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Gracie is still the girl I took. Her spirit won’t be broken and she’s always gonna test me. But she’s also the cure to all my hate, the remedy for my vengeance, and the proof that any man, no matter how broken, stands a chance of being healed…
Even the worst of ‘em.
“Got those results back.” Grimm throws an envelope onto the club table, and I nod back as I take it in my hand.
Jessie insisted that I had Grimm’s contact at the morgue run a DNA test between Clunk and Maddy before he fed him to the worms. I guess curious minds need to know.
Grimm had no idea that the hair I provided him to get matched came from Jessie’s old lady. And he didn’t ask me any questions. That’s what I like about the kid. He’s got far too much going on in his own head to worry about the orders he gets given.
Still, I guess you gotta be a little tuned out to do what he does. And these last few weeks Grimm’s done more than pull his fair share of weight around here. Brax and Jessie’s spree on the agency has put a lot of work on Grimm’s shoulders, and last thing I want is him burned out.
I’m about to tell him he needs to take a break, to get out of here for a few days but I’m interrupted when his cell pings a message.
“That was Jess, him and Brax are done with the last guy.” He slides his phone back in his cut and stands up.
“Where they at?” I ask.
“Jessie’s basement. They brought him in so they could spend more time on him. Make sure they got all the information they could.”
“I’ll come with ya.” I stand up from head of the table and follow Grimm out into the summer air.
We walk across the yard to the clubhouse, and hear a whole bunch of cursing come from the garage on the other side of the track. Rogue’s another one I should be showing my gratitude toward. Since Skid rode out, she’s been working day and night to keep the garage ticking over.
We both make our way down the stairs into Jessie’s basement, it smells of death and fucking burning flesh down here, and the body that’s laid out face down in front of Brax is covered in blood. Brax lights his cigarette with the blow torch he’s holding and gives me a welcoming nod.
“Do you boys know the meaning of keep it clean?” I look at the state of the body on the floor.
Brax wipes under his nose with the back of his hand, the plastic glove covering it seems a little pointless considering there’s blood all over his arms and face.
“We couldn’t decide who got to deal the final blow. I was naughts he was crosses. Brax’s eyes fall on to the massacred body at his feet and when I look a little closer, I see the game of tic tac fucking toe that’s been played on the guy’s back. The circles have been burned and crosses have been carved. Jessie straightens himself up from scraping another tally line into the brick wall before he moves to stand beside Brax with his blood dripping knife.
“Undefeated champion.” He shrugs at me and points his blade at their handy work. “It’s like a flash version of chess, you just got to know your opponent’s next move.”
These boys never fail to surprise me.
“You get anything out of him?”
“Plenty.” Brax smiles darkly. He’s been smiling a lot more since he moved that bitch of his into his cabin up on the mountain. And I can’t help wondering what Helen Scott would think if she knew that her precious daughter ended up with one of my boys. She did say to keep her safe at all costs, and I doubt there’s anyone on this planet safer than that girl right now.
“Round ‘em up, Jess,” I order Jessie to call in a church meeting so they can feed us what they’ve learned, then turn my attention to Grimm.
“You deal with this after church. It’ll give ya some time to get inventive.” I tap him on the shoulder and he takes it as his cue to leave.
“How about we test the new kid’s stomach, get him to give Grimm a hand?” Jessie suggests.
“You think he’s ready?” I check. Since Storm flew into the club and tried venting at Brax, he’s stuck around. Kid’s got no place else to go, he got a lot of pent up anger and is determined to find his missing sister. He’s made himself useful helping out in the garage and cleaning up around the studio, so when he came to me and Jessie a few weeks ago and asked if he could prospect, we told him we’d take it to the table. I was even more surprised when I learned that Brax offered to sponsor him.
Jessie’s right, this would be a good way to see if the boy’s ready before we make the vote.
“Good idea, have him meet Grimm down here. You two better shower up and be at the table in half an hour,” I tell them before I follow Grimm up the stairs and back on to the yard.
He’s waiting for me by the entrance, guess he can sense I still got some shit to say, and I check there ain’t no one in ear shot before I say it.
“We got the new kid coming to give ya a hand with the stiff in the basement, see how green he is. Once it’s done, I want you to take a few days. Ride out and do whatever it is you do for fun.”
“This is what I do for fun,” he says, his mouth remaining straight as he stares across the yard toward the garage.
Rogue's attitude has changed dramatically since we passed her ten minutes ago. She ain’t slamming shit and swearing no more. Now she’s hopping around the car she’s fixing, singing at the top of her lungs. She almost looks carefree, and the way Grimm’s watching her has me intrigued.
