Page 93 of Memphis

“Planning on it.”

Dad extended his hand. “Thank you for all your help. Be sure to tell your father how much I appreciate all he’s done.”

“Will do.” Wes shook his hand as he said, “Be safe out there, and if you need us, you know how to find us.”

“I do.” He turned his attention back to me as he said, “Bye, sweetheart.”

“Goodbye, Dad.”

Even though he hurt me, it was hard watching my father walk out that door. Despite the pain he caused, he was still my father, and I loved him. It was impossible not to remember all the good times we’d shared, and now, I might not ever see him again. I stood there, torn between anger and sorrow, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the feeling of betrayal would ever subside.

Only time could tell.

Thankfully, I had other things I could focus on.

Like Wes and the new life we were building together. The hard days would come, but together we would handle just about anything. We’d already proven that, and if we had to, we’d prove it again.

And again.

And again.

Memphis

“How do you wanna play this?”

“We all walk in the front door and fan out. I want them to see every face, every cut, and then...”

“We going in hot?”

“No,” Dad answered. “I need you packing but keep them holstered unless they try something stupid.”

“And how do you want us going in?” Seven asked. “You want me and Grim to take the front with Memphis and Ghost, and the rest of...”

“No,” Dad interrupted. “We all go in the front together, and I’ll take the lead.”

“You’re going in first?”

“Absolutely. It’s the only way.”

When Grim was interrogating Koda and Max, he discovered that they belonged to the Red Sparrows—the same club that Wells, ‘Lil’ Nix’s brother, had belonged to since he was thirteen. They considered Nix a legacy, and the leader, along with Wells, believed that Nix had wronged them by prospecting for us instead of following in his brother’s footsteps.

Koda confessed that they’d been hounding Nix for months. They’d been pushing him to dip out on us, but he’d refused.Despite his brother and his threats, he still wanted no part of the Sparrows, and when they realized he wasn’t going to give in to their demands, they killed him.

But they killed one of ours when he was on our turf.

That was a mistake they would pay dearly for.

We were all in the conference room, discussing the plan, and I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the way Dad wanted to handle things. I thought I was the only one until Grim asked, “And what if one of these assholes gets trigger-happy?”

“Not gonna happen.”

“You can’t be sure of that,” I pushed. “These assholes gotta know that we’re coming for them.”

“He’s right.” Grim sounded concerned as he said, “By now, they’ve found Wells and that other dipshit in the Charger and know that Koda and Max are missing. Guarantee they think we had something to do with it and are sitting on go.”

“It’s their place, and it’s Thursday night.”

“And what’s that got to do with anything?”

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