Chapter Nine.
The next morning arrived before Crown was ready for it.
He leaped out of bed, quickly took care of his hygiene, and got dressed.
After helping Nivéa and Nyla with their morning routine, he headed out the door.
His destination was the clubhouse, where Pete and Spencer were already waiting for him alongside Danger.
“Was Maino brought in?” Crown got straight to it, slapping hands with his brother, not giving a fuck about greeting them. They were paid well for their time and resources, and that was all he had to offer.
“No. According to the report, Lawson questioned him at his residence for about thirty minutes. Maino never broke his story, so he had no choice but to leave eventually. There was nothing else to bring him in on.” Pete replied.
“What was his story exactly?”
“That Boe stopped by to support him because the anniversary of his mother’s death was approaching. He stayed a few days, then left, and he hadn’t seen or spoken to him since. When Lawson got back to the station, he confirmed that Maino’s mother’s death anniversary had, in fact, just passed.”
Crown nodded. Maino’s silence was the only thing easing his mind about letting him live.
Smoky believed the nigga was solid, but he didn’t base decisions on someone else’s feelings…
not even his best friend’s. So far, though, Maino had proven Smoky right.
He had even been smart enough to provide something that could be verified. Crown peeped game.
“Is Lawson the type of nigga to let it die, or he gon’ keep pressing the issue? What you know about him?”
“I’m not sure. But what I do know is he is a lone wolf. No wife or kids, practically lives for the job. He’s known to be a real hard-ass. Once he thinks someone knows more than they’re letting on, he keeps digging. Maino holding his story might not be enough to deter him.” Spencer answered.
“Understood. So, you both sure Smoky never came up during the questioning when you read the report?” Crown asked.
“Not once.” Pete replied.
Spencer shifted his stance, his expression tightening as if something had been weighing on him since before their arrival.
“What the fuck wrong with you?” Crown asked, noticing the change. “You know something different?”
“Pete’s right. Smoky never came up in the questioning. But that strikes me as odd. When the Knights first came onto our radar as one of Preach’s buyers, everyone in Major Crimes was made to learn your faces. Especially those at the top. You, Danger, Smoky, and Mo.
There’s no way Lawson could have looked Smoky, the Knights’ sergeant-at-arms, in the eye and not recognized him.
Yet he questioned Maino for a while and never mentioned Smoky being present at his home not once.
He didn’t ask why they were together. Didn’t put his name in the report. ” Spencer shook his head.
“That tells me something is off. I’m just not sure what that something is.
Boe was an informant who mentioned all of you.
So, seeing Smoky with Maino should’ve connected some dots for Lawson and had him questioning what that connection could mean.
I believe he left Smoky out of the report on purpose. ”
Crown went quiet, considering it. Spencer was right. That wasn’t sloppy police work. It was a choice.
“Aight, I need Lawson’s vehicle information. Whatever he drives when he ain’t in a department car. Make, model, color, and plate.” He said.
Spencer’s posture stiffened. “I can’t just hand over another detective’s personal information.”
Crown slowly cut his eyes toward him as Danger stepped forward. Never much of a morning person, he had stayed in the background, quietly listening and observing. Now, he stood just inches from Spencer, ready to slit his fucking throat with the blade he’d just pulled from his pocket.
“You’ll do whatever the fuck we tell you to do.” He said.
“O…okay.” Spencer nervously glanced at the blade in his hand. Feeling the tension in the air, he cleared his throat and took a step back before trying again with Crown.
“I don’t want any issues with you all. I’m just saying…
this is different. Feeding you information about what we have on the Knights and other street guys is one thing.
But I give you Lawson’s plate, and something happens to him, that’s going to eat at me.
I would’ve helped you put your hands on a detective. Possibly helped you take his life.”
Crown pushed away from the wall and walked toward him.
“I don’t give a fuck about your conscience. Refusing to give me that information might have you in a morgue instead. Or fuck it, maybe I’ll travel up north to Methodist and put holes in yo’ sick ass son. So, which one you prefer? You or him?”
Spencer’s heart dropped when he realized Crown had done his homework and figured out which hospital his son was in.
He looked toward Pete for guidance, but Pete offered him no help.
He was used to this kind of shit with the Knights.
Crown had never pretended their arrangement came without consequences, and Pete understood exactly what he was accepting every time he took the Knights’ money.
You couldn’t play a dirty game and then try to be noble.
“I’ll give you the vehicle information.”
“That you will.” Crown stepped back, grabbed the duffel bag filled with money from a nearby table, and handed it to Pete to split between the two of them. “Now, get the fuck on.”
After both men left the property, Danger looked at his brother.
“So, we drop this Lawson nigga and quiet him?” he asked.
“Nah, that’s the last resort. Killing Lawson won’t make an ongoing investigation disappear. Another detective would just inherit his files, then investigate his murder on top of it. That’ll only make them dig deeper.”
“What you planning to do with the vehicle information then, bro?”
“Find out where Lawson goes when he thinks nobody’s watching. Everybody got secrets. I wanna know his.”
Danger nodded before getting to what had really been bothering him.
“So, you ready to tell me what the fuck going on with Smoky? Why was he at that nigga’s crib? And why this muthafucka still breathing after shooting up our clubhouse?”
“Nah, it ain’t my business to tell. You wanna know, ask Smoky when he gets here.
For now, just know you are not to touch Maino until I say otherwise, bro.
My business is protecting the Knights, and that’s what I’ma do, like always.
Speaking of which, remind everyone to keep an eye out and stay on high alert.
We are officially at war with the Dessalinés Mob.
Don’t let these niggas catch them slippin’.
Don’t use the same bikes, cars, or routines. None of that. Switch it up.”
“Bet.”
Crown pointed at him, giving him one final warning. “Park that fuckin’ Hellcat. I don’t want you in it for now. That shits loud…flashy. The whole Hills knows it’s yours.”
“Aight, bro. Damn, chill. I heard you.”
Crown took one last pull from his blunt, tossed it onto the concrete, and stomped it out before walking away. He needed to check with Sav about Loki before making it to his firm.
∞∞∞
Crown was talking to Sav when the first SUV rolled past the warehouse.
Always on high alert, he paused mid-sentence and glanced toward the front windows at the sound of the engine.
Right when he was about to peek through the blinds, a wave of gunfire erupted outside.
Already knowing who it was, he and Sav reached for their rifles and headed toward the front.
Outside, their brothers on the rooftop and on foot below were already returning fire, with Danger leading the response.
Crown had been preaching this could happen; he knew the Dessalinés Mob didn’t give a fuck where they pulled up at.
The first few SUVs were no match for the Knights' fury, though.
Between Danger and Domo alone, they dropped about three niggas per vehicle.
Crown fell in line, busting back, sending one of the SUVs veering toward the curb as his bullets struck the driver's side.
But as he let off rounds, something didn't sit right with him. It was too easy.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, more SUVs poured down the street. Eventually, one of the Dessalinés Mob soldiers caught one of the Knights on the roof. Then another hit two more on the ground.
Preach leaned out the passenger window with his Draco and let loose, successfully striking two members from Crown’s charter and another from the other charter.
He had purposely sent in the first five SUVs filled with young Dessalinés Mob soldiers who were eager to prove themselves and earn their place with the Mob.
Young, reckless niggas who didn’t know enough to question why they were being sent in first. Preach knew they would cause a slight distraction and catch the first wave of heat before he and the senior members pulled in.
He didn’t give a fuck. In his eyes, they were expendable.
“Move!” Preach shouted to his men.
With different-colored locs swinging as they moved, several of his soldiers jumped from the SUVs and returned fire from behind the open doors and hoods. The massive street became a blur of flashes as glass shattered, engines roared, and men scrambled for cover.
Round after round was exchanged, with both sides losing men.
But just as Preach had assumed, the Knights were too organized.
It didn’t take him long to realize he was losing more men than Crown.
He ducked behind an SUV as rounds struck it.
Just as he was about to tell his men to retreat, the roar of a motorcycle echoed from the back street, cutting through the gunfire.
Smoky hit the corner and came flying around it on his Road King Special.
He was away checking on their chop shop, but he was there now.
And he let his presence be known. Skillfully, he swung the bike alongside the back of the clubhouse and jumped off before it had fully settled.
His gun was already in his hand as he made his way around the front lot.
He aimed it toward the street just as Crown switched weapons, bringing out a machine gun. Together, they sprayed the block.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat.
“Rale kò w!” Preach yelled. “Everybody pull the fuck back!”
The remaining soldiers scrambled into the SUVs as bullets continued flying. Preach climbed into the nearest one, and Dimitri sped away, leaving the fallen behind.