Tipsy(34)

I could feel the anger wafting off Dom. “What the hell!” he roared, throwing the controller down, and it bounced off the coffee table and hit the floor. He jolted to his feet, an angry set to his jaw and fisted hands at his side. “You trying to piss me off?”

“I’m tired of waiting around,” I replied.

“Excuse me?”

Everyone in the room sat tense and waiting to see what Dom would do.

“You said there was an opening in the crew. You said you were going to check me out, give me a position. That was weeks ago. I’m tired of waiting. I need to get paid.”

He regarded me stonily for several minutes. I held my ground. Shit, I would love for him to charge me. I was up for a fight. Frustration simmered just underneath my skin, and the more time that passed, the harder and harder it was getting to contain it.

“I checked you out,” he said, offering no other explanation.

“Well, then I know damn well you know I’m qualified.”

“You’re qualified.” He allowed.

“Then what the fuck, Dom? You trying to jerk me around? You want to see how far you can push me?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. He looked stupid in his way-too-baggy shorts and too-big designer white tee. I would never understand the trend to wear a baseball hat crooked either. It looked stupid.

“The crew in Myrtle Beach might trust you. But I don’t.” His eyes narrowed as he spoke.

“Isn’t LeBraun your boss? Are you saying what’s good enough for him ain’t good enough for you?”

A couple guys who’d been reclining against the couch jumped to their feet. Dom held up his hand like he was telling them to stand down. I wanted to roll my eyes.

“This is my territory,” Dom began. “And I run it how I see fit. If I don’t trust you, then I don’t trust you.”

“So that’s it, then? I’m out?” I kept a lid on my cool. Showing how upsetting this was wouldn’t be good. Mentally, I was kicking myself. This could end badly. I could blow everything I’d been setting up. This could be a real setback for the case. Watson would have a shit fit if I told him I pissed off the crew here.

Maybe I should have listened to Gray on this one instead of listening to what my gut was telling me.

When Dom didn’t say anything else, I muttered a nasty expletive and then stalked to the door.

“Gray,” Dom said before I got there.

I stopped. “What?” I spat.

“You want my trust? You gotta earn it.”

Boo-yah! I mentally high-fived myself. I was kickass.

“How do you want me to do that?” I asked, trying to sound like I was bored.

“Do a job for me.”

My stomach revolted. Selling drugs to people wasn’t what I wanted to do. Yes, it was part of a bigger plan to get those drugs off the street, but selling them to anyone and adding to the problem I was trying to clean up felt wrong.

But I would do it if I had to.

“What kind of job?”

“I got a shipment that needs to be delivered to Myrtle Beach.”

Something inside me relaxed, and I swung to face Dom. “You want me to deliver it?”

I could set up a sting. I could confiscate the drugs and we could take them all down for trafficking. This was good. Real good.

“No,” Dom said, cutting into my mental happy dance.

Well, damn. “Then what?”

“I need a delivery vehicle—one that won’t look shady—to transport the shipment. Something that won’t catch the eye of the po-po.”

Po-po = police.

“Everyone in this room has a car.” I pointed out. “I’ll drive it down in my Mustang.”

“You ain’t got enough room in your backseat for the goods,” he said.

I perked up a little. So this was a major haul. These assholes were going away for a long time.

“We don’t use crew cars for this shit, man. The less connected we are the better.”

“So you want me to steal something,” I said, understanding what he was getting at.

“You do that. Do it without getting caught, and I’ll let you make the delivery.”

Slater, who’d been making out with some blonde in the corner until this point, looked up. I ignored the fact he was looking at me. I wondered what he was thinking.

“You gonna pay me for the delivery?”

Dom smiled. It was a cold and calculating smile. “You’ll get a cut.”

“Consider it done.”

“Gray,” Dom said.

I looked back.

“Don’t fuck this up. I only give one shot.”

Little did he know this was my one shot to take him down, and one shot was all I was gonna need. “I’ll be back in a couple hours.”