Page 17 of Bone’s Choice

Bone had survived the first conversation. He had that whole serious biker thing going on, but there’d been humor underneath it.

I’d seen it when he’d looked at Pink, and when he’d asked if I’d driven the trailer from Ohio. That little flicker of approval in his expression had made me want to laugh. Like I’d passed some test I hadn’t known I was taking.

I shook my head. This was stupid.

I had met the man once, for maybe two minutes.

I stared at the ceiling and then I laughed under my breath. I didn’t think moving across two states would land a biker and his mom right in my lap.

Chapter Five

Bone

“Watch the fucking barrel.”

Munch froze. The rifle in his hands stopped half an inch from the edge of the coffin.

I stared at him.

He stared at me. “Sorry, Prez.”

“Don’t be sorry. Don’t fucking hit it.”

“I didn’t.”

“Because I stopped you,” I growled.

Munch pressed his lips together and nodded. Smart. The kid had only been prospecting for a few months, and he was learning. He worked hard, didn’t complain too damn much, and generally managed to follow directions.

Generally.

I stepped closer and held out my hand. “Give it to me.”

Munch passed me the rifle.

“This isn’t a fucking duffel bag you’re throwing shit into.” I turned it slightly and lowered it into the compartment built into the bottom of the coffin. “Everything has a place. You start tossing shit in however you want, it doesn’t fit right, it shifts during transport, and that’s when we’ve got a problem.”

“Got it.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah.”

“Then show me.” I handed him the next rifle.

Munch took his time with this one. He lowered it into the hidden compartment, lined it up beside the others, and made sure it was secured before looking at me. “Better?”

“Good.”

The coffin sitting in front of us looked like any other custom casket Grave Casket Co. built.

That was the point.

Solid oak. Hand-finished. Polished hardware. Cream-colored interior. Every inch of it built right here on Grave Prowlers property.

What nobody looking at it would know was that the bottom sat several inches higher than it needed to.

Plenty of room beneath it.