Page 82 of What Lies Within

"Fuck no." He leans forward. "But I think you ought to put more thought into the fallout of this bullshit your brother got us into. There'll be repercussions. And not just from the Breed. What happens to Connor, huh? You haven't mentioned where he fits into this idyllic world with Marco heading his family's business."

“No.” I agree. “I haven’t. And for good reason.”

“What would that be?” Turnip narrows his gaze.

“Because I don’t know where he fits yet.” I sigh, collapsing back against the sofa. “The kid wants out, but I don’t trust him. He wants out because he wants away from his father’s abuse. If we remove Terry, I can’t predict what Connor will do.”

Minion shrugs. “For all intents and purposes, he genuinely seemed to want to help us find Maddie today.”

“I got that feeling too,” Hammer affirms. “But I also agree we can’t let him out of our sightifand when this transition happens.”

“What do we do with him, then?” Digger opens the floor for solutions.

“Would Marco work with him?” Rigs asks. “Keep the kid on board?”

“Thought about it.” I rest both hands atop my head, arms wide. “But he’d be a liability. Plus, Marco works best alone. If he’s going to have an apprentice, it’ll be Deo.”

“True.” Rigs shrugs, indicating he’s out of ideas.

“What if he came here?” Hammer looks about the room, gauging reactions.

Turnip shakes his head hard. "No fuckin' way."

Minion frowns. “And at what point do you think we know for sure he’s no threat, huh? An arrangement like that is a lifetime deal, and I ain’t down for it.”

“He’ll always be a threat,” Turnip snaps. “As long as you’re the reason he’s a goddamn orphan without a dollar to his name, he’s got reason to want you dead.”

“He asked us for help to kill his father,” Digger reveals. “This morning.”

“What if that’s a ruse?” Minion points out. “What if he’s playing your sympathies to get inside these walls? It’s working, ain’t it?”

I hate how valid his point is. Rae is here, and Connor will do anything to get close to her.

“It doesn’t have to be decided today,” I stress. “All we gotta do before we leave here tonight is agree on what we’re doing with Terry.”

“Well, you’re overlookin’ one key thing,” Minion states. “Say we replace Terry with Marco and hope he agrees to veto this private road, making the freight way useless. What stops the Devil’s Breed from forcing us onto the highway? How does this solve the issue with Fox’s fuckin’ handshake agreement?”

"We play the devil's advocate," I state, arms folded as I face the room. "We appeal to the Breed's sense of greed and push them north."

“What?” Digger frowns. “How?”

“Point out the issues surrounding usin’ the main roads. Make it expensive. Add costs—bullshit figures—related to avoiding the authorities and make it less viable for them to continue to move through Red River.”

“As though they’d care,” Rigs mutters as Digger says, “You push them North, you move them toward the Kings.”

"I know." Cracking my knuckles, I return to the sofa and drop into the seat. "Which is why the Apocalypse Kings would be first on my list to meet with at the rally."

“They’d be insane to let you do that.”

“They’d be fucking immortal if they helped us bring an end to the whole fuckin’ trade.” My heart hammers. “And we all know they love a good reason for bloodshed.”

Turnip snorts, head moving side-to-side. “You’re crazy if you think you can do this shit without losing lives.”

“Nobody ever did anything great by choosin’ comfort, brother.”

He sighs, Minion shifting to his left.

“Fuck it. I’m in,” Rigs states with a shrug. “Let’s give your ex-wife’s new toy something better to play with.”

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