“Tell me what he said,” I growled.
“Ingalls said she’s a good lay, and he said he wanted her back to teach her a lesson.”
My jaw clenched as my grip on the handle of the pistol tightened. “He said that?”
“Yeah, like they was real close, and he talked about shit, but we didn’t know she was married. God, you gotta believe me. We didn’t know she was your wife.”
The scene around me was covered in a hue of red. My blood had reached its boiling point. I made myself breathe. “How do I know what you’re saying is true?”
“’Cause my kid.”
“You can do better than that.”
The man shook his head until his good eye opened. “I’m sorry, Mr. Ramses. You asked...”
“Go on.”
“Ingalls, he said he never fucked her ass. Said she was real good at blowing and he might pass her around, but he wanted her ass. He said if her ass was as tight as her pussy—”
My fist connected to his torso again. As Johnny coughed and spit, I asked, “Did Ingalls pay you?”
“Half. He paid half.”
My jaw clenched. “When and where do you collect the second half?”
“Desire, tonight. That old Baptist church. It’s boarded up. The one near Pleasure and Metropolitan Streets. There’s a board loose near the back. Inside, he’s got a place he meets with people.”
I knew exactly the place Johnny was describing. Desire, in the Upper Ninth, had a reputation worse than the Lower Ninth. It was a neighborhood that needed cleaning up, and I was ready to light a match to the whole damn thing.
“What time?” I asked.
“He said two. Two in the morning.”
“Why two?”
“Bars still open. Good folks gone home.”
“How much does Ingalls owe you?” I asked.
“Half a G.”
Taking a step back, I spun the pistol in my grip and landed the butt of the handle on his temple. Johnny’s head fell forward and at the point of contact, his flesh sliced and more blood oozed down his cheek. His body went limp and the chain creaked. I spun on my heels, my gaze avoiding my other men, I looked at Leon.
“Five hundred,” Leon said.
I knew what half a G was. My mind was on my wife. “Ingalls offered a measly fucking thousand to get Emma.”
“I’ll off this one for you,” Leon offered.
“No, he’s got a paycheck to collect.” I took one more look at Johnny’s limp body and turned back to Marcus and the other Ramses soldiers. “Get him cleaned up. If he does what we say and brings Ingalls to our trap, I’ll make good on my promise for his kid. Either way, it’s good night, Johnny. He can decide his kid’s fate.”
As more of my men entered the room, I cleaned the blood from my gun and hands and wiped the splatter from the top of my Italian loafers using disinfectant wipes. The soldiers did their job without saying a fucking word.
Walking to the SUV, Leon said, “Boss, Ingalls didn’t leave with Mrs. Ramses.”
My jaw clenched tighter. “He fucking touches her and I’m going to enjoy watching him die.”
Once I was back in the SUV, I pulled up the information from earlier on my phone.