Page 25 of Rage's Solace

I can tell by the tone of his voice, he’s trying to be funny, probably to lighten the dark mood that hung over our last meet up.

“I’m leaving now. Don’t start without me.”

I pull on a t-shirt and a clean pair of jeans and grab my cut. Siege sounds frazzled so I don’t wanna keep him waiting, I really need a coffee but that will have to wait. I put on my boots at the door and slide my cut on once I’m on the porch. I see Tracker standing like a sentinel, scanning the area with a pair of binoculars. I jog out to meet him.

“Thanks for being on the lookout last night. I slept better knowing you were on the job.”

He gives me a twitch of a grin. “It wasn’t just me. Evan, Ralph, and Larry are here as well.”

“I’d like to think four men watching my house all night is a bit of an overkill but to be honest, unless I know who the enemy is, I can’t be sure it’s not necessary.”

“Agreed. Don’t worry, we won’t leave until you get back or Siege sends replacements. If any fucker tries to sneak up on your place, he’s gonna get hogtied and escorted the clubhouse for interrogation.”

I slap him on the back and tell him, “Let’s hope and pray the dirty bastards turn out to be stupid enough to show up here twice in as many days.”

He laughs, “That would make our job considerably easier.”

“It would, but I’ve gotta go. Siege said Zen dug up information that might help us figure out what the fuck is going on here.”

“Better run, brother. You know how impatient Siege is to get things done.”

“Oh, I’m all too familiar with how hard-driven he can be.”

When I walk out to get on my bike, I catch sight of Evan with Mister Boots in his arms. It’s a strange sight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anyone’s arms except Gerald’s. Boots doesn’t normally allow that, that cantankerous feline seems to be softening in his old age.

***

I rush to the clubhouse in time to see Venom scoot into the meeting room. I pick up speed to catch up with him. “How’s Mia and my mom?”

He gives me a disgruntled look. “She’s our mom. I agreed to share her with you, not give her over to you.”

I decide to wind him up a bit. “She called me son yesterday. I think she really likes me.”

“Oh really? I know that’s a damn lie because she doesn’t even call me son and I’m her fucking actual real-life son.”

“I don’t know, man. I think you’re falling out of favor with her. She didn’t even send you croissants.”

“You got croissants and didn’t save me one?” He doesn’t give me a chance to answer before adding, “You’re just bullshitting me like you always do. Want to know how I know?”

I just shrug.

“What word did she use for son?”

I try not to laugh because he’s right. Meli would use the French word for son, and I haven’t a fucking clue what it is.

When I don’t immediately answer, he swears under his breath, “I fucking knew it. I swear to God, if you keep winding me up about shit like this, I am going to beat your ass.”

“Calm the fuck down, Ven. If you weren’t so easy to mess with, people like me wouldn’t get such a fucking kick out messing with you.”

He points at me, making little punches with his finger against my chest to accentuate his point. “I am tired of your shenanigans. You have a shitty sense of humor. You really need to work on that before Mia begins shit talking people. She could get in real trouble for that at school you know.”

His words feel like a gut punch. Suddenly, I’m feeling all kinds of conflicted. Mia looks up to me. She probably would try to joke around like this if she saw me do it. Maybe I need to do better if I’m gonna be in her life. I frown at him but by that time, everyone is settling down around the conference table, so we follow suit.

Siege starts out the conversation by saying, “Zen, Rigs, and our contact at the Las Salinas PD have all been digging for intel and coming up with conflicting information. So, let’s get right down to it. Rigs, why don’t we start with the information from our police contact?”

Rig shuffles around some papers in front of him before speaking. “There were fingerprints all over the bunny box. They also found some trace DNA.”

Ven asks incredulously, “Is that what we’re calling it?”

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