Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Afraid so.”
“When are you going to retire?”
“Retire? What are you talking about? I’ve still got a few good years left in me.”
“I know. I was just hoping that you might try doing something else. Something a little less dangerous.”
“It’s not all that dangerous.” When Kiersten finally confronted me about the fact that I was a cleaner, I was very open and honest with her about everything. I told her exactly why I did what I did, and she made a point to be just as open and honest about how she felt about my chosen career. And since then, we’d both continued to be open and honest with one another, and I had no intention of changing that. “And at the end of the day....”
“I know... I know. It’s fine. You do what you gotta do.” She placed her hands on my shoulders, then eased up on her tiptoes and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll check back in later.”
“Okay. Be careful, and ...”
“I’ll call when I get there.” She glanced back at me with a playful smile before walking through the screen door and saying, “I always do.”
I waited until I heard Kiersten get in her car and drive off before I started dialing Hopper’s number. He was not only my crew leader, but he was also the best on my team—just as I knew he would be when I hired him. While he had a background in criminalistics that was invaluable to the work we did, most importantly, he had skeletons in his closet—the kind of skeletons that would lead a man like him to work for a man like me.
As soon as Hopper answered, I told him, “We have a game out at Talbot’s Corner.”
“How many are playing?”
“Four. Maybe five.”
“You want me to call in Tripp?”
“Yeah, we’ll definitely need him.”
Tripp was my ace in the hole. The six-foot-six ex-marine was built like a linebacker and was as strong as an ox—something that came in handy when removing bodies from a crime scene.
We’d first crossed paths when Tripp was prospecting for the Ruthless Sinners. Viper had ordered him to give Hopper and me a hand after his boys had a run-in with a rival MC. We had one hell of a mess on our hands, but Tripp never once complained. He simply did what was asked of him, and he did it well. One thing led to another, and after a lengthy conversation with Viper, Tripp became a permanent fixture on my team.
I glanced down at my watch before telling Hopper, “We’ll meet down at the Winn Dixie on Main in twenty.”
“You got it. See you there.”
I hung up the phone, then headed to my room and changed into a fresh shirt and khakis. Once I’d combed my hair and put on my shoes, I grabbed my glasses and rushed downstairs. With a little help from Viper and his boys, I’d built a secured area in the east corner of my basement—one that contained not only an incinerator but also a medical-grade cleaning room and a scrub room lined with plastic. The entire space was hidden behind a bookcase that was secured by three inches of steel and a keypad lock.
After entering the code, I pushed open the steel door and stepped inside. I did a quick check to make sure everything was in order, then grabbed my duffle bag and headed out to the attached garage. Once I’d unlocked the door, I walked over and removed the tarp that covered our cargo van.
From the outside, it appeared to be a regular passenger van with a sliding side door and two large rear doors for loading and unloading, but it was much more than that. This one carried all our essential tools, and the rear cargo area was completely covered in plastic sheeting.
I opened the back doors and loaded the rest of our equipment, then got in and started toward town to meet up with Hopper and Tripp. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, they both hopped in the van and tossed their duffle bags in the back. I was pleased to see they were both dressed in khakis and polos. It was something I’d insisted upon when they started working for me. I wanted to make an impression on the people we worked with—the kind of impression that would lead them to believe we weren’t just some fucking janitorial crew.
We were much more than that.
We were the men who made sins disappear.
After they both got in, I pulled out of the parking lot and drove to the address Grinder had given me. None of us spoke on the way over. We each used the time to settle our minds and prepare for the task ahead.
When we arrived at the address, I wasn’t surprised to find that it was an abandoned convenience store that had been trashed beyond repair and was barely standing. It was completely covered in graffiti and broken windows, and there were no longer any streetlights shining, making it difficult to see.