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“Do you have those girls, or are they missing?” Nancy demanded.
“What?”
“Harper and Isla haven’t been home most of the day, and Grace returned to work. I know you had them when that rotten woman threatened them again,” Nancy sneered. Nancy didn’t rate Angela either.
“The girls are with their new babysitter who is invading my backyard and peace of mind.” I sighed.
“It was a good thing you did the other day. That bitch has been mistreating those precious kids. Grace works so hard that I did not want to burden her, but I was keeping a record of things to show her. You beat me to it.”
“Okay.” I wondered what else to say. Nancy was staring at me in anticipation, but I had no idea why.
“Well?” she finally asked.
“What?”
“Jesus, boyo, do you need it spelling out? What’s your interest in her?” Nancy demanded.
“None. Zilch, zero—and no chance of there being one. Lady, I don’t know what your game is, but I merely stepped in to help two hungry children. Do not read into shit. Anyone would have done the same,” I said abruptly. A sudden thought hit me. “Did Grace send you to find out if I was interested?”
A peeved anger rose inside me at the thought that Grace might have marked me as the next baby daddy. That would never, ever happen.
“Good gracious, no. Grace would curl up and die. She has no interest in dating, and I’ve tried to get her with several single men I know, including some from my family. No, I was about to warn you off. That woman has suffered; leave her alone; she doesn’t need your one night and done malarky,” Nancy said, and my anger faded to bemusement.
“You ever seen a woman leaving here?”
“No.” Nancy appeared thoughtful, and then she blushed. “Oh lord. My gaydar is always wrong. That’s why your brothers always hang out.”
“No!” I screeched and coughed to clear my throat. “I’m straight but not interested in dating. Women bring too many problems, and I don’t have the patience or time to deal with their problems.”
“Like you men can talk. Women are always bailing you out of shit. Hell, it’s a miracle you can wipe your asses alone,” Nancy snapped, sniffing.
I shook my head. How had the conversation deteriorated so much?
“Well, thanks for the chat, but as you can hear, I’ve got guests. Have a nice day,” I said and began walking away.
“It’s just beginning,” Nancy called out after me.
I waved a hand at her and carried on. Bless the crazy old bat; she was exactly one of the reasons I kept myself to myself.
???
Blessed silence filled the hearse as I picked up the first job of the night. A body from the hospital. After that, I was heading to the Riders of Vengeance to pick up their body. Usually, the bodies were brought into the funeral parlour, but picking one up, although unusual, wasn’t out of my remit. It didn’t bother me driving with body bags in the back. They were dead. And should the fuckers return from the dead, I was armed and with silver bullets, too.
After experiencing Phoe’s idea of fun on Halloween, I was more than paranoid the paranormal existed. And fuck anything my brothers have to say. I may be a pussy, but I’d be laughing when a zombie rips their throat out, and I shoot the fucker in the head.
I had always believed a little in ghosts. After all, stories had to come from somewhere. But I had never admitted it to anyone. Phoe’s fright nights terrified the fuck out of me, but I knew she meant it in good fun. And we all did laugh afterwards, even if we might’ve shit ourselves during the event. I guess there were some who might call Phoe a bully, but she was anything but.
Phoe was clever enough to use our fears against us, and while we’d be traumatised during the event, afterwards, we watched the films that were made and laughed our asses off.
So, no, driving dead bodies around didn’t scare me.
And dead bodies did plenty of spooky shit. Like when one had exhaled, I had parked in the middle of the road and refused to get back in. That time, Bobby Lucas had found me and explained what had happened. But I wasn’t having it, and he’d driven the hearse back laughing. I’d bribed him to keep quiet about it.
There was another time when I’d hit a slight bump, and the body in the back had moved. Again, it had taken me an hour to get in the car, and I had only done so after shooting the fucker three times. It was a good job that it was a closed casket. Now, I was used to it.
“Hey,” Venom called as I approached. He opened the sliding gate, and I drove in. He waved me over to an area, and I drove there and parked.
“Come grab a beer or cold drink,” Venom ordered. “The prospects will load up.”
