Page 20 of Echoes of a Muted Song

“Marines.”

“Nice.”

“It was. My time taught me a lot, good and bad. Now that it’s over, I’m grateful for the chance to keep my skills sharp and put them to good use protecting others the way I swore to do when I enlisted. The best part about it is that I get to see the country while I’m doing it, and who knows,maybe more of the world than I’ve already seen.”

“I’d love to see us go international one day,” I typed. “That’s the end goal of every band.”

We gave our order, chuckling when we all requested our steaks the exact same way. Medium rare leaning on the rare side, loaded smashed potatoes and the house famous grilled brussels sprouts smothered in onions and bacon. Great minds and all that.

“So, what’s the issue with the assignment and how can we help you sort it out?” Mickey asked.

Sully raised an eyebrow as he glanced from Mickey to me and I shrugged, because Mickey was clearly taking charge on this part and I was more than willing to let him run point while I sat back and observed the way they interacted outside of the hotel suite.

“Right to business, I can appreciate that,” Sully said.

Where others might have made a playful remark about hoping Mickey had a fun side to balance out the serious one, Sully just opened the binder he carried, and flipped to the section marked with a green tab.

“Point blank I need to ask if Keegan and Rebel are hot heads,” Sully said, steepling his hands in front of him as he stared across the table from us.

“Rebel can be impulsive, but he’s not a hot head,” Mickey said. “The more pissed off he gets, the quieter he gets, which is the opposite of who Rebel is. That guy never shuts up unless he’ssleeping, or on the verge of losing his shit, but he never loses it on people. He tends to internalize, twist whatever happened around until he’s picked it apart enough that he can find some way that he was at fault, even when he wasn’t. The only time he rants about anything is when he’s drunk, then it’s a no holds barred, vicious tirade, where he doesn’t care who he offends. The usual result is a shitstorm of profanities and a sliver of what’s actually going on.”

“He pours all of his rage into his guitar,” I typed. “It’s like he’s using it as the weapon to slay his demons. But in the moments when the silence has taken over and he’s stewing on it, he drinks way more than he should. We’ve all had to cut him off and hustle him out of someplace because he was damn near passed out in his chair, or sliding out of it and onto the floor underneath.”

“Okay, good to know, that gives my guys something to watch out for and settles my debate of who to assign to him,” Sully said.

“Who are you thinking for him?” Christine asked. “Steel and Jett?”

“Naw, not Steel. I thought about it, but he’d be a better fit guarding Jagger. Jett, though, I am going to assign to Rebel, along with Cyril, I think those two will work well together and keep Rebel from trying to nap under a table.”

“When Cyril’s assignment set to be over?” Christine asked.

“Saturday night. He’ll be flying in Sunday morning, I’ll brief him on the way back from the airport, that will give him the chance to read Rebel’s dossier. I’ll send Jett a copy tonight. I was still on the fence when I sent him out with Rebel this morning. Now I’m certain that was the right decision.”

“So, was Keegan the other one you were having trouble matching?” Mickey asked.

“Yes, and I noticed that neither of you made any attempt to deny that he has a tendency to lose his shit.”

“He’s gotten in a few fights, and he shoots his mouth off when he shouldn’t, but he doesn’t start shit,” Mickey said. “He will and has finished it. So far he’s been lucky and hasn’t picked up any charges, but we’ve all warned him about keeping himself in check now that there’s a brighter spotlight shining on us.”

“So he doesn’t go swaggering through places trying to throw his weight around?” Sully asked.

“Oh hell no,” Mickey replied. “He’s as low key as they come, he’s just spent a lot of time tucking shit away that goes on between him and his family, and sometimes that all comes out when he’s dealing with someone he doesn’t have to hold back from giving a piece of his mind. I think he’ll be more mindful now that things with him and Jagger and Robbie have reached a point where they are damn near inseparable, but if someone were to threaten them and whathe’s found with them, I know that would lead to a more volatile confrontation than any he’s ever had before. That’s a key trigger for him. No one hurts the people he loves. You saw what happened when you guys caught our former roadie. How many guards did it take to keep him from ripping Marcus apart?”

“Four, which was damn impressive considering one of them was Steel and that man’s a beast. I’ve seen him manhandle guys Keegan’s size and bigger without any backup, and Keegan knocked him on his ass trying to spear Marcus. Where the hell did he learn that anyway?”

“Football,” I typed. “We played on the same defensive line all through high school.”

“Let me guess, he played nose tackle.”

“Nailed it in one.”

“And you?”

“Edge Rusher.”

“Put a lot of quarterbacks in the dirt, didn’t you?”

“That was the goal. I was always starting line.”

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