by Jade Kuzma
“That’s true. Can’t blame ‘em for tucking tail and being a couple of pussies.”
He walked toward me and put his hands behind his back.
“So, Grant? How do you wanna do this? I can make it simple for you. Quick and clean. No mess. You won’t feel a thing. Or I can make it miserable. What’s it gonna be?”
“I have a proposal for you.”
“A proposal?”
“That’s right. I think you’ll agree to it.”
“And what would that be?”
“My friend here…”
I patted Aden on the arm.
“…I’ll put him against any one of your men. One on one. He wins, I want answers.”
“Answers?”
“I don’t know what you think of me, Ellis, but I’m not an idiot. You’re not fucking with me for no reason.”
He grinned at me and stroked his beard as he sized Aden up.
“And what if my man wins? What do I get?”
I looked at Hunter.
“You sure about this?” Hunter said.
I gave him a nod.
“All right…” he sighed.
Hunter walked forward and dropped the duffel bag in front of Ellis.
“What’s that?” Ellis said with a shrug.
“It’s half a million dollars. Cash.”
“Ha! You expect me to believe that—”
Hunter zipped the bag open and showed him the stacks of bills. Ellis peered down into it and his demeanor changed quickly.
“You beat my man here and it’s yours,” I said. “That seems fair, doesn’t it?”
Ellis glared at me. I wasn’t about to back down from him no matter how hard he tried to intimidate me.
“And what’s stopping me from taking you all out right now and walking away with the cash?”
“That’s stopping you.”
I raised my hand up and pointed right at him. He looked down just as the red dot appeared on his chest. Another red dot appeared on one of his men behind him.
“High-powered, black-market, military-grade rifles,” I said. “Courtesy of a man I know in the city. I’ve seen ‘em in action. Have you ever seen a brick wall turn into dust? I wonder what it’d do to skin and bone…”
Ellis looked more pissed than he’d ever been.
“I’m not interested in killing you,” I said. “But I want answers. I’m offering you a chance to get out.”
Stay calm…
I did my best to maintain my composure. Even though I knew Ellis didn’t have a choice, this was far from over.
“Max!” Ellis shouted as he eyeballed Aden. “Kick this motherfucker’s ass.”
Sebastian and Roman were far away, their weapons trained on Ellis as he backed away. The biggest motherfucker in his club took his place and stepped forward. Some long-haired punk with tattoos all along his arms and neck. If it wasn’t Aden who had to fight him, I almost would’ve been concerned.
Aden gave me a nod before stepping forward. He cracked his knuckles in his palm and started circling the man in front of him.
“Kill this asshole,” Ellis muttered. “The sooner you finish him, the sooner we walk away a whole lot richer.”
Max rushed forward and screamed. The big oaf was a lot faster than he looked. He managed to catch Aden in the ribs. My breath caught in my throat for a second. Ellis noticed it and smirked.
All of the Rebels were cheering but the punch didn’t do much. Aden gave me a wink then put his fists up. The next punch Max threw, Aden was ready. He swiftly ducked out of the way and countered with a right cross. The sound of bone and flesh crunching from the blow was frightening.
Max immediately fell to one knee, his mouth bloodied. Aden backed away but Max refused to stay down. He roared as he got back up to his feet, spitting the blood from his mouth. He raised both arms up and tried to wrap them around Aden but again Aden was too fast. A swift uppercut knocked Max’s head back and rolled his eyes back in his head.
Aden looked at me. I gave him a nod then he advanced forward. He stood over Max, who was trying to maintain consciousness at this point. The big man pushed his fists into the ground and tried to get up but Aden ended it quickly with another swift right hand.
“Fuck this!” Ellis shouted. “Get him!”
As soon as Max hit the ground, the rest of the Rebels tried to pounce on Aden.
“Shit,” I muttered.
I moved forward with Hunter and got into it with the Rebels.
They outnumbered us but that wasn’t gonna stop us from fighting back. Aden did more than enough to hold his ground. Hunter did the same.
I was getting into it with one of the Rebels when another one of them wrapped their arms around me and tackled me to the ground.
Ellis was on top of me, throwing his fists at me. Every punch that collided with my head put me in a daze.
Fuck…
I wasn’t afraid of dying. Ellis couldn’t do anything to hurt me. The red dot on his chest was what worried me. All Sebastian had to do was line up a good shot and that would be the end of it.
Come on!
I had to stop this before anything else happened.
Ellis raised both fists and screamed at me through gritted teeth.
“Motherfucker—”
Just as he swung, I moved my head out of the way. With all of my strength, I pushed myself up to my feet and rolled him off of me. He was in enough of a daze that I could capitalize. I hammered him across the chin with a right hand then knocked him down to the ground. A quick glance was all I needed to see that he wasn’t getting back up.
“You all right?”
Hunter grabbed me by the arm and helped me back up to my feet.
“I’m fine,” I said.
I dusted myself off as I looked around. Hunter and Aden had taken care of the rest of the club. They groaned on the ground, writhing in agony. If that wasn’t bad enough, Sebastian and Roman still had their weapons trained on them from a distance.
“They’re clean,” Aden said. “Got their weapons.”
“Good,” I said.
There was only one thing left to do.
I took a knee down next to Ellis.
“Hey.”
I slapped him across the face to get him out of the slumber I’d put him in.
“Hey!”
I kept tapping his cheek until he finally started to come to.
“Now what?” he said. “You gonna kill me?”
“I never said I was gonna kill you. I said all I want are answers.”
“You’re not gonna get ‘em.”
“Why? You afraid that someone’s gonna come after you?”
“Ha! I’m not afraid anybody. Nah… I ain’t scared. I’m just a man of my word.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“What are you talking about?” I said.
“I was hired to do a job. I’m just seeing it through.”
“And you’re not gonna tell me because of that?”
“You’re damn right.”
Shit…
I had Ellis right where I wanted him but he wasn’t willing to talk. I only had one shot at this.
“You were hired for a job,” I said. “You were paid to fuck with me.”
“Smart guy,” Ellis sighed. “Honestly though, I would’ve fucked with you even if I wasn’t paid. Motherfucker riding around on his hog in a suit… Disrespectful.”
“Listen. I’ll make you a deal.”
“You can’t make a deal with me—”
“That 500 grand. It’s yours. You can have it.”
“Ezra!” Hunter said. “What the fuck are you—”
“It’s yours,” I cut him off.
“And why the hell would you do that?” Ellis said.
“Because you’re gonna give me the answers I want. Then you’re gonna leave Ivory for good. I figure that kind of money can go a long way for you.”
Ellis glared at me. Despite how pissed he was, he didn’t have much of a choice.
&nbs
p; “Take the money and give me my answers,” I said. “It’s the only way you’ll be able to walk out of this. Don’t let your pride get in the way of doing what’s best for you and your club. My money is just as good as the other assholes who paid you.”
“…I have your word?”
I nodded without hesitating.
Ellis sat up where he was and sighed. He looked around at the rest of his club, each member still out of it.
“I didn’t get paid to kill you,” he said. “Just to fuck you up. Beat you around. Put a scare into you.”
“Who was it? Some of the drug lords working in Ivory?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Not from around here. Some asshole in a suit.”
“This asshole in a suit… He got a name.”
“Silver.”
I blinked my eyes in confusion.
“Jamie Silver?” I said.
“That’s right.”
“Why would he—”
“I don’t know. When a man pays the kind of money he did, I don’t ask questions. And since you’re paying me that kind of money, I answered.”
“If you’re lying to me.”
“I’m a man of my word, Grant. Now… You gonna have your boys shoot me?”
“Nah… I’m a man of my word.”
I stood up straight and looked down at Ellis.
“Honor your word,” I said. “Get on your rides and leave Ivory. Don’t ever come back.”
“With the kind of money you gave us, there’s no point in staying in a shithole like this.”
Ellis got up from his seat just as the rest of his MC started to stir. Sebastian and Roman kept their weapons trained on them as they all got onto their bikes. Ellis took his duffel bag of cash and gave me one last look. The disdain he usually had was gone. He gave me a nod before revving his engine and finally driving away.
“I can’t believe it,” Hunter said. “Shit, you just let that motherfucker walk away with 500,000 dollars.”
“Him and his crew are nomads. It was the only way to get through to him. Besides, it’s dirty money. I’m better off without it. I made a promise to someone…”
“At least you got the answers you were looking for,” Aden said. “Now what?”
“Now?”
I sighed knowing that this still wasn’t over. But the hard part was out of the way.
I pulled my phone out and started dialing.
“Get Sebastian and Roman,” I said to the two men next to me. “It’s time to finish this.”
Chapter 25
EZRA
I sat on my ride with my eyes closed. The only thing I could hear was the cool night wind blowing across my face. I steadied my heart in my chest. The finish line was right in front of me. I didn’t know what was waiting for me on the other side. I hoped that Lacey would be there to greet me. I couldn’t think about that now though. I just had to get to the line.
A car rumbled in the distance and slowly started to get louder. The bright headlights forced me to open my eyes. I watched the car park in front of me and the silence of the night returned.
The door opened slowly and the man I’d been waiting for stepped out of the driver’s seat.
“Ezra.”
I didn’t respond to Jamie as he walked toward me. He had a satisfied smile on his lips like he always did. He puffed his chest out with his usual confidence and put his hands on his hips.
“Is there a reason you wanted to meet me way the fuck out here?” he said as he looked around. “We’re out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Couldn’t risk anybody overhearing our business,” I replied.
“Could’ve picked some diner in the city. Employees don’t give a shit. I doubt the cops have every place bugged. You’re being paranoid.”
“You and I don’t know Ivory like we know the city. You never know what can happen in a town like this. Can’t take any chances.”
“Hmmm…”
He looked down his nose at me and nodded.
“You always were too careful. It annoyed me sometimes but I can’t argue with results. Neither of us ever got caught.”
I looked out toward the distance as Jamie moved right next to me to enjoy the view.
“Look at this shit,” he said. “A barren wasteland. A whole bunch of nothing between here and the rest of civilization. It’s all ours for the taking. We get in on this deal and we’ll be a part of the monopoly. We’re gonna be rich, Ezra. You hear me? We’ll never have to work another day in our lives.”
“It’s strange.”
“What is?”
“This. All of this. I look out there and I see the same thing you do. Hills and valleys and canyons with nothing but wildlife. Deserted farmland. Unpaved roads heading toward God knows where. It’s a whole bunch of… nothing.”
“Nothing,” he scoffed. “That’s a good way of putting it.”
“I’ve only been here for a few days but I’m starting to realize that it’s not about what I see. There’s more to Ivory than that. There’s something else. I see… me.”
Jamie raised an eyebrow, his hands still on his hips.
“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?” he asked. “You having an existential crisis, son?”
“No…”
I shook my head and slowly turned toward him.
“…I know exactly who I am and what I’m supposed to do.”
“Do you plan on telling me what the fuck you wanted to talk to me about?”
“I wanted to talk to you about… business.”
“Obviously. You didn’t waste my time calling me out to the outskirts just tell me something you could’ve told me over the phone. What’s this all about?”
“I’ve secured the building. The paperwork went smooth. The land is unowned, so I’ve got the whole thing to myself.”
“Good. You picked a decent spot in Old Town. Old Town… Ha! It’s a real ghost town. Being so isolated from the rest of Ivory means you’ll get some decent traffic. Just enough to cover up the money we’re making once we get in on the deal.”
“I plan on making a lot of money with the restaurant I’m opening. More money than you’ll ever know. More money than this deal will ever make…”
Jamie squinted at me, his jaw beginning to tense.
“I already told you,” he said. “Don’t get any delusions about why we’re here. I don’t give a shit what kind of business you open. Don’t lose your focus.”
“I didn’t have any focus when I first came to Ivory. I’ve never been more focused than I am right now.”
“I knew it,” he sighed.
He looked down at the ground and shook his head.
“You make a little cash and spend some time around these small-town folks and all of a sudden you think you can do something different. It ain’t gonna work, Ezra.”
“Is that why you hired the Rebels to rough me up?”
Jamie slowly raised his head up and stared at me. I looked him right in the eye as I waited for a response. I was prepared to wait the whole fucking night for an explanation if that’s what it took.
“What?” he said.
“The Desert Rebels. They’ve been following me around and fucking with me ever since I got to Ivory. I should’ve known that it was a strange coincidence.”
“Ezra, I don’t know—”
“I thought about it. I figured maybe the Rebels wanted in on the deal themselves and they were trying to push someone out. But they’re nomads. They don’t stick around long enough to get into any serious trouble. And they’re definitely not gonna spend their time in Ivory, regardless of what kinda money they can make.”
Jamie was staring at me intently, no emotion on his face. That only made it more obvious that Ellis told me the truth about him.
“Maybe it was someone else,” Jamie said. “A lot of rich assholes are in on the deal. Maybe they’re trying to intimidate you.”
“I thought about that, too. But the people moving the drugs through Ivory don�
�t have the manpower. They wouldn’t push out a couple of candidates like us when all it would mean is more money for them. No… They would welcome us with open arms, considering we’ve already got the background up in the city. It had to be someone else.”
I got up from my bike and put my hands behind my back.
“There’s no one left,” I said. “It just leaves you.”
“Ezra,” he said. “Come on, son. You think I would do something like… what was it you said? Have some guys rough you up—”
“You were always telling me to stop dreaming. Even when I started flipping property and getting into real estate, you told me that I would never make any real money. New town, same shit.”
Jamie started blinking. It was a warm night but not enough to make sweat form on his forehead like it was now. He swallowed anxiously and shook his head.
“You better watch what you’re saying,” he said. “Or—”
“Or what? Or I’ll regret it? You made a mistake. You put too much time into me. You did it because you thought I would be your puppet. Someone who would follow in your footsteps and be your protégé.”
“You still have that chance.”
“That’s not who I am,” I said, shaking my head. “I know that’s not who I am. You know why?”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you hired a bunch of men to take care of me. But I’ve still got more money than you, Jamie. Enough money to hire those same men away. You’ve got nothing left.”
“You better watch your mouth—”
The screech of bikes in the distance cut him off. The unmistakable sound of panheads rumbling headed right toward us. Jamie spun around to see the four bikers coming toward us.
“What the hell is this?” Jamie said.
They parked right in front of Jamie and got off their bikes. Every man pulled their pieces from their waists and held them at their sides.
“Just give us the word,” Sebastian said to me.
I gave him a nod and turned back to Jamie.
Jamie wasn’t hiding his frustration anymore. The motherfucker knew he didn’t have any way out. The truth was out in the open now.
“You threatening me?” he said. “After I made you?”
“You didn’t make me,” I responded. “I was already who I was meant to be. You see, when I first moved the package for you, I didn’t know what it was. But all I needed was a few bucks to get started. You never cared too much about the business I was in. Flipping property in the city made me more than you ever imagined. It made me more than you could ever make being some wanna-be drug lord. No, you didn’t make me… I made myself.”