Arran’s Obsession (Body Count, #1)

Empty, rain-slick roads directed us into an industrial district on the outskirts of Newcastle, our hunting ground tonight. This city had a problem with cocaine dealers targeting the student population, so tracking down drug supplier, Jordan Peters, had been easy. Lots of people to bribe and more who happily gave up information for free. At least Convict had handled that right. I couldn’t think about his betrayal and how he had probably been working more for the Four Milers’ benefit than mine.

My sole focus was on getting this guy.

Though I’d driven with due care and attention, my mind was fixed on providing this vengeance for Gen. Shade tried to chat, but all I could manage was the mantra that we couldn’t fuck up this job.

Not a problem I anticipated.

This would be an easy capture, then we’d drive Peters back to the boathouse, tell him his crime, and dispose of him. Maybe Gen would like to be the one to do it. I’d at least offer.

On the other side of the nondescript but fast car, in his lap, Shade held the small leather pouch where he kept his drugs and needles. He’d come prepared, also with trusty knives hidden about his person. We both had plain black bandannas ready to go.

A car cruised by, the driver not noticing us parked alongside a line of utility vehicles. After a beat, I switched on the engine then drove in pursuit, keeping the headlights off and only taking a corner after I was sure the other car had turned. The driver cruised into a yard. I halted way down the road and watched two men step from the shadows. Then the man himself, Peters, with his arrogantly identifiable bird tattoo by his eye, exited the vehicle and rounded to open the boot with a short greeting to the men.

A drugs drop, but one that wasn’t going to go his way. Our plan was to let this play out, then interrupt at the end. The other men would disappear at the first hint of a shakedown, and we had a practised routine in disabling a getaway car then taking down its owner.

I breathed steadily, my muscles tight and adrenaline in my veins. I needed to get out there. I’d filled Shade in on how this arrogant fuck had terrorised Genevieve’s mother to the point the woman crashed her car and died. He had a track record of causing harm. The streets would be better with him gone.

Movement at the far side of the darkened warehouse caught my eye. Shade tracked it, too. A figure crept along the line of the building, not all that stealthily.

“Who the fuck is that?” my enforcer asked.

I didn’t answer, scowling into the night. A third party, particularly an unknown one, was a problem.

“Call it,” Shade said.

“No.” Going back empty-handed, and not being able to give Gen something else emotionally loaded in place of what she’d asked, was out of the question.

Shade exhaled. “I don’t like it. He’s about to launch at them, and we’ve no clue who he is or why he’s sneaking in. It shouldn’t be us copping the surprise. It puts us in a position of weakness.”

He was right.

Then the clouds shifted, and the black shadow lifted to give me a fast view of the man. My mouth dried. I leaned forward, but the night reclaimed him.

That face…

I’d never seen him in real life, but I was ninety-five percent certain I was looking at an aged Adam Walker.

Gen’s father.

Shock struck me. Why was he here? I knew from the background check that he was familiar with the area, but… The answer came to me. Peters had killed Adam Walker’s ex-wife. If he cared about her, like the bedside photo suggested, or even just for the sake of his kids, it gave him a good reason to want the man dead.

If I could take him, the mission had gone from revenge to giving Genevieve back a family member she missed. The stakes had radically changed.

“Let’s go—” Shade started.

I was already popping my door and climbing out, silent in the night and ready to stalk a stalker.

A muffled swear from behind told me Shade was hot on my heels, but I kept my gaze forward, crossing the dark path and heading down the warehouse’s border of dense trees and hedgerow.

Gen’s father neared the men who were examining whatever Peters had in the boot. Occupied at the car, they hadn’t noticed yet.

Everything that happened next seemed to move in slow motion.

My pulse, thudding. I was so close. Close enough to see the glint of metal as Gen’s dad raised his hand. A gun? What the fuck?

A siren wailed, and blue lights swirled, coming in fast.

The weapon fired, the flash and bang a bright explosion in the night.

But as I lurched forward to intercept, something caught me. Confused, I twisted back to Shade. The needle in his hand jabbed into my neck.

My closest friend muttered a quiet, “Sorry, bro,” and down I slid to darkness.