AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know, but you almost made Chad piss his pants.”
“C’mon.” I slipped a hand into the back pocket of her jeans. “You don’t see the humor in it? At all? It’s not like I killed him.”
She pressed her lips together, though her smile came out, anyway. “Fine, it was a little funny.”
I laughed, squeezing her ass. “Putting that asshole aside, how was today? Did you get any information about Tommy?”
“No, unfortunately,” Arden sighed. “I asked Lucy, and she said she hasn’t seen him in a while. She was actually going to ask me about where he was. And Chad didn’t know anything, either.”
“Do they know anything about him that you don’t know? Like where he lives?”
“Lucy mentioned he moved recently?” Arden shrugged, leaning into my touch. “But she didn’t know from what neighborhood to another, so that’s a dead end. I know of a few regulars who know of him also who might be able to help.”
“No, that’ll take too long. We’ll have some enforcers and aides look into it.”
Irritation built in my gut. Not at Arden, but at the entire situation. This piece of shit Tommy, fucking Chad. When I got this way, I had to let the irritation out one way or another. Better now than later. If I was going to blow up on someone, I wanted it to be on someone who deserved it.
“You know what? Want to come with me on a job?” I asked.
“A job?”
“Yeah.” I mentally ran through the report that Lucas had put together for us, which I’d gone over before picking up Arden. “There’s a fae, Kurt, running a grocery store across town that we’ve had an eye on for a while. It’s shady, but we got new information that suggests they’re ripping off low-income families because they’re the only shop that’s within walking distance for most of the fae. And most of them don’t have cars, so I want to take a look at it myself.”
Arden looked up at me, her gaze intrigued but confused. “Why now?”
“Why not now?”
“Okay, sure,” she said. “Let’s go.”
I guided us to the car, and we drove off. I hadn’t driven in a long time, and having control of the vehicle started to unravel the knot in my gut. I pulled off onto a side street and floored it, the car surging forward.
“Oh, shit!” Arden gripped the armrest. “This car can really accelerate, can’t it?”
“What, you don’t like a little speed?” I glanced at her before looking back at the road.
“I do, but it was sudden.” She looked out the window.
I gunned it, weaving through the other cars on the road. “I can go faster, if you want.”
Arden grinned. “Sure, why not?”
I pushed the car to its limits, the adrenaline rush getting me excited to kick Kurt’s ass. The evidence had been building slowly over the past three months. More and more families had reached out for help with the basics like food, and after we did some more digging, we found that the prices in the one store were ridiculous. And it wasn’t just that—some younger male fae who’d ended up in prison said they were pushed into the crimes by someone who was suspiciously like Kurt, as if he were creating his own half-assed mob.
I was tired of it. I hated criminals, but especially ones that took advantage of the basic need for survival.
We arrived in the neighborhood, and I parked not far away, hiding the car under a cloaking spell. Then I undid my glamour.
“You’re going in as yourself?” Arden asked.
“Yep. I’m a hell of a lot more intimidating, no? Come on.”
We walked through the neighborhood, taking it all in. We’d put a lot of time and effort into improving this area, though changes took much longer to appear than expected. It was much better than it used to be. The school, which had extra security now, had better outcomes for students, and the overall crime rate had gone down.
Once I kicked Kurt’s ass into treating the neighborhood fairly, it would be even better.
We arrived at Kurt’s store. From the outside, it was perfect—bright, spacious, and clean, with fully stocked shelves. But I picked up a can of soup and glared at it. Even the prices in the nicest of neighborhoods didn’t compare.
“Shit.” Arden put a health tincture back on the shelf. “That has to be three times the price of the one at the shop in my old neighborhood.”
