Page 47 of Malachi
“Now that you two have kissed and made up,” Ollie began.
“Shut the fuck up Ollie,” I grumbled. But it was true. I felt lighter than I had in weeks. It wasn’t enough to fix it completely, but Christ, it was a start.
“As I was saying before the grouchy mountain man over here so rudely interrupted, what is the plan with Agent Driscoll?” Ollie continued.
“That’s where things get a little frustrating,” Levi said, a terse look of annoyance written on his face. “Right now, we need to get proof.”
“Which is what you were supposed to be doing on that trip,” I interjected with an abject grumpiness.
“Yes, and he did and then he got caught, which means he had to destroy the phone, and with it, the evidence,” Ruth reminded, shooting me a look that could have killed a man. Not going to lie, that woman may look as meek and mild as the Virgin Mary herself, but she was a fiery thing when she wanted to be. I smirked at her. I liked that fire.
“We need to buckle down here, guys,” Levi advised seriously. “We need to keep our communication a lot more secretive and careful. Eyes are on us whether we like it or not. We have the FBI on our side now, if we can just get the proof. So we need to find it, and we need to find it quick. Once we have it, the FBI will have all the cause they need to shut this whole operation down.”
“Don’t they have enough probable cause now to just go in with a search at least?” Naomi piped up.
“You’d think so, and technically, yes. But they tried that twice before. Once back when we were kids apparently, and once way back in the late seventies. Both times, the assholes had covered their tracks enough to get out from under the FBI’s questions. It made them smarter and even more difficult to catch,” Levi explained. That sick feeling was rolling around in my gut once more.
“So we double down, do what we’re told, and get the fucking evidence,” Ollie agreed gravely.
“Then we get the fuck out of here,” Zeke added, to which we all nodded and voiced our agreement.
“That means no more risky behavior. No more talking about things out in the open. No more trips into Abditory,” Levi instructed, looking at each of us.
“Who’s making trips into Abditory?” Ollie questioned. We all looked around the room, most of the eyes swinging my way.
“It wasn’t me,” I defended myself.
“Oh, come off it, Kai. You want me to believe you didn’t escape to St. George to find some little bunnies to chase through the woods?” Zeke joined in, teasing me.
“I’m serious. It wasn’t me.” I doubled down.
“Then who was it?” Zeke asked. I looked around the room, noting that Gideon hadn’t reacted at all. The little fucker.
“Gideon, you fucking idiot,” I groaned, shooting him a look.
“Don’t blame him, it was my fault,” Naomi jumped to her husband’s aid with a sheepish blush creeping over her cheeks.
“Naomi?” Delilah questioned, but a look of sheer curiosity and excitement — and perhaps a little jealousy — was evident in her eyes.
“What? I couldn’t help it. His dirty talk was driving me crazy!” Naomi whined.
“Okay, I need details,” Ruth chuckled.
“He kept talking about tying me up in front of a room full of people and… well… he was right. It was hot a fuck,” she all but moaned at the memory.
“Naomi, you lucky slut,” Talia teased her. I had to admit, it was fucking fantastic to hear the wives talking like this. I was pleased for my brothers, if not a little jealous. But now was not the time to fixate on that.
“Like Levi said, we need to lay low, keep our heads down, and get back to business,” I brought the matter back at hand. “I’ll see if I can talk to some of the Elders —”
“No, you won’t,” Zeke chuckled, cutting me off succinctly.
“Huh?” I questioned, my eyebrow raised at my younger brother.
“You still have your honeymoon to finish,” he reminded me. And just like that, the full reality of it all came crashing down around me. We had just learned the whole truth, learned what the fuck was up with Levi, we had a full game plan with everyone on board — and I could do absolutely nothing but sit around with my fucking wife.
I felt grouchier than I had when I walked in and didn’t try for a moment to keep that fact from showing in my demeanor.
“Fine. Now that we are all on the same page, let’s get back to our homes and put this plan into action,” I grumbled, feeling exhaustion settle over me like a fog.
