Page 218 of American Hellhound
He slid out of bed without waking her – she slept like the dead when she was pregnant – and pulled on last night’s smoke-smelling clothes. He grabbed his cigs off the dresser and went down the hall, through the common room, outside into the clear, cold morning, pulling in stinging lungfuls of fresh air.
He’d thought to find himself alone with the steaming river and the sunrise, but he wasn’t. Boomer was collecting plastic cups and utensils from the ground, stowing them in a garbage bag.
The kid froze a moment, when he realized Ghost was there, then resumed his chore with self-conscious care.
“Hey.” Ghost lit up a smoke and sat down on top of a picnic table. “Come here a sec.”
Boomer glanced over his shoulder, like there might have been someone else Ghost was talking to.
“Yeah, I’m talking to you. Get over here.” When he was closer, walking with his head down, fingers flicking with nerves: “You gotta quit looking so spooked all the time. Can’t have my crew getting that kind of reputation.”
“No, sir,” Boomer said, drawing himself up straighter as he reached the table, attempting to smooth his features into a blank mask.
Ghost gave him a smile. “You’ll get better at it. Your dad didn’t ever talk you through it much, did he?”
Color bloomed on his cheeks and he glanced away, out toward the water. “Only a little.”
Duane would have called it getting soft, but Ghost knew Maggie would have said it was his paternal instincts – his pulse of empathy for Boomer and his brothers of choice. Maybe he was maturing – finally – because he could distrust Roman, and still want to show some kindness to the guy’s son. It wasn’t Boomer’s fault his old man was an idiot loser.
Just like it wasn’t Aidan’s.
Shit, he was doing better, but he still felt the crushing weight ofnot enoughall the time.
“I’m gonna recommend Aidan be your sponsor when you prospect,” Ghost said.
Boomer’s head snapped around, gaze startled and unguarded. “But…”
“Yeah. You’re not done with your hangaround period, I know. But you’ll get your prospect patch, no problem. And when you do, I think Aidan’ll be good for you. He’s been where you have.”
Boomer’s brows went up.
“Son of an asshole.”
Slowly, like the dawn breaking across the Tennessee River, the boy grinned.
Thirty-Three
Then
While James looked on, mild and smiling, the most true to life figurehead imaginable, Ghost began the recruitment process. As boys flushed out, went to prison, transferred to other chapters, and dropped off the face of the earth, he started bolstering their ranks with members who would contribute to the club, rather than take from it.
But he supposed his first recruit was Maggie. She was the one who shored him up, completed his transformation from boy to man. Who helped him think like a leader. Like apresident.
~*~
“I hear you’re trying to build yourself an empire,” Phillip said, amusement radiating through the phone line. A chuckle all the way from London. “And last I checked, an empire needs capital.”
“Why do I get the impression you’re trying to sell me something?”
“Not sell. Offer you the services of. I’ve got a little brother who’s ageniuswith numbers. You could have your very own Money Man.”
“Your brother?”
“Yeah.” Phillip sighed. “Look, he’s a good kid. He’s little, quiet, he don’t eat much. And I gotta get him away from Charlie before one of them winds up dead.”
Which was how Ghost and Maggie found themselves at the airport three days later, waiting on Phillip Calloway’s little brother to show up.
“Daddy, how far away is London?” Ava asked, clutching her raggedy stuffed dog to her chest, eyes wide as she watched the people coming and going across the slick terrazzo floor.
