“Yeah?”
“I’ve been thinking—Dad has a spare room in the back of the house. Why don’t I move in to help the two of you with Emerson? I’ve been trying to figure out a way to leave my job at the Quick Stop anyway, and it seems like you could use another set of hands right now. It’s been a long time since Dad dealt with a newborn, and I bet you’ve never changed a diaper in your damn life.”
I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t thought about what I was going to do once Emerson was home. Piper was correct—we needed help.
“You’re right about the diaper thing, and I think that is a great idea,” I responded in a high-pitched, goo-goo voice as I stroked Emerson’s cheek. “Would you like it if Auntie Piper lived with us? Cry if you think it’s a good idea.”
Emerson wailed, taking the screeching to a whole new level.
“We’re in,” I added while laughing.
“Fantastic.” Piper chortled as she pulled into the driveway of my father’s house. “Home sweet home.”
It wasn’t home, but it would have to do while I was figuring out how to rebuild mine. It broke my heart that the nursery Allie had painstakingly put together for our little girl had gone up in flames, but those things could be replaced. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it as well as she had the first time around, but I was going to try my damnedest to do it justice.
Just as I was getting Emerson out of the truck, my phone started ringing. Handing the car seat over to Piper, I picked up.
“Hello?”
“Church. Now,” my father barked.
“I’m just getting Emerson home,” I complained.
“You need to get here now. Piper will understand and your daughter will be in good hands. I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.”
I wasn’t going to argue, sure his insistence meant they finally had a solid lead on our newest rivals. “Yeah, okay. Be right there.”
“Let me guess,” Piper stated as she popped out her hip to rest the carrier on it. “Dad just snapped his fingers and you’re going running.”
I kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t start. You know what this is about.”
“Go get ’em.” She tossed me a quick smile. “We’ll be fine here, won’t we, Emerson?”
“You know where the formula and everything is, right?” I asked, quickly hopping on my bike.
“I helped you organize it all yesterday. We’re all set. Be safe.”
“Thanks, Piper. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
* * *
I burstinto the room where my men were already surrounding the table waiting for me.
“Did you find them?” I barked, huffing down into my seat at the head of the large table.
I gripped the gavel as Abel cleared his throat. “For drug dealers, these dudes weren’t easy to find, at least their higher-ups weren’t, but I think I pinned down their main safe house last night.”
“What are we waiting for?” I could feel my heart beating out of my chest as the thirst for revenge buzzed through my entire body. It tingled and coursed as flashes of Allie’s lifeless body assaulted my mind.
“For you,” my father admitted. “This is your fight, son. We weren’t going to take it from you.”
“We’re prepared to hit them like they did to you. I have enough C4 to turn that place into a damn Fourth of July fireworks show.” Reese was scary when it came to how good he was with explosives, but that wasn’t going to be our play. They needed to suffer. Being blown up would be too quick and painless for them.
“Do we know who their president is?” My blood was boiling with every word.
Rave nodded, pulling out photos of two men. “Darren Paterson. His number two is Elijah Clark.” Rave pointed to each snapshot in turn, showing me who my next targets were going to be.
“That’s who we have to go after.” I shoved the Polaroids into the inside pocket of my leather cut.