Page 18 of The Devil's Ice

“Drake called me this morning. As you all know, Briley and the babies got home from the hospital on Saturday, and they’ve finally decided on names.” He looked around at the rapt faces. “Hannah and Joseph Keeler-Morris.”

Instantly, the room was full of glowering, tough men – men who were more comfortable shooting someone in the head than changing a diaper – who looked utterly delighted.

“That’s everything now,” Scars said loudly. “Get your asses back to work.”

All the men scattered. Well…almostall the men.

Ice waited until the room had cleared, then he walked over to Scars. Those sky-blue eyes watched his approach, and there wasn’t even a flicker of surprise or wondering in them. Scars knew what Ice was going to say; of course he did.

Before Ice could even open his mouth, Scars jumped in:

“Wolf trusts Bale. He’d never have gone along with any of this if he didn’t.”

Ice narrowed his eyes. “Does he trustBale, or does he trustDenton, becauseKingtrusts Denton, and Wolf actually trustsKing?”

“Denton vouched for Bale, with zero reservations,” Scars said evenly. “That was good enough for Wolf.”

“Was itreally?” Ice cocked his head. “Because that doesn’t sound like the Wolf Connor thatIknow. That man doesn’t put his faith in anyone blindly, so I’m finding it hard to believe that he’d just take some random gang unit guy at his word. Even one who was vouched for.”

Scars gazed steadily at Ice. “Why the sudden interest? When we were locked down in this room, planning everything and triple-checking information, where the fuck wereyou?”

Ice flinched. Yeah, that was harsh and it stung, but it was fair. He knew that.

“I – just –” Ice looked down, then met his President’s hard stare. “I fucked up, Scars. I let my ego get in the way of the bigger picture, which was supporting Wolf. I was childish and a prick and an asshole. I’m sorry. I should have been here, helping you guys. I – I wish that I had been. But I’m here now, OK? I’m sorry, and I’m here, and I’ll dowhateveryou need me to. I promised that to Wolf before he left, and I’m not letting the man down again. Notever.”

Scars looked at him some more, then he grinned. “Never heard you say so many words all in a row before, Johansson. It’s pretty shocking, actually.”

“Yeah, well,” Ice said. “I owe you an apology, man, and that’s just for starters. I need you to know that I’m in this, all the way, and I’m loyal to you. I’myourEnforcer now, so just give a command and I’ll do it, whatever it is.”

“Like you do it for Wolf, without asking why?” Scars said softly. “No questions asked?”

Ice’s eyes and voice were as cold as they ever got. “Not a single fucking one.”

The men stared any each other, held the moment between them for a few seconds longer. Then Scars smiled again, clapped Ice on the shoulder.

“OK. Good to have you back on board… and since you are, I can tell you one last thing.”

Ice paused. “Something that you kept from the guys just now?”

“Something that I kept fromeveryoneexcept Wolf,” Scars said. “And now you.”

“You mean –”

“I mean that me and Wolf set up one more layer of security… just us. We didn’t share it with Bale or Denton. Not even with King.” Scars narrowed his eyes. “Wolf wanted it to stay totally secret. Theonlyperson he said that I can tell is you… andthatwas if you came to me on your own accord, ready to reclaim your role.”

Ice nodded, feeling mightily relieved. Nowthatsounded more like the Wolf Connor that he knew and respected – the man might have been named after the dangerous, wild wolf, but he understood a thing or two about foxes too:

The cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf.

And foxes always,alwaysdig back doors.

“Thank fuck for that,” Ice said fervently. “So what did you guys do?”

“We set up a code word,” Scars said. “Well, more like a codedecoy.”

“OK.”

“When Wolf tells Viper and his committee about all of The Blood Crew’s dirty jobs and financial matters, he’s going to spin a story that Dawson Kinney has a falling-down cabin up in the Rockies that he’s renovating. Under it is a hidden bunker kind of thing, jam-packed full of weapons, bags of cash, drugs. Kinney’s safety net, his rainy day fund. You know the kind of thing I mean.”

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