Page 124 of Beyond the Badge: Crew

“Cabrera is working undercover there.”

Silence hit his ears for the longest time. In fact, long enough that Crew pulled his phone from his ear to make sure the call hadn’t been dropped.

Finally he heard, “With no backup?”

“I hear your concern in your tone. I have the same.” Actually, a hell of a lot more. “But she insisted and she’s not afraid to be there.”

“Crew…”

“Yeah, brother, I know.”

“That’s almost as bad as sending her on her own down to the Viper’s Den to party with those assholes.”

“Yeah, Fletch, I fuckingknow. That’s why I’m asking you to head over there to check on her.”

“I can’t sit there for her whole damn shift, Crew-tons. Maybe once I’m patched over I won’t stand out so much. But the Angels just don’t hang at that bar. I got the side-eye every time I went in there wearing a DAMC cut.”

“I know that, too.”

Fletch sighed loudly. “I’ll see if I can swing it.”

“Let me know if you can’t.”

“Will do. What time does she start?”

“Whenever she gets there since she’s not on any kind of official clock. She’s only working for tips and meth.”

“Damn. Okay, I’ll work on getting down there. If not tonight, then maybe in the next few nights. You work on finding us a place. And when you do, find a place that isn’t considered shitty chic. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but at least make sure it’s decent. I draw the line when it comes to bedbugs and roaches.”

“Mice and rats are okay, though, right?” Crew asked.

“Only if they’re big enough to eat.”

“I heard that once you grill them, they taste like chicken.”

Fletch made a retching sound. “You try it first and let me know.”

“Hell, Rez’s mom is such a damn good cook, she could make a dish that we wouldn’t be able to tell it’s rodent.”

“Stop, man. Now I’m going to be suspect of anything she serves me.” Crew’s laughter didn’t last long once Fletch asked, “How’s Nox?”

“I want to say he’s a little better, but honestly, I’m not sure if that’s not just my wishful thinking.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. I figure as long as he keeps going to the therapist and that support group, he’ll get back on track. Speaking of, I got the kids this weekend and we’re going to do a little club run with them. Dylan will be Nox’s backpack.”

“Yeah? He volunteered?”

“I asked, he accepted. I think it’ll be good for him. You know how much he enjoys being around all our rug-rats.”

“Yeah. I know this might sound a little whacked, but I think if Jackie would’ve had the baby before she,” Fletch blew out a breath, “died, then I think Nox would’ve made an effort not to sink into a deep depression. He would’ve worked hard to be there one hundred percent for his child. I mean, I’m not a therapist and maybe the result would have been the same, but that’s my gut instinct.”

“You could be right. But that’s not how it happened, so we have to deal with what did.”

“Man,” Fletch started, “I fucking feel for the guy. And I’m probably stupid for telling your ass this, but… If something happened to Nova, I’d lose my fucking mind. So, I get what happened isn’t easy for him to shake off.”

“He’ll never completely shake it off.”

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