Page 106 of Craving Theodora
“Small scare,” I replied, lowering myself into a chair across from him. “Jesse wasn’t in their bed.”
“Went to see Dyl?” Casper asked.
“Yep.”
“Unsurprising,” he said with a small smile. “Can’t believe they waited so long.”
“That’s what Teddy and I were just sayin’. All good now. Carried Jess back to bed, and everyone’s back asleep.”
“Good,” Dragon said as he shifted in his chair. “Back to what we were goin’ over.”
“As long as that man lives, my family isn’t safe,” I said tightly. “Not sure why we’re even discussin’ it.”
“Because he’s got a lot of control,” Uncle Leo replied. “You eliminate him, and you’ve got a power vacuum in Sacramento. As of now, they keep their shit tight. Next person that comes in, maybe they don’t.”
“And that’s our problem?”
“We gotta look at it from all angles,” Casper said. “We’re not sayin’ no. We’re sayin’ that there are pieces on the board that we have to study before we make any moves.”
“So I just take my woman and kids home tomorrow and hope for the best? Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me?”
“Calm down, Curtis,” Dragon ordered. “You already know that you’ll have boys on the house until we get this figured out.”
“Have you found out who Granger sent yet?” I asked Casper.
“Yes,” he replied, leaning back in his seat. “And Daddy Granger is displeased with them, to say the very fuckin’ least. Word is, not only are they in the shit because they didn’t bring Finn back with them, but also because Granger told them not to hurt anyone.”
“Sure, he did,” I scoffed.
“We already knew that Granger doesn’t fuck with kids,” Dragon reminded me. “What we didn’t know is that he’s got asoft spot for Jesse. Used to be around them when they were small. Considers them one of his own.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I cursed.
“He’s livid that they were hurt,” Dragon continued. “He’ll take those boys out himself if we don’t get to them first.”
“Do you know where they are?” I asked Grandpa Casper. The man had connections everywhere, from the homeless guy who stayed near the laundromat to senators with skeletons in their closets. If something was happening, it was only a matter of time before he learned any information there was.
“Not yet,” he replied. “But I’ve put feelers out. They won’t stay hidden for long.”
“Thank fuck,” I mumbled. “And the cops?”
“They’ve been waitin’ to talk to Jesse and Finn. They’ve also got that DNA they pulled from under Jesse’s fingernails. Beyond that, they’ve got nothin’. Oh, that reminds me,” he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a tiny plastic bag and handed it to me. “Found that in the house when we were cleanin’ up. Not sure why the cops didn’t. Figured I’d give it to you.”
It was one of Jesse’s teeth.
“They lost two,” I said. I cleared my throat as I clenched it in my fist, imagining all the teeth Jesse had lost before I knew them. Had Teddy done the whole tooth fairy thing? It was hard to envision pragmatic Jesse believing in that kind of thing, but I could see them going along with it for Teddy’s benefit—or Finn’s.
“Only found one,” he replied. “They may have swallowed the other one.”
I nodded and stuffed the tooth into my pocket.
“You’re clear,” Grandpa Dragon said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “As soon as thing one and thing two are taken care of. Granger’s not gonna do shit after this.”
“There’s no way you can know that.”
“I know men,” he replied. “And when I told him I’d feed him his balls before I killed him if I ever heard of him tryin’ to contact Teddy or Finn again, he didn’t bluster. Motherfucker knows I meant it, and he likes his balls where they are.”
“He sent men to my home,” I gritted out. “He sent men whonearly killed my kidsto my home.”
