“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the businessman said.
“I have a knife too; do you want to see it?” Aiden asked.
“I want to cut up my cousin. Don’t waste your time with the suit,” Drake said. He grabbed Huey’s ear and placed his knife against the cartilage. Huey squealed.
“We buy from him. He has a connection in Lafollette, it’s supposed to be really pure so we can cut it here and make a killing.”
“Who’s your supplier?” Mason demanded. Aiden and he switched places. Mason towered over the businessman, and Aiden kept the other man sitting in the motel chair.
“I can’t tell you who my supplier is, they’ll kill me.”
“You damn well will tell me who you’re dealing with.” Mason grabbed the man up by his arm and stripped off his suit jacket, then ripped off his shirt, leaving him in his tie. “I’m going to let Drake over there start cutting off pieces of you if you don’t tell me who down in Mexico you’re getting your heroin from.”
Drake loved it. He gave his best crazy grin. The man in the suit was seconds away from pissing himself. Once every six months Mason slipped off the chain, and it was always a beautiful sight to behold.
“It used to be the Guzman’s, but they’re gone now. I’m dealing with a little guy. His name is Lopez, he’s out of Juarez.”
“You’re going to meet some friends of mine from the DEA, I’m going to want all of your contact information on this little guy. If you don’t give it to them, I’ll find you, and I’ll let Drake loose on you. You got that?”
“Are you guys really SEALs?
Aiden and Drake took a step towards him, as Mason grabbed him by his tie and pulled him upwards. “Yes, we are,” Mason said.
“I’ll tell everything I know,” the man choked out.
Mason let go of the tie, and he dropped to the floor. Drake smelled the distinct stench of urine, but it didn’t come from Mason’s victim. He turned around.
“Oh for God’s sake, Huey. You need to grow a spine.”
Chapter Twelve
Piper couldn’t contain her excitement.
“Do you really think I have a shot at a scholarship for Belmont University?” she asked incredulously.
“I really do. I think you could get a scholarship for a lot of places, but you’ve been eyeing Belmont since I’ve known you,” Karen said.
“It’s close to home, and it has an excellent education program. But it’s one of the most expensive state universities in Tennessee. I don’t want to be another burden to Drake.” She bit her thumbnail. Karen had been noticing that was an Avery sister trait.
“How much financial aid would I need to have?”
Now there was a question. Part of it would depend on proving that she got no support from her parents. If they could make a case that she was on her own, then they could go for state funded housing. That, along with scholarships for her tuition, and she could feasibly end up graduating without student debt.
“What are you thinking?” Piper asked.
“I’m still trying to work it out in my head,” Karen answered.
“I have an idea,” Piper said.
“What’s that?” Karen asked.
“Did I tell you about those books that Granny Laughton gave me?”
Karen shook her head, catching sight of Bella out of the corner of her eye. The little girl had somehow found her nail polish and was bringing it over to her.
“Some of the books are valuable, I looked them up online. I could sell them and cover some of the costs.”
“Oh Piper, I don’t want you to have to sell your legacy. Let’s see if we can work something else out.”
Bella came over and plopped herself between Piper and Karen. She handed Karen a bottle of purple polish, which was perfect because she was running out of red things to wear.
Where the hell were the men? It had been four hours since they had left.
“Karen? Polish.” Bella smiled.
“Yes, Baby, polish.”
“You do that, I have to finish my homework. Are you going to work next week?”
“Yes. I couldn’t go because I was taking the pain medication. But I’m weaning off them, so by next week I’ll be able to go back.”
“If Drake lets you.”
“Oh, he’ll let me,” Karen said firmly.
Piper giggled. “He always squirms when you talk like a teacher. I can’t decide if it’s because he really likes it when you do it, or because you’re making him uncomfortable.”
“I hope it’s because he really likes me.”
“Do you like him?”
“A lot.”