Page 228 of Back in the Saddle

“Well, he knows Clown and I think a lot more, and he says he’ll tell you guys because he wants to meet you.”

No hesitation, Eric announced, “We’ll be there in twenty.”

Whoa.

Seemed Titus was the real deal, and I already kinda knew that with the Camaro and portrait.

“Wait!” I cried, thinking he was going to hang up.

“What?” Eric asked.

I took two gigantic steps away from Titus’s door, Raye came with and huddled even closer, before I whispered, “Who is this guy?”

“Ex-dealer in his youth. Ran a big crew. He got tagged, did five years, got out, kitted out his garage with his drug money, and whatever part of the street Javi doesn’t run, Titus runs it.”

“Like, he’s a vigilante?”

“No. Like, he’s a negotiator.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means he wasn’t a big fan of doing time, or wasting years selling narcotics, and he’s less of a fan of brothers killing brothers for stupid shit like turf wars and vendettas. He knows enough to know he can’t stop people from committing illegal acts, but he does his part to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand. In other words, he keeps the peace.”

“He has that much respect?”

“I don’t know the history. I just know that’s how it works. I also know no one gets an audience with this guy unless they know him, or they’ve got an in. We’ve been trying for six months to get in front of him.”

Thank you, Jinx.

“And last, he hasn’t made it a secret he’s pissed as shit this crew that took Homer is operating in his jurisdiction the way they are,” Eric concluded.

“Do you know where his garage is?”

“Everyone does. We’re en route now.”

“Okay, baby. See you soon.”

“Jess?”

This time, he caught me from hanging up. “Yeah?”

“We called Clarice who got us in touch with Javi. He and Jeff are coming down.”

My stomach sank.

“We need to know what they know,” Eric explained. “We tried to get it over the phone, but Javi refused. Demanded face to face.”

Which meant he was also going to demand they be in on the takedown.

This also meant I was right.

Damn you, Javi!

“But they’re at least an hour out,” Eric continued. “So, if Titus can get us the intel, we can deal with this before they get here.”

My stomach sank further.

“No one has anything good to say about these guys,” I told him.

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