Page 39 of Rattler
She rolled her eyes, a half-smile curving her lips.“Probably on the porch napping in a sunbeam with Willow.Those two became quite a pair in no time at all.”
“But we still get to clean the litter box?”
She laughed then, a soft musical sound.“Yeah.You need to thank one of your errand boys for that.They bought the expensive litter which is easier to scoop.I put it in the bathroom under that set of shelves.Hopefully all the cleaning stuff will help mask the smell.”
I chuckled to hear her call the prospects errand boys.“Litter boxes smell?”
“Well, the cat shits and pees in them, so probably.”She wrinkled her nose.“If he’s going to have the run of the clubhouse, maybe we can move the litter box to the utility room or something.”
I had a better idea.“Maybe we could move it to the far end of the porch.Or out back somewhere.”
Lily nodded.“Sounds like a plan.We can talk about it when you get back from church.”
I paced over to the bed and leaned down to give her a quick kiss.“Sure.I’ll be back as soon as I can.Ace sent one of the prospects into town to pick up Chinese food for supper.”
“Sounds wonderful.”She snuggled down in bed.“Wake me when you’re done with church.”
I had a good idea of how to wake her.My pants were already starting to feel tight.
I pulled the door closed behind me and almost ran over Beast in the hallway.The smirk on his face let me know he’d heard Lily and me.“Don’t go there,” I warned him.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, but you might want to consider soundproofing that room.I have two teenage daughters who don’t need to hear that crap.”
I rolled my eyes.“I’m betting they probably know more about it than I do.”
That wiped the smirk off his face.“They better not, or I’ll hunt the fucker down and neuter him.”
I grinned.“I meant the Internet.Chat rooms.All that online shit that didn’t exist when you and I were that age.”
“Oh.”He sighed.“Well, at least they’ll know what to watch out for.”
I shook my head.“They can shoot better than most guys, have black belts in karate, and if all else fails, their father is the enforcer for a motorcycle club.A guy would have to be suicidal to try anything funny with either of them.”
“True.”We descended the stairs and headed for the church out back.
Almost everyone was there when we arrived, Shadow being the lone straggler.I picked a seat close to the front in case Ace needed me to clarify anything.Joker and Preacher sat beside me.Shadow came striding in, and the doors closed behind him.
Ace held up his hands, and the guys all shut up.Shadow made his way to the front of the room and gave Ace a quick nod of his head before he sat down.
“So, you all know why we’re here.Jack Patterson’s sister came to us for protection.The asshole she was living with was using her as a punching bag and threatening to kill her if she left him or went to the cops.”
There was a rumble of anger from the guys in the audience.Ace held up his hands and waited for silence.“She’s here now with Rattler, and safe, but the asshole is still a threat.”He explained the missing person posters and their significance.“Looks like he’s setting up an alibi so he can off her if he finds her.”
Beast spoke up.“So now what?”
Ace grinned.“Shadow did some digging on the Internet and said something was off, so we sent a reconnaissance team up to snoop out his place.They turned up gold.”
“Gold?”
“Well not real gold, but something almost as good.Seems our friend the woman-beater is running a counterfeit operation.He’s got printing plates and a shitload of fake bills hidden in his house.”
I spoke up.“Before anyone asks, no.Lily knew nothing about it, and she still doesn’t.”
I pivoted to look at Ace.“So the FBI is going to get him?”
He shook his head.“Turns out the Secret Service has jurisdiction over counterfeiting, but our FBI contact has been in touch with them and they asked the FBI to set up a sting operation.They want to catch the asshole in the act of selling the money so he can’t worm his way out of charges by pretending he was set up, or that he didn’t know what was going on.”
“How do they know he’s not just going to spend the money himself?”
