Page 26 of Bad Medicine
“What’s more serious than bringing in stolen property?” Francesca asked.
Sway turned to look at her, his face like stone. “Stolen people.”
No one said anything as we all processed the bomb that Sway had just dropped on us.
“So wait,” Benny cut in. “You’re telling me that once people get hooked on this Frost Bite, they have to start paying with...people?”
Sway shrugged. “Some things are worth more than money.”
“Shit,” Francesca ground out. “It’s absolutely revolting, but I can see that it makes sense.” Looking at her, I could see she was well and truly pissed. “Think about it; what makes more money than any illegal industry out there right now? Human trafficking. But with new technologies like facial recognition and all that, it’s getting harder and harder for the rings to last for any substantial amount of time. The players always get caught. But this way, the people bringing in the victims are different every time. It’s a twisted kind of genius, really.” She flexed the hand that still held her gun. “I fucking hate it.”
Yeah, Frankie. You and me both.
Chapter eleven
Rocco
“Howfastdoesthisthing go?”
Tightening my fists on the steering wheel, I rolled my eyes. Sway sat beside me, his whole body practically vibrating as he tried to check out every single inch of Enzo’s Audi. It was actually kind of funny, the way he was running his palms over the leather and eyeballing the lights on the dash like a kid on Christmas.
After we had finished in The Shed, Enzo had taken my Chevelle because he needed the backseat so that he and Francesca could drive with the woman, Willow. I still wasn’t really sure what the hell she had been doing there in the first place, but if the boss was letting her walk out alive, then that was all I needed to know.
I also wasn’t sure why I was the one who got tasked with driving the kid home, but at least I got to do it in Enzo’s car; he was ridiculous about his rides. Hardly ever let anyone else behind the wheel.
At first, I had been annoyed, Sway’s incessant chatter cutting into my thoughts about Mia and all the ways I was gonna convince her into my bed.
Those thoughts came with some stellar visuals, by the way.
Then Enzo had texted me a few minutes ago, letting me know that Francesca told him the kid was in foster care; I knew exactly why he’d done it, too.
The bitch of it was, Enzo was right; I did suddenly feel differently about the lanky kid bouncing in the passenger seat next to me. Kids like him had always been my weakness, and Enzo fuckin’ knew it.
Growing up in the system, you learned real quick that you either beat orget beat.There was no in between. For a lot of kids, the first was just not an option. Some of them were just too small, others were too soft, and some were just plain weak.
I had started off that way—getting my ass handed to me and my things stolen—but it wasn’t long before I was the one holding my own.
But there was nothing I hated more than a bully, someone who put others down just to make themselves feel bigger. That kind of shit didn’t fly with me. If someone needed protecting, I was the guy who was gonna do it, hands down.
“You wanna tell me your address,” I asked when we were close to the city limits again.
“Uh,” he hedged, suddenly still. “You can just drop me at the corner of Fremont and LVB.” I watched out of the corner of my eye as Sway crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window.
What the fuck?
“I’m not dropping you there,” I said gruffly.
“Well,” Sway said, turning to look at me. “That’s the only location you’re gonna get, so you either stop there or you drive around all night.”
After that, he fell silent.
I drove on, the lights of the city shining bright, regardless of the fact that the night was almost over. Sway kept his attention out the window, his defenses up.
I got it, so I didn’t press.
When I reached the intersection, the lights of Fremont Street flashing, their strobing rhythm enough to make me cringe, the traffic was so busy, there was no way to stop. Figuring Sway wanted to be under the cover of theFremont Street Experience, I swung around, driving two blocks over to let him out on Casino Center Boulevard, right on the doorstep of theGolden Nugget.Vehicles behind me honked and drivers and pedestrians alike hollered at me for blocking traffic, but they could suck it; let them get outta their cars and say that shit to my face.
“You sure this is where you want to be, kid?” I asked again, not liking this one bit. “It’s almost three in the morning. I can take you anywhere you want to go.”
