Page 55 of Monk
“Weed?”
“Did I stutter?”
“I thought it was meth or something,” she mutters.
“We don’t deal with that shit,” I tell her.
“You don’t?”
“Why is that so surprising to you?”
“I just—when I saw you guys unloading all those boxes, I just assumed…”
“You just assumed that we really are the dirtbags your dad says we are,” I finish for her.
She shrugs and falls silent. A moment later, a door in the far wall slides open and the leadership comes out. I look at Poe and Cosmo and cringe when I see the grim expressions on their faces. They’re followed out by Cueball, club treasurer, Doc, the vice president, Trig, our sergeant at arms, and finally by Prophet.
They all stand in a semicircle in front of the table Kasey is sitting at, all of them glaring hard at her. Kasey shrinks back against her seat, her eyes wide and her face turning pale.
“We’ve got a problem, Ms. Singer,” Prophet says.
Kasey shakes her head. “There’s no problem. I—I didn’t see anything.”
The guys all laugh, and though I know they’re genuinely amused, their voices are all low and rough. To somebody who doesn’t know them, that sounds ominous enough. Frightening. Their laughter tells me the worst of my fears won’t be coming to pass. All they’re going to do is scare her. Teach her a lesson. I let out a silent breath of relief. I don’t think they’ll actually kill her, but I’ve been wrong about things before. Many times. I’m just glad this won’t be one of them.
Prophet leans down, putting his hands on the table and bracing himself as he looks into Kasey’s eyes. She leans back, somehow growing even paler.
“I know you,” Prophet says, a light of recognition dawning in his eyes. “You’re Singer’s daughter.”
She looks away and doesn’t say anything. Prophet’s face darkens and he looks over at me for a long moment, an inscrutable expression on his face.
“Thought you were gone,” he presses. “Heard you moved away and got married or some shit.”
Kasey finally seems to pull herself together and turns to him, raising her chin, her eyes narrowed, and a look of pure defiance on her face. I groan inwardly, knowing this is not going to go well. There’s a reason why I haven’t told any of them about her. Aside from not being a big fan of sharing my personal shit, I know the fact that she’s the sheriff’s daughter can only cause problems for me.
“I did move away and get married, and that kind of shit,” she hisses. “Then, I left him, trying to divorce him, and moved back here. Any other questions? Do I need a special Pharaoh permit to move back to my childhood home and stay with my father?”
The heat in her voice takes Prophet aback for a moment. He stares at her, looking completely dumbfounded. But then, he starts to smile at her.
“You got a mouth on you, don’t you?” he says.
“You’re not the first to tell me that and I’m sure you won’t be the last.”
“Yeah, well, our club business is private,” he bellows at her. “And we take our privacy very seriously. Were you up there spyin’ for your daddy? You plannin’ on usin’ that mouth to rat us out?”
“Do I look like a rat?” she asks.
He slams his fist down on the table so hard, it rattles everything on the tabletop. Kasey flinches back, stark terror in her eyes.
“You’re the sheriff’s daughter, so yeah, you kinda look like a rat to me.”
She gives him a look that can curdle milk. “What in the hell are you going to do, kill me?”
A wicked look forms on Prophet’s face. “Should we kill you?”
“I’ve already got a hole dug out back,” Trig says. “Be a damn shame to let it go to waste.”
I see Kasey’s eyes shimmering as they well with tears, suddenly regretting her words. She’s fighting like hell to keep them from falling. She’s tough, I’ll give her that.
