Page 31 of Mad Max

Okay, maybe one of them gets me, at least.

“Who was the person who contacted you?”

“Don’t know. I refer to them as Store Owner since they never told me. They were looking for my uncle, but when I said he was on vacation, they asked me. I didn’t think they really meant me till I got a package with intel on Candy from Oklahoma.”

“You’ll share that package with us.” Not an ask but a demand. I just shrug my compliance.

“The name your uncle gave you was Lou the Fifth?” Mad Max asks.

I smile and nod. “Knew you would figure it out when he said it in front of you lot. Figured that was why you were at the coffee shop, that he must have given you Ford Street to look at too.”

“Care to elaborate there, Max?” Law asks in a very nice way, but even I can hear the threat in his voice.

“Not much to report other than what I said before. Lou ain’t talking. Or he didn’t talk to me, at least. Not sure what you said to him, Fairy, but he was quiet when I got to him. The coffee shop was just me jonesing for a caffeine high and seeing you sitting inside. You looked up to no good, only reason why I went over. Travis told us to ‘keep Boo out of it,’ so that’s what I thought I was doing. So, what shop were you watching?”

“The secondhand shop, Trash to Treasures.” Kooper snorts, and I nod along with him. “Horrible name, right? I mean, it’s obvious and not at the same time. I watched that street for six days, and it was the only one that didn’t have the same number of people going out as it did going in.”

“What, you counted?” Flint grunts as he types on his tablet that he must have had this whole time.

“Yes. Of the 378 who entered, only 369 left. Of those who didn’t come out, they were all alone, and no one else had entered till at least two hours later. All were young and seemed to be selling clothes, not buying, if I’m going by the trash bags they carried. Three were male, the rest female, and they all looked different, so it wasn’t a certain type thing. More like convenience.”

“They could have gone out the back,” Casper muses.

I shrug again. “Sure, but there’s only one way to leave from that back door, and I was watching it as well.”

“And you got a meeting with Duke how?” Kooper asks, his voice laced with skepticism.

“Went and asked for a meeting. The first time I saw a van go to the back, I made my move. Came across three guys, one by the name of Clint. Don’t know about the other two, but they looked like they were strung out. I told them I wanted to become an investor and gave them my card. An hour went by, and I got a text. From there, it was a trial of how to phrase the right word with the right question before I was granted a meeting with Duke.”

“And that’s why you got so chummy with him and gave him a hug, huh? Just friends and all that?” Kooper’s words are snarled, and I squint in confusion.

“No, we aren’t friends. I’m similar to my uncle. I don’t like to be touched by most people.”

“Then why the lasting hug?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. Thought it was to check me for a gun, as he told me to come unarmed. That or he’s just a creep like the people he hangs out with. I didn’t even know I was hugging him till he forced me into his arms. He does get off on selling people, so who the fuck knows why he hugged me? I just know I went along with it because it’s what I had to do to get details on what he needed so I can move on with the plan.”

“And that plan would that be?” Law inquires.

“To save Candy, and whoever else needs it when I’m looking for her, obviously.”

I swear these guys aren’t that bright. Pretty, sure, but definitely not above average on the IQ chart.

Chapter 14 – Mad Max

S

ince I went to prison, my life has been relatively simple. Did jack shit in lockup, obviously. When I got out, the simplicity continued. Eat what I want. Fuck what I want. Do what I want. Being a Hound has let me accomplish this simple life plan of mine. Now it’s fucking anything but that.

The fairy complicates shit.

I don’t know if I trust her. Don’t know if I should trust her. There are too many inconsistencies in her stories, and some just add up too nicely for my liking. The club’s unofficial motto is that nothing is a coincidence. The same day I talk to Lou is the same day I run into her at the coffee shop, minutes before she randomly interacts with the ones running the business? I don’t like it. Smells like a setup.

And if it’s not, then I’m losing my touch. I should be able to sniff out when shit’s about to go down. Should have seen her monitoring a building and noticed the way she went. Fuck, should have tailed her. Done something other than sit there and just shake my head at her as I admired her fine ass walking away.

That, and she called me Beast the second before she left me sitting there. She slipped, I know she did. That wasn’t a play on words or a power play in her plan. I watched her too closely to not see the split second she realized she’d said it out loud. And for once, that name wasn’t said to me in disgust or as an insult. It was a fucking term of endearment. Just like when I call her Fairy.

And fuck if that doesn’t screw things up.

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