Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 132031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Dev was too expressive. For the briefest of moments, Cash saw the approval. Perhaps he even appreciated what his friend had found.
“What do you want me to do to keep this information from the club?” Dev asked, looking straight at Shanna then over to Cash. The hostility ebbed, leaving genuine concern behind. “My brothers will kill him and not think twice. You need intel? Is that it? What do you want to know exactly? The drug runs are secret. Most of the brothers don’t know about ’em. I’ve only seen various drugs. I don’t know about weapons, but they could be in there. We’re tradin’ lots of shit and none of it’s legal. I’ll get you the information on the next drop.”
“I know all about those,” Cash said. “And the lumberyard on Red Bird Lane in Duncanville. We’re more interested in the larger theft and—”
Dev cut him off in midsentence. “That’s me, man. I got three boxes of fentanyl patches at my place right now. Go get ’em. I take off the top of every run. That ecstasy you took.” Dev nodded. “From a run. It’s all yours. I’ll get you more if you guys wanna just keep it and call it done. Or I’ll stop takin’ off the top. No problem.” Dev glanced over his shoulder to look around the room to make the offer to everyone. Dev’s abrupt change in attitude and his honesty was refreshing. The way he took responsibility was admirable, but not near the sizable theft Cash was referring to.
“Dev there’s more,” Shanna said. Dev’s brief moment of I-can-solve-this faded. His dark brows dropped into a hard V.
She worked the screen, pressing buttons until she was back on the Child Protective Service report. The screen detailed one of the times their father came off a high and turned into a fire-breathing dragon, finding fault with everyone. He took his frustrations out on his family like a punching bag. In his fit of rage, their father had kicked Dev when he was a little more than a toddler. His booted heel slammed down on Dev’s genitals. The injury was a purposeful and intentional act.
Cash waited, not knowing how much Dev had been told about this time when he was barely old enough to walk. His gaze riveted on the man who did in fact look like the devil himself. All those ominous features morphed into hate. The story held Dev captive as he read down the page.
Time stood still.
Cash could sense Shanna’s sorrow in a tangible way. His own heart stung as he stared at Dev, the one person who had penetrated the carefully constructed walls Cash had placed over his heart too many years ago.
His gut did a quick march, instructing, no demanding, he keep the next bit of evidence from Dev. They already had his help by only revealing Keyes’s information.
And if they didn’t, Cash could find another way to enlist Dev’s help.
Money.
The guy needed money. It was in Cash’s authority to offer it up.
He lifted a hand to stop Shanna, but she refused him. Her unyielding stare challenged his command. “He deserves to know what he’s dealing with.”
Shanna’s fingers slid over the page, drawing forward the damning evidence. “These are your medical records from that time.” Shanna pointed to several words she had highlighted on the page.
Testicular trauma.
Sterile.
DNA testing.
Shanna bravely turned the next page.
Dev’s facial expression shifted from shocked to nonbelief to great pain to rage in seconds flat. His chest rose and fell in labored breaths. “This can’t be fuckin’ true.”
Cash read fear and uncertainty in Dev’s focused attention. He grabbed the pad, reducing the size of the document to look at the entire page. Cash swore he could feel Dev’s heart thumping inside his own.
They’d executed the perfect breaking point where Dev’s emotions were concerned. Keyes’s welfare and his beloved children who weren’t truly his biological kids. The girls belonged to Dev’s father.
Cash’s rush of deep, unabated sorrow wasn’t unexpected. He cared deeply for Dev.
More than in any other time in his life, Cash wished he could reach out and offer comfort in whatever way Dev needed.
“Give me my phone,” Dev hissed between clenched teeth. If destruction had a tone, Dev’s voice spoke it well.
“Absolutely not,” Shanna said, but Cash reached into his breast pocket where Dev’s cell phone rested.
“You’re not planning to call your father, correct?” Cash asked and held the cell phone at a distance until he felt reasonably sure that Dev wasn’t going to blow them out of the water before they ever truly got started.
“Fuck you. Give me my goddamn phone,” Dev demanded, showing he may cooperate, but it wasn’t going to come easy. A positive Cash guessed.
“Say you aren’t calling your father, and I’ll believe you,” Cash hedged, moving the phone closer to Dev but still out of reach. Dev had to learn Cash wasn’t a lap dog either.