Page 60 of Mob Star

“No, he won’t. He’ll rush home to Althea.”

“Althea? What? Are we in 1950?”

I want to punch Riley in his junk. I never think of her full name, so it’s jarring to hear. I especially don’t enjoy hearing it from either of them. So much for today just being about scouting. I pull up John’s contact.

Me

Fall back. We need to go.

Chapter Fourteen

Thea

I know I’ve had a shadow since yesterday morning. I’m positive it’s Finn’s men since I’m pretty certain I saw Joey as I walked into the hospital yesterday. But I had to make an emergency shift change to come out to my parents’.

“Papa?”

“In the living room.”

I don’t like how reedy his voice sounds. I dump my stuff on the entryway table and rush toward him.

“Papa! Oh my God!” I’m too stunned to move for a moment, then I’m kneeling beside the sofa as my eyes roam over him, taking in his injuries.

My mom called this morning to say he’d had a cycling accident yesterday afternoon. She’d taken him to the Emergency Room, but she downplayed it. It was a friend who was on rotation last night who called right after I hung up with my mom to ask how he was doing since he knew his patient was my dad. I could only stand there and listen as he said my dad’s injuries were serious enough to keep him overnight. They got home a couple hours ago. I was about to leave for work, but I called around to find someone to swap. It wasn’t easy, but there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I was going to work today.

“I’ll survive, squirt.”

“I can tell, but this is serious.” I pick up the prescription bottle on the table. “If Dr. Harding prescribed these, you must be in intense pain or will be.”

These are about as powerful as you can get outside an IV drip in a hospital. I put the pills down and scan my gaze over him from head to toe and back up again. He’s pale as fuck, and I can tell his skin is clammy.

“The doctor said as long as I take these on time, I shouldn’t have any problems managing my pain.”

If only it were that simple. His pain is only a fraction of what I’m worried about. My parents gave me access to their health portals years ago, so I could read test results and appointment notes. I saw it all before I left my place. He has a concussion, a sprained right wrist, and road rash on his face, side, and leg. He has bruising from shoulder to ankle on his right side. They suspected two broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder, but it was the massive bruising that caused their suspicion. He got lucky. The CT scan didn’t reveal any trauma to his organs, but the notes recommend he follow up with an orthopedist for his wrist and a neurosurgeon for a possible herniated disc in his neck. Thank God he always wears his helmet.

“What happened?” My mom was evasive.

“I swerved to miss someone, and my front tire rolled over something that punctured it. I went flying over the handlebars.”

“Do you remember any of it? Did someone call an ambulance?”

“I don’t remember much until Mom arrived at the ER. I don’t know who called 911, but people stayed with me until the paramedics arrived.”

“Did the person you almost hit at least stay?”

He hesitates a moment too long. “Yeah, he stuck around.”

“Papa, was this one of Uncle Corey’s men? Tell me the truth.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I didn’t get a good look before the accident, and I’m not sure if my memory is real or something my imagination made up.”

“Did he threaten you before this happened? He obviously knows you lost your job because he came to my place, then went looking for Jamie. You know he won’t stop until you’re paying him weekly.”

I want to call Finn. I want to tell him everything that’s going on. I want to lean on him. I want him to fix this— and by fix, I mean make sure Uncle Corey is dead. I may have sworn to do no harm, but that doesn’t mean I can’t wish it on deserving people. Finn sure as hell didn’t make that pledge.

“I’m not giving him a penny.”

“Papa—”

---