Chapter 26
Stone
I’d already dropped three bodies.
Three niggas who either didn’t know where Indie was or refused to tell me. Either way, they were dead now. And I didn’t feel shit about it.
I was standing in an alley behind one of Wes’s known spots, blood splattered across my white shirt, my gun still warm in my hand.
Kenzo was next to me, his own gun drawn, his face hard. He hadn’t said a word. Hadn’t tried to stop me. Hadn’t tried to tell me to calm down or think rationally. Because he knew there was no reasoning with me right now. He knew I was past the point of no return.
I was unhinged. A fucking maniac. And I didn’t care. All I cared about was finding Indie. Finding my woman. Finding the mother of my child.
I had every single person in my organization out looking for her. Every corner. Every safe house. Every spot Wes might’ve taken her. But so far, nothing. And with every passing minute, I felt myself unraveling more.
I kept imagining the worst. Kept seeing flashes of Indie hurt. Bleeding. Crying. Begging for help that wasn’t coming.
I saw her tied up. Beaten. Broken. And I didn’t know if she was alive or dead. Didn’t know if our baby was okay. The not knowing was killing me. It was fucking eating me alive from the inside out.
My phone rang and I looked down at the shattered screen. It was an unknown number, but I knew who it was.
I answered, my jaw tight.
“Speak,” I said, my voice cold.
“Stone,” Wes said, his voice smug. “Long time no talk, my nigga.”
I wanted to reach through the phone and rip his fucking throat out.
“Where is she?” I said, my voice deadly calm.
Wes laughed. This nigga actually fucking laughed.
“She’s safe,” he said. “For now.”
“If you put yo’ fuckin’ hands on her—”
“You’ll what?” Wes cut me off. “You ain’t in no position to be making threats, Stone. I got yo’ bitch. I got all the power here.”
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to stay calm. Forcing myself not to lose it. Because he was right. He had the upper hand. He had Indie. And if I fucked this up, she’d pay the price. I couldn’t let that happen.
“What you want?” I asked.
“Five million,” Wes said. “Cash. You got two days, nigga.”
Five million. It was a lot of money, but I had it. And I’d pay ten times that to get Indie back.
“You’ll get it,” I said.
“Good,” Wes said. “And Stone? Don’t try no funny shit. Don’t send nobody to follow me. Don’t try to track me. Because if I even think you playing games, I’ma start sending you pieces of yo’ girl. Starting with her fingers.”
My blood ran cold.
“You touch her—”
“TWO DAYS, mothafucka,” Wes said, cutting me off again. “I’ll tell you where to bring it.”
Then he hung up.
I stared at my phone, my hand shaking with rage.
Kenzo put a hand on my shoulder.
“We gon’ get her back,” he said quietly.
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t respond. All I could think about was Wes’s threat. About him cutting off Indie’s fingers. Hurting her, hurting our baby. I felt like I was losing my mind. Like I was spiraling out of control, and there wasn’t shit I could do to stop it.
My phone rang again. This time it was Antoine.
“Boss,” he said when I answered. “We got something.”
“Talk,” I said.
“One of our guys got info from that stripper Wes be fuckin’ with at Chrome,” Antoine said. “Pillow talking ass nigga got a spot off MLK. Could be where they at.”
My heart started pounding. “Send me the address,” I said.
“Already done.”
I hung up and looked at Kenzo. “We got a location,” I told him.
Kenzo nodded. “Let’s move.”
***
The house was in a rundown neighborhood, the kind of place where people minded their own business and didn’t ask questions. The house itself was a piece of shit. Boarded-up windows, peeling paint, overgrown yard.
There were two niggas posted outside. Armed.
I looked at Kenzo, Antoine, and Deacon. We were all wearing bulletproof vests under our jackets. All armed with multiple weapons.
“We go in fast,” I said. “Take out anybody in our way. Find Indie. Get her out. Remember, I want this nigga Wes alive.”
They nodded.
We parked down the street, hopped out, and moved toward the house. The two guards saw us coming and reached for their guns, but we were faster.
I fired first, hitting one of them square in the forehead. He dropped like a sack of bricks. Kenzo took out the second one with a clean headshot.
We didn’t stop. Didn’t slow down. We kicked in the front door and rushed inside. Gunfire erupted immediately. Bullets flew past my head, embedding in the walls. I fired back, hitting one of the shooters in the chest. He went down.
Antoine and Deacon were on my left, taking out two more. Then I saw Javion. The nigga who’d betrayed me. Who’d shot Troy and taken Indie.
He was standing at the end of the hallway, his gun raised. He fired. I ducked, the bullet whizzing past my ear. I fired back but missed.
Javion ran toward a back room. I chased after him, Kenzo right behind me.
Javion turned and fired again. This time, Kenzo returned fire.
The bullet hit Javion in the throat. He dropped his gun, clutching his neck as blood poured between his fingers.
He fell to his knees, then collapsed face-first on the floor.
I didn’t spare him another glance. I kept moving, kept searching. And then I heard her.
“Stone!”
Indie’s voice. She sounded weak and scared, but alive.
I burst through the door of the back room with Kenzo, Antoine, and Deacon right behind me. My heart stopped.
Indie was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Her face was bruised. Her lip was split. There was dried blood on her chin. And Wes was standing next to her with a gun to her head.
Indie’s eyes locked on mine, and I saw something I’d never seen before.
Fear.
Real, raw fear.
Indie was the most fearless woman I knew. She’d stood up to me when I was ready to kill her brother. She’d hit me and cussed me out more times than I could count. She didn’t back down from nobody. But right now, she looked helpless. She looked scared.
And it fucking killed me.
“Drop the gun, Stone,” Wes said, pressing the barrel harder against Indie’s temple.
Indie flinched. I saw a tear roll down her cheek.
“Drop it, nigga!” Wes yelled.
I lowered my gun slowly, my eyes never leaving Indie’s. “It’s okay, baby,” I said, my voice calm. “I got you.”
Wes laughed.
“You ain’t got shit,” he said. “You selfish mothafucka. You think you the only one supposed to eat? I was one of yo’ top soldiers, nigga!
I been putting in work! Y’all sitting up, taking vacations and shit while we out here steppin’ for real.
And now, you going soft ‘bout this random bitch.” He looked at Indie.
“I shoulda blew yo’ head off the first time you tried me. ”
He was ranting now. Getting more and more fired up. Getting distracted.
“You ain’t loyal, Stone. You a weirdo,” Wes continued. “I moved yo’ product. Knocked niggas off. Kept this shit moving! And for what? Scraps? Nah, fuck that. I’ma get mine.”
I wasn’t listening to his bullshit. I was watching and waiting. Looking for an opening. And then I saw it.
Wes was so caught up in his speech, so focused on his anger, that his grip on the gun loosened. Just slightly, but it was just enough.
I caught Indie’s eye, and I knew she realized it too. She leaned down fast, giving me a clear shot.
I didn’t hesitate. I raised my gun and fired. The bullet pierced Wes in the side, just below his ribs. He staggered back, his face twisted in shock and pain, but he didn’t go down.
He raised his gun, aimed at me, and fired. The bullet hit me in the shoulder, tearing through muscle and bone. Pain exploded through my body, and I used all my strength to remain standing, but I couldn’t aim my gun fast enough.
Indie screamed. “Stone!”
Wes tried to take another shot, but Kenzo intervened, immediately putting another bullet in him. The gun fell out of his hand, and he dropped to the ground. Antoine and Deacon rushed to Indie, cutting the ropes that bound her.
I felt my legs give out. Felt myself falling. I hit the floor hard, blood pouring from my shoulder. And then Indie was there. She dropped to her knees next to me, her hands on my face.
“Stone, no,” she sobbed. “Please. Please don’t leave me.”
I looked up at her. At her beautiful face, the tears streaming down her cheeks.
Then I smirked.
Even through the pain.
Even as I felt myself fading.
“I already told you I ain’t gon’ never leave you again, baby,” I said, my voice weak.
Indie made a sound that was half sob, half laugh. She pressed her forehead to mine, her tears falling on my face.
“I love you,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, baby,” I said.
My vision was starting to blur. The room was spinning.
I could hear Kenzo on the phone. “Yeah, we need the doc. Now. Stone’s been shot. Meet us at the warehouse.”
I tried to stay focused. Tried to keep my eyes on Indie. But it was getting harder.
“Stay with me,” Indie begged, her voice breaking. “Please, Stone. Stay with me.”
I wanted to. Wanted to tell her I wasn’t going anywhere. But the darkness was pulling me under.
The last thing I heard before everything went black was Indie’s voice crying my name. Begging me not to leave her.