Page 47 of Apex of the Curve

“No shit, that’s what I’m worried about, Boy.”

I chuckled mirthlessly. “Just takin’ it one day at a time, if you don’t mind.”

“Seal the deal yet?” he asked.

“Oh, what the fuck?” I demanded and he gave me a shallow and knowing grin.

“She’s a keeper, then. Good to know. Better than your last girlfriend – that’s for sure.” I scowled at him.

“Shit, anything’s better than that ho.”

He chuckled and changed the subject. “Wanna get that mead started tonight?”

I nodded. “Yeah, we can do that.”

“What time’s she gettin’ here?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I told him. “I can do it; and to answer your question, sometime around seven.”

“Oh, good to know – and it’s your night to cook.”

I shook my head and sighed, my phone vibrating in my jacket pocket. I answered it.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, it’s Mav.”

“Sup?” I asked.

“Need you to take care of something, real quick.”

“What’s that?”

“Tell you when you get here.”

Shit, okay, it was that kind of a thing.

“On my way.” I sighed, ending the call before telling my dad, “I’ll be back.”

My dad raised an eyebrow. “When?”

“When whatever needs doin’ gets done,” I answered and he waved me off. Club business. He knew.

“Don’t get caught,” was his parting shot.

“You jinx me, we fightin’,” I told him and he just laughed at me.

I rode out to the club and found Mav at the bar, a steaming cup of coffee at his elbow as he talked on the phone, a pair of aviators on his face despite the dim interior of the barroom.

“What’s shakin’?” I asked.

He held up a hand, finished his call, and then looked at me.

“Dumb fuck broke into the boneyard last night.”

“Shit, cops get him?”

“Nope.”

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