Page 11 of In His Veins

“What can you tell me about the drugs that killed that high school kid, Mr. Preston?” He’s silent as he looks at me, one side of his mouth tugging up into a small smile.

We watch each other for a moment longer before I lunge forward and grip his jaw, wrenching it upward. His lips are twisted together, and he can’t move as I point the scalpel to that same corner of his mouth. The tender flesh splits instantly under the blade dragging across his cheek. Blood pours from the wound, and I step back to admire my work as he cries.

“The drugs, Mr. Preston?” He opens his mouth to talk, but moans as the movement stretches the wound. I flip the instrument into my other hand, walking toward him again and grasping his throat. Tears pool in his eyes as he shakes his head in desperation. I smile at him and offer my most sympathetic look before repeating the injury on the other side of his mouth. Preston screams and lurches in his chair.

“This can all stop. I need to know where the drugs came from and who distributed them. That’s all.” My voice sounds gentle. Tears mix with the streaming blood, and I know it must burn.

“Please, I don’t know anything about that kid, really. That’s the truth, I swear. I promise you.” He’s shaking his head emphatically, and the excessive qualifiers make me roll my eyes.

“Kenny,” I sigh. “Now why would you lie to me?” I walk behind the chair and lock my arm around his neck. “Can you not hear me, Kenny? What do you know about the drugs that killed that kid?” My blade is resting against the back of his ear as I ask the question.

The blade struggles through the thick folds of cartilage as I steadily carve it from his head before gliding through the lobe like butter. The ear falls and bounces off his leg, hitting the floor. I release my hold on him and quickly wipe the scalpel on my jeans as he screams, blood pours down his shoulder. Kenny takes gasping breaths and chokes on his saliva as his head begins to fall to his chest.

“Mr. Preston? The drugs?” He lifts his chin and tries to glare, but his bottom lip quivers. I snatch the mutilated ear from the floor and lock my arm around his neck again, shoving the flesh to the back of his mouth. Teeth scrape the back of my hand as he tries to bite down.

I clamp my hand over his nose and mouth and whisper into his good ear: “Swallow, Mr. Preston, or I carve off the other one.”

He thrashes against me for a few moments before I feel his throat bob and emit a distinct gulp. Releasing him, he takes a gasping breath.

“You’re sick,” he whines.

“Perhaps.” I shrug and look at the now blood-covered blade. Kenny takes another shuddering breath.

“A man approached me a few weeks ago. Said he had a big job for me, but it’d be a bigger payout than anything I’ve ever seen in my life. I expected I’d be cooking or something to get paid that much, but all he wanted was for me to run the drugs.”

“Who is he?”

Kenny shakes his head. “He didn’t say, and he always kept his face covered. With that kind of money on the table, I wasn’t going to ask any questions.”

“How many runs did you make?”

“I couldn’t even tell you. He had cargo for me almost every night for a month.”

“What else?”

“That’s it, I swear this time. A man came up to me and we made a deal. He’d drop the cargo at my house and me and the boys would make drops all over the city. I never talked to him again after that, but he never failed to make his delivery.” He speaks earnestly, and I know he doesn’t have anything useful left to say.

“Thank you.” Kenny relaxes in his chair, even as blood continues to drip from his wounds. “I’m sure it was nice that your drops took you close to schools, huh? I’ve heard you like them young.” His eyes widen in alarm as I prowl toward him again.

“Wait! Wait I-” He lets out a gargled scream as I carve off his other ear and catch it before it falls to the floor. Grinning, I lean down to hold it a few inches from his face.

“This one’s for me.” I give it a shake before tossing it to the floor and his eyes roll to the back of his head. Nodding to Chase, I walk toward the door.“You got it from here?”

He nods in return and Jax grins at me.

“You sick bastard. Go shower. We’ll meet you upstairs.”

I’m not willing to drag Preston’s blood through my house and don’t have the energy to dispose of them properly right now, so I leave my clothes and boots at the bottom of the stairs.

The hot water pelting my back is nearly divine. While Preston’s weak information didn’t tell us much, we can at least eliminate the women from our list. I scrub myself mindlessly and am half asleep by the time I towel off. Resisting the urge to go to bed and talk with the brothers tomorrow, I throw on some sweats. The low murmur of their voices can be heard from the living room.

Barely noticing the water dripping from my hair, I sink into an armchair and listen to the brothers’ discussion.

“I have at least 2 known drop locations. Lucas and I will scope them out tomorrow,” Jax claims, before standing. Lucas follows suit and claps his hand on my shoulder.

“Get some rest. We’ll go take care of the mess.” He smirks at me before following his brother to my basement.

Chase sighs and lays back on the couch, rubbing a hand on his face. The movement reminds me of Ava. Her honey eyes are back on my mind again in an instant, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s asleep. I’m suddenly desperate for the brothers to leave and am about to pull up her feed on my phone again, Chase be damned, when he speaks.

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