Page 10 of Judge’s Redemption

I look at her swollen mouth. “No. It means we still want each other.”

“That's all it means.”

She needs that to be true tonight, so I don't push. “I'll be here at five thirty.”

Her chin lifts. “Don't be late.”

She watches me walk to the gate, and I feel her gaze between my shoulder blades until I start my bike.

Kane calls church at nine the next morning.

I take my usual seat at his right hand and Tank lowers himself into the chair opposite me. Cash sits beside him, turning a toothpick between his fingers. Gray takes the next place, quiet as ever but paying attention to everything. Griz and Chains sit farther down and the other brothers take their places too.

Kane rests his forearms on the table. “Cal Mercer's changed the job.” The room settles.

King accepted Mercer's money before he died. Kingdom Come was supposed to collect a debt from a criminal associate named Reddick. Straight business between men who chose the life.

Now Reddick has disappeared.

“Mercer wants the sister,” Kane says. “And they want to hold her until Reddick comes back.”

“Is she involved?” Gray asks.

“No,” I answer. “Works at an elementary school. No record. No part in her brother's business.”

Tank's expression hardens.

Cash removes the toothpick from his mouth. “Then she isn't the job.”

A small sound comes from Griz's end of the table, more acknowledgment than agreement.

Kane slides a thick envelope toward me. “The advance is all there. Take it back and tell Mercer the deal's dead. This isn’t who we are now.”

There's no discussion between us. Kane already knows where I stand, and I know what he's building Kingdom Come into.

We'll collect from criminals. Hurt them if the job demands it. We don't drag innocent women into their mess.

“I'll handle it.”

Tank shifts forward. “Want company?”

“No. If Mercer tries something, I'll call you.” Tank sits back, almost disappointed.

“Make the line clear.” Kane says.

“It will be.”

Mercer chooses an abandoned warehouse twelve miles outside town.

He's waiting beside a folding table with three men when I walk in. Expensive shirt, clean boots, and the smug expression of a man used to having violence done for him.

I drop the envelope in front of him. “Your money.”

He doesn't touch it. “I paid for a result.”

“You paid us to collect from Reddick.”

“The sister will bring him back.”