Page 39 of Locke

“Never do that. You got this. You got the club, me, Dad, Locke. You got all you’re ever gonna need right here.”

“I appreciate that more than you know.”

“Good. This is home, and this is family.”

“Same goes for you, Hodge. I’m here for you.”

“That’s cause you’re my sister,” he smirks.

“Damn right, I am.”

“I’m gonna go talk to Duke for a minute. Just keep calm. He’ll be back,” he says, shoving off the stool before walking away. I watch him go as Tina takes his seat.

“How’d that go?”

“I think he needed to talk.”

“That’s good. Maybe he’ll calm down a little. He’s been uptight since everything happened.”

“I think everyone has seen that, but he blames a lot of it on himself.”

“Seriously? He shouldn’t.”

“That’s what I told him,” I say as I grab the rest of his beer and take a sip. I make a gagging face before putting it back down. “I can drink, but not this crap.”

“You were never one for a good beer,” she teases, grinning.

“I’m so nervous. What should we do?”

“You should come sit with me,” I hear my dad’s voice. I turn and see him walking toward us, a serious look on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“We need to talk.”

“About what?”

“Come take a walk with me.” I nod and climb off the stool, walking toward him. We walk in silence, side by side, out the side door and into the yard.

“What’s this about?”

“We lost track of Spike there for a while. You knew that. He’s been in and out of town for the most part. Movin’ around. But there’s one place he always goes,” he says as I watch him.

“Where?”

“New York. He always goes home. And I wanna send some guys over there to handle his ass. I want to finish this shit with him so we can all move on.”

“And you want to send Locke?”

“You think he wouldn’t go?”

“I know he would. That’s the problem,” I tell him.

“You knew what he did when you got involved with him, sweetheart. This is our life. This is what we do, and we protect our family. You’re more than that now. You’re with him, and you’re my daughter. Hodge’s sister. We can’t let this shit slide, Kiki. No way in hell.”

“You can’t do this. Do you realize how much pull Spike has there?” I snap at him. This is a bad idea. I don’t like it at all. He can’t send him.

“I know what he has, but I also know Locke has some pull over there as well. That’s why I want to send him. He can use his resources to get closer to him,” he tells me. I shake my head and run my hand through my hair.

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