Hush - Fighting Fate #2

by Maree Green

  ***

  It was hard to get myself motivated for school the following morning. Besides the fact that Mondays sucked royally anyway, nothing seemed less important after having someone try to kill me. I just wanted to find my boy and spend another day locked away from it all, with him doing everything he could to make me forget it all.

  Grabbing my bag off the kitchen bench, I sighed and moved to the front door. “Bye Mom!” I yelled up to her. “I’ll see you this afternoon!”

  I vaguely heard her muffled reply from somewhere under her blankets and sighed again. This day was going to suck.

  Closing the front door behind me, I unlocked the car and climbed inside. I’d just clicked my seatbelt in place when the passenger door flung open and a large hulking figure jumped into the passenger seat beside me.

  I squealed and jumped back against the door. It took me one second to realize two things. The hulking figure was Aaron. And he was pointing a gun at me.

  “Aaron?” I said weakly. “What are you doing?”

  “What I need to do. Start the car.”

  I stared at him, unable to get my body to move.

  “Start the fucking car, Kaeli!”

  I jumped at the sudden loud volume of his voice, and with a shaky hand, put the key in the ignition and started the car. Trying to get myself under control, I took a deep breath. I couldn’t show him I was scared.

  “You know this is bad idea, Aaron. Mitch is going to kill you when he finds out.”

  “Yeah, well he can get in line. Now, back the car out.”

  Shit. He sounded crazy desperate. I looked into his eyes, trying to find something I could bargain with, but there wasn’t even a flicker of reasonability there.

  “I said back the fucking car out now!” he shouted.

  With my hands still shaking, I put the car in gear and slowly reversed out onto the street.

  “Drive,” he gritted out through his teeth.

  “Where are we going?” I asked. For some strange reason, I wanted to know. It might help me to prepare myself if I knew what I was in for.

  “You’ll see when we get there, now stop talking. I can’t think straight with you jabbering away.”

  I clamped my mouth shut and tightened my hands on the steering wheel. I was seriously panicking now. Aaron was unstable. That much I knew. I had no idea what he was going to do to me. I glanced at my bag by Aaron’s feet, wondering if I could get to the cell Mitch gave me. Why the hell hadn’t I put it in my pocket?!

  Aaron directed me through the streets, constantly checking the mirrors and behind us as I drove, looking for who, I didn’t know. When we arrived in an old industrial estate, my heart started beating even faster. He directed me to pull into a storage facility and drive around the back.

  “Park over there,” he said, pointing to a space filled with old, wrecked cars.

  Doing as I was told, I pulled into a tight spot and waited to see what he was going to do next. I hadn’t turned the car off yet, hoping he might get out and I could get away, but unfortunately, he was using his brain for once.

  “Turn off the ignition and give me the keys.”

  Hopelessness washed over me as I did as he asked.

  Opening his door, he climbed out and held his door open, motioning with his gun for me to follow him. Not seeing any other option, I climbed over the console and out the door beside him.

  With the gun pressed into my back, he pushed me forward, towards the buildings.

  I looked around, hoping I might see someone and get their attention, but the place looked scarily deserted. He pushed me along through the shadows, down rows and rows of lanes lined with storage sheds and warehouses. Some had machinery stacked outside the doors, some had piles of boxes and building supplies.

  When we got near one of the end ones, Aaron pulled out a key and opened the door beside the roller door, then he shoved me inside.

  Before he closed the door behind him and sent the room into darkness, I managed to catch a glimpse of a mattress in the corner, a chair by the wall, and a pile of rope on the floor.

  Fuck.

  Chapter 46

  Noah

  It was Tuesday morning when we got word that The Shadow had been busted by the police. TJ had come back to The Den after hearing the rumors, flicking on the TV, and we’d watched it all unfold over the news. They’d found the house he’d been shacked up in, as well as the warehouse he’d set up his new laboratory in. In all, eight people had been arrested.

  Aaron wasn’t one of them.

  The bust had been great fucking news for the operation though, because by that afternoon, the exchange with Mr. X had been set for two days’ time. Apparently Mr. X figured there couldn’t be a more perfect time to do it, seeing as the cops were already busy processing The Shadow’s mess.

  The hard part now was how to get a message to my team, because the minute the deal had been set, TJ practically had everyone on lockdown. We were still allowed to go out, but if we did, we had to go in pairs like fucking first graders. The only way I thought I might manage to get the details out there was a last ditch attempt that had been agreed upon at my last briefing.

  In the privacy of my room, I quickly scrawled the basics on the inside of my cigarette packet, before shoving the last three cigarettes back in there and making my way downstairs.

  I’d already decided I’d be taking Davo with me. He was the least watchful of them all.

  Reaching the bottom step, I checked my wallet. “I’m going to get some pizza. I’m fucking starving. Who’s coming with?” I let my gaze land on Davo last and inclined my head a little.

  He nodded and pushed to his feet. “Yeah, I’ll go. I want to grab some more brews.”

  “Fuck yeah,” Mac said, stubbing out his joint. “Get me a pepperoni with extra sauce.”

  I purposely pulled out a smoke and lit up. Nodding, I blew out a puff. “Anyone else?”

  TJ grunted. “You may as well get us all the usual. We’ve got some business to take care of later so I want everyone here.”

  With a swift nod, I grabbed the keys off the table and strode out the door, Davo close behind me.

  After we ordered, I went outside and positioned myself near the trash can and lit up. That was the signal. I hoped someone was fucking watching, otherwise I was screwed.

  I just had one more to smoke then I could deliver the message. Thankfully, the pizza shop was busy tonight so we still had a while to wait.

  Stubbing out the cigarette, I made sure I talked with Davo a bit before lighting the last one, making sure I was right where I’d been standing before. Scrunching up the now empty smoke packet, I tossed it in the trash, mentally crossing my fingers.

  If the others were doing their job properly, they now had access to all the information they needed to set up the sting. The only thing that worried me was not knowing how it was all going to go down. I just hoped the S.W.A.T guys knew what the fuck I looked like.

  Our order was called out and Davo went in to grab them while I finished off my smoke. A tinkling laugh caught my attention and I looked over the tables and chairs scattering the sidewalk to see Kate sitting on Zac’s lap, laughing at something he was saying. Relief washed over me, knowing the drop was being met.

  Davo was just walking out the doors when I felt my cellphone vibrate in my pocket. The second I saw TJ’s name flashing across the screen, I went on full alert. Throwing my butt on the ground, I swiped the screen.

  “Yeah.”

  “We might have a problem.”

  I tensed at his words. Fuck. Did he know something? “What’s up?”

  “It seems your woman’s been missing since yesterday.”

  Everything inside me went still. I was suddenly filled with a fear I’d never experienced before.

  When it finally caught up with me, I exploded. “What the fuck do you mean she’s missing?!” I shouted, not giving a fuck there were people now staring at me.

  “I just got a message from Ken, asking i
f you had her. You don’t have her do you, Mitch?”

  The motherfucker actually sounded amused. I’d never been so grateful for making out I was a possessive dick before, because there was no way I was going to be able to hide how fucking pissed off I was that someone had the audacity to touch her.

  “You know I don’t fucking well have her! Exactly when did she go missing?”

  “Ken said she didn’t come home from school yesterday.”

  “Motherfucker! It’s gotta be that fucking little cocksucker, Aaron. I’m going to fucking kill him.”

  TJ sighed. “Bring the pizzas back here. I’ll see what I can find out from Ken.”

  The line disconnected in my ear and I turned to follow Davo out to where he was already climbing into the car. I didn’t even glance at Kate as I passed. I just said two words.

  “Twenty minutes.”

  Twenty-six minutes later, I pulled up at the apartment Kate used as our rendezvous point and strode for the door.

  I was lucky TJ actually let me leave on my own, but he obviously saw how fucking livid I was and begrudgingly let me go. The fact that TJ had been angling for some payback on Aaron since his little attempted robbery thing might’ve help a little too.

  I’d barely waited for the door to open a crack before I was pushing inside. “What the fuck happened?!” I demanded.

  I spun to see her closing the door. Her expression was bleak. She opened her mouth to speak, but it was another voice that answered behind me. A male voice.

  “We don’t know.”

  I turned to see Zac coming in from the kitchen. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Did you even know she was missing?!”

  Zac went to sit on the arm of the sofa and Kate moved to stand beside him. She shook her head. “No,” she said quietly. “It wasn’t reported.”

  Moving in a useless circle, I pressed my fingers into my skull. “Un-fucking-real. What the fuck was Leah doing?! She should’ve been watching her! I told her she was a target!”

  Kate bit her lip nervously and Zac sighed. “All detail was pulled from the girl.”

  I stared at him blankly for a heartbeat. “What?! Why the fuck would Walt take detail off her? I wouldn’t have demanded he put someone on her if I didn’t think she was in danger!”

  Kate gave me an awkward look. “Leah convinced him the girl didn’t need it…”

  I glared at her. “Leah convinced him? Leah fucking convinced him?! Are you fucking serious right now? We’ve got the biggest fucking deal about to go down in less than forty-eight fucking hours and instead of being back at the fucking Den under practical lockdown to ensure the deal fucking goes ahead, I’m out here doing your fucking job, looking for someone who was supposed to be under our protection! Un-fucking-believable! I swear to god, if one fucking hair is even ripped from Kaeli’s body, I’m going to fucking bring down the biggest fucking headache on everyone who helped put her there!”

  With that, I stormed for the door.

  “Noah, wait!”

  I paused, hand on the doorknob, and turned my head to Kate.

  “Everything will be set up for the bust. Just do what you need to do to keep any suspicion from you. And…I’m sorry about the girl. We’ll get everyone out there looking for her. I promise.”

  I growled. “Don’t fucking bother. I’ll find her myself.”

  Throwing the door open, I marched outside and slammed it after me.

  Chapter 47

  Kaeli

  I was in hell.

  Absolute freaking hell.

  I never thought I had claustrophobia, but it certainly freaking felt like it, being locked up in such a confined space with a person I loathed.

  The storage unit was dark and dank, and smelt like mold and piss. As I gathered from my first fleeting glance at the shit hole, it had a shitty old double mattress lying on the floor in one corner, a black, wooden chair that looked like it was from the eighteen hundreds, against the wall, and there was a small square table near the door. Surprisingly, it also had a plumbed in toilet, which of course was the source of the piss smell.

  Aaron had lit an old lantern not long after we’d arrived, bringing all its shitty glory to light, and then, after he’d made sure I didn’t have my cell on me, he’d demanded I sit down on the bed.

  We’d sort of fallen into a kind of routine after that. I sat on the mattress as far away from him as possible, refusing to speak to him, and he sat on the chair or paced the small space, refusing to speak to me. Sometimes I slept, and sometimes, when he felt like sleeping, he’d make me sit in the ancient chair, gagged and tied.

  That had been two days ago. I think. Considering I couldn’t actually see if the sun had been rising and falling, I wasn’t entirely positive, but it certainly felt like it.

  At some stage I’d brought up my concern regarding Mom putting in a missing persons report, but he’d only waved it off, saying his father wouldn’t allow it. Knowing he was right didn’t make my being there any easier.

  At some stage during the third day, he went out, leaving me gagged and bound for what felt like hours. When he came back, he had food and water, and was freshly showered and dressed. Bastard.

  After that, he was fidgety, continually pacing and checking his cell. I watched him on three separate occasions snort a line of coke, and afterwards he would look so on edge and flighty I was scared to even breathe in case it brought me to his attention.

  But I was wrong to think that kind of mood was the worst he could produce. So, so very wrong.

  By night fall on the third day, Aaron took a call and was instantly happy. My blood ran cold as I watched him turn to me with a look that resembled his father’s malicious one.

  “Finally,” he said, moving closer. “You’re going to be useful to me.”

  With that, any hope I’d been holding onto disappeared.

  Chapter 48

  Noah

  By the time the day of the exchange came around, I was a mess. Inside anyway. On the outside I was the same pissed off, aloof and focused dick I always was in front of the guys.

  I’d spent the entire day and night after I’d found out Kaeli was missing, scouring the places I thought Aaron might be or could possibly be holding her, but had come up with nothing. I’d dragged Davo with me all over the fucking town, beating up anyone who might’ve had an idea where the fucker was hiding her, but no one knew a fucking thing.

  The only way I’d been able to convince TJ to let me keep looking was to convince him we needed to keep up appearances - show people that nothing was different. It worked for a while, but by the end of the night, he’d reached his limit and we were all on lockdown.

  I thought, under the circumstances, I’d done a pretty fucking good job faking I was merely just pissed and not psychotically ready to tear the entire underworld apart to find her.

  It had taken way more patience than I realized I actually had, but I couldn’t risk the operation. It wasn’t that I thought the operation was more important, because it fucking wasn’t. It was because I knew once the operation was over, I would be free to find her and make whoever was responsible, pay.

  Sitting back on the lounge, I lit a joint and forced my shoulders to appear relaxed while TJ went over the plan. We were to take two vehicles - one being the van TJ had acquired to carry the merchandise, leaving one outside the gates of the industrial estate for a quick get-away. Davo and Mac were to hang back and to the sides to cover us from behind, and Pock, Vinnie and I, who were going to be carrying the cash, were to keep a close formation around TJ.

  Seeing as this was the biggest transaction TJ had made to date, he’d actually put a lot of thought into making it go down as smoothly as possible. But I knew my team, and this was a statewide bust on a national level. There was going to be some pretty heavy artillery waiting for them the second the exchange was done.

  After a final check to ensure all the money was right and our guns were loaded, we piled into the cars and drove south.

  Keep
ing a little distance behind the van TJ was in, I found myself checking the mirrors constantly. I was as nervous as hell that something was going to stop the exchange from taking place, and I wanted to be ready for anything.

  As part of the plan, I followed TJ’s car through the city, taking the long way to the meeting point to hopefully flush out anyone who might be following us.

  The first surprise came the second we pulled up to the gates of the warehouse estate we were meeting Mr. X. They were shut and guarded by two of Mr. X’s men with assault weapons.

  After conducting a thorough search of each of us for wires, and an even more thorough search of the van, including the use of an electronic detector for transmitters, they finally let us through.

  We drove at snail’s pace, following one of the guys as he led the way to the designated warehouse. At our approach, the roller door was hoisted up and we were quickly ushered inside with the door closing just as quick behind us.

  The instant the door slammed shut, we were surrounded by Mr. X’s men, every single one of them pointing a gun in our direction.

  “Guns please, boys,” one of them said with a nod.

  TJ nodded and we followed his lead, pulling them out and holding them up in an appeasing way.

  “On the table,” the guy said, indicating to the table a few feet away.

  Making sure we made slow, deliberate movements, we all stepped over to the table and slowly lay our weapons down before moving back again.

  At the guy’s nod, Mr. X’s men lowered their guns and stepped back.

  “TJ…”

  My head jerked up at the sound of a new voice from the shadows. I watched as a silhouette appeared, moving closer.

  “It’s good to see you again. It’s been too long.”

  “Mr. X,” TJ said. I didn’t miss the respect in his tone. “With a business such as ours, I think that’s probably for the best.”

  Mr. X laughed. “Yes. I think you might be right. I am happy our little shadow problem has been eliminated.”

  TJ nodded in agreement. “Although I would’ve preferred a more permanent elimination.”