One at a time, the three backed away from the gathering of club members, who were busy drinking and regaling each other with stories.
Toasting their fallen brothers.
It was a spontaneous, informal memorial service of sorts, a reaction to the news reports of the bodies discovered in Benicio's warehouse. The brothers were angry. They wanted blood. And it happened in Benicio's warehouse, which meant Benicio was involved. It was a new day for Mad Dog.
In the back room, Mad Dog gathered his allies.
“Now,” he said. “Axe was one of the closest people in the world to me. I considered him like family, and I meant every word of what I said out there. It pained me to have to get rid of him, but he was in the way. So, understand that if I erased him, I would not hesitate to do the same to any of you who cross me. This is your only warning. You won’t get a second one.”
“Understood, Prez,” Mud said. “You have our undivided loyalty.”
“Good,” Mad Dog said. “Now, onto the business at hand. The Veep is still gone, but he’ll be back soon.”
“Has anyone been in contact with him?” Fats asked.
Mad Dog shook his head. “He’s off the grid. On his honeymoon.” He rolled his eyes. “Overseas- told us he was going to Mexico, but I wouldn’t put it past him to tell us he was going one place and go another. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is he’s out of contact, and he will be back.”
“You have a plan, Prez?” Tink asked.
Mad Dog smiled, the expression not a pleasant one. “Of course I do. He needs to be dealt with. But we need to play this right. We can't afford any fuck-ups."
June
"Hey, June." Stan waved as he came walking up to the deck. Bailey ran out to greet him, and he bent over to pat her. Satisfied, she ran off to sniff the yard.
I waved back, my paintbrush in hand. "Good morning."
"This place is really coming along nicely," he said. "It's shaping up real well. I saw you out here working on the porch, and thought I’d stop by and see if you needed any help with the house.”
“Oh, things are going fine here,” I said. “I won’t say no to help with the sealing, if you want to give me a hand. But don’t you have other things to do?”
Stan shrugged. “Cade and Joe went into town to run an errand, and honestly, between the two of them, they’ve got everything on the ranch caught up. April and MacKenzie are napping, and I didn't want to disturb them. I was just sitting on the front porch having a cup of coffee, and saw you out here. I couldn’t just watch while you worked on the porch.”
“Well, here you go then.” I handed him a paintbrush. “You’re more than welcome to help.”
We painted in silence for a while, before Stan spoke. "I just can't tell you how glad I am that you came back to West Bend, June."
"That's nice of you to say." I moved along the porch railing, the rhythmic movement of the paintbrush soothing.
"It's the truth," Stan said. "It's selfish of me, and I'll admit it. I know Cade and Crunch's family are back here due to trouble, but having all of you back here has made me the happiest I've been since Molly died."
"It's nice to have family around."
Stan bent over, painting the underside of the porch railing. "Having a kid around again," he said. "It's like stepping back in time. Back to when you all were kids. I always considered you like - well, I'd say like a daughter, but then that makes it sound weird, since you and Cade used to date."
I laughed. "No, it's not weird," I said. "I know what you mean. I always thought of you and Molly fondly."
"I've always been real proud of you, too, June. When I'd heard you became a Navy doctor and all."
It was funny, hearing that from Stan didn't rub me the same way it did when Jed said it. When Stan said it, I felt warm, happy.
"June," he said. "I'm sorry if I stirred things up between you and Cade."
I had to turn away to hide a smile. There it was, the reason he'd come over. All the pretense, in order to apologize.
He and Cade were cut from the same cloth.
"It's okay, Stan," I said. "You didn't stir up anything."
"Now, I know that's not true," he said. "And I insulted you, implying that you'd be talking to a cop about Crunch and his family."
I shook my head. "It was really okay, Stan."
"That's good to hear," he said. "I wouldn't want to have wanted to stir things up with the two of you."
I was beginning to realize that Stan was as bad as one of the old ladies down at the hair salon, meddling in my personal life. I couldn't tell if he was trying to get Cade and I together, or warn me off of him.
Stan studied me carefully. “I fought in ‘Nam. I drifted for a while when I came back, was a little lost there for a bit. Got mixed up in some bad stuff.”
“What happened to change things for you?”
“Meeting Cade's mother is what happened to me,” Stan said. “She gave me a reason to live, a reason to get my head out of my ass.”