Page 94 of Hard Knock Hero

“None of your fucking business.” Jeremy fixed his scowl on me again. “All you had to do was go away. Why can’t you understand that you’re not wanted? Aiden was going to get sick of you anyway. You realize that, don’t you? Maybe it’s already happened. He probably left you here because you’re not worth the trouble. Walls will come back, and we’ll get to have all kinds of fun with you.”

I swallowed my fear. “Hartley is my home. That’s what I told Chester when he tried to intimidate me. And I have more of a right to be there than you do.”

“How the hell do you figure that?”

“Because I care about that town. I care about the people who live there. Unlike you and your family. All you care about is what you can get for yourselves. Do you think your father would be proud of you for that? Proud of the way you’ve treated me?”

He shoved me against the side of the truck. “Shut your mouth. You don’t know anything about my father.”

Aiden, get here, I thought. I was playing a dangerous game with Jeremy. Provoking him to keep him distracted. But I couldn’t push him too far, either.

“I know your dad was a war hero,” I said. “And I’m sure he’d be ashamed of what Sawyer and Dale have been doing. Processing some kind of drugs on Refuge Mountain? We know all about it. Owen’s been watching you. Aiden and I have been helping him.”

Panic lanced through Jeremy’s expression. Then it returned to smugness. “That was you outside the warehouse the other night, wasn’t it? But you haven’t got anything on us. All you’ve done is cause a few headaches. Like that bullshit with Mitch. You’ve won a few victories. But we always manage to turn it around on you. Dropping Mitch’s body in your dumpster was the cover we needed to move our delivery trucks.”

“Sure, getting Aiden thrown in jail worked so well for you. Where is Chester right now? You’d better hope he’s not ratting out your entire operation to Owen and the DEA.”

Now, Jeremy smiled. “Oh, don’t worry. Owen and his deputies will get a nice, loud surprise when he pokes around in the wrong place. We’ve already seen to that. If the DEA gets caught up in it too, that’s even better.” He leaned in and whispered, “Boom.”

“Are you talking about abomb?”

“Chester’s going to keep his mouth shut, and Owen will get his surprise. And now that we’ve moved our product out of Hartley, nobody will have a shred of evidence against us. Our plan is buttoned up nice and tight. The only part I couldn’t figure out was how to get to you. I figured I would have to wait. But here you are. I’ll get to repay all the pain and humiliation you’ve caused me.”

I had never hated anyone so much as I despised Jeremy Rigsby.

Jeremy pulled me along with him so he could peek out from behind the truck at the rest of the parking lot. He took a couple of steps away from me, still aiming his gun as he checked his phone. He pressed a button and a number dialed. There was no answer.

“You can’t find Walls, right?” Elation filled me. “He’s not answering. Why do you think that is?”

He kept punching at the phone.

“You saw what Aiden did to Chester and Mitch. One of them is dead, and the other’s sitting in jail with a concussion. What do you think he’ll do to you?”

The vein on Jeremy’s forehead was pulsing. “Shut up,” he said through gritted teeth. He pulled back his free hand in a fist, but it had the opposite effect than he intended. Any last shred of fear fled from my mind. Fury took its place. He thoughtIhad causedhimpain? I wanted him to suffer in every way possible. He wouldneversilence me.

“Which one of your uncles is really in charge?” I asked. “It’s obviously not you. Everything you touch turns to a disaster. Like when you hitme. But I hurt you back. Do you remember? I see the scar on your chin from those stitches you needed.”

“Quit running your mouth, Jessi. I’m warning you.”

“You’ve always liked to make yourself feel big, but you’re small, Jeremy. You think beating me up and pretending to be a drug kingpin makes you important. But you’re sad and pathetic andsmall.”

“That’sit.” Jeremy grabbed me. The gun dug into my back. His other hand tightened at my throat. He pushed me forward around the edge of the huge snowbank and into the woods. Our boots sank into the slush. “You think I’m pathetic? You’re less than nothing. I knew it from the moment I met you. You had your stupid little dreams, and I took pity on you. Brought you to Hartley because nobody else wanted you. You couldn’t even be grateful. All you were was an easy lay, which is clearly all Aiden sees in you. It’s all you’re good for.”

I stumbled and caught myself against a tree trunk. “Nothing you say can hurt me,” I said defiantly. “You’re weak and sad.”

“No? I’ve got plenty of other ways to hurt you.” Jeremy spun me around and pushed my back against the tree. Grabbed me again by the throat. “I’ve imagined this moment so many times over the last two years.” His grip tightened. I couldn’t breathe. The gun dug into my stomach. Then he let go of my throat only to drag his hand down between my legs. He tugged at the button of my jeans.

“Make a sound, and I’ll kill you,” he said.

I was about to fight back any way I could. But my eyes went wide as a huge, looming shadow stepped in behind Jeremy. “Get your fucking hands off her,” Aiden said, so low I felt the vibration in my own chest.

A knife blade pressed against Jeremy’s windpipe, and he tried to raise the gun, but it was wrenched out of his fingers. Aiden yanked him backward and shoved him onto his knees in the snow. The tip of the knife dug in below Jeremy’s chin. Drops of blood welled from the cut.

Aiden’s expression was hard. Fire raged in his eyes. “I’ll give him exactly what he deserves. Say the word, Jessi. I’ll do it.”

“You can’t. You’re not going to kill me!” Jeremy’s head lifted as he tried to escape the knife, but Aiden dug it in even further.

“Oh, I will,” he said darkly. “If she wants me to.”

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