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I nodded, spun around, and jogged out of the house and to the car. The engine roared to life, but it didn’t have the same effect as my car back home. There was no comparison to my Mustang. Just one more reason to get this case done with sooner rather than later.
I made it to Old Man Pike’s in ten minutes and parked toward the back. I had no idea what I was walking into, but that wasn’t anything new. I pushed out of my car, scanning the lot and spotting Hut’s SUV and another car that Jace and Ted used. Those two never went anywhere without the other one, but I’d seen the tension between them lately. It was just another thing to add to the rung.
The old house was out in the boonies, run-down and barely standing. It had a slight tilt to the left, and an eerie vibe to the small porch where a broken swing sat. It was silent as I walked closer, and when I pushed the door open, a thump rang out. That wasn’t good. My hand was already reaching for my weapon.
“Took you long enough to get here,” Hut grunted from the opposite side of the wall, a bored expression on his face. Now I’d learned how to compose myself in any situation, but how he could just ignore the squealing man tied to the chair was beyond me. It took every ounce of strength not to sprint over to him and beat him the same way he’d done to Lola only last night.
I shut the door, encasing us in semi-darkness, and moved toward Hut and Ford. “What’s going on?”
“Found our skimmer,” Hut said, looking way too pleased with that fact. I wasn’t in denial about what Hut did to people who crossed him, but I didn’t want to witness it firsthand. This was it. This was the moment where he’d slip up, and I could tie him to this case.
Hut stepped forward, shaking his head. “Who would have thought it’d be Jace?”
My head reeled back, and I took a closer look at the bloodied man in front of me.
“Tell me,” Hut started. “Why did you think it’d be a good idea, Jace?” Hut clasped his hands behind his back, looking like a headmaster who was reprimanding one of his students for being caught with a joint behind the bleachers.
“I didn’t...I didn’t do shit, Hut.” His stuttered breath rang out in the room, and I winced. He’d already taken a beating, and from the looks of Ted’s hands on the opposite side of the room, it’d been from him.
“Ford,” I murmured, moving closer to him.
Hut’s gaze flicked over to Ford and then back to me. “I only got here a few minutes ago.” Ford was trying to tell me that he had no idea what was happening either. “Lola’s safe,” he whispered. He took a sidestep closer to me. “Hut asked if you and Lola had a thing, and I said you didn’t.” I tilted my head in acknowledgment.
Hut tsked as he grabbed Jace’s head, yanked it back, and stared down at him. “You know what I can’t stand more than thieves?” Hut didn’t give him the chance to answer. “Lying thieves.” Hut let him go and moved over to Ted. “Show him how much I hate lying thieves.”
Ted didn’t hesitate and stepped forward, his fist connecting with the side of Jace’s face. Jace’s groan surrounded us, and I schooled my features, pulling the mask over my face that I was so used to now.
“Fuck!” Jace screamed. “Please, Hut, I swear, it wasn’t me!”
Hut ignored him, stopping in front of Ford and me. “Glad you two could make it just in time.”
Neither of us said anything, but we all moved to stare at the door as it opened. Quinn barged in, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. “I found it,” he announced, not once looking over at Ted who had now taken to throwing his fists at Jace’s chest.
“Good.” Hut nodded and waved his hand at Ford and me, signaling for Quinn to join us at the back wall. He held his hand out to him, and Quinn placed a device in his palm. Hut strolled over to the other side of the room, staring down at it. A muscle in his jaw ticked, the longer he watched, the angrier he seemed to get.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked out of the side of my mouth, not really sure who I was asking.
Ted threw one more punch at Jace. “You fuckin' snake!” Jace screamed. Ted moved closer, his arms so tense they resembled boulders. But he didn’t say a word, he just kept on throwing punches at Jace, his knuckles ripping open from the force.
“Ford,” Hut called. “Draw.”
I frowned, turning to look at Ford as he pulled his gun from his waistband. His eyes met mine, doubt in their depths. He didn’t want to do this, he didn’t want to be here, but he didn’t have a choice. Not right then, anyway.
“There’s pressure being at the top,” Hut said, leaning ag
ainst the wall, his gaze flitting over all of us. “I have to trust those beneath me, which means I keep my circle small.” He shrugged, looking like he was talking about the weather. “But it also means that I have to keep secrets like, I don’t know, say cameras in places you’d never think of.”
My blood ran cold, my hands clenched at my sides. Was he telling us he was watching all of us? I’d been careful, too fucking careful, but not when it came to Lola. She’d unlocked a piece of me, and I had no control over what happened when she was around.
“So, when one of your men comes to you and tells you he knows who’s skimming, you want to believe what he’s saying, right?” No one answered him, because we all knew he wasn’t talking to us but at us. “Especially when that person is in your inner circle.”
Ted’s fist faltered, his chest heaving, and he backed away. His eyes widened, and I could sense rather than see when his fight-or-flight instinct set in. He was backing away, and it all became clear what was happening.
“You should have known better,” Hut sneered at Ted. “Not only did you lie to me, but you tried to get Jace to take the fall. Bad move, bro. Bad fuckin’ move.” Hut glanced at Ford and clipped his head in a nod. “End him.”
I wanted to shout for Ford not to pull the trigger, I wanted to tell him he had a way out, that he should refuse, but the bang rang out before I could get a single word out.
Ted’s eyes widened, a single bullet wound sitting in the middle of his forehead. It was as if his body took a couple of seconds to register what had happened, and then he went down, hard.
