Chapter 23

Me and Mace sat in the comfort of Judge Edgar Willis’s living room.

The judge wasn’t home, so we were patiently waiting on him. With his wife being dead and his children no longer in the home, he lived alone. I’d been itching to get my hands on him since I saw his name on that warrant. I didn’t know this nigga. I had no dealings with him personally, so for him to find himself on my bad side was a grave mistake on his part.

My brother and I had gotten here about fifteen minutes ago. We were both dressed in all black from head to toe with skull caps and gloves. Maceo disarmed the security system, and we slipped in undetected. Now it was just a waiting game.

“I wish this nigga would hurry the fuck up,” he complained.

“You in a rush or something?”

“I might have somewhere to be.”

“Where?”

“None of your business.”

“Nigga, you are my business. The fuck? As a matter of fact, what was that shit you wanted to talk to me about at the lounge? You never brought it back up.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Lying ass. You in some shit?”

“No. Even if I was, I can handle mine.”

“Stop playing with me. You know we don’t even move like that.”

“All you need to know is I got this shit.”

Just as I went to open my mouth, a set of headlights flashed in the window.

“We’ll talk about this later,” I told him. “It’s showtime.”

A minute or so passed before we heard a door close then the sound of the front locks disengaging. It opened and in stepped Edgar. He looked tired as hell and unsuspecting of the fact that he was about to get his permanent rest. He closed and locked the door then flipped on the lights. When he saw us, his eyes widened.

“Please! You don’t have to do this!”

I pointed my gun at him. “Don’t start that begging shit. Come sitcho’ old ass down.”

He hurriedly came to sit on the couch in front of us.

“We can talk about this?—”

“Muthafucka, the only thing I want to hear is why you signed off on a fucking warrant for the feds to raid my business.”

“I… I didn’t have a choice.”

“Oh, you always have a choice,” Maceo informed him.

I stood and walked over to him. “Who blackmailed you and what did they have on you?”

“Detective Pearson… somehow he knew I was earning commission for every guilty sentence I handed down. He threatened to expose me if I didn’t sign the warrant.”

“What’s there for him to gain?” Maceo asked.

Edgar shook his head. “I don’t know, I swear. Please… I have children… grandchildren.”

“And now you have a muthafucking problem. You see, judge, I never fuck with anybody that ain’t fucking with me first. Frankly, I don’t give a fuck about you padding charges, but since I’m a nice guy, I’ma take care of that. Give me the names of everybody you’re working with.”

He was hesitant. Again, I pointed my gun at him.

“You want your son to be next? Maybe your daughter. There’s quite a bit of space beside your wife. We can make it a family plot.”

He frantically went into his briefcase and pulled out a legal pad and pen. I watched as he scribbled the names down. Ripping the paper off, he handed it to me. I looked the list over, recognizing several of the names.

“I cooperated… you can let me live right?”

I chuckled. “You think that’s how this works? You confessed to a crime and I’m just gonna let you go because you told me what I wanted to know? You a funny ass nigga.”

The smile dropped from my face as I leaned in closer to him. I could smell the fear in him.

“You made me a pawn to cover up your dirty dealings. I don’t like that and I can’t have that.” I tapped the legal pad. “Confess and make it good. It better sound like that guilt was eating you alive.”

“You… you want me to write a suicide note?”

“Precisely. I mean, it has to be believable once the story comes out, right?”

“You’re insane!

I shrugged. “Slightly. Chop chop. You got five minutes.”

This nigga was snotty and crying, getting it all over the damn paper.

“Yeah, that’s it,” I coached him. “This is gonna be great for the theatrics.”

Behind me, Maceo laughed. “Nigga, what!”

“I should have had his ass record a video to leak to the press.” I tapped the side of the judge’s head with the gun. “Hurry the fuck up, nigga!”

He wrote faster, mumbling a prayer under his breath.

“Whatchu’ praying for? You think God is gonna welcome your corrupt ass into the pearly gates? How many people did you put away for years for non-violent crimes? How many innocent people are sitting behind bars because you wanted to get rich? Heaven ain’t got no room for niggas like you or me. We’ll both burn, but you first.”

He looked up at me in disbelief. I was sure when he woke up this morning, he had no idea he was taking his final breath. He placed the pen and legal pad beside him on the couch and closed his eyes. Reaching behind me, I pulled out the gun I found in his office and handed it to him.

“There’s one bullet and two of us. You only have two options, jail or the grave. Let’s be honest. Jail is gonna put you in the grave, too. You can’t run because I will find you. The odds aren’t in your favor.” I turned to my brother as I stood. “Let’s go.”

We headed for the back entrance we came in through. I wasn’t worried about the judge trying to shoot me or Maceo. His life was over the minute I gave Jaeda these names to leak to the press. He would never survive in prison and the people involve would never let him live. He was dead either way.

Just as I opened the door, the gun went off. I looked back momentarily to see Edgar slumped over on the couch with blood and brain matter covering him. I shook my head. At least I didn’t have to get my hands dirty.

“ Y o. What the fuck does y’all’s brother have going on?” I asked my siblings.

We were in our own VIP section at one of the local clubs. Tonight was Kerrion’s birthday, so we had to step out and celebrate my boy. Maceo wasn’t here yet, but he was on the way and so were Salima and Shar. My baby insisted on riding with her friend, because they’d been shopping and getting ready half the damn day, so I sent a car to pick her up.

“Whatchu mean?” Devin asked, passing me the blunt.

“I mean, he’s got some secretive shit going on. I feel like he went and got his ass caught up in some outside shit.”

“We don’t even move like that,” Kerrion said.

I nodded. “Exactly. I’d hate to have to beat his ass.”

Mia waved me off. “That’s a grown ass man.”

“I don’t give a fuck. We don’t work with anybody outside of the family or people that aren’t handpicked. That’s the quickest way to get caught up. It’s not like he needs the money. Shit, if he’s looking for a thrill, we can play Russian Roulette.”

Jaeda shook her head. “This is why I stay behind the computer. Y’all do too much.”

“Speaking of computer, are you done with that internet shit?”

She scoffed. “Not you putting my business out there, Deuce!”

“What internet shit?” Devin asked, frowning.

“None of your damn business, and why the fuck would you bring that up? God! I swear sometimes you act like my damn daddy. You might be the oldest, but everybody here is a fucking adult, Stanley. I can handle myself. I don’t need your protection.”

I knew she was mad when she used my government name. She stood and stormed off to the bathroom with Mia following behind her.

“How did you piss off the quiet one?” Devin asked.

Kerrion waved his hand animatedly. “Man, fuck all that. It’s a real nigga’s birthday and I’m not trying to hear y’all bitch and argue. We turning up or what?”

He waved a server over and ordered up a round of shots. By the time she left, Maceo was making his way over, along with Shar and my baby. I licked my lips as she grew closer.

“Shit,” I mumbled, standing to my feet.

She was dressed in a fitted black dress. The top crossed over her breasts, exposing her stomach, and the bottom stopped mid-thigh. On her feet were a pair of black strappy heels that tied at her calf. She’d gotten her hair done today in knotless braids that she pulled into a ponytail. My baby was glistening in the jewels I’d gifted her with her apartment.

She was looking good as a muthafucka. When she saw me ogling her, she smirked.

“Hey, baby.”

She greeted me by coming straight into my arms. Mine slid around her to find that her dress was backless.

“You must want me to take you outta here,” I said.

She giggled as she cupped my face and kissed me. “I look good, don’t I?”

“You look like you are getting fucked at the end of the night.”

“That’s the plan.”

She winked at me before making her rounds to greet my siblings. Maceo introduced Shar to Devin and Kerrion. By this time, Mia and Jaeda had returned with drinks in hand. I pulled Salima onto my lap and whispered some nasty shit in her ear, causing her to laugh.

“This nigga,” Devin jested with a smirk. “He gets an ol’ lady and don’t know how to act. I’ve never seen this man caking in the club.”

“Cause my girl has that juice,” Shar declared, slapping Salima five.

“And I’m trying to juice you the fuck up tonight,” I said lowly in her ear.

She smirked as she dropped the lips I loved so much on me again. She tongued me down right there in front of everybody. I couldn’t help myself when it came to her. Something about her had me in a fucking chokehold that I wasn’t ready to get out of any time soon.

Our shots arrived, and we quickly downed them. Kerrion told the server to keep them coming. We settled into the section now that everybody was here. I was feeling good. I had my lady. I was with my day ones. The music was vibing. The atmosphere was chill. It was just a good time.

We’d be partying for a few hours, and I had a nice buzz going. It wasn’t until I looked up and saw LeAnn marching toward the section with a concerned look on her face with the smile leave mine. She didn’t even speak when she rolled up on us.

“You need to leave right now,” she said. “It’s an emergency.”

“The fuck kind of emergency?” I asked, standing.

She looked around at the rest of the group who were patiently waiting on her to elaborate.

“Silk… “

Silk was the name of the first of the five lounges I owned. It was closed today, so I wasn’t sure what she was trying to tell me.

“It’s gone, Deuce. Burned to the ground.”

“What!”

“I’ve been calling and texting you for at least an hour now. I went by and you could literally smell the gasoline in the air. Somebody set that shit on fire. Firetrucks and police are everywhere.”

I could feel my blood boiling. My brothers moved to stand, and the girls did too.

“Let’s go,” Kerrion said.

I grabbed Salima’s hand and pulled her behind me as we filed out of the lounge and to our cars. Traffic was heavy, and it made the five-minute drive turn into twenty. By the time we got there, it was nothing but smoke, burned bricks, and ashed. My brothers and I exited the cars and went over to Benson, one of the officers on our payroll.

“What the fuck happened?” I demanded.

“It was definitely foul play. Looks like they pried the back door open and doused the place in gasoline. It spread pretty quick.”

“You got any leads?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Not enough to go off of. The person that called it in said they saw a black car speeding from the area just before the flames engulfed everything. They didn’t get a plate, but I have someone pulling the camera footage from surrounding buildings.”

“Make sure you get that and send it to Jaeda so she can analyze it. I don’t trust these muthafuckas. Somebody is fucking with me and I’m getting my shit back in blood.”

“I hear you. I’ll be on the lookout.”

“You know anything about a Detective Ian Pearson?”

His brows furrowed. “Pearson… Pearson… nah, that doesn’t ring a bell. I can look into it. You think it’s him?”

“All I know is he blackmailed Willis into signing that warrant that got the feds to raid my place the other week. I wanna know what that muthafucka is doing in my city and who sent for him. You get me that and I’ve got you. I have a feeling I know who it is. I just don’t know the connection between the two. ”

“I got you.”

We left him with a head nod and headed back toward the cars. I stopped when we were a few feet away.

“This shit has Mirron’s ass written all over it,” I stated confidently.

Maceo frowned. “You think he’s working with the feds?”

“I’m sure he thinks by fucking with me, he’ll wear me down. As soon as I find out what the connection is between him and Pearson, I want both of those niggas head on a fucking platter.”

The news of Judge Willis and his dirty dealings already broke headlines. Jaeda was able to confirm transfers to his bank from every person on the list he gave me. She also located records of his convictions and it was no surprise that the charges didn’t match the crimes committed. There were at least fifty people serving extra time for petty crimes and about ten serving time for crimes with no real evidence they committed.

I had her send an encrypted email of her findings to the director of the FBI along with the deputy director and a national news station. It didn’t take long for the story to hit every news outlet. All of Willis’s cases were being investigated and arrests were being made.

It seemed as though he had opened the can of worms with his confession, but unbeknownst to anybody on the outside, I orchestrated the whole thing. I didn’t like to do shit without concrete proof. As much of a menace as I could be, I needed to justify my actions. I couldn’t act on impulse, even if my gut was telling me to. I couldn’t be reckless. I was nothing if not a calculated muthafucka.

Mirron had better count his fucking days.