Page 87 of Levee

Criminals were good liars. We had to be. But nothing about T suggested he was making shit up.

“What girl is yours anyway?” T asked.

“Gotta be that new chick,” one of the other guys said. “Walking ‘round with a black eye and cut-up face.”

“Nice pull,” T said, nodding at me. “But like I said, I don’t put my hands on girls. My crew don’t either.”

I glanced at Seeley and Cato. After decades of knowing one another, we could have whole conversations with just a look.

We were all thinking the same thing.

This didn’t feel quite right.

“Alright. Let’s pivot then,” I said. “What’s your deal with a guy named Harvey? 7D?”

“Oh, that fuck,” T said, snorting, shaking his head at us. “He owes me.”

“Money? Drugs? What does he owe you?”

“Both,” T admitted, surprisingly forthcoming.

“Did you kill him?”

“I wish,” T said. “Nah. He got good and beat to shit. Then… poof,” he said, making an exploding gesture with one of his hands. “Haven’t heard from ‘em since.”

That was why they’d gone back to his place. To look for him. When they didn’t find him, they ransacked the place to try to find money or pills.

But someonehadstill been threatening Jade.

Telling her to mind her business.

If it wasn’t T’s business she was minding… well… that just left Harvey himself, didn’t it?

“You haven’t seen Harvey since the night your guys roughed him up?” I asked.

“Wish I had,” T said, shrugging. “If you see that shit, send him my way.”

“One more thing,” Seeley called as he tucked his gun away again.

“Yeah?” T asked.

“What does T stand for?” Seeley asked with a smirk.

To that, T shook his head.

“Thaddeus.”

“Yeah, I’d go by T too,” I said with a laugh as we moved away.

“What’s the plan now?” Cato asked when we were back at Jade’s building.

“Check out 7D’s place,” Seeley said, reading my mind.

The thing was, as we were making our way to the door, the door to his apartment opened.

All three of us reached for our guns in unison, making the wall of a man stop short, body stiffening.

His hands shot up as he looked between us.

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