Page 32 of Empire of Savages
“Or what?”
“Or we take the lot of it and sell it ourselves.”
“The Hunt don’t sell meth,” I pointed out.
Gunnar turned and gripped me by the shoulder, moving his head closer. “We could keep it on the down-low,” he said softly. “Just you and me.”
I looked around at the product. There had to be at least a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of crystal. Rixon’s stance on hardcore drugs was firm, though—it wasn’t tolerated—and I had no interest in going back to prison if we got caught with it.
Shaking my head, I said, “Not interested.”
For a moment, irritation flashed in Gunnar’s eyes before his expression smoothed out. He gave a self-deprecating laugh and walked over to a container of acetone, toying with thelid. “You know, you’re right, Nick. That was a fucking stupid suggestion.” He fixed me with an intense stare. “Let’s just burn the motherfucking house to the ground.”
Gunnar flipped the lid off the acetone container, kicking it over and letting the clear liquid glug from the hole in the top to spill over the floor. He took another and drenched the bricks of meth, covering the perimeter with a kind of manic glee I’d never seen in him before. I knew people changed while you were on the inside, but I didn’t think I’d see this drastic of a change in the man I considered my best friend.
“Better get moving,” Gunnar told me, taking the lighter from his pocket and flipping open the lid. The rasp of the flint seemed as loud as a gunshot in the basement—the countdown timer to get the fuck out of there. I took the stairs two at a time out of the basement, hustling through the door in the kitchen, past the two bodies and toward the back door. Just as I reached it, there was awhooshand Gunnar’s pounding footsteps through the kitchen. The flames were so intense I felt the heat of them on my face as they licked through the basement door.
“Run, motherfucker!” Gunnar shouted, pushing past me and out the back door. Following him, I covered my head as the chemicals inside the house started to explode. Loudpopsandbangsfollowed as we took off at a sprint down the road.
Gunnar crowed as we jumped back into his car and pulled away from the curb, the engine roaring.
He gripped the steering wheel lightly as he looked in the rearview mirror. With his free hand, he slapped my chest. “That was some fucking fun, huh, Nick?”
Chapter 11
Alex
Saturdays weremy busiest day for drop-ins. People with punctures. Unexpected breakdowns. Cars not starting—that sort of thing. I had so many in fact that it left me with work to do on Sunday, too. It was unheard of, but a welcome change since I needed the work—and money. And spending a bit of time with grease beneath my fingernails was the best form of therapy I’d ever had.
I was checking under the hood of a Honda Civic that had been brought in because it didn’t start yesterday morning when I heard someone raise and then lower the rolling door. I’d left the thing halfway up so that I could get a little bit of ventilation through, but the air was still stifling in here.
It must’ve been a customer coming to pick up their car even though I told everyone they wouldn’t be ready until Tuesday at the earliest.
“Just give me a minute,” I called, unhooking the inspection light from where I’d stowed it and holding it closer to the spark plug terminal.
“Take your time,” a familiar voice said, making the blood freeze in my veins. Peering around the side of the hood, I nearly dropped the inspection light, only catching it at the last minute.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, hooking the light back into place.
My father was leaning against the rear quarter panel of the Honda, his bared, heavily tattooed and muscular arms crossed over his chest. He was wearing his cut, because he never went anywhere without it—the black leather worn to gray in some areas.
“Is that any way to greet your dad?”
Frowning, I said, “I may have to share half my DNA with you, but you’re not my dad. You’re a sperm donor as far as I’m concerned.”
The side of his mouth ticked up in annoyance, but he pressed on. “How’s business?”
“Fine.” Okay, so that was a complete lie, but there was no way I was going to tell him anything about my life beyond the fact that I was still alive.
He made a show of looking around the garage before returning his sharp gaze to mine. My brother had had the same pale-gray eyes as him, but I had taken after our mother with eyes that mimicked a warm spring sky. “Look, I need you to not be here for a little while.”
Not be here?“What do you mean?”
“I mean, disappear for a few weeks. Take a fucking vacation or something.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,Talon,” I sneered. “I have bills that need to get paid, and I can’t do that if I’m not working.”
His jaw tightened. “Look, Alexis, I get that I’m not your favorite person, but you’re in danger here.”