Starting Over by Ryder Dane

her. His speech was even more slurred than it had been, and she squeezed
    his fingers.
    “I’ll help in any way I can.”
    His gaze stayed on her face, and as if a light dawned, he startled her by saying,
    “Tuck, good kid, sorry. Mambo, we cal ed.” This time he did fal asleep, and she was
    itching to ask him for more information, but drool was trickling down his chin as he slept.
    Dena came out of the house with a tall glass of tea and handed it to her. She sat
    down in the chair she’d vacated, and the concern on her face toward River made her
    want to cry. These people knew who she was. How that was possible she had no idea,
    but they could give her answers, and seeing Dena put her finger to her lips, stopped her
    questions before she could voice them.
    She mouthed, “later,” and nodded her head as a young man in a Prospect cut came
    out from behind the house, and Dena introduced him as Halo.
    “I don’t know what we’d do without him.”
    Her words made the young man blush, but he gave her a quick nod and took
    charge of Darnel ’s wheelchair. “Time for bed, buddy, say goodnight to the pretty
    ladies.”
    River got up and held the screen door for him to push the chair through, and got a
    hasty, “Thanks,” for her help, as he pushed the chair into the house and disappeared
    down the hallway that ran alongside the living room.
    JK Publishing, Inc.
    Starting Over by Ryder Dane
    Dena looked wrung out, but River wasn’t leaving without knowing what she knew
    about her brother and his death.
    “I’m sorry, but I have to ask you what you know about Tuck. I know he was here
    when he died, at the club I mean, so what happened. Please tel me.”
    The older woman was staring at the porch rail before turning her eyes toward River.
    “I only know what Darnel told me, and it wasn’t much.” She drew a couple of deep
    breaths and a sip of her glass of tea, before talking, “Here it is. Darnel came home
    from the bar one night in a tizzy. When I cornered him, he broke down and told me
    about Tuck. He said the kid had been killed for seeing Wolfman doing something that
    he shouldn’t have. He’d been stabbed and left to rot on the side of the road, down by
    Second Street. Darnell was told that by Mambo, and they found your number tattooed
    on the inside of the boy’s ankle. Darnel called you, and him and Mambo met you that
    night.” She brushed her hand over her face and shrugged her shoulders.
    “That’s al I can tel you, I don’t have details, and I’m sorry for your loss, he was
    always nice to me and Darnel .”
    River had to ask, “Did you know what Darnel told me about sel ing the bar?”
    Dena just nodded and laid her head back on the cushioned chair back. “Yes, I was
    the one to bring it up, I guess he final y figured out that he wasn’t going back and
    running it for a long while. The old bastard is so stubborn that I didn’t dare start making
    plans to move us. Sure as hel he’d decide to stay put just out of cussedness.”
    River finished her tea, and thanked Dena. “Thank you for more than the tea and
    being such a great employer, but thank you most for letting Darnell bring my brother
    home to me, he’s al the family I had.”
    Saying goodbye, she walked off the porch and got back into the van. She drove on
    autopilot to the bar. At least she had a reason, and knew who had befriended Tuck’s
    body and her that night. The place was dark, but something didn’t seem right. There
    were two bikes behind the building, and they weren’t ones she recognized. That wasn’t
    unusual in itself, but why would they be parked in the back. The only thing she could
    think was that Maisey was in there, she’d been sleeping in the storeroom while she
    saved up money to get herself a place to live.
    “Fuck, dammit, why does this have to get complicated now?” She didn’t have her
    gun with her, all she had were her boot knives, and she thought about calling the cops,
    but if Maisey was entertaining