Inked Destiny

survival.

“I’m sure,” she repeated, demonstrating it by moving out from behind him to sit in a chair far enough away from Anton that he wouldn’t feel threatened.

Greg left. Liam slid into view, forming like a genie escaping through a sliver-thin shadow in a corner of the room, shimmering there then blinking away when Anton glanced over his shoulder. “Cops outside waiting for me?”

“Not that I know of.” She leaned forward, forearms on her knees, hands in a loose clasp. “For the record, coming here was my choice. What the cops asked me to do, I’ve already done.”

“Seeing what was in Kelvin’s head.” He shoved the gun into his waistband at the middle of his back and sat on the couch, a couple of places and a coffee table’s distance away.

“You don’t seem freaked.”

He shrugged. “Had a great grandmother came over from Haiti. Used to tell us kids about voodoo and shit, kept us in line because she was a true believer and we was afraid she’d put a spell on us.”

He matched his pose to hers, leaning forward also meaning an easy draw if he pulled the gun again. Given the blazing heat in the centers of her palms, she wondered idly who could do the most damage if they went for their respective weapons.

“What’s going down, Etain? Why you here?”

“Because I care what happened to Kelvin and the others. Especially Vontae. I used to run with him, way back when.”

“Yeah, I heard about you being a wild child.”

She shrugged. “More rebellious than wild. While you were paying your respects did you hear that Kelvin brought his wife and his baby around to the shop a couple months ago? It hurts to think of him dead because he was trying to do something good and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. There’s a chance of the same thing happening with any drive-by.”

“You thinking I had something to do with the shootings in Oakland today?”

“Did you?”

“You don’t have no fear, do you?”

“You baited that hook, not me. I was only making a point. Rumor has it you’re trying to take over the Curs and you’ve got big plans.”

He laughed. “Vontae’s granny ain’t never liked me. You know how the Curs started out? Just a bunch of brothers who liked to ride and wanted to make their own rules.”

“And now?”

“Time will tell. You wondering if what happened at the bar is on me? All that killing payback for something I did or ordered done?”

“You baiting the hook again?”

He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Naw. Just trying to figure you out.”

“That’s easy enough.” She turned her wrists, the stylized eyes becoming visible. “All I want is to find out who was behind the slaughter and pass the information on to Detective Ordones, so the guilty will hopefully be arrested and that’ll keep the street violence from escalating.”

His gaze settled on her palms. “Kelvin didn’t see anything?”

“Nothing that identifies the shooters.”

“How many were there?”

“Five.” The police hadn’t offered a number to the public.

“That a solid number?”

“If there were more, I can’t know it.”

“The only way this ends is when those responsible have paid for it.”

“And jail time isn’t good enough?”

“It could be.”

“I’m listening.”

“I know who ordered it done.”

“But you can’t find him.”

Anton smiled. “That’s right. I can’t. But I’m betting you can.”

“Who’s responsible?”

“He ain’t local so it’s going to take you a little digging to find out which gang he most likely pulled his crew from. Maybe that’s where daddy or big brother comes in, or maybe you play that detective for information.” His eyes flicked down to her hands. “Then you pay some folks a little visit, same as you intended for me, and see what’s inside their heads. Find his crew, find him.”

“Give me the name.”

“We in this together or we ain’t in it at all. I’m no snitch. But I’m willing to cut a deal with my friend Etain, who says she cares about Kelvin and Vontae and the others, meaning my sister too, who wasn’t guilty of anything but trying to earn some money so she could make a better life for herself. You want to give the crew over to the cops, I can go with that. But I want the guy who ordered it.”

“So you get vengeance and the other families have to settle for jail time?”

“That’s the way it plays. And I call in some of what’s owed to me and let it be known that the score has been completely settled. The drive-bys over what went down stop or there will be consequences.”

“You have that kind of juice?”

He laughed. “You’re sitting here.”

“Owing you a tattoo. Nothing more.”

“That’s right, though considering everything, I’ll take a pass on calling in that favor, at least for now.”

She straightened and he tensed, ready to go for his gun. “You really going to shoot me?”

“Don’t want to, and that’s for real. Got two strikes and not looking for a third. Especially don’t want one over nothing.”

“Taking a bullet doesn’t seem like nothing to me.”

He flashed a smile. “See, that’s what I always liked about you, Etain. You cool. Wasn’t no shit you laid down for Greg. You and me understand each other. Always have. Wouldn’t have spent so much time trying to get in your pants if I was just looking for a good time.”

His eyes chilled to the same icy nothingness she’d see in Liam’s. “We deal or you leave not knowing what I know. I give you the name. You give him back to me. Or give me his body if that’s the way you’d rather see this go down. Ain’t no other options on the table. What’s it going to be?”

She could walk away from this. Eamon would say she should walk away. Only she couldn’t forget the burn, couldn’t shake the guilt that because he wore her ink, Vontae was dead instead of his killer.

“What if I give the police the crew but the guy you want gets swept up when they are?”

“Then it gets handled on the inside. He goes to prison he’s a dead man walking.”

“So avoid a third strike. Let the guys already doing time take care of it.”

“Your answer a no then?”

She closed her eyes and mental barriers fell, brought down in a juxtaposing of scenes, her own memories of Kelvin coming to the shop with his wife and new baby against what she’d taken from him at the hospital, running parallel to slaughter from a murderer’s point of view, a quick montage blocked by an emerald green curtain and fire-emblazoned sigil. There is another choice. I can give you the killer you seek.

Escaping the voice, she opened her eyes to see Liam, ethereal, but no less deadly because he hadn’t quite left the shadows. She stood, holding out her hand, eyes meeting Anton’s. Dare and challenge and demand for a show of trust if they were going to deal. “Give me the name.”

Anton laughed, the flash of it reaching his eyes. He stood and took the step that brought him within arm’s reach. “Cyco Chalino,” he said, his palm warm and dry against hers as they performed the combination of moves that served as a handshake.

The apparition that was Liam disappeared, only to reappear in the flesh moments later at Eamon’s side as they both entered the room behind Greg.