Page 37 of The Kings of Kearny

“It’s not.”

I led her into her bedroom, and together we quickly packed an overnight bag. I found her meds in the kitchen and shoved them in my purse. We could grab anything I forgot at the store in town. No way in hell was I leaving her here another day. There’d be hell to pay for what I did to that guard—if he really was a guard—but if he was a gang member, which I was willing to bet good money he was, I’d just painted a nuclear-sized target on my back.

Where was Dr. Perez? Had she said the wrong thing to the wrong person, and they’d silenced her? Or had she been in on it after all, and that phone call asking Jakob to come with me was nothing but a lure?

“Are you going to tell me why you felt the need to creatively reinforce my door?” Gran asked.

“We think some bad men may be in the building,” I told her. No sense in lying.

She frowned. “Who’s we?”

“Me and a man named Jakob Larson. I’ll introduce you to him in a few minutes.”

I hoped.

I moved back to the door, my ears straining for the sound of gunfire. The Kings had superior numbers. I’d been annoyed when Jakob arrived with the cavalry, but now I was thankful for it. Hopefully the men downstairs would see that the odds were stacked against them and decide not to put up a fight.

“I met Jakob yesterday,” Gran said.

I whipped around. “You remember Jakob?”

“Of course I remember Jakob. Hard to forget that handsome bastard.”

I frowned. If she wasn’t having a bad day, then what was with the glassy look in her eyes?

Oh no.

I stepped toward her and took a deep breath through my nose.

She put her hands up and stepped back. “What are you doing?”

The earthy, herbal stink of pot hit my nose. “Gran! You’re not supposed to be smoking dope!”

“It’s for my glaucoma,” she said.

“You don’t have glaucoma.”

She dropped her hands and sent me a flat look. “Then it’s for the headaches my overbearing granddaughter gives me.”

I deflated. “I’m sorry. I just worry about you so much.”

She patted me on the arm. “I know you do, sweetie, but you have to let me have a little bit of fun once in a while.”

I decided that now wasn’t the time to point out the fact that her drug test told me just how much fun she’d been having lately.

My phone rang in my purse, and I scooped it out and answered. It was Jakob.

“We’re walking up the hall now,” he said. “Get ready to open the door.”

I pulled the chair free from the knob. “I didn’t hear any gunshots.”

“They took one look at us and bailed.”

“Did you recognize them?” I asked.

“No, but one of the guys with me did. You were right. They’re Jokers.”

Fuck. “Do you think they took Dr. Perez?”

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