The GPS told me I’d arrived at my destination in front of a two-story, white-stucco home. A brick walkway, lined with flowering shrubs, led to an oversized mahogany door. The emerald green lawn could’ve served as a fairway and a white SUV with tricked-out rims was parked in the crescent-shaped drive.

I made a U-turn and parked on the opposite side of the street. I slung the backpack with the cash over my shoulder and crossed the quiet street to the front door. I pushed the button next to the door and heard the bell chime in the house.

The door opened and a black guy about my size with red hair and hazel eyes looked me up and down without saying anything. He wore an olive-green tank top that exposed arms wired with muscle and khaki shorts that hung to his knees. Faded tattoos blended into his coffee-colored arms and a c-shaped scar decorated the skin just below his bottom lip.

“Help you?” he asked, glancing over my shoulder and scanning the street before returning his eyes to me.

“Need to see David.”

“He ain’t here.”

“When’s he gonna be back?”

“Dunno, my man. Maybe I can help you out.”

“No. I need him.”

He gestured at my cheek. “You fall down or something?”

“Or something, yeah.”

A slow smile crept over his face. “Unlucky.”

“You sure he’s not here?” I asked. “Because I got a backpack full of something he wants.”

“Told you I could help you out.”

“Need to give it to him personally.”

He shrugged. “Well, he ain’t here.”

I nodded. “Alright. Tell him I’ll bring the money back some other time.”

I turned and headed down the walk.

“Yo.”

I stopped and turned around.

“Hold up,” he said, frowning. He ambled down the walk to me. “You droppin’ off cash?”

“Pretty sure that’s what I said.”

“Drops go through me. I’ll take it.”

“Not this one,” I said. “I need to give it to him myself.”

He rubbed a hand over his chin. “I don’t recognize you.”

“Okay.”

“I mean, most people droppin’ off money, I seen them before.”

“This is my first time.”

“Then you don’t know the drill.”

“Look, we can stand here and do the tough guy thing all day,” I said. “You can tell me all about yourself and what the drill is. But I’m still not giving you the bag. Has nothing to do with you. And any heat comes your way for letting me in, I’ll take it for you. Not looking to screw up your day. But I’m giving the bag to him myself.”

He rolled his tongue around inside his mouth and squinted at me. “Alright, alright. I get it. I’ll see if Davey boy will see you. But one piece of advice?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t go for the gun on your hip,” he said, nodding at me. “Because then I’ll have to shoot you.”  He grinned. “And I’m fast money.”

I thought I’d tucked it away enough, but either I hadn’t or he was that good. I was pretty sure he was that good.

“I’ll leave it in the car if you want,” I said. “I won’t need it.”

He raised an eyebrow, the hazel eyes amused. “You sure?”

“This doesn’t seem like the kinda place anything really goes down,” I said.

He snorted. “Damn straight. Just rich white people, golf carts and tiny dogs.”

“You want me to toss it?”

He studied me for a moment, then shook his head. “Nah, you good.”  He leaned his head toward the house. “Follow me.”

He took me into a domed entryway with marble flooring and shut the door behind me. The cool, air-conditioned air wrapped around me like an icy blanket and I shivered.

“Dude likes it like Alaska in here,” he said. “Wait here.”

He disappeared around the corner.

The interior of the house was right out of a magazine. Expensive furnishings, over-sized paintings and nothing personal. It was meant to show off wealth rather than indicate that anyone lived there.

The guy returned and raised his eyebrow again but without any amusement. “You Braddock?”

I nodded.

He glanced over his shoulder and stepped in closer.

“Okay, just so you know,” he said, lowering his voice. “Every white boy in there is carrying and they all got hard-ons when Davey boy said your name. Be cool and it’ll be cool. Got it?”

“Got it,” I said. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“Don’t be thanking me, big man,” he said, leading the way. “I’ll be the first one to shoot you. I ain’t jokin’ ‘bout bein’ fast money.”

THIRTY-FIVE

“You got guts,” David said. “I’ll give you that.”

He was perched on a stool at a marble-topped bar in an expansive living room, sunlight streaming in through a large bank of windows on the roof. NASCAR was on a muted big screen on the far wall. Two guys I didn’t recognize were attempting to play pool at the billiards table in the middle of the room, but were too focused on me to actually play. Colin was stretched out on a long leather sofa, his eyes glued to me.

It felt like an expensive frat house, minus the poor hygiene.

David held up the Pepsi can in his hand and nodded at me. “Or maybe you’re just stupid.”

I looked at him and images of Bella’s face, cut and bruised, flashed before me. Images of the story she’d told me, how he’d taken Jackson, just to prove he could. The anger simmered and rose up, threatening to boil over. I took a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time.

I slid the backpack off my shoulder and tossed it toward him so it landed at his feet. “That’s yours.”

He didn’t even glance at it. “Thanks. How’s that face feeling?”

“Need to talk to you,” I said, ignoring him. “Alone.”

“You can say what you need to in front of these guys,” David said, smiling. “I trust them.”

The two guys at the pool table laughed. Colin just stared at me.

“She’s not making any more runs for you,” I said.

“She?”

“Bella.”

“Oh. Her. Right.”  He took a drink from the can and set it on the counter. “I think I’ll wait to hear that from her myself.”

“You aren’t gonna hear anything from her again,” I said. “She’s done.”

“That right?”

“Yeah. And you aren’t gonna go near her,” I said. “Or touch her. Or call her. Or breathe in her direction. She’s out.”

“Since when is this any of your business?”

“Since that asshole over there came at me in the parking lot and I put him down,” I said, glancing at Colin.

Colin sat up and glared at me. “Fuck you.”

“See?  He has a bad attitude and it got him in trouble. And I’ll kick his ass again if I need to.”

Colin stood. “Right now. Let’s go.”

David held a hand out in Colin’s direction. The two guys at the pool table had laid down their cues and were now watching us.

“But I’m not concerned with your half-ass day laborers,” I said to David. “I’m concerned about you.”

He grinned. “You should be.”  He made a show of finishing the soda and setting the can down on the bar. “So what happens if I don’t go along here with your little demands?”

“I go to the cops,” I said.

He blinked a couple times. “Really?  You’d go to the cops?”

“Yeah,” I said. “And your little frat boys will talk. And so will Bella.”

“Really?” he said. “You got all that lined up?”

In truth, I didn’t. But I knew I could make it happen if I needed to. I didn’t anticipate having to send anyone to the police but if push came to shove, I thought I could get it set up.

“Yeah,” I said. “I do.”

David nodded slowly, then shook his head. “Well, I guess you got me cornered. Seeing how you might go to the police and all.”

He stared at me for a moment, his face blank.

I waited him out.

The blank expression washed out and he looked like he was trying to remember something. “Hey, Colin. Help me out here.”

Colin was still scowling in my direction. “What?”

“What was the name of that dude we met earlier in the week?” David said, squinting hard. “Had a funny name.”