Betz looks up at me. “Don’t stand there gawking, go get some towels. Stoney will take Carol to the hospital. Baby’s on the way.” She shakes her head. “Fine night to go into labor.”
“You hush,” Stoney says. “Carol doesn’t control when it happens.”
I run to the towel closet in the hall. I know it’s all clean because I’ve been doing the laundry. I grab two towels and hurry back to the living room.
Stoney has only made it a few feet toward the door with Carol.
“I’ll take those,” Betz says. “Go tell the kids their mama’s leaving to have their baby sister.”
I pass her the towels and run again. I burst through the door of the kids’ room. They all look up fromTeen Titans Go. Nice choice.
“Hey, your mama’s headed to the hospital to have the baby,” I tell her. “You want to go say bye to her before your dad loads her in the truck?”
Mary, the oldest girl, takes off, her hair streaming behind her. The two boys, Eagan and Sean, swivel their heads back to the TV.
Okay, then.
I back out of the room. When I get to the front of the house, Mary is sobbing, holding on to Carol. “Don’t die, Mommy,” she says.
Carol tries to calm her while huffing out powerful breaths. “It’s … okay … Mary. I’ll … be … fine.”
“You don’t look fine!”
Betz scoots the towel around on the fake hardwood floor with her foot. “She was little when Sean was born. Now, she’s watched too many hospital dramas.”
I blow out a breath and approach the girl. “Mary, how about we go make sure the baby’s bed is all ready and that we have enough diapers? That will help Mama when she comes back with baby Lacey.”
Mary sniffles. “Okay.” She releases Carol’s leg.
Carol smiles her thanks at me. She’s breathing normally now between contractions. She and Stoney head outside.
Stoney calls up to the roof. “Don’t shoot me, Prospect! We’re headed to the truck.” He seems in high spirits.
Betz scowls. “Nobody here is right in the head.”
I walk Mary to the rooms that belong to them, but she doesn’t go to the baby’s bed. She sits back down with her brothers.
I stand in the doorway until Betz goes by with the wet towels. “Who’s watching them?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I guess you are.”
I stare at the kids, then look down at my outfit. Still not appropriate.
As I head to the bunkhouse to put on some sweats so I can manage the kids and anything that might come up while the Wild Hair are on their mission, I realize—dang. My life looks nothing like it did a few weeks ago.
It’s intense.
CHAPTER 26
MERRICK
Fancy and I wait behind a shack on the property while Iron Jack heads into the meth house to see if it’s clear.
We figure it must be, unless they left a guard behind. When the fireworks started popping under all the windows and Chain and Two-Shit revved their motorcycles, everyone piled out of the house.
Two bikes and a truck took off after them, all the vehicles that were functional in the dirt yard. They left behind an ancient Ford Fairlane sitting on its rusted wheels, the tires long since stolen or gone to dust.
“He’s taking too long,” Fancy says. He taps the bat in his lap against the palm of his hand. “Something’s wrong.”
