“Dammit! Why can’t those assholes just let well enough alone and move on? It’s not like Bolton and Lynn were fucking angels of mercy, Jerry. They enjoyed hurting other people, you should know since from what Pop has told me, you were one of their first victims.”
Roman has pulled over by now and sits glaring out the window with his face set in anger.
I can’t blame the man for his rage, not after Pop told us that the reason he won’t harm Jerry or let Wyatt have a go at him is because the guy has suffered his own shit under Bolton and Lynn for years now. We all assumed that Jerry was the one who’d messed Bolton up since he seemed so hard on the kid, but it turns out that Lynn would threaten Jerry’s secret family every time he or Bolton failed to live up to her standards.
Every time Bolton lost to us or failed at something, Lynn would let Jerry know how displeased she was with him as a father, and that if he didn’t make Bolton better, she’d give him a reason to try harder.
Why the woman was so nuts when my own father treated her like a treasured princess…
“Miah? You there, boy?”
“Yea, just thinking. Listen, I need you to get me something, anything to use against these assholes, Jerry. And before you say no, I want to remind you that you owe us for being such a cowardly asshole.”
“Christ boy, you wanna get my lynched by that pack of hyenas?” he splutters, making me laugh.
“No, old man, I’d just like for you to earn the help Pop has been giving you. Cleo’s still cool right?”
“You know she’s the only one who doesn’t have a hard on for you Lane boys, and why would she after your mama set her up with that specialist and the wheelchair after the accident?”
I smile at that, because of all the Conrads, Cleo is the only one worth knowing. The old bird lost the use of her legs after a horrific car accident that killed her husband, but she’s still the sweetest woman I know in that whole nest of vipers.
“Jared has been sitting on that friend of Veronica’s.”
“Paulette?” he asks, sounding mystified. “Why’d he be interested in her? Her and Ronny aren’t even that close. The girl just keeps Paulette around as a punching bag and errand girl.”
Well that’s news and maybe something I can use to get what I need before my brother decides to cut our losses.
“I was thinking that with Cleo and Paulie’s help we could wrap this thing up nice and neat and take a case to the prosecutor. You know your nephew and nieces aren’t exactly law-abiding citizens.”
“Prove it, boy, and we’ll all be the better for it,” he says.
“No, you prove it, old man. Call Jared and talk to him about getting Cleo and that Paulie girl in on things, and we’ll see how he works that angle.”
“Christ, fine, but if I end up dead because of this—”
“Get moving and get me something I can use instead of just calling me with dire warnings, Jerry.”
I end the call with a sighed curse and look over at Roman who is now smiling at me wickedly.
“You know that lunatic twin of yours has the worst crush on Paulette Hayes, right?”
We’re both laughing our asses off a half hour later when the man, himself, calls, cussing me out for all he’s worth.
“You fucking asshole—”
“Jared, calm your ass down and say thank you since I just gave you the biggest advantage you need to meet the woman instead of sitting outside her house like a creeper with his dick in his hand.”
The vile things he starts yelling at me would make me doubt his love if not for the fact that I’m sure I hear fear in his usually calm voice.
“I’ve kept my distance for a reason, Miah, and you Goddamn know it. Tell Roman to stop laughing, I can hear his braying all the way over here. Bunch of meddling old women is what you assholes are.”
My own chuckles are choked when he finally winds down and sighs wearily.
“You know Jerry is like the worst possible candidate if we want to keep our interest unknown, right?”
“Yea, that’s the point, Jared. He’ll tip them off just by breathing and that’ll make them nervous enough to start making mistakes. We need to know if they’re all bark or if they bite back in the form of two assholes breaking into Clari’s place. Time is not a luxury right now, and it’s starting to chap my ass that I don’t know anything more than what I knew three days ago.”
I need to have some answers and soon because sleeping beside Clari without touching her is starting to wear on my self-control. Especially when the woman prances around the room in one of those negligées I now regret buying her, shaking her fine ass my way every chance she gets.