Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
He went to work on the upper dead bolt.
“So Rhamp’s not focused on the getting mated thing, huh?” Tohr leaned back and idly looked at the cars. “Not yet, at least?”
Qhuinn rolled his blue and green eyes. “Not in the slightest. And honestly, Lyric’s the same. I don’t have a problem with it. Not everyone feels that way, though.”
“Blay’s mahmen ready for great grandyoung?”
The brother switched tools and went back to work, the soft sounds of metal scraping metal rising up. “Oh, she’s not the problem. Not by half.”
“Layla?”
“She wants them, sure, but not over and above our kids’ happiness.”
Tohr frowned. “Blay’s dad?” When there was a shake of the head, Tohr did a double take. “Blay?”
“Nope.” Qhuinn straightened. “Your half brother, Xcor. He’s baby daft.”
“I’m . . . okay, that’s a surprise.” Tohr smiled as he pictured the big male with his distorted upper lip. “I mean, a good surprise. But yeah, wow.”
The head of the Band of Bastards wanted to be a grandpappy already?
“He’s a softie, for certain.” Qhuinn nodded at the lock. “But you know what isn’t? This frickin’ door.”
“My turn.” Tohr pushed a hand into his jacket. “Now that I think about it, Xcor was awesome with Rhamp and Lyric. I heard through the grapevine that he did it all, the diapers, the baths—step back for me, wouldya?”
“He was really great.” Qhuinn got out of range and crossed his arms over his chest. “He truly was. Do you need a charge?”
“Got one, but thanks.” Tohr set the C-4 plastic explosive between the dead bolt head and the steel jamb. “That’s what I always love about your family. All four of you—you and Blay, Xcor and Layla—really pulling together for those kids. Nobody was ever raised with so much love.”
“Thanks. We’re a good team—hey, did you get that C-4 from the new stock?”
“Yup.” He inserted the detonating fuse. “Z really prefers the new supplier. It comes down from Canada.”
The fact that they were alternating between talking about young and him setting up a breach involving enough explosive to blow both of them up was par for the course.
Just another night on the job.
“On three.”
Both of them backed all the way to the door they’d exited from. When they were sufficiently out of the blast zone, Tohr initiated the detonation program on his phone.
“One . . . two . . .” He nodded at the brother and they both plugged their ears. “Three—”
A sharp, cracking sound echoed all around the cars, and then came the slam! of the steel panel slapping onto the polished concrete floor.
They jogged forward in unison, and Tohr entered the stairwell that was revealed first. It was nothing special, only a short stack of steps that were super deep, and when he bottomed out at their base, he hit the light on his phone because he didn’t know where the switch was.
Talk about your letdowns. Just a ten-by-ten space that was lead-lined concrete, low-ceilinged, and empty.
“I can smell the gunpowder, though,” he said as Qhuinn joined him.
There had definitely been an arsenal stored here recently.
“Look at this wall.” Tohr ran his hand over some scratches in the paint that were chest level. “This was crates on crates.”
Qhuinn nodded. “I definitely think we found his day job.”
“Arms dealer.”
“No wonder the hit was professional. Buyers and sellers of that shit have connections in all kinds of bang-bang places.”
Tohr did the math out loud. “No office. No work associates. No one in the house except for a maid, a cook who never used the kitchen, and a chauffeur who’s polishing bumpers in here instead of taking his boss anywhere.” He looked at the set of concrete steps. “But why did he let the maid see that U-Haul backed up outside on the lawn?”
Qhuinn’s mismatched stare narrowed. “She was lucky Broadius didn’t know what she caught him doing.”
Thinking back to the sweet older female, Tohr nodded. “Yup. And as for the murderer’s motive? Broadius must have tried to muscle the wrong person.”
As they went back for the steps, Tohr imagined the space filled with the kinds of wooden crates V kept in their own armory at the Wheel, the long ones stamped with black paint, their origins from all different countries depending on what kind of weapon had been purchased in bulk. And it was the same with the bullets, although those tended to come in heavy cardboard lots.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he said in a low tone.
Qhuinn, who took the lead on the ascent, glanced over his shoulder. “Why the fuck wouldn’t you.”
“I mean . . .” He met the brother’s stare. “I got a reaaaally bad feeling about this.”
CHAPTER TWENTY–ONE
Well, weren’t they a great twosome, Mahrci thought a mere fifteen minutes later.
As Hemmy pulled their cart of groceries up to the self-checkout lane, she was impressed. They’d managed to fill the thing with an almost military approach to the store, splitting up to cover lanes, with quick agreement on choices—