Chapter 27

THREE DAYS LATER

I paced back and forth in front of Marcus Trainor, the muthafucka who was supposed to be trailing Mirron’s bitch ass. We were in one of the warehouses owned by my uncle. Most of the family had gathered here. We’d been looking for Salima for seventy-two hours now.

Mirron turned off his phone so Jaeda couldn’t pinpoint his location and the last location she had on him was the airport. We’d been all over this fucking city. I sent people to his home and to the homes of anybody affiliated with him.

Nobody had seen him.

I was hungry, tired, and mad as a muthafucka and this nigga was about to catch my rage.

“How the fuck did you lose that nigga?” I asked calmly.

“I… I don’t know man. He got off the plane with Eduardo and I had him. Somehow, we got separated and he was just gone.”

I chuckled. “He was just gone.”

My fists connected with his face. The first punch caused his head to snap back, and the second put him on his knees. I grabbed him by his collar, bringing my face to his.

“You know this is it for you, right? You let that muthafucka out of your sight and now you gotta answer for that.”

“Deuce, please man! I have kids!”

“And if anything happens to Salima, your entire fucking bloodline is going straight to hell!”

I felt hands on my shoulders pulling me back. I turned to see my father.

“Ease up,” he said.

I snatched away from him. “Get the fuck off me.”

He grabbed me by the back of my neck, forcing me to stand up straight.

“I get you’re upset, but remember who the fuck you talking to. Take a walk.”

He didn’t give me the option. His thumb dug into my pressure point as he steered me away from Marcus and outside the building. Once we were alone, he released me.

“Take some deep breaths,” he instructed.

“I don’t need to take deep breaths. I need to find Salima.”

“You can’t find her if you aren’t focused. You know that. You’ve been on a rampage for three days now.”

“How the hell am I supposed to focus when I don’t know if she’s alive or dead?”

“Be the smart nigga I know you are. Mirron wants something from you. He’s not gonna do anything to her without knowing he has it.”

I paced back and forth, trying to calm my nerves. They’d been on ten since that night. I hadn’t slept. I hadn’t eaten. I hadn’t done anything but drive myself crazy. Anger was brewing inside me and the moment I got my hands on Mirron’s bitch ass, I was unleashing every ounce of rage on him.

I could handle him fucking with me. That was nothing. But fucking with my woman to get to me… all bets were off.

I leaned against the wall, taking the deep breaths my father suggested. That shit wasn’t working.

“Fuck!” I yelled, pushing off from the wall and kicking the door.

My father pulled me into a hug. As hard as I tried to fight that shit, I had to drop a tear. Salima was my fucking baby. I loved that girl. The thought of a muthafucka hurting her was enough to make me lose my shit.

“Let it out, and get your shit together,” my father said. “Remember who the fuck you are.”

I nodded as I dried my eyes and took a deep breath. This shit was fucking with me heavy. I wasn’t just looking for Salima for myself. I was looking for her mother. I was looking for Shar.

When Shar and I broke the news to Mrs. Navarro, she almost passed out.

It was the morning after and I’d been out all night trying to locate Salima. I showed up at Mrs. Navarro’s still dressed in my clothes from the night before. Shar pulled up right after me.

When she got out of the car, her eyes were red and puffy. She gave me a quick hug before we made our way up to the front door. She knocked softly and a few seconds later, Mrs. Navarro opened the door, dressed in her work uniform. Initially she smiled until she saw the looks on our face.

“What’s wrong…” She looked around us. “Where’s Salima?”

“Auntie, you should sit down,” Shar said, guiding her over to the couch.

“Shar, where is she? Where’s my baby?”

I slowly walked over and took a seat beside her.

“Stanley, where is she!” she yelled.

I began by explaining what led to last night’s events. When we told her that Salima had been abducted, she dropped to her knees on the floor.

“Not my baby! God, why! You can’t take her from me!”

Me and Shar tried to comfort her, but it was no use.

“I promise, I’m gonna get her back,” I said. “The person responsible is gonna pay for this shit.”

She grabbed my by my collar. “You have to find her! That’s my only child! I can’t bury her, Stanley, I cant!”

With her heart condition, I didn’t wanna tell her at all. She needed to know, though. I’d never had someone cry so hard in my arms. She cried and prayed, then cursed me out and prayed some more. I had to take it. Even if she had put her hands on me, I would take it because I was supposed to protect her child and I lost her.

After a few more minutes of gathering myself, I stepped back inside with a stern look on my face. The room quieted down as everyone waited for me to speak.

“Y’all know I don’t get emotional,” I said quietly. “But this shit right here… this shit it personal. Y’all are family and you know how I feel about family. Salima is my woman. We can laugh and joke about me catching feelings and shit, but I love that woman and my top priority right now is getting her back. I don’t give a fuck who you have to put a bullet in or who you have to pay off. We find her and bring her home.”

Everybody nodded.

“I got it!” Jaeda yelled. “He turned his phone back on. I have his location!”

She’s been working diligently to pinpoint Mirron’s location and hadn’t slept either.

“I’ve sent the address to everybody’s phone. If it changes, I’ll update it.”

“Let’s go,” I said, making my way to the door.

Just as I reached it, my phone rang. Mirron’s number flashed across the screen. I held up my hand, signaling for everyone to stop. I answered the call and place the phone to my ear.

“You ready to make a deal?” Mirron asked.

“Ima see you muthafucka.”

He chuckled. “That you will. Don’t try anything stupid or this pretty little girlfriend of yours is up for grabs. There are quite a few of my men that would love to taste her.”

“Nigga if anybody lays a muthafucking finger on her, all of you bitches are gonna die tonight. I put that on my life.”

“No need to be hostile. We could have settled this a long time ago, Stanley. I was willing to cut you in a on very nice deal. You play nice and that can still happen.”

“We’re gonna play. I’m gonna have a fucking ball. See you soon.” I disconnected the call and turned to my family. “Y’all already know how this goes. Snipers, y’all follow Maddie and Mia’s lead. Take out everybody you see outside. The rest of you follow me. Anybody that’s there when we get there doesn’t leave that location alive.”

They all nodded in agreement. We left the warehouse and piled into the fleet of blacked out SUVs. Every car was locked and loaded with weapons. As we filed out of the parking lot, I knew we were about to paint the city red tonight.

T he Warehouse

E ight guards.

Eight snipers.

I smiled to myself as all eight bodies dropped at the same time. They never had a chance. As me and the rest of the crew made our way to the front door, my uncle nudged me.

“I’ve already put in a call to my connect in Colombia to let him know Eduardo was stepping on his turf. He gave to green light to do what you need to do, and he would handle the rest on his end.”

“Bet.”

I instructed my father, uncle, and my brothers to come with me to get Salima while everybody else covered us. I could hear voices coming from below as we made our way toward them. I stepped out onto the ledge overlooking the warehouse floor, my eyes frantically scanning the room for Salima.

She was nowhere to be found, there stood Eduardo, Mirron, Pearson, and about twenty other men. I didn’t see guns, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think they didn’t have them. Mirron looked up at me and smirked.

“Nice of you to finally join us,” he said. Raising his hands.

I was quiet as I descended the stairs. The closer I got to him, the more enraged I felt. It took everything in me not to point my gun at him.

“Where is she?” I asked calmly.

“You’ll get her soon enough. Business first. Now, the last time I spoke to you, I asked you for something.”

My Uncle laughed. “You think I’m about to let you sell that bullshit Eduardo is pushing on my streets? Didn’t I tell you a long time ago this shit ain’t for you, Mirron?”

“That’s the thing. All of you muthafuckas think you run this city and everyone in it. You think people are just gonna bow down to you because you’re Blake Dillinger?”

“You know my fucking name and how I get down.”

“We could have been partners. That’s how this shit started! You think you’d be where you are without me?”

Uncle Blake laughed. “Yeah, I do because I’m the nigga you wished you could be.”

“My great granddaddy is the reason you have any of this!”

“And he left it to my granddaddy who left it to my daddy, who left it to us. You wanna be mad at somebody, be mad at that nigga for not thinking enough of you to leave you with his empire.”

“Enough of this fucking talking!” I yelled. “I don’t give a damn about none of that extra shit. Bring me my woman.”

Mirron motioned for one of the goons to go get Salima. He headed toward a door in the far right. A few seconds later, he stepped out with her. She still wore her party dress, but it had rips and tears all over it. Her eyes were red and puffy like she’d been crying or she was exhausted.

“Why the fuck does she look like this?” I demanded.

“You have a fighter on your hands. Couldn’t bring her food or water without her attacking somebody. I should have let the bitch starve.”

I started at him but my father held me back.

“Salima, baby are you okay?”

It was a stupid question, but I needed to know if she was physically okay. She nodded. I watched as her eyes dropped to the gun at the goon’s waistband. Before I could stop her, she grabbed it and shot him point blank in the head.

This wasn’t how I was expecting shit to go. I wanted to get her out before anything happened but fuck it. The next thing I knew, bullets were flying in every direction. The rest of my family came running it with guns blazing as I grabbed up Salima and took her back in the room she came from.

“Stay here until I come get you.”

I closed the door and pulled out my gun. I spotted Mirron, Pearson, and Eduardo making a break for the door. Maddie and the rest of the snipers came bursting in, guns drawn. They backed them down the stairs and onto the floor.

By this time, there was a bloodbath. There were about fifty of us to the twenty men Mirron had with him. They were dropping like flies before they could even unload the clips.

Mirron, Pearson, and Eduardo now stood in the middle of the room with all of us surrounding them. There were strict instructions to save them for last. I didn’t give a fuck about Eduardo, but my uncle wanted his head.

“Now isn’t this a turn of events,” I said, stepping closer. “Did you really think you were walking out of here alive?”

“You won’t get away with this,” Pearson said. “I’m a federal agent?—”

I popped him in his shit. “Shut the fuck up! Did you think about being a federal agent when you decided to help your bitch ass daddy fuck with me? Did he tell you who he was dealing with? I’m not your average nigga and this ain’t your average crime family. You wanted to make a name for yourself, and you will. It won’t be kind you think.”

Without another word, I put a bullet between his eyes. His body hit the floor with a thud. Mirron stood unmoved. Clearly, he didn’t give a fuck about this nigga. I turned my attention to Eduardo.

“This wasn’t your fight, but since you inserted yourself into our affairs, you can get it, too.”

“You kill me, and you’ll have a war on your hands,” Eduardo spat.

I laughed. “That’s where you’re wrong. Phillipe Medina didn’t take too kindly to knowing you were trying to set up shop on his turf. You know Phillipe, don’t you?”

Eduardo’s eyes widened. Medina was the head of the Cartel. He and my uncle had a longstanding relationship. One would dare to call them friends.

“Yeah, you know him,” I continued. “When he caught wind of what you were trying to do, he immediately gave the okay to handle you how we see fit. You should have stayed your ass in Colombia.”

Before he could blink, my uncle put a bullet between his eyes too. That left Mirron. He stood, unmoving and quiet.

“Salima!” I called.

The door to where I hide her opened, and she stepped out.

“Come here, baby.”

She made her way over to me, her eyes scanning the number of dead bodies. She came to me, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

“What happened while you were here?” I asked.

Salima looked around at my family, embarrassment plaguing her beautiful face.

“You can tell me. Please… tell me.”

She glared at Mirron. “He touched me. He tried to force himself on me, but Eduardo stopped him. Not only that, he exposed himself to me. He said that after he got rid of you, he was going to have his fun with me. He had no plans of ever giving me back.”

I was seething as I looked at him. Knowing he tried to harm her brought out a whole other side of rage.

“Take her and get out,” I instructed.

My father came over and gently guided Salima away from me. Everyone made their way out of the building. Silence and the stench of blood filled the air as the room emptied. When it was just Mirron and I left, I tucked my gun away.

“I’m gonna give you thirty seconds to defend yourself. Make it count.”

He immediately tried to swing at me, but I sidestepped it, causing him to stumble. He tried to rush me, but I caught him in a headlock. As my arm tightened around his neck, I delivered several blows to his gut with my knee. His groans of pain became audible.

When my foot made contact with his knee, I heard the bone crack. He howled in pain as he dropped to the ground. His cries only further fueled my anger. He leasing him, I stepped back and kicked him in the face with my size thirteen boot.

Teeth flew from his mouth as he hit the ground with a thud. Blood poured from his nose and mouth as he rolled around on the ground. Grabbing him by his shirt, I fed him punch after punch to the face. The harder I hit him, the more he bled.

“You knew who the fuck I was, and you still chose to come after me!” I yelled. “You came after the woman I love and for that, I’m sending you straight to fucking hell!”

He wasn’t putting up much of a fight at this point. His body fell limp, and I dropped him to the floor. I pulled my gun from my waistband as I stood over him.

“Any last words?” I asked, pointing the gun at him.

“F… fu… fuck you?—”

Before he could finish the word, I unloaded my clip into his face. The scene before me looked like a massacre. Blood and carnage were everywhere. The clean-up crew had alot to take care of, but I’d make sure they were heavily compensated.

I took one last look at the mess before heading back outside with my family. As I stepped outside, two large trucks were backing in. The clean-up crew had arrived to take the bodies. After briefly speaking with the head nigga in charge, I made my way other to Salima.

She sat on the bed of one of SUVs with a blanket around her. When she saw me, she jumped down and ran into my arms. Hot tears stained my shirt as her cries filled my ears.

“I got you,” I said, kissing her temple. “I’ve always got you.”