“What the fuck is a Pops?” Gallows barks, brows pulled low.
“That would be me, young gun. And you better watch your mouth, else I’ll have your ass.”
Gallows brows shoot up to his hairline as Mercy snorts behind him. “I need a drink and one of you better call Church and tell me why the fuck I rode 12 hours into a fucking dirty bomb.”
“Yeah cousin, I can do that.” I slap him on the shoulder before letting him go. He hugs my parents and siblings, then gives a chin lift to the DRMC. There will be time enough for him to get to know everyone, but for now we gotta brief him on what we’re dealing with, and what he’ll be dealing with while we’re away. And I don’t envy the poor fucker.
Joy
“Can I see your stump?” Chewy asks, staring at Gallows without an ounce of shame.
His sister, Mercy, snorts and then hides it with a cough. She’s not nearly as scary as her brother. She’s not ginger either which surprises me, because that seems to be a recurring theme in Reid’s family. I look between him and his cousin, noting how similar they look. Huge men, almost strawberry blonde shade of red hair, bearded, and loud. That’s where the similarities end. Gallows is gruffer. Harder. As if the horrors he's seen changed him fundamentally. He’s cold where Reid is warm.
“What makes you think I have a stump?” Gallows asks, raising a brow.
Chewy’s gaze flicks to him for a split second before her gaze settles over his shoulder. “You have the gait of someone with a below knee amputation.”
“And you think you would just ask the cripple if you could see his stump?”
“Yes. I just did.”
He studies Chewy for a long moment. Assessing her. “I was told in Church that you’re one of the reasons I’m here. Keep an eye on you. Make sure you behave.”
“In what way?” Chewy asks, head tipped to the side.
“Probably making sure you’re staying put," Lovely says with a smile.
“Or at the very least, not kidnapping anyone,” Ana adds.
“It wasonetime,” Chewy says in a bored voice, rolling her eyes.
“I’m pretty sure it was two,” Blanche adds.
“It doesn't count if I restrain the person in their own home.” Chewy scoffs, ignoring how wide eyed Gallows has become.
“Wait,” Mercy says, raising a hand in the air to stop the Ol Ladies from squabbling as the Keep women stare wide eyed. “We were only told you’re pregnant and you sometimes like to wander off.”
“Wander off to kidnap and maim people,” Vi coughs.
Gallows and Mercy stare at Chewy and I get it. She’s unassuming. Short, curvy, cute face, tiny hands that don’t look like they could do any damage. Even in my mind I don’t believe she’s as dangerous as some of the Ol Ladies have said she is.
“The first time I saw Chewy ‘work’ she melted a guys eyelid off with acid drip torture,” Ana says, with a shrug.
“I watched her cut body parts off one guy and dispose of it in another guy's butthole,” someone else adds.
“I was with her when she kidnapped a guy and then shoved a Batman bobble head up his ass. She stole his van too, still rides around in it,” Blanche says, patting her sleeping daughter on the butt.
“I watched her give a guy a Jacobs Ladder,” Kaia says.
Mercy and Gallows share a look before Gallows gets to his feet and beelines for Rhodie and the rest of the DRMC men. I don’t know why but it makes me burst into giggles and it’s not long before the rest of the women are joining me, including Mercy.
“Is it bad that I almost hope someone attacks us so I can see you in action?” she asks Chewy.
“Using the law of averages, these guys will be dumb and they’ll come after us. When they do we’ll be prepared. Wearesheltering with Preppers. They have everything I need to run a successful interrogation.”
“While pregnant,” Lovely says.
“Of course. I’m a modern woman,” Chewy says, giving her the side eye.
