Page 37 of Condemned Soul

“That’s not funny.” Her lips straighten when I remind her of what kinda man her husband was, not that she needs it. Joanne is very fuckin’ aware of what that sick cunt did.

“Why did ya come in here, Joanne?” I ask, when I sense there's more to it than a prayer.

“Maybe I’m starting to remember how good it feels to spend time with you.” She gets up from her seat and sits on the table in front of me.

“Maybe being here and seeing you again, is making it harder to forget the fun we had.” Her head moves closer to mine, and I stand up, making sure our foreheads touch and take back some of the control.

“And maybe, it’s harder for you to accept that you fucked it all up,” I remind her, pulling away and leaving her to dwell on that.

One Day Later

I rub my eyes when my cell starts to vibrate on the passenger seat and I see Tawk’s name flash up.

“You ready?” he checks when I answer.

“‘Course I’m fuckin’ ready. I’ve been out here since 10 pm,” I remind him as I look across the street. The iron gates that enclose the motel and clubhouse, our Long Beach charter runs out, have started to roll open. When the black cage pulls out the yard and takes a left, I sit up a little straighter in the driver’s seat and start the engine of the rental I’m driving.

“I got eyes on them now,” I assure Tawk, flicking up my hood and pulling out two cars behind them.

“Don’t lose ‘em,” he warns.

“What kind of idiot d’ya think I am?” I shake my head and laugh at him.

“The kind that knocked up Mel,” he points out.

“Nice to see you found a sense of humor in the Golden State, did ya get your girl yet?” I bite back.

“Just focus on what you're doing. We got a lot riding on this,” he reminds me, sounding real tense before he hangs up the phone and leaves me to follow the cage Rex just pulled out in. I didn’t see any sign of Cliff in the passenger seat but that doesn’t mean he’s not with him. I remain a safe distance back, managing to follow them all the way to the docks and then park in the shadows so I remain undetected.

I take the fancy camera Maddy sent me here with, and use the zoom to check out what's happening. Then I take some surveillance shots of the black town car that's parked in front of the storage unit where the cage has pulled up. The chauffeur gets out from behind the wheel and opens the back passenger door for Phillip Lambroni to step out and I take more snaps before he straightens his suit and shakes hands with Rex.

“Come on, Cliffy, don’t be camera shy,” I whisper to myself as I watch Rex drag open the storage container door and start to unload the wooden crates into the back of his cage. I keep on snapping the photos Prez says his agent needs for evidence. He made it clear that none of the pictures can have Rex or Cliff in, which is hard since Rex is doing most of the carrying, but despite me having a clear look at the cage I’m still not seeing any signs of Cliff.

My phone starts to ring again and this time when I go to pick it up I see that it’s Prez who's calling.

“How’s things your end?” I answer.

“Storm, tell me you got eyes on Cliff.” The strain in Prez’s voice answers my question and sets me on edge.

“I got eyes on the cage Tawk said him and Rex were in. I followed it all the way here. I got Lambroni and his drivers. But no Cliff yet. Why?”

“Shit.” He sighs heavily and when I hear something smash in the background, I know it ain’t the answer he wanted.

“Prez, talk to me, what the fuck is goin’ on?”

“We busted into Cliff’s apartment and it’s lookin’ like he ain’t comin’ back to it. His safe is open and empty, the place is a mess. It looks like he left in a hurry.”

“Is your agent friend on her way? I got what she needs but I don’t know how long these guys are gonna hang around. If she wants to catch ‘em in the act she better get here fast.” I can sense we’re running outta time, Rex and Lambroni’s driver are packing up the back of the cage pretty fast.

“She’ll be there,” he assures me.

“Soon as Consuela makes the arrest, I’ll call ya,” I assure him, hanging up the phone and getting fidgety in my seat when Rex closes the back door of the cage and starts shaking hands with Lambroni again.

I quickly scroll through my contacts to Squealer and hit call.

“Yello,” he answers.

“You and Screw in position?” I check because I have a feeling this is heading toward the plan B scenario. I can’t see any sign of Consuela yet, and for her to make a bust these guys have to be caught with the supply. Right now, all we got is my photos of crates that could contain anything.

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