Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 122896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 614(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 614(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Then she heard it. The unmistakable sound of a door sliding open on the opposite side of the Astro Van from where she stood.
T-Bone.
Whether he just did a deal or not, she didn’t know. But what she could do is catch him in the act of taking drugs from the van for upcoming deals. She had to guess that the prospects never went into the van when their meth customers were around. If those same customers knew where the drugs were hidden, she had a feeling the van would be broken into or even stolen.
Why pay for drugs when you had an opportunity to get them for the five-finger discount?
Stepping carefully and quietly around the van, she stopped at the back corner to peek around it. T-Bone had to have climbed inside since she could hear but not see him.
She positioned her phone so it looked like she was texting when in reality her camera app was open and ready for action. Dropping her head to pretend she was typing on the screen, she kept her eyes tipped up just enough to see as she moved closer to the open door of the piece of shit on wheels.
Inside the van, she heard a grumble and something fall, followed by a searing curse. She leaned her head in and asked with feigned concern, “Everything all right?”
Whatever the asshole had dropped, T-Bone quickly snatched back up and stuffed it into the inner pocket of his cut.
The whole time she stood just outside the van, she did her best to snap pictures without looking like she was doing so. Or at least she hoped she was pulling that off.
Because if she got caught…
“Get the fuck outta here,” the prospect growled.
“I thought you hurt yourself. I only wanted to check on you.”
Instead of answering, he gave Mel his back and blocked her view of whatever he was messing with. Most likely putting away the remainder of the stash back in its hiding spot. She continued to snap photos, hoping they would turn out worthwhile and not just be of her own feet. Or T-Bone’s ass. Or the rusty floor of the POS-mobile.
“Is this your van? I was wondering whose it was.”
“Get lost, bitch.”
Mel’s head jerked back and she corralled her instinctive response of telling him to kindly fuck off. Instead, she straightened her invisible manager’s hat and said, “I’m the manager here. Don’t speak to me like that.”
“Just fuckin’ did. Whatdya gonna do about it? Run to Saint? Go ‘head and see where that fuckin’ gets you.”
What a dick.
When he began moving toward the open side door, she quickly took a good look around the van, trying to take as many pictures as possible without setting off T-Bone’s alarm bells.
“Back up, bitch.”
Okay, her manager’s hat just became skewed. “My name isn’t bitch, you fucking dickhead.”
This time T-Bone’s head jerked back.
Good. The asshole needed a rude awakening. If he thought she would simply take his verbal abuse…
Hell no. She would match his energy. “First off, you’re new here so you might not know that my name is MJ and you need to use it. Second, and without exceptions, you need to respect me.”
“Don’t need to do shit.”
She pointed toward the employee door. “What you need to do is go back inside and stay where you’re assigned.”
Climbing out of the van, he pushed past her when she refused to move and slammed the door shut, effectively ending her secret snooping.
Pulling himself up to his full height, he turned and went nose to nose with her. “And you need to fuck off.”
Mel did not “fuck off” but wrinkled her nose, instead. “And you need to brush your damn teeth. Your breath smells like three-day-old roadkill. Have you been sucking off one of your buddies? Do you like to swallow?”
Jesus, Mel, do you have a death wish?
Apparently, she did. She had poked the mangy bear enough that his hand snaked out and, before she could step out of reach, he gripped her by the throat, whipped her around and slammed her back into the van. All the air rushed from her lungs and her phone tumbled out of her fingers and hit the pavement. For the few seconds after her head made impact, all she saw was stars and all she heard was a ringing in her ears.
Her groan lodged in her throat where his fingers circled her neck. His lip curled up in a sneer when she clawed at his wrist in her attempt to get free.
She winced as the sharp shards of pain shot through her rattled noggin and along her spine from the jarring impact. “Let… me… go…”
“Don’t work for you, bitch. You work for the Demons. You belong to us. Guess you need a fuckin’ lesson on how that works.”
With as much power as she could behind her words, she forced out, “I don’t belong to you. I don’t belong to anyone. So, shove that lesson up your fucking ass.”