Page 51 of Law

Let the games begin. He made sure to tag everyone three times.

Thirty minutes later, twelve very tired and sweaty Little girls settled at the table their Daddies had set up and sucked down bottles of water and juice. Then, everyone feasted on hot dogs and chips with glow-in-the-dark snow cones and cotton candy for dessert.

Law coasted back to the bar, pulling off his mask. His senseswere alive and firing. He loved a good chase. Not knowing what his prey would do to get away, or how they might fight back, was a heady thing.

He was tired, sweaty, and happier than he’d been in months. All thanks to Lovelyn.

And that was why it had taken him to the age of forty to find a Little to call his own. No Little had wanted to be prey. And he wouldn’t have asked them to. They’d have been terrified. He’d wanted a unicorn, something, or in his case someone, who didn’t exist.

Until his little fairy cat came into his life. Until Lovelyn, he’d had to settle for being the “fun” uncle who played games with his brother’s Little ones. But now he had a Little of his own who accepted him as he was.

Hutch handed him a fresh bottle of his favorite stout. He loved the, “You want to tell us how you knew in advance Lovelyn would need earplugs tonight?”

It was hard to take a swig of his beer while grinning, but he managed. Sometimes, life just worked out in his favor. He’d had a lot of that lately.

Deke groaned. “You’re shittin’ me. Really? You brought them for yourself? You realize we’re all going to be listening to metal Moana from now on, right?”

Neither confirm nor deny. That was Law’s policy. “You’ll survive.”

Gage clapped a hand on Law’s back. “Payback’s a bitch, brother. You have a Little of your own now. That means we’ll be able to make your life miserable, too.”

Reid didn’t join in their banter. He had something on his mind, and Law was willing to wait while the closest thing he had to a little brother worked it out.

Law could see so much of Reid’s father in him. Sarge, as everyonehad called him, had been a great man. He’d saved Law. Sarge had taken him in and taught him what it really meant to be part of a family. Because of Sarge, Reid made sure Sabre felt like one big family, too.

It took a few minutes, but soon enough, Reid brought everyone up to speed. “Raleigh Stevens called me today after you left with Lovelyn. First of all, he said thanks for bringing Lovelyn over, by the way.” Reid looked at Law. “He thinks your Little girl is going to be a tremendous help and showed up at the perfect time. She and Gabi hit it off well, too. But then he brought me up to speed on things.”

“I’ll let her know.”

It didn’t surprise Law. Lovelyn had a way of making everyone feel needed and loved. He just hoped his girl would rub off on Gabi rather than the other way around. He could see the two of them getting into all kinds of mischief if someone wasn’t watching them.

He grinned. That just meant more fun for him.

Deke focused more on the first part of Reid's comments. “If it was about the General, it’s about damn time. I should have ended him when he almost killed Suzi four months ago. I could have saved the taxpayers of Tennessee a lot of cake.”

Law agreed. Men like Alexander Boucher never got what they deserved through the system. No, he ran the system and had the connections to make all his problems disappear. The only reason he’d joined his brothers in trying to pull Deke off Boucher was the price Deke would’ve had to pay. Deke and Suzi had been through enough.

Zane pulled out the chair next to Law and sat with the men. He’d been skating with the Littles all night. “What are we talking about? Oh, Hutch, I’ll take one of whatever Law’s drinking.”

Law huffed a laugh. “Nice try, kid. I figure, best case, next week, you’ll still be three years away from that. Maybe by then you’llhave what it takes to drink one of my stouts without puking it back up.”

Connor shook his head. “You’ve been drinking that stuff ever since I met you. Don’t feel bad, kid. I’d be puking that rot gut Law calls ale up, too.”

And just like that, Law’s night went south. He’d met Connor and Jaxon Ruiz eight years earlier. Because of the General, Jaxon had been behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit for the last six. It was what had brought all of them, the men he now thought of as brothers, back to Darling. They’d come home to find a way to prove their friend innocent.

They were closer now than they had ever been, but still way too far. Jaxon was almost halfway through his fifteen-year sentence.

“Anyway.” Reid’s voice held the anger they all felt as he glared at them. “Raleigh said Boucher’s trial has been set to start May 23rd. Lovelyn has been a godsend with all the knowledge she’s accumulated over the past four years. But knowledge isn’t proof. Whatever proof the Society has, we need to get our hands on it before they destroy it all, trying to cover their asses and protect the General.”

Gage shook his head. “We’ve been through Boucher’s house so many times I could walk through it blindfolded. I’ve taken Breezy back over there, and we’ve checked everywhere. She doesn’t remember there being any hidden safes or anything. Sawyer even measured the actual footage of each room against the blueprints to see if there were any hidden vaults or anything. If he has any incriminating documents, they aren’t in that house.”

Sawyer was studying his tablet. “He’s out at the Graceview Retreat Center. It looks like he’s turned in for the night. Thankfully, I can’t tell if he’s alone, just that he’s in his room.”

That caught Zane’s attention. Law hadn’t thought anything could pull the kid’s eyes from his phone. “Woah. How do you know what room he’s in?”

Sawyer smiled, but it was the coldest smile Law had ever seen. “He’s wearing an ankle monitor so the police can track his whereabouts. I hacked the signal. There was no way I was going to let him be off my radar and put Suzi, Breezy, or any of the other women at risk. I know exactly where that fucker is every second of every day.”

“Holy shit,” Zane said. “That’s so cool.”

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