Always Crew

I looked at my phone, then her.

Her hand closed over mine, the same one holding my phone. She took it from me. “I got this, too.” She was smiling at me, trying to reassure me. She reached behind her at the same time, and I saw Brock take my phone.

I was okay then.

They’d handle it.

I could go and wash now.

For some reason, I felt dirty, and it was dirt that would never wash off.

CROSS

I was in a shoving mood, so when Jordan and I got to Coug r Lanes, I was disappointed to see the doors had been propped open. We swept through, and the entire fucking lobby was filled with bounty hunters. And Trundle. He waved from behind the register, but even he looked stressed.

We took one step inside, but a crazy-looking lady was in our way. Her hair looked electrocuted and she stopped in front of us, a finger up in the air. “When your girl chills out, you tell her that there can only be one of us. That said, if you hurt her, I will take your entrails out and eat them with chopped liver and garlic.”

“Bonbon! Leave them alone.” Brock came over, literally standing in front of Bonbon, who sniffed and went away. He cursed under his breath, shaking his head. “Hey. Sorry about her.”

I didn’t give a fuck. “Where is she?”

He motioned to the offices. “We got her in a room. Her brother was pretty adamant about making sure it’s a cool room so she can calm down. We set her up with a fan, but I gotta say,” he shifted closer, “she looked eerily calm.”

Jordan snorted. “Looks are deceiving with Bren.”

Brock eyed him. “I guess.”

A few of their other guys came over, but Brock said to me, “Her dad had set up camp here.”

Jordan swore, turning away.

Brock continued, now giving him the side-eye, “Bren seemed surprised at first, then she snapped. He and I got into it, just a little back and forth. There’s a timetable on the deal moving forward against the Red Demons. They’re looking for the witness.”

“What?”

I was here for Bren, not for this shit.

“Only reason I’m explaining any of this is because things are tense and amped up. If the Red Demons don’t find this witness, then a ton of them will go away for a very, very long time. They’re getting desperate. Pulling Derrick Monroe and having him do babysitting duty on his own daughter tells me how desperate they are.”

I still didn’t give two shits about any of that.

“Get to the part where she stabbed him.”

Brock eased back, his head tilting to the side. “She just snapped. I really mean that. Went ballistic. She tossed his computer in one go.”

Jordan snickered.

“Came back and tossed his papers. She was doing a third trip when she was going for his phone. He moved in, grabbed the phone, and touch—”

“He touched her?!” I was simmering.

He nodded, easing back yet another step.

More had joined our group. Hawk. An older lady and man. Another crazy-looking chick, with gray and red hair. She had large glasses shoved up over her head, like a bandana holding back her hair.

I rubbed my forehead, needing to get my own stuff settled.

Bren would be tail-spinning. I already knew it.

Fuck.

Fuck!

“Okay. What did Channing have to say, and where’s her dad now?”

Hawk moved in. “I took her to the bathroom, helped wash her up because she had some blood on her. Then I’ve been with her in the office until you got here.”

Brock clasped her on the shoulder, dipping his head to her. “Channing had a word with their father on her phone, then Monroe handed it over and took off. I’m assuming he went to the hospital, or maybe not. Demons have their own medical people, so he probably went there. Channing just said to keep her tight, that you’d be coming for her, and to hand off her phone to you.” He dug it out of his pocket, extending it to me.

I pocketed it, sharing a look with Jordan.

He was moving his head left to right, mirroring how I was feeling. He moved in, intending only for me to hear. “This is insane. Her dad’s shit? All the crap she’s been through, and now this?”

Yeah.

I wasn’t happy either.

Brock overheard, and his eyebrows pulled low. “This is the Red Demons. We’re not their most central location, but they have a good stronghold here.”

“Where?”

He started to answer, then stopped. “No. I’m not doing that.” He moved aside, gesturing to their offices again. “Get your girl. Take her home. When she’s good, she can come back.”

Jordan snorted. “That’s not how we work.”

I gave him a dark look, and he shut up.

No. That wasn’t how we worked, but at this point, we didn’t need to broadcast it.

We were in. We were being pulled in.