Chapter 61
War and Famine Rise
Luke
Eli comes down the stairs without his shirt on.
His hair goes every which way, probably from him running his fingers through it.
Or maybe Harper did it before he tied her up.
Part of me wanted to go upstairs with Jack and Caden.
I could drive into her throat while they fuck her ass and pussy.
There’s something satisfying about wrecking her that way, but there’s so much to do down here.
Videos that need to be reviewed and information to be gleaned.
I’ll have my fun with Harper, but first, I need to figure out what these asshats are talking about. Half of what they say is about some game they all play. The other half is missing key information.
“How goes the surveillance?” Eli asks.
“They hang out there.” I lean back in my chair and meet Eli’s eyes.
Eli flops in his chair. “Anything interesting?”
I glance at Sean’s laptop. We don’t know if that person knows what we know. Or if they’re making assumptions about us. But we know that these asshats are running drugs and that their leader wanted to rape Harper.
Might still want to. And she has to stand next to him this week and smile like nothing is wrong. Like the guy’s arm she’s holding didn’t offer to take her out after he would have raped her, to make her feel better about it.
I want to tear him to shreds, but he’s too powerful. What we did to others won’t work on him.
I pass Eli my headphones. “Listen to this.”
He takes them and I press play on the scene. I’ve watched it a few times already. Enough to remember exactly what Eli is hearing.
“Boss was riding my ass the other day, saying I should get a job at a coffee shop and use it as a front to run our drugs.”
Someone laughs.
“She just thinks you’re a lazy ass and need a job.”
“Whatever. It may not be a bad idea. Slip it inside a coffee cup. No one would really notice the extra cups going missing.”
“She’s just trying to mother you because she knows your dumb ass will be broke if you don’t find some way to have an actual living.”
“That and you need a way to hide your extra income.” Zach’s voice is distinct among them. “You can always add the extra money you get to your tips, which reports to the IRS and saves you from going to jail for tax evasion.”
Someone scoffs. “Like you report your income to the IRS.”
There’s a smack like someone hits someone else. Zach adds, “Damn straight I do. They might investigate why I’m claiming the income, but at least they can’t say I didn’t pay my taxes. The government will own your ass if you don’t.”
Eli takes off the headphones when they start discussing resource management in their game. He hands them to me.
“A woman.”
I glance at the computer and nod. “Maybe a nurse or doctor or someone connected to the hospital.”
“Fuck, half this town is connected to the hospital.”
We already know that pills go missing during third shift, even when Harper’s mom works it. We could stake it out, but when?
I run a hand through my hair. Jack’s mom is a doctor. Sidney’s and Caden’s moms are on the board. It could be any number of the employees my father has fucked. Even Eli’s mom is on a few committees at the hospital.
Eli shakes his head. “Not enough time to do everything.”
My gaze goes to the stairs. Never enough time.