Chapter 30 Jackal #2
Atom winces. “I think it’s a polite way of saying we’ve been fucking lucky.”
Wren leans forward. “It means that you’ve grown.
So has the town. It’s a small town, sure, but it’s expanding.
With that will come more police coverage.
You’ve gotten into routines. Just looking at your travel patterns alone, I can see when you go to do a drop-off for Big Daddy or do runs to neighboring states with drugs.
I can even tell you what time of day Wraith arrives at the grow op. ”
Wraith winces. “Got into a routine of dropping Fen at school, then riding straight on to the grow op.”
“It’s small things like that,” Grudge says. “It’s leaving us exposed and highlights complacency.”
“My balls are shriveling again, guys,” Smoke says. “This is heading out of no one fucked up, nobody’s in trouble territory into we did fuck up and we are in trouble.”
“But Wren applied their skills to our whole business,” Grudge says.
“They spotted gaps and declines in certain weed markets that don’t make sense and suggest someone is undercutting us.
And they did a dark web review of possible arms deals.
Looks like we’ve been underselling our merchandise. It’s time to up our prices.”
“And go figure out which little shits have crept into our markets,” Catfish says.
Atom nods. “It’s been a little boring around here, lately.”
“The bottom line,” Grudge says, “is that, if we follow all these leads, we could up our annual income by twenty-three percent without doing anything more than we’re already doing.”
“Goddamn, Wren,” Garrett says.
Wren blushes at the compliment, which I’m sure they hate, given they usually prefer to seem self-assured and unfazed.
“What else are you thinking?” I ask.
Wren shrugs. “It depends how far you want to take it. If I can do all this for you, I can give it a shot at scoping rival clubs. If you feel like inviting trouble, I’ll find out what they’re transporting and where they’re transporting it to.
I can keep an ear to the dark web to see who’s picking up work. ”
Grudge leans forward. “With Wren’s help, we’ve built a plan that would allow us to double how much we make in a year in thirty-six months. It’ll take some hard graft.”
“Like what?” I ask.
“Economic warfare,” Wren says. “We undercut competitors selectively, then pull back our supply chain to cause panic. We create shell sellers, forcing our rivals into bad deals that we capitalize on. And I leak perfectly timed information to law enforcement to force rivals to shut down temporarily. It’ll look like the cops have their shit together and will squeeze people out of our territory. ”
“Genius,” Catfish says. “Knew there was a reason I love you.”
Grudge rolls his eyes. “There’s also legitimate business.
Buying properties, creating an employment pipeline that makes hangarounds work for us in one of our businesses before we put them forward as prospects, increase our legitimate businesses as the town grows.
Having hangarounds in our legal businesses means we can scope them out without bringing them into the club. ”
Wren nods. “I can assess and watch for property trends, make sure we get the right financing deals, if that’s what you want.”
“You want to be treasurer, sweetheart?” Catfish asks, but his tone is playful.
“No. I want to be a fractional chief of staff for Grudge, to ensure the club makes tons of money so you can pay for everything I want.”
Smoke chuckles. “Can’t you just steal that shit?”
“I’ve gone legit.”
I raise my eyebrow. “That plan you’re talking through doesn’t sound legit.”
Wren shrugs. “Fine, fractional chief of staff, fractional ethics.”
Everyone laughs at that.
“Does everyone agree, in principle, that we should do it?” Grudge asks.
Wraith slams his palm on the table. “All of it.”
“Got babies to feed,” Atom says.
“Ember had the baby?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Not yet. Figure of speech.”
Smoke nods. “I’m in. And I’ll think about switching up all the routes we take and their timings.”
Catfish agrees. “My better half’s demanding, so I better get on and make them more money.”
Wren puts their tongue out at Catfish, and seeing how they’ve both been accepted renews my hope the club isn’t going to have too much trouble with what we have to say.
“We’re in,” Garrett says, answering for me.
“But before we commit, you all need to know something,” I say. “We’re settling here. The two of us. It’s time you knew we’re a couple.”
Wren smiles across the table at me. A knowing look that comes from putting yourself out there in the hope it doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass.
There’s a moment of silence, then Grudge tips his chin my way. “Glad you felt you can trust us with that.”
“We got a world of new terms in the clubhouse, lately,” Wraith says. “Do we get to try out old man?”
Smoke grins. “Think we know which one the old would be.”
Garrett flips the bird Smoke’s way. “Could still kick your ass.”
“Not with those ribs,” Atom says. “Makes me wince the way you’ve been holding them as you move.”
I hadn’t realized how much of Garrett’s fear I’d internalized. Of being rejected. Of Garrett getting rejected and how he’d heal from that. But even though I see nothing but humor and acceptance on their faces, I need to check.
“Do any of you have a problem with that?” I ask. “Do we need a vote?”
Wren stands. “Absolutely not. People don’t get to vote on your identity and existence.”
Grudge gestures for them to sit. “Cool your heels, Wren. Even if we were going to do that, it’s something you wouldn’t get a vote on.
But just so you know what I think everyone else feels, just so you can sleep tonight and know for sure, raise your hands if you’re cool knowing the two of them make out and are also damn good enforcers. ”
Even after being told their vote didn’t count, Wren is the first to raise their hand, which makes me chuckle.
Garrett wipes his palms on the legs of his jeans. And I give in to what I always want to do—I grab for his hand and squeeze it tight. The corners of his lips lift in a smile, but he doesn’t even look up. I watch every person as they raise their hands, because Grudge is right, I needed to see them.
I lean to Garrett and mutter, “You should look.”
He lifts his head, and I know that, while this is a big admission for me, his experience of being out in the world has been much crueler. First, his parents, then, the military. I see the way his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.
“There’s more,” I add. “We’re gonna claim Isla as our old lady.”
That’s met with a little more surprise.
“Isla? As in, club girl, Isla?” Smoke asks.
The way he says it ruffles Garrett. He removes his hand from beneath mine and leans forward. “Watch your tone when you talk about her, yeah?”
“Easy, tiger,” Smoke says. “I’m just surprised and was checking we were talking about the same person.”
“Last I heard, Isla had quit hanging around the club,” Wraith says.
“She had,” I confirm. “And we’re gonna have our work cut out for us, convincing her to come with us next weekend for the club anniversary.”
I wonder how much of Isla’s story I should tell them. Though, I guess Grudge and Catfish have already seen some of it. “She left to work on herself,” I continue. “Would be good if all of you and your old ladies could respect that.”
Wraith raises an eyebrow. “I’ll ask Raven to keep it tight, but I can’t make any promises. Isla was a bitch to Raven. Tried to get between us.”
“That’s all we can ask for,” I say. “Trust me when I say, Isla is living with all the decisions she shouldn’t have made. We want to find a way for her to fit in too.”
“Then, let’s vote on that,” Grudge says. “Because, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’re all part of the reason she’s gone.”
There’s a moment of pause as everyone considers their vote. I can only imagine what’s going through each of my brothers’ minds. Memories of themselves with Isla. Reflecting on what they have now with their old ladies. Wondering if Grudge is correct.
Slowly, hands begin to raise again.
And when the vote passes, Garrett is the one to take my hand.