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“Carly, you and Mal team with Lyra,” Pop said, calling to one of their most experienced part-timers. When Carly nodded, he held a sheet out to his friend Lonnie and said, “Give everybody a look at that team list.” Lonnie took the sheet and the others clustered around him.
Pop put his hand on Reed’s arm. “You and me are going up. They kept it outta the news, but the fucker started the mess in his room. Killed his father and little brother. I saw the photos, and it’s bad. But the Feds think this whole scene could’ve been much worse. They think daddy and the kid were supposed to be in on it, and somethin’ went wrong between ‘em.”
Reed’s jaw dropped. “There might’ve beenthreeshooters?”
“Maybe. Doin’ three times the fuckery.”
“What iswrongwith people?” Lyra lamented, as dismayed as her brother. “Why is everything so fucking bad everywhere?”
Pop put his hand on the side of her head and stroked her hair. His expression softened as he said, “Everything’s always been bad everywhere, baby bear. The world’s been shit since the first monkey stood up tall. The monkeys just got bigger sticks now is all.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Bulls arrived inLaughlin a little before nine on Sunday night. Because this trip was also a gun run and Gargoyle was driving the new-to-them cargo van that would be the Laughlin charter’s, their first stop was the reservation, to hand off to the Silver Dragons for one last time.
As usual, Zach stood back a little, kept his eyeballs peeled, while more senior Bulls—Caleb and Cooper, in this case—talked with Dragons’ president Wash Duggar. A couple months ago, at the last handoff, Eight and Wash had had words over the change in their relationship, but since then, Nikolai Volkov had smoothed things over with the Dragons. By incentive or intimidation, Zach was too far down the ladder to know, but considering what he knew of Volkov, he figured intimidation was more likely. Whatever he’d done, the Dragons had agreed to continue to allow the Bulls to use their ‘key’ into Canada—which was one of their relatives being a border agent.
At any rate, this was a smaller run, with only half a vanload of product; there had been enough room left for Gargo’s SuperGlide. They’d been expecting a quick exchange and then a cool farewell.
Then the FUBAR at the Cadence had happened, and the Dragons had tried to pull out, claiming Laughlin was too hot right now for great big illegal guns to pass through.
That was probably true, but it didn’t matter. Niko’s buyer was waiting in British Columbia. The Bulls had been well on their way when that twisted shithead had come down the elevator and started shooting like he was holding a firehose. And there was no fucking way the Bulls were going to sit on top of this cargo at their final destination, the location of said shooting. So after a flurry of calls last night between Caleb, Cooper, and Eight; and Eight and Niko; and Eight and Wash; and Niko and who the fuck knew, the exchange was still a go, but everybody was doubly tense.
Zach figured that for the weird vibe circling this scrubby patch of desert. As he and Gargo handed a crate to a couple young Dragons, whose names he didn’t know, they both gave him and Gargo a look like they’d just punched their mothers. He’d be pissed, too, if he’d just lost his share of a very lucrative transportation deal, but these guys looked like they wanted Zach and Gargo dead.
The crates transferred, Zach and Gargo went to stand near their bikes and van, keeping their attention sharp. They waited for Coop and Caleb to finish.
“Fuck, it’s tense,” Zach muttered. “I guess I understand it with everything going on, but it feels ... off, I guess. Can’t put my finger on it.”
“There is always the danger that the things we have neglected will return with added force,” Gargo answered.
“Yeah,” Zach mused. That was probably one of Gargo’s weird quote-comments, but if so, it was one of his clearer ones. That was exactly the way things felt here—like they’d missed something and were going to get bit hard in the dick when it came back.
But when Cooper and Caleb returned, they reported that everything went smoothly.
“It’s tense, yeah,” Coop said as they watched the Dragons ride off. “I’d be pissed, too. But the job’s gettin’ done. Yeah, Cay?” He looked to Caleb for confirmation.
Caleb watched the Dragons’ taillights diminish. “Yeah. I feel it, too, but everything’s so fucked right now, it wouldn’t be anything but tense. I didn’t catch any red flags, and you know Niko was ... persuasive getting them back in line. I think we keep our eyes and ears sharp but don’t overthink shit. Don’t borrow trouble.”
“Okay,” Cooper said and clapped his hands. “I need a drink. Let’s thank our Mojave hosts and get the fuck to the Haddons’.”
Zach couldn’t argue with that.
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