Page 12 of Sinful Secrets

“Ain’t that the fucking truth.” Rip smirks. We stand, watching Flo with Talitha, her eyes wide as she takes in whatever Flo is telling her.

“Listen, brother, you're going to have to be up here a while longer.” Rip sighs.

“What the fuck?” I snap.

“They’ve been scoping us out, looking into us, and they haven’t been discreet about it.” He pauses. “Dreads called, his informant heard that they are shipping guns across the border.”

“So what? We ship fucking weapons everywhere, and as long as it doesn’t affect our business, why the fuck should it matter?” I shrug.

“Ain’t just the guns, brother,” Mammoth adds.

I look to him. “What else?” I ask.

“Remember one fucker in Cline’s house of fucking horrors, that begged and said he was a man of the cloth?” Mammoth states, reminding me. I nod. “Well, he was one of them, he was there to make purchases and send them across the border where they then get sent fuck knows where. These cult fuckers don’t just pray to God, they are part of this whole fucking shit, they have their hands in a lot of dark illegal shit.” Mammoth growls angrily, the emotion still raw from what happened to Red.

I look back to Talitha, feeling my anger rise. She has no fucking idea what she is part of… what she would have been set out to do. I swallow my anger. “So what happens now?” I ask.

“Now we play it fucking safe. They know we have her. She might not know it herself but I'm guessing she knows more than she should, because otherwise they wouldn’t be fucking looking for her. They wouldn’t have given a shit; they’d have just left her. She knows something that could make them either vulnerable or hurt them financially. We need you to work with her, figure out what the fuck it is. Without it we are blind,” Rip informs me.

“How come you don’t remember much of this shit?” I ask Mammoth, knowing he was brought up there as a kid.

“I wasn’t old enough to be a part of that, I left before my ceremony. I noticed girls go missing though. They told us they went to different settlements to help new members or some shit, I saw the trucks come and go, never saw what went on them. The people of this town are fucking blind to think that the church is a normal church, that fucker is part of so much more. Go twenty miles east of here and you’ll find their settlement,” Mammoth states.

“I thought you burnt it down?” I ask.

“I did, the innocent people fled, and they still believed him, believed his cause. They rebuilt; they grew their numbers. To take shit like this down you need to take out the one holding it all together then watch the entire fucking thing crumble.” He growls.

I nod in agreement, and Rip continues. “So, brother, until we have got a handle on this, just stay here, keep safe, keep her safe. We thought we had obliterated the entire thing, but the damn reality is we’ve only made a dent, barely a fucking crack.” He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But we are the Satan’s, and we don’t fucking back down. We won’t give up and we will tear them apart, watch them, no making those fucking cracks spread until their entire operation shatters,” Rip seethes.

I take a deep breath; things have been intense and it’s taking its fucking toll. We are all tired, we lost a brother and that alone is something that we all have to try and live with, but it’s something we all carry around with us. Always.

* * *

After they leave, Bambi picks up a book and curls up on the couch next to me. I'm trying my hardest to concentrate on the movie but can’t, my eyes keep finding their way back to her.

“What are you reading?” I ask. She looks up from the tablet, smiling, and she holds it up to show me the cover.

“Until November by Aurora Rose Reynolds,” she answers.

“I thought you couldn’t read?” I ask. I don’t know why I asked, it ain’t my kind of book, it’s a chick-lit book.

“I can read some words, and the ones I don’t know I can tap here and translate,” she says, showing me. “It’s taking me a while to get the hang of it, but I like the book, it’s sweet,” she answers shyly, her cheeks blushing.

“That’s good, chick-lit ain’t really my thing.” I wink. She brings the tablet up, covering her face. I laugh and shake my head.

“Is there anything you want to know? You can ask me, you know that,” I remind her.

She nods. “I know.” I nod back at her and return to watching the movie. I sigh, putting my hands behind my head and stretch out. I wonder what she knows and doesn’t know… I wonder what her and Flo were talking about earlier. Feeling irritable, I turn to face her, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“What were you and Flo talking about earlier?” I ask.

“Are you not enjoying your movie?” she asks. I look back to the movie then back to her.

“What did you talk about?” I repeat. She lets out a little laugh.

“What?” I ask, smiling at her.

“Rose said you would ask me what we were talking about.” She giggles.

---