But Tank isn’t gonna laugh at my little joke. “Different as in out of control,” he retorts. “Which you are.”
Well, shit. I guess he ain’t gonna let this go. But dammit, he’s gone too far with this self-righteous, holier-than-thou attitude.
“Look who’s callin’ who different lately?” I fire back. “Who the fuck are you, anyway?” Other than my best friend. “What gives you the right to come over here all up on your high horse? What, now that you’ve got a girl and a kid, you’re all into playing the big family man, and you look down on the rest of us? Shit, man, you even stopped smoking.” To make my point, I reach for the side table and grab my pack of smokes, lighting one and blowing a big cloud of smoke between us. “You’re the one who’s changed, man. Not me.”
That stops him short. For a second he doesn’t say anything.
“Yeah. I have changed, I guess,” he acknowledges. “But shit, Strike, at least it’s a change for the better. I’m fuckin’ happy. This…” he shakes his head, glances around the room. “Man, I don’t know. From where I sit, you look like you’re tryin’ to outrun something that’s about to catch up with you.”
“Jesus Christ, Tank. Would you fuckin’ stop tryin’ to be my mother? Is this all you came here for, for fuck’s sake? You ain’t tryin’ to stage some sort of intervention, are you?” I sneer. “Cuz you can fuck right off and get the hell out, if that’s what this shit is about.”
I take another angry drag on my smoke, wishing I had a coffee to go with it. Or some hair of the dog. Or hell, some weed.
Tank blows out a long breath. “No, that ain’t why I’m here. I got a favor to ask you. Though I’m starting to have second thoughts about it already.”
“Well, you got a hell of a way of buttering me up,” I quip. “Let’s see. You come in here, insult my cleaning skills, call me a drunk, then tell me you got a favor to ask me. Shit, I can’t imagine why I wouldn’t say yes.”
“Look. I’m sorry, brother.” He raises his hands in a truce. “But just... Consider layin’ off the hard partying just a little, huh? That’s all I’m gonna say about it.”
“You’ve registered your complaint,” I snap. “Now, what’s the favor?”
Tank leans forward and props his elbows on his knees, making a steeple with his hands. “Okay, here’s the deal. You know how Cady and me are working on her getting divorced, and me getting custody of Wren?”
I know all about this shit. Tank has told me Cady’s still technically married to some hard-on who works for her stepdad’s criminal enterprise. Tank wants to ask Cady to marry him, but that can’t happen until Cady gets her divorce. And Tank wants Cady to be able to adopt Wren, too, once he gets custody of her. I know this shit has been on his mind for a while now.
“Yeah. So what of it?”
“Well, we went to see the lawyer yesterday.”
I sit up straight on the couch, forgetting about his nagging in an instant. “How’d it go?”
“Pretty good,” he nods slowly. “I think this lawyer chick knows her stuff. And Cady likes her. This thing is gonna be a long fuckin’ process, though. There’s a lot of moving parts.”
I keep my opinions to myself — of lawyers in general, and of getting a lawyer involved in this shit, in particular.
“What’s that got to do with me? I sure as hell don’t know anything about the law.” Nothing except being on the wrong side of it, that is.
“I want you to run protection on the lawyer.”
I do a double-take.
“What the fuck?”
Tank fixes me with a stare. “Here’s the thing, Strike. I’ve been havin’ Tweak look into Cady’s husband and her family. There’s a chance there could be some trouble when the guy gets served with the divorce papers.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Cady’s stepdad is pretty high up in the criminal underground where she comes from. And Cady’s ex is his right-hand man. Cady skipped town and came to Tanner Springs because her uncle lives here. She seems to think that because they never came after her when she first left, they’re gonna let her go without a fight now. But I’m not so sure.”
I sit up. “You think they’ll come for her when they get word she’s plannin’ to divorce this guy?”
“Could be. I don’t wanna take any chances.” He leans forward and steeples his fingers. “I can keep an eye on Cady and Wren, but I want eyes on the lawyer for a while, since the letters and official shit will be coming from her. I want to make sure she’s okay. And I want to make sure this process is as smooth as possible. After everything she and Wren went through, I just wanna make sure Cady doesn’t get freaked out. You know?”
My stomach does a sickening flop.
Cady and Wren were kidnapped by some assholes who were looking to get revenge on our MC. They set Tank up, with Wren’s mom’s help. They were thinking Tank was a weak link that they could blackmail into giving them information that would destroy the Lords of Carnage, in exchange for not killing his girlfriend and daughter.
The MC saved Wren and Cady in the end. And we destroyed the men who wanted to end us.
But I’ll never fuckin’ forgive myself for my part in helping them take Wren and Cady. Even though I had no idea about it at the time.
I never talked to Tank about what I did. I tried to. But I just couldn’t tell my best friend I almost cost his daughter and his old lady their lives.
The fact that he’s coming to me right now with a favor — that he still trusts me, after all that —shit, I’m not about to turn him down, no matter what he wants me to do.
But goddamn. Of all the people he wants me to provide protection for… a fuckin’ lawyer.
And a goddamn adoption lawyer, to boot.
I clear my throat, pushing down the sudden nausea that has nothing to do with my hangover.
“Yeah. I get that.” I choke out. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
Gratitude flashes in his eyes. “I just want someone to keep an eye on her. Keep watch outside her office while she’s at work. Keep an eye on her house when she’s there. Keep a tail on her when she’s out and about. Just until we get a sense of how ballistic Cady’s ex and her family are gonna go when he gets served the papers. A couple weeks, maybe. Get a couple of the other Lords to do shifts with you — hell, even one of the prospects would be cool. Just don’t leave her alone, until we know how shit’s gonna go down with Cady’s ex.”
I mentally consult my schedule — which includes basically nothing but the aforementioned fucking, fighting, drinking, and riding.
“I can do that,” I shrug.
“Good deal.” He reaches out and claps me on the shoulder, then leans back. A shadow passes across his face. “Thanks, brother. Look, though,” he says. “There’s one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You gotta keep your head straight while you’re doing this, Strike. You can’t be goin’ off on a bender when she needs protection. Fuck,” he mutters under his breath, shaking his head. “Maybe I should ask one of the other Lords.”