Page 62 of Brick

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Brick

Brick’s head buzzed as he turned the key in the ignition. His tattered conscience branded him a liar and screamed that the only way to really keep Liv safe was to shove her in the truck and drive to a different time zone. But even if he didn’t have his grandma to consider, no way she’d leave her brother or sister behind. He needed to do some serious recon. As far as he knew, nothing linked Olivia to him, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get Tre talking, if only to see how much damage had been done. He gunned the accelerator and made it to El Cabron in ten minutes flat.

“Brick.” Sucre greeted him with a raised snifter of Hennessy. A topless Asian girl sat on his lap. She looked about sixteen. “What a treat to see you this early. It’s barely nine o’clock.”

“Thought I’d get a jump on my rounds for tonight. The kid coming with me or are we working separately?”

Sucre pinched the girl’s nipple, then soothed over it with the side of his thumb. “Tell me. What do you think I should do with young Tre?”

Kill him.

“It’s not my job to think. It’s my job to do what you tell me.”

Over the course of the past decade, he’d seen too many people tell Sucre what he should do. It was a trick question. His boss laughed darkly when he refused to step into the trap.

“There’s a reason you’re my best, Brick. You’re smart enough not to try to be smart.” This time, he pinched the girl so hard she cried out.

Poor thing. She gave Sucre exactly what he wanted. He kept twisting the tender flesh as he regarded Brick. “I’m not sure whether I bet on the right horse this time. Maybe the younger Lowry boy would be a little less…”

Crazy?

“Independently motivated.”

There were so many things he wanted to say, but the same words that might influence Sucre to focus on Tre one day might make him more determined to target his brother on the next. Even worse, it might be a tip off he cared one way or the other. Ignoring the Tre situation entirely, he asked, “What do we have on tap for tonight?”

“Two stops. Carolinda asked to meet. I think she’s looking for a short-term loan.” Sucre’s hand snaked up the teenager’s skirt. “Spread your legs, baby. Let Daddy play.” The girl did as he told her.

Brick kept his attention on Sucre, unwilling to play the game.

“Find out what she needs the money for. Fifty percent interest. Due in two weeks.” The boss looked at him expectantly. “You know the other one.”

Oh yeah. “Lorenzo is due today.” It was not likely to go well.

Sucre’s arm jerked as he moved his hand roughly under the girl’s skirt. Tears rolled down her face, and he licked up the side of her cheek. Laughing, he pushed her to the floor and pulled his phone from the inside pocket of his suit. Wisely, she stayed where she landed. Sucre fired off a text, then tucked the device back where it came from. “Tre will be here in five minutes. He is to observe you only. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

Tre made it in four. Sweat dotted his forehead as the kid practically ran to the bar where he waited. “Boss says I’m going out with you?”

How quickly a predator could turn into prey.

“You’re observing.” They walked out the door together and climbed in his truck. He’d left the windows open to make sure Tre could pick up no trace of Olivia’s vanilla scent. Glancing at his sidekick for the night, he cranked the engine. “I know you enjoy this shit, but what you’ve got to understand is it doesn’t matter if you love it or you hate it. You do the job the exact same way no matter what. You want to instill fear? Make people piss themselves? You do it by creating an expectation of the same outcome every time.”

The punk bristled. “You saying those guys weren’t afraid of me when we went out before?”

He kept his focus on the dark road. “You don’t want to make them too scared to work with you. This is a business, Tre. The same way they know you’re going to break a bone if they don’t pay, they’ve gotta know you’ll leave them alone if they do. Or maybe they can live with the idea they’ll get roughed up if they’re a little late, but not somebody raping their sister. And Tre, you can’t change the rules of the game. You can’t take the money someone owes out of their ass. You feel me?”

Tre said nothing as they turned into the trailer park Carolinda called home. Brick sighed as the truck came to a stop. He knew none of this was sinking in. Still, he had to try. “C’mon. This is an easy one.”

He led the way toward the second single-wide on the left. “Carolinda Ortega is a single mom with one kid who has problems finding someone to watch her baby while she’s at work.”

“So?” Tre sulked.

“So, it’s our job to know everything we can about the people who want to borrow money. This girl’s not an addict. She’s not a whore. She cleans toilets to pay for diapers. Her terms are a little different. Right now, we’re a last resort, but if this goes well, she might not wait so long to turn to us for help.”

He rapped twice on the trailer, and the door swung open to reveal the girl in question. Carolinda was eighteen or nineteen years old, with tired eyes and a toddler on her hip. She acknowledged him with a nod but stepped back in alarm when she spotted Tre.

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