Nolan: Return to Signal Bend by Susan Fanetti Page A

shoulder. “You and me need to talk.”
     
    “No. I’m taking off.” Nolan tried to shake Len off, but that old bastard’s scarred, inked hands were strong as hell.
     
    “You’re gonna sit at the bar with me for a while. We’re gonna have a couple of shots of Jameson together. And we’re gonna talk.” As he’d spoken, he’d all but dragged Nolan through the Hall and shoved him onto a stool. He grinned at Chloe, one of the newer club girls, who was behind the bar. “Couple of shot glasses and a fresh bottle of Irish, doll.”
     
    “Irish?”
     
    “He means Jameson,” Nolan clarified. “I’ll have Jack.” At Chloe’s nod and grateful, hopeful smile—Nolan had favored her some—he turned to Len and glared into his one good eye. The other had been lost in the same horror that had taken Havoc.
     
    “I know what you’re gonna say, and I don’t need to hear it.”
     
    Chloe brought the booze and had the smarts to know she should get lost without being told. Around them the buzz of a big party was starting up. All the old ladies were busy setting up, bossing club girls and hangarounds. On any other night, Nolan would have enjoyed watching the commotion. Even his mom looked like she was having a good time. But tonight, after that meeting, he wasn’t capable of anything like enjoyment.
     
    Len poured himself a shot. When Nolan didn’t move for the Jack, Len poured him a shot, too. “Maybe you don’t know what I’m gonna say—and either way, you definitely need to hear it.” He downed his shot and snarled at Nolan until he did the same. With his empty glass, he waved at Nolan’s chest. “You see that flash on your kutte? You know what it means?”
     
    He was talking about Nolan’s SAA flash. Nolan didn’t dignify that stupid question with a response.
     
    So Len went on. “I don’t think you do. It means you are the first line of defense for the club—and with this club, it means you’re the first line of defense for the whole town. Defense, brother. Defense . Your first priority is to keep your club safe. Your town. Your people. Your family . You keep them safe, and you do whatever you need to do to make sure of it. Sometimes that means you get dirty. And sometimes it means you stay clean.”
     
    Len poured another shot for each of them. “Drink.”
     
    Nolan drank. “Vega will hurt us if we let him live.”
     
    “You’re thinking about this like a boy who lost his father. You’re trying to sort the pieces to make the picture you want. You want to kill the man who killed your father. I understand, Nolan. Believe me, I do. My first impulse is to do violence. But you’re more than that boy now. You’ve got to be smart, and I know, deep down, you know you’re wrong on this. Even if he is still in the game and he is protected, that makes going for him more dangerous. Then it puts us all back in the shit. The bodies piled up around us that last time we were in that shit. Isaac and I did hard time to get us out of it. Think like the SAA, brother. See the field. Know the players. Play out the moves.”
     
    Nolan poured himself a shot and downed it. “Hav would’ve gone for him.”
     
    “Yeah, you’re right. No question. He’d’ve been halfway to Canada already, and we’d’ve all had his back. But he went for revenge for his sister, and that got him killed. He left you and Loki and your mom alone. We all went right with him, and we all paid. I’m saying that we have learned, brother. Revenge isn’t a win when you lose so much getting it.”
     
    Nolan heard what Len was saying, and he knew it to be true. But that restless anger bubbled in his belly, and he knew the only thing that would settle it was action. David Vega had sliced Havoc open and pulled his guts onto the floor. His mom was alone, and Loki had never known a father. Nolan himself had had a real father for all of about five minutes. Just long enough to feel like he’d finally gotten what he’d needed. Just long