Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(154)

Felix rolled his face on the chain-link.

I was tired of him stalling. “Who put the hit out on my woman?”

“Man, I don’t know nothing about a hit.”

I shook him hard. “Do not f*cking lie to me!”

“I’m not! No one is talking about taking out a cop or anything. I swear.”

I twisted his arm higher, adding to his misery. “Who the f*ck unloaded a magazine on my girlfriend?”

“I don’t know,” he snapped. “No crew even give a flying f*ck about pig *.”

I wanted to snap his neck. “You know they’re coming after you next. If I found you, you think Mancuso’s crew can’t fish you out?” I could feel the small pipe in his front pocket. “You end up in gen-pop, you’ll be shived before lunch.”

“Man, f*ck you.”

“Sorry, not into skinny white dudes.”

Marcus cleared his throat, telling me to speed this up.

“Why did they take your brother out, Felix? I already know who did it; help me understand why.”

His resolve was wavering.

“Give me something. Help me get them off the streets. Your mom, your sister, all safe.”

“I talk to you, I end up like them.”

“Not if I get to them first.”

Felix scoffed. “Like mofos are worried about ATTF, ‘n sure as hell ain’t worried about Mister Hollywood. Boys have been playin’ you for months. Ain’t even breakin’ a sweat over it.”

I gave him another hard jostle as a reminder that time was ticking and I wasn’t above beating his ass for answers. “Enjoy jail. Fuck if I care you become someone’s bitch.”

“All right. All right,” he groaned. “You gonna let me walk?”

“Up to you. It’s all just paperwork for us.”

“Shew.” He glared over his shoulder. “I’m a dead man.”

“Then do your brother a solid.”

Felix bowed his head, slowly rolling it. “All I know was Benny was talking to this dude.”

“Who?”

“Name’s Akim.”

“Akim?”

“I don’t know what went down. Benny didn’t share.”

“Where do I find this Akim?”

Felix sneered. “Man, what do I look like? The muther-f*cking phone book?”

Marcus reached back, palmed Felix’s head, and shoved hard, bouncing his face off the fencing. That got the punk to change his answer.

He spit blood onto the ground. “Try Savage Lexus, you f*ckin’ f*cks.”





“I DON’T KNOW, brother,” Marcus drawled.

I caught the sight of Felix walking in my side mirror as the tires kicked up stones and dust behind me.

“If they wanted her dead, she’d be dead.” That realization had hit me soon after I had dragged Felix by the hair from the back of the truck. Criminals didn’t send “messages” —they made statements and drove them home painfully.

Marcus nodded. “Harsh but true. And we sure as hell have been getting played at our own game.”

I glanced at him quickly.

“Yeah,” he said, reading me, “I thought about that too. Don’t want to think about one of our own but nothing surprises me anymore.”

“Don’t know how else they could know our moves.”

Marcus scoffed. “Shit. We’ve been broadcasting our deal every f*cking Sunday. Even my eight-year-old nephew can call it.”

I peeled out of the lot, heading north back into the city, retribution the only thing on my mind.

“Adam, want you to know that I get ya. Someone tore up my house putting my family in danger, I’d be losing my f*cking mind. Just got to play this smart, you follow? Can’t fire off half-cocked; that shit will get you hurt.”

Hurt? I already felt dead inside; the rest was still blistering out, leaving a path of char and agony in its wake. “I lost her, Marcus. Wasn’t bad enough that Ramirez’s wife filled Erin’s head with shit. There were bullet holes in the pillow where she’d been resting on the couch. As much as I don’t want to admit it, someone tried to take me out, I’d probably leave, too.”

Marcus nodded. “She back to work?”

“Yeah. Last two nights. One of the security guards there has been giving me updates. He knows the deal and is keeping watch.”

“Good. You ever think…?” He looked out the window. “Nah.”

I hated open-ended comments. “Think what?”

Marcus glanced over. “Shit like this makes for exciting TV.”

I ground my teeth together. “Thought of that, too. But there’s no connection between someone firing up Erin’s place and the show, beyond Melissa, and as much as she’s another one to be leery of, she ain’t crazy enough to attempt murder.”

“Dumb and Dumber were with us when we got that call, though. I don’t remember if they filmed the scene, do you?”

My mind was a swirling vortex of rage. I’d been focused on one thing and one thing only that night—making sure Erin was alive. “Can’t say if they did or not.”

“I hate to say it, bro, but this ain’t over.”