I wait a while to make sure there are no more noises, then I get out of the closet. The house is clear. I get my phone and look at the video. It’s been recording for eighteen minutes. I glance out the windows to make sure the coast is clear and then listen to it. It sounds like two men other than Jon. When I realize what they’re talking about, I get giddy. They want drugs. And he’s going to sell it to them. They use terms like crack, black rock, flake, china white and brown sugar. I Google all of them. Hell yes. He’s dealing cocaine and heroin. But I didn’t find any. He must have had it with him.
He tells the men to wait there, then I hear a cabinet open. Kitchen? His voice gets louder. They apparently cut some coke and do some lines, then—I don’t understand all the jargon—but I think Jon takes ten thousand dollars from them. Jesus.
I put my phone into my pocket and go into the kitchen. I know I opened every cabinet, but I do a more thorough search this time. Still nothing. I listen to that part again. It sounds like he’s getting into the pots and pans. I open the lower cabinet to the right of the stove and stare. Pots. Pans. No drugs.
Then I see it. A piece of the cabinet floor appears out of place. I pull on it. Fuck me—it comes up. And underneath the false bottom is a shitload of drugs. “I got you, motherfucker.”
“You got nothin’,” Jon says behind me as the barrel of a gun gets pressed to my head. Then everything goes dark.
I awaken, a horrible ringing in my ears. I touch my head and come away with bloody fingers as I remember where I am.
“Rule number one,” he says. “Know your surroundings at all times. It’s all part of the game. You think I wouldn’t notice the file folder had been moved? Or that the pillow on the couch was in the wrong place? Once I knew someone had been here, I looked around more carefully and saw the phone in the window. That’s when I knew someone was still in the house. So I left and came back. Figured I’d catch one of my guys gone rogue, or a client tryin’ to get something on me.” He laughs. “Didn’t expect my own flesh and blood. You’d make a shitty PI.”
“Game? This is a game to you?”
“You little fucker,” Jon says, pacing around the kitchen. “You done put me in an impossible situation here.” I go to stand, but he pushes me down. “Where the fuck you think you’re goin’?”
“Do you not see the blood running down my face?”
“It’s your own fault.” He waves the gun in the direction of the table. Aaron’s gun. “Sit and put on the cuffs.”
“You’re going to handcuff me?”
“Do it.”
I get up and almost fall back down. I wonder if I have a concussion. I stumble to the chair and do as he asks. I hold up my hands. “There. Now what are you going to do with me?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
He goes out of sight and comes back with a bag of drugs. A big one. Cocaine, maybe. He holds it up. “You’re going to sell this for me.”
“Fuck no.”
“It don’t seem like you have much of a choice. If you don’t do it, you leave me with no options. Now I got a hophead coming over, and you’re going to sell him this brick for twenty large. And I’m going to get it all on video.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Let’s just say I have a couple of men waitin’ right outside that ranch you love so goddamn much.” He throws the file folder in front of me and pulls out a picture of Amber. “She’s a pretty one, ain’t she? Well, she won’t be no longer if you refuse.”
I stand, but the gun comes out again. He tucks it into his waistband and punches me in the gut. I double over and sit back down. What the hell am I going to do? I can’t believe I got myself into this. I should have listened to Maddox. To Amber. “If I do this, you’ll leave her alone? You’ll leave everyone at DHR alone?”
He snorts. “Oh, you have a lot to learn, boy. In this business, it’s tit for tat. This deal buys you that pretty little thing. The next deal will buy you something else.”
My jaw drops. “You want me to sell your drugs? Indefinitely? No way. One time only.”
“Then no deal.” He gets out his phone and makes a call. “You got eyes on her? Oh, good, she’s with the kid.”
My stomach rolls. I’ve never felt so goddamn hopeless in my life. “Hang up. I’ll do it.”
“Of course you will.” He puts his phone away and points a finger into my chest. “That’s the difference between you and me. I don’t give a shit about no one. It’s the only way to ensure survival.”
“Can we get this over with?”
“That’s the spirit. He’s on his way.”
For years—my whole adult life—I’ve strived to be different from them, to make people understand I don’t belong to this family. And now, because I was stupid, I’m going to lose everything. What’ll I tell Amber and the rest of them? Can I even tell them? It could put them in danger or make them complicit somehow. And suddenly, the future I thought was possible is yanked away, like the rug has come out from under me. I’ll have to move off the ranch, cut ties with everyone to keep them safe. Break up with Amber. Work for Jon.
Maybe there’s no escaping the name after all.
Josie should be glad when she finds out she isn’t my kid. Nobody should have to be a Thompson.
“Why are you even selling drugs?” I ask. “You have millions. It’s not like you need the money.”
“Money ain’t no good unless you have power.”
“And being a drug dealer gives you power?”
He chuckles. “Do you not see what’s goin’ on here? Do you feel like you have any power? Boy, you’re gonna come to learn how things work. It’s own or be owned.”
There’s a knock on the door.
Jon holds the gun to my temple. “We gonna have a problem?”
I shake my head.
“Good.” He removes the cuffs and props his phone on the bookshelf to record me. “I’m watching every move. You try somethin’ and the girl gets it. Understand?”
“I got it,” I say in his face.
“Enter,” he says loudly.
A black man comes into the house. He’s big. Scruffy. Scary. He eyes me. “You didn’t say nothin’ about nobody else bein’ here, J.”
“He’s good. Quinn is my nephew. He’s learning the family business. Ain’t that right, boy?”
“Sure. Whatever.”
“He’ll be running this,” Jon says. “Check him for weapons, Quinn.”
“I ain’t packin’,” the man says.
Jon gives me a hard stare. “Check him.”
I stand and pat the man down.
“I’ll be right over here.” Jon leans against the back of the couch.
“He got any weapons?” the man asks. A strange question when you come to a drug deal, in my opinion.
Jon holds up the gun. “I’m the only one here with a piece.”
“Okay then,” the man says. “Let’s do this.”