Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 139147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
He told Luna to text Jinx to get to a safe place, tell us where that was, and we’d meet her there.
He then tried to get Luna, Harlow, Jessie and me to stay at the party while he and his boys went to Jinx.
I had a problem with that.
“She’s ours, Cap,” I said.
“You’re not doing this,” he returned.
“I am, and you’re coming with me, but Jinx trusts us. I need to be there at least to be the go-between.”
“I’m coming too,” Luna declared.
I turned to her. “You’re having your birthday party.”
“It’s Jinx, Raye,” she replied. “And they have Cameo.”
It was, and God help her, they did.
I went back to Cap. “Luna and I are with you.” I looked to Harlow and Jessie. “You guys make excuses for Luna.”
“But—” Jessie started.
I cut her off. “Babe, we don’t have a lot of time.”
Jessie nodded.
I grabbed my bag off Luna’s bed and said, “Let’s roll.”
Cap, Knox, Liam and Gabe were a lot more efficient with their vehicle switch outs, and part of that was that they didn’t have to deal with an app to free their SUVs.
Another part was that their office was on the way to where we were going.
See?
Centralized location, so much better.
And yes, Knox, Liam and Gabe followed us to the underground parking at Cap’s office, and then they rolled out in two extra vehicles, so we were a convoy of three when we hit a diner I’d never been to and never wanted to see again that was not in Ground Zero, but instead in a ’hood southwest of that, which was even worse.
Even though Jinx looked pissed as shit, as did Persia and Skyla, both of whom she had with her, all their faces went slack when they saw Luna and I strutting in with the Hottie Squad at our heels.
“You bitches don’t play,” Jinx said as we stopped outside the booth she and the girls were sitting in, and the men fanned out around us.
I decided to go with it for the sake of time.
“No, we don’t. Talk to us.”
Skyla launched right in.
“No fucking around, asshole rolls up, he’s got a buddy with him. They stroll out, grab her, shove her in the back seat and ride off. Just like they had every right to do that. I got a scratch in on the friend, but he pushed me off, and it isn’t like I got a good center of balance on these shoes. I went down. By the time I got up again, they were gone.”
“Genesis followed them,” Persia put in.
My blood ran cold.
“She followed them?” I asked.
“She’s got a headache. Not feelin’ it tonight,” Persia said. “She was getting in her car to go home, saw the whole thing, took off after them.”
“You know where she is?” Cap asked.
Persia closed up instantly. “Who am I talking to?”
I looked to Cap.
He nodded.
I turned back to Persia. “This is Cap, Liam, Gabe and Knox.”
“We’re with them,” Cap added.
Aw!
My man was so sweet!
“She’s sittin’ outside some warehouse, close to The Pink Slip,” Persia told us.
And it was all coming together.
But…
Why Cameo?
I had a sinking feeling I knew.
And Jinx knew what I was feeling.
“Don’t take that on, linda,” she said in a tone I didn’t know she had in her arsenal. It was kind, even tender. “We know the way it’s been going. We were out in pairs. We were checkin’ in. We carry mace. Keepin’ an eye on the new girls. Because we were watchin’ our asses, the pickin’s for them were slimming down. If they needed fresh blood, they had to snatch it. It wasn’t about her talking to you.”
I nodded, but that creeping feeling was still creeping.
I was so into this exchange, I hadn’t realized Liam had peeled off, and now he was outside, talking on his phone.
“She got an address?” Cap asked.
“Sure,” Persia said.
“Text it,” Cap ordered. “And tell your girl who’s sitting at that warehouse to get out of there.”
“Copy that, Captain America,” Persia mumbled while looking down at her phone.
That would have been funny in any other circumstances.
I’d laugh about it later.
“Can you stay here or get somewhere safe tonight?” Cap asked the girls.
Jinx’s eyes skimmed through me before she said, “I got the resources to cover us for a few days off. We good, guapo.”
Translation: she didn’t waste time pawning the Rolex.
“Get safe,” Cap ordered. “Someone will update you later.”
We got three nods.
Then Cap took my arm, Knox took Luna’s, and they escorted us out of there.
We were in our Denali and on the road before Cap said, “We gotta swing by your place. I want all the descriptions of the men you’re looking at for this from your wall.”
“I can do you one better. I got pictures and sheets on all of them, courtesy of Chuck,” I told him.
“Chuck?” Cap asked.
“We usually refer to him as ‘We,’ the wizard behind the curtain,” I explained. “But that’s awkward. We can’t call him Charlie, because that’s my dad’s name, and it’s unoriginal. So I’m going with Chuck.”