Chapter Thirty Nine

**The Next Day**

Alexander’s Point of View:

I pulled into the yard and turned my bike off. Not everyone was here yet, but Ron was and so was Jackson. I looked over at the apartment windows and saw the curtains were pulled closed. I was still with the guys, and Harry, last night when Sarah texted him and said she was home and that Harley was on her way home too.

It wasn’t much longer and we had finished what we were doing and I was so tempted to just come over and climb into bed with her, but I figured there was probably no point. She was probably sleeping off a hangover at the moment, but I’ll pop my head in and see how she’s doing in a little while.

I got off my bike and headed inside. I couldn’t see Ron, so went to find Jackson instead.

‘Hey man, What are you doing here so early?’ I shrugged. ‘Couldn’t wait to see the Mrs, huh?’ He chuckled at his own joke and took another long drag of his cigarette. I grabbed his pack and pulled one out.

‘You mind?’

‘Nah, go for it’. He offered me a light and I thanked him. ‘So?’

‘So, what?’

‘Why are you here so early?’

‘I don’t know, man, Just am. Where’s Ron?’ Jackson pointed behind himself, towards the private room. Through the open blind, I could see Ron sat at the head of the table. Part of me considered going in there and talking to him while it was just the three of us here but decided against it.

I knew it would be a few hours before anyone came in, so I decided to go and see Harley after all. Thanking Jackson for the cigarette again, I stood up and to her room. I debated knocking but figured that she was probably still sleeping and just opened the door just a crack and peaked in.

‘Harley?’ I whispered but there was no answer and no movement from the duvet-slug on the bed. I went inside and leaned over to pull the duvet down and give her a kiss but before I could, I heard Ron shout from the clubhouse.

Rolling my eyes and figuring that it was probably best not to piss him off, I left Harley to sleep and headed back to see what the problem was. Harry and some of the other guys were walking through the door as I rounded the corner. Jackson motioned for us all to follow him back and I sighed, waiting to see what the next big drama would be.

‘There are some waves going through the charters that there is a beef happening up in Portland, Nevada is keeping an eye on what's coming over the border, but that doesn’t mean we’re completely in the clear’.

‘Why would Portland come to PTV?’ Jackson was the one to ask. Ron shrugged.

‘Retaliation, so, we just need to be careful’. Everyone nodded in agreement.

‘Well, if you didn’t go in shooting up the place, there wouldn’t be retaliation’. We all looked over at Harry, He NEVER speaks up, at least not with such attitude and not in a club meeting.

‘What?’ Ron asked, harshly, clearly unimpressed. We all sat and waited to see what Harry would say next, but he just shook his head and looked away. He wasn’t a wimp, but there was a level of respect. Ron was our leader, and even if he was in the wrong or we didn’t agree with him, respect is respect. It's that simple.

After a long few minutes of awkward silence, Ron continued to tell us to keep a close eye out when we’re out and about and to make sure our families have curfews, at least until we know that there is no blowback coming down from Portland.

‘Is there anything else that needs discussing?’ I looked around the table but no one said anything, so the meeting ended and everyone got up to go and get a drink.

‘What time did Harley stroll in last night?’ Tommy asked me quietly so Ron wouldn’t hear.

‘I don’t know, I didn’t see her last night, She seems to be sleeping off her hangover though’. We shared a laugh.

The rest of the day kinda went past in a blur. I had some work in the garage to do, Ron had me and Jackson doing bitch-errands, personally, I think he was just keeping me out of the clubhouse. He doesn’t want me around. Period. Not him or Harley but it's really not his choice.

Once work and club business was done, I finally found some free time to head back and see her. She hadn’t made an appearance all day, so I was starting to worry in case she had drunk too much and made herself poorly. Walking in, the duvet lump was still where it was the morning.

She hadn’t even gotten up yet?

I checked the time and saw it was after 5pm. Ok... something isn’t right.

Walking over to her bed, I pulled the covers back and she wasn’t there. I thought maybe she was in the bathroom, but when I looked, she wasn’t there either.

Ok, double weird.

I headed back to the club to find Pulp. He had been here all day, If Harley had woken up and gone out, He knows, but he told me he hadn’t seen her all day either. Some of the other guys overheard us talking and came over to see if everything was ok.

‘Harry, Ask Sarah what time she dropped Harley off last night’.

‘She didn’t.’

‘What?’ He looked around at everyone’s now worried face and seemed confused.

‘Yeah, the taxi dropped Sarah at home first and then Harley. Why?’

‘Harley isn’t in her room and no one has seen her all day’. I was trying not to panic, but judging from this, no one had seen her since Sarah left her LAST NIGHT!

Fuck