Page 100 of Monster Mania

The man laughed. “Not yet.”

Angel's grip tightened around the phone. “What do you want?”

“The ledger,” he said.

“Not happening,” Angel said.

“Then people keep dying,” the man said. Jackhammer saw something change in Angel. It wasn’t fear. She'd had enough, and he could see it in her eyes.

“I'm done making deals with men who threaten my family,” she spat. Family. Jackhammer felt that word in his fucking chest.

The voice paused. “Family?”

Angel looked at Jackhammer and then Ghost. “Yes.” Jackhammer's hand closed around hers.

The man laughed. “Then let's see how many of them are still alive by Halloween.” The call disconnected. Ghost looked at Jackhammer, and then at Angel, and Monster swore. Jackhammer had expected fear. He expected Angel to start thinking about running again. Instead, she stood with her gun in one hand and her phone in the other. She looked around Monster's Madhouse at the shattered windows and at Larry lying on his side outside. She looked at the brothers taking positions around the clubhouse, and then back at Jackhammer and Ghost.

“I'm not running,” she announced.

Jackhammer stood beside her. “Good.”

Ghost joined them. “Because neither are we.”

Angel looked at Bishop. “Who was that?” Bishop stared at the dead phone. His face was gray. “Samuel, I need a name.”

He swallowed. “The man who recruited Robert Mercer.”

Jackhammer frowned. “I thought Mercer built the network.”

“So did I,” Bishop said.

Angel stepped closer. “What’s his name?”

Bishop looked at her. “Judge Harrison Cole.”

Monster swore, and Angel frowned. “Who is that?”

Bishop's answer made every man in the room go silent. “The man who signed the order sealing your mother's death investigation.” Angel stared at him, and Bishop continued. “He’s the man who's been untouchable for more than thirty years.” Jackhammer looked at the ledger and then at Angel. Halloween was less than three weeks away. Apparently, the monsters weren't finished with them yet. That was fine by him because Jackhammer had spent his life surrounded by monsters. He knew exactly how to deal with them, but this time was different. This time, he had something worth protecting. Angel had chosen to stay. Now Jackhammer intended to make damn sure she lived long enough to never regret it.

GHOST

Ghost didn't believe in untouchable men. He believed in men who hadn't met the right enemy yet. Judge Harrison Cole was about to learn the difference. Ghost stood behind the bar at Monster's Madhouse, staring at what remained of the front window. Glass covered the floor. One of Monster's fake tombstones had taken a bullet through the middle, and poor Larry lay face down in the grass.

Monster stared through the shattered window. “Those motherfuckers shot Larry.” Nobody answered, and Monster looked genuinely offended. “They shot my fucking skeleton.”

Jackhammer rubbed a hand over his face. “Can we focus?”

“I am focused,” Monster insisted.

“On Angel,” Hammer corrected.

“Larry was innocent,” Monster spat. Ghost almost laughed—almost. But then, he looked at Angel. She stood beside Bishop with Elena's ledger open between them. Twenty minutes ago, somebody had fired into the clubhouse. Twenty minutes ago, Judge Harrison Cole had threatened everyone Angel cared about. And twenty minutes ago, Angel had declared she wasn't running. Ghost believed her, but that didn't mean he intended to let her anywhere near Cole.

“You're staying here,” he ordered.

Angel looked up at him and shook her head. “No.”

Ghost sighed. “We haven't even discussed the plan.”