And we have two weeks.
CHAPTER 30
MERRICK
Marietta sleeps like the dead. I hold on to her for an hour or so, but she doesn’t stir once.
I listen to the sounds of the clubhouse, making sure nothing is going down, that Lucifer’s Kin isn’t raiding or retaliating.
But there is only random conversation passing by in the hall, the scuffle of chairs in the meeting room, and an occasional laugh.
I slide away from her carefully and cover her with the blanket. The metal trash can has a plastic bag in it, so I drop the condom into it. It’s streaked lightly with red, but nothing too bad.
I dress quietly and kill the overhead light, shaking my head that Marietta can sleep like that with all the noise and brightness. It might be a long two weeks for me. I sleep like I’m about to be under attack because, for close to a decade in the Army, I was.
It isn’t lost on me that I’ve traded one war for another with the Wild Hair as I ease the door open and step into the hall. I entered both of them of my own free will. This one, keeping the Kin and their meth labs out of our territory, seems like a worthy one.
I look both ways, trying to decide where to go. I hear Iron Jack talking to the left, so I head for the meeting room.
The table is only partially full. Iron Jack sits with Chain, Low Joe, Two-Shit, and Too Fast Freddy. I head for my chair in the corner, but Iron Jack waves me over. “You can sit here tonight. You earned it after the raid.”
“I saw those women you hauled out,” Chain says. “We’ve been waiting to see if the Kin are going to come collect them.”
“Who’s on patrol?” I ask.
“Adam’s back on the roof,” Iron Jack says. “I’m switching between him and Fancy. Hoss is out back. Scottie is walking the perimeter. Two-Shit just came in from that post.”
Two-Shit sniffs. “We’ve got game cameras set up on the road sending us a shot of anybody who drives within a quarter mile of the club. Ain’t seen nobody. I don’t think they’re coming, at least not yet.”
“What are we going to do about their women?” I ask.
“Keep ‘em,” Chain says. “I got my sights on one.”
Iron Jack and I exchange a glance.
“We’ll see what they want to do come daylight,” Iron Jack says. “They will have their own opinions. We got them out. If they want to go back, I’m not going to stop them.”
I can’t imagine, not in the condition they were in when we got to them. But they are likely addicts, and they may not be able to resist.
Iron Jack’s phone buzzes. He glances down. “Just Stoney. The kid is here. A girl, like they expected. Just as well they’re at the hospital.”
“You don’t think the Kin would go up there, do ya?” Two-Shit asks.
“I doubt they even know, but it might not be a bad idea for someone to hang out up there.”
Too Fast Freddy scoots his chair back. “I’ll go. Celia has it in her head she wants a brat herself. I might as well get familiar with the place.”
“Thanks,” Iron Jack says. “We’ll lighten up patrols come dawn. Just the roof and perimeter. I’ll also ask around and find out what happened when the Kin got back to their house.”
“We shoulda blowed it up,” Chain says. “They’re going to set it up again.”
“Next time,” Iron Jack says. “I’ll put that word out, too.”
Everyone files out except Iron Jack. I wait for the others to leave.
“Things go all right?” he asks.
“Yeah. Taken care of.”
