Chapter Twenty-Two Delphine

When we returned to the clubhouse, we all split off to take showers. Working in the garden and then crawling around in an abandoned building combined to create some interesting aromas wafting off each of us. Standing in the shower with the hot water flowing over my skin, I soap up and rinse off quickly. Even though I'd love to linger.

Downstairs, I see Olivia sitting alone. I think she's the only one to have beaten me downstairs, but I can hear Nora in the kitchen when I pass by. I consider offering Nora my help in preparing dinner, but Olivia's distress draws me to her.

"What's wrong?" I ask her, startling her. She's staring at her phone, lost in thought.

"I just got a call from the hospital where I work. One of my patients died, Judy Barton."

"I'm so sorry," I say as Shayna and Sasha join us.

"It is. Although her death wasn't unexpected. She's been sick for a long time. Seems like she's always battling an illness or an injury. A month ago, she broke her hip and had surgery. That's when I got to know her. She entered a rehab facility, but returned to the hospital when she contracted pneumonia. The staff and I have been trying to keep her spirits up, but she lost the will to keep fighting. I guess her death shouldn't come as a surprise."

"But, you're still upset?" I ask.

"I am. I'll miss her. She was a character. But that's not what's bothering me."

"Want to share?" I ask when she glances at her phone again.

"I just tried calling a nurse that assisted me with Judy's care back when she broke her hip. Her name is Talia. She and Judy developed a close friendship. I just tried to call her, to let her know about Judy's passing, but I can't find her."

"What do you mean? You can't find her?" Sasha asks. "You don't have her phone number?"

"No, I have it. I tried calling her, but the call goes straight to voicemail. So, I called the hospital where she works, but they said she wasn't there. That she hasn't shown up to work for the past two weeks. That isn't like her."

"I thought she worked at your hospital," Shayna says.

Olivia shakes her head. "She transferred to Tulane a month ago. I haven't spoken to her since she left Omega."

"Maybe it didn't work out, and she went to work somewhere else?" Shayna suggests. "Do you know any of her friends or someone who worked with her at Tulane?"

Olivia slowly nods as she searches through her phone's contact list. "We both worked with a doctor at Omega who transferred to Tulane four months ago. She's why Talia moved to Tulane."

Olivia frowns when the call goes immediately to voicemail. However, she selects another number and I hear someone pick up on the other end announcing that she's reached Tulane Hospital.

"I'm looking for Dr. Marcia Carver. Do you know if she's working today?" Olivia asks.

"She doesn't? When did she leave?" Olivia listens to the response before putting down the phone. "Okay, this is weird. Dr. Carver doesn't work there any longer. She stopped coming into work. That's weird, right?" Olivia's looking at me as if I can give her an explanation, but I can't.

"Two people switching jobs and then abandoning them is odd. But, I know little about the medical profession. Do people move from hospital to hospital very often?"

"It happens. People change jobs when another hospital has an open position in a preferred field. I've seen people transfer when they have a problem with a coworker or if they want to work closer to home. But, I don't know anyone who abandons a job without giving notice. That's a sure way to get black-balled from other positions."

"We can give their names to Pirate and he can check into them. Maybe Tulane isn't very good at administration," I suggest.

Olivia nods. "Thank you. I'm going to make a few more calls."

I stand and head into the kitchen to help Nora, leaving Sasha and Shayna with Olivia. The men come into the common room just as we finish bringing out all the food. We all sit down to eat.

"Pirate, Olivia is searching for two friends of hers and could use your help. They've both disappeared, and she wants to see if you could find them," I say.

"Disappeared?" Pirate asks.

Olivia explains about her attempt to call both these women and the information she got from the person she talked to at the hospital about each of them.

"They could have just transferred to different hospitals," Pirate suggests.

"That's why we would like you to search for them," I chime in.

"Okay, give me their names and I'll run a search," Pirate offers.

Olivia provides the names as I return to eating my beef stew.

"What were you guys doing by the old slave quarters?" Dixie asks.

"I was exploring," Shayna explains. "You know we could renovate those buildings?"

"We didn't explore the other building. You think it's salvageable?" Hex asks.

"Definitely. We'll need to strip the building down to its bones and then rebuild so we can add in wiring and plumbing. But we can reuse the timber. It's a wonderful space with potential."

"What would we use it for?" Dixie asks. "Apartments?"

"Or guest rooms," Shayna says. "Delphine mentioned you wanting more rooms to accommodate visitors from other chapters."

"The building is close enough to be convenient for guests," Sasha adds.

"Would we use the entire space for rooms?" Hex asks. "Because I was thinking we could create a second clubhouse."

"Why do we need two clubhouses? Zip asks with a chuckle. "We barely have enough men to fill this one."

"Yeah, we need more members. But I was thinking of when other chapters visit. I've been to other clubhouses and most of them are not what I'd call family friendly. I want kids one day," he says, squeezing Cleo's waist. "I don't like the idea of my kid exposed to live porn. Having a second clubhouse where the brothers can hold their hard-core parties makes sense."

Dixie nods in agreement. "I like that idea. I know the last time I was in the Chicago chapter, I didn't know what I'd see when I came downstairs. Old Ladies and their kids one day and an orgy the next."

"That's a good idea," Delphine chimes in.

"We've had several clubs asking about coming down for a visit, but we don't have anywhere to put them. Plus, I've seen the way some of those guys party, and I'm not sure I'm ready to see Chrome's white ass as he fucks one of the Kutte Bunnies," Abra says with a chuckle.

I see Hex eyeing Shayna and Sasha, and know he's worried about exposing them to the brothers from other chapters. Having a separate clubhouse would mitigate that problem. Plus, if he wants to grow his club, he'll need a space for guys not looking to settle down to get as rowdy as they want.

"The biggest problem is finding someone to do the work," Shayna says. "We can clean the building and maybe do some of the demo work, but we'll need help with everything else."

"We might have someone we can call," Hex says. He explains about Jack's brother and how he owns a construction company. "Jack's setting up a meeting between us. He thinks a few of the men might be interested in joining the club."

"That's good," I say. "You need more men. It would be nice to have a full clubhouse."

"Do you think I can help?" Shayna asks Hex.

"You want to help design a clubhouse?" Hex asks her with a grin. "No powder rooms."

Shayna sticks her tongue out at her brother, making me laugh.

"I have a lot of ideas. You'll love them. I promise. I can draw them up and share them with you?"

Hex eyes her suspiciously, but he must see that she's serious. He gives her a slow nod. "You can bring some ideas, but keep in mind these guys don't want girly shit. Don't make it too fancy or too expensive. Our guys don't tear up shit in here because they're the ones who helped fix everything up. Guys coming to visit won't care about keeping the place intact."

"I know," Shayna says. "That's why I think we should go with Louisiana rustic. Make it look like a shack in the bayou, but make it more comfortable."

"Okay, I want to see that. Bring me your ideas and we can go over them in Church," Hex says. Shayna claps her hands and beams at Hex.

"Where's Jack? He needs to call his brother right now," Shayna says, glancing around the room.

"He's on guard duty," Hex says.

"Speaking of which, I need to head out," Pirate says, standing up with his empty plate in his hand. "I'll start the search for your friends," he tells Olivia, who gives him a grateful smile.

"Tell Levi to come back inside and do the dishes," Hex tells Pirate, who waves his acknowledgment.

"I need to check your bandage," Lake says to Dixie.

I frown at the reminder, but get up to follow them. "I want to watch so I can help take care of him."