Shade's Lady
Page 40

Could meth go through plastic?
I had no fucking idea. I’d known plenty of meth heads—hard not to, growing up like I had—but I couldn’t remember ever hearing anything specifically about whether it could seep out of a baggie and into your coochie. I needed to get the drugs hidden somewhere else. Immediately.
“Sit down,” I said, pointing to the couch almost desperately. “I’ll get you a drink.”
Turning away from Shade, I walked into the little kitchen, trying not to waddle. Then I opened the fridge door, using it as cover to reach down and dig out the baggie. I stuffed it quickly into the vegetable drawer and then grabbed two beers.
I turned around to find him standing right behind me. Shit. How long had he been there? Had he seen anything?
“Here you go,” I said, offering him a beer with what I had to assume wasn’t the world’s most convincing smile. “Let’s go sit on the couch.”
He didn’t move for a minute, studying me thoughtfully. Shit. He must’ve seen something.
You don’t know that, Wonder Woman said calmly. It’s like playing poker—you’re bluffing. Don’t crack.
“Don’t you want to sit down?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound desperate. Shade reached out, taking the beer. For an instant I thought he’d call me on it, but then he stepped back, holding out his arm, inviting me to go first. We’d just reached the living room when I heard the sound of a car pulling up.
“That’s Hannah and Heath,” I said quickly. “Um, she’s not really going to like the fact that you’re here. You should go before she gets pissed.”
“Answer one question,” Shade said quietly. “This thing you’re lying to me about—are you in danger?”
“No,” I said firmly, shaking my head. “Callie just had a bad dream.”
“She said something about her dad and keeping secrets. You freaked the fuck out and dropped the phone. That doesn’t sound like a bad dream to me.”
The front door opened and Hannah stepped through, followed by her deputy. There was instant tension in the air as Heath took in the situation—obviously not a big fan of the Reapers.
The feeling was mutual, and the two men stared each other down, two alpha dogs just poised to attack. I shared a look with Hannah, willing her to play along, even though I knew she was probably pissed to find a man here. We had a strict no-sleepovers policy. I was supposed to be babysitting the kids, not fucking around with some biker.
“Did you have a good time?” I asked brightly, hoping any residual puffiness from the crying was gone.
“Great time,” Heath said, his voice a lazy drawl. He wrapped an arm around Hannah possessively. “We appreciate you watching the girls.”
“They were fantastic,” I said, my voice unnaturally perky. “And Shade was just heading out, weren’t you?”
I turned to him, begging with my eyes. Leave. Just leave. Don’t drag Heath Andrews into this.
“Sure,” he said, standing. He walked over and pulled me into his arms for a long, slow kiss that probably looked sexy as hell. I felt the coiled tension in his arms, though, and when his tongue plunged deep into my mouth it was more threat than caress. Hannah coughed behind us and I could practically feel the anger coming off her in waves.
Shade ended the kiss, dropping his mouth to my ear.
“I’m not dropping this,” he whispered. “You need to tell me what happened here.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I whispered back. “Just go. Leave me alone.”
He pulled away, raising a finger and running it along the side of my cheek, down my neck and into my cleavage. The gesture might’ve been flirtatious, but his eyes were cold as ice.
Then Shade turned and sauntered toward the door. When he reached Heath, the deputy didn’t step out of his way immediately. They shared another unreadable look before Heath moved closer to Hannah, wrapping an arm around her neck in a clear message of possession. Shade nodded toward the deputy then went outside, closing the door quietly behind him.
The room fell silent. My stomach churned. I took a deep breath, praying I wouldn’t puke or something.
“Did the girls do okay?” Hannah asked awkwardly. Heath studied me without speaking, his face thoughtful. Suspicious? I couldn’t tell.
You’re probably being paranoid, Wonder Woman whispered. Play it through. You can do this.
“Yeah, they were great,” I said. “So tell me all about it. Where did you guys go?”
“I want to check on the kids first,” Hannah said pointedly, narrowing her eyes at me. “Come with me.”
Way to be subtle, butthead. I nodded, smiling at Heath like a dumb bunny before following her into the girls’ room. Hannah’s body stilled as she realized Callie wasn’t in her bed. Turning on me, she shut the door.
“She’s in your room,” I whispered quickly.
Hannah’s mouth tightened.
“No, wait—before you get all pissy, you need to listen to me and listen carefully. Not only that, you need to not freak out or show anything on your face when you go back out there and see Heath. You’re going to laugh or smile or whatever it takes to keep him happy because this is very, very important.”
“What happened?” she whispered, and I could taste her sudden fear.
“Callie found a bag of meth in the bathroom,” I replied. “She said that it was Randy’s, and that he’d told her it was a secret. She told me a bunch more stuff, too. Real bad stuff, Hannah. Shade and I were talking on the phone and he overheard some of it, so he came over, demanding answers. I managed to hide the drugs in the fridge—I’m about 90 percent sure he didn’t see anything. He’s suspicious as hell, though. I was trying to get rid of him when you got home.”
My sister’s mouth dropped and she swallowed.
“Oh my God…” she whispered. “I—”
“We’re going to take care of it,” I said, reaching out to catch her shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze. “You and me. We always take care of things. The first step is getting rid of Heath. Then we can deal with Randy.”
“I hate him. I hate that fucking asshole so much. How could he do this to his own kids? What if she’d decided to eat it or something? That could kill her.”