Page 11 of Cain

“Famous fucking last words, man,” Reign said, slapping me so hard on the shoulder that I half fell forward.

“Might want to start looking for your future house now,” Duke added. “The market is rough around here.”

“You guys are worse than the girls.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve been around this block, what?” Reign said, counting, “at least thirty times.”

“And guess how many times the fucker in the club insists ‘it’s not like that?’” Repo said.

“I met the woman for ten minutes,” I insisted, grabbing a set of kneepads and strapping them on.

“And I’m sure you didn’t tell her that if she needs anything else, she can find you here, right?” Duke asked.

“Let it rest,” I grumbled.

“Let what rest?” Fallen asked as he and Danny walked into the bar.

“Cain just met the woman he’s gonna marry,” Repo said.

“Jesus Christ,” I grumbled.

“Oh, leave him alone,” Danny insisted.

“Thank you.”

“These lugheads never know they are with the love of their lives until they’re two weeks into the shit and someone’s car is getting blown up,” she went on.

“Or someone’s getting shot,” Fallon added. “Can’t forget all the shootings.”

“Hey, you want free labor or what?” I asked, reaching for a crowbar.

“You know what I’m thinking?” Reign asked.

“Nothing good, I’m sure,” I grumbled to myself.

“You know how Mark Mallick was always running up a pot on if someone in his family was going to get shacked up or not? Think maybe it’s time we really got in on that kind of action. Where you going?” he asked when I ripped off the kneepads.

“I need a drink.”

“You’re in a bar,” Danny reminded me.

“I was trying to be nice. What I really meant was I want to get away from all your asses for a bit,” I said, getting a chorus of chuckles as I made my way to the door.

“What’s her name, by the way?” Danny called at my back.

“Georgie,” I said before walking out.

And chances were, I was never going to see the woman again.

CHAPTER FOUR

Georgie

“Did you find the bastard?” Janet, one of the true crime sisters, called from the plastic chair outside her room door.

The sisters had a convenient room placement for two somewhat nosy women—right at the edge of the staircase everyone had to pass to go up to the second floor and also staring right at the parking lot and the small park to the side where there were a few picnic tables set up under an ancient maple tree that looked one storm away from crashing down.

They had two plastic chairs with a TV dinner stand set up outside their window. When they weren’t actively working on their podcast, they were sitting outside keeping an eye on everyone else’s business.