Page 42 of Tough Justice

A brown blur flew through the air as Thor took Aidan to the floor, teeth bared and growling as he stood over the kid.

“What the fuck?” Aidan raised his arms to cover his face.

“Release!” Deck shouted, grabbing Thor’s leash. “Stay.”

His dog sat, although the hair along his spine remained as stiff as spikes.

“Sorry. He thought you were attacking me.” He extended his hand, but the boy didn’t take it. His eyes blazed with enough fury to singe Deck’s hair.

Running feet told him the other kids had rushed over to check out the action. Aidan crab-walked backward, the expression on his face turning to one of horror.

Great. On top of everything else, I thoroughly embarrassed him.

“Take my hand,” Deck said, trying to get through to him and knowing that he wasn’t.

“I wouldn’t take shit from you.” Aidan scrambled to his feet and pushed open the door.

Deck shoved a hand through his hair. “This is my fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” Tori said. “I may not be an expert in this area, but even I can see that he would’ve left anyway.”

He knew she was right. Maybe not today or tomorrow but eventually, he would have. Aidan had only been waiting for the right moment to leave, for something to set him off. Deck and Thor were the convenient trigger. Still, he couldn’t stop thinking that he’d blown it. He’d come here to do some good, and he’d done exactly the opposite.

His chest tightened as the inevitable image formed in his mind. Aidan would wind up in an alley one day, soon. Dead. And there was nothing Deck could do to prevent it.

Chapter Fourteen

“Are you ever going to tell me where we’re going?” Tori asked after they’d dropped Thor off at Deck’s house. “If I haven’t mentioned it, bungee jumping is on my to-don’t list, not my to-do list.”

“Noted.” He massaged his forehead again, something he’d been doing off and on since they’d left the Center. “We’re meeting Brett and Evan at Mick’s.”

“Who’s Mick?”

“Mick’s is a bar.”

She’d never heard of the place. “Do you want any aspirin? You seem like you have a headache, and I have some in my bag.” She opened her purse and fished around for the bottle of pills.

“I don’t take any of that. But thanks.”

“It’s just aspirin. It’s not—”

“Opioids?”

“I wasn’t going to say that.” After hearing what happened to his sister, she understood his no-tolerance policy, although she did think he was taking his absolutely-no-drugs policy too far. “I hate to see anyone in pain when I can help.”

He shook his head. “I don’t take any of that stuff, even over-the-counter meds.”

“Okay, okay.” She dropped the bottle back into the bag, looking up in time to see him check his rearview mirror for what must be the tenth time. “Why do you keep looking behind us?” Now that she mentioned it, he always did that. She’d just never realized it until now.

“It’s a habit. See that beat-up blue Honda two cars back? It’s been behind us since I pulled out of my neighborhood. It’s probably nothing, but drug agents tend to make a lot of enemies.”

She looked in the sideview mirror. “Isn’t that a little paranoid?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “Maybe not. Last year, Thor and I helped seize hundreds of pounds of illegal drugs and nearly a million dollars in cash. Bad guys remember little things like that.”

“I see your point.” A very scary point.

A minute later, he pulled into a small strip mall and parked.