The Cunning

77

A message from Harvey relaying Mitch's registration woke Jase the following morning. He messaged everyone, rounding up the troops, and showered before heading downstairs. Madison was still out for the count. Adam, Harvey, Sam, Kieran, and Tommy were all waiting in the living room.

"You're sure it's his car?" Jase asked, sitting at the table, scrolling through his phone to find the contact that would supply him with what he needed.

"Yeah, I watched him get in it," Harvey replied. He was new to all of this, a runner trying to get his hands dirty and make a footprint in their world. Harvey was desperate to impress Jase and work his way up the ranks.

"That doesn't mean it's his car," Sam mumbled.

"It is. I've seen him in it a few times now. I wouldn't tell you if I wasn't certain," he assured. Jase hummed. His phone dinged with a reply. They had an explosive device, ready and waiting.

"Adam, you're picking it up. Kieran, you're going to install it. Harvey, you keep a lookout. I'm not putting you in the firing line yet-"

"Why not? Come on, Jase. I can handle this." Everyone sat still. Questioning Jase's decisions was unheard of. He pursed his lips before rolling his eyes.

"Fine, check for CCTV, cut it. Tommy, you can be on watch instead. You don't leave the site until McKinney is in the car and it's in flames."

"What are we doing?" Sam asked.

"I'm going to let Ramon know what's going on, get him to secure an alibi for himself, then we're staying here until it's done," Jase replied. If it was a solo job, Jase was, more often than not, the one to get his hands dirty. Sam would aid in the disposing of any bodies. They'd done their time running around checking for CCTV when they were Harvey's age.

The explosive was to be secured by late that afternoon. McKinney and a few of his friends were at a warehouse with no working cameras and storage containers surrounding the area. Jase could only assume they were carrying out some sort of drug deal.

"Tommy, you're going to need to be there when they come out. I don't trust Harvey not to bolt if it gets too much for him. If Mitch comes out too soon and Kieran hasn't finished fixing it, shoot at him."

"Why don't we just shoot him and skip the bomb?" Tommy asked.

Jase shook his head. "Chances are you'll miss if you try and it's not about killing him, it's about making a point. Any of us could get shot the second we step outside. I want everyone he involves himself with to be shitting themselves about getting in their cars as well," he replied.

Tommy smirked. "You're the boss."

"How long do you reckon it will take you to fit it?" Jase turned to Kieran, who shrugged.

"About ten minutes with his model shouldn't be too long. It's piss," he said. If Jase didn't know Kieran like he did, it would be easy to believe he was too soft for the job, but Kieran had a talent in anything remotely scientific or technical. Sometimes, it wasn't about muscle, guns and being mean. They needed brains. Explosives, computers, it was all a sixth-sense to Kieran, he was excluded from school for hacking into the administration system and changing the exam results of the people that had given him shit through the years. Not only that, but since working with Jase and the others, he had shut down several closed circuit security systems, jail-broken any phones acquired dishonourably, and this was not the first explosive installing he had partaken in. The man was a genius, though his integrity was still in-tact, relative to Jase and Sam and the others. Kieran refused to have anything directly to do with the girls.

When Adam returned, Kieran left with Tommy to head to the warehouse. Jase took food up to the girls to distract himself as they waited. Madison was waking up from a nap.

"Can I have a shower?" she asked, mid yawn. The scruffy bun she'd wrapped her hair in fell to the side of her head in a mass of blonde knots. Jase rolled his shoulders, sitting down on his side of the bed.

"Go ahead."

He was lying down when she came back in her towel. He watched her open the wardrobe with her back to him.

"What were you and Janine talking about last night?" he asked.

"I can't remember," Madison replied absently, "I was high." It wasn't a total lie. There were blank spaces in her mind. It happened every time she smoked. She knew what was going on at the time, but it never stored as a fully fledged memory. More like a flipbook with chunks ripped out. Jase didn't question her, he had experienced this himself.

She reached up to the two boxes on the top shelf in the wardrobe, plucking out a pair of red lace underwear and pulling them on under her towel.

"You seem stressed," she said, letting the towel drop. Jase raised his brows. She still had her back to him and the wardrobe door remained open so he couldn't see her in the mirror but it hardly left a lot to his imagination. As much time as they'd spent together, Madison had never been this close to naked in front of him.

"I am," he replied, staring at her body, from the dip of her waist at her hips to the cute heart-shaped birthmark on her arse.

She looked over her shoulder. "You want to smoke? Take your mind off things?" Jase met her eyes and collected himself when she slipped one of his t-shirts on. She caught him watching her but didn't rush to cover up. Like she wanted him to see her, to fantasize about the silkiness of her skin and how parts of her would feel against his lips.

I do not need this, Jase thought.

He didn't trust himself to spend the day with Madison half dressed, smoking weed, regardless of how enticing the invite was.

"I have things to do," he replied. Madison hummed her acceptance, brushing off the rejection and closing the wardrobe doors.

"Fair enough." She crawled across the bed, reached over him and took a cigarette from the packet on his bedside cabinet. Jase didn't take his eyes off her, following every move. "What's keeping you so busy?" she asked.

"You know I'm not going to tell you that." He took a cigarette for himself. Madison didn't respond, laying on her back beside him, puffing smoke skywards. It was worth a shot. "There's another party tomorrow night," he said, his tone transforming from bored and preoccupied to low and soft. Madison shifted her hips, thinking that if a voice could be touched, she would want to caress his. "Are you going to wear something nice again?" She smiled, bringing the cigarette to her lips. Her and Janine's plan was proving too easy.

"So long as you make sure everyone keeps their hands off." Jase breathed a small laugh. He stood, walking towards the door. Madison pouted. "Where are you going?"

"Downstairs," he replied without looking back.

*

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