“Then we’ll go somewhere else.”
“You’re serious about this,” Luke realized.
“She’s it for me,” Saks replied. “Besides, it’s your fault.”
“Mine?”
“Yeah. If you didn’t make married life so attractive, I wouldn’t have considered it.”
“Don’t blame your peculiarities on me,” Luke said. “I knew a good thing when I saw it.”
“So do I. But I need your help with something.”
“Don’t ask me to help you pick out a ring.”
“No, I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Good.”
“I need to talk to Pez.”
“What?”
“She wants this matter cleared up of who got me shot.”
“I don’t blame her. Who wants to start married life looking over their shoulder?”
“Exactly. So, I have to talk to him. But I figure I need backup.”
“I can’t. There’s a little matter of that restraining order.”
“Yeah. I remember.”
“But we’ll talk to Okie.”
Luke pulled out his cell phone and set it to speaker. The gruff voice of Oakland Walker, president of the Hades Spawn, rumbled over the connection.
“Who the hell is this?” his voice grumbled sleepily. “It’s six-thirty in the morning.”
“I know how early it is. And it’s Luke. Listen, Saks and I want to talk to you about something. Club business.”
“Urgent?” Okie asked.
“No. But important.”
“Meet me at the diner, then. I ought to get breakfast out of you after getting woke before the sun.”
“Oakie, the sun is shining just fine. But we’ll meet you there in fifteen.”
Luke powered off the call. “There. Let’s go. I’ll drive.”
They’d just settled into the diner when Okie walked in. He walked with a limp to the table, and sat down heavily on the booth’s bench as if he couldn’t bear standing.
“You okay, Okie?” Saks queried.
“Yeah,” he said in a voice all sand and gravel. “What do you boys want?”
The waitress interrupted by pouring coffee and taking their orders. Okie looked impatient the entire time.