Chapter 10 #2
“Bring us the seafood platter,” Saint says, pointing to picture on the menu that shows an obscene amount of indistinguishable fried food piled into a small mountain.
“And an extra-large side of ranch,” Heath adds. “We’ll share that.”
“And two DPs,” Saint adds.
“I do like DP,” Heath says with a wink.
“I’ll take the number three meal,” Angel says. “With an orange Fanta.”
“Okay,” the waitress says, avoiding looking in Walker’s direction by focusing on her tablet.
“I’ll have the lobster roll,” I say. “And just water to drink, please.”
“Oh, and the princess here will have an iced tea,” Angel says, nodding to Walker. “Keep ‘em coming. He’s having a hard time letting the last one go.”
“I’ll take a bowl of the chowder,” Walker says, sliding the menu across. “And put everything on one tab. I’m the only one here who can afford it.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Saint growls.
“Couldn’t buy yourself a brain,” Angel says.
“Keep buying me dinner and I might think you want some protein in the back of the van next time,” Heath says, wiggling his slit brows at Walker.
“Hey,” Saint snaps. “He’s not our friend.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty to go around,” Heath says with a grin. “This guy might be old but I’m still young, dumb, and full of cum.”
“Who you calling old, pipsqueak?” Walker asks. “I’m not even the oldest one at the table.”
The waitress scurries off when the guys continue sniping.
I frown at Walker, understanding why he’s provoking the others but not liking it.
He’s walking dangerous ground and doesn’t seem to understand that these are not ordinary circumstances, and the Hellhounds will not react in the way they ordinarily would.
My phone pings with a notification, and I set it on the table and lower my voice. The others fall silent in a way that makes my soul expand. “The boat is confirmed,” I tell them. “So, we go over to the island tonight. Walker, you’re sure she’ll be there?”
“It’s my best guess,” he says. “And Nate confirmed the ping on her tracker. But no, I’m not sure. No one told me. But that side of the family isn’t exactly subtle.”
“How do we know you’re not sending us into a trap?” Angel asks. “I’m not comfortable with all four of us heading to Disciple Island at once.”
“Like lambs to the slaughter,” I murmur.
A somber silence falls over our table in the corner of the noisy dining room filled with the voices of families, children, and yells from the bustling kitchen staff.
“I guess you’ll have to trust me,” Walker says sarcastically, glancing at his phone when it comes on.
“What incentive do you have for telling the truth?” Angel asks.
“I don’t need an incentive because I’m not a complete piece of garbage,” Walker snaps. “You think I like being related to those lowlifes? You think I’m proud of it, like you are your felon family? Fuck you.”
Angel starts to rise, but I rest a hand on his forearm, and after a few deep breaths, he sinks back in his seat obediently. He never takes his eyes off Walker, though, his murderous death glare saying everything he’d do if I weren’t here to stop him.
“Angel,” I say, giving him a warning look. “It’s okay to accept help. You don’t have to trust him, but you know you can trust me. Don’t you?”
He glares at me a second and then nods, his jaw working. “Yes, Father. I do.”
“You don’t have to know everything all the time,” I say. “You don’t have to do everything on your own. We’re all here. We’re all in this. Walker’s going to help us all. Okay?”
He grits his teeth, and finally, he nods again. “Okay. Sorry. I’ve been a dick. I know she’s not just my girlfriend. She’s… Special to all of us.”
“Except me,” Walker says. “I barely know who she is.”
I shoot him a look. “Not now, Walker.”
He gives an apologetic shrug with one shoulder. “Yeah, okay. Sorry about that. I tried to warn her, though.”
I turn to Angel and raise a brow.
“Sorry I bashed your face in,” Angel says. “It’s only a little uglier now than before.”
“Still prettier than you’ll ever hope to be,” Walker says, accepting his food from a server who clearly just came over to gawk. “Take a picture, darlin’. I’ll autograph it right on your phone.”
The guy scurries away, and Walker shakes his head and sets his bowl down like nothing happened as everyone digs into the mountain of fried things they deliver to the table next.
“Now that Angel’s stopped making this all about him, can we just take a minute to realize how fucking huge this is?” Heath asks, dunking a fried shrimp in ketchup. “Saint’s going to get his sister back. I’m going to get mine back. Hell, Walker, you might even get yours back.”
“Fuck,” Angel mutters under his breath, casting a guilty look at Walker.
I wasn’t going to put the other man’s business on the table, but Heath throws it out like it’s nothing.
“My sister’s not here,” Walker says, not looking up from his bowl.
“She could be,” Heath says.
“She’s not.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she’s as much a Sincero as I am,” Walker says, finally tearing his attention from his food and leveling Heath with a look. “They may be criminals, but they don’t sell their own flesh. That’s one line even a Sincero won’t cross.”
“So that’s why you’re helping us,” Angel says. “Because your sister’s one of the missing girls from Faulkner.”
“My sister had the misfortune of being born to a mother with gang ties,” Walker says.
“That’s dangerous blood to carry. Apparently it makes us enemies for something we had no fucking choice in.
” He stares Angel down, daring him to contradict himself after all the things he’s said on this trip about Walker being a Disciple descendant.
Angel doesn’t, and after a second, Walker shakes his head and goes back to his chowder.
“But yeah, my sister’s gone too. So forgive me if I think all gangsters are pieces of shit, no matter their affiliation. You haven’t exactly changed my mind.”
“What about me?” Heath protests. “I even gave you some of the good pain pills.”
“You’re better than the rest of them,” Walker says, glancing at his phone when a notification pops up.
“Fortunately for you, I’m not a gangster, and I’m not a piece of shit, so I’m going to do what I can to help.
I won’t even make you pay unless we find her.
Now, you want to see what Nate dug up on the dark web?
Looks like we’ve got a hit on your girl. ”