Hush - Fighting Fate #2 Read Free

blew out a puff of smoke in a sigh. Yep. This was my life. I fucking hated it, but it was also my job.
    TJ, the leader of this fucked up gang of disgruntled criminals, paced the floor in front of me. He was on edge, swearing each time he turned and paced the other way.
    “Fuck , I hate waiting!” he yelled.
    I inhaled again. I was used to his behavior by now. So were the other guys. None of us so much as looked up from what we were doing. I leaned back on the couch and exhaled, and Davo turned another page on the titty mag he was reading beside me. When TJ’s cell beeped with a message, he swore again, but he seemed to calm a fraction.
    We continued on like this – Pock and Vinnie sharing a cone, while Davo and I slumped on the couch, and TJ paced . The only one not there was Mac, who was in the kitchen with a bad case of the munchies.
    Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at the back door.
    “About fucking time!” TJ mumbled.
    He called to Mac to answer it, and a minute later a scrawny, dirty haired guy, about the same age as me wandered into the room, followed closely by Mac. He looked a bit frazzled, but then again, that was how he looked every time I saw him.
    TJ didn’t bother trying to hide the fact that he was pissed off. He just cocked his gun and pointed it straight at him. “I fucking HATE waiting for people, Tom! Didn’t I tell you that the first time you came here?”
    Tom’s eyes widened a fraction but he otherwise remained the same. “Sorry, TJ. I thought I was being followed. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t leading anyone here.”
    TJ glowered at him for a few more minutes, but even he couldn’t fault him for that. “Just give Mac the fucking bag!”
    Tom passed Mac a large brown bag – a bag I knew belonged to the middle-aged business man Tom worked for, and sank down onto the couch. He immediately proceeded to light a joint while he waited. TJ shook his head at him before following Mac into the kitchen.
    Ken was the only buyer of TJ’s who knew where The Den was. I wasn’t sure why that was. I’d heard it had something to do with Ken helping TJ stay out of jail when he was younger, but that was only hearsay.
    Sitting back, I took a long drag on my joint and blew the smoke out slowly. Usually I would help Mac bag the drugs Tom was there to collect, but we’d already done it earlier that day.
    Falling into a languid state, I allowed my mind to drift back to my real life, the one I was hoping to get back to real soon. I didn’t allow myself to think about it very often. That would be an occupational hazard, but I had to do it every now and again just so I wouldn’t forget who I was. I refused to allow myself to turn into anything like any of these fucked up people.
    Funnily enough, the world of drug dealers, rapists and murderers was my reward for graduating the police academy with honors. Some fucking reward, huh? But at the time I did feel honored. Growing up with a detective for a dad, as well as two brothers who also worked in emergency services, it was a natural move for me to go into the police academy. I wanted to catch the bad guys, just like my dad did.
    The undercover job was offered to me because apparently it was common knowledge TJ only took young guys into his gang, and I fit the profile perfectly.
    It took me six months to work up enough credits with the guy for him to induct me into his gang, and the initiation was far from pleasant, but here I was, eighteen months into my job – eighteen months since I last saw any of my family, and I was doing everything I could to bring it all to an end. I’d had enough. I wanted out. I just needed TJ to trust me so I could find out the set up for the next big delivery. If we could just get TJ’s supplier, this whole operation would go down, and I could go back to my normal life.
    I just hoped I could last unti l then.
     

    Chapter 3
    Kaeli
     
     
     
    I came home to raised voices.
    After what had happened that morning, my