Page 25 of Property of Max
Skip groans loudly. “Why must I be tortured so thoroughly?”
“Bones,” Cody says, grinning as he leans toward the phone, “call me if you need me to put the fear ofCodyin someone.”
“I can fight my own battles, brat,” Bones rumbles. But this time, there’s something softer under his gravelly tone. Almost like admiration. “Stay safe. Talk later.”
The line goes dead, leaving silence in its place. I just stand there, rooted to the floor, trying to piece together everything I’d just heard.
What the heck just happened?
“Problem solved,” Cody says, like it’s the simplest thing in the world. He claps his hands once. “Now, let’s find you a new job.”
“Wait…” I blink, still reeling. “How do you even know those people?”
“Oh, we’re old friends. But Bones and I go way back,” he says, waving it off. “Actually, you’ve met him a few times before.”
“I have?”
“You know Marv from Marv’s Market?” Cody grins knowingly. “The guy who used to bake those giant fluffy cookies he always brought to our birthdays?”
“Who doesn’t know him?” I can’t help but smile, remembering the sweet smell of chocolate chips every year. “He and Jack were always there for everyone with those cookies.”
“Well,” Cody says, lips quirking. “Jack is now Bones. He’s the Enforcer for the Iron Shadows. That’s who we were just talking to.”
Shocked doesn’t even cover it. I didn’t know Jack well. He was the quiet one, the watcher in the corner. The kid with sad eyes who never stayed at the parties long. I knew something had happened to his parents, but I never knew what.
“Really?” I whisper.
Cody nods.
I shake my head, still trying to fit the quiet boy from all those years ago into the dangerous man whose growl made my skin prickle. Finally, I force a laugh and tell him about meeting some of the bikers a couple weeks back, when Micah’s chair gave out on us at the park.
“Tank and Max,” I add, answering the question in his eyes.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” Cody says. “I actually know both of them quite well. Why the hell didn’t you call me? I could’ve helped.”
“Really?” I arch a brow. “Cody, you can’t even lift me. You weren’t about to haul half of that chair into my van.”
“Maybe not,” he admits with a shameless grin, “but I’d have been there to watch two sexy-as-sin bikers flex while they did it.”
“Shameless,” I mutter, shaking my head.
He only winks.
I hug him one last time, the warmth of his loyalty cutting through the chill that Gumphrey left in my bones. “Well, I have to go. It’s Funday Friday, after all,” I say with a weak laugh. “Not sure if I should thank you or not, but I’m going to anyway. Thanks for having my back.”
“Any day. Any time. Any place.”
I leave before my voice cracks, slipping back out to the van.
“Then she was hanged in a tree by her foot until all the blood rushed to her head,” Micah’s tablet drones as I climb inside.
“Whoa,” I say, shutting the door. “Turn that story off, Micah.”
“Aw, Mama, it was just getting to the good part,” Bree pouts.
“How about we go to the animal shelter today and play with some puppies instead?” I offer, forcing brightness into my tone.
“Yay!” Bree cheers, clapping her hands as she climbs back into her seat. “Can we take one home?”
