AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah,” Griz said, nodding toward one of Death’s Head. “He’s the short one with his shirt buttoned up all the way.”
“He doesn’t look so bad.”
He didn’t, either. A little older, even a little paunchy. He was covered in jailhouse tattoos, but then, everyone in this building other than her and Kate was covered in tattoos.
“He’s as ruthless as they come,” Griz said. “Started killing people for Death’s Head when he was barely in his teens.”
“You really could’ve skipped telling me that,” Becca said.
“You’ll do fine,” Griz said. “You’ve got this.”
Oh, of course I do, she thought, not believing any of it as she took a few steps away from her friends and toward the huddled group of Death’s Head members standing opposite. They spotted her coming and their group opened up a bit and spread out, letting her get a good look at them.
Each and every one of them looked like the sort of man that would make her cross the street at night to avoid them. There was Mal, bulging out of his too-small tank top, veins as thick as earthworms popping out everywhere.
She saw Victor, too, in his buttoned-up shirt, who at first seemed quiet and thoughtful but now just looked creepy, like a snake watching a rabbit get closer and closer. There was an air of aloofness about him as well, as if he had just walked into a party and wasn’t sure if it was cool enough for him to stick around.
They were staring at her. No turning back now, she thought. The only thing left to do was to dive in and hope she could swim in these waters.
“Okay, so, thank you all for coming,” she said.
Immediately, she regretted saying it. It sounded so… well, lame… to welcome a group of killers like she was showing off a nice rental property for sale.
Death’s Head seemed to think so, as well.
“What’s this shit, the Girl Scouts, now?” one of them said.
“What are you even doing here, bitch?” Mal said, flexing his bulging muscles as he stared her down.
“What am I doing here?” she said. “What am I doing here?”
I have been wondering that since the start of this whole shitty mess, she thought.
Junkyard dogs, Wyatt had said. The kind that only respects strength. All right, then.
“What am I doing here? I’m here to fix your fuck-up. More accurately, his fuck-up,” she said, pointing at Mal.
“Man, what is this bullshit?” Mal said. “We ain’t here to bake a cake. Get to steppin’, bitch.”
“That’s funny, that’s what your brother said to me just before I sent him to prison for life,” Becca said.
“The fuck did you just say to me?” Mal said.
He lunged forward toward her, only stopped by a number of Death’s Head holding him back. In response, Griz started to rush forward, also only stopped by everyone on Becca’s side holding him back.
I may have over-shot that one, Becca thought, waving Griz off. She’d wanted to project strength, but instead, she almost lit a powder keg by accident. She need to re-calibrate her approach.
“It’s fine, it’s fine, Griz,” she said.
“Oh, you think it’s fine?” Mal said. “It’s not going to be fine, when…”
“Oh, shut up, Beef Jerky,” she said. She couldn’t get anywhere with Mal talking over her like that.
“What?” he said. “What did you call me?”
“Listen to me, all of you,” she started to say, but Victor stepped forward to interrupt her.
“Look, lady,” he said. “It’s better for everyone if you just back off and let the big dicks in the room do the talking. I don’t know what you were thinking coming here, but this ain’t no place for a mouthy broad to try to go Karen on us.”
