Page 37 of Smoke the Enemy

It didn’t take long into the New Year for our father to find us and ruin the good amazing high we were riding on. As hard as we try to keep things under wraps and away from his ears, I’m always uneasy when he shows up, eyeing my brother as if his favorite pet just bit him.

“You both look too happy about something,” Father’s eyes bounce back and forth between us. “Please tell me it’s because you finally took care of that traitor and it’s not because of some low-grade college pussy.”

I want to flick my knife between his eyes. My hand twitches at my side, but I sense Steffan ready to take him on at his own game. “Actually, we were just getting ready to head to the water now to take care of business. You can join us if you want.” He shrugs, and I almost choke on my laughter when our father’s face turns red. He really keeps expecting to catch us messing up. I know that’s why he comes here unannounced. Steffan just doesn’t want to admit it.

“By all means…” Our father ushers us to the front door, his face pinched tight. “I’ve been wanting to see how you handle business lately, son. If you think you can step into my shoes without a steady hand, you’ll be sadly mistaken.”

Steffan’s back is rigid. I can’t tell if it’s because our father doubts him still, or because he knows our father says these things to rile him up on purpose. I just want to get away from him. The minute we put enough space between us and our father, who will follow behind us, we walk over to Steffan’s SUV where I lean in closer. “When did we have time to find this traitor?”

“Do you ever pay attention in our morning meetings?” Steffan’s brow lifts and I can feel the slight animosity.

My shoulders lift. “Someone has to keep tabs on our girl. You deal with the Brotherhood things and the politics, and my job is to make sure Taylor’s heart is beating twenty-four-seven.”

He sighs and shakes his head. I know I’ve won, and besides I don’t really care. The fact that our deal with the largest mafia family in the state went bad isn’t really on my radar. It’s on Steffan’s, so why muddy up both of our brains with that? Our father has been on our case since we were home for Christmas, and not much has changed. Despite all the shit we’re already in, he apparently had Succo and another pledge find the guy who shorted us on the deal with fake, laundered money. The dude has been chilling in our basement for almost two days now, and now his ass is in the trunk. Who knew?

“His family finally came back to us with a deal today,” Steffan tosses out and I turn to face him while he starts the vehicle. I hear a thud from the trunk and assume it’s the mafia guy.

“I guess it wasn’t going to make us a deal for anything?” I glance at the trunk and to my brother.

“They didn’t offer for him. They only offered that if we dispose of the body they’ll run a larger amount for us next time at our usual price.” Steffan grins almost maniacally.

“That’s cold.” I smirk and pull out my knife, twisting it in my hand. “Who made the shot?”

“Succo,” Steffan answers. I twist my knife. Succo is moving fast up the ladder as a pledge. Soon he’ll be right here with us making all the important decisions. As an Illicit founding member, it’s his right to do so.

“Think he’ll be a problem?”

Steffan is quiet, his eyes moving from the road to his rearview mirror where our father is trailing behind us. He doesn’t answer me. He doesn’t have to. We’re both interested to see what will happen once Succo is a full member.

“Have you ever thought–”

“No.” Steffan shakes his head. “It isn’t him.”

“You sound like you’ve checked.” I smirk, my brow raised, “So you thought it.”

Steffan sighs. “At one point last year he was missing an hour of time when a murder happened, but I dug into it and found his alibi.”

We both fall into more silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Steffan drives until we reach the abandoned property where we can quietly dispose of mafia dude. His injection must be wearing off because I can hear him starting to move around more. “Just in time,” I breathe out as we come to a stop. Father parks nearby and gets out of his car. He leans against the hood while Steffan pops his trunk, and we both grab the guy under his arms. The guy’s left leg gives out immediately, blood dripping from the torn flesh from the gunshot wound.

“Ooo, Allison probably smells him already.” Steffan’s gaze slants at me and I shrug. It’s true, though. She’s bloodthirsty. The guy struggles between us until we throw him onto the ground, a few feet away from the edge of the water. Steffan pulls his knife from his jacket.

“Show me how you handle The Illicit’s business, son,” our father’s voice rings in the silence. Steffan’s hand stills. I wish more than anything I could push our father into the water instead. Maybe one day soon.

The man on the ground is pissing himself. His clothes had already been removed to make Allison’s job easier, making his skin dirty and red from his time in the basement. His eyes are bloodshot. He looks like he needs a fix of something, and that’s probably exactly how he found himself in this mess.

“He had pictures of underage girls on his phone,” I remind my brother, under my breath, so that our father can’t hear. Steffan barely moves his head, but I see him acknowledging what I said. The man before us has crimes far worse than laundering fake money to us. There is no need to feel bad that a piece of trash like him will end up as gator bait. He was warned from the beginning, and he still chose to steal from us.

A ripple in the water catches my attention, and my gaze zeros in on the movement. Our other girl is here. I smirk and step back from Steffan, indicating he needs to hurry. Before the man can utter a noise around his gag, Steffan swipes the knife across his throat. Blood sprays like a fountain, and the man’s eyes roll back. Steffan shoves him to the ground right as Allison makes her appearance. Her massive, green, scaly body crawls over the edge of the water, a complete predator, and completely loyal to us. We watch, completely transfixed, as she takes her snack between her jaw and drags him back into the murky water. Right before they both disappear…before she goes completely under, I swear I see her yellow eye wink at me.

Blue Rose, Alabama

Taylor

Since New Year’s Eve I haven’t spent much time with the boys. They have been busy dealing with the fallout the murders have brought on. They also have fraternity issues that I choose not to ask much about. I’ve been helping them keep up in class, not that they need it. Still, it feels nice to help them shoulder some of the responsibility as much as I can.

“Hey, beautiful.” Steffan plops down into the seat next to me. I glance around, not sure if we’re supposed to be hiding anymore or what. I’m still confused by how to act everyday, especially with Steffan. He’s always the most distant until we’re alone.

“Are you sure you can talk to me?” I quirk my brow and his smile falters.

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