“Give it to her. I’m not sure it’s enough to get anything big on him, but it might help with the bigger picture.”
“Anna!” I hear Reggie yelling. “Anna!”
“Coming,” she answers. “I have to go. I love you, Riggs.” Then she’s gone. It’s the first time she’s said the words to me since all of this happened. I stare at the cell in my hand for some time after she’s hung up, absorbing the things she said. The thought that she’s forgiven me for the things I said gives me hope, and I smile.
Cree sticks his head in the office and then waves a bottle of bourbon and two glasses at me. “I got us front row seats to the drug raid,” he says, placing the bottle on my desk. He opens up my laptop and presses a few buttons. “I know this nerd who hacked into the police body cams or some shit. Look,” he turns the screen towards me, and we see the live feed off one of the cops’ bodycam. They’re in a van, assumingly on their way to Reggie’s factory.
“Anna called,” I say. “She said Reggie’s losing his mind over the club.” I smile. “She’s got a towel with DNA on it. Said she watched Reggie kill Marshall Ankers.”
Cree stops mid-pour. “Marshall’s dead? Explains why he hasn’t been in touch.”
“Yeah. He’s obviously not been found yet or the mayor would have known.”
Cree sits down and pushes a glass towards me. “So, now we need a new supplier? We don’t know who Marshall was using.”
“Last thing on my mind, brother.” I sigh. “Let’s get Reggie out of the way first.”
“And get Anna back to you,” he grins.
“I need her, man. This time without her has shown me just how much I fucking need her.”
He nods in understanding. “Eva is missing her and Malia so badly.”
“Yeah?” I ask. “You been talking to Eva?”
“Not really.” He laughs. “I’ve been grunting at her and mainly listening. I’m good at listening.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Any man can listen. She needs a man who talks to her, Cree. She won’t stay around forever. She already asked me when she can go back home, said she doesn’t feel right being here without Anna.” Cree sits up straighter in his chair, looking alarmed. “Don’t worry. I told her she’s staying put, her and her mom.” He visibly relaxes. “But I can’t keep her here forever. She thinks you’re not interested in her like that.”
“I just can’t get my words out around her.” He sighs. “It’s a fucking joke. I can slit a man’s throat for running his mouth off, but I can’t talk to a girl I like.”
The bodycam shows the officers getting out of the van and all moving towards the factory. Suddenly, there’s shouting and yelling as they run through the building, taking the drug workers by surprise. I sit back and take it all in with a satisfied smile on my face. The cops detain the women and the few men who were standing guard. We watch in silence, absorbing every detail with satisfaction.
Almost an hour later, they are still loading up the drugs into evidence bags. Reggie would have flooded the streets with this crap, and he wouldn’t have been able to control it or the violence and crime it would have produced.
The mayor calls me. “It’s done” is all he says before disconnecting. I don’t get a chance to tell him that I already know.
Screams ring out and I sit up alarmed in my bed. It takes me a few seconds to realize it’s Michelle that I can hear yelling and crying. I scrub my face with my hands and groan. It’s six in the morning. I tuck the sheets around my sleeping boy, thankful that she hasn’t woken him. I pad downstairs to her bedroom. The floor below mine is occupied by most of the brothers, so I’m guessing she’s woken just about everyone. I unlock the door and Michelle rushes towards me to try and escape. I catch her in time and pull her into my chest. She’s sweating and shaking and beating her clenched fists against my chest. “It’s okay,” I whisper. “You’re okay.”
Eventually, she relaxes against me and sobs quietly. I slide down the door with her and she scrunches up into my lap. We sit like that for some time until her sobbing subsides.
“I can’t do this,” she whispers. “I feel like I’m dying.”
“You’re not dying. You’re gonna be just fine. We’re running tests on that shit you took to make sure it’s pure,” I say. Sometimes, dealers will add all kinds of toxins to fill out the product or make it more addictive. “The first few days are always the worst, but it will get easier.”
“Few days!” she screeches. “I can’t do this for a few days. I want to claw my own fucking skin off.”
“Darlin’, you don’t have a choice. I can’t send you to Scotland like this, and I can’t send you back out on the streets. You’re the mother of my son. I have a responsibility so that when Ziggy is old enough to ask me about you, I can tell him I did right by you.”
“Well, isn’t that just sweet,” she grumbles, getting up off my lap. “But meanwhile, I’ve got to feel like this?”
I stand. “Yup. Get a shower, it might help, and to be honest, you look a mess.”
“You think I give a shit about that right now when my body hurts this bad? Why have you always got to be the fucking saint? The hero of the hour,” she spits. “It’s okay to just let me go, Riggs. You can tell Ziggy that you tried but I wanted the drugs more, because I do. I want the drugs more than you. More than him.” She begins to cry. “I just want one more hit. I need
