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“Oh, go fuck yourself, Parker. I’m sick of listening to your flapping gums goin’ off all the time. Just because Marcela thinks your shit don’t stink doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t smell it.”
“Gonna get in my face?”
Damn, if we left them on their own long enough, they might wipe each other out and save us the trouble. Seemed like there was some dissension in the ranks.
“If I wanted to get in your face, you’d know it, you little shit,” Bill snarled.
I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for more—that time would run out and I’d get to behead them both, or they’d come to blows and do it for me. Looking back at Desmond, I raised both eyebrows hopefully. I knew there was no way enough time had lapsed yet, but all the same, a girl could hope. He shook his head, dashing my homicidal dreams.
I thought he was the man who’d promised to give me everything. Couldn’t he let me kill some people ahead of schedule?
Sitting back on my haunches, I braced myself for a long wait. Fifteen minutes could feel like an eternity when the finish line was looming so close.
Though I’d never been much of a fan of technology, right then I was missing my phone a great deal. I still had the thing on me, but for the time being it was just an expensive paperweight I could use to play terrible bird-themed video games. I would have liked to text any of the other teams to get a feel for what was going on. Were they all in place? Was everyone okay?
Chewing the back of my thumbnail, I watch Parker and Bill exchange heated words, but I stopped listening to their mediocre insults after a minute or two. There was only so often I could hear men call each other cocksucker before the word got boring.
“If you’re here, who’s in charge of the collection?” Bill asked, reeling my attention back in.
“Marty has it under control.”
“Marty? Does Marcela know your fuckwit twin is the one guarding the goods?”
I waved my hand enthusiastically at Desmond and whispered, “Intrigue.”
He scuttled up closer and nestled in next to me. The warmth of his skin was sensational, as was his familiar scent.
Kissing Holden earlier might have been bone-tingling good, but it wasn’t the same as this. I could sit beside Desmond and barely touch him, and still know perfect happiness. What Holden and I shared was wonderful and passionate, and there would never be a day that passed where I didn’t love him, but that love wasn’t the same as what I had with Desmond.
I reached out and took his hand, catching his eye in the darkness. He gave me a light smile and squeezed my fingers, rubbing his thumb over the ring he’d given me.
Bill, oblivious to the moment I was sharing with my fiancé, continued to berate Parker. “Tell me you at least left him with some live ones.”
“Why do you insist on believing the living men we pay are more reliable than the dead ones we control? There’s no room for error with the dead, we have them completely in our hands.”
“Until that tiny blonde nuisance shows up and kills Marty. Then what? All those men go down, just like Jock’s. And who’s left to get what we came for?”
“If she kills Marty, no hired lackey would survive her.”
Bill slapped Parker, and the sound of skin on skin brought the entire group of bikers to their feet, ready to spring into action.
“One live man is all it takes to kill a girl, you idiot.”
Parker had pressed his hand to his face where Bill had struck him and dropped it now, his fingers curling into a fist like he was planning to retaliate in force. His rage shimmered off him like heat waves off blacktop.
“Go back to your ivory tower, old man. Keep hiding from the girl if you’re so scared of her. She said nightfall, and nightfall has come and gone. Her threats were hollow. I can’t believe you were stupid enough to think one woman could kill us all. Do you still check under your bed at night for monsters?” Parker sneered, and Bill narrowed his eyes.
I wanted to watch these two beat the living shit out of each other.
I took hold of Desmond’s wrist and lifted his hand so I could check the time. Goddamn, still ten minutes to go. This was the most frustrating wait of my life. They were right within my reach, and I couldn’t do a thing about it.
And now I had the added mystery of wondering what it was Parker’s brother Marty was watching over. A collection, Bill had said. That could mean anything. What collection was the Hands of Death interested in?
At least I knew they were here for a reason, and this wasn’t just an act of destructive anarchy like Holden had suggested. I’d suspected all along there was more to this than merely bringing a city to its knees, and now we had a tiny clue to guide us in the right direction.
If only I could move in immediately, we could whittle down the crowd. There was a chance if I could get my hands on Parker, I might be able to make him talk. The likelihood of him telling me where his brother was might be slim to none, but I could be very persuasive. And the idea of using a little force had a lot of appeal to it.
Or I could let them split up and follow Parker on my own.
