Page 35 of Barron

“Man, woman?” Little Billy asked.

“Hard to tell.” He shook his head. “But that’s not all. I went to see her yesterday and found her pretty upset. She came back from work to find a humanlike figure made out of cloth and stained with blood hanging in her kitchen.”

Johnny G whistled.

Shifter groaned. “Like a gris-gris kinda thing?”

“Hey, man. I’m from Louisiana.” Tank waved a hand. “You don’t fuck around with those…things.”

“Yoanni and her family are Cuban. She gets it. Apparently, areligion similar to the one in New Orleans is practiced on the island.”

“So the person trying to scare her is Cuban,” Blade said.

Barron shook his head. “My gut says no. Nothing like this happened in Miami. Why start this attack in Garden City?” He glanced at his brothers. All eyes were locked on him. “Guys, my instincts tell me this person is local. I’m worried this is an inside job. I mean, someone in the station had access to her desk and knew how to walk around the surveillance cameras. Right?”

“I get that.” Pushing off his chair, Shifter started pacing. “But scare her from what? Someone wants her to leave Garden City? Could be you’re the problem, dude. Some lady has a thing for you and is trying to scare Yoanni into going back home. You’d be surprised what a jealous chick will do to get rid of the competition. Did you date anyone during her leave of absence?”

“Me?” Barron touched his chest. Next to him, Johnny G chuckled.

“What are you laughing at?” he barked at Johnny. “You know my history. I’m a one-night, two at the most, kind of guy. I don’t do attachments. I can’t remember the last time I got laid, thanks to Weaver. The only woman I’ve ever dated and been serious about is Yoanni.”

“Does she live alone?” Turbo asked.

“Yes. I brought her to my place last night,” Barron said. “She didn’t fight me because she was pretty rattled. Tonight, we’re going to discuss options. With this person on the loose, I don’t want her alone.”

“Good idea,” Little Billy said before he turned to Blade. “We’ll schedule rides by her place when she goes back home. Is that it? Are we finished with our business?”

Blade nodded. “Stay alert, guys. There’s a lot coming down the pike. One whiff of Los Emes, get back to me right away. Barron, stay a moment.”

“Sure thing.” He tapped his fingers on the table, waiting for the room to empty out.

“I’m sorry Yoanni is going through all this crap,” Blade said. “I like her a lot. She’s a nice kid.”

“Thanks, but I know that’s not what you wanted to talk to me about.”

Dropping his elbows on the table, Blade leaned forward. “That evening at Nightshade, you were pretty sure it was the same Wolf from LaFayette.”

“Damned sure. But with the commotion Iris made, I lost track of him.” Barron shrugged. “After she calmed down, I wasn’t so sure anymore. I wondered if I saw what I wanted to see. You know what I mean?”

“I do. Don’t second-guess yourself too much. Most times, our first reactions are right on the money. I believe you saw the Wolf from LaFayette, and he just took off after the deal with that chick. How was the club? I went to the opening night.”

“Nightshade’s fun. They’ve added new private rooms and a playroom just for Littles. It’s pretty. You should take Cel. I’m taking Yoanni.”

“When are you going?”

“Not tonight. We have to talk about stuff. Next weekend.”

“Let me know how it goes. If Yoanni likes it, maybe Cel will. She’s shy in strange places.”

“I’ll let you know.”

Standing, Blade stretched his lower back. “What’s on your schedule today?”

“The agency. Shifter wants to give me a rundown of his systems. We have to finish setting up the place and do a final check on supplies.” Barron stood as well. “I meant to tell you, Master Darius wants to hire us. I asked him to give me an idea of what he wanted, but he kept a lid on his reasons.”

“Did we get our business cards yet?”

“I haven’t seen them.”

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