Perversion (Perversion Trilogy #1)(34)

I cough on my smoke. “You and Chief David?”

She nods, throwing my words back at me. “You know, neutral territory and all.”

“Touché. I’m all about keeping the peace.”

She narrows her eyes at me.

“To a certain extent.”

Margaret sighs. “I’m afraid that extent might be ending and soon. I got the feeling that the second the wind shifts and Marco gets an ingrown hair in his ass, he’ll make moves to take the Immortals and Bedlam out. Don’t think he’ll wait out the month. And if he does, there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll burn down the entire fucking town in the process. He’s getting careless. Reckless. A leader like that is more dangerous to his own people than we are.” She looks up at me with her lips pressed together. Her shoulders sink. “I’ve lost a lot of my boys over the past few years. I don’t want to lose anymore. Not if I can help it.”

“Belly recently said the same thing,” I say, truthfully. “And hopefully, we won’t have to.”

“You think Marco’s gonna cause trouble when he catches wind of your new venture?”

“I’m not sure yet. That’s half the reason I’m here. To schedule a sit-down and talk to you before it happens. The question I want to know right now is, will you be causing trouble?”

She shakes her head. “I got enough shit to deal with in my territory, Grim. You posting up on the res to service gentleman callers from the casino isn’t high on my list of priorities.” She pats the envelope. “But I appreciate the consideration.” She holds it out.

“That’s yours.”

“I don’t want your money, Grim. I want to know that when the town catches fire, you understand that it won’t just be Bedlam caught in the blaze.”

I nod. “Keep it. I understand. I got your back as long as you’ve got mine, Margaret. Besides, I like talking to you, and I honestly can’t say that about a lot of people.”

“Boy, save that charm for some unlucky lady who will actually fall for it.”

I laugh as one particular lady comes to mind. My smile fades.

Margaret peers reflectively up to the sky. “How’s your old man holding up? I heard Belly’s had some problems.”

I take a drag. “He says he’s doing alright. The docs over at Lacking Memorial fixed him up, put him on some meds. Hopefully, the old man will be around to groan and grumble for many years to come.”

Yet, he just about gave me a reading of his will last night and may know something I don’t.

Margaret’s smile returns. This time, it’s genuine. “Good to hear. I’ve always liked Belly, even when we were trying to kill each other, I’ve always had respect for a man who knew the meaning of loyalty and family. We’re a lot alike in that way.”

“Except in the looks department,” I point out. “You got him there. Speaking of family, how’s your man-child doing these days?”

She blows out a breath and shakes her head. “Damon is… a good kid,” she says like she’s trying to convince herself more than me.

Damon is twenty-four, hardly a kid, but I get that she’ll always see him that way. He’s her son.

He’s also a fuck-up of epic proportions.

She shakes her head and closes her eyes. She presses her lips together. “But I swear to Christ if he brings one more pregnant skank over to the house, I’m sterilizing him in his sleep. Don’t get me wrong, I love my grand-babies, but I have a hard time keeping track of which mother is in jail, which one is out on parole, which one’s skipped town, and which one is coming after him with a razor blade.”

“Quantity over quality?” I joke.

“Something like that.” Someone calls her name, and she turns back to the table and holds up her finger, letting them know she’ll be there in a second.

“Gotta run, let me know about that sit-down.”

“Always a pleasure, Margaret.”

She turns to leave, and I see out of the corner of my eye a black van rolling by the park. “Wait, you or anyone on your crew had the task force up your ass lately?”

Her eyes follow mine to the van. Her smooth voice turns annoyed in a flash. “They got Damon a few days ago. Detained him for sixteen hours.”

“Got me last week. Spent a while there myself under the care of Captain Lemming. They had Sandy for a while, too.”

“You think they’re going to cause problems?” She places a hand on her jutted hip as the van makes a U-turn and slowly drives by just inches from where we’re standing.

“I sure as shit hope not, or they’re in for a rude fuckin’ awakening that Lacking ain’t like other towns.” I wave at the van and so does Margaret.

“No, no it sure isn’t,” she murmurs.

“If they took Damon in and not you, then at least they don’t know who’s really running the show. At least, not yet. Means they don’t know as much as they want us to believe they do.”

“True, so let’s keep it that way, shall we?” she says.

I raise my chin in agreement. “I won’t give them shit about anything. You’ve got my word.”

“The word of a criminal,” she laughs, “How comforting.”