Page 48 of Glacier

“Those things are going to kill you,” I warned Jude as I brought my mount to a halt and dismounted.

“Something's got to kill me eventually.” Jude grinned, his teeth flashing white in the darkness.

He put out the cigarillo and held his hand out to me. I took it, and he pulled me into a back-pounding hug. The rest of the men greeted Law and Lurcher in the same manner.

If only the townsfolk could see us now. We’d worked this out years ago at the age of sixteen. They worked on the side of the law that kept our town clean, and we worked outside it. So far, it had worked just fine.

“Come on.” Jude nodded towards the river and the firepit we’d built years ago. Nobody but us knew about it.

Samson lit a match and put it to the kindling, and a fire was crackling in no time.

“Beer?” Abel raised an eyebrow, his hand in the cooler.

“How the fuck did you get that up here?” I asked.

He smirked. “Brought Bessie. You know she doesn’t mind pulling the trailer.”

Shaking my head in amusement, I accepted the cold beer and sat my ass by the fire, relaxing for the first time since that afternoon. Here I was among my closest brothers—the men I didn’t hide shit from. It was how we kept everyone safe.

“Oh, fuck, yeah,” Lawless exclaimed, rummaging through the backpack beside Zeke and holding up a bag of marshmallows.

Zeke chuckled. “Did you think I’d forget about bringing them? Can’t have a meeting without beer and s’mores.”

“Fucking children.” Jude laughed but took the crackers and marshmallows when they made their way to us.

I smiled, wondering what Juju would think of this. Knowing her, she’d be fucking thrilled.

We spent an hour shooting the shit and filling up on beer and s’mores.

“Why’d you need to meet?” Jude finally asked.

I shared a look with Lurch. “Someone was watching us in town today. I wanted to know if you’d seen or heard anything.”

Jude, Abel, and Zeke shook their heads.

“Not heard anything, but we’ll kick in a few doors tomorrow. Shake a few people up and see what falls out of the tree. Should have realised someone might have slipped in. ATF chatter has gone quiet,” Jude admitted, looking at me. “Where were you?”

“Showing my woman the empty shop next to the hardware store,” I said, biting back a laugh as all four men’s heads snapped up so fast I thought they might damn near tip from their seats.

“You got yourself a woman?” Samson asked, shock written all over his face.

“And not just any woman,” Abel said with a slow grin. “She’s a real looker too.”

“How the fuck do you know?” Zeke demanded.

Abel’s grin widened. “Saw them today. On the sidewalk.”

Jude looked at Lurch and Lawless. “You two like her?”

“Yeah.” Lurch scratched his chin. “Told Glacier if he fucked around on her she’d cut off his balls and slit the throat of whoever he was fucking.”

Lawless bellowed a laugh. “Sounds like Juju.” He sobered. “She’s good people. Not scared of the life. Been through some shit.”

He didn’t elaborate. What happened to Juju was nobody’s business. She’d shared with the club, and that was as far as it would go.

“Juju and her boy are moving here as soon as I can make it happen. She’s going to run a feed store from the empty shop with Harriet, and they're taking over the hardware store. Changes are coming. More people to protect. Hell…” I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck. “We’re talking about having kids, and I don’t need the ATF fucking things up for me.”

“The fuck? Seriously?” Lawless looked surprised.