“That’s what we’re doing,” I confirmed.
“I thought you’d have guys who do this for you.”
“I do.”
“Then why are we driving around with a trunk full of drugs?”
I chewed on that for a second and wasn’t sure how to answer. There were a lot of reasons I could give her, but in the end only one really mattered.
“I’m a hands-on kind of guy.”
She sighed. “Right. Sure. Of course. Hands on with your drug dealing.”
“I want my crew to see me every day. I want them to know that I’m in the shit with them, even if they’re the ones risking themselves more than I am.”
She gave me a look, but it wasn’t angry or resentful or even pissed off. She seemed genuinely curious, and as I pulled up to the light, I gave her my best smile.
She rolled her eyes again and looked away.
I drove around West Philly for a while, not doing much of anything, before I cut back over a bridge and headed south again. I stopped at a house a few blocks off Passyunk and another guy came out. He opened the trunk himself, took the purple tote, and disappeared back inside with a wave.
“That’s it?” she asked.
“That’s it.” I leaned back in the seat.
“Now what?”
“Now we wait for a while and let them do their thing. If the weight’s good, they’ll come out with money, and then we’ll leave. If something’s wrong, they’ll try to kill us.”
She stared at me. “Wait, what?”
“Oh, sorry, I guess I didn’t say. We’re selling that shit right now.”
She turned to me and took a deep breath. “You mean this is a drug deal? Those aren’t your guys?”
“Nope. They’re dealers buying in bulk. I find selling big weight is easier and safer than street dealing, even if the profit isn’t as good.”
She groaned and banged her head against the headrest. Her eyes squeezed shut and I watched the vein on her forehead throb as her jaw clenched tight.
The Top-40 station played some upbeat pop music and I whistled along.
“Let me ask you something,” she said after ten minutes of silence.
“What’s up?”
“What happens if those guys in there don’t come back out with money?”
“Then I make a call and they have a problem.”
She nodded, frowning. “What if they run?”
“We find them.”
“And if they leave the city?”
“They’re not that stupid.”
“What if they are?”
I shrugged and spread my hands. “Then we’ll find some people that they love and kill them.”
Her mouth fell open. “You’ll do—what?”
“We won’t kill them right away, obviously. We try and be reasonable.”
“That’s— that’s sick.”
“I see why you might think that.”
“Are you really so arrogant that you’ll do whatever you want?”
I tilted my head and leaned toward her. “Let me ask you something. Where do you think I’m from?”
“Here. The city. What does that even mean?”
“I’m from nothing. I’m from nowhere. The only reason I have anything in this world is because I’ve been willing to fight, kill, and cause a whole lot of mayhem to get it. Those guys in there, they’ve known me a long while, they know the sort of shit I’ve done in the past. You only know the man that stood up at that altar and smiled at you, but don’t forget.” I leaned toward her, a little smile on my lips. “You don’t know where I’ve been, little girl.”
She stared at me and I saw a spark of fear behind those defiant, angry eyes, and I felt strangely victorious—even if it was a hollow victory. The last thing I wanted or needed was to upset her or make her even more scared of me than she already was, but I couldn’t help myself. She didn’t get it and I wasn’t sure she ever would.
Before she could speak, the door to the house opened and the guy came back out with a big black duffel. He dumped it into the trunk, nodded at me, and disappeared back inside.
“Is that it?” she asked.
“That’s it.”
“Are you going to count it?”
“Nope.” I put the car in gear. “No need. Like I said, they know me.”
She stared at me as I pulled forward.
But I didn’t make it more than ten feet before a truck came screaming around the street ahead of me and slammed on its brakes. It sat there in the intersection and my mind began to panic. I saw three men, no, four, four guys jammed up front. The truck backed up then swung down the street heading toward me, going the wrong way down a one-way street, penning me in.
I had a choice to make. I could go forward and collide head-on. I could hit reverse and see if I could outrun them. Or I could fight.
The guys in the house wouldn’t be any fucking help.
“Shit,” I said, turning the wheel.
“Reid? What are you doing?”
I swung the car up onto the sidewalk. It barely fit and the side scraped past a tree as I sped down. A young guy on a skateboard dove out of the way and I hit the horn over and over in case anyone wanted to get in my way. The mirror smashed off on a stoop as the truck pulled level.
Guns pointed out their window.
“Down!” I yelled, diving over on top of her as the guys in the truck opened fire.
Bullets riddled the car for two agonizing seconds. I kept my foot on the gas and the car jumped forward before it hit a tree and bounced sideways. I jerked forward and slammed against the dashboard with a grunt. The truck hit its brakes and started to reverse.
I shook Cora and stared at her. My head was dizzy and I felt blood dribble down into my eyes. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.”
I unclicked her belt, leaned across her, and shoved open her door. “What are you doing?” she asked as I pushed her out.
“Stay down,” I growled. “Don’t fucking move.”
Fear bloomed in her face and she froze. I saw it clear as day, like a predator watched a rabbit pause mid-run in pure terror. She couldn’t move, her face pale, her eyes wide, her pupils dilated. I crawled across the seat as the guys in the truck opened fire again and managed to get her toward the back, out of the main line of fire.
The sound was deafening, like fireworks going off next to my face. Shrapnel from a broken window glanced off my cheek and tore a long, jagged cut. I pulled my gun from my jacket and waited for the guys to stop shooting.
I heard voices and a door open.
That was when I made my move.
I popped up, gun ready, and caught one in the open. He must’ve thought we were dead, since he stood in the no-man’s land between the two cars. I shot him once in the head and again in the chest as he fell then turned my gun toward the truck. The guy behind the wheel cursed and tried to get his gun up, but it was too late. I shot him in the head and had one more second to fire off another round that missed before the guy in the passenger seat began to return fire with a long rifle.
I ducked back down.
Cora trembled next to me, eyes wide. I grabbed her arm. “We have to run.”
“Run?” She could barely say the word. “Run? Run?”