Page 303 of Devil’s Disciples

“Don’t like spending money.”

“Did it hurt? To come up off some of that cash?”

He was right. I was frugal. Spending money seemed like a waste to me. I grew up without it, and now that I had some, I cherished it. Buying a new pair of jeans troubled me so much I’d often wait until they had holes so big my junk was falling out.

Spending it on Abby’s ring didn’t bother me one bit.

I shook my head. “Didn’t feel a thing.”

“Spend a chunk?”

“Half a million.”

His eyes went wide. “Jesus. Must be some ring.”

“It’s a nice fucker.”

“Got it with you?”

I laughed as I reached into my pocket. “Been carrying it for days.”

I handed him the box.

He opened the box and looked the ring over. “I take it back,” he said.

“What’s that? About me being a tight ass?”

“No.” He handed me the ring. “About proposing. You need to make sure she’s got something soft under her when you do it, because she’s likely to faint. That’s one hell of a rock, Ghost.”

“Hope she likes it.”

“She’d like it if it was a polished coffee bean. That girl’s eyes light up when you start to speak. Andy said she didn’t shut up for five minutes when they went out. Talked about you the entire time.”

“Feeling’s mutual,” I said.

“Looking at doing a job in Bakersfield,” he said. “Some child pornography kingpin. Fucking creep runs a website where he sells videos and shit. Been making millions for years and hasn’t been caught. We’ll talk about it Wednesday. If it goes the way I’m thinking, you’ll make enough to pay for that ring two times over. After we’re done, Tito’s going to open up a back door on the guy’s website and let the feds get him.”

I had no desire to do a job. The risk of getting caught, which had always been a thrill to me, lingered over me as a reminder of losing Abby. It was a risk I wasn’t willing to take. At least not at that moment.

“Sounds interesting.” I stood. “Think I’m going to do some tuning on the X5M, get it ready for the upcoming job.”

He stood. “Let me know how the proposal goes.”

“Will do, Brother.”

I turned toward the door, feeling no more certain of when I was going – or how I was going – to propose.

But I knew one thing for sure.

I didn’t want to do another job as a Devil’s Disciple.

111

Abby

George’s diner was frigid. While I waited for him to greet me, I sat on my hands, hoping to warm them up. When he arrived at the table, he was overly excited to see me.

He sat down across from me and motioned toward my lap. “Why are you hiding your hands? Let me see your hands, Abby.”