“Nice tux.” He gave me a smile that I could tell was fake. He was trying so damn hard not to be his usual arrogant self.
“Stop beating around the bush. What the fuck do you want? It was pretty disrespectful for you to show up in my city to do business without letting me know.”
“I didn’t come down here on business. It was personal. We’re looking for a girl,” he said.
That didn’t make much sense. I’d been told he was looking for the two kids, and now he’d found them. What was I missing?
“There’s a lot of girls in Texas, LC.”
“Yeah, I know, but I’m looking for one girl in particular. She’s in the sex trade.”
“The Horseshoe Ranch is right down the block.” I pointed south. “I’m sure you’ll find plenty of whores there.”
“We’ve been told this girl no longer works there. I’m hoping she’s still in Texas. If anyone could find her, you can.”
For the first time in twenty years, this arrogant prick was acting like he needed me. Ten minutes ago, I was ready to blow him and his whole damn family away, yet now he was kissing my ass because he needed a favor.
“Who is she to you?” I asked, pulling on my tuxedos suspenders.
He looked back at his grandson and the girl. “She’s the girl’s sister. My family promised to help find her—which means I could be down here a few more times if I don’t get some help.”
“I see.” I wondered if I should call his bluff. Would he really be stupid enough to come back to my neck of the woods knowing I’d be gunning for his ass? Then I realized, yeah, he probably would. If nothing else, LC Duncan was one persistent nigger.
“So, she’s no kin to you?” I asked.
“No, she’s not.”
“Then she must not be worth much to you.” Putting a dollar amount on the girl would tell me exactly how important she was to him. “Which means she’s not worth much to me either. You’re familiar with the old phrase, time is money?”
“I’ll give you fifty grand if you find her,” he said.
That surprised me, but I wasn’t about to take that deal. If he was willing to give up fifty grand that easy, then he would be willing to pay much more.
I laughed. “I don’t get outta bed to take a piss for fifty grand.”
I could see the wheels turning in that pea-sized nigger brain of his. He’d beat me today with the brats, but whoever this girl was, she was going to cost him dearly if he really wanted my help.
“A hundred grand,” he said, and I shook my head.
What the fuck was I missing? He really wanted this girl.
He looked back at his grandson and the girl again and sighed. “Two hundred and fifty thousand.”
“Two hundred and fifty, huh?” Hell, if I could get him up another hundred and ten, I could make up for those girls that Slick shot. “You got a name and a picture?”
“Hold on a second.” He walked over to the kids, and the boy smiled at him like he was Jesus Christ reincarnated. He said something to them, and then the girl wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. This girl might not be important to him, but she was definitely important to them.
“Her name is Myesha,” he said when he came back.
He handed me a phone that had her picture on the screen. I had to bite my tongue to keep from shouting. I knew this girl—oh, too well. Unfortunately, I didn’t hide the recognition in my facial expression.
“You know her?” LC asked.
“I might, but I can tell you right now she’s gonna cost you a hell of a lot more than a two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” This girl Myesha was the one with the AB negative blood we’d given to Greer. I thought she wasn’t worth shit to me now because we’d drained six pints of blood outta her, but LC had just upped her value significantly.
“Let’s stop bullshitting each other,” he said. “Obviously you know her because she’s part of this secret sex ring you’ve got going on down here.”
“You have no idea what I’ve got going on, LC, otherwise you would have gotten in a long time ago,” I said smugly.
“What do you want for the girl?” He was back to his old ways, arrogant and direct.
“I don’t know if she’s for sale. She’s one of our best moneymakers. You’d never believe how much she made for me this week,” I bragged without giving any detail.
“Everything has a price. What’s your I-don’t-wanna-sell price?” He looked like he wanted to hit me. I loved getting a rise outta this nigger.
He was right. Everything did have a price, and I’d already lost a whole lot of money this week when Slick killed three of my girls.
“A million dollars,” I said.
“Half a million,” he countered.
“Two million.” I laughed, and he just stared at me angrily, then looked back at his grandson. “What the fuck, LC? Should I go over there and talk to the kid?”
“You son of a bitch. I’ll give you a million, but I want her at the airport in thirty minutes.”
“I have a party to go to, but these two nice troopers over there will deliver her. I expect the wire will be sent directly?” I smiled, thinking about the nice profit I’d just made.
“You’ll get your money.”
“Nice doing business with you, LC,” I said, heading back to the car.
“What was that all about, Daddy?” Tyler asked as we got in the car.
“I need you to have the boys bring Celeste’s Asian friend to the airport.”
Tyler’s eyes went wide. “You’re giving her to him?”
I chuckled. “A million dollars isn’t free, son, and from what Lizbeth tells me, that girl’s no good to us now that we drained damn near seven pints of blood from
