Page 32 of Snagged By Hook

That was all the big man had to say about cold-blooded murder?Good?

Outlaw spoke up. “For the record, I had earbuds in and didn’t hear anything that was said earlier, so I’ll read the minutes later.” Everyone knew it wouldn’t be in the minutes.

“Fucking lawyers,” Santa quipped. There was a round of nervous laughter at Santa’s proclamation, but nothing like how they normally laughed. Humor was dead for the time being.

Zombie banged the gavel to regain everyone’s attention. “Sit down, and let’s finish up so we can get this princess party started.”

Hook looked at the wrecked remains of his chair, then back at his Prez. Zombie’s reaction was to raise an eyebrow.

“When Prez says sit, you sit,” Hook mumbled under his breath as he took a knee. Hook had been expecting the worst. To feel awkward and like he no longer belonged. Different. But instead, it actually felt…normal. He breathed a sigh of relief. Zombie wasn’t treating him any differently.

When he’d blurted out the secret he thought he’d carry to his grave—that had been his biggest fear. Not going to jail and paying for what he’d done, but being seen differently. Having his brothers see him as a victim would’ve been unbearable. Normal was good.

Zombie carried on. “With that knowledge, we’re back to square one. Virus, pull up his driver’s license photo.”

When he had it pulled up, he spun the laptop around. “Hook, is that Casey?” Hook studied the grainy photo on the screen. “I can’t say for sure because the picture is shit. It’s been almost two decades, and the facial hair covers too much of his features. Hewas only around seventeen last time I saw him. If I had to guess, I’d say no, but I can’t be sure.”

Nothing was going as planned.

Hook thought for sure he’d recognize Casey instantly, and all the pieces would fall into place. It was supposed to be nice and neat. They could make a battle plan, take him out, then move on with life. Nova and June would be safe and, maybe someday, his.

Instead, he’d confessed to murder, admitted to being raped and pimped out, claimed a family as his own, and now they had no clue who Brent was. It didn’t make sense. It was Barbara’s business model; he could feel it in his bones. That meant there were two people who needed to exit the land of the living.

“Hook, go to Nova’s house, find a picture of Brent. Let’s confirm without a doubt if he’s Casey or not. That’ll give us a jumping off point.”

Why didn’t he think of that earlier?

“Will do, but I don’t think either way will change things. I mean, Brent may not be Casey, but he may be working for or with him. He could’ve taken over for Barbara.”

Zombie scratched his beard. “True, but getting a positive visual of Brent won’t hurt. One we can be on the lookout for. If it goes deeper, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I think we need to increase our protection of your family. What’s the chances you could convince them to stay here?”

“About the same as finding a virgin in a whorehouse. Nova values her independence. Even the current situation is killing her. Nova wouldn’t want June uprooted, or more charity, as she calls it, from the club. She already feels guilty about June having to move, and if I hear how indebted she is to me or the club one more time, I might just lock her away until she sings a new tune.”

“I second that assessment, boss. She tells me thanks at least ten times a shift. She won’t even eat a burger at work without paying for it.”

Croon was backing him up again? Hook missed his easy friendship with him, but if he was going to pity-forgive him, fuck that.

“I can respect a woman for that. I’d rather have them here, more secure, but I know you’ll protect them. I suggest we have a patch sit on the school while June’s there. Keep an eye on who’s coming and going and if anyone is hanging around more than they should be.”

Zombie looked pointedly at Virus with his orders. Virus nodded and started typing furiously. When he stopped, Prez continued.

“Ideally, we’d have a patch taking Nova to and from work too, but since she needs her independence, we’ll give her a tail.”

Virus typed some more. Likely making a schedule of who would do what. The man was a savant like that. He’d have it hammered down and on the club calendar before Zombie dropped the gavel.

“We’ll stay vigilant, but stay in thewait-and-seephase before?—”

A knock on the door halted Prez’s words. If someone was interrupting church, they either had a death wish, or it was life or death.

“Yeah.” Zombie nodded to Teach who got up and opened the door, blocking the room from whoever would be on the other side. He was a clean patch, so he still did the grunt work when a prospect wasn’t around.

“Hey, Teach.” Heidi’s voice floated in through the doorway. “Can you tell Hook Nova’s here with June, and she’s pretty upset? Says she really needs to talk to him, it’s urgent. Oh, and the surprise party is no longer a surprise.” Hook shot up fromthe floor where he’d been kneeling for way too long. If Nova ruined the surprise for June by bringing her early, it damn sure was urgent. She wouldn’t do that if she didn’t absolutely have to.

Zombie motioned for him to stop before rushing out.

“Heidi, love. Would you mind sending Nova in here and watching over June?”

From his vantage point behind Teach, he could see Heidi’s eyes soften as she looked at Zombie. Prez and his ol’ lady’s interactions used to make him squirm, but now he kinda wished Nova would look at him like that.

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