Crank by Claire C. Riley & Cee Cee Riley

Author:Claire C. Riley & Cee Cee Riley [Riley, Claire C. & Riley, Cee Cee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-19T16:00:00+00:00

~ 12 ~

Bull was sitting behind his desk, his gaze looking over some paperwork that was scattered out in front of him. A hard scowl covered his face as he sat back and cracked his knuckles, finally looking up at me.

“What can I do for you, kid?” he asked, leaning back in his chair. He nodded toward the chair opposite him and I moved to sit down in it. “Everything okay?”

I knew what he was really asking me: did the cold-blooded murder of Click that morning bother me. The answer was no.

“Yeah, of course.”

“You know he deserved it, right?”

I nodded. “You don’t steal from family.”

“No. You don’t hurt your family. This was never about the money, but the pain he’s caused us.”

“I hear you,” I replied.

“Good. Because that’s what Click did: he hurt his brothers, his family. He stole from them—me. But worse, he got his brothers hooked on that shit. We sell it, we don’t use it. That shit will kill you quicker than this life ever could. I’m working on getting us out of this shit, fuckin’ hate drugs and the shit stain they leave behind, but it ain’t all down to me. It’s down to Hardy. You feel me?”

“I do. I uhh, that’s part of the reason I’m here, actually.” I looked down, my hands twisted in my lap. The burn from the whiskey was only a distant memory now, but the feel of the tattoo on my arm every time I moved it was enough to let me open up some. It was healing up real nice, and I hoped the new ones healed up half as good.

“Stone, he uhh, he doing okay?” I ventured, finally looking up.

Bull stood up and walked to the tall cabinet in the corner of the small office with a sigh. He pulled open the top drawer and slid out a bottle of Jack before answering. “That requires a two-part answer. No, he’s not okay. He hasn’t been okay for a long time—way before the drugs, if I’m honest. Anyway, regardless of that, if he wants to stay with the Highwaymen, he better get better.” Bull came back to the desk, glasses and whiskey in hand.

I nodded. “I might be able to help.”

Bull quirked an eyebrow at me and sat down. He poured us both a drink and pushed a glass toward me. “Go on.”

“I uhh, I have experience with drug addicts,” I ventured. “My mom, she was sick for a long time. I saw her through a lot of attempts at getting clean.”

That was as much as I had been prepared to give out regarding my past. I couldn’t give away any more without him getting suspicious.

Bull nodded and sipped the JD as he leaned back in his chair again, his hard stare on me, no doubt taking in every twitch and telltale sign. Good thing I was used to hiding everything so well. I grabbed the JD and swallowed it down in one go.

“My little brother,” he finally said. He took another sip like he wanted to wash away the words from his mouth.

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