"A little or a lot?"
She thought about it.
She was a kid who thought about everything before she answered.
Like every answer was going to be written down somewhere and used against her.
"A lot."
"Okay."
"You stay right here in this booth."
"Darlene's going to sit with you."
"Her name is Darlene."
"She's a friend of mine."
"She's not going to let anything happen to you."
"I'm going to go outside for two minutes."
"Two minutes, and then I'm coming back."
"Okay."
"Two minutes."
"Two minutes."
"You can count."
"120 seconds."
"You know how to count to 120?"
"Yeah."
"Then you count."
"And when you get to 120, if I'm not back, you yell my name."
"And Darlene comes and gets me."
"Deal?"
"Deal."
Jack slid out of the booth.
Darlene came over with a look on her face that said she had already figured out what her job was.
She sat down across from Emma.
She picked up a menu like she and Emma had been friends all their lives.
"Sugar," Darlene said.
"You ever colored on a menu with a crayon?"
"No."
"Well, today's your lucky day."
Jack walked out of Miller's Diner.
The bell above the door jangled behind him.
He stepped out into the Arizona morning.
Every single one of his brothers was standing in a half circle in the parking lot waiting for him.
There were seven of them.
Preacher.
Moose.
Cash.
Diesel.
Little Ray, who was 6'6" and nobody ever called him little to his face.
Tank.
And at the back, leaning against his bike with his arms folded, Wolf.
The chapter president.
The man who had put Jack's cut on his back 15 years ago.
The man whose word was law.
Wolf spoke first.
"Stone."
"Prez."
"You want to tell me what the hell just happened in that diner?"
Jack pulled a cigarette out of his vest pocket.
He lit it.
He took a long pull.
He let the smoke out slowly.
"Little girl came up to me in the lot."
"Asked me if I knew anybody who wanted a daughter."
"Told me she walked 11 hours in the dark to get here."
"Told me she's been in four foster homes."
"Preacher called it in."
"Nobody's looking for her."
"Nobody at the group home even knows she's gone."
"That's what happened."
Wolf didn't say anything for a long moment.
Then he asked:
"And what are you doing about it, Stone?"
"I'm feeding her."
"After that?"
"I don't know yet."
"Stone."
"I don't know, Wolf."
Jack looked toward the diner window.
Emma was visible through the glass.
She was coloring on a menu with Darlene.
Her tongue was sticking out slightly as she concentrated.
Wolf watched her.
Then he looked back at Jack.
"You sure about this?"
"Yeah, Wolf."
"I'm sure."
"You understand what you're asking the club?"
"I'm not asking the club anything."
"Yes, you are, Stone."
"You're asking the club to stand behind a brother who's about to put himself crossways with the state of Arizona over a kid he met 45 minutes ago."
"That is exactly what you're asking."
Jack flicked his cigarette.
He didn't have an answer.
Because Wolf was right.
Wolf turned his head.
He looked through the diner window again.
Emma was still drawing.
A little girl who had walked through the desert alone.
A little girl who had asked strangers if they wanted a daughter.
Wolf looked at her for a long time.
Then he turned back.