his legs were ripped. He looked like he could tear through someone at a second’s notice and not break a sweat. There was an intensity to him, a look given to him from how his eyebrows almost overshadowed his eyes. Pretty eyes, but the strong forehead made him look like he was plotting someone’s murder, when he was more than likely thinking he wanted to get a donut. It was his own sort of resting bitch face.
Shetland was the other guy, besides Gramps, in the group and he was almost opposite Brock in every way.
Tall. Gangly. He had a bowl-cut haircut. Straight up. I had to laugh because it looked like someone had literally put a bowl over his head and cut around it. But he had the same hair color as Brock, so I wasn’t sure if they were brothers or not. Same blue eyes, too, but a different face. Shetland’s face was long and angular. His cheekbones were washed out, almost flat. His mouth tiny, like a bird’s. His nose was too big for his face, and he had the same forehead as Brock’s, but it didn’t work for Shetland. It made him look deranged and moody at the same time. His one redeeming feature was his smile. When he grinned, it was infectious and caused everyone to grin.
I even found myself lightening up, and as soon as he saw that, it was ‘Bren this,’ ‘Bren that.’ He was firing off lame, pick-up-line jokes and they were too ridiculous not to laugh at.
“Bren, is that a mirror in your pocket?” He leaned in, not giving me time to shoot him down. “Because if so, I can see myself in your pants.”
“Shet, stop talking.” Brock walked past, not breaking stride, and his palm came up the backside of Shetland’s head. He continued to their truck, checking his gun. “Channing Monroe is her brother.”
Shetland drew up at the mention of my brother.
The pick-up jokes stopped after that.
They had two other guys on their team, but both were big and quiet. They looked like Samoan enforcers. I was never introduced to them, but I heard one was called Big. The other was called Burly. Go figure.
Bonnie told me in the truck on the way to their first ‘round-up’ that they had another member of their team I hadn’t met. Bonbon—Bonnie’s daughter—and it was later when Hawk pulled me aside, saying, “Don’t ever be alone with Bonbon. She’s insane. Trust me.”
And that’s when I asked my request.
Hawk stared at me, long and hard.
We’d just come back from grabbing the first bond jump. It’d been anticlimactic, but I didn’t know what I had been expecting. I was told to stay in the truck, so I did. They went into a house. I heard shouting, but a second later, Big and Burly came out, pushing a guy in handcuffs. He was loaded into one of the other trucks. Paperwork was filled out, and Brock walked the guy to the jail thirty minutes later.
I’d remained in the truck the whole time.
We were now at a gas station. Everyone was filling up with snacks and coffee. I was grabbing my own when Hawk told me about Bonbon.
I replied, “I have to do something. I need a female to help out, and I only know one other girl here, and she’s not a fighter type. She’d more likely ask to read all their books than know how to back me up if things got dicey.”
Hawk’s mouth turned down, thinning. “I do not waste my time with sorority catfights.”
“How’d you know?”
Her eyes got big. “I was joking. Are you kidding me?”
I shook my head. “Are you sure?”
She swore. “No.”
“Okay, then.” Looks like I’d be going in alone.
Maybe I’d have Zellman sit in the vehicle, just in case.
Brock walked over, filling his own coffee. “Let’s go. We have a full day ahead of us.”
Hawk seared me with another look before turning and taking her items to the register. Brock was there, waiting, as everyone got their items rang up. When I waited, he had the clerk tally up what I was holding.
When they were done, he motioned for me. “Head on outside.”
I was learning that even though Gramps and Bonnie owned the business, Brock was the unofficial leader. When he said move, everyone moved. When he said breathe, everyone took in air. When he said to stand outside a door, no one moved an inch.
They weren’t scared of him. There was no argument. There was no flash of where