He was someone out of the biker outlaw hall of fame.
He had a hacksaw face and arms forged, no doubt, in a prison yard. If he wanted to advertise his ex-felon status, Steve thought he couldn’t have done it any better. A lot of exes, who could no longer vote and knew they’d never get very far in society, let it be known they didn’t give a rip. This guy was one of them, from his sleeveless T-shirt to the jeans and boots.
Johnny didn’t seem all that happy to see him.
“This your brother?” the guy said.
“What are you doing here, Rennie?” Johnny said.
“I gotta have a reason to come over?”
Rennie met Steve’s eyes with a cold steel gaze. It could have been Cody Messina, all grown up and worse than ever. For a long moment he looked Steve up and down. If he was a member in good standing of Johnny’s “church,” Steve was going to have to say something about the social customs being taught.
“Hey, OK, Rennie,” Johnny said, “this is my brother Steve.”
Rennie didn’t offer his hand.
“Hi,” Steve said.
A simple nod from Rennie, who then looked at Neal with an expression Steve couldn’t quite read, but didn’t fall on the friendly side of the ledger. There were tense crosscurrents all over the place. Ezekiel watched, ready to spring any second, like he expected fresh meat.
Rennie said nothing more, then turned and walked over to the dog. The dog started jumping around. Rennie knelt and put the dog’s head in his hands. The dog started licking Rennie’s face.
“Friendly sort,” Steve said, quietly so Rennie wouldn’t hear.
“Rennie’s a work in progress,” Johnny said.
Rennie got up and walked back into the house, the dog barking.
“Zeke!” Johnny shouted. “Shut up!”
The chastened dog did as he was told. Johnny, who seemed to have unchallenged authority over people, apparently had the same over the animal world.
Johnny said, “God. He’s just amazing. You’re here. We’re together. This is just awesome. Now I got a question for you, little bro.”
Steve waited.
“What happened to you after I got kidnapped? I mean, what was your life like?”
“Not a real smooth ride,” Steve said.
“Can you tell me about it?”
“I don’t know. Our dad killed himself. Did you know about that?”
Johnny nodded slowly. “You remember much about him?”
Steve shook his head. “Mom didn’t talk about him much. Once she said something about his being no good and I was better off. But I don’t think she ever got over losing you. She died when I was ten. Bad cancer. Did you know about that?”
Johnny shook his head. “Must have been tough on you. What happened to you after that?”
“Went into the foster-care system. Woo-hoo.”
“No relatives?”
“Back east, Mom had a sister.”
“I never knew that.”
“Aunt Kate was her name. Not one of the good people. She didn’t want me. I went through a couple of foster homes, ended up with a couple named Rust. They were good to me, but by that time I was . . .”
“Go ahead.”
“Nah,” I said.
“Drugs?”
Steve shrugged. “I got through school. I was pretty good at it, despite all the other stuff.”
“You got through law school,” Johnny said. “That’s something.”
“It wasn’t the best school. Not your Ivy League. But yeah, I got through and passed the bar and everything, and did okay. Worked for the DA’s office for a couple of years before I had my problem.”
“The coke thing?”
Steve nodded.
“Never got married?” Johnny asked.
“Oh, that’s another great mark on my record. My divorce is almost final.”
“Yeah? Who was she?”
“A lawyer. Like me. Met her in law school, as a matter of fact.” Steve paused to catch a glimpse of the memories flashing around in his head.
“Whose idea was it? The divorce, I mean.”
“I drove her to it, no doubt about that.”
“Kids?”
“No. Probably a good thing.”
Johnny put his hand on Steve’s arm. “Then this is a new start, Steve. Your new family. You and me. It’s God’s plan.”
Steve didn’t know whose plan it was, but it did feel like Johnny was extending the thinnest of reeds. If Steve grabbed it, it could keep him from being carried downriver, toward the falls.
Steve grabbed. “I want to get to know you again,” he said.
“Same here, Bro. And now we have all the time in the world.”