My kid actually listens on occasion. “Good to know.”
“You should let me go in undercover.”
I love that my kid wants to help. “That’s not an option. They know you’re my kid.”
“That’s why I would be perfect. The rebellious kid who's out to do stupid stuff right under his father’s nose.”
No one in their right mind would believe that Creed is rebellious, even though he rides a motorcycle and has a tattoo. “Not happening. You’re a straight-A student.”
“No one in class knows I’m a nerd.”
That isn’t an accurate description of him either. “Not happening. We just buried your friend.” Watching what Berzerker is going through…no. Just no.
“Yeah. He died. Now, I want to get his murderers and make them pay. You want the exact same thing.”
I do. “We’ve already got it handled.”
Creed bangs the salad bowl down onto the table. “Like Vandal, Torque, and Ryot are more mature than I am.”
They probably aren’t. Though I’m counting on them being mature. Vandal certainly showed that he can handle himself in a crisis recently. “Vandal can handle himself. And the others are getting trained.” I pull our steaks off the grill and set them on the plates I had waiting.
All the outdoor lights pop on next door as the sun starts to set. There are two moving trucks and a dozen men moving things inside.
“Do you think the new neighbors will be moving in soon?”
I set the plates down and sit down across from Creed. “It sure looks like it.”
“Do you know who they are?”
“No.” Which is really irritating. “All the records show is that it was bought by a trust.”
"Erlein said that it was a guy in a fancy suit and car that came for the initial walkthrough, but then after that, they were contacted by a law office from Urbium. I hope we don’t get some snobby rich people as neighbors.”
Does it surprise me that Creed questioned Erlein? Not at all. I probably would have if I hadn’t had so many distractions. “If they become an issue, we’ll ensure that they move.”
Creed grins.
The growl of a bike pulling into my driveway drowns out the sounds of the movers next door. I can tell each one of my brothers by the sound of their bikes. With the exception of Vandal, because he’s got dozens of them.
“What’s Bishop doing here?” Creed sets down his fork.
It seems my son knows them, too. “Don’t know.” He only got back from helping Rogue rescue Dylan a few days ago. We already did a debrief of the situation, so that’s not the reason for the unexpected visit.I stand up and walk down to the fence.
Bishop climbs off his bike and walks over to me. “Deacon’s coming home.”
That doesn’t sound good. Not at all. Is he coming home in a casket? “What happened?”
“A friendly fire accident on their way back into base from a mission. Some stupid boot shot him in the leg.”
“In the leg?”
“He was aiming for the chest. And thankfully, he was as bad a shot as he was at telling friend from foe. Deacon was in uniform, too.” Bishop shakes his head.
This is about as emotional as Bishop gets. “Want to come in for a beer and a steak?”
“No. I just wanted to let you know because I might need time off to take the boy to therapy. They haven’t told me how extensive the damage is, but it’s enough to send him stateside for therapy and further evaluation.”
“There’s probably a good prognosis.” Or else they would have put him out on full disability.
