Page 148 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

“Who said I’d use my dick. I have a lot of toys. Barbed wire cuts through a pussy like butter.”

That made me pause. I didn’t want to know how he knew that.

“You need help.” And probably a lot of jail time.

“So I’ve been told.”

My fingers grazed over a familiar smooth handle.

“Ah ha!” I exclaimed while shooting up and holding my bat up in the air.

Atlee eyed the jagged chunk missing from the middle. “That’s your bat?”

“Yeah?” What was wrong with it?

Okay, so maybe it had seen better days. The wood was splintered in some places and the gator got a good chunk of it, but it was still sturdy. It would do the job.

“What the hell are you going to do with that?”

“I figured I’d start by smashing it in Romeo’s face.” I hopped down on the ground and gave a test swing, clacking it off my bumper.

Yeah, this would work just fine.

“With that?”

My eyes rolled. “Sorry, I was fresh out of barbed wire.”

“Not even barbed wire would help that thing.”

Ha ha.“This is all I need.”

“To take out Romeo?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay, let me get this straight. You’re going to take out Romeo – the guy that’s been kicking our asses since preschool…” Atlee pointed at my bat. “With that?”

I nodded. “Correct.”

What was so hard to understand. Wood meets head, head gets broken. It was a simple concept.

He stared at me for a second, then pushed off the side of my truck. “Well shit, let me show you where he is.”

That was unexpected and probably should’ve set off warning bells, but I didn’t really care. Besides, if I listened to every little warning that rang through my head, then my bat wouldn’t have a bite missing, and I wouldn’t have a personal vendetta with the gator behind the church. And where was the fun in that?

It turned out that following Atlee was a good idea. Based on the look the guy standing inside the house gave me, I probably would’ve been thrown back out if I was alone.

Pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to beat my way past him – given the fact that he had a gun – but I would give it my best shot. Everybody had weak knees when they were hot hard enough.

Atlee led me up the stairs and towards a room on the right where I could hear two people talking. One of whom I recognized as Romeo.

“Is everything in place?”

“Yes, sir.” The other male voice responded. “We’re all set.”

“Good, keep someone on Nikolai. I don’t want him catching wind of what we’re doing.”

Atlee stopped and glanced back at me. “You didn’t hear that.”