Chapter 1
Jack stepped out of his truck and looked around the parking lot of the small diner. As he took a second to survey his surroundings, the passenger side door opened and Rance stepped out. Rance’s light brown hair and almost pretty boy good looks belied the beast that lived inside him. He’d always walked with an air of danger surrounding him, but now he radiated ‘I-wish-a-bitch-would attitude’. Jack was about the only person, other than Rance’s brother, that actually sought him out anymore. His entire demeanor was provocative. He lived in a constant state of daring anybody to cross him.
Rance lifted his own face into the night air, his nose twitching as he took in all the scents lingering nearby.
“Anything?” Jack asked.
“Recently, but not here at the moment,” Rance said.
“Same.”
“Shame. I could fuck somebody up about now,” Rance said.
“Can we wait until we find out the details? Then you can focus on who really deserves it?” Jack asked sarcastically.
“I suppose,” Rance answered.
“Let’s go meet Squeegee’s compadres,” Jack said, shaking his head at Rance hoping for yet another confrontation.
Together they walked toward the diner.
Rance pulled open the door, pausing as he stepped into the doorway, using his own body to shield Jack before determining the place safe to enter and continuing through.
Jack followed closely behind. “I don’t need a bodyguard,” he said under his breath as he moved past the door that Rance still held with an outstretched arm.
“You might,” Rance answered, his eyes scanning the diner.
It was an old establishment. The white tiles on the floor long worn by the thousands of footsteps across them that removed any shine and instilled a dinginess that couldn’t be mopped away. Decades of cooking on the grill top resulted in a grease-stained wall and hood vent above the grill. The counters were worn, as were the vinyl stools at the bar, and the ‘pleather’ covered chairs at the tables and booths around the outer edges of the diner. The tables looked like something out of the 50’s, and probably were. They’d been wiped clean so many times there were permanent swirls on their Formica tops. Despite its age and dinginess, it was clear that there was no spec of dust on the floors or window sills. There was no crumb of food left behind on now empty tables, and if you didn’t know there were windows, you’d think it was an open air diner because the windows were so clean they were almost invisible. It was old, well worn, but spotless.
Near the back of the diner, a tall man stood and lifted his chin to them in a silent greeting.
Jack quickly took the measure of each of the five men. The one standing, as well as the other four who remained seated — one of which was excitedly waving at them. Jack started toward them, with Rance keeping close to him. As they approached the table, the man standing extended his hand.
Jack shook his hand.
“I’m Connor. Thanks for coming.”
“Connor. I’m Jack. This is my second, Rance.”
Connor gave a quick half-smile and shook his head. “Forgive me, but, it’s kind of spooky talking to you.”
“Yeah, Jared and I had a strong resemblance,” Jack said.
“He was a good man. We miss him,” Connor said.
Jack nodded, then shifted his attention to the other man who was so excited to see them, he couldn’t help but fidget in his seat. “Squeegee, good to see you, my friend.”
Squeegee grinned. “I'm so glad to see you here, Jack. You just don’t know.”
“We’re glad to be here,” Jack said. “We have a lot of questions, but we’re also anxious to help out any way we can.”
“Why don’t you both have a seat, we’ll spend a little time getting to know each other,” Connor said, gesturing to the two tables they’d pulled together.
Jack took a seat with his back to the wall, and Rance took one at the end of the table, his back to the corner of the room.
“These are some of my guys. Pauly, Justin, Shan — short for Shanahan, and of course, Squeegee,” Connor said.
“Good to meet y’all,” Jack said.
