Hush - Fighting Fate #2

by Maree Green

  His gaze zeroed in on Kaeli. “Are you okay?” he asked, unable to stop himself from glancing at me when he said it.

  She inhaled deeply, then dropped her hands from my hips and turned to face him. “Yeah. I started to feel sick so I thought I’d go home.”

  The confusion in his gaze told me it wasn’t the answer he was looking for. “Do you want me to walk you?” he asked hopefully.

  Her eyes darted to me for a second before returning back to him. “No, I’ll be alright. Thanks though.”

  He pursed his lips together as he decided what to do. After a few seconds, he simply nodded and turned to walk away. What a dick. There was no way known I’d just leave her with someone who looked like me.

  Chapter 19

  Kaeli

  It was strange having Mitch walk me home. It felt like such a gentlemanly thing to do, and that just didn’t match up with the whole drug dealing criminal thing he had going on.

  Then when we were about half way home, the tequila caught up with me and I had to run for the bushes to be sick. Mitch stayed with me the entire time, softly rubbing my back and holding my hair for me. I was so confused. He was one big contradiction, and every minute I spent in his presence, I grew to trust him a little more. I had no idea why. It went against all common sense.

  We didn’t talk. At all. My mind was too full to verbalize anything anyway. By the time we’d reached my house, I’d analyzed the kiss I’d shared with Corey, both kisses Mitch had forced on me, as well as the strange sense of protection I felt from him. The end result was a headache with no answers.

  Before he turned to leave he looked at me. “Kaeli, be careful. Whether you like it not, from now on, you’re probably being watched.” And with that he disappeared, leaving me wondering what the hell he was talking about.

  I didn’t know what it was with him. It was almost like I was beginning to forget what he was, and what he stood for. It was crazy. So many things were starting to become clear – or fuzzier if I really thought about it, because none of it gave me answers. Only more questions.

  I thought about the way he’d asked me if I wanted him to fuck me down in the living room so everyone could watch. Why did he say that only to take me upstairs and do nothing but kiss me? It didn’t make any sense. Unless he was only saying it for TJ’s benefit..? But why would he want TJ to think he was, ‘fucking me’, when he wasn’t?

  My mind immediately went to Pock and I felt the blood drain from my face. I had a feeling I knew exactly what he’d do if he thought Mitch wasn’t using me like he thought I should be used.

  I stopped breathing. Surely he couldn’t be pretending to be with me just to stop the others from taking advantage of me? It seemed stupid to think, but what other explanation could there be? I searched my brain. Maybe he was gay and had to hide the fact from the guys…

  I remembered the hardness I’d felt against my stomach earlier that night. No, he definitely wasn’t gay.

  I groaned. My head hurt. God, if I thought about it any more, I was going to have a mental breakdown.

  Pulling out my keys, I fumbled with the lock, grumbling. It seemed finding the hole in the dark was more difficult than I thought. Just when it finally found its mark and I thought to cheer my success, I heard footsteps behind me.

  Mitch’s warning had me turning in a panic, but when I saw Aaron striding up the path towards me, I exhaled with relief.

  Aaron eyed me suspiciously. “Who was that?” he asked, jerking his head back towards the street. I narrowed my eyes at his beat up face. It looked so much worse than it had earlier in the night.

  Glancing out into the darkness, I tried to see if Mitch was still there. When I couldn’t see anything, I returned my glare to Aaron. “Just one of your BFF’s, making sure I’m not spilling any deep dark secrets.”

  His eyes widened a fraction and he turned to squint in the direction Mitch had gone. “That was one of TJ’s guys?”

  I threw him any icy stare. “Yes. They’re quite charming, aren’t they?”

  He stared me down for a while, his eyes beginning to narrow more with each passing second. “Are you drunk, Kaeli?”

  I thought I’d sobered up after vomiting, but apparently not enough. I rolled my eyes, really not wanting to have that conversation. Turning the key in the lock again, I pushed the door open and walked inside.

  Heading straight for the shower, I stripped and stepped under the hot spray, allowing it to wash everything away. All the horrid feelings. All the confusion. All the fear.

  When I was done, I felt exceedingly tired and well and truly ready for bed. Trying not to stumble out the bathroom, I hit the light switch and shuffled towards my room.

  Movement in my mom’s room caught my eye, snapping my brain wide awake in a heartbeat. When I realized it was Aaron, I blanched. What the hell was he doing in our parent’s room?

  “What are you doing?” I demanded, my tone strangely coming out sounding accusatory, but then again, I meant it to.

  Aaron spun around so quickly I was surprised he didn’t get whiplash. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I was looking for Dad’s blue tie. I’ve got an interview tomorrow.”

  I cocked my eyebrow. Somehow I found that hard to believe. Aaron didn’t want a job. He was the laziest person I knew.

  With my care factor dropping to zero, I rolled my eyes and went to bed, making sure I sent Mia a quick text to tell her I was home safe.

  ***

  My head announced its displeasure the second I woke on Saturday morning – or maybe I should say afternoon, because it was definitely borderline. It took about five seconds for all the memories from the night before to come rushing back to me, and then the heat to fill my cheeks.

  I kissed Corey. I kissed Corey then walked out without saying goodbye. Then what had I done? I’d practically wrapped myself around Mitch! Mitch of all people! Oh my god! What Corey must’ve thought when he came out and saw me like that. I groaned, burying my face in my hands.

  I’d be lucky if he ever looked at me again.

  Rolling over, I grabbed my cell from the bedside table. Four missed calls from Mia, and six text messages. Shit.

  I quickly scrolled through the worried messages. They ranged from, where are you? Are you ok?, to, Corey said you left with some guy with tats?! Pls tell me ur ok.

  I sighed. Good job, Kaeli. Dig yourself out of this one. Finding Mia’s number, I hit ‘call’.

  Mia answered on the second ring. “Kaeli?”

  “Hey.”

  “Oh my god. Are you okay? I’ve been worried sick,” she rushed. I could hear low voices in the background.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry I baled on you. I did text you though…”

  The voices grew louder through the phone. “Hang on,” Mia said, then I heard shuffling sounds, like she was on the move. “That’s better. Why did you leave? I thought you were having fun. I mean, you seemed to be into Corey alright.”

  I groaned. I didn’t want her to remind me. “That was such a mistake. I can’t believe I let him kiss me. I’ve got so much going on, my head’s a mess. Shit. Was he upset with me?”

  There was a pause for a few seconds before she answered. “I don’t know. I think he was worried more than anything. To be honest, I’m a little angry with him. So’s Jace.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Kaeli, he saw you with a guy none of us have ever seen before. A guy with tats and piercings. You were drunk, and he just let you leave with him.”

  This was just getting worse! “Don’t blame Corey. He asked if I was okay – if I wanted him to walk me home, but I told him I was fine.”

  “Why would you do that? Who was the guy, Kaeli?”

  I chose my words carefully. “He’s kind of a business associate of Ken’s. I wouldn’t have left with him if I didn’t think I was safe, Mia. You know that. Yes, I was drunk, but I could still use my brain.”

  My words made me pause. I remembered the conclusion I’d come to the night b
efore. I still wasn’t certain about Mitch’s intentions, but I truly believed he didn’t want to hurt me. Why, I didn’t know. It was just a gut feeling.

  “So, he wasn’t some random stranger you just met on the street?”

  I laughed then, but immediately regretted it when my head protested. “I should be pissed you could possibly think I would do something like that.”

  Mia sighed. “I didn’t. It was the guys. They were all ready to go after you. Lucky you text me when you got home or they probably would’ve.”

  Great. Just great. Having any attention on me at the moment was bad. I didn’t need anyone looking closer than they needed to. “Well, you can tell them he’s a friend of the family’s, so they can all just back off.”

  It came out a lot more forceful than I’d intended, but I wasn’t in the mood for niceties right now. My life was screwed, and I was dealing with it the best I could.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll sort it out, okay?”

  The lump that came to my throat came out of nowhere. What the hell? “Yeah, thanks. I know I’m probably not making any sense right now, but I just need some space to work through it, and having the guys checking on me is only going to make things worse.”

  Mia was quiet for a bit, and I could picture her biting her lip with worry. “I understand, but Kaeli? Just remember there are people here who love you and would do anything for you.”

  Yeah, I needed to get off the phone. I swallowed. “I know.” Shit, this was hard. “Listen, I better go…”

  “Okay. I’ll ring you tomorrow. Maybe we could try to catch up or something?”

  If only I had the luxury of planning anything in my life… “Yeah, sure.”

  We said our goodbyes and I threw the cell down on my bed. I’d never felt like everything was so hopeless in my life.

  Chapter 20

  Noah

  I woke to loud thumping on my door. Stumbling out of bed, I threw the door open and found Davo standing in the hall with his usual impartial expression on his face.

  “Wanna come do some debt collecting?” he asked casually.

  I refrained from groaning. TJ’s style of debt collecting involved threats, physical violence, and broken bones. “Who?” I asked.

  He grinned. “Delaney.”

  My eyebrow twitched. Delaney I could do. He was a serial loser who picked up homeless girls off the street – no matter how old they were, giving them promises of food and shelter. The only catch was once they agreed, he owned them. He got them addicted to crack and made them earn their keep by prostituting them out. I would actually take great pleasure in smacking him around. “Sure. Just let me get dressed.”

  He disappeared down the hall while I quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt. After slipping on my boots, I grabbed my piece and tucked it into the waist band of my jeans.

  The drive over to the northern district took just over fifteen minutes. Davo was his usual silent self as he drove, content to just tap on the steering wheel as he listened to the radio. Unfortunately it left me with my own thoughts, and they instantly wanted to recap on the events of the night before.

  I still had no idea what to do when it came to Kaeli. I’d laid awake for hours thinking about it. I was such an idiot to think my plan would work. All I’d thought about was how to make it look like I was taking advantage of her to TJ and the other guys. I hadn’t even considered what would happen when she realized I wasn’t like the others.

  And then there was the way my pulse overreacted to her touch, the thrill I’d felt when she’d looked up at me with so much trust. I just wasn’t prepared for that. For the past twelve months I’d been focused on doing my job, and up to the point of Kaeli’s arrival, girls had been included in that. Any girl I’d been with was just part of the job, part of the lie to make my life believable. Kaeli had reminded me I was human, that somewhere deep inside me, I was actually a normal teenage boy.

  My mind instantly went to the guy from the party. I didn’t know what he was to Kaeli, but it was obvious they weren’t dating – although the desire was clear in his eyes. When he’d offered to walk her home I wanted to tell him to fuck off – she was mine, but then she’d told him no, and I wanted to beat my chest in victory.

  Walking her home, I realized just how stupid I’d been. I should’ve encouraged her to go with the boy. I shouldn’t be trying to keep her for myself. I needed to just get her out of the shit Ken had put her in, and let her go live a normal teenage life where her only concerns would be good grades and boyfriends.

  The thought of the position Ken had put her in made my blood boil. I was going to make sure he was put away for a long time, even if it was the very last thing I ever did.

  I forced myself back to the present as Davo pulled up to the curb. If I thought about it, Ken was no better than Delaney. Okay, Kaeli hadn’t been forced to take drugs or raped for money, but I was fairly sure when Ken first sent her to TJ’s, he would’ve known that’s what would happen to her. Did it make him any better just because it hadn’t?

  I was seriously starting to get pissed off. These people disgusted me.

  Climbing out of the car, I slammed the door hard, sending the frame rocking, then with purposeful strides, I stormed up to Delaney’s door and thumped as hard as I could.

  I could feel Davo watching me as we waited. I knew he’d be curious as to why I was so fucking mad, but I wasn’t in the mood to worry about it now.

  Muffled noises came from the other side of the door, just before I heard the sound of a latch being released and the knob being turned. I didn’t wait for whoever it was to open it. I crashed against it with my shoulder, sending the person stumbling backward.

  It took me two seconds to identify the person as Delaney as he righted his footfalls, and one more to land a right handed jab at his nose.

  Delaney swore, crashing back against the wall, holding his now bloody nose. I heard screams and gasps coming from some of the girls as they ran to hide. Grabbing Delaney by his shirt, I shoved him harder against the wall, hitting him with another jab to the nose.

  “Where’s our money, maggot?”

  Delaney squealed. “Fuck man! I got it! It’s in the other room. I was going to call TJ today to tell him!”

  I pulled out my gun. “Get it.”

  Delaney stumbled away from the wall, using his shirt to try to catch the blood that was still flowing freely. “You broke my fucking nose!”

  We followed him through to the other room and watched him open a package. I moved closer, my gun never leaving his head. I would never trust losers like him. The fucker could be getting his own gun for all I knew. But after a few fumbling moments, he held up a few wads of bills before thrusting them into a plastic bag and tossing it to me.

  I passed the bag to Davo without taking my eyes off Delaney. “Is it all there?”

  Davo grunted and I heard the bag rustle. “Yep.”

  I glared at Delaney. “Don’t ever make us wait for payment again. Got it?”

  Delaney glared back. “Yeah, I got it.”

  Following Davo out the door, I tucked the gun back into the waist band of my jeans and climbed in the car. Davo laughed out loud as he started the engine, making me raise an eyebrow at him.

  “Not a morning person?” he asked sarcastically.

  I grunted. “Something like that.”

  ***

  Later that day I drove into town after telling the guys I was in need of some munchies. After checking my mirror for the tenth time, I sent a quick text to Kate then immediate hit the delete button.

  Ten minutes later I pulled up in front of a run down low set house with a half collapsed wire fence out the front. Climbing from the car, I did a quick check to make sure I wasn’t being watched, then walked up the path and knocked on the door.

  Kate opened the door wearing a skimpy silk night dress with her hair messed up like she’d just gotten out of bed.

  I smiled. “Hi.”

  Her lips curved up in response, her
gaze turning sexually devious as she took me in. “Well, hello,” she said.

  I didn’t hesitate to grab her by the waist and pull her into me, pressing my mouth onto hers as I pushed her backwards into the house and shut the door with my foot.

  The second the door was closed, she pushed me away, laughing. “You horn dog.”

  I reached for her again with a sly grin. “I know you want me.”

  “In your dreams, baby.” Her stance was defiant, but her eyes sparkled with something else. Turning away from me, she slumped onto the couch and ran her fingers through her short blonde hair. “What’s new?”

  I sank down on the other end of the couch and lit a cigarette. “Ken’s almost doubled his sales in the last week.” I could feel my irritation with him spreading to my expression. “You know Tom OD’d?”

  She sighed. “Yeah. We found his body next to a dumpster behind O’Malley’s.”

  I shook my head with disgust. “Well, as you’ve probably worked out, Ken’s replaced Tom with his stepdaughter. Have you managed to get someone undercover at the school yet? I’m worried about her, Kate. She’s as innocent as they come.”

  Kate scowled. “Fucking bastard, sending someone you’re supposed to care about into a place like that.” She scratched her fingernails over her chin. “Leah’s starting on Monday. It took a little while to try to get her classes to match the girl’s.”

  “TJ had Davo and I follow Ken’s son the other day. It seems he’s taken over the distribution side of things for him. He’s the reason sales have gone up. He’s the right age to get in with the kids, and he knows the best places to do it.”

  “I’ll see if Walt wants to put a detail on him, but you know we won’t be able to bust him, Noah. It’ll jeopardize the op too much.”

  This is the part I hated. I knew getting the guys at the top would put a stop to the whole chain of things, but the thought of these losers getting to the kids pissed me off.

  “Yeah, I know. I still haven’t heard much more about the shipment. I’m hoping I’ll have something when I see Leah next.”