Page 58 of Crucified By the Dark
“I’m already wondering how you didn’t kill this guy,” Jeremy said as Arek threw his shirt at the hood of her Hummer.
“Trust me. We’ve all thought about it more than once. Feel bad for his wife. That’s all I’m gonna say.”
“He’s married? Brave fucking woman she is,” Jeremy mumbled, making her laugh.
They had a lot of cleanup to do, and she wasn’t looking forward to that, no matter who these guys were or what they wanted. But there was no denying that her heart felt lighter with the three of them here. Now all she needed was for Wolf to wake up, Dean to call her back, and her son to be okay. Then the world would be right once more.
Jeremy stared around the fire pit at the new arrivals, the men Morry called her boys. She explained it was just another term for brother and even though they weren’t blood related they were to her.
“I gotta tell you, I didn’t expect to find the Colonel here. He looked super pissed to see all of us,” Arek said and laughed.
“Gee, I wonder why?” Kes snorted.
“It’s worse than the whole mission thing. He knows now,” Morry said and rubbed her face as all the guy’s mouths dropped open.
“Are you sure he doesn’t plan on having us all arrested? Should I be planning our defense?” Trev looked worried.
“How did he even find out? Shit, I can’t go to jail. I have a baby on the way,” Kes said.
Everyone stared at Kes.
“What the fuck? When were you going to tell us? You jerk,” Arek swore and then stood, pulling Kes to his feet to hug him. “You’re going to fucking love parenthood. I know all the cool clothes and toy shops now. I’ll take you.”
Morry was next to hug him. “You don’t look very happy about it,” Morry said.
Kes shook his head. “I’m thrilled but terrified. Ashley is crazy high risk, and she could miscarry from sneezing too hard.” He waved his hand. “Okay, that was an exaggeration, but honestly, it’s just too soon to get excited.”
Morry gripped his shoulder. “I have a feeling it will all work out.” They sat back down, and Morry glared at Trev. “You fucking knew, didn’t you?”
Trev didn’t say anything one way or the other but lifted a shoulder.
“You fucking ass. You knew, and you didn’t tell your own brother?” Arek acted hurt.
“Of all the people in the world, you’re the last person I would tell if I wanted to keep something secret,” Trev said.
“Jerk. See what I have to live with?” Arek sulked and crossed his arms over his chest.
Jeremy thought it would’ve been more difficult to tell the brothers apart and granted they looked the exact fucking same, but the moment they opened their mouth there was no question as to who was who.
“Anyway, I didn’t mean to get us off track. How did your dad find out?”
Jeremy swallowed hard. “That would be my fault,” he interjected. “I thought he would know. I actually thought that was why they were not on great speaking terms.” He glanced at Morry, and she stared into his eyes. “Sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to create a huge pile of shit.”
“Ha. Trust me, this is nothing compared to some of the piles of shit we’ve all created at one time or another. Do not worry about it,” Trev said as Morry linked her fingers with Jeremy’s. She squeezed his hand and winked at him.
“And no, to answer your question. My dad was actually happy in his weird way. Said he wished he’d known sooner so that he wouldn’t have been embarrassed by me running a motorcycle club. It’s not like he can tell anyone, so I’m not sure how this makes it better, but I’m not going to argue. It feels like splitting hairs.”
“That sounds like the Colonel,” they all said together, tapping their beers.
There was a long silence, and Jeremy’s mind relaxed as he stared at the dancing orange flames, reveling in the warmth of Morry’s hand in his.
“What was the song you and Ringo would always sing?” Arek interrupted the quiet.
A ghost of a smile lifted the corners of Kes’s lips. “Ride the Lightning.”
“Yeah, that’s the name. I still hum that sometimes,” Arek said as he sipped his beer. It was the first time Jeremy had seen the guy sit still since he arrived.
“Do you remember when TK called everyone out to the flagpole just before we left for that last mission?” Arek started to laugh.
