squeeze her arm. “Promise me.”
“Okay. Fine.”
I move to leave, but she stops me, pulling me in for a hug first. “Please be careful. Remember you have a baby to protect.”
I nod, swallow the sudden lump in my throat, and pull away. “Watch your back.”
Slipping from the shadows, I slink to the bench, but I’m too nervous to sit. My gaze darts all around, and I rub my upper arms. The only sounds I hear are crickets, cicadas, and the fountain. I smell the scent of honeysuckle and know there must be a vine growing somewhere nearby. The light from the visitor’s center down the lane gives me some comfort as I wait.
I hear a sound like a stone crunching under a boot. I think it comes from around the bend, but my gaze darts down all the converging paths. I hear another scrape, then slow footsteps.
My heart is pounding as a dark figure emerges from the shadowy path, walking straight toward me. I hold my breath and resist the urge to glance back toward the mausoleum where Hayley is hidden.
He’s big with broad shoulders. I can’t make out his face yet. I slip my phone from my pocket, turn on the flashlight app, and aim it at him.
He looks mean with dark slashing brows and a beard. His mustache curls up with his lip as he covers his eyes with his forearm and hisses, “Shut that fucking thing off.”
“Reload?”
“Yeah.” He sits on the bench and orders, “Sit down. I could spot you standing there from way back.”
I have no desire to get within arms length of him and hesitate.
“I said sit down.”
I slowly set my butt on the edge of the seat.
“You got some information from Growler?” he asks.
“He wants to know what your exact plan is, step by step.”
He stares at me and straightens a little more. “Really? That ain’t been how we’ve been communicating.”
I shrug. “I don’t know how you’ve been communicating, I just know what he told me.”
“We’ve been doin’ things through his lawyer.”
“Maybe he trusts his own daughter more than a slimeball attorney just in it for the money. Ya think?”
“Feldman ain’t so bad. But I see his point. You trustworthy, little Tess?”
“My father thinks so. That should be good enough for you.”
“How’re you gonna get the info to him?”
“There are ways. We talk in code. I tell him Aunt Edna’s birthday is on May 11th. The party’s at 6 p.m. Get it?”
“Oh, you’re a smart cookie. Pretty, too. You’ve grown up real good.”
Before I can stop him, he yanks my hat off, and all my hair spills out. “Well, look-ee there. Ain’t that a sight?” He wraps my hair around his fist and pulls me close. I fight, shoving back.
“Let me go.”
“Who’s gonna make me? You?”
I grab his wrist and dig my nails in until I break skin. “Touch me, and I’ll tell my father.
He laughs at my attempts. “You’re father’s in prison, baby doll.”
“Yeah, but he’s still got power over you, doesn’t he? I bet he’s got some juicy crimes he could rat you out for.”
“You bitch.” He releases me with a shove, and I quickly stand and move back.
“Tell me what he wants to know, so I can get out of here.”
“In a rush?” He stands as well, and I back up.
There’s a sound of a door opening at the visitor’s center.
Reload turns to look over his shoulder and hisses, “Fucking caretaker.”
“Just tell me the plan before we get caught.”
He ducks into the shadows near a bush, and I melt into the landscaping as well.
“Half the Death Demons will hit the clubhouse the night they pull out. The other half will be waiting for them at the first night’s stop in Paducah. Gonna take ‘em out right there, on the highway. Got a good spot picked out near a billboard about a mile before their exit. The Demons have a real good sniper. Should be able to pick ‘em all off. They’ll never know what hit ‘em. Then we take over the club.”
I nod. “Makes sense. All but one part.”
“What’s that?”
“The Devil Kings have chapters all over the country. What’s National leadership going to do with this?”
“Your dad figured that part out. They won’t know who hit the club; there won’t be any witnesses. It’ll get blamed on an enemy—probably the Evil Dead—Growler will say Rusty’s damn truce didn’t hold up and the Evil Dead double-crossed them. Then Growler will be out, take control, and bring us all back to rebuild the Atlanta