Page 87 of The Question of Us

Ronnie jumped in, “We were watching them, I swear?—”

“Shut up,” Marty roared in Ronnie’s face and the man’s mouth snapped shut so fast he was lucky he didn’t sever his tongue. “Did you find what they used?”

Ronnie shook his head.

Marty looked about to burst a blood vessel. “For fuck’s sake.” He shook his head. “Just get them recuffed and loaded into the horse truck.”

Horse truck?

Marty’s gaze locked on Gazza and he frowned. “Not so unconscious after all, it appears.”

Gazza huffed. “Crappy champagne will do that.”

Marty snorted, then turned away. “Clarence is running interference with the cops as we speak. I need these guys out of here, now. Take them the back way through Littleman’s farm and then north.”

Oh, hell fucking no. There was no way we were leaving the property.

Ronnie frowned. “Where are we going?”

Marty ran his gaze over the four of us, then settled on Lee, a cruel smile playing on his lips. “Malleck’s farm. He’s expecting them.”

Lee blanched at the name, which I took as a very bad omen. He had so far been surprisingly unflappable, so if this guy worried him, then...

Marty smirked. “You remember Malleck, don’t you, baby?”

Lee all but growled.

Marty huffed in amusement. “I can assure you the feeling is mutual. When Malleck heard you were coming, he was very excited.”

Lee swallowed hard. “You bastard.”

And oh yeah. I had a bad, bad feeling about this Malleck guy.

“Gray?” Aaron turned to his brother. “What does he mean? Who is this guy?”

Marty walked over to Aaron and cupped his face. “He’s a friend, my pretty boy, a close friend. And he’s gonna love you, I just know it.” He patted Aaron’s cheek and Ronnie had to hold Lee back from launching himself Marty’s direction.

“Gray?” Aaron shot his brother a frightened look as Marty returned to Freddie’s side.

Lee shook his head. “Later, A.”

Aaron blinked at the obvious nickname and a soft smile crept over his face like he hadn’t heard it in a while.

“Malleck will keep them on ice until I can get up there in a day or two,” Marty explained. “Keep to the speed limit and don’t fuck this up. You won’t get another chance.”

Both guards nodded and Freddie cast Jack a disgusted look. “We’ve loaded Jumping Jen in the truck. It’ll look more legit, and she’s feisty enough to deter closer inspection if you get stopped. You can ride in the back with the others to make sure they behave.”

Jack looked confused. “In the back?”

Marty’s lip curled. “You can hardly sit up front looking like that, can you? Now get going before I change my mind about your usefulness.”

Jack paled and left without another word.

Freddie waved Ronnie over. “Get them cuffed and search them head to toe. I want no more surprises, understand?”

Ronnie hauled Aaron to his feet and spun him to face the wall. But with his feet still tied, Aaron lost his balance and fell back into Ronnie, sending the cable ties flying.

“Jesus Christ,” Marty growled, turning to Freddie. “Where the fuck did you get these guys? Keep an eye on the rest of them. I’ll handle Lee.”