Page 76 of Juke
“Wassup?”
“We got eyes on Rio. Just spotted him.”
My whole demeanor shifted. “Where?”
Poke was one of our soldiers that we had looking for Rio. After the other nigga lost his life for letting Rio get this far without telling us, Poke knew how serious this situation was. He gave me the location before I told him I was on the way and hung up.
I slid my phone back into my pocket and turned around with Kilo eyeing me.
“Wassup?” he asked.
“It’s time to move,” was all I said.
“Bet,” Buck said as he stood to his feet.
“Let’s get to it,” Stacks added, already moving.
The girls looked up then, catching the shift in energy. Nic narrowed her eyes at Buck. “Where y’all going?”
“We’ll be back,” Buck said, leaning down to kiss her.
I turned to Sophi, pulling her aside near the hallway. She searched my face, already knowing.
“Be careful,” she whispered, her hands on my chest. “Please… I love you.”
I kissed her slow, steady. “I love you too. Both of you.” My palm pressed against her stomach before I stepped back. “I’ll make it back.”
She nodded, tears threatening, but she didn’t try to stop me.
By the time we hit the front door, I was already dialing. Deion picked up on the first ring, MJ right behind him.
“We got movement,” I said. “Meet me there.”
“Aight,” Deion answered. “We’re on it.”
I hung up, slid behind the wheel, and felt the fire in my chest burn hotter.
Tonight I was putting an end to all this shit.
***
The ride was quiet except for the low hum of the engine. Buck and Stacks were in the back, while Kilo rode shotgun, but I wasn’t really hearing them. My head was somewhere else—back on all the shit Sophi told me about Rio. How he would put his hands on her for the simplest shit. The fear in her voice when she talked about how he made her feel trapped. The nightmares that still had her waking up crying. Every word she gave me about him was all the fuel I needed to eliminate that nigga from her life forever.
I gripped the wheel tighter until the headlights cut across the lot where we were supposed to meet. Two cars were already there… Deion’s and MJ’s, and parked close was a van I ain’t recognize.
I slowed, eyes narrowing. “Who the fuck is that?”
Stacks leaned forward from the back. “That’s my homie, Stone. I hit him up on the way. I figured another set of eyes wouldn’t hurt.”
“Long as he don’t get in the way.”
“He won’t,” Stacks said firmly.
I killed the engine, and we all stepped out. Deion and MJ were already posted up, and Stone stepped out the van, and toward us.
I scanned the building, a rundown spot with boarded windows and a back alley that looked like it ain’t seen light in years. The perfect hideaway.
“Aight,” I said. “We go in here and get this nigga. If any of y’all get to him before I do… save him for me,” I instructed. I didn’t care what else happened here tonight, but if anybody was gone kill Rio… it was gone be me.
