Up in Smoke (King #8)

“We’re done here,” Griff says after his men give him a nod that assures him I’ve got nothing hidden on my person. “It was a pleasure.”

“It was creepy as fuck for me,” Rage turns, her blondness swaying back and forth as she makes her way out the same way she brought me in until I hear the roll of the heavy door.

Griff kneels before me and runs a fat finger across my throat. My skin crawls, and bile rises in my throat as I flinch away, but he holds me still by grabbing my throat and squeezing until I can’t pull in air.

“You and I are going to have so much fun,” he grinds out.

My last thought is of Smoke on the porch of the house in the prison, puffing on a cigar, strangling the neck of a whiskey bottle. I focus on his laugh as everything around me turns fuzzy and gray at the edges.

“You don’t know a lot about me, do you?” Griff asks, he pulls out a switch blade. He lets up on my throat so I can answer. I pull in a deep breath.

“I know that you buy and trade human beings like baseball cards,” I say.

Griff smiles proudly. “True, but there’s more to me than that, my dear. Did you know my mother was a midwife? For many years, she delivered babies, and I was her little helper. That’s how I was able to cut the child from Morgan’s womb. That’s how I was able to keep it alive.

“You’re a fucking monster,” I say. I’m vibrating with rage.

“I have no interest in being the hero of the story. Quite the opposite. I am only interested in being the one with the most money in the end. Morgan was asking Smoke to leave the business. I couldn’t let that happen, could I? He’s too valuable to me. But now, you’ve ruined everything. You’ve stolen my money, and I’ve lost my best man. You, you little bitch, have thrown out the anchor and you’re making this ship drag. I don’t like to drag.”

Griff runs the blade across my cheek, blood drips to my chin. “Where the fuck is my money?” he growls.

“I used it to pay mercenaries to stop your trading of lives.”

Griff raises the blade above my head.

“But not all of it. I’ve hidden a big chunk where no one but me can find it. It’s not in one place. I’ve spread it around. I can get it back, though” I say with shaky words.

Griff rolls his eyes. “Like I’d allow you near a fucking computer after all the damage you’ve done. I’m not that fucking stupid. Besides, I don’t fucking believe you.”

“I’m telling you the truth. I’ve got nothing to lose,” I say. “Not anymore anyway. Kill me if I’m lying.”

Griff thinks. “No, you won’t do it.” My hope sinks. “Leo, my nephew. He’ll do it. You’ll just tell him where to look. Leo!”

I’m looking at the floor at bright white sneakers. I lift my head. Khaki pants. I look higher. Bright green polo. Higher still. Bright white smile. Curly blonde hair.

“Duke?”





Chapter Fifty-Three





I push my bike to its limit. The engine growls at me as I lean forward, willing it to go faster. The wind stings against my skin, but it won’t slow me down.

Nothing will slow me down.

Not now, not ever.

Revenge has fueled me for so long. The thought of taking the life from the person who’d taken lives from me. Revenge is the ultimate decision maker. The one thing I thought that could turn a rational man into the devil himself. I was a step closer to the devil than most men already, but I know now it’s not revenge that makes the sane insane.

It’s love.

For love, I’m willing to burn down the world and everyone in it.

For Frankie, I’ll destroy, maim, and avenge until I’m swimming laps in the blood of those who dared to lay hands on her.

The landscape passes me by in a blur. I can’t see it even if I slow down. I can only see one thing right now and one thing only.

Frankie.

It’s fueling me to go faster, push harder, and fight the wind to get to her.

The thought of her smile, her laugh, her heart, her body. Her everything I didn’t deserve but can’t imagine ever living without.

Please be alive, Frankie. Please be FUCKING alive!





Chapter Fifty-Four





“It’s gonna take some time, Uncle Griff,” Duke says, but he’s not really Duke. Griff had called him Leo.

I’m in a state of shock when I’m pulled up and dragged to another room. One lined with a wall of computers and another with a server just as large. Fans blow on them from the ceiling.

The ties at my feet have been cut, but my hands are still bound.

“But can you do it?” Griff asks, his jaw ticking impatiently.

Duke looks from me to Griff. “Of course.”

“Good, you have two hours.” Griff turns his back and leaves the room. “Or you’re both dead.”

Duke lifts me up by my elbow and pushes me into a chair. “Shocked?” Duke asks, firing up the center computer and taking the seat next to me.

“Why?” is all I can ask.

“Coincidence if you can believe it. I didn’t realize you were my Uncle’s enemy number one until he asked me to break into your house and install the cameras in the basement after you were taken from school that day by that cop.”

“He’s not a cop.”

“I know that now,” he says.

“Since when are you good at computers?” I ask. “Didn’t you fail your computer course last semester.”

“I guess I’m like you in that way,” Duke says, flashing me a sad smile. “Hiding in plain sight.”

He turns back to the computer, and for a second, I feel bad for Duke. I don’t know all the details, but from where I stand, he might be just as much a victim as I am.

“Where do I begin?”

Duke wipes his palms on his khakis, his fingers poised over the keys.

“You’ll want to start with…” I fire off the most intricate exaggerated knowledge of the inner workings of the web. It’s a test to see what Duke really knows.

He fails.

Duke’s eyes go wide. “Fuck,” he swears, dropping his head to his hands.

“I’ll do it,” I tell him. “I promise, I’ll get your uncle’s money back. I just want him to leave my friends alone. Please.” I beg, even going so far as to push out my lower lip.

Duke growls. He’s going to give in. I haven’t given him a lot of choice. “Fine, but don’t fuck it up, or we’re both dead,” Duke says.

I’m sorry Duke.

He cuts the restraints from my wrists and slides the keyboard over to me. He looks over my shoulder, and I don’t bother to cover my tracks as I pull up the codes I need. Something tells me Duke’s biggest hacking boast is stealing someone’s Facebook password.

My fingers fly across the screen as I tap into the in-house server and empty every single account Griff has. Then I do exactly what I came here to do. Why I had to come here alone. Why I couldn’t risk Smoke and his friends storming in here for revenge and possibly destroying the information before I got my hands on it. When it’s done I send a backup of every file on the server to Nine, including what I hope will be enough information to allow him to locate Smoke’s baby.

I’m the conductor again, leading my orchestra to the grandest of finales. The entire time Duke is watching me and nodding like the poor fucker knows anything about what I’m doing.

“One more thing and it’s all done,” I say.