Page 48 of Parrish

“You only mentioned the driver of the truck, but you never said what happened to the guy driving the Cadillac,” Bas says, scratching the scruff lining his jaw.

“I never saw the Cadillac. It was gone by the time I got to them.”

“So, what you’re telling me is that someone intentionally drove their car into the back of my wife’s and purposely pushed her into oncoming traffic?” I question, clenching my jaw as the vile words spew from my mouth.

“I don’t know, Parrish,” Pipe starts. “Could’ve just been a young kid driving his father’s car or whatever. He could’ve gotten scared when he hit Reina’s car and took off.”

It’s a logical thought but I don’t do logic, especially not when my gut tells me otherwise.

Just as Nico is about to respond, Blackie lets out a stream of mumbled curses, diverting my attention to the opposite end of the room. There stands Ritzer flocked by a pair of blue and whites and a dozen or so ATF agents.

“Well, it’s a fucking party now,” Riggs mutters.

“Mr. Parrish,” Ritzer greets.

“Man, you got shit timing,” Riggs says, stepping in front of the suit and his army. “His wife and son—”

“I’m very aware of the situation,” he interjects, fixing me with a stare. “I’m sorry about your wife, but a deal is a deal.”

“Fuck your deal,” Pipe growls.

Ignoring Pipe, Ritzer steps around Riggs and makes his way towards me. My defenses kick in and I’m on my feet in a flash.

“You were supposed to surrender hours ago, Jack.”

“Been a little tied up,” I sneer. “You know, with a wife who’s fighting for her life and a son that’s terrified he’s going to lose his mother.”

“Again, I’m very sorry. It’s an unfortunate situation, but we had an agreement. Now, it’s my understanding that there might be an issue with finding care for your son. Keeping that in mind, my office has agreed to extend your time. We are giving you twenty-four hours to get your affairs in order. If you need assistance getting your son a social worker—”

“A social worker?” Lacey interrupts.

Ignoring her outburst, he continues.

“Unless of course, you have a guardian you would like to appoint to him. We could draw up the paperwork for you. Perhaps Mr. Holden has something already in motion.”

“Is he saying what I think he’s saying?” Lacey shrieks.

“Calm down, girl,” Blackie soothes. “Danny ain’t going anywhere.”

“Blackie’s right,” I tell her, keeping my eyes on the D.A. “He’s staying with his father while his mother recovers.”

The piece of shit narrows his eyes before glancing over his shoulder at his puppets. After a moment, he sighs heavily and returns my gaze.

“Mr. Parrish—”

“Fuck you,” I growl. “I don’t owe you shit. I didn’t sign nothing.”

“I don’t think you know what you’re doing,” he argues.

“Maybe not, I am crazy after all,” I sneer, stepping closer to him. Nose to nose, I narrow my eyes and grin wickedly. “Make sure you put that in your fucking paperwork. Now, get the fuck out of my face. You got something else to say, you can call my lawyer.”

“If you don’t surrender as we agreed, you’ll be forcing me to take another route.”

“Why don’t you bend over and let me show you what route you can fucking take?” I shout. Spit flies through my teeth, decorating his ugly mug.

“Fucking shit,” Pipe hisses. Grabbing me from behind, he pulls me away from the motherfucker and steps between us. Keeping his back to Ritzer, he levels me with a stern look.

“Nobody is bending over and fucking anyone, right now,” he grunts, lowering his voice to a whisper. “You need to take it easy before you fuck this all up,” he warns.

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