“I wrecked my place but good. Looks like we gave up quite the fight.” The judge’s chin lifted, and he looked almost regal.
It would appear like we both had been kidnapped.
I wiped blood off my cheek that I hadn’t realized was there. Had Spider cut me? That jerk. “You haven’t killed anybody. Your only option is to let me go.”
Spider chuckled, and his beard moved. “I have killed people, so it’s too late for me.”
I struggled to breathe out without wincing. “You’ve killed a lot lately. Randy and Cheryl.” At the thought of those two young kids being murdered, anger took me. Along with a healthy dose of fear.
“Didn’t have a choice,” he muttered, not looking sorry in the least.
“What about the two guys from the van? The ones horning in on your drug business?” It was obvious now why he’d killed them.
“Don’t forget that they tried to hurt you. Said they made you climb a tree.” Spider looked down, a smirk darkening his face. “I shot them for you, and yeah, you owe me. You’re gonna pay me back real good.”
“Not a chance,” I spit out.
Spider pulled a gun out from behind his waist. “You know what I don’t get? How did Devlin get free the other day? As well as from the Diablo raid years ago?” He shook his head.
I’d been wondering the same thing. Plus, during the gunfight, Aiden moved like every trained guy I’d ever seen. Sure, he could’ve trained on the streets, but it hadn’t seemed that way. Not at all. Also, he’d taken out a trained DEA agent with one punch.
Spider twirled his gun in one hand. “I think he’s a snitch. An informant.”
“Based on what?” the judge asked. “Him hitting a federal agent? Has he ever informed?”
“No, but none of us have known where the lab is,” Spider said. “He might’ve been waiting for that.”
Good point. I bent my knees in more case I had to jump up quickly. “What are we waiting for?” Not that I wanted to get shot or anything. But this was weird, and it was difficult to breathe. I thought my ribs were bruised, but who knew.
The judge angled his neck. “Your boyfriend stole something of ours for leverage, and we’re using you to get it back.”
I blinked. “Huh?”
“Aiden stole the first load of drugs—the only batch we have that’s not in the hidden lab right now. He took them right from my dealership,” Sal confirmed, grease across his chin. “We called him and said you’d be in pieces if he didn’t bring it all back. Right now and by himself.”
My head pounded. In pieces? My skin pricked everywhere in a sharp reminder of the adrenaline rush. “What makes you think he’ll come for me?”
The sound of a truck down the lane cut through the rainy night.
Spider grinned. “We might’ve lost our chemist and lab, but we have enough Beast coming this way to sell and set up again.”
Great plan. It included both Aiden and me being dead, however. I angled more onto the heels of my feet.
The outside floodlights flicked to life. A long car hauler drove partway by with eight used cars, all different types, lined up on it. The number of pills they might contain was staggering. The hydraulics protested when the driver halted it.
The door opened, and Aiden Devlin jumped to the ground, his arms out to show he was unarmed. His gaze instantly sought mine. “You okay, Angel?”
Chapter 42
Fear now tasted like acid in my mouth. “I’m fine.” Then I listened. Was there any way he had backup? Only the storm cut through the night. “You okay?”
“Yep.” He kept his arms out as the judge rather expertly patted him down and found no weapons.
I stared at him. Light jeans, dark T-shirt, scruff over his jaw. Stress lines cut into the sides of his eyes and mouth, but his chest was wide and his gaze direct. Nobody had ever looked better to me. He’d come for me. Into certain death, he’d brought those drugs to save me. Maybe our moment years ago had shaped us both.
Sal moved toward him, gun out. “Stand over there.”
Aiden stood to the side of the garage, his hands at his sides.
Sal gave the judge the gun and ran out into the rain to jump on the hauler. He lifted the trunk to an older Ford Taurus and then looked up and smiled. “Drugs are here.” He slammed it shut.