Hold (Gentry Boys, #5)(17)

Speaking of Cord, I remembered that if I wanted to squeeze in some time at the gym before I had to go meet the boys then I’d better get moving.

The gym I’d recently switched to was a little more upscale than the ones close to the university. There were still the usual muscle rats roaming around looking for someone to impress and a few soccer moms sweating on the elliptical machines but other than that the place was pretty empty.

I worked the weight machines for a while and then spent some time on the treadmill. I could have easily gone a lot longer but the evening approached. I still needed to shower off and stop at home to change into something that didn’t include gym shorts.

The plan was to meet out in Tempe at Scratch, the tattoo place Cord and Deck have been running together since Cord’s girls were babies. As I got close to the university I saw a lot of youthful faces rolling down the sidewalks on bicycles and skateboards. I shook my head with a small chuckle that these kids should seem so young to me when it wasn’t too long ago that I was living down here among them.

Scratch was located in a cozy, eclectic neighborhood a few blocks from campus, one of the older areas that still had some midcentury flavor from when Tempe was a sleepy college town. The shop was in a low-roofed block construction strip mall, flanked by a second hand clothing store and a hookah joint. It was only a few blocks away from The Hole.

After I parallel parked my way into the only open street-side spot I scanned the area for Chase’s truck. I didn’t see it, but then I was ten minutes early and Chase was never on time for anything if he could get away with being late.

The sign on the door to Scratch was already turned to ‘Closed’ but the door was unlocked so I walked right in. Stepping inside was like drifting into a hallucinogenic episode. Cord’s sketches – all tattoos he’d inked – covered the walls and more than a few were a little too weirdly abstract for my taste. There was one the size of a dinner plate that featured a hairy, horned beast chowing down on a screaming clock. It was probably supposed to communicate something deep and poetic but hell if I could unravel it.

Cord was standing behind the long counter where the cute little blue-haired admin usually sat. He was on the phone and he snapped his fingers at me. I could read my brothers’ moods as well as they could read mine so I could tell at a glance that Cordero was getting some undesirable news.

“Tell ‘em to sit tight,” he said. “I’ll head down there as soon as I can. Thanks for calling, Gaps. Yeah, I’ll tell Deck.”

For a second I couldn’t place the vague alarm I felt over the name Gaps. Then I remembered. Gaps Driscoll was a goofy but well-meaning cop down there in Emblem. It was the Emblem connection that made me a little wary. Whatever news came out of there was bound to be unwelcome.

“What’s up?” I asked Cord as he sighed and tossed the phone on the counter.

My brother shrugged. “Nothing major. Apparently Deck’s been keeping an eye on Elijah’s boys and Gaps called to let him know they’d managed to find some trouble.”

I remembered Elijah Gentry. A much softer version of his cousin Benton, who happened to be my * father, Elijah had the blonde, big-boned Gentry stamp on him. At least he did before he withered away from some disease I’ve forgotten the name of. His boys were young the last time I saw them. It would be just like my cousin Deck to take some rebellious Gentry teens under his wing.

“Anyway,” Cord continued, “with Elijah dead and their head case of a mother being unhelpful the boys have been sitting down there in lockup all day.”

“What’d they do?”

Cord grinned. “They boosted the mayor’s car, a Cadillac by the way, and drag raced it down Main Street before sending it into the canal.”

I snorted. “They sure sound like Gentrys all right.”

“They’re both seventeen – born ten months apart – but it seems like they’ll be charged as adults. Their mother says she doesn’t have the cash for bail and she’s refusing to get creative about obtaining it. She thinks maybe if the boys sit inside a cage for a few weeks they’ll learn a thing or two. Gaps doesn’t want to see them go to the state facility though. Says they’re kind of wet behind the ears for that kind of treatment and he knows Deck would do what he could for them.”

“And what might that be?”

Cord shrugged. “Just posting bail I guess. Gaps says if I can get down there with eight grand he’ll make sure they get to go home tonight. Judge is his uncle or something and can take care of the paperwork after hours.”

“You can get your hands on eight grand that quickly?”

“I can.” Cord winked and held up a finger. He retreated to the office down the hall and emerged less than ninety seconds later holding a wad of cash, which he fanned like playing cards. “Deck believes in keeping some pocket change around for emergencies.”

“All hail Deck Gentry.”

“All should.”

I checked my watch. It was a quarter after six. The drive to Emblem would take a solid hour and some change. “Let’s go then. We can sail through a greasy burger joint on the way.”

Cord raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have to, you know. I can take care of this. I know how you feel about Emblem.”

“Yeah. The same way you feel.” I shook my keys. “I’ll drive.”