Page 133 of Property of Fang
“The old boys are on their way,” Highway warns when I enter the kitchen to make coffee. “Chaos will probably want us all in church when they arrive.”
“In the small hours?”
“You want us to wait until you’ve had your beauty sleep?” he quips. “We need to act on shit like this quick.”
“I know.” Situations this serious require the vote of the life members as well as the officers. We’ve done well to keep the nosey old shit-stirrers out of the details this long, but the threat of war removes that option from the table. “He call them?”
Highway nods, reaching into the fridge for a can of energy drink.Should probably smash one of those back myself.All-nighters suck at the best of times, but they’re fucking worse when you’re already sleep-deprived. What did my father say when Chaos called? I’d be interested to know. I haven’t seen Viper in a while, and it’s no accident.
My father is a man’s man. Last of a dying breed, raised on afternoon Westerns and being called ‘sport’ by his father’s friends. Boys don’t cry, and only pansies complain about their feelings—his words, not mine. I was six years old when he first put a gun in my hand. Not much past that when he beat me around the head for bringing an injured fox home to tend. I stopped talking to my mom after school by grade seven and quit entering the kitchen altogether by junior high. Men had their domain in my father’s house, and women theirs. Never the twain shall meet.
I can’t see the tyrant having much empathy for these women. His motivation will solely be ego-driven, all about reminding the Devil’s Breed why the Kings of Anarchy run these parts. Guess I’ll find out how right I am when he gets here.
Darko enters through the back door, visible from the kitchen. He releases a heavy sigh and tosses his T-shirt in the laundry, cut slung from his hand.
“Sorted?” I lift a coffee cup from the hooks beneath the cabinets.
He nods. “Yeah. Circus is finishing up.”
“Be a fucking darn sight easier if we could just leave this shit for the county to clean up.” I pop the lid of the coffee granules. “But then we’d all be behind bars by now.” They were lucky that Loki and I managed to keep Marty and his deputies occupied long enough for Chaos to show up with transport for the body.
“Ain’t that the truth.” Darko nods to the counter. “Make me one too, yeah?”
“Do I have a pinnie on, bitch?”
He smirks. “You’d look a lot better if you did.”
“Go get dressed before you get the women worked up.”
He walks away to make himself presentable for church, shaking his head. I assume he knows a meeting is on the cards. We should have all figured it out by now.
The clock on the oven reads two-fifteen by the time I have the caffeine ready, Highway seated at the table with his can of energy drink in his hand, and his head hung back on his shoulders, eyes closed. I pick up the dishcloth and throw it at his head.
“Wakey, wakey, princess.”
He lifts his head with a grumble. “I was just resting my eyes.”
“Sure.” I take a sip of the scalding brew. “And I’m the type of guy to settle down behind a white picket fence.”
“Never say never, brother.” He pushes his chair back and stands, promptly downing what’s left in the can. “Anyone here yet?”
“You’d know if you were just resting your eyes.”
He lifts his middle finger.
Right as Jenna walks through from the front parlor.
She flicks her gaze from him to me, and then ducks her chin, heading toward the coffee.
I catch Highway’s pointed stare over her head, the asshole’s eyes flicking to her, eyebrows raised.Fuck me.She hung around like I wanted at the burger bar, but after dealing with Marty I didn’t have the energy to do much more than drive us home. We need to sort shit out before it festers.
Before it fucks things up worse than they already are.
“Can’t sleep?” The question comes out flatter than I intend.
Jenna pauses, hand on a mug, and stiffens her shoulders.
Says nothing.
