Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 205(@200wpm)___ 164(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 205(@200wpm)___ 164(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
The Bane clubhouse was up on a slightly higher elevation than most places in the outskirts of Palm Beach, but I had doubts the place would hold up. Thorn, on the other hand, was supremely confident in the integrity of his clubhouse. He was nearly as old as Cain but still held on to his club with a tight fist. Of course, he didn’t have as many other responsibilities as Cain, so I got it. And really, I knew the bastard knew his compound. I just didn’t like facing something I’d never weathered before. Call it a dislike of on-the-job training.
“We’ve withstood storms before, Ice. She may not look like much, but this place is rock solid.”
“If you say so.”
The other man grinned at me. “You ain’t scared. Are you?”
“No, I’m not fuckin’ scared! I just have no desire to be swept out to sea when anybody with any Goddamn sense evacuated yesterday!”
“We’re stayin’ here to help prevent looting. The community outside of West Palm Beach needs to be protected and that’s what we’re gonna do.” They’d sent the women and children out a week before. Most of them were in Kentucky at the Bones compound, along with the women and children of Black Reign. Being sister clubs had way more uses than what was on the surface. Black Reign might as well be a sister club, though no one wanted to have that bastard El Diablo hovering like a fucking mother hen. Everyone had a safe place to send their people during times like these while Bane and Reign provided our people with some sunshine and paradise during a long winter. Among other things. Not to mention, we always had each other’s backs.
“I know,” I snapped, irritated. “Ain’t sayin’ it ain’t needed. Just ain’t sayin’ this is my favorite thing to do. I ain’t a fuckin’ storm chaser.”
Shadow clapped my shoulder. He’d come because his wife Millie’s sister, Venus, refused to come to Kentucky with the other women. Venus was currently the only female patched member of Salvation’s Bane. Millie wasn’t staying at home when her sister was in the middle of a hurricane, so Shadow had come with the little warrior. If the big man was nervous, I couldn’t tell it.
“It’ll be fun. You’ll see.”
“Right. Looking fuckin’ forward to it.” I was pretty sure the sarcasm was lost on Shadow.
“That’s the spirit.” Shadow clapped me on the shoulder with a big ol’ shit-eating grin.
Yep. Shadow didn’t get it at all.
Their intel guy, Ripper, had all kinds of weather shit pulled up on about fifty different monitors in his office. Only a slight exaggeration. Everyone still in the compound was in Ripper’s command center, chatting lightly. There was tension in the room but nothing overt. They might act like they were flippant about the hurricane, but they were anything but.
“Still got several hours before the rain starts. Once it does, the heavy winds won’t be far behind.” Ripper had headphones on as he adjusted several things on more than one of the screens he studied. “Gonna be a doozie, this storm. Best models predict it stalling just off the west coast. That happens, we could be in for some historic flooding.”
“We gonna be safe here?” Thorn’s voice was soft as he stood behind Ripper, looking at the bank of monitors. I had no idea if he knew what he was looking at or not, but I’d bet my life he did. Which was why he asked for Ripper’s opinion. Thorn wasn’t a novice. He’d know the land around him and what it was capable of. He’d also know how to read forecast models of weather in the area. Why? Because this was his home. Thorn would know everything he needed to know about anything that could threaten his home and family. That included fucking hurricanes.
Ripper was silent for a moment, shaking his head slightly as if he were arguing with himself. “Not sure. If the storm stalls like they think it will, we might have problems around the city, but we should be good.” He stood and pointed to a screen, circling a spot on the map with his finger. “That’s us. We’re at about forty feet above sea level while most of Palm Springs is around ten feet. If the storm stalls, they’re predicting storm surge of twelve to fifteen feet above high tide. That will put a significant portion of real estate underwater. We’ll be completely isolated.”
“Not worried about that so much. But I don’t want to put us at risk if there’s no hope we’re gonna stay outta the water.”
Ripper shrugged. “Nothin’s a hundred percent, but I don’t see us being completely under water. At least, not the clubhouse. Some of the houses on the lower parts of the property might flood but not so bad it wouldn’t be survivable for anyone in them. Just fuckin’ scary and uncomfortable.”