Page 9 of Hawk

“Church tonight?” Drifter asks, interrupting my thoughts.

“Yeah, meeting is at eight. I want everyone there. No excuses.”

“Prospect will sit at the door,” Drifter replies. We always have a man standing guard. We’ve been noticing the Jackals driving through town more often than they used to, and that’s not a good sign. The Jackals have been trying to find a way to keep us connected in running their drugs. Meteor set us up for a fall, and the Jackals took advantage of the situation. Our deal with them is nearly done, and that means the Jackals are going to try every underhanded trick they know to keep us doing their dirty business.

“Yeah. They’re beginning to get on my nerves.” I run a hand through my hair and let out an exasperated breath.

“You think they’re getting ready to strike?” Drifter asks.

“Can’t ignore their threat.”

“We should strike first.”

“Maybe, but their new president is volatile, and Guard’s trying to get some intel for us. If we strike, I want to know what we’re going up against,” I say.

“Makes sense, but we need to prepare,” he says.

“That’s part of the meeting.”

“I’ll make sure everyone’s present,” he assures me before he takes off.

Etain

Ihave lunch with Sasha, then make the necessary calls to have the rest of my stuff from storage delivered to my new place. It arrives tomorrow. Thankfully, Sasha has agreed to hang around to let the movers I hired in.

I couldn’t handle the onslaught of calls from Robert and ended up turning off my phone. I turn it back on to make sure I didn’t miss a call from my parents, and sure enough, I did. I call them back immediately, knowing they’ll be worried. I never let their call go to voicemail.

“Hey, Dad. Sorry about earlier.”

“My girl! I thought I was going to have to drive across three states to check on you,” he jokes.

“I had to turn my phone off. Robert has been pestering me all day.”

“He has some balls.” Dad was pissed when he heard Robert cheated on me. “Do I need to have a talk with the man?”

“No, Dad. I’m taking care of this myself. I’ve moved on. I even have a new job,” I say, trying to change the subject. We talk for a while longer about Sasha and my new home, and my new job as an office manager for RR Mechanics.

“We’re so proud of you,” my mother says. “Will you be able to come home for a visit soon? We miss you, honey.”

“Not sure. Starting a new job means I might not get a vacation for a while. Give me a few weeks to settle in, and maybe you can come out here to see me,” I suggest.

There’s a knock on my door. “Got to let you go, Mom. There’s someone at my door.” I’m halfway to the door when I hang up and hurry the rest of the way to look out the peephole. A cop is standing there, with Robert beside him.

“Officer, to what do I owe the pleasure?” I ask in a sugary-sweet tone, not bothering to look at Robert.

“Your fiancé was worried about you, ma’am. Said you weren’t answering your phone. He insisted that this isn’t like you. You all right, ma’am?” the officer asks.

Right then and there, I decide that phones are the devil! Fucking Robert and his tricks. I open the door wider and wave my hand around. “As you can see, Officer, I’m all alone and very safe. What the gentleman behind you hasn’t told you is that weweretogether and now we are not. Robert doesn’t like that I’m not taking his calls and, hence has enlisted your help to see me.”

“I was genuinely worried!” Robert says indignantly.

The officer looks from me to him, his fists clenching. I’m sure he’s not happy about going on a wild-goose chase. I’m about to ask them both to leave when Hawk comes up the steps.

“Hey, Syd, how’s it going?” Hawk asks.

FIVE

I Protect My Own

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