Paulie’s reaction I can understand, since the girl looks upon Cleo as a sort of mother figure in place of her own, who by the way, I wouldn’t allow to raise a pack of feral wolves.
Trace, well, it’s interesting to see that she’s not as into Ronny and her way of thinking as she led me to believe.
According to what I’ve heard on the grapevine, Cleo took a spill and broke her hip. Jerry, our own little insider, tells a different story. We know that Cleo is unresponsive due to having ingested a toxin that has yet to be identified by the doctors.
“I don’t like any of this, Jace. Ronny is way too okay with all of this to be unaware of what went down with Cleo, and Paulie has yet to return any of my calls since day before yesterday,” Jared gripes, signalling to the waitress for a coffee and a menu.
My own food is cold and untouched as I keep my eyes on the salon and watch Trace flick a narrow-eyed glance Paulie’s way.
“Something is up with Paulie. Trace has been giving her looks all afternoon, and Ronny seems to be enjoying whatever the heck is going on with them, that’s for sure. What did Miah say about it?”
“Nothing.” Jared shrugs, thanking the waitress for his coffee and placing a full lunch order. “He and Clari are still in that honeymoon phase, and a lot of his time is spent looking for Nick Grimes, as you know.”
“Still? I thought we decided to leave that to Case while we handle shit down here.”
Jared shrugs and rolls his eyes.
“You know how those idiots are about their women, man. Miah wants to find Grimes all on his own to prove to himself that he can protect Clari without help from the FBI and that agent, Steph Williams. He’s got a bug up his ass that she saved Clari before he could.”
Christ, I really hope that shit isn’t contagious, because I’ve met the new Tracy Mayfield, and for some odd reason, I get the idea that if I ever tried to play big strong caveman with her, she’d cut my balls off and make a necklace out of my manhood.
“What’s the difference as long as Clari is okay and he got her back?” I ask, even though I already know the answer. For instance, it still chaps my ass that Trace wouldn’t let me help her get on her feet when I left her, and ran back to her daddy instead.
Some things a man just needs to do for his girl. End of story. Not being able to take care of Trace after I hurt her was a major kick in the nuts, especially when she chose to go home to her father.
I know what Miah must be feeling right now, and I pity him because I’m certain Agent Williams already has Nick Grimes in her clutches.
That being said, we really do not have the time or the resources to have Miah mounting a one-man search and kill on Nick Grimes, and I told the fool that myself not two days ago.
“Jace, man, I know you understand what my twin is feeling right now. Just chill about the family and let’s focus on our own objective for now. Roman is still deep with the undercover shit, and he hasn’t been too forthcoming recently about what’s going on with Dobson and the other cops in his unit. I’m getting one of those bad feelings.”
Me too.
Jared and Miah might be the twins in the family, but Jared and I are in sync when it comes to running ops like this one. We’re both in agreement here. Something is not right, not right at all, and I get the feeling that we’re being played by a lot of people who aren’t even on our radar.
Why I feel this way is anyone’s guess, and yet I’ve learned to trust my gut; it’s right more times than not.
“I’ve had a feeling since this mess started with Ellie and Lynn and it just keeps getting worse, man. It’s too coincidental that the family would start kicking up the dirt just when we’re running an op and trying to take down these asshole extremists.”
Another thing that’s been bugging me lately is the whole setup with Paulette Hayes and Cleo, not that I don’t like them or anything…I think…but it’s all just too easy and sewn up to suit me.
Why would Cleo go against her own and start feeding us info all of a sudden? And why the hell would she warn me to avoid my own father and the rest of the family, like Roman’s parents?
My father actually survived the wreck that killed my mom. Most folks think he died right along with her, since I went to live with Jude and George when I was too little to know different.
He did live, though, and seemed very eager to rid himself of me after losing Mom, something that’s made me hate the man for quite some time. My own father and Cleo seem to be real close, considering they’re only related through marriage and the children running around on that side of the lawn, and the fact that she’d just flip switches and start helping us after what Lynn did is weird.