None of us were surprised by the question. While we’d done our best to clean Danny up, he was still covered in cuts and bruises, and with all the punctures from the ice picks, he was moving a little slow. Thankfully, Danny was quick on his feet. “I made a move on the wrong girl at a bar the other night.”
“She teach you a lesson?” Miller scoffed.
“No, but her boyfriend and his buddies sure did. Beat the fuck out of me, but the girl was hot. I had to at least try and get a piece of that.”
“Mmm … No lay is worth that shit.” Miller’s tone quickly changed as he asked, “You got the money?”
“You know I do.” Danny reached into his back pocket and pulled out the envelope of cash we’d given him for the exchange. “You got the goods?”
“Yeah, it’s in the back.” Miller strolled to the rear of the car and nonchalantly opened the trunk. “It’s all there.”
Like he’d done it a million times before, Danny took out his pocketknife and cut one of the bags, quickly sampling the take. After several moments, he turned his attention to Miller and asked, “The others just like this one?”
“Yeah, why the fuck wouldn’t they be?”
“Just checking, man.” Danny shrugged. “I don’t want any trouble with my buyers. They’re the kind of guys who’ll string you up by the balls just for shits and giggles.”
“They have an issue with the last shipment?”
“No ... at least, not that I’m aware of.”
Danny was digging a hole, and if he didn’t watch his step, he was gonna fuck up everything. Hoping to get him back on track, Menace used his mic and told Danny, “Stop running your fucking mouth and get this thing done.”
Miller stood silent, studying Danny’s expression, then grumbled, “You want the shit or not?”
“Yeah, yeah, I want it.”
When Danny reached into the trunk and started to unload, the guy followed suit. Their attention was on transferring the shipment, so Shotgun gave the nod, letting us know it was time to get a move on. We each followed as Shotgun led us out of hiding and into the abandoned parking lot. As we got closer, I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins, bringing every nerve in my body to life—not out of fear, but out of eagerness. I, like the rest of my brothers, wanted to take this motherfucker down, find out exactly what he knew, and get this bullshit over and done with once and for all. Unaware that we were inching closer, Danny and Miller continued to move the product from the Mercedes’ trunk over to Danny’s. All was going as planned until the sound of a car driving by off in the distance caught Miller’s attention. He glanced over his shoulder, and his face grew pale with fear when he saw us advancing towards them. Hell, by looking at his frightened expression one would’ve thought the guy was watching a pack of angry wolves charging towards him. I couldn’t blame him for being rattled. Seeing the five of us in our leather cuts, muscular builds, and tattoos would make any man uneasy. We were just a few yards away when he reached for his revolver and aimed it in our direction. “Who the fuck are you?”
Viper continued to charge forward, completely unfazed by the fact that the barrel of Miller’s gun was pointed directly at him. Miller’s hand started to tremble with apprehension as he placed his finger on the trigger. “Stop right there or I’ll blow your fucking head off.”
Hoping to diffuse the situation, Danny looked over to him and started stammering, “Hey, man. I-It’s cool. I know these guys. They’re business associates of mine.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“They just want to ask you a few questions.”
“I ain’t answering a goddamn thing! Not now. Not ever.”
Concerned for Viper’s safety, Shotgun and I stepped in front of Viper, shielding his body with ours as Viper warned, “Put the gun down.”
“That shit ain’t gonna happen, motherfucker.”
“Have it your way.”
Viper pulled out his Glock, then everyone else did the same. Miller’s eyes widened, leaving no doubt that he was intimidated by the sight of all of us standing in front of him with our weapons drawn. Danny’s knees were practically shaking, making it more than evident that he was equally as freaked when he started yammering, “Look guys. It doesn’t have to go down like this. We all just need to calm the fuck down.”
“You got any idea how bad you’ve fucked this thing up?” Miller asked Danny. “Your ass is gonna be on the line for this shit. It’s all gonna come back on you. Wait and see.”
“Wouldn’t have come to this if you hadn’t fucked with the last shipment.”
Miller was getting more anxious by the second. He was barely able to keep his grip on his weapon as he barked, “Got no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.”