Page 68

ADRIAN

I popped the flash drive into the side of my computer and waited for it to load. Not the tiniest bit shocked when a video file appeared on my screen. There was a reason I went out of my way to provide the kid with whatever gadget I could get my hands on over the years.

It was a lot better to have him on your side.

I refastened the button on my pants. Sat back in my chair and pressed play.

It took me a few minutes to realize exactly what I was staring at.

Besides an active operating room. Two attendings elbow-deep in some girl’s guts.

A routine appendix removal by the looks of it.

Until my focus shifted to a face I recognized.

The camera lens zooming in on what he was doing with his free hand when the feed should have been locked on the incision site.

They claimed it was for educational purposes when they had you sign off on being recorded—really it was the hospital’s way of covering its ass in a malpractice suit.

Funny how quickly those tapes disappeared when the surgeon went a few centimeters in the wrong direction and caused the patient to bleed out.

But that was beside the point. Seeing as I didn’t give a shit about working the system on the up-and-up.

Not when there were much more lucrative options on the black market.

Organ trafficking, forged scripts, even the occasional hit…

That last one was Casper’s specialty. All that energy needed to go somewhere.

Who would have guessed the kid was good with a gun?

Even better in close combat with a knife.

His new spine had him twisting himself up like a pretzel, slipping through doors and windows.

The challenge fueling his need more than the drugs and alcohol ever could.

Not that he’d given those up entirely. But I wasn’t his father.

Even if the fucker liked to call me Daddy just to watch my face contort with disgust.

Right now, though, I was grinning. We were in desperate need of upgrades if I planned on getting this operation off the ground anytime soon.

And I wasn’t a fan of taking loans I couldn’t pay back.

Especially when those loans ran the risk of having someone showing up at your door looking to collect. And taking your hand when you couldn’t.

My little lamb was the only one allowed to have a piece of me, and I drew the line at anything below the wrists. Wouldn’t be much use to her otherwise.

But there were other methods of getting large sums of cash. And quick. Blackmail was at the top of that list and this little five-minute tape was worth millions to the fucker behind the surgical mask. Which meant it was priceless to me.

Sure, he could argue that it wasn’t him.

The schedule and patient chart would prove he was lying.

And either way, the tape would become part of the hospital record.

Public record if it was accidentally released to a certain media outlet with a hard-on for the growing healthcare crisis.

It was much safer for all this shit to go away. For everyone involved.

I typed out a quick ransom demand. Short and to the point. Pay us or we release the tape. And then I hit send. While Bugs did his work behind the scenes, spoofing the account so that it appeared as though the call was coming from inside the house —as Casper would say.

Kid loved his horror movie references almost as much as he loved dressing up like every day was Halloween.

A classic case of Peter Pan Syndrome to go along with the rampant ADHD and those pesky psychopathic tendencies of his.

But that wasn’t my problem. Same as I wasn’t his daddy, I wasn’t his doctor anymore either. Though I had to admit he’d grown on me.

Like a weed you just couldn’t kill. Still, I had a soft spot for the kid. Things wouldn’t be moving as fast as they were without him. And they were about to go a whole lot faster. Once this deal came through.

But right now, it was more of a waiting game as our frisky little friend here scrambled to track down the sender, accepted he wasn’t gonna find him (probably because he didn’t exist), and then finally agreed to make the drop. Unmarked bills in exchange for the original thumb drive.

We’d have copies. Plenty of ?em. But he wouldn’t know that. What kind of businessman would I be if I didn’t see how long I could milk the fucker dry?

Until then, I had a lot of time on my hands. Time that I would much rather have been spending with her . If she ever decided to reply to one of my messages.

Guess who?

Did you like the flowers I sent? They reminded me of you. Bright and vibrant when wet. And dull and lifeless when dry. Be sure to stay nice and wet for me, Marisela.

Yours,

AL

I knew Bugs was somewhere hacking into my emails.

Both business and personal. Making sure I wasn’t going to screw him over.

Probably rolling his eyes or maybe he’d finally smartened up and started taking notes.

God knew he needed to get laid after spending most of his teenage years locked up in here.

I mean, even his brother found a way to get his dick wet.

And that was after having his brain tossed into a blender and his waist chained to a wall.

Not saying it was entirely consensual but Donnie worked with what was within his reach.

And what was in his reach happened to be a bunch of less-than-willing nurses.

Then again, it was no real surprise Bugs had never had a girlfriend.

Besides the lack of a social life, guy had real trust issues.

Not that I blamed him with the shit they did to his hearing.

It was why I didn’t bother trying to hide anything from him.

He’d find it anyway and then I’d have to hire another tech guy.

Specifically one who wanted something from me, enough to work for room and board and not much else.

Because until that payment landed in our accounts, I didn’t have much else to offer.