“I’m hanging up now,” I tell him. My hands and voice shake, and fear flows through my system where only moments before there was hope.
“You were supposed to meet with me today.”
“I’m not coming. Skull and I were married last night. I’m going to have faith in my husband,” I tell him defiantly.
“Funny, I was told you said no.”
Acid churns in my stomach. My hand holds tight to the locket.
“Then your spies don’t obviously know everything,” I lie.
“I think they do. You turned Skull down because you know in your heart that you are going to give him up. Your decision is already made. You’re just having trouble coming to terms with it. Stop fighting it, sunshine. Let me save you. Let me save all of us.”
I hate him. I fucking hate him.
“Goodbye, father.”
“You’ll regret this, Beth. What’s about to happen is beyond my control. It could have been avoided if you had listened though. I’m sorry, sunshine. I really did try.”
Something in his voice terrifies me. That isn’t hard, considering how panicked I already am.
“Wait! What’s about to—?”
The call drops. Silence is the only answer I get.
“You’re late, ese.”
“It happens,” I tell Diesel. We’re sitting across from each other in a little diner just at the Tennessee state line. Diesel picked the place. I don’t really get it. Then again, I’m not much for truck-stop food.
“Any news?” he asks. Beside him is his second-in-command. He’s an okay dude, nothing special, but he and Diesel seem to get along well. He’s quiet. Too quiet for my tastes, but then again I’m used to Torch’s constant fucking chatter.
“Not since the attacks. It’s been nothing but radio silence,” I tell him.
Beside me is Sabre. Torch is out with the others keeping watch on the perimeter. I gave the job to Pistol, but I don’t trust that motherfucker, even with him swallowing his pride down and getting with the program.
Also, something about Beth’s question today doesn’t sit right with me. There has to be more to what she asked. I saw something flash in her eyes. I’m going to have to quiz my lovely esposa. My dick pushes against my pants at the thought. Who knew having a woman you want to put a ring on would make your dick so fucking hard? Then again, everything about Beth does that to me.
“We’ve been picking up more chatter about Redmond Donahue. Supposedly, he’s been spotted just on the outskirts of your town,” Diesel said. “Bell, give Skull the file,” he says to his second-in-command.
I open the folder. There’s a picture of a man standing by a limo in a perfect three-piece suit. He stands there looking straight at the camera that snapped the picture, like he knows they’re there.
I study his face. He’s Edmund’s brother, but they look nothing alike. There’s nothing similar about them, except maybe the coldness in their eyes. Something about Redmond hits me. Something about him seems familiar. His facial features, maybe… or the way he holds himself.
I shrug it off, closing the file to look at it more later. “Thanks. It doesn’t matter, though. The plan stays the same,” I tell Diesel. “I just need to know if you’re in with me. I know it’s a lot to ask.”
“Fuck that shit. The day I back down from a fight, they can throw my ass in a hole six feet down and cover me up.”
“It’s not your fight, hermano.”
“You mean you wouldn’t have my back if the roles were reversed?” Diesel asks, looking away to acknowledge the waitress who comes to our table.
“What can I get you boys?” she asks.
She’s pretty. Before Beth, I would have been tempted to talk to her. She has dark hair, the color of a raven. Her face is almost too sweet for the circles she carries under those deep brown eyes. She does nothing for me, but when I look over and see the way Diesel is drinking her in, I’m starting to understand why he picked this shithole to meet in. She does pack some serious dynamite for her small frame. In fact, the faded pink t-shirt she wears is stretched so tight over her chest, you figure her tits can burst out at any minute. I’d estimate DoubleD’s, easily. Diesel always was a breast man. I guess some things never change.
“Just coffee, bonita,” I tell her.
“Same here,” Bell and Sabre join in.
“And you?” she asks Diesel, looking bored and obviously ignoring his not-so-subtle looks.
“I’d rather have you than coffee,” he says, and I want to roll my eyes. The motherfucker is usually so easy with the ladies, but that’s one dumbass pick-up line.
“Coffee, it is,” she says, not responding even a little to Diesel, then walks away.
The table erupts in laughter. Diesel just strains to look around the side as the waitress walks away.
“I don’t think she’s buying what you have to sell, amigo.”
“She just hasn’t seen me unleash the whole package yet, Skull, my brother. Just wait. She’ll fall. They all do eventually.”
“That’s how you got your son, if I remember correctly.”