Page 139 of Fury

“What’s your name?” I askedhim.

We stood outside the diner on Shepherd Street where I’d just had an early breakfast, and he’d bought himself a cup of coffee to go. I recognized him from the party at the club the other night. He’d been serving drinks. A new hanger-on. They mostly came and went, but a number of them hung on. Like him.

“Drew. Drew Reigert.”

My gaze flicked over him. I knew that name. This kid definitely looked familiar, and it wasn’t just from the party.

“Where you from?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Meager, South Dakota.”

I hadn’t seen or heard from Tania in years, and here was her baby brother offering himself up to me and the Flames. Drew was ten years her junior, and from what little she’d mentioned to me, he was a hell of a lot of trouble. They’d lost their dad when Drew was in kindergarten. The boy had never really known his father, was naturally hyper, and a crazy handful for his mother and two sisters who’d struggled to keep their family afloat.

His brown eyes beamed at me. I knew the signs. Boy wanted to prospect. Eager to sit on a huge burning piece of metal and wear leathers, colors that would make feeble humans sit up and take notice.

I adjusted my sunglasses on the bridge of my nose. “Yeah, I’ve heard of Meager.”

His eyes widened under my silent scrutiny, his teeth scraped his bottom lip.

“Why should I trust you, Drew Reigert from Meager, South Dakota, home of the One-Eyed Jacks?”

I’d become wary of the Jacks now that Jump was their President. And he certainly kept out of my way.

“You shouldn’t trust me,” Drew replied.

I cocked an eyebrow. Well, that was refreshing.

“Until you put me through the paces, that is. Do what you got to do. I get it. I’m good with it.”

“Glad to hear it.” I kept walking.

He strode alongside me. “I’ve been going from shit job to shit job. I came up here months ago to see if I could talk to you guys.”

“What’s the matter, tired of Mommy’s cooking? Sounds like you get bored easy. That’s real life, ever heard of it?”

“That’s true, I do get bored easy. But that just tells me that I haven’t been challenged properly yet.”

Now I was listening. “That so?”

“Yep.”

“I’ve seen you around here before,” I said.

“I’ve come to a couple parties, and I’ve helped out here and there.” He held my gaze. “I’m serious about wanting to prospect for the Flames. For you.”

Not many hanger ons ever dared talk to me.

“You never prospected for the One-Eyed Jacks, hometown boy?”

“Nah, they aren’t the Flames of Hell.”

“Come by today and I’ll have our housekeeper give you a toothbrush. You can get that grout between the bathroom and the kitchen tiles all white and sparkly. The way I imagine it used to be in the eighties.”

“I could do that.”

“Did you ever do it for your mother?”

He laughed. A full belly laugh. The kid was relaxed, sure of himself. I wasn’t sure I liked it. I could spot bullshit a mile off, and as President of my club I had no time for it.

---