Page 177 of Lone Star

The gun shoved in closer, close enough for her to smell the oil and cordite on it. The rictus twisted into a smirk. “Oh, you’re clever. Not clever enough.” He chuckled – a forced sound. “But I commend the effort.” He stepped back, then, dropped back into his chair, the gun across his lap. “This meeting isn’t about me, Mrs. Snow. It’s about your club.”

From the corner of her eye, she saw movement over an Axelle’s bed – more movement than mere shifting around. She was careful to snap her gaze back to Luis. “If you’re so interested, maybe you should have prospected,” she said. “You could have been a Dog, instead of someone fighting against them.”

He laughed. It started as a chuckle, but then he threw his head back and barked with it; the gun nearly slid off his lap, and when he finally straightened, he was blinking away tears. “Dios mio.” He wiped his eyes with careful fingertips. “I needed that. No, no I never wanted tojoin. The Dogs fascinate me because they’ve proved successful. But I don’t want to ride around on a cheap American motorcycle wearing Levi’s.” His lip curled in disgust. “The Dogs will fall because they’re in my way. I willcrushthem.”

“You sound confident,” she deadpanned.

“I am.”

“But it’s cute that you think killing me is going to accomplish that.” It would crushCandy, personally. And her dad. It was all too easy to envision the lurch in Tommy’s stomach when he was told; to imagine Raven slapping Phillip full across the face.I knew you’d get her killed one of these days!

But her death wouldn’t harm the club. Not long-term, in any kind of widespread way that counted.

Save yourself, Candy had said. And she would if she could, but the club wasn’t just a club – it was her whole family.I’m sorry, love, she thought.I can’t keep my promise.

Luis flashed her another toothy smile. “Who said anything about killing you?”

Fifty-Four

“Need anything?” Jenny asked. She set a glass of clean water on the nightstand beside Jinx, beside a bottle of Tylenol and a granola bar. His face looked pale and drawn, and she supposed the morphine was wearing off, but he had the pump right there, and it was his business at this point; she had too much else to do.

She was already turning for the door when he said, “Jen,” in a way that brought her up short, and had her turning around to face him.

It wasn’t just physical pain marring his expression, she saw now. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“You didn’t drive a truck through the wall.”

“I’m sorry I’m fucking useless.” He clapped a hand down on the bed beside him, and glared at the shapes of his legs beneath the covers. “I don’t know–”

“What’s done is done,” she said, quickly, firmly. “You can’t go back in time and keep from getting hurt. Better not to think about it.”

“I ought to be out there, with the guys.”

“You ought to be right there resting,” she argued. “God knows how much damage you didjumping out of bed.” If it hadn’t been so absurd and dangerous, she would have laughed when Gringo relayed the story earlier.

“I let everybody down,” he insisted.

Yeah, you did, she wanted to say, but would never. She schooled her features, careful not to show her line of thinking: that Jinx had let his own personal vendetta get the best of him; that he’d walked into a dangerously stupid situation that he normally wouldn’t have, all because he was blinded by old grief. She would never voice that, though, because none of them had clean hands. At some point, every person in this club had done something equally petty and reckless, herself included.

She glanced toward the dresser, where Reese had carefully laid out Jinx’s personal belongings: his rings, and wallet, and chain, and the earrings that had been taken out and bagged for surgery. His gun was there, too, spared the hospital treatment before he’d even arrived at the ER.

Jenny picked it up and returned to the bed. Set it down in his lap. Offered him a fleeting smile. “Here. Just in case.”

“If somebody gets all the way back here,” he said with lifted brows. “We’ve got problems.”

“We’ve always got problems.” She patted his shoulder and went back down the hall. Paused to peek in on Tenny, who was fast asleep, mouth slack, eyes twitching beneath his closed lids.

In the common room, the wall had been secured as best as it could be for the moment. Pup gimped along on his good leg, dragging a broom awkwardly across the floor.

“Here.” Jenny plucked it from his hand and waved him away. “Go sit down.”

“Oh, but–”

“Have you had any aspirin or anything for your ankle?”

He gathered himself visibly, shoulders squaring. “I don’t need it.”

“Uh-huh.” She gave him a little shove. “Nickel, can you get him some painkillers and a stiff drink?”

---