He didn’t respond, so I shifted his weight to my side, then slipped out from underneath him. As soon as I’d gotten to my knees, I spotted the large shard of glass centered like a large knife in his back. I knelt down and gave him a slight shake as I cried, “Jackal? Jackal, are you okay? Please be okay—”
“Sorry, Kiersten,” Drake sneered. “But I don’t believe he’s gonna answer.”
I looked behind me and found Drake standing above me with his gun pressed against Braylon’s head. There was another man standing behind them—his weapon was also drawn and pointed directly at me. I looked down the hall, searching frantically for any sign of Widow, Timms, or Duggar. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found. I glanced up at Drake and asked, “Why are you doing this?”
“You left me no choice.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
“For a smart girl, you can be really fucking stupid. Seriously, what did you fucking expect me to do? You came into my territory—the one I’d been running for years, and like it was yours for the taking, you started selling your dope.” His eyes were full of anger as he glared down at me. “I didn’t say a fucking word. I just stood by and let you steal my customers, my money, all because I thought we had something—a connection that could lead to something more. Now, I see that isn’t going to happen.”
I had no idea he was selling marijuana. Nor did I realize that he knew I was selling it. I was completely stunned by the revelation. I was even more stunned when he shook his head and growled, “We could’ve had it all. We could’ve joined forces. With my goods and yours, we could’ve made this our city. But you were too fucking stubborn. I’m done trying to be the good guy. I’m taking over. This place of yours is going be mine...”
Fifteen
Country
My mind was racing as we sped towards the Manor. I desperately wanted to know that Kiersten was okay, so I called her phone over and over again. When she still didn’t answer, I tried Braylon, Widow, and Jackal. Again, no answer. I sent them all countless messages, but neither responded. They could’ve been away from their phones or maybe they’d put out the fire and gone back to bed, but I had a bad feeling that wasn’t the case. We’d just made it out of the Nashville city limits when Menace’s phone started to ring. Hawk, Lynch, and I watched as he picked it up and looked down at the screen. Dread washed over me the second I saw the expression on his face. I knew right away something was terribly wrong. He looked over at me and said, “It’s Riggs.”
He brought the phone up to his ear and answered, “This is Menace.”
Silence fell over the truck as he paused to listen for a moment, then asked, “Any idea how many there are?”
Another agonizing pause, then Menace asked, “What do we need to do here?”
Menace listened for a few more moments, then replied, “We’ll let you know as soon as we get there.”
As soon as he hung up, Menace turned his attention to us. “It wasn’t just a fire. There are intruders, and the Manor is on lockdown.”
“What the fuck?” I roared.
“He just turned on the sprinkler system on at the gym, so the fire shouldn’t be much of an issue. I can’t say the same for the intruders.”
Hawk sounded equally angered when he asked, “Any idea how the hell this happened?”
“Can’t say for sure. I’m guessing whoever did this used the storm to their advantage. Hard to see anything with all the wind and rain.”
“Fuck! Any idea who it might be?”
“No clue, but it’s pretty clear these guys know what they’re doing. They set the fire as a decoy. Used it to get them away from the school long enough to get inside.”
“Wait, you said the Manor was on lockdown.”
“They are.”
“So, they’re locked inside there with them?”
“It’s hard to tell. They’ve dismantled the camera feed, but Riggs seems to think there are several still outside.”
“And Kiersten?”
“Pretty sure she’s in there with them.”
“Damn it!” I didn’t realize just how much I cared about Kiersten until her life was in jeopardy. The mere thought of losing her sent me into a spiraling panic. “We gotta get to her!”
“I know, brother, and we will. Should be there in less than ten minutes,” Menace tried to assure me. “She’s a smart girl. She can hold on until then.”
I ran my hand over my face, trying to slow the thoughts racing through my mind. I couldn’t hold back my rage as I growled, “This shit should’ve never happened. Where the hell were Widow and Jackal?”
“It’s after midnight, brother. I’m sure one or both of them were down for the night. Not sure who was on night duty or why they might’ve been distracted. None of that matters now.” Menace’s cool demeanor remained intact as he said, “Right now, we need to focus on getting there and doing whatever we gotta do to take these motherfuckers down.”