“My take is, she lost a sister, a mother, her ex is fucking with her head, and she still puts on a pretty dress, walks right into a biker compound with a homemade pie and looks at Joker not like he rides astride a Harley but does it on a white horse. If she doesn’t remember who he was from high school, it doesn’t matter. She knows who he is now and went out of her way not to let him forget her. No girl dresses like that if she doesn’t hope to get attention. She likes him. He made an impression, and he did it more than just being a good guy who stopped to change her tire.”

She drew in breath.

Tack held her eyes and his silence.

She continued, “But she broke today, Tack. She is not a girl who gives a blowjob for legal services but she was going to do it. She loves her son. She’s running out of options. She’s running scared. And it’s taking everything she has to keep those pieces together so broken doesn’t become shattered.”

“I know one thing about this, Red, if they’re tight, her dad doesn’t want to be shielded. Got a baby girl. I’d wanna know. ’Spect he does too.”

“Her dad is in Nebraska looking after his mom, who’s far gone with Alzheimer’s, her grandfather has already passed, and her father doesn’t have the heart to put her in a home.”

Fuck.

“We gotta take her on,” Tack murmured.

“You don’t, Elvira’s in a snit. This guy, her ex, has been a dick for a long time. Carissa just put on her game face and ignored it. Her fail, as she calls it. Elvira doesn’t see it the same way. She’s ready to blow. And that means she’ll nag Hawk until he takes it on, and Hawk’s messy.”

Tack felt his lips curl up.

Elvira was Tyra’s girl and Hawk was Elvira’s boss. Hawk was a different kind of brother to Tack for a variety of reasons. And Hawk was a man who got things done and didn’t mind how he had to go about doing that.

Tack looked to the room.

“Boz, Hound, deal with the man who thinks coercin’ head for payment of legal fees is something he can do and convince him he’s wrong.”

Boz nodded.

Hound looked ecstatic.

Tack shook his head.

Tyra gave them the attorney’s name.

They took off.

He looked to Speck. “Go with them. Make sure Hound doesn’t kill anyone.”

Speck shot him a grin and took off.

Tack turned to Hop. “We need whatever we can get on her ex and his father.”

“They got judge friends, we got added problems to the ones we already got, Tack,” Hop warned.