Page 79 of Devil's Work: Dark

But fuck, it’s hard to imagine going into this without Dark. It feels wrong. Kids and a woman take precedence. The brothers that need to be here are here with me and I need to remember to be thankful.

Dark’s where he needs to be.

And this is where I need to be.

We hit the road, Harley’s blazing. Time isnoton our side. Not with somethingthisimportant.

The trip started out good enough, but the closer we get to Charlotte, the more those fat, heavy rain clouds in the sky look ready to throw down. We drive through that weather system for the whole four and a half hours, though the rain holds off until we hit the edge of Charlotte and the day looks dark and ominous.

It might have been years since I’ve stepped foot in this city, but I remember it like the smooth skin of a woman’s ass. We turn into the driveway of a Marriott Hotel. Just because I’m heading into a shithole tomorrow doesn’t mean I’m sleeping in one tonight.

After checking in and dropping off our bags, we meet in the hallway and head to a bar I know that serves some great food and the drinks are cheap.

Monty’s is exactly like I left it. The chip in the door frame. The same burnt-out lightbulb in the fixture above the door that requires a ladder to reach. The same smell of stale beer and old grease clinging to every particle of air you suck into your nose and mouth.

“Jake?” The old bartender Bugsy calls out. He looked old before I left. Now he’s the walking dead. His long stringy hair, what’s left of it, is whiter than snow. His whiskers cover his wrinkled face in shades of white to gray, and that term flesh and bone honestly applies to him.

“It’s me, Bugsy,” I call back.

“Jake Carr. I’d recognize you anywhere. You got in with one of those motorcycle gangs?”

I nod. We’re more of a club than a gang now, but that’s semantics. “Good to see you, old man. These are my brothers Cutter and Roughneck.”

“Cutter. Roughneck.” The man nods at each of them as he says their name. “Beers or something harder.”

“Want something harder,” I tell him sincerely. “But here for business so need to make it beer. Got to keep my head. And it’s Reaper now, not Jake. Jake died ten years ago.”

Bugsy shakes his head. “Take it from an old man who’s seen it all. I’ll call you Reaper if that’s what you go by but Jake is still in there. I see him.”

That cuts too close to home. I don’t want anyone seeing Jake.

He slides three bears along the counter in front of us and I change the subject. “Still got those bacon cheddar burgers on the menu?” I ask.

“Even if I didn’t, I’d have one for you Ja-erm-Reaper. Still want your onion’s grilled?”

“Is there any other way?” I tease.

“Rings?” he asks.

I look at each of my brothers then nod. “And curds, too. We’ve been on the road.”

“Patty,” Bugsy calls. Dammit if his granddaughter Patty doesn’t strut her fine ass over to us from the kitchen all grown up. And did I say looking fine? She has her auburn hair piled in a knot at the top of her head. These crystal blue eyes that stare right through you and a rack fashioned by the gods.

“Jake Carr,” she says, eyeing me up and down. “Definitely a pleasure.”

“It’s reaper now,” Bugsy corrects her. “And these three men want the bacon cheddar burgers, grilled onions, not raw, rings, and curds.”

“Coming right up.” She winks at me as she walks away, swaying her hips.

“Damn,” Cut sighs with his head cocked, checking out her ass. Damn is right.

“You hit that?” Rough asks once she’s out of view and Bugsy moved down the bar to wait on another customer.

“Not without prison time. She was fifteen when I left. We leave the little ones alone, remember?”

“Not so little now.”

No. She’s definitely not. But I don’t fuck around. I don’t know what to call this thing going on between Dusty and me but she’s not the type of woman you fuck around on. She’s a professional. Has college degrees. A Physician’s Assistant who runs her own practice. She’s brains, beauty, and class mixed with sex appeal and attitude, and topped with a big, beautiful heart. Like I said,notthe kind of woman you fuck around on.

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