Page 36 of Caged Bird

Eddie jerked his chin toward the man. “That’s Spider.” He pointed in turn at each of the others. “Santos, Derek, and Ward. Huff and Berger round out the crew, but they’re currently…occupied, on another job out of town.”

The look Eddie gave me was so fucking smug and full of amusement for himself that I knew instantly Huff and Berger were the assholes with the knives, currently lurking around my mother’s property.

The driver, Spider, tossed his smoke to the dirt and stepped on it with a heavy boot. “We need to get moving.” He turned to me and added snidely, “If that’s okay with you, of course,Boss.”

I nodded.

The men all stared at Spider, confusion pulling at their expressions while he scowled like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Understanding dawned on me. He’d been expecting the top spot now Eddie was out of commission. And it was pissing him off that he hadn’t been given it.

Eddie chuckled at the clear tension between Spider and me, and I silently berated myself for giving him exactly what he wanted. Eddie had always fed on making people uncomfortable. It delighted some fucked-up part of his brain that got off on other people’s pain.

Eddie clapped me on the shoulder. “You’ve got a job this morning. And it takes a five-man crew to run it.” He glanced at Spider. “You’ll give my brother the rundown, capiche? I haven’t had a chance to run him through the job, so I’m counting on you.”

Spider nodded but didn’t appear any happier.

I didn’t miss the glare he shot my way. Or the delight in Eddie’s eyes as he walked all over me.

As fucking usual.

I forced a sharp whistle out between my teeth, stopping all four men where they stood, Spider with the keys gripped in one hand, the others in various stages of getting into the truck.

“Spider,” I called to the man getting into the driver’s seat. “I’m driving.”

He shot me a murderous look. “No, you fucking ain’t. It’s my truck. Nobody drives but me.”

I returned his glare, in a much cooler, calmer fashion, because that’s all I really had on these guys. An ability to think quietly and calmly. To be smarter. Fuck knew I was well outnumbered in terms of muscle.

“I need the rundown on the job while we drive, and Eddie says you’re the man to give it to me. You can take it up with him if you don’t like it.”

Eddie snorted on his delight. “Seems like you’re riding bitch, Spider.”

The other guys took Eddie’s lead and laughed along with him.

For the first time I could remember, the expression on Eddie’s face was nothing but pure pride.

I’d never felt more disgusted with myself. But getting into town, and to the police, was worth doing whatever I needed to. I had no idea what I was going to do, only that control of the vehicle was vital.

I got behind the wheel and put the truck into reverse when Eddie hobbled over and tapped the window.

I rolled it down.

“Just got a text from Huff and Berger. Mom asked them to pass on her congratulations on your first day as crew leader.”

My gaze snapped to his. I knew for a fact Mom would never say anything of the sort.

Eddie was just making sure I knew that even though I’d stepped into his shoes for a moment, I wasn’t in charge.

And a single toe out of line would result in them hurting her.

God, I fucking hated him. “I get it. Message received loud and clear.” I put the truck in drive and made the mistake of looking up at the house before I put my foot on the gas.

Fawn watched on from the front porch, Otis’s fingers twisted in her long skirt, and a desperate expression on her sweet face.

I drove away torn in two, knowing no matter what I did or didn’t do, I’d be putting someone’s life in danger.

And there was absolutely nothing I could fucking do about it.

Eddie’s place truly was in the middle of Bumfuck, Nowhere. Spider sat smugly in the passenger seat, directing me through the maze of dirt tracks and then small, country roads to get off the property and back into the nearest town. I tried committing each turn to memory, but it was the sort of place where if you didn’t have GPS or some idea of where you were going, every turn looked the same. Trees, trees, and more trees lined the roads, until they eventually gave way to a town that wasn’t walking distance by any stretch of the imagination.

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