Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 91212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
"Micah asked about you the last time he and Lucy came to visit."
Micah Cobreski. When I was a Cerberus team member with my best friend Noah Upton, he was known as Snake. I guess a couple of decades out of the club transitioned him back to his given name rather than the nickname he picked up in the Corps.
"I hear he has a few grandkids now," I say, trying to keep up the small talk, even though it tends to grate on my nerves.
"He does," Kincaid says with a smile as he drops his ass onto the couch.
"I'll give you guys the chance to catch up," Mike says, dipping his head in a quick hello to Kincaid before leaving the room.
"Where's your sidekick?" I ask, feeling like an asshole, because even I can hear the hint of annoyance in my ear.
"Hound? He's back at the house with the other guys."
"He traveled with you because he's your son-in-law?"
Kincaid watches me as I take the seat Mike vacated, and I can't determine how I feel about the scrutiny. The man has always had an uncanny ability to read people.
"I'm grooming him to take over."
I tilt my head. "Take over? Cerberus? Why?"
Kincaid chuckles. "I’m fucking old, man. I want to live a life of luxury."
"You'll never fully retire," I say with disbelief.
"Probably not," he quickly agrees.
The man was born to lead that club.
"Have you thought about retirement?"
My first inclination is to reject the idea, but the thought has crossed my mind more than once in recent months. I think it has more to do with burnout than a real need to step away indefinitely.
"I've been thinking about retirement since the day I signed on with ICE."
We both chuckle, knowing the strain bureaucracy can have on someone. Add in oversight, politics, a nation that thinks it deserves an explanation on everything, and keyboard warriors who think they could do a better job than trained professionals, and it makes for a very stressful career, governed more by what might happen than focusing on getting results. It's why this idea of a joint sort of task force with ICE and Cerberus made so much sense.
"Were you able to talk some sense into Hemlock?"
After the man came home, holding his mark captive, I knew I wouldn't be able to get through to him. But I also knew things could go in either direction when Kincaid arrived. I didn't stick around to watch the fallout.
"No need," Kincaid says, a slight smile playing on his face. "He had his mind made up. I asked him to lead the new chapter."
"President?" I ask, unable to hide the surprise in my voice.
He dips his head. "Did you want it?"
I tilt my head to the side, glaring at him as if he's crazy. Being a handler and supervisor for ICE is one thing. Trying to control and organize a group of bikers who love to live just outside of the law when taking down criminals would be impossible. I'd have an ulcer by lunch on the first damn day.
"I think you'd be great coming back into the fold with Cerberus."
I shake my head, unsure what that hint of emotion is inside of me. Am I jealous? Do I feel like I'm missing out on something?
"I thought this new organization was going to be different from New Mexico," I remind him. "No hierarchy, no connections. Just a group of men and women working to take down pieces of shit."
"What kind of life are we expecting these people to have, Ace? It's not humane, and it certainly won't last long. They have to have more than a job to live for. Now, I'm not trying to be an asshole, but we agreed about how this was going to go. ICE is here to assist Cerberus, not the other way around. This is still my club."
He's putting his foot down, telling me how it's going to be, but he doesn't do it in a way that pisses me off. I guess I knew deep down that he'd let me try it my way first, but he also knew it would be a failure.
I wanted no connections outside of work. I wanted people who could work and not let emotions carry them away. I needed men and women who could do the job without forming bonds with people so they couldn't be manipulated and hurt. I didn't want them to sacrifice themselves because they were emotionally attached to another person.
"You have to do what you think is best," I tell him, feeling like just one more cog in the machine I was just mentally bitching about. "The only problem I see going forward is the folks who are coming in have been told it was going to be one way, and now that's changing."
"No real changes," Kincaid counters. "They just don't have to choose between loving someone and working for the club."