Chapter 24
Stone
I was standing in the warehouse with Kenzo, surrounded by my crew. Antoine, Deacon, Julio, Terrell, and a few others. We were supposed to be having a meeting. Going over shipments, territory, money counts. The usual shit. But something was off.
Wes wasn’t here.
That nigga hadn’t shown up. Hadn’t called. Hadn’t texted. Nothing. And that bad feeling I’d had in my gut for months? It was back and that shit was stronger than ever.
“Ain’t nobody heard from Wes?” I asked, my voice cold.
Everyone shook their heads.
“Nah, boss,” Antoine said. “Ain’t heard from him.”
“Me neither,” Deacon added.
I exchanged a look with Kenzo. He could see it on my face. Could see that bad feeling eating at me.
“You think something up?” Kenzo asked quietly.
“I know something up,” I said. “That nigga been moving funny for a minute now. And now he just don’t show up? Nah. Something ain’t right.”
Kenzo nodded slowly. “You want me to send somebody to check on him?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Do that.”
I tried to push the bad feeling aside and focus on the meeting. We went over the numbers, discussed a few territory disputes, and made plans for the next shipment. But I couldn’t shake it. That feeling that something was wrong.
And then Kenzo’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen, then looked at me. “It’s Aurora,” he said.
My stomach dropped.
Kenzo answered, putting the phone to his ear. “Yo, what’s up?”
I watched his face. Watched as his expression shifted from casual to concerned.
“What the fuck?” he said. “When?”
My chest tightened.
“Aight, hold on,” Kenzo said. “We’ll figure it out.”
He hung up and looked at me.
And I already knew.
“What happened, Zo?” I asked, my voice low and dangerous.
“Aurora said Indie called her like an hour ago, said she was on her way,” Kenzo said. “But she never showed up. Aurora’s been trying to call her, but she ain’t answering.”
I felt like my chest was caving in. Like someone had reached inside and squeezed my heart until it stopped beating.
I pulled out my phone and called Javion. No answer. I called Troy. Still no answer.
“Fuck!” I roared, my hand tightening around my phone.
I knew.
I fuckin’ knew it.
Ain’t no way this was anybody but Wes.
And I was pissed at myself. Pissed that I hadn’t put that nigga in the dirt the second I suspected something was off. Pissed that I’d let him live long enough to do this.
“Stone—” Kenzo started.
The moment he opened his mouth, I fuckin’ snapped. I was so consumed by rage that I couldn’t control myself. I snatched Zo up by his shirt and hemmed him up against the wall like I was trying to push him through that bitch.
We struggled a bit until I overpowered him to the point that he just stopped fighting back. I felt like he could’ve gotten loose if he really tried, but he didn’t.
“I told you. I fuckin’ told you, Zo! Is you working with this nigga or some shit?” I demanded, nose to nose with him at that point.
“Fuck no!”
Zo was my brother, but I could literally break his neck right now as livid as I was. I still believed him though.
Antoine, Deacon, and everybody else watched in confusion but they didn’t step in.
Zo finally broke free from my grip and repositioned himself, but he didn’t engage me again, because he knew I was right. He fucked up in the worst way.
I called Javion’s phone again. No answer. I called Troy. No fuckin’ answer. I called Indie. Straight to voicemail.
“Fuck!” I yelled, hurling my phone across the room. It smashed into the wall and the screen shattered.
Everybody was staring at me, their faces a mix of shock and concern, but I didn’t give a fuck. I didn’t give a fuck about anything except getting Indie back.
“Stone,” Kenzo said quietly. “We’ll find her. I promise.”
I turned to look at him, and I knew my face was a mask of rage and pain.
“Dog, she pregnant,” I said, my voice breaking.
Kenzo’s eyes went wide. “What?”
“She’s pregnant, Zo,” I said again. “She’s carrying my baby. And this nigga took her, man.”
Kenzo’s expression shifted from shock to fury.
“We gon’ get her back,” he said, his voice hard. “I don’t care what it takes. We getting her back.”
I nodded, my hands clenched into fists.
Indie was out there somewhere. Scared. Alone. Maybe hurt. And she was carrying my child. Our child.
My family was in danger, and I was gon’ murder every nigga involved. If they weren’t okay…if anything happened to Indie or our baby…I wouldn’t stop until all they asses was dead.
And everyone they loved.
“Antoine,” I barked. “Get on the phone. I want every nigga we got out looking for Indie. Check every corner, every safe house, every spot Wes might’ve taken her.”
“On it, boss,” Antoine said, pulling out his phone.
“Deacon, Julio,” I continued. “I want you to find Wes. I don’t care if you gotta turn this whole city upside down. Find that nigga and bring him to me. Alive.”
They nodded and headed out.
“Terrell,” I said. “Pull up the GPS on Javion’s SUV. Track his last location.”
“Already on it,” Terrell said, typing furiously on his laptop.
I turned to Kenzo. “We getting her back,” I said, my voice cold and deadly. “Whatever it takes.”
“Whatever it takes,” Kenzo echoed.
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Like my lungs were being crushed. I knew I wouldn’t be able to breathe properly again until I got Indie back in one piece. Safe. With our baby still growing inside her.
I was coming for her, and God help anyone who got in my way.