Page 45 of Dirty Secrets

A lot of people in the Heights traded stolen goods to survive. We’d steal a bunch of shit at the store for home, and a few extra things like meat to trade for things like cigarettes. It worked well.

I never realized how much money Reid and Logan had brought home from the illegal street races until our bills were back in the red and our freezer remained empty, only being filled when the Donovans put stuff in there for us.

I should’ve questioned it more when we were ahead of things back then.

I was grateful for them bringing money home, but we’d learned the hard way that dodgy jobs could lead to things that weren’t worth it.

Between Josh’s murder over drugs and Reid’s near-death experience due to the car crash, I refused to let them do risky shit for money now.

I’d rather starve beside them than eat while visiting their graves.

Stealing some food wasn’t that risky though.

We quickly got ready and headed towards the grocery store, parking out the back for the easiest escape. We all had things weneeded to look for, we’d done this a thousand times before, so we wandered off inside in different directions.

If anyone got caught, the others had to run. We couldn’t all get hauled in for stealing.

I headed straight to the shampoo and conditioner, managing to stuff them into my pants easily before making my way to one of the dairy refrigerators to grab some cheese. We needed butter too, so I pocketed a block of that on my way out.

The guys were on meat duty, and nerves hit me when the speaker asked for security. I tried to look busy browsing through the drinks by the registers to see where they were going, but I was slammed into from behind and my hands yanked behind my back, my mouth almost connecting with the damn shelf.

“What the fuck?” I bit out, trying to struggle but failing to break free, finding a cop behind me. The guy barely looked older than me, a snarl on his face as he restrained me. “Don’t resist!”

“I didn’t do anything!”

I stumbled as he pulled me away from the shelf to force me to the ground, the shampoo bottle falling down my pants and appearing by my ankle.

“I’ve been watching you shove shit down your pants since you arrived,” he gritted out, making me curse as he tightened his hold on me more as I fought him, his fist smacking into the side of my head. “I told you to stop resisting!”

Cops didn't tend to have a good reputation here, so the violence wasn’t exactly a surprise. I was more surprised that there was actually a cop here in the first place. Ashburn Valley’s department was either doing their rounds, or someone had called them when we’d walked in.

I kept fighting him, his hits not doing much to deter me. I’d grown up fighting, I was pretty resilient.

The hit to my mouth hurt a little though, the taste of blood coating my tongue.

“Hey!” someone snapped, the cop being shoved away from me as Zavier appeared, and I groaned as he dove at the cop. We were both getting arrested now.

I took the time to peer over my shoulder to try and spot Logan, but if he was smart, he was long gone. We needed the meat, so hopefully he’d grabbed what we needed and run.

A bit of cheese and shampoo wasn’t going to be missed.

Security joined the cop, and before long, both Zavier and I were handcuffed and being hauled into the cruiser.

“Good one,” I grumbled, earning a dirty look in return.

“You thought I was going to run off while that prick was hitting you?”

“Yes. We needed that food, Zav.”

“We got it all. Logan and I got out and unloaded it into the car. I came back inside to see where you were,” he answered, the cop sliding into the driver's seat and slamming the door.

“You two little shits are so fucked. Beating up a cop? Not smart, kid.”

“Kid? I’m older than you, asshole,” Zavier spat, making me frown. It seemed he knew the guy.

“Watch your fucking mouth!” the cop demanded, slamming the car into reverse and almost making us fall off the damn seat, my eyes catching on Logan’s when I noticed him sitting in the car.

His phone was pressed to his ear and he was talking a mile a minute, so hopefully he was begging Beckett for bail money or something. We couldn’t afford to pay it back right now, but I didn’t particularly want to stay locked up.