Page 42 of Knight
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Knight
“I thought I was done doing the shit work when I got my patch,” Lake joked as he pushed the hair out of his face.
The sun was beating down on us and the river was especially fragrant today. And not in a good way. The scent was not only overly offensive, it sat heavy in the air around us too. The humidity felt like it was at a thousand percent.
I huffed out a laugh as lifted I up another shovel full of dirt. I straightened, stretching my back as much as I could manage. The day was too hot for this and I agreed with him.
“Prospects are busy today,” I grunted.
It was true. Each and every single one of them were at the hospital today. The charity event was something we did a few times a year. We’d get the prospects to dress up and make rounds in the pediatrics wing. A few patched-in members went along too. More as observers, though they usually ended up joining in handing out the truckload of gifts they brought with them. Not only did it bring a smile to those kids faces, it was also a good way to judge a man’s character. It was important to have compassion as much as it was to be able to beat a man dead.
“This didn’t have to be done today,” Lake said as he dug his shovel into the ground a few feet away.
“You complaining?” I said with a half-cocked smile.
“No. Never.”
“I want to make sure the fence posts are set right. The prospects can do the rest.”
“Got it.” Lake returned to his digging. “Gonna have some excellent hole-diggin’ skills after this. My arms are going to be so buff. Ladies look out.” It was clear from his tone he was all jokes.
“You’re such a dumbass,” I said with a laugh.
“Hey.” I looked up at his call only to see him looking past me. I turned to see a cop car parked just on the other side of the entrance to the shipping container graveyard, as I had started to call it.
“What now,” I grumbled as I speared my shovel into the ground then pulled off my gloves.
Lake did the same, then we made our way over to the car. I wasn’t worried because there wasn’t anything here to find nor were we doing anything wrong. But I knew there had to be some reason for this visit.
The glare from the sun bouncing off of the front windshield kept me from seeing who was behind the wheel. As we got closer, the door popped open and the figure uncurled his body as he stood.
“O’Shay,” I said, a tiny sigh of relief went through me.
“Paragon,” The cop replied back in a very gruff, cop-like voice.
An Irish cop. How cliché, right? But it held a purpose, that was for sure. And I wasn’t about to say anything about it because it meant he was more than likely to be on our side versus the law’s.
“What brings you to this side of nowhere?” I asked as I wiped my sweaty hand on my jeans then shook his outstretched hand.
“Station got a call about some possible ‘hooligans’ running around,” he said with a head jerk in the direction of the only house around for miles.
That house happened to be right across the road and looked like it was a heavy gust away from falling over. I had no idea that anyone lived there. But sure enough, as my eyes sought out some sort of life, I saw movement behind the cracked open door. The door was only open a sliver, enough for whoever was there to peek out with one eye. I was too far away to make out anything about them.
“Heard the call come in and decided it would be a good idea if I took it.”
Connor O’Shay was part of the Irish mob. He was American born and raised but every now and then his words would get a lilt to them. I hadn’t been around him that much, but I also knew he would say words like ‘shite’ and ‘ye’re’ every so often.
“We gonna have a problem with this?” I asked as I slowly moved my eyes back to Connor.
“No. Old man Watkins is harmless. I think he’s just lonely. Doesn’t have any family left and all he does is stay in that house all day.”
I looked over at Lake who seemed lost in thought as he stared at the old man’s house. His brows were furrowed like he was trying to work something out in his head.
“Be right back,” he said as he moved past us.
“You’re not going to hurt him are you?” Connor asked, his tone almost sounding amused.
