Chapter Eleven
Oliver
Church was already filling by the time I walked into the room.
Wrecker sat at the head of the table with Nickel on one side of him and Dad on the other. Everyone else crowded around the long table, taking their usual spots while the door shut behind the last few guys.
I slid into the empty chair beside Arlo. He leaned closer. “You’re late.”
“I’m not.”
“You were almost late.”
I ignored him and looked toward Wrecker. His expression told me this wasn’t going to be a quick meeting. His jaw was tight, and one hand rested flat on the table while the other slowly drummed against the wood.
Mason leaned forward in his chair. “Please tell us you have something on the Northbound Reapers.”
Ender nodded from farther down the table. “We need to put the rest of those guys in the ground.”
“That’ll happen once we figure out where the hell they are,” Nickel replied.
Wrecker stopped tapping his fingers. “They’ve all just fucking disappeared.” The room went quiet. “No one knows where the hell they are,” Wrecker continued. “We’ve checked every place we knew they used, called in every favor we have, and came up with nothing.”
Dad folded his arms over his chest. “They didn’t vanish.”
“No,” Wrecker agreed. “They didn’t. Someone is helping them, or they had somewhere ready to go before this shit started.”
Neither option was good.
If someone was helping the Northbound Reapers hide, then we had another problem we hadn’t identified yet. If they had planned this far ahead, then we’d underestimated them.
“But we’ve had some movement,” Wrecker added.
“Movement how?” I asked.
Wrecker’s eyes moved to me. “Jester was staying at the motel on the edge of town.”
A growl rumbled from Jude the second Jester’s name left Wrecker’s mouth.
It had only been a week since Jude took him out, and we all knew he was still pissed at himself for not figuring out who Jester really was before the asshole got close to Ever.
Nobody blamed Jude. Jester had fooled everyone, but that didn’t mean Jude had forgiven himself.
Wrecker glanced at him but didn’t comment.
“Archie works the front desk at the motel,” he continued.
“He’s been showing some interest in prospecting, so I decided to use that to our advantage.
I told him if he keeps me in the loop about what’s going on over there, there could be a place for him with the Lords. ”
“Shouldn’t that be something we all vote on as a club?” Basil asked.
Wrecker slowly turned his head toward him. “No.” Straight to the point.
Basil sat back in his chair but didn’t look satisfied.
“Archie was a year behind me in school,” I said. “He’s a good guy. His parents own the motel, right?”
Wrecker nodded. “They do, and having Archie on the inside can help us.”
He looked back at Basil. “That good with you, Basil?”
“B,” he corrected.
Wrecker stared at him.
Basil cleared his throat. “And yeah. I guess you’re right.”
Cole bumped his shoulder. “Ol’ B here is just a little irked because Archie tried to shove him into a garbage can before.”
Laughter broke out around the table.
Basil frowned. “Tried,” he grunted. “He tried, but he didn’t get the job done.”
“Is that what you tell yourself?” Fox asked.
“He didn’t,” Basil insisted.
Cole lifted both hands. “I wasn’t there. I’m only repeating the story.”
“You repeat it wrong every time,” Basil muttered.
Wrecker slapped one hand against the table. “Can we move on from the fucking garbage can?”
The laughter died down, though a few guys were still smirking.
“Archie let me know that for the past three days, there have been numerous calls to Jester’s room,” Wrecker said.
Pipe frowned. “How does Archie know that?”
“Because Jester’s room is right next to the office, and the walls are paper fucking thin,” Wrecker explained. “Archie can hear the phone ring through the wall.”
“So someone is trying to get in touch with Jester,” Mason said.
“Good fucking luck,” Jude growled. “Junior took care of that.”
Junior leaned back in his chair and shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
A few chuckles moved around the table.
Jude gave him a look.
Junior didn’t so much as blink.
“So, are we assuming it’s the last of the Northbound Reapers trying to talk to Jester?” I asked.
Wrecker nodded. “We can’t know for sure, but I gotta assume Jester didn’t have a fuck ton of people reaching out to him.”
“Especially people who keep calling the motel instead of his cell,” Nickel added.
“Maybe they know his phone is gone,” Pipe suggested.
“Or maybe they don’t want the call traced back to them,” Mason said.
Both possibilities made sense. Neither gave us a location.
“So what now?” Joker asked.
“I told Archie the next time the phone rings, fucking answer it and find out what he can,” Wrecker replied.
Basil grunted. “You think these idiots are just going to confess to Archie who they are?”
Freak, Basil’s dad, looked down the table at him. “You really don’t like this Archie guy, do you?”
Basil shrugged.
Freak narrowed his eyes. “You never told me he put you in a trash can.”
“Almost,” Basil clarified loudly. “He almost put me in a trash can.”
Freak slowly shook his head. “Yeah. Almost.”
The table erupted again.
Basil crossed his arms and glared at everyone. “It wasn’t fucking funny.”
“It’s a little funny,” Arlo muttered beside me.
Basil’s glare moved to him. Arlo took a drink of water and looked away.
Wrecker dragged one hand down his face. “Can we just fucking focus? If we go off what people were like in high school, none of you twerps would be sitting in this room right now.”
“Noted,” Fox laughed.
“I’m just saying I think we should be included in deciding who we take on as prospects,” Basil said quietly.
Wrecker stared at him for a few seconds.
The room went silent again.
“You know what?” Wrecker asked.
Basil’s eyes narrowed.
“Since you have doubts about Archie prospecting, maybe you should be the one to scope him out more and be there when he answers the call next time.”
Basil blinked. “Wait, what?”
“You heard me.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Wrecker nodded once before pointing toward Kingston. “And you can go with him. You’re both staying at the motel until that phone rings again.”
Kingston held up both hands. “I don’t have a problem with Archie prospecting. Why am I being dragged into this?”
“Because I said so,” Wrecker answered.
Kingston lowered his hands. “I guess that’s a good enough reason.”
Basil looked between them. “How long are we supposed to sit at the motel?”
“Until the phone rings,” Wrecker replied.
“That could be days.”
“Then I suggest you get comfortable.”
Kingston leaned toward Basil. “I call the bed by the window.”
Basil glared at him. “I’m not sharing a room with you.”
“I don’t want to share a room with you either, but here we are.”
Wrecker shook his head.
“What about the rest of us?” I asked.
He pushed his chair back and stood. “We watch our fucking backs and stay ready for when they strike next. Stick like glue to your ol’ ladies and the rest of the girls.
Always two guys together. Nobody goes anywhere alone.
” His eyes swept around the table. “That includes inside town. Just because we haven’t seen the Reapers doesn’t mean they aren’t here. ”
Nobody argued.
Wrecker turned and stormed out of the room, clearly irritated that the meeting had turned into a debate about garbage cans and prospects. The door slammed behind him.
Fox leaned back in his chair. “Well, that wasn’t exactly the big news I was hoping for.”
“It’s better than nothing,” Boink replied. “Three days of calls means someone expects Jester to answer eventually. Archie gets something useful out of one of them, we might finally have somewhere to start.”
Freak glared at Basil. “You don’t think you could’ve buried that shit about Archie, Basil?”
“It’s B,” Basil insisted. “And no. The guy was an asshole to me in high school, and I highly doubt that’s changed in a few years.”
Kingston stretched both arms over his head. “Well, looks like you and I are going to find out firsthand whether that’s true.”
Nickel hitched his chin toward them. “Pack a fucking bag, boys, and get out of here.”
Basil shoved away from the table and stood with a scowl on his face. Kingston followed him, looking far too amused about the entire situation.
It was good that we finally had some movement.
It was more than we’d had yesterday, but it didn’t change anything for me.
The Northbound Reapers were still out there, and until every last one of them was handled, I was going to keep Lark safe.