Page 13 of Legacy of Smoke
Sprout nodded. “Club keeps that bitch around as a favor to ol’ Pinner. That way she isn’t hooking on the streets and the guys she takes home are ours.”
Pieces of information I’d heard in snatches and whispers fell into place. “Makes sense. He goes in, can’t watch his little girl, sics the club on her mother. Everything stays cool.”
“Yup. Except the girl is taking after her mom too goddamn much.” Sprout was uncharacteristically grumpy and getting to the tipping point where his slow anger ignited. A good friend would bring the heat back down, lighten the mood. But a great friend would help him hide the bodies.
“Anything I can do about it?”
He pushed the pause button on whatever dark movie played in his head. “Help me plan a house?”
“I can do that.”
“I need intel. Where she wants her office, what kind of cabinet colors she likes, marble or tile, that sort of thing.”
My beer tasted flat. “You’re asking me to pump her for information?”
“Yeah.”
Which meant spending time with her. That had already proven dangerous. “I don’t know man.”
“Don’t be such a pussy. You’re good at talking to the ladies, or are you out of practice?” He made a funny face at me and wiggled his eyebrows.
“Shut up. I’ll do it.” How and where I would was up for grabs. Perhaps at the site? I could take my lunches in the trailer on days she was there. Sprout would be there as chaperone in case I got over my head. And maybe if the weather stayed nice, I could sit outside with her. No harm, full transparency, lots of nosy people watching, piece of cake. I could do that. “Can you get me a new shower too? There’s mildew in there I can’t scrape off.” I thumbed the combo toilet-shower that barely took up five square feet of floor space. “At least, I hope it’s mildew.”
He leaned over to peer at the tiny space. “That’s disgusting. What else you want? Some chocolates? Candles?”
“I just want to not be living in someone else’s filth, is that too much to ask?”
He looked around, seeing the place for what it was for the first time. “Why don’t you ask Jackson for a room upstairs?”
“You know how he is about that. He’ll point me at one of the hooker’s rooms and say have at it. I can’t do that shit. They’d take one look at my dick, and I’d never sleep at all.”
“That wouldn’t have bothered you before.”
“I grew up.”
“Fuck you. I don’t wanna hear that shit. Come up to the lake house. We got five bedrooms.”
As much as I wanted to take him up on the offer, it might strain our friendship too much. “I’m good here for a while.”
He stood up and picked up a greasy spatula that was semi-stuck to the counter. It peeled free with a sickly squeak and Sprout used it to poke at the hole by the window. Bits of moldy fiberglass and corroded metal fell from the now bigger hole. “Now you aren’t. Get your shit. It’s time you see how the big dogs roll.”
Five miles and one duffel bag later I gaped at the hand carved double doors to Sprout’s domain. “This is teak, and if I had to guess, over a hundred years old. What the fuck man?”
His wife, Danielle, heard us. “They’re nineteenth century, from Marwari, India. Opium traders built lavish mansions there to show off. Grandfather’s mistress brought them here to show off. Now they’re mine.”
He’d warned me she was cute, but I wasn’t expecting practically a clone of Poppy in size and infectious smile but built with pale skin and almost wheat blonde hair. I held out a hand. “I’m Smoke.”
“Yeah, babe, this is my bestie from the cradle to the grave. Ain’t that right?” I nodded in agreement. Ride or die, forever and a day more.
She studied me. “I remember you. And your brother.” Her voice turned decidedly sour.
“Yeah… let’s not talk about that bastard, babe. Smoke’s going to crash here for a while.”
“Really?” She didn’t sound enthused. I’ll give her credit, she tried to plaster on a smile. “That’s great.” Her tone spoke an entirely different story.
“You got a groundskeeper house or anything? I don’t want to impose.”
“I wrecked the RV he was staying in. Poked a hole in the wall. It’s going to be worthless in the winter. Please?” Sprout stage-whispered his sins to his wife. She rolled her eyes but bumped his hip with hers.
