Page 182 of The Rising


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Danny wanders over to the bench and lowers, lighting up too. “So, John Theodore Little.”

“Your old boatyard was another sweetener for the scumbags,” I say what we’ve both been considering. The Bear properly screwed Danny over on that front. Bought himself the perfect storage facility in the perfect location to entice the criminal fuckers who are now all abandoning him.

“Yeah,” he says calmly, though I know he won’t be feeling it. It’s just another reason for us all to want the bastard. The question is, who gets the honors when we find him? “You should know,” he goes on, “Tank and Fury lost their mother this afternoon. I’ve given them some time off.”

I join him, thankful for the distraction. “The kid told me. Andyoushould know Daniel’s struggling.”

“I know,” he says quietly. “I’m trying to fix that.”

“How?”

“School. We’re looking at one next week. Popular with security-conscious parents, if you know what I mean.”

“Criminals?”

“Celebrities.”

I laugh under my breath and look at the door, smoking my way through my cigarette. Is she out on the water now? Does she know what she’s doing? Where to head? The signals? “Ringo’s out there, right?”

“Shark fishing.”

“And Goldie?”

“Paddleboarding.”

“I didn’t know she could paddleboard.”

“She can’t,” Danny says over a laugh, but I don’t join him, too stressed. Worried. I knew this wasn’t going to be an easy wait, but the fact we’re not on talking terms is making it worse. “Hey.” Danny nudges my knee with his, knocking my attention away from the door. “The challenges we’re facing now won’t be around forever.” Something tells me he’s not just talking about business. “Work, family, wives, kids.” Danny pulls on his cigarette and pouts, looking up at the ceiling and exhaling. “This is the rising, mate.” He blows smoke up into the air, and it rolls and swirls above us. “There’s only one thing that will stop us from staying on top once we’ve killed all the fuckers in our way.” He drops his eyes but not his head. “Hell hath no fury like my wife.” He smiles, and it’s sick. “She terrifies me more than anyone. Including you and Beau.”

“Beau terrifies you?” I ask over a laugh. I get it. She petrifies me. My laughter fades off, and Danny nods.

“If we didn’t have them, we wouldn’t need to be doing this. But we can’t play dead. And we can’t live a normal life.”

“And we can’t be without them,” I finish.

“Precisely.” He stands, pointing at me with his cigarette. “So let’s get the fuck on with rising and make sure we never fall, because that, my friend, is the closest we’re ever getting to normal.”

I get up and head to the door.

“She’ll be fine, James.”

“I know,” I say to myself. We both know Beau’s trained and capable in keeping her cool in the face of danger. We both also know she’s incapable of keeping emotion out of it since her mother died. She’s pissed off with me. She may not be showing it, but she’s hating on me—for constantly treating her like she’s glass. It’s in my nature where she’s concerned, and I can’t promise I will ever change, so we need to compromise. She’s more delicate than she allows the world to see, but I know her now. To her core, I know her.

She needs me.

And I sure as shit need her.

If not for each other, why the fuck are we going through this hell?

30

BEAU

I’m pretty sure Leon is stoned, because he won’t shut the hell up, rabbiting on at a guy who’s dressed in traditional tribal garb, popping question after question—where’s he from, does he like Caribbean food, has he been to Zambia, Congo, the Sahara?

Eventually, he lifts his shades, revealing eyes as black as his skin, and Leon pipes down. “Friendly,” he mutters as the guns are transferred from the boat to the empty skis.

“They’re not here to be friendly.” I wade toward the first ski, pull down the handlebars and press into the padded seat, putting my weight behind it until I hear the catch click into place. I take the rope that connects the first dummy jet ski to James’s jet ski and feel my way to the next. “A bit of help?”

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