Page 244 of Romeo

Colt had confirmed we had enough money to replace the damaged security cameras around the back side of the property, and Jack had managed to piss off every man sitting at the table.

A productive fucking evening by Silver Shadows standards.

“I’m just saying, if we’re replacing them anyway, why not get the ones with the speakers?” Jack asked as he leaned back in his chair. “Then when some asshole gets too close to the fence, Nav can tell him to fuck off without leaving his computer.”

Nav looked up from his laptop. “Why the hell would I want to talk to strangers?”

“Because you already spend your entire life talking to a computer,” Jack replied.

“Because I don’t want to talk to people.”

Gunner snorted from his seat beside him. “Can’t argue with that logic.”

Jack pointed across the table at Nav. “You could change your voice. Make yourself sound like some creepy little kid. Imagine some fucker sneaking around the fence in the middle of the night and hearing, ‘I can see you’.”

“Jack,” I warned.

He ignored me. “Or better yet, one of those clown voices.”

Blade rubbed a hand over his face. “Why the fuck would we want our security system to sound like a clown?”

“To scare people.”

“You know what scares people?” Gunner asked, his expression flat. “A fucking gun.”

“Old-fashioned.”

“Effective,” Mimic muttered.

Jack turned toward him. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Mimic stared at him.

Jack waited.

Mimic grunted.

“I don’t know what the fuck that means.”

“It means shut up,” Cash told him. Mimic gave another grunt, and Cash smiled. “See?”

“How do you know?” Jack demanded.

“I speak Mimic.”

Jingles chuckled from beside Mimic. “Bullshit. Indie barely speaks Mimic.”

Mimic slowly turned his head toward Jingles.

Jingles immediately lifted both hands. “No offense.”

“My old lady taught me,” Cash replied.

“My old lady hasn’t taught me,” Jack whined.

“’Cause your old lady likes me more,” Mimic snarked. Every eye in the room focused on the youngest patched member of the Silver Shadows. It wasn’t often that Mimic said anything, much less something that sounded like a joke.

I sat back in my chair and watched my officers act like complete fucking idiots. Cash was on my right, Gunner on my left with Blade beside him. Jack and Colt had spent half of church arguing over expenses. Jingles seemed determined to encourage whatever stupidity Jack started, while Mimic spoke only when absolutely necessary. Nav sat at the far end with his laptop open, probably doing six things none of us understood while pretending he wasn’t listening to every word.