Page 4 of Patching Over

“Bridget Morgan. She’s probably the only soft spot Vector has,” I answer his spoken and unspoken questions. “He, like me, hates dealing with the finances, so he gave her a shot. Once he realized her plan would work, he brought it to me.”

“How’d that go over with Flint?” Declan lets out a cloud of smoke with his dry chuckle.

“I waited a few months, gave everyone a little bonus. Based on her changes, of course,” I answer, grinning as I remembered Flint opening and closing his month without saying a word. Playing both sides of every argument that ran through his mind and realizing that I had already laid out the counterpoint. “There was a bit more grumbling from Northern Cali, but they saw the light.”

“When does she arrive?” Declan asks, leaning back in his chair, having correctly assumed where this discussion was heading.

“In about an hour,” I say, after checking my watch. “She’s always up for a good party. Vector sends his regards and wants to try to get out here in the winter, but he had something come up that demanded his attention.”

“I don’t know much about him, but a guy I know out that way said he’s solid. Ex-military, right?”

“Yeah, medical discharge, otherwise I don’t think he would have returned to the life. That Brick you been talking to?” I ask, racking my brain about which of the Royal Bastards he’d still be close enough to inquire about the Virginia chapter.

“Brick is solid.”

“Vector has mentioned him a few times. Seems like he’s happier as an Imperial Knight.” Although I don’t know the man personally, Silver had dealings with him and has stayed in touch.

“Is Fury going to stay here, or will she need a room at the clubhouse?” Declan asks, not one to take a hint about sharing information. Seems like I’ll have to head east myself, if I want to get a better read on all the players in Virginia.

“She’ll stay with us. A standing arrangement I have with her brother,” I tell him. “Any word from your men?”

Without naming them, he lets me know that Wolfman and Timber are entertaining their targets and a couple of guests. He’s not expecting any further information until they return the morning that the patch party kicks off.

Listening to him, I bite back a grin at how he lays out the facts without beating around the bush. A trait I appreciate but am not usually on the receiving end of. It’s not the first time I wonder if he wouldn’t be happier if his chapter voted to become independent, but once that decision was made, I know he’ll stick to it.

That’s just who he is.

Lightly crushing the tip of my cigar, I leave it in the ashtray for later and excuse myself, wanting to get to the airport to pick Fury up.

Chapter 3

Timber

This is my first time working with Wolfman, and it absolutely proves that you can never really know everything about a person.

I genuinely like the guy. Always have. My past is riddled with jobs likecollectionsandenforcement,but what I did and how I worked is like comparing pee wee sports to professional level all-stars.

Give me a bat, and I can come back with a bag of cash.

It’s been a day since we intercepted the Brookhavens and their driver, but I shake my head, thinking of how put together they looked yesterday. Before he recited that children’s rhyme…

*

“Besides indulging your husband’s pedophile tendencies, I understand you are quite the Francophile,” Wolfman says to Jayne. His face is like a dark mask compared to the man I know. I hesitate for a moment, trying to place the unfamiliar word. “Oh, the look Joey gave Parker when he called her Josephineone time.”

Jayne’s eyes narrow, but I can see the intelligence in them. Unable to speak, she’s undoubtedly playing through angles to use when her gag is removed.

“Timber, did you know that the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill is actually in reference to the fate of French monarchs during the Reign of Terror in 1793?” he asks, not bothering to spare me a glance.

“Jack and Jill went up the hill,

To fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down,

And broke his crown;

And Jill came tumbling after.”

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