Hush - Fighting Fate #2 (3 page)

A bag. A delivery. A Tom that had OD’d. A person would have to be pretty stupid to think it had nothing to do with dru
gs.

My breathing spe
d up. Could Ken be a drug dealer? He was definitely a lot of things that weren’t good, but a dealer? I wasn’t sure I could fit the image of him in that category, but what did I know of those underworld kind of things?

I shook my head as I crossed the street and started down the next block. I wasn’t sure how I felt about my stepfather being a supposed drug dealer. I guessed no different to how it felt with him being a wife beater. He was a douche either way.
I didn’t know how he managed to have so many high profile connections, but then again, maybe they were his clients…

Looking at my
cell, I turned down the next street, grumbling even more when I had to start navigating decaying piles of rubbish and what looked like dried up puddles of vomit. If he was thinking I’d ever do this for him again, he could forget it.

The image of
Mom lying huddled on her bedroom floor flashed at me like a neon sign and my heart instantly sank. Realization came at me like a slap to the face. Ken knew my Achilles heel. Of course I’d do it again. He knew I had no other option.

Stupid,
freaking asshole of a man. God I hated him!

I kicked a rock that was lying on the footpath, watching it sail through the air before it smacked into a metal
trash can with a loud clang. I looked around, hoping I hadn’t drawn too much attention to myself, but when I saw the number of the house in front of me, I realized I was a lot closer to the place than I’d thought.

Checking the number on the piece of paper Ken had given me, I froze
, and my anger quickly drained away, replaced by a fear I couldn’t control. My heart pounded, pumping loudly in my ears.

I swallowed
as I stared at the house I was supposed to be going to. It looked just like any other house in the street, but somehow I just knew there was something terribly wrong inside of it.

Chapter 4

Noah

My blood pulsed in time with
each thumping beat of the music blaring from the speaker. Leaning back on the lounge, I sucked in a hard drag of a joint, hoping like hell it would help repress the urge to shove off the girl who’d climbed onto my lap.

I guess she
took my non refusal as acceptance, because she then straddled me, slowly rocking her hips, rubbing her crotch against my jeans clad one. If she hadn’t already slept with every other guy in TJ’s gang, I might actually have found it a turn on.

I t
ook another long draw on the joint and watched her with amusement. Her hands slipped under my shirt, gliding over my stomach and chest as she continued to squirm on my lap. When her fingers started manipulating the button on my fly, I snatched up her wrist with my hand, holding it away from the zipper with a firm grip.

She froze, her eyes snapping up to mine, fear and confusion flashing brilliantly in their depths. “Don’t,” I said darkly.

She opened her mouth to protest, but the music suddenly disappeared and the room fell quiet.

“Alright, party’s over. You girls need to get out. Now.” TJ’s
death glare worked every time.

The girls
quickly collected their discarded clothing off the floor, dressing as they left. I sat forward on the couch, squashing out the remains of the smoke in the ash tray and looked up at TJ. He met my gaze just as the door closed behind the girls.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Do we have any
E’s
bagged?”

Mac stood up, zipping up his fly as he went. “Two,” he said, heading for the kitchen to check.

TJ nodded then checked his watch. The dark glint in his eye told me he was majorly pissed. “Tom was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. That’s strike two.”

My
eyebrow went up. “Again?” He’d only collected yesterday. It was unusual for him to come more than once or twice a week.

TJ glanced at me again. There was definitely concern on his face. “Just…be weary,” he said. We all knew what that meant: Be ready to fight.

I watched Vinnie give an uneasy look to TJ before disappearing into the kitchen with Mac.

Fifteen minutes later, a k
nock sounded on the front door.

No one used the front door.
Ever.

We al
l looked at each other in alarm before pushing to our feet and checking our guns.

Chapter 5

Kaeli

My mouth
suddenly felt like a desert, and my palms grew sweaty. Shaking, I stepped up to the door and knocked for the second time. A long minute later the door peeled open and I was faced with what could only be described as my worst nightmare. It left no doubt in my mind that there were drugs involved.

“What the fuck do you want?!”

I stared, wondering if it was actually possible to die of fright. The man who stood glaring at me had shoulder length hair that looked like it had never been washed, with small, beady eyes and horribly discolored teeth. He looked to be around his mid-twenties, and his face was covered in acne scars. He wore no shirt – only faded blue jeans that hung low on his hips, and although he was obviously very fit, it wasn’t an attractive sight. Every inch of his torso was inked with vivid and vulgar tattoos.

I tried to remember what Ken had told me to say. “Um…Ken sent me
?” I said, my voice high and squeaky. “He said to tell you Tom-”

Before I could finish what I’d been instructed to say, I was
grabbed by my upper arm and dragged inside the house with such speed, my head snapped back. The acne man slammed the door behind me then pulled me towards the back of the house.

As my brain scrambled to catch up,
I tried to scream, but he somehow managed to slap his hand over my mouth before any sound came out. I instantly went into a state of panic. I didn’t think my heart had ever beat so fast in all my life.

With
acne man’s hand still clenched painfully around my upper arm, he yanked me down the hall and into another room, shoving me to a stop just inside the door and pushing me against the wall. I was sure I was about to go into full hyperventilation I was breathing so quick, but then I looked up and suddenly found myself surrounded by five more terrifying figures - one who was aiming a very scary looking gun right at my head, and my breath stopped altogether.

The gun man looked a little older
than acne man - maybe late twenties, and didn’t have anywhere near as many tattoos, but the thin jagged scar that ran across one cheek, from his temple to his chin, coupled with his number one shaved head, was enough to scare the crap out of me.

And t
he look he gave me was enough to make me want to vomit. “Who the fuck are you?!” he growled.

I was so worried I was going to be sick, I didn’t realize
tears had started escaping. I honestly thought I was going to pee myself. “Ken sent me,” I said in a weak voice. “He said to tell you that Tom OD’d, and that I was his replacement.”

His jaw clenched as he glared at me. He nodded to acne man. “Search her.”

Acne man instantly grabbed Ken’s bag, tossing it to one of the other guys, then pushed me harder against the wall, his hands groping over every inch of my clothing, pulling out my cell and purse and tossing them as well. Then he continued his search under my clothes, his hands groping over my skin, and under my bra, making me want to scream. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to whimper too loudly.

His hands disappeared, and I heard his voice beside my ear. “She’s clean.
Very
clean. I would very much like to make her a little dirty.”

I shuddered with repulsion, trying hard not to look back at his vulgar grin. Instead, I placed the bravest expression I could conjure on my face, and stared at the gun man.

Without taking his eyes, or his gun, off me, he called to one of the other men. “Mitch. What are we looking at?”

The guy who’d caught the bag – Mitch
, looked up at me before he answered. He had a shaved head just like the gun man, the stubble a pure white color, and his eyes were a strange yellowy, brown. Even though he was wearing a shirt, I could tell he had a lot of ink. I could see swirling patterns that ran the entire length of both his arms, and one that snaked down the side of his neck, disappearing under the collar of his shirt. He also had a piercing in his eyebrow – a silver bar that moved every time he frowned, which seemed to be a lot as he gazed at me, and a ring in his bottom lip.

“It’s definitely Ken’s bag
,” he said. “Looks as though he wants more than the usual five bags today though.”

Gun man glowered at me for a few more minutes, then lowered his gun. “Either Ken doesn’t give a shit about you, or you’re really fucking stupid
,” he mumbled before turning to a short, stocky guy with dirty blonde hair. “Davo, I want you to go and
explain
to Ken how much I fucking hate surprises.”

With wide eyes, I watched
as
Davo
took a gun out from under his shirt, checked it for bullets then strode out the door.

Acne man still had me virtually pinned against the wall. I could feel his repulsive breath on my cheek as his hand brushed against my boob. “TJ’s gonna be a while, so I think you and I should go an
d have some fun while we wait…”

His hand reached towards my face, and I went to jerk away from him, but an arm reached between us, shoving against acne man’s chest. He stumbled away from me, his head snapping up in fury.

The guy with the shaved head – Mitch, stood glaring at him. “It’s my turn, Pock,” he said in a low, menacing voice.

Acne man –
Pock, puffed his chest out, rising up to his full height, which was still a couple of inches short of Mitch’s. “Like fuck it is! You’re never interested in the fresh meat! You can’t just start now because some hot piece of ass comes along!”

Mitch wedged himself between me and Pock, pushing me back in the process. “I can, and I am
,” he said dangerously. “It’s my turn, and you know it.”

Although I couldn’t see Mitch’s face, I could tell by the
way Pock’s eyes narrowed that he must’ve looked like he meant business. Glancing over towards the gun man - who I assumed was TJ, I saw him watching me with amusement.

Eventually Pock sneered, mumbling some obscenities under his breath
before he shoved Mitch’s shoulder with his own, and stormed from the room.

TJ
laughed loudly, the sudden noise making me jump. “Well, that was interesting! Have fun, man,” he said, slapping Mitch playfully on his back.

Mitch turned to me, his face still molded into a scowl. “Come on,” he grumbled, grabbing hold of my upper arm and pulling me towards a set of stairs.

“What? No!” I said, immediately pulling away from him.

H
is hand tightened around my arm and he pulled harder. Terror like I’d never felt before hit me with its full force, and I started thrashing wildly, trying in vain to get free of his grasp.

His hand tightened
even more and I felt myself pulled sideways, my balance completely thrown. I stumbled, trying to catch myself, but then there were arms coming around me and I was being hoisted over his shoulder as he began stomping up the stairs.

“No!” I screamed. “Please. Let me go!” My voice broke as I
kicked and screamed, tears of fear falling down my face.

I heard TJ laugh
again from somewhere downstairs before I found myself suddenly standing again. I spun, ready to run, only to see Mitch shutting a door and locking it behind him.

Oh god.

Chapter 6

Noah

The girl stared at me from the middle of the room, wide, green eyes amidst a mass of soft brown waves. I kept my expression calm, but inside I was anything but.

I had no idea how someone who looked like her could possibly get caught up in this kind of shit. She looked so innocent, so
clean
. Why would she willingly do something so dirty?

But I knew better than anyone that looks could be deceiving. I’d come across a few people in the drug world who I never would’ve thought would be there. I studied her, trying to see underneath the obvious, but there was nothing. She honestly looked like she had no idea how she came to be there either.

My head spun. All I could think of was how I was going to get her out of this. I knew from experience that once you saw what was going on inside TJ’s house, you were there for good. It was like the fucking Hotel California.

I watch
ed her back up until she was pressed up against the wall. She was like a caged tiger, all tensed muscles, coiled, ready to spring. Her eyes flickered nervously from me to the door, and I knew she was calculating her chances of escape. I saw her eyes quickly shine yet again, and I knew she’d realized her chances were slim to none.