Emory swiped through a half dozen photos of Cal looking frazzled and out-of-sorts.
“He was staying at a bed-and-breakfast but left early,” Johnny explained. “Someone else was trailing him, probably the Velascos. They must’ve spooked him.”
“Not surprising,” Liam said. “Cal was damn close to nailing down Ivan. I’m sure Ivan would like to snip that loose thread for good.”
Emory agreed with a nod. “Where’s he heading?”
Johnny shrugged and scratched his beard that grew in thick and patched with red.
“Hard to say. California maybe. The Portland police are done with their courtesy calls and wellness checks. Unless someone raises hell, they’ll wash their hands and move on. There’s one other thing. That kid from the motel was moved out of the ICU. His doctors think he’ll pull through. If you wanna handle that, we have to do it soon.”
On either side of Emory, a torrent of disquiet overtook Jack and Liam, but for different reasons. Liam admonished needless violence. Jack exalted it.
“I appreciate the heads up, but no. Leave the kid alone.”Emory ignored Jack staring a hole through him as he stood and shook Johnny’s hand. “Great work. Keep me updated.”
After Johnny left and Liam puttered off to the bar, Jack stood and shoved his chair into the table so hard the wood slats crackled. He stormed off with nothing left to say. Funny for a man who had so much to get off his chest earlier.
On the ride back from the funeral, Jack had passionately proselytized focus, commitment, and seeing the forest for the trees. He spoke in idioms and expected Emory to understand. And Emory had, but only because Jack and Mirabelle shared the same talking points.
“You going to see Miri?” Emory shouted at Jack’s back.
He expected a lie. Mirabelle and Jack had been lying for months and did it with the same vague excuses. Jack’s shoulders rustled with a bitter laugh. He spun slowly on his heel but wasn’t smiling.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Emory stepped out of the spotlight at the head of the table and crossed the divide between them.
“You know what it means. I’m neither blind nor stupid.”
“You going to see Amelia?” Jack asked with the same animosity as half the captains. “C’mon, Em. It’s not like people haven’t noticed, and Sal makes a good point. What the fuck is she in all of this?”
Emory reeled with the unusual sting and met Jack in the middle of the room.
“Mine,” he seethed and stared down Jack with a threat. He’d killed men for less than this. “She’s mine, and don’t you ever fucking forget that.”
Emory drew a line in the sand and sent out the tide because somewhere up above Amelia nursed a broken heart and for what? A double-standard where Jack and Mirabelle could act with impunity, but Emory could not.Fuck that.
“It’s a mistake,” Jack said and backed away. When he reached a safe distance, he turned around and pounded up the stairs.
Emory slipped a finger between his shirt collar and the blacktie still coiled around his neck. Relief came with a hard yank and the oppressive tightness loosened. It was just him and Liam.Just like the old days.
Liam used to hold his own court with Emory. He’d sling advice across the bar while Emory mulled it over with a drink. Liam fell into that familiar rhythm as he set out two glasses and pulled bourbon from the shelf. Emory perched on a stool as Liam whistled a Sinatra tune and fixed Manhattans.
“Jack’s drunk again,” Liam remarked and offered Emory the first glass.
He sipped his drink and savored the warmth filling his chest. “You agree with what he said?”
Liam’s tune trailed off. Glass in hand, he circled the bar and sat next to Emory.
“I’ve seen what a mistake shaped like a woman looks like, even held it in my arms once or twice. It ain’t her. Amelia will love you right, but she needs to adjust to our world, prove her loyalty to the organization, toyou.”
Make her one of us.Emory stiffened with deep unease. It wasn’t that she couldn’t belong in his world, but that she shouldn’t. He saw that clearly after all that had happened.
“The captains have been split down the middle before,” Liam continued. “It’s nothing new. We always fall back into a unified whole.”
“That’s what worries me. This feels different.” Emory glanced at Liam, who seemed content as he chomped on a brandied cherry. “You can’t tell me you’ve never thought about what the first crack in the foundation might be.”
Liam brushed it off with a shrug. “I don’t dwell on it. Neither should you.”
