“And he asks if you’re singing that night.I say no.He then asks if you’re singing tonight.I said you weren’t on a schedule.You came when you came, and I didn’t know when the next time would be you were gonna come.Then, seein’ as I wasn’t real thrilled he was asking about you, I asked what this was about, he requests I give you a message.”
Fucking hell.
“Did he?”
“Yeah.He did.He said, ‘Tell him I’ve had words, it’s back under control.No more worries and our profound apologies.’That gave me so many skeeves, I’m reading it to you right now because I wrote it down.”
Hutch said nothing.
“You know what that means?”Lug asked.
“I know what it means,” Hutch told him.
“Am I overreacting, or should I have the skeeves?You got problems with those people?”
“I did.But his message is meant to tell me I don’t anymore.”
“You wanna share what’s going on?”
Hutch mentally debated.
The Link was on Lug’s patch.Lug lived in a house just up from the shack where his daddy opened that bar.He didn’t have occasion to turn from the road into MP to head north and keep his eye on Mabel’s property.
But the man was on his patch.He was a friend.He’d run in a padded suit countless times and been taken down by one of Hutch’s dogs, and Hutch paid him for his time and trouble, but the lunatic enjoyed it anyway.Thought it was a hoot.
Still, not many men would do that.Even friends.
Hutch made a decision.
“Decoding his not very enigmatic message, I’m guessing he’s telling me one of his men went rogue in sharing through a note on Mabel’s welcome mat how he felt about the fact she was entertaining male company, that company being me.”
“The fuck?”Lug growled.
“Yeah.”
“Back under control,” Lug said.“So one of those fucks got his hand slapped.”
“At least,” Hutch replied.
“That’s good, right?”
It was, for Mabel.
But only if Enstrom—and he knew Lug’s visitor was Enstrom—actually could exert that control.
Enstrom could be a competent admiral.
Or this could be devolving into aLord of the Fliessituation.
“Let’s hope so,” he said to Lug.
“You want me to keep an eye?”Lug offered.
That was Lug.
Good people.
“On them.No.You have occasion to turn right rather than left and do a drive by Mabel’s every once in a while, I would owe you a marker.She’s right next door to them.North side.”
