Page 116 of Roses Are Dead
No. Fuck no. Hammer was supposed to be with Rose. I quickly texted him, demanding his twenty.
Lake. Lockdown. Smoke n Sprout hdng here fr job site.
That meant at least two ol’ ladies were under his care already. I sent a thumbs up to his message and waited while Jackson gave orders to Hickey to keep his wife safe.
That done, he kept the phone in hand. The black mirrored surface felt like a pit.
“Rose is on Zoe?” I asked carefully.
“If it’s any consolation, they’re both armed.”
If Zoe couldn’t keep her phone on her at school, there was no way she’d be able to bring her handgun in. “Where’s Zoe’s gun?”
He grimaced, realizing what I had. “Probably locked in her glove box.”
I didn’t have to roll my eyes to let Jackson know what kind of stupid place that was for it.
“She’ll be fine.”
Jackson didn’t fire off platitudes recklessly. So, I dissected the disassociated way he spoke. He was telling himself that lie, not me.
“Ride with me. We’re going to go make sure of that.”
Our bikes waited outside. Jackson took lead, breaking laws to get to the school as fast as he could. I shadowed him, head on swivel so we wouldn’t get busted.
About three blocks away, my efforts weren’t enough. A cop pulled out from his blind all lit up. I gunned my bike to jump ahead of Jackson so I could tap my head, then downshifted fast so the cop would nab me, not him.
But that idiot circled around to join me.
Jackson smiled nicely and took the blame. Bear was just keeping up, officer. Give me the ticket, not him. I glared at my boss the whole time, not daring to say anything lest we get arrested on top of everything else.
Two tickets and twenty minutes later we pulled into the school lot. It was empty. My phone had been buzzing on my hip the entire time. I pulled it out and checked the messages from Rose.
“They’re at the junkyard.”
Jackson looked confused. “Why not home?”
I held up a finger and dialed Rose.
“Bear! Oh, thank the Goddess. Are you okay?” Her breathy, rapid-fire words barely registered.
“Is Zoe with you?”
“Yes, we’re fine.” I heard Zoe in the background say something.
“Tell her to call her dad, now.”
Jackson’s phone rang within seconds. “Baby girl, tell me something good,” he answered.
I breathed out a quick thank you to the gods. To Rose I said, “Stay there. I’ll bring Jackson in. And if you could, please find out where Griz is? Let him know I’m on Jackson, and he should confirm Wolf’s twenty.”
“No shit?” Jackson’s tone caught my attention. So did his laughter. “No, you can’t have a shot until I get there, do you hear me?”
Zoe’s “Da—ad” echoed through my speaker. “Why does Zoe want a drink?” I asked Rose.
“It’s not that, and it’s complicated, you might want to hear this in person.”
With that cryptic warning, Jackson signaled I needed to end the call and get moving.
