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And real love.
Chapter Forty
Flying Pepperoni
Linc sat in prayer alone with a beer. Waiting for Nova to get ready made him smile. Taking way too long. The door opened and Cyrus stepped in.
“Want company?”
“It’s your table, Prez,” Linc said.
Cyrus shut the door and took his seat at the head of the table.
“How’s our girl?” Cyrus asked.
“She’s okay. She won’t leave here. I’m taking her out in a minute for something to eat. We both need it.”
“That’s good. What does she know?”
“What she needs to.”
“Linc…”
“Christ, Cyrus, is that why you’re sitting here? You want to crawl up my ass? What are you asking? You think I’m the rat? You think she’s the rat?”
“Come on, Linc. Stop. Don’t get so goddamn emotional. I’m asking questions to make sure the stories work.”
“She knows enough,” Linc said. “The house was cleaned out. Basement scrubbed. Then set on fire. All she knows about the body was that it’s gone. She doesn’t ask questions, Cyrus. She’s smart. She understands this life.”
“Good. Don’t take it the wrong way, Linc. I’m on edge. I’m glad Nova is safe. I’m glad we found her brother. How is he?”
“Nick is actually in rehab,” Linc said. “Her mother is a mess, but whatever. Right?”
“Hope the kid can stay clean. But, hey, look around you. Empty table. Just us. And yet I can smell it. I can feel it.”
“The rat.”
“The rat,” Cyrus repeated.
“We’ll figure it out, Prez. It’s going to take a minute. We’re going to have move slow and smart.”
“You know, if Johnny were around…”
Linc laughed. “Shit. He’d have us all chained up right now.”
“The man was nuts, but smart. He built this thing.”
“What about Warren? Custer? We can also pull them in for their advice.”
“I’ve thought about it,” Cyrus said. “They’d offer up the old way. And you know them. They’d get angry and drunk and it would implode.”
“Fuck,” Linc said. “What if it’s one of the deecees?”
“You don’t think that for a second. You just don’t want Nova getting jealous and explosive and getting into fights.”
Cyrus stood up and grinned. Linc stood up too. The two men hugged for a second.
“We’ll get this worked out, Linc,” Cyrus said. “Storms never end around here.”
