Page 30 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

Jay screamed out in pain as I held his arm at an unnatural angle. His gun fell from his grip, scattering across the pavement. Vinnie jumped in with a couple of hard kicks to his ribs, while Pock shoved his gun hard into Jay’s temple.

A voice called out from somewhere inside, alerting us that we’d been seen.

“Vinnie, go get the car and bring it to the end of the alley,” I ordered roughly. The last thing we needed was to get caught in this bullshit. It would mean an extended period of time lying low, and I didn’t want this operation to go any longer than it needed to.

Vinnie glanced at Pock, but disappeared without another word.

Pock sneered at Jay and started searching his pockets, pulling out a number of baggies. “TJ sends his regards with a message. If he so much as fucking sees you at the shop buying fucking milk, we’ll break your fucking legs. Got it?” He pushed the gun harder into Jay’s temple to reiterate his point.

Jay merely groaned. I knew he was close to passing out.

We heard a car screech to a stop further down the alley. Damn, Vinnie had some speed moves. Pock slammed the butt of the gun down hard on Jay’s head before kicking him a couple more times.

I released Jay’s arm and we took off down the alley to where Vinnie was waiting. Leaning back in the rear seat of the Camry, I clenched my teeth. That hadn’t been nearly as satisfying as I thought it’d be.

“What the fuck?”

I looked up at the sound of Pock’s voice to see him inspecting the baggies he’d pulled off Jay.

“What’s up?” I asked, alerted by the sharpness of his tone. He held one up for me to inspect, and I squinted at it, taking in the pale blue tablets with the dark blue X on them. “What the fuck?”

They looked exactly like TJ’s brand, only slightly bigger. The difference would be hard to make from a buyer’s perspective, but to us it was obvious.

Vinnie grunted. “TJ’s not goin’ to be happy about this.”

No crap.

And he wasn’t. The second he saw the counterfeit pills, he let loose with a string of curses that went on for a good half an hour. The fact that someone was trying to pass off crap product as his sent him into a black rage. Whoever was responsible would be dead the second they were found.

With the big delivery coming soon, it wasn’t the best timing. All of a sudden, everybody was under suspicion. To make matters worse, TJ’s cell pinged, announcing Ken was requiring another three bundles.

“I don’t like this,” Davo said with a growl. “He’s been increasing his purchases too much lately.”

I frowned, mulling it over in my head. “It doesn’t make any sense. You’d think if someone was selling these fakes in our territory, Ken’s sales would go down, not up.”

TJ nodded, the crease between his eyebrows deeper than I’d ever seen. “You’d think. That’s what I don’t get. We need to start doing some recons. I need to find whoever’s behind this, and they need to be taken care of.”

They sure as fuck did.

Chapter 23

Kaeli

Driving home from the park, I couldn’t help but feel

so incredibly grateful for the group of friends I’d found over the last few months. I was always so amazed at how much they all really cared about one another, and it was nice to be a part of something like that. It felt good.

My body hummed with it as I parked the car, and I found myself smiling. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d come home smiling, but I liked it.

Unfortunately, it only lasted until I made it inside and saw Aaron standing in the living room with Ken’s brown bag by his feet. As Mia would say: Reality was a serious bitch.

Aaron smirked when he saw me. “Good timing, sis. Daddy dearest has a job for you.”

My stomach dropped and my hands clenched into fists at my sides. I didn’t want to do it.

I shook my head.

Aaron’s eyebrow went up slowly. “No? Okay then. Let me just text Dad and let him know he’ll have to get someone else.” He pulled out his cell and started tapping away.

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