Chapter 17
Kincaid.
I had three nuisances that took priority over all else I needed to handle as of late.
Three things that interfered with my ability to enjoy the changes happening in my life.
Manchester, O’Neal, and the person I was currently standing over.
I’d recently found out he was responsible for Knotty’s death.
It had been a few weeks since O’Neal’s body was delivered to his home .
. . piece by piece. From what I heard, his wife passed out after the arrival of the first one and had been sedated since the discovery of how gruesome the sight was.
Authorities were searching for his killer, but the streets already knew it was accredited to the Gallardo Cartel.
Medina wanted it known because he was sending a message.
No one fucks with his Family and lives to tell about it.
“What am I doing here?” The guy’s tiny, thin eyes bounced between Darius and me before settling on me. He was coming down off a high of some kind. Opioids, if I had to guess, but I couldn’t be too sure.
“You created a problem for me, which is something I don’t tolerate.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
I tilted my head to the side and stared at him momentarily. He offered his best attempt at pretending to be hard, unbothered, but he was scared as shit. Maybe he felt it, or maybe he could see it in my eyes. Whatever . . . He was about to die.
“It would have been wise of you to fully understand what the hell you got yourself into before putting your life in another’s hands, Push.”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, but whatever the hell it is, I ain’t have shit to do with it.”
“Kenneth Toussaint. Known on the streets as Knotty. You shot him and three of his guys then delivered a message that I was sending a warning to Knotty’s people to stay off my blocks.”
His eyes gave him away. I saw the recognition the minute it passed through them, but he did as I expected and lied.
It didn’t matter. I had the proof I needed.
Since the day he’d killed Knotty, Push had been in hiding.
I suppose he got antsy and decided enough time had passed because he was out on the block as if he hadn’t put a target on his back by using my name.
He got high and started running his mouth.
After some tough love, we quickly learned the hit on Knotty was simply a fiend’s dream of feeding his habit.
Using my name was simply his way of keeping the trail cold and, hopefully, sending Toussaint after me.
It was a dumb decision, which was about to cost him his life.
Secrets were harder to maintain with a loose tongue.
Lucky for us, his little habit placed him right in our path.
“I don’t know anything about that.”
“No point in lying. You’re not here because we think you killed Knotty.
You’re here because we already know you did that shit.
” Darius sounded just as annoyed as I felt.
A killer who was a coward was the worst kind.
If you had balls enough to take a life, that meant you should have the balls to know it could potentially mean losing yours.
Lying made you weak, and the one thing I hated more was begging, and I prayed he didn’t take that route.
“You wanna kill me, then do it, but I’m telling you, I don’t know shit about nobody named Knotty.”
“Very well.”
I turned to walk away and only made the first step before the groveling began. “Ay, wait. Look, all I did was deliver a message. Knotty ain’t even your people. No harm, no foul. Can’t we work something out?”
I had eyes on him again, shaking my head.
“No, we can’t. There was indeed harm done.
My name was connected to a life I didn’t take to send Knotty’s people after me.
I don’t really give a fuck about how that affects me, but the idea that your stupid decision could have potentially caused a situation that may have harmed those close to me is a gotdamn issue.
I don’t make deals where they’re concerned. ”
“Come on, man. Nobody was hurt, and like I said, Knotty ain’t mean shit to you. He wasn’t your people.”
“But he was mine.” Toussaint stepped into the room, followed by Cast. His eyes were murderous as he clutched the handle of a machete that was aligned with his thigh.
“Wait, hold on. You’re not about to leave me here with him, are you?”
I looked at Toussaint, who waited. Initially, I had mentioned to him I would be the one to take the life when we found the target, but I had a change of heart and was allowing him the honor.
“Our debt is settled.” Toussaint felt the need to say, as if that meant shit to me. I had respect for him, but I damn sure didn’t fear him, nor did I feel any sense of obligation. If Knotty had followed the rules, he wouldn’t have ended up losing his life.
“There never was a debt. I promised you, and I’m a man of my word. But don’t assume this had anything to do with me feeling as if I owed you. Knotty crossed a line he shouldn’t have. That’s why you’re here.”
As much as Toussaint wanted to argue the point, he decided against it and offered a nod.
“This is going to be fun,” I heard him growl as he neared Push.
We all stepped outside the room but could already hear the cries of torture. “Make sure you clean this up and get him out of here.” I motioned to the door behind us.
“A fucking machete? I thought I was bad.”
“You are bad. Shit, worse, if you want my opinion,” Darius said, then laughed, shaking his head.
“Maybe I am.” Cast shrugged. “He’s about to make a damn mess, though.”
“Yeah, good luck with that.” Darius glanced over his shoulder as another tortured cry traveled our way.
“I’m out.”
“Ay, before you go, you still want to keep eyes on Nari’s people? Nothing’s turned up.”
“Keep the cameras in place for a little while longer. At this point, I’m sure he’s realized Nari has no connection to them, and neither does her mother.”
“Got it. You have access to the feed. You can check it whenever you want.”
I tossed my chin to Cast and Darius, but he fell in step with me.
“I’m heading out too.”
As we moved through the building, Darius brought up something that had totally slipped my mind with everything else going on.
“Some kid showed up at one of my clubs asking for me. He said you sent him.”
I paused just as we stepped out of the building. “Shit, I meant to run that by you.”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t. What the fuck am I supposed to do with him?”
I grinned. “Give him a job. He’s a DJ.”
“You seen his work or heard him mix?”
“No, he worked at Bleu, so I assume he’s decent. Put him on a slow night and bill me for his salary.”
“Who the hell is this kid?”
“Not important. Just consider it a favor to me.”
Darius stared for a long minute before shaking his head. “You and your damn charity work.”
“It’s balance. Something we both need in our lives. I’m just looking out for you.”
“You need to be looking out for your damn self if he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing and fucks up the vibe at my club.”
“You’ll make it work,” I tossed over my shoulder as I headed to my car, and he moved toward his own.
“You damn sure better hope so.”
After returning from Miami, I’d hooked Darian up with a job at a law firm willing to work around her class schedule.
After graduation, if she passed the bar, they would take her on as a mentee, but with a full salary she wouldn’t be offered anywhere else.
Once she had experience under her belt, they would allow her to practice law with their firm.
She was overly grateful, and I had a feeling she wouldn’t accept any more offers from criminals who wanted to use her as a pawn.
After checking in with Nari, who spent the first twenty minutes complaining about her meeting and the fact that her mother was never at the house anymore, I managed to get in a few words to promise to make her day better when I got there.
But first, I had to stop by and check on my mother.
She had been quiet over the past few days, which wasn’t unusual.
But I knew she missed my father and was still settling into her new normal without him.
I did my best to be there when she needed me, but sometimes, she still kept me at arm’s length because of how much I reminded her of him.
It was hard, seeing his face on me and not being able to have him in her life anymore.
It was a painful reality we were both learning to live with.
It was quiet when I entered the house, but I knew she was home. I had security shadowing my mother but kept it discreet. She wasn’t a fan of being watched or followed, but I refused to take the risk with everything that had been going on.
I found my mother in the sunroom that sat off the kitchen, flipping through a photo album.
It was one of the older ones because the edges were a little weathered, and the picture she was stuck on was of one of her and my father just after they were married.
It was like staring at a photo of myself. That was how much we looked alike.
“He was so handsome and stylish.”
“Indeed he was.” She looked up and smiled, causing me to chuckle and shrug. “I look just like him, so, of course, I’m going to agree, and my style is impeccable.”
After kissing her cheek, I sat on the arm of her chair while she traveled down memory lane.
I enjoyed the memories she shared about the photos as she moved through them.
It was something we both needed, and once she finished, we ended up in the kitchen, where she shared a bowl of peach cobbler that she’d made the night before.
It was way more than I needed, but it made my mother happy, so I indulged.
“How are Nari and the baby?”
“They’re good. You haven’t spoken to her?”
“Not in several days.”
So, at least she wasn’t just avoiding me.