“Exactly,” Viper cuts me off, taking another step closer. He’s in my space now, close enough I can smell the cigarettes on his breath. “Pretty little Harper. Cute kid, too—what’s his name? Bruiser? Interesting name for a toddler. Wonder if he’ll live up to it.”
My hands clench into fists. “You stay the fuck away from them.”
“Oh, we will.” Viper spreads his hands like he’s being reasonable. “We absolutely will. As long as you do what you’re told.”
“I’m not doing shit for you!”
The guy by the door moves fast—faster than someone that size should be able to move. He’s on me before I can blink, one massive hand wrapped around my throat, slamming meback against the tile wall hard enough to rattle my teeth. The toothpick falls from Viper’s mouth onto the sink counter.
“Let’s try this again,” Viper says softly, picking up the toothpick and sliding it back between his lips. “You’re going to adjust your route. Instead of San Antonio to Dallas, you’re going to take the southern corridor. Laredo. Cross at the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge with your legitimate cargo. On the Mexico side, you’ll stop at a warehouse—the address will be texted to this burner—and wait exactly fifteen minutes while some associates of ours make modifications to your load.”
The hand on my throat tightens just enough that spots dance at the edges of my vision. With his other hand, he shoves a burner phone into my front jeans pocket.
“You’ll cross back,” Viper continues, calm as anything, “and you’ll drive straight to a drop point in Houston. Unload. Then go home to your pretty girl and your cute kid and your nice little life. Twice a month. That’s all we’re asking.”
“You’re asking me to movewhat,exactly?” I choke out.
“Not that you need to know. But it’s just weed. Don’t worry so much.” He claps me on the shoulder. “And you’ll be carrying cash south, too, naturally. The flow needs to go both ways.”
The hand releases my throat, and I sag against the wall, gasping.
“I get caught, I lose my CDL. I go to prison. My family?—”
“You won’t get caught,” Viper interrupts. “That’s the beauty of it. You’ve got legitimate cargo all the way. Sealed containers with manifests that match what’s inside—mostly. The product will be in compartments so well hidden that even the X-rays won’t catch it. Hydraulic traps in your cab, false floors in your trailer. You’ll never even see the product, Z. All you gotta do is drive.”
I swallow hard, chest tight. “And if I say no?”
Viper’s expression doesn’t change. “Then Harper and little Bruiser have a real unfortunate accident. House fire, maybe. Those apartments in East Austin… not so safe, huh? Or maybe something happens to you out on the road—there’s lots of accidents on I-35, huh? Trucks jackknife all the time. And Harper’s all alone with the kid so much. She’s got no income, no protection. It’d be a real shame if someone decided to pay her a visit after you’re gone. Pretty girl like that, vulnerable, grieving…”
The threat hangs in the air between us, ugly and undeniable. I want to rip out his throat. But I lived long enough with Frank to recognize where I land in the predator-prey pecking order.
“Two runs a month,” I hear myself say. My voice sounds distant. Hollow.
“Two runs a month,” Viper confirms, stepping back. “First one’s next week. You’ll get a text with the details. New manifest, new route. You tell Harper it’s just a longer haul that pays better. She’ll believe you. She always does, doesn’t she?”
Yeah. She always does.
Because I’ve made sure she depends on me. I’ve made sure she has no one else and nothing else to depend on but me. I isolated her so completely that she’d never question where I go or what I do because I’m her entire world now.
The same skills that made me good at dealing—the lies, the manipulation, the ability to seem trustworthy while doing dirty work—are exactly what they need in a mule.
“We’ll be in touch.” Viper heads for the door, pausing with his hand on the handle. “Oh, and Z? Senior says hey. And he says to remember that he knows exactly how you planted that weed in your girl’s locker back in the day. He wanted me to remind you that he’s got guys on the inside where Silas is at, and we know that Silas might be real interested in that information. Be a realshame if someone told him it wasyouwho he was doing time for instead of his kid.”
The door swings shut behind them, leaving me alone in the bathroom that suddenly feels too small and too fucking bright.
“Fuck!”
I punch the mirror, then stand there for another five full minutes running my bloody fists under the hottest water I can stand, trying to figure out what the fuck I’m going to do.
I could run.
I could take Harper and Bruiser and disappear.
Except where would we go? I spent all the extra cash for a fresh start on a downpayment on the rig. Plus Harper would want to know why and ask questions I can’t answer.
I could go to the cops.
Except then I’d have to explain my history with the Lonestar Kings, explain the dealing, maybe even explain what I did to Harper. And thenthey’duse her and Bruiser as leverage anyway—and testifying against an MC was one of the best ways I knew of to get your family killed and yourself tortured to death.