Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
God, I hoped they weren’t doing that to the people who’d gone missing.
“No. We’re relocating you to a long-stay hotel until a unit opens up at one of our affordable housing complexes,” Scott said.
Mary did a loop with the card to indicate the entire camp. “Are you gonna take everybody?”
The posse at her back shuffled several steps away from her.
Yeah.
Some people were on the street and didn’t want to be.
Some people, their home was the street.
“We’ve only made arrangements for you,” Scott said. “But if anyone else wants us to assist, we can make a list and start the ball rolling.”
No one piped up.
Mary squinted again. “Who’s payin’ for this hotel?”
“We have an anonymous benefactor for emergencies,” Scott semi-lied in so far as they weren’t exactly anonymous, since they were all standing right there.
Mary tapped his card on her lips in thought.
Louise stared at her daughter. “Why are you carrying a gun?”
Shit.
Raye, Harlow and me quickly shoved our Tasers in our back waistbands.
“It’s not a gun, it’s a Taser,” Luna replied.
“Why are you carrying a Taser?” Louise asked. Then went on, “Where did you even get one of those?”
Shit!
Needless to say, Scott nor Louise knew anything about the Angels. Even if they did, they were card-carrying progressive liberals (that tie-dye did double duty for Louise), and as such, they frowned on things like straws not made out of avocado pits, not taking your own bags to the grocery story, the man-spread…and Tasers.
Eric stepped forward, pulled mine out of my waistband and shoved it in his by his hip.
Oh, and he also looked mega hot doing it.
“They’re ours, Louise.” Now, he was totally lying. “The ladies just wanted to see them.”
Raye was handing hers to Cap with an I better get that back look on her face. Harlow gave hers to Gabe. Luna handed hers to Knox.
It was then I noticed Knox was the only one who’d broken ranks and was standing super close to Luna.
Interesting.
He’d also been at her pad that morning.
Interesting part two.
“You don’t need to come in armed with the unhoused,” Louise chided Eric.
“We always come prepared,” Mace said in a steely voice.
“Well, whatever,” Louise mumbled, bobbling her head, rolling her eyes and still mumbling, “I mean, really.”
“They aren’t dumb,” Mary decreed, then whipped out a wicked chef’s knife so fast, we all jumped back a step.
Except the Hottie Squad. They all took a step forward with Liam grabbing my waist and shoving me behind him.
“Even I’m packin’,” Mary continued. “Can’t be too careful.”
“Oh my goodness, please put that away,” Louise begged.
As Mary resheathed her knife, I looked around, because somewhere through this, I’d lost track of Eric.
I saw him with Cap not too far away, their heads bent in conversation with the General.
I had a few things to ask the General myself.
“Excuse me,” I murmured, but got not a step in before Brady had his hand at my chest, stopping me.
The instant I stopped, he took his hand from my chest.
“You need to stay here,” he told me.
I braved the further depletion of my resources to process his dark-haired, russet-bearded, lumberjack hotness and looked at him.
“In case you didn’t know this, these people trust me.”
“That conversation is between a soldier and his superiors,” Brady returned. “The spell is cast. You can’t break the spell, or they won’t get anything.”
Crap!
He was right.
Whatever.
Eric would fill me in.
I turned back to the matter at hand, specifically, I looked at Homer.
“We have some things in the car. Before we start packing up Mary, can you and a couple of the guys help us bring it in?” I requested.
I got nothing but a nod, though Homer and a couple of the men followed me and my chicks to the car.
“Are they gonna see to General Grant?” Homer asked on the way.
“They’re looking into programs to help him, yes,” I answered.
“Good. He doesn’t belong here,” Homer mumbled.
This wasn’t a dis.
Like I said, there were people whose home was the street, and people whose circumstances put them there.
We both knew which camp the General fell into.
Raye opened the back hatch of the Sportage, and the men moved in to grab the plastic-wrapped, cardboard bottomed cases of bottled water and bags of bath wipes, mondo bottles of generic aspirin, Slim Jims, breakfast bars and packets of dried fruit and nuts.
Homer had his arms laden with two cases of water when he looked at me.
“They won’t like that team being here,” he announced.
“Who won’t?” I asked.
“You know,” he said.
The Shadow Soldiers.
I didn’t want to ask him if he knew what Jeff had been doing all along. I didn’t want to put him on the spot or do anything to shake the trust he had in me, which I knew was fragile and always would be.
But it still stung that I suspected he knew who Jeff was with and what he was doing.