Page 80 of Cut Me Down

“Okay baby, I'll see you later.” He kisses me again. Quick and soft, as if it was the easiest thing to do. He then looks at Serena briefly. “See you around, Serena.” He goes to leave, but she looks back to him and half smiles.

“See you around.” She says back as he and his friend leaves. I look back to her and squeeze her hand. A goofy grin sprouting on my face.

“Thank you.” I say happily.

“Mhm.” She says with an attitude. “That was really fucking cute, but I still don’t quite approve.” I giggle and kiss her on the cheek.

“You don’t have to yet.” I sit back down at the bar and smile at her before ordering one more drink.

Chapter twenty-nine

Damien

The air tonight isn’t nearly as cool as it has been. It’s warm and sticky, proving that summer is barreling towards us. The breeze on top of the old steel mill is nice, though. It probably feels better up here than being stuck in the surveillance van like Alex, Carter, and Ezra are. We’re sitting on top of one of the old maintenance towers across the way from their meeting spot behind the abandoned steel house. This is a new spot for them, and I can see why they picked it. It’s secluded, away from downtown, and no one looks after the property anymore. Dust is starting to use their brains, and I don’t like it.

Darren called this morning to let us know about the deal tonight. Said Dranan Hugo found where Cooper was keeping the guns, so they moved up their deal with this big buyer. He didn’t know who it was and knows that the man behind the money wouldn’t be present, but we could at least stop the guns from getting into the wrong hands.

He said their deal was planned to be seen together as little as possible. Dust’s men, including Darren, are already waiting for the buyer, and once they get there to confirm that all products are satisfactory, they’ll get the money and leave while the buyer stays behind to load up. It must be a large amount of product, because not including the two SUVs parked with their trunks full of it, but there’s a box truck waiting with them as well.

I watch through the scope of my sniper rifle, waiting for the buyer to arrive, and I watch Darren closely. He used to fit in well with the other druggies, even though he’s never been addicted to anything but video games. He was scrawny and has scars on his face from his horrible acne as a teenager, but they passed well for the cysts drugs can leave behind.

Now? He’s muscular, strong, and a quick hit like their other dealers, although he hasn’t been promoted quite yet like our other two moles. He does a good job though, especially as one of the dealer’s right hands, he’s good at getting us information. I was surprised when his dealer was chosen for this drop, and not the other two, Bradley or Jeremy. This Dust King has five big time dealers he likes to use, and others for small time street deals. Bradley and Jeremy seem to be on the top of his list recently, and that works out even better for us.

I look over to Darren, and he’s adjusting his left boot with his hands crossed. To anyone else, it would be nothing. For us? It’s his tell to let us know something is wrong. He obviously can’t just call us up and tell us, so now we’ll have to be prepared for anything.

“Stay alert. Something’s wrong.” I say into the com-piece in my ear. Letting everyone else know.

Another black SUV pulls up, and I immediately see Darren tense up. This is either about to be very good, or very bad. We’re all silent as the vehicle parks, either on purpose or because we’re holding our breath. A tall, bald man, riddled with tattoos, and wearing a tailored pin stripe suit steps out of it. As well as four other men, all dressed in black like Darren. The tall man has a large scar striking down the left side of his face, and a matching scar on the right side of his bottom lip, as if someone slashed him across the face with a knife. His eyes are black, and beady, sharp enough to stare daggers into someone’s head. He’s huge. His entire body is riddled with rippling muscles and his clearly dominant demeanor only accentuates his physique.

I move to focus my scope on him. Keeping it steady as he moves through the lot and overlooks the trucks and inventory. Then as he moves to look over all of Dust’s men standing by.

“Carter?” I say through my earpiece.

“Yeah, D?” His voice crackles through.

“You see the feed from my scope?”

“Yeah.”

“Get me facial rec on the big man.”

“On it.” I hold it for another moment, to be sure he gets a clear enough picture, before I hand the sniper off to Henry.

“What are you doing, D?” He asks me with concern etched into his voice. He never does like it when I go off script, but it also bothers him that it’s my specialty. I take out my pistol and check the ammunition. Just in case I end up needing it.

“I’m getting closer so we can catch what they’re saying.” Henry grasps my arm. Firm enough to get his point across.

“We didn’t prep for that, Damien, how do you know you can get close enough?” He says, almost sounding agitated.

“Because I’m me.” I smirk at him as I nudge him on the shoulder. A scowl grows on his face as he mounts the rifle back into position.

“Don’t fuck this up. If I have to go tell that girl of yours that you died, I’ll kill you.” He says seriously.

“Trust me, you won’t ever have to do that.” There’s no way in hell I’d ever abandon my little wolf. As the breeze flies past my nostrils, I long to smell her again. If she would have asked me to stay with her tonight, I would have. That being said, I’m glad she didn’t. Now that this isn’t a routine deal, I’d be a nervous wreck if I wasn’t here.

She said she would never ask me to stop doing this. Does she mean it? Or have I kept her so far away from it she doesn’t fully understand what I do? She can listen to that podcast all day long, but it doesn’t even begin to chip away at what we do. I’ve been showing her a bit of the administration side of things. The paperwork and scheduling that comes into play, as well as the situations we respond to, but nothing extensive. I love how interested she is in it, and her place by my side is becoming more evident to her. She’s always asking if I need help or talking things through with me if something doesn’t make sense.

I climb down the latter to make my way closer to the deal spot, and as my hands slide down the cold metal, all I can think about is how they’ve glided across her soft, tight, warm body. She’s invading every part of my mind, and I can’t seem to pull away long enough to focus. I need to focus tonight, cast my thoughts of her aside, but that is much more difficult to do than I say.

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