“Listen. I get that you want to walk down memory lane while you still can, but I ain’t got time for this shit. You know where Holly and Mindy are or not?”
He narrows his eyes and studies me for a moment before pursing his lips and saying, “About an hour ago I was closing the shop for the night when I saw them getting into a black sedan outside their apartment. Fancy car.”
“Goddamn it,” I yell and cover my eyes with my hand. Mancuso’s guy has them for sure. Given the threat Grady got from the Italian, I got no doubt. “Nic, I need to get you to Jim’s.”
“I’m in the middle of a shift.” Stubborn Nic is making an appearance, which makes me want to toss her ass in a trunk. Darren was surprisingly easy to move, so Nic can’t be any harder. “I’m fine here.”
“No, you’re not protected,” I say.
“She’s fine, son,” the old man says. The more I look at him, the more I remember about him. I dropped a hammer on this dude’s toe when I was a kid. Dad calls him Old Man Hill, if I remember right. He nods slowly and pats the front pocket of his khakis. He pulls out a handgun just enough to show me the butt of it and then slides it back in. “I’m old, but I know when something’s wrong. I’ll keep an eye on your sister until her old man shows up to take her home.”
“You even know how to use that thing, Grandpa?”
“Forsaken aren’t the only ones who know how to take care of their shit,” he says and lifts his chin.
“Need your help, sis,” I say and stride up beside her. Leaning down just slightly, I whisper into her ear. “Knuck told me to stay at the apartment.”
“Call Duke,” she says with a nod of her head. “Grady will be pissed you disobeyed his order for a little while, but the guys might need you at the safe house.”
I lean in and place a kiss on her forehead and then dart out the door. Outside on the street, I call Duke.
“Where the fuck are you, boy?”
“Girls are MIA, and Knuck gave me orders to stay put,” I say as quickly as I can.
“Fuck that,” he says. “Get up here. I know your nosy ass knows how to get here. Get Nic’s car from the house and park far enough away that I can’t hear you pull up. I’m about a mile up from the highway. You’ll spot Fish by Ruby’s Suburban.”
I had a feeling he knew I’d figured out where the safe house is. Shit, but now’s not the time to think over what that means.
“Yes, sir,” I say automatically. Before I think better of it, the words fly out of my mouth. “Nic went in to the shop after all. Claims she didn’t hear the order to stay home. Old Man Hill’s got a piece, and he’s keeping an eye on her.”
“Fucking hell. She never fucking listens. Good that she’s with him, though,” is all Duke says before he hangs up the phone. I guess he knows something about the guy that I don’t.
Back inside the shop, I cut off another customer—this one a woman—and level Nic with a glare. “Need your keys.”
“Why?”
“Duke’s orders,” I say. She gives them up easily, but detaches the small ring with her house keys before tossing them my way. On my way out the door I shout, “Stay with Old Man Hill, or it’ll be your hide.”
CHAPTER 4
November
17 months to Mancuso’s downfall
The drive to the safe house is no more than fifteen minutes on my bike—not that I’ve timed it—but it takes over twenty in Nic’s car. There aren’t many speed traps in town, but once you get to the outskirts, along the highway, the highway patrol sits around with donuts around their dicks just waiting for some asshole to fly by. They can’t see my cut from inside the sedan, and getting pulled over would take time I don’t have. So I suffer.
Soon enough, the SUVs come into view. They’re parked on the side of the narrow highway, seemingly unattended at first sight. I pull off to the side about fifty yards away and kill the engine. On foot, I approach the SUVs with caution, retrieving my gun from the back of my jeans, unlocking the safety, and rounding the back of Ruby’s Suburban.
The crunching of a pinecone surprises me, redirecting my attention to the other side of the Suburban. Fish stands just off the side of the road, with an AR-15 in his hands, the business end pointed right between my eyes. It takes him a moment to relax before he lowers the gun and narrows his eyes in frustration. His chest heaves from the shock of being snuck up on. My own gun is still at my side, having not reacted quickly enough to draw it. Fuck. This is the shit that Duke is talking about when he says that I need to pay better attention or I’m going to get my ass killed.
“Scared me, man,” he complains.
I shake off the fear of being done-in by friendly fire, and blow out a heavy breath. “You’re fucking telling me.” Nodding my head to the woods and raising my brows, I say, “Duke wants me with him. Where is he?”