Page 46 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

Oh man. It was a good fucking thing it was me and not one of the other guys. This dick would’ve been out for the count with a knife in his side before he even finished that sentence.

“You heard about these fake pills with Mr. X’s mark going around?” I asked point blank.

Aaron blinked. The shock on his face was out of place, then panic took stage front and center. “What pills?” he stammered.

“You know, little light blue ones with a dark blue cross like ours. But completely full of shit.”

He shifted on his feet uncomfortably.

“You see,” I continued. “To say Mr. X is livid, is an understatement. And to say TJ is furious is even more so. They’re both scouring the streets to find the culprit, and when they do…” I sighed. “It’s not going to end well.”

Aaron swallowed, but he seemed to spark back into life. “It’s nothing to do with me. I just sell what the old man gives me, and he’s too fucking stupid to re-press pills, so I know it’s not him.” He gave me another disdainful look. “Now, if you wanna get the fuck out of my way, I have stock I have to shift before the night’s through.”

He pushed past me and I took the opportunity to lift him, my sticky fingers fast and efficient. I waited for him to work his way through the crowd before stepping back into the shadows to check out the packet I’d lifted from him. Holding it up to the sliver of light, I took in the little blue pills.

I think I knew before I even looked what I’d find, but when I took in the imperfections and confirmed they were indeed counterfeits, I exhaled heavily. Fucking motherfucking shit.

Then my brain finally processed something. Aaron had said re-pressed pills. Why the hell would he think they were re-pressed?

It all hit me at once.

Holy fuck. The fakes weren’t just reproductions to look like Mr. X’s, they actually were Mr. X’s, ground down and mixed with crap before being re-pressed.

And Aaron knew. Fuck.

It had to be Ken. With all the extra purchases he’d made lately, it all added up.

Ken was The Shadow.

Kaeli was in more trouble than I thought.

Chapter 35

Kaeli

The beeping of the machine Mom was hooked up to grated on my nerves. My eyes stung from tiredness, and my cheek and head ached like a bitch.

The doctor at the hospital had given me something to take for the pain, and the nurse had given me an ice pack to help the swelling go down, but it was the emotional ache that was killing me.

Seeing Mom laying there so broken was like the worst pain I’d ever known. She had three broken ribs, a broken wrist, a cut on her temple that had required ten stitches to close up, and bruising that almost covered her entire torso.

The doctor had made a point of telling me about all the old injuries he’d been able to see on Mom’s x-rays, practically begging me to confess everything, but I couldn’t do it. It was a decision Mom had to make. She needed to take the step herself.

Pushing myself to my feet, I sighed and walked over to the window, self-consciously brushing my fingers over the high part of my cheekbone that still throbbed.

I’d assessed it in the small mirror over the hand basin first thing that morning, groaning at the dark bruise that had formed overnight. It looked awful, and there was going to be no way to hide it.

A loud voice drifted in through the open door and I froze.

“Where’s my wife?! I need to see her.”

Ken? I couldn’t believe the audacity of that freaking man! How dare he come in here and pretend he was concerned!

The nurse’s voice was low, so I couldn’t quite hear what she said, but Ken’s panicked response was very clear.

“Melanie Lehmann. I’m her husband. I just got back from a business trip. Is she okay? Can I see her?”

I gaped at the open doorway. If I didn’t know any better, I’d seriously think he was beside himself with worry. The nurse spoke quietly again.

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