked at the ones in the rack. "You play eight or nine ball?"
"Eight." He filled the triangle and set it in place, then handed her the cue ball. "Ladies first."
"Why thank you," she said. She could feel his eyes on her as she leaned over to sight her shot. The clubhouse regulars were watching as well, probably disappointed they hadn't seen her first. Her upper arm stayed still as her lower arm moved back then rapidly forward, and the cue ball slammed into the triangle of balls with a loud crack. She watched as two stripes and one solid were pocketed. "Stripes," she said. She sank four before missing, eventually winning the game.
Toad kept bringing her beers, and then he ordered some chili cheese fries. They had each won three games when she sensed the prospect walking behind her with drinks for another table. Standing up quickly, she bumped his arm and ended up with a glass of beer down her back. "Shit, I'm sorry," the prospect said as he set the other drinks down on a table. "I'll grab you a towel."
He came back with one and Toad help clean her up, but her shirt was soaked along with her jeans. "Dammit," Coral said with a few tears, "I didn't bring a change of clothes."
"Come on, I'm sure we can fix this," he said. He told the Prospect to bring him a Club t-shirt in her size, then told her she could use his room to change. "I'm sure I've got some shorts that can work until we can wash your clothes. There is a washer and dryer at the end of the hall."
He led her back behind the bar and down the hall that led to the rooms the single guys used. As soon as she got into the hall, the scent hit her like a brick.
Rori King had been here, and the scent was persistent. She lived here. As soon as Toad left her alone in her room, she texted her team and Beta Carlson. "FOUND HER. RORI IS LIVING AT THE RENTON CHAPTER OF THE STEEL BROTHERHOOD."
-
Rori was over the moon on the way to the clubhouse; her best friend, the one who stuck with her for years when everyone else shunned her, was here with her now. "I can't tell you where I am now, the people who tried to take me earlier have tried three times now to get me," she told them. "Mom and I changed our names and moved to Florida, but I'm not with Mom anymore."
"You're almost eighteen, I turned eighteen three months ago, it's all right," she said. "I'm just glad you're safe. I've been so worried about you, and nobody back home heard anything about you!"
"There were a few people who came by asking questions," her Mom said.
"Yeah, big guys, off the rack suits, they looked like cops but didn't show badges," Jenny added. "You think they were with those people?"
"Nobody else was looking for me," Rori said.
"Would you mind looking at some pictures to identify them?" Mongo had turned around in the passenger seat and pulled out his phone. "We've given these to every Chapter to keep an eye out for." Jenny took the phone and with her Mom looking, she started to swipe through the surveillance photos they had of the men who were after Rori. Five and six in, they identified the people.
"It's a good thing I knew nothing," Debbie said. "I saw them hanging around our house a few times, but I haven't seen them in months."
"They probably figured that Rori wasn't there, so they moved on," he said, putting his phone away. "We should be at the clubhouse soon. Jenny, you'll be staying in a room with Rori. Debbie, we've got you a hotel room nearby. I'm sorry, but the clubhouse only has so many rooms and we need to keep Rori out of sight."
"I understand," she said. "I just can't believe I get to see Dawn again."
