Chapter 2
Damian
I should have told Tammy to stay home.
Wouldn't have mattered.
By the time I grabbed my keys, she was already pulling on jeans and tying her hair back.
"Tammy."
She glanced up.
"What?"
"Stay here."
She laughed and grabbed her purse.
"If something happened to Karl, I'm going."
"This isn't your problem."
Her eyes narrowed immediately.
"Don't do that."
I knew exactly what she meant.
Tammy wasn't one of those women who needed every detail explained to her. She had been around this life long before she met me.
Not anymore.
She got out.
Built a real life.
Built a business.
Built a future.
But she still knew what police lights outside a warehouse usually meant.
"I'm serious," I said.
"So am I."
Neither one of us moved.
Then she shook her head.
"You know what's crazy?"
"What?"
"You standing here arguing with me like you don't already know I'm going."
I tried not to smile.
Failed.
"Five minutes."
"I only need three."
Of course she did.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into the warehouse lot.
The second I saw the police tape stretched across the entrance, my mood got worse.
Not because I was surprised.
Because part of me had spent the entire drive hoping Rico was wrong.
Maybe Karl got hurt.
Maybe somebody jumped him.
Maybe somebody got trigger happy.
Maybe this whole thing was a misunderstanding.
The second I stepped out of the truck, I knew it wasn't.
Rico stood near the loading dock with his hands in his pockets, watching everything.
Rico wasn't a dramatic person.
Never had been.
If he looked concerned, there was a reason.
Tammy stepped out beside me and looked around once.
Police.
Tape.
Officers.
My people.
Then her eyes landed on Rico.
She didn't ask questions.
Didn't panic.
Didn't start guessing.
She looked at me.
"How bad?"
I looked away first.
That was enough.
"Damn," she said quietly.
That one word said everything.
Karl wasn't just one of my guys.
Karl was family.
He was at cookouts.
Birthdays.
Holidays.
Tammy knew his wife.
Loved his girls.
Rico met us halfway.
His face told me everything before he opened his mouth.
"Where is he?" I asked.
Rico nodded toward the warehouse.
Inside.
Nobody said another word.
We walked.
The closer we got, the quieter everything felt.
The warehouse was full of people.
A few whispers.
A few low conversations.
Nothing more.
Then I saw the sheet.
My feet stopped.
Just for a second.
A white sheet.
A little blood near the edge.
Every stupid joke Karl ever told me came rushing back at once.
Karl laughing.
Karl arguing.
Karl talking shit.
Karl swearing he could still beat me in a fight.
Karl at cookouts.
Karl holding Ava when she was born.
Karl standing beside me when nobody else would.
Gone.
Just like that.
Tammy stood beside me.
She didn't grab my hand.
Didn't touch my arm.
Didn't tell me everything was going to be okay.
Because she knew better.
Nothing about this was okay.
I stared at the sheet.
Then looked at Rico.
"Who found him?"
"Andre," Rico said.
"Where is he?"
Rico nodded toward the loading docks.
I looked over.
Andre stood near two detectives.
Head down.
Hands shoved into his pockets.
Not talking.
Not looking this way.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Tammy followed my eyes.
Then she looked back at me.
"That boy knows something."
I glanced at her.
"What makes you say that?"
She crossed her arms.
"Everybody else keeps looking over here."
I looked around.
She was right.
People kept glancing toward the body.
Toward me.
Toward Rico.
Toward the detectives.
Everybody except Andre.
Andre was looking everywhere except where he should have been.
Tammy shook her head.
"He's scared."
"No," I said.
She looked at me.
"No?"
"Scared looks different."
Her eyes drifted back toward Andre.
"Then what?"
I kept watching him.
"Guilty."
Tammy looked at Andre again.
"Then don't let him leave."
"I wasn't planning to."
Rico stood beside me, watching Andre too.
"You want me to bring him over?" Rico asked.
"Yeah."
Rico walked off.
Tammy looked toward the sheet again.
Her face softened.
Not scared.
Hurt.
There was a difference.
"Karl didn't deserve this," she said.
"No."
"Does Keisha know yet?"
"Not from me."
Tammy looked at me.
"Then let me go to her."
I didn't answer right away.
She was right.
Keisha needed somebody.
Not one of my men.
Not business.
Somebody who could walk into that house and be human.
Somebody who could hold her when she fell apart.
Tammy could do that.
She had always been able to do that.
"I'll send a driver," I said.
"I can drive myself."
"I know you can."
"Then don't start."
"Tammy."
"No." She pointed at me. "Don't do that thing where somebody dies and suddenly I don't know how to move."
I stared at her.
She stared right back.
That was my woman.
Sweet when she wanted to be.
Soft when she trusted you.
But she had steel in her.
She just knew when to let people see it.
"I'm not doing that," I said.
"Yes, you are."
"I'm trying to keep you safe."
"I know." Her voice softened a little. "And I love you for it. But I'm not new to this, Damian."
Because she was right.
Tammy had been around the game before me.
She knew what it looked like when something was off.
She knew what a setup felt like.
She knew what happened when men started lying and cameras disappeared.
She left that life because she wanted peace.
And I had no right to turn my fear into another set of orders.
"I hear you," I said.
Rico came back with Andre before I could respond.
Andre stopped a few feet in front of me.
Too far.
I noticed that.
So did Tammy.
"Come here," I said.
Andre took two steps closer.
"Closer."
He came closer.
Still didn't look comfortable.
Good.
He shouldn't have.
"Walk me through it," I said.
Andre rubbed his hands together.
"I got here around six."
"And?"
"The gate was already open."
"And?"
"I thought Karl left it open."
"Why would Karl leave the gate open?"
Andre blinked.
"What?"
I looked at him.
It was a simple question.
He heard me.
"Why would Karl leave the gate open?" I asked again.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"No."
"But you thought he did it."
Andre looked around.
Bad move.
I smiled.
"Don't look at them. Look at me."
He looked back at me.
"I mean, I just figured."
Tammy stood beside me with her arms crossed.
She didn't say anything.
Didn't need to.
Her face said enough.
"What happened after you saw the gate open?" I asked.
"I went inside."
"What did you see?"
His eyes dropped.
"Karl."
A few people behind him shifted around.
Nobody said anything.
"What did you do?" Rico asked.
"I called you."
"Did you touch anything?" I asked.
"No."
"Did you move anything?"
"No."
"Did you check him?"
Andre looked at me.
"What?"
"Did you check him?"
"I mean... yeah. I walked over there."
"So you did touch something."
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Then opened it again.
"I went over to see if he was still breathing."
"So you touched him."
Andre swallowed.
Tammy looked at his boots.
Then looked at me.
I had already seen it.
Dried blood.
Small amount.
Right side.
"Where were you last night?" I asked.
"Home."
"All night?"
"Yeah."
"Who can verify that?"
"My girl."
"What's her name?"
"Shay."
"Last name?"
He hesitated.
I laughed.
That made him look up.
"You don't know your girl's last name?"
"No, I know it."
"Then say it."
"Bennett."
"Address?"
"Man, I don't know her address like that."
Rico laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because that was stupid.
Andre looked at him.
I stepped closer.
His eyes came right back to me.
"You have a woman you spent all night with, but you don't know where she lives?"
"I know where she lives. I just don't know the exact address."
Tammy finally spoke.
"You're lying."
Andre looked at her.
"What?"
She stepped closer.
Not close enough for him to touch her.
Close enough for him to understand she wasn't just standing there looking pretty.
"You're lying," she said again.
"Tammy," I said.
"No." Her eyes stayed on Andre. "He keeps answering like he's trying to figure out which lie sounds better."
Andre laughed.
A nervous one.
"I don't even know you."
Tammy smiled.
"Exactly. So imagine how obvious you look to somebody who does."
Tammy had him cornered before I said another word.
Andre looked at me.
"Boss, I swear I didn't have anything to do with this."
"I didn't say you did."
"But you looking at me like-"
"Like what?"
He stopped.
He let the rest of that sentence die.
I let him sit in that for a second.
Then I said, "Where is the footage?"
"I don't know."
"The hard drives are gone."
His face changed.
Just enough.
Tammy saw that too.
"Did you know the hard drives were gone?" Rico asked.
"No."
"You sure?" I asked.
"Yeah."
I nodded.
"Okay."
He looked confused.
"That's it?"
"For now."
Andre didn't move.
I stared at him.
"Go stand over there."
He walked away slower than he needed to.
Like he was trying not to look relieved this time.
Still failed.
Tammy waited until he was far enough away before she spoke.
"He knows more than he's saying."
"I know."
"Then why let him walk away?"
"Because if I squeeze him here, he'll say anything."
Rico nodded.
"He'll panic."
"Exactly."
Tammy looked toward Andre.
"So what's the play?"
I looked at Rico.
"Keep eyes on him."
Rico nodded.
"Already done."
Tammy looked between us.
"Don't underestimate him because he looks scared."
That got my attention.
"What do you mean?"
"A scared man runs. A guilty man starts managing the story."
She looked at Andre again.
"He's thinking."
Rico looked over at Andre.
Then back at Tammy.
"She's right."
I hated when people were right about problems I didn't like.
Especially Tammy.
"You need to get to Keisha," I said.
She looked at me.
"I know."
"I'll have Malik take you."
"No."
"Tammy."
"I don't trust Malik."
Rico looked at her.
Then at me.
I stared at Tammy.
"What did Malik do?"
"Nothing I can prove."
That answer annoyed me.
Because it was the same kind of answer I would have given.
"What did you see?"
She looked across the warehouse.
Malik stood near the south entrance talking to one of my guys.
Tall.
Clean cut.
Too calm for a day like this.
"He was already here when we pulled up," Tammy said.
"So?"
"He works nights."