Page 22 of Cook

Sas growled. “Fuckers ever heard of fair trade?”

I laughed out loud. “Business with drugs and guns is anything butfair, Sas.”

The man circled the island and broadened his chest as he stared down at me.

“Listen, pup, you need to calm your tits,” I said.

Angel stepped between us, pushing against both our chests. “Sit the fuck down, both of you.”

My gaze met Angel’s as I leaned back onto the counter. He looked down his nose at me, and it was clear he knew something. I stared at him long and hard, holding my ground. How much did he know about Maddie? That I took her out of the hospital?

Probably, but she was a grown ass woman, regardless of what Angel or his ol’ lady said.

Technically, she’d freed herself from the hospital, so I had no cause for guilt. I just drove the getaway car. None of the girls were here, not Bou, Roni, or Melanie, and that made it a little easier.

“She’s fine. Healthy,” I said preemptively and under my breath.

Angel gave me a silent nod.

Celt barked, “We just got a death threat, right? What’re we doing about that?”

“We’ve been showing up places we didn’t used to be,” said Wilde.

“We still need a plan for bringing in more income,” said Sas, and most of the others fell silent, seeming to think.

Running drugs? We’ve done that ever since I can remember, but legalization of pot is definitely drying up that line of income. Human trafficking? Abso-fucking-lutely not. That was what the bitch who had Maddie did. Mafia shit: arms dealing, casinos, what else?

Sas got a connection with the cartel, so maybe that should be our next angle. But stocking them inside the triangle was obviously going to get our men killed.

“The last thing I’m looking for,” I said, “is any kind of war with the big guys.”

“Fuck,” muttered Sasquatch, throwing his fist into the fridge. It rocked. He pulled back his hand as blood dribbled out of a cut. He hadmade a dent in the metal door.

“Watch the fuck out,” said Wilde. “Bou will have your balls if you wreck her shop.”

“Calm down, Sas,” muttered Graff from where he sat off to the side, sketching in a notebook.

“We’ve gotta figure out how to get them off our backs,” Ward said from the TV screen.

“How?” asked Angel, finally seeming to join the business of the moment. “The Mafia knows we have the kids they were trafficking. They’ll want their merchandise back.”

A shudder ran down my spine at the thought of Maddie being called merchandise.

“Maybe they’ll want a trade,” suggested Ward.

Sas balled his hand into a fist again, and Graff and Teller shared a look.

“They’ll want to be paid off at least.” Graff ran his hand down his face. “We never should’ve gotten involved.”

“And left Lanie’s sister to rot?” growled Angel.

I was on his side for this topic. Someone had to slaughter that bitch and stop the abuse.

“Fine,” said Wilde through his clenched teeth. “We never should’ve been caught.”

“We didn’t get caught.” Angel grabbed a beer from the fridge.

“Clearly, we got caught on camera or someone escaped and snitched on us. But we don’t have a time machine to go back,” I said. “So we’ve gotta figure out how to deal with this now.”

---