“Well, now, Gentlemen.” Cold sighed, his eyes never leaving the television screen. “It seems we are officially at war.”
“Think this is a little Luchesi love note, Boss?” Mickey asked.
“What else? Considering we destroyed all of their guns and killed their men, this was a logical target for retaliation.”
There was a knock at the back door, drawing everyone’s attention and their weapons.
“Who the fuck is that?” Jules snarled.
“Mickey, Jules.” Cold jerked his head at the door. “Go.”
Guns pointed forward, Mickey charged toward the door with Jules beside him. His heart was pounding erratically, and he was ready to blow away whoever was waiting on the other side.
Jules stood beside the door and cautiously peeked through the curtains at the window beside it. “Holy fuck.”
“Who is it?” Mickey hissed.
“It’s fuckin’ Duncan.” Jules kept his gun at the ready, but he opened the door.
Duncan was standing there, bleary-eyed and exhausted. He was absolutely filthy, and he smelled awful. “Hey! Fuck, it’s so good to see you guys—!”
“Get in here!” Jules grabbed Duncan by the top of his head and dragged him into the house.
“You son of a bitch! You’re okay!” Mickey put his guns away and hugged Duncan close. He didn’t linger because whatever Duncan was covered in was truly pungent, but he couldn’t deny how good it felt to see his friend. “We thought you were dead!”
“I thought I was too!” Duncan exclaimed. “Fuck! You won’t believe the night I had! Listen, somebody burned down the club this morning! And that’s not all, I think—”
“We know,” Cold said smoothly. He, Pym, Roger, and Jerry were watching from a few feet away, and Cold’s expression was mute. “We just saw the report on the news.”
Roger slowly crept toward Duncan.
“Shit. Right.” Duncan popped his forehead. “Of course it’s all over the news. But hey! Boss! I’ve gotta tell you—”
“You!” Roger suddenly lunged forward. “You chickenshit little bastard! You left us!”
“Hey!” Duncan gasped as Roger slammed him up against the door. “The fuck, Roger?”
“You left us to fuckin’ die!” Roger seethed, giving Duncan a violent shake. “I’m gonna fuckin’ murder you, you worthless little fuckface! You’re fuckin’ maggot food!” He froze abruptly and grimaced. “And what the fuck is that smell?”
“Let go of him!” Mickey grabbed Roger’s arm and tried to pull him away. “Come on!”
“Fuck! Get off me, you damn nut job!” Duncan swatted angrily at Roger. “Look! I’m fuckin’ sorry, but I’m trying to tell you—”
“What?” Roger snapped.
“Crybaby is alive!”
Chapter 14
“Alive?” Roger was so shocked that he let go of Duncan. “She’s alive?”
“Yes!” Duncan scrambled away and hid himself behind Mickey. “She’s alive! Look, one of the men under police watch at the fuckin’ hospital just happens to be a woman. Who else could it be? It’s gotta be her!”
“We’ve gotta go get her!” Roger exclaimed frantically. “Right now!”
“Wait.” Cold held up his hand for calm and beckoned Duncan over to the table. “You, sit down. I have questions first.”
Roger looked like he was going to explode on the spot, and he dragged his hands through his hair. His expression was both anguish and relief, and he turned to press his brow to Mickey’s shoulder. “She’s alive. Okay, she’s alive. It’s fine.”
