by Huss, JA
Chapter Forty-Five
I was right about Damian Li. For now at least. Ashleigh screamed and her sister came and cried over Kate. It was not pretty. At all. In fact it was a blubbering mess of female hormones and in the end Li and I had to break out a decanter of 1946 Macallan. I’m glad Ashleigh had no fucking idea how special that whiskey was, because I’d never live down offering her a few shots of ten-thousand-dollar 1939 when her father had a dusty decanter of the stuff that costs half a million dollars.
But I was right in the end. They do love her. Damian Li was doing his best to protect everyone involved.
He sucked ass at it, unlike the God-man that is me. I kicked the shit out of that day.
And now we’re in New Zealand. Evelyn and her girlfriend came along as far as Sydney. They’re staying on my dime until Evelyn is really convinced that Damian won’t come after her for performing the confidential marriage. Let’s just say that’s not anytime soon. They got jobs and an apartment. But Li seemed calm about it. I’m not too worried and I usually have a pretty good inkling whether people are holding secret grudges, and I didn’t get that vibe from him.
Kate pulls on my ear and shakes me out of my daydream. She’s getting so big. Five months now. Pretty soon she’ll be crawling. And in a few weeks we’ll go home and real life will catch up to us.
My professional team—as I like to call Spencer, Rook, and Ronin—are all eager for me and my domestic team to return home. We have a lot of loose ends to clean up this spring. We’ve pissed off quite a few very important people trying to dig ourselves out of our past mistakes. And this is it. These next few months will dictate the rest of our lives. And all of us are important, even Ashleigh and Kate. Because they’re what I live for these days. Not money, not jobs, not pets, not sex, not control.
Just them.
Ashleigh walks out of the ocean in front of me. She’s taken up open-water swimming to help her through her pain. I hate it. I dream about sharks eating her, I dream about enchanted seaweed wrapping around her ankle and pulling her under, I dream about Charlie horses, and stomach cramps, and swallowing too much seawater, and sunburn. Fuck, I worry about everything. And it sucks.
But it also feels awesome because it means I’m capable of feeling.
Love is a risk and I can live with it.
“Wow,” Ash says as she comes up to us on the beach, “that was my best time ever! Did you see me?”
“My eyes never left you, love. Never.” And I had a boat trailing her the entire time. Love might be a risk, but I’m all about risk-management.
She takes the towel I hand her and flops down in the sand. I sit next to her and place Kate in between my legs. Kate grabs the sand and immediately tries to eat it. Ashleigh freaks out, but I figure, it’s sand, right? She’ll figure out pretty quick sand is not yummy. It doesn’t take a genius.
I’m one of those parents. Calm and lenient.
I love parenting. I love everything about it. I play the peek-a-boo game and give Katie daily updates on the Itsy-Bitsy Spider. I live for her squealing laughter.
Ashleigh wraps her hands around my upper arm and leans into my neck. “I love you, Ford.”
“I love you too, Ash. More today than yesterday.”
“I’m so glad God sent you to save me.”
I smile at that. I thought she was talking about Tony, but she was talking about God. “Well, I have a confession about that day. When I told you he sent me to save you back at Tony’s grave, it was a lie.”
“No,” she whines.
“Yes,” I say back, looking down at her scowling face. I lean over and put my palm against her neck, feeling her life force rushing through her body. She thrills me. Everything about her thrills me. I kiss her forehead, then her nose, then her lips. We linger like that, and then both of my hands have her head and I hold her still so I can look directly into her soul as I tell her the truth.
“God never sent me to save you, Mrs. Aston. He sent you to save me.”
And then I kiss her thoroughly. With tongue and biting and a promise of very dirty things to come tonight.
CONTINUE the series and get Spencer Shrike’s story HERE
End of Book Shit
Welcome to the End of Book Shit for Slack. Back when I first published Slack in December 2013 the EOBS wasn’t what it is today. So it was short and kinda stupid. Lol. So it’s appropriate, and fitting that I take a moment and write down a few thoughts about what came next in this fictional world and how Slack was actually the beginning of Everything, with a capital E.
Slack started out as a character study of Ford. See... people kinda fell in love with this guy as they got to know him better in the Rook & Ronin trilogy. I had no clue Ford would end up being one of my most loved characters of all time. He still has a very special place in my heart, even though dozens of great characters and stories have come after him. There is just something very appealing about a guy who can’t be broken… breaking.
He didn’t break much in this story. It was more of a crack, really. Yes, he was hurting over Rook. And who hasn’t been there, right? Everyone has lost in love before. Even if you’ve been married to your high-school sweetheart for fifty years, there was probably someone in the background who rejected you. Maybe it was just a passing crush on the “popular guy” in school, or something as seemingly stupid and insignificant as the boy who sat next to you in kindergarten. Either way, we all know that feeling.
I think that’s why people related to Ford the way they did. I think his confession at the end of panic made readers sit up straight and say, “Who, hold on a second. What the fuck is happening?”
But in Slack he’s not very sympathetic. I mean... Pets? Come on, Rutherford. What the fuck is that?
And then we get to Merc. This is Merc’s very first appearance in the epic thirteen-book story that these books would eventually become. He’s kina odd. Kinda funny. Kinda dangerous. But you only get a glimpse of him, because the star of those scenes isn’t Merc, it’s Sasha.
To be clear, I had no idea that The Company was going to be my net series. None at all. I just knew Ford wasn’t on the up and up, had a dangerous friend called Merc, and stumbled into this little girl totally by accident.
But Sasha made it very clear she wasn’t gonna be left behind. She was immediately intriguing to me. Immediately calling for more story. So when I decided to kill her father at the end and send Ford up to Wyoming to try and make things right, I did it with something in mind.
And what a something she became.
She is the star of The Company, Sure, James Fenici is why bitches pick up, but when they put it down, it’s Sasha’s story they need.
She’s just... that kind of character. A lot like Ford, actually. Someone who has more to say then the pages they’ve been confined to.
If you want more Sasha, keep reading. The book, order, after this one are:
Taut
Bomb
Guns
The Company
Meet Me In The Dark
Wasted Lust
Happily Ever After
And if you want to take a little side journey into another world running parallel to Sasha’s, pick up 321 as well.
The journey continues kids, so keep reading. Taut is up next.
There are two End of Book Shit’s for FORD - page forward to read the next one. Or get the next book, SPENCER SHRIKE’S STORY, HERE
End of Book Shit
Ford. Fuckin’ Ford.
That’s what he’s called now, ya know? Everyone knows it.
I think Ford is still the MOST loved character of all my many, many characters. And to think, I pulled this name out of my head as a placeholder for this stupid guy I had originally meant to be the “villain” in the whole Rook & Ronin trilogy. I had no idea I’d fall in love with him. No idea my fans would fall in love with him. Never planned to write another book about Rook & Ronin after Panic until…
Until I wrote that epilogue from Ford’s perspective. I
swear to God, I had no clue what that epilogue was gonna be about. None. I just had an urge to give Ford his voice and let him go. And what he told me… shook my world. For real. I can point back to that one chapter. Sixteen-hundred-and-eighty-two words to be exact. And say, “That,” when people ask me the question about why I found success as a fiction author when other try and fail.
Ford.
So even though he was pining for Rook, and even though he was pretty fucked up with the whole “pet” thing, and even though he has almost no coping skills, no need for romance, no real direction… Ford led the way. All I did was follow.
I’ve had lots of characters do this too. I mean, if they don’t, I probably wrote them wrong. So almost every book has at least one moment where I say to myself, “Well, shit. Never saw that coming,” because my characters became real and started making their own decisions.
When I started Ford I knew his story. I knew Ashleigh’s story It was weird because that almost never happens. It happened with 321 and Taking Turns as well. It happened with 18 too, but that’s not really fair. 18 was mostly about me.
But even if I know the story I never know the details. And the details are everything. I didn’t know about Mrs. Pearson. I didn’t see Ford’s friends coming out of the woodwork to make him uncomfortable. And I LOVED that scene in Vail village. Loved it. Fuckin’ Sphere of Privacy was golden.
I wrote about the town of Minturn just based on the fact that there was a cemetery nearby. I had no clue the Minturn Mile even existed when I wrote about the cemetery. So imagine my surprise when it came time to divulge how Ford’s Father’s funeral went down… it makes me smile, even now. Because I had nothing to do with that. Ford did it. His story was already written, all I did was copy it down for him. Give him a voice, and a face, and way for people to receive his thoughts.
He’s pretty real to me. I mean, all the Rook & Ronin people are real to me. And most of the ones that came after too. Right up to Sin With Me, which is releasing in a few weeks (and was collaboratively written with my partner, Johnathan McClain). But Ford… I can’t explain him. I mean, I did my best in the book, but I can’t explain why he’s here or where he came from. He just… appeared.
And Jesus Christ, I’m so glad he did. Not because he’s really what launched my career. But because my life is richer with Ford in it. My life has more meaning and I understand myself a little better because of the journey he took me on.
I hope you feel that way about him too.
I hope he fills up something inside you the way he did me.
I hope you pick this book up and read it again and again over the years.
I know I have, and will continue to do so.
So proper tribute, Ford Aston. You deserve it.
CONTINUE the series and get Spencer Shrike’s story HERE
Spencer
Edited by RJ Locksley
Cover Design: JA Huss
Copyright © 2018 by J. A. Huss
All rights reserved.
ISBN-978-1-936413-80-5
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Bomb
A Spencer Shrike Novella
Description
Spencer Shrike is a plotter—
—Known for his ingenious, albeit illegal, plans that keeps the Team running efficiently and out of jail, he carries this same love of order into his personal life. He’s kept his long-time main squeeze on the sidelines for years as he builds the Shrike Bikes empire.
Veronica Vaughn is an explosion ready to happen. Ronnie lives in the here and now. She lives for today. She knows what she wants, and she wants it now. And right now Ron the Bomb Vaughn wants Spencer shrike to leave her the hell alone. She’s done playing his game. She’s done waiting around. She’s moving forward with her own plots, plans, and dreams and she’s moving forward tonight. Ron the Bomb is finally—finally—gonna get some satisfaction.
Too bad Spencer Shrike is standing in her way.
Chapter One
“Spencer! Fuck, dude! Watch the fucking road!” Ronin grabs the wheel and I tap the brake to stop for the light at College and Laurel.
“Ronin, was that Ronnie back there?” I’m trying my best to check the side view to see, but it’s no use. The girl went into the restaurant. “I think that was Ronnie walking into Anna Ameci’s.”
“How unusual,” Ford replies dryly from the back of the surveillance van, “for a woman to be going into a restaurant at dinnertime.”
I check the rear view so I can talk shit to his image. “Well, that woman was with a man. A man who is not me, so uh, yeah, asshole, it’s pretty fucking unusual for Ronnie to be having dinner with someone who is not me.”
“Since when?” Ford asks as he types away on that stupid keyboard. “I see her out with men all the time.”
“What?”
“Ford, goddammit, what’d I tell you?” Ronin interjects.
“You know about this?” I ask Ronin.
“She’s not your girlfriend, Spencer. Rook says she’s got a few other good prospects.”
“A few other… what the fuck? Since when?”
“Since you ignore her and treat her like shit,” Ford says, still tapping away.
A horn honks behind me and I look back to the road. The light is green so I move forward with the rest of traffic and then turn left on Elizabeth. “Eye on the prize, Spence,” Ronin says from the passenger seat. “Just focus on what the hell we’re doing. You can figure out what’s going on with Ronnie later.”
Yeah, easy for him to say. Fuckass. He’s got Rook at home. And hell, even Ford has a fucking girl at home. And a baby for Christ’s sake. And my best booty call is out on the town with another fucking guy!
“Turn left, turn left, Spencer!” Ronin yells. “Fuck.”
“I was gonna turn left all along, calm down, Larue.”
He shoots me a dirty look at the nickname but I don’t give a shit. I love calling his whipped ass Larue.
“Spencer, you can go home if you want to act childish. Ronin and I can do this alone.”
“Fuck off, Ford. Get your toy ready, we’re almost there.”
“I’m ready,” he says, leaning up to the front cab. He’s holding the little robot that looks a lot like a two-pound dumbbell with antennae. “Where’s he now, Ronin?”
Ronin looks down at the tablet in his hand. “Same place. At the bar, just ordered another drink.”
“So we have a little buffer then, right?” I ask. “He’s gonna nurse that thing?”
“Dunno,” Ronin says with a huff. “He’s got a shot and a beer, which means it could just be a chaser. Better get it in quick, Ford. And I swear to God, Spencer, if we get busted for this stupid shit, I will have your ass.”
“Stupid shit? This asshole stole seven fucking bikes out of my showroom! That’s like eighty grand! It’s not some stupid shit.”
“Allegedly stole. You have no proof. And eighty grand is not worth the attention this close to the trials,” Ford replies back. “But I’m clean on this.”
Ronin laughs. “Ford, we’re using a military-grade robot to spy on Spencer’s competitor, you really think if we get caught we’re clean? Please. We’re the first people they’ll pick up.”
“Anyway… we’re here. This close enough, Ford?” I pull up a few blocks down from the warehouse that Drake Cikes calls home base. “Cikes Bikes. What the fuck is that?” I ask, pointing up to the sign near the entrance to his part of the complex. “And he just has to open up shop in Fort Collins? You know what he’s doing, don’t you? Trying to confuse people. Cikes Bikes and Shrike Bikes sound the same, and if you look us up online, he comes up Fort Collins and I come up Bellvue. People think his stupid bikes are mine! He’s getting my business and now he stole from me! Hell, I bet you anything he’s choppe
d up those bikes and has my fucking parts on his custom shit right now!”
“Calm down, Spencer,” Ronin says. “We don’t know any of that yet. And there’s no way anyone can mistake you for him, so just relax.”
Well, that is true. Because I’m all tatted up in black and red. I’ve got the body of a Greek god, and I own this fucking town. Drake is one of those rockabilly types, with his skinny-ass body, thick black glasses, and white t-shirts. “Thinks he’s Fonzie or something.”
“What?” Ronin asks with a weird look.
“Drake. Thinks he’s Fonzie with those white t-shirts. And him stealing my bikes is his version of jumping the shark. He’s desperate, so he’s gotta steal my shit.”
“You’re crazy, Spencer.” Ronin goes back to his tablet.
“Crazy enough to come up with this plan, yo.”
I might’ve gone too far became they’re ignoring me now.
“OK,” Ford says, “I’m gonna drop it.” He opens the back door of the van and tosses the robot out. Ronin switches feeds so he has the bot cam on one side of his tablet and Ashleigh manning the Drake cam on the other. She’s new in town and no one really knows her yet, so she was the only one who could keep an eye on the guy while we tapped his shit.
The bot’s all-terrain tires start to roll and it travels down the alley to the warehouse. The bay door is closed. We’ve been watching this place all week and it’s the same routine. Drake takes off about four-thirty and heads over to the Cat Call for dunch and a few brewskies. Then he comes back and locks the place up. We’ve looked at every possible way to get in here without resorting to the stealth and stalk we’re doing now, but the place is tight. Ford even hacked the blueprints of the building from the city, and no dice. The place was remodeled before he moved in last month and it’s like these guys are stashing guns and gold in there.