Page 47 of Property of Bull
“Put my brother on,” Thunder snarls as Frost and I maintain eye contact; I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed that Frost has turned stark white, but I do.
Christ, this week is just full of surprises, isn’t it?
“Your brother is the reason you owe me a hundred grand. Now why don’t you and your little Mickey Mouse club stop wasting my time and start pooling your pennies together, before I decide to just skip to the part wheremymen burn your town down?”
“Motherfucker,” Thunder roars, taking the word right out of my mouth.
Then the line goes dead.
“What the hell is going on?” I ask, at this point, I’m not even sure what day it is but am pretty sure it was four days ago that I last spoke to Rage.
Bronco, looking exhausted, comes walking in. “Sorry I’m late. Gaven just took over watching the Tucker house. Wait, what did I miss?”
“When did you last hear from Rage?” Frost asks him in return.
“I got a text from him the other day. He had a question about gold mines,” he immediately replies, and starts to reach for his pocket before stopping himself. “Okay if I grab my cell?”
Without waiting for an answer, he turns back, quickly returning with his phone in hand. I’m more interested in the time stamp than I am the message itself.
“It was the day after he left here,” I announce, but don’t feel any relief. “What’s this contact he sent you?”
“That’s the woman he’s friends with from the sheriff's office in Kent County. Joanie. I figured he sent it on accident.”
“He sent it about six hours after the text,” I say, holding Bronco’s phone out to Thunder. “She’s our starting point.”
“What’s our play?” Frost asks the question everyone is thinking.
“They obviously know about us, so we can’t go rushing in. If they eliminated the sheriff, it would have made the news, so they’re smart and organized. Thunder, you, Halo, and Gear head to Joanie’s place and find out what’s going on,” I say before I catch Frost clenching his fists out of the corner of my eye. “What?”
“Send two of them in, then have another three guys holed up an hour out,” he recommends.
“And if the two guys looking for Rage disappear, am I supposed to send in the other three until no one’s left?”
“Stop talking like he’s dead,” Thunder growls before closing his mouth so tightly I can hear him grinding his teeth.
I know it’s his blood, so I understand where he’s coming from. It’s just I grew up in this life and if that bastard in Kent County had a King to bargain with, he wouldn’t have waited for us to call Rage’s phone.
“Bronco, you get some rest, you’re fucking swaying on your feet,” I say, reaching for the gavel to adjourn the meeting.
“Nobody fucks with the Kings.” Our motto is spoken every time church is over. Tonight, every man’s voice is hard, ready for a fight and to show they mean it.
*
I follow the three men who’ll be heading out to the barn, working with them about the best gear to pack up and agreeing on protocols over the next few days.
Stepping back for a moment, Halo motions with his head for me to join him off to the side.
“Texted a pastor I know out near Kent City, I’ll send you his info. He said people were told Sheriff Mills had a medical episode and voluntarily stepped down. His replacement showed up the nextday and shook everything up. Anyway, my contact, Dindak, he’s offered us a place to stay,” he tells me and for the first time in over an hour, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Get back to him, have him invite this Joanie lady out to the church tomorrow. That way she can meet you without anyone knowing.”
“Much better chance of surviving the next twenty-four hours, that way,” he says, doing the sign of the cross. “Better get ready to cough something up to the church plate, Prez.”
“Ain’t that always the way,” I comment, knowing it’ll be money well spent if we get Rage back alive.
Regardless, I’ll have the crematorium chamber ready for some overtime.
Looking around, I signal to Frost, waiting until the men ride out to look at him.
