Page 101 of Dreadful

Cruz hesitates, dragging his teeth over his bottom lip. His gaze flicks toward mine for half a second before returning to his brother. “I'm saying she didn't work the fucking job.”

Gage scratches at his jaw. “I don't know if we should cut her out completely.”

“We shouldn't,” Bishop says immediately.

A cruel little smirk pulls at one side of Cruz's mouth. “So you're scared of her. Got it.”

Bishop's arms drop to his sides, and he takes half a step toward his brother. “The fuck did you just say to me?”

Cruz shrugs, and just like that, the charming mask snaps back into place. “What?” His smile widens, all teeth. “I'm just saying, if you're scared of her, man, it's fine. You can say that. Don't worry, I'll protect you.”

Bishop’s shoulders pull tight as he takes another step forward, close enough that Cruz has to tilt his head back to hold his eye. Cruz doesn’ t so much as flinch. He keeps smiling up at him, one boot hooked on the stool’s rung, and somehow that makes it worse— the way he’ s lounging there like Bishop isn’ t standing over him.

Rafe shifts beside me, rolling his weight onto the balls of his feet.

Gage beats him to it. “We're not cutting her out right now, okay?” He pushes away from the table and plants himself more squarely between his brothers. “If that's something we need to discuss, we discuss it another time. But if this job happens, she gets a cut.”

Cruz laughs, but there's no humor in it. “Right. Of course, she does.”

“It's about respect,” Gage says.

Cruz's smile disappears. “Exactly.”

One word, but it lands hard enough that Rafe's attention sharpens.

There it is again. Whatever the hell Cruz isn't saying.

Rafe looks between his brothers before lifting one shoulder. “Not an equal cut.”

Bishop's jaw is still tight, but after a moment he nods. “A respect cut.”

Cruz stares at them, his mouth pressed into a flat line. For a second, I think he's going to start the argument all over again. Instead, he leans back on the stool. “Whatever.”

Lola shifts against my side again, and I catch her eye.

What the fuck is that?

I give the smallest shake of my head.

I have no idea.

But that's not entirely true.

I don't know what Cruz is going to do with everything he found in that storage unit, but I'm becoming increasingly certain we're watching the beginning of it.

Bishop drags his attention away from Cruz and looks around the room. “None of this matters if the job is impossible.”

I let out a slow breath through my nose and count the seconds until I’m sure my voice will come out even.

For once, we completely agree.

“All right,” Rafe says. “Then we do some recon.”

The tension doesn't disappear, but the room shifts around the decision. Phones come out. Cruz claims the marina while Rafe takes the transfer itself, and Lola starts digging into civilian access.

I step closer to the map and tap the largest stretch of green bordering Westhaven. “I'll take the park. Get patrol times, shift changes, see what the perimeter actually looks like from the ground.”

“I'm with Bell—” Gage says.