In a Badger Way (Honey Badger Chronicles #2) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,153
an hour minimum to do that sort of shit. You’ll have to come at me with something better than that.”
Max shrugged. “A few days ago I went into an underground lab and wiped out a whole lot of fellow shifters because they kidnapped my baby sister. Now, my older sister was with me and she did the same thing. For her, it was something she had to do to protect the family. She didn’t enjoy it, but she did it. She’s like a . . . Marine. Doing what she needs to do to protect the homeland. I, however, enjoyed every second of what I did. Because they crossed us and went after my baby sister, who is ridiculously nice and didn’t deserve any of that. So, if nothing else, for those on the outside looking in, I am wonderfully entertaining.”
Miki looked over at Irene and she nodded her head. “It’s true,” Irene admitted. “That did happen.”
“Well, then,” Miki said, throwing up her hands. “I’m in.”
* * *
The MacKilligans got on their private plane and Will settled into his seat. His time in the States hadn’t been as bad as he’d thought it would be. And the boys were still talking about how good a time they’d all had taking the piss out of an entire Pride. So everyone was happy.
Although he didn’t really understand why Mairi and the twins had done all this. Kill Uncle Pete, he meant. They’d wanted to lure him and his boys to the States, but for what? The only one who’d gotten hit was Max, nearly strangled to death in her own house.
But Mairi could have done that at any time, and the same message would have gotten to the rest of the family. So then . . . what was the point?
The whole thing bothered Will but not enough to distract him from the bigger issue. His fucking money! Where the fuck was his money?
Dougie sat in the seat across from Will. “You all right, Da?”
“Pissed. Very pissed.”
Frowning, Dougie leaned down. “What’s this?” he asked, pulling a briefcase out from under his seat. “Did you put this here?”
“No. What is it?”
Dougie opened it up and his breath caught, his gaze lifting to Will’s.
“Fu—”
* * *
She was telling the pilot of a private plane to get in line for takeoff when the entire building shook.
Screaming, she dropped to the floor, arms over her head. Some of her coworkers hit the floor around her. Some dove under desks. Glass from the windows exploded around them and she just tried to hold on. Tried not to panic.
Finally, in what felt like hours but was really only seconds, everything calmed down. The building no longer shook. The sound of glass falling all around them stopped.
Carefully, she stood and looked out the now glass-free window at the airstrip. The private plane owned by the Scottish men was now nothing more than bent and twisted metal that was still burning. Around what was left of the plane were bodies. And, from what she knew, all of them were family. An entire family wiped out in one second.
“Call nine-one—” She froze, leaned closer to what was left of her windows.
“What is it?” one of her coworkers asked.
But she didn’t know how to answer. She didn’t know what she was seeing.
* * *
Shen found Stevie sitting on the stage, her legs dangling over the edge. The Band had done one more hour-long set. This time of Jimi Hendrix and Beatles favorites. The whole thing was a success and he sensed that he’d be spending way more time around wild dogs.
With the other bandmates packing up behind her and the bar starting to clear out for the night, the regular lights came on and Shen noticed that Stevie was frowning.
He sat down next to her. “I saw Kyle running out of here. Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I just told him his baby brother was his competition and the kid was going to outdo him if he didn’t get off his ass and stop feeling sorry for himself. But I said it much nicer.”
“Then what’s wrong? You look upset.”
“No. This isn’t my upset face. This is my thinking face, which I’ve been told is a little scary.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“I got a call from Van Holtz earlier today. They are confiscating—his word—the underground lab James Wells was using. They’re going to take it over and they want me to run it.”
“To do what?”
“Not sure yet. I know they want me and Conridge to keep