Page 35 of On Broken Wings

“Hey boss?” Mark stepped out of his office. “Can I talk to you for a second? It’s important.”

“Let me know if you need anything else. I gotta see what he needs.” Dev’s shoulders dropped in frustration as he left me at my desk, and strode towards Mark’s door. I watched for a few seconds as he stood there, and then he closed it as their voices rose.

I don’t know what was going on, but after a few minutes Dev came barreling out of Mark’s office like he was on a mission. He rushed right by me, and outside, creating a breeze in his wake. It obviously had nothing to do with me because neither of them even looked my way.

oooooooo

Evan

“What are you doing?” A voice shouted from behind me, causing me to stumble to a stop. I spun around to see who was yelling, and saw Dev running down the street.

“I’m working. Why are you following me?” I narrowed my eyes. “Did Toni send you?” I checked my messages quickly before pocketing my phone again.

“Mark saw you out front. Why are you messing with Jenni Stone?” He motioned for me to follow him, and I did, right into an alley. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Shaw.” He stabbed his finger in the air at me.

“I know. I can’t help it.” I sighed as I ran my hands through my hair. “Does she know you came after me? Wait! Does she know you know me?”

“No. I’m better than that.” He shook his head. “You need to be better. You need to stay away until you’re off this case.”

“I can’t.” I started to walk away, and then paced back in his direction. “Fuck! I can’t stay away. You can’t tell me you never got involved with someone on the job.”

“You’re right. I can’t. I can tell you that I vouched for you with her brother. I lied for you because of this job. Do you know what Vince will do to her if he finds out you’re playing him? Have you even thought about what he’ll do to you? Shit, Evan! Think with your head for one second. Do you understand the risk you’re taking, and the danger she doesn’t know about that you’re putting her in?”

“How do you even know about all of this? You left, remember?” I flung my arms out to the side.

“I work with your handler’s boyfriend, remember?” He mirrored my position. “You wanna date Jenni? Fine. Date her away from here. Don’t come to the office. Don’t take her around where Vince might be. You don’t want to play the part when she’s with you, trust me. I’ve done it before. Being an asshole to your girl when you’re under whether it’s for protection or not, sucks ass.”

Just then my phone buzzed. On quick inspection I saw that it was Vince. “I gotta go. Duty calls.” I pushed past him and back out onto the street. I’d walked here this morning, so I had to rush home to get my car, and change. Vince wanted me to pick up my cut for the sales this weekend. I had to be on the Southside tonight for distribution.

“Remember what I said!” Dev yelled from behind. He muttered something else, but I couldn’t make it out.

oooooooo

Right when I was pulling into the warehouse that Vince calls Headquarters, my phone started vibrating again. “What?!” I barked into it.

“Where the fuck are you, man?” Michael’s voice boomed on the other end.

“I’m in the fucking parking lot. I had shit to do this morning.” I parked my car and climbed out, slamming the door behind me. I slipped my 9mm in the back of my waistband as I stormed over to the door. A few loud slams of my fist had the door opening to Michael on the other side. “I’m here, aren’t I?” I flung my arms out to the side. I was hot as hell at the moment. The AC in my car wasn’t working, and I was dressed in my signature all black for this job.

“Get your ass in here.” Michael stepped back and let me pass. Once inside the building, I wound my way around the crates and boxes until I ended up in a back room. There, sitting on the table were four black duffle bags.

“One for each of ya.” Vince stepped from around a corner, and motioned to the table. “That shit should sell faster than we can supply once it gets out there and this city gets a taste.”

I moved with purpose over to one of the duffels and unzipped it. It was filled with small baggies of white powder. Each baggie had Vince’s logo on it, a small devil’s head with flaming horns. “Did you need me for anything else?” I tried to act uninterested, but I was itching to pass this on. These fuckers needed to go down, and it needed to happen sooner than later. I was so tired to the lying and hiding.

“Nope, we’re good. Each one of those needs to sell for two bills. We’ll raise the price once we get return clients.” Vince’s mouth curved into a slow smile. You could tell he was thinking about something, and right then I didn’t think I wanted to know what it was. “I’m counting on you, E. You’re my best salesman.” He cackled at that.

“There’s a reason for that too.” I smirked. “I’m better looking than these other jokers.” I grabbed my bag, and flung it over my shoulder as I began making my way back out to my car. I didn’t want to stick around for whatever bullshit was going to go down from my comment. Michael has always wanted to be the one on top. He had that label now, but Vince trusts me more. That’s all that really matters. I need him to trust me for this operation to work.

Ooooooooo

After securing the product in my trunk, I rushed to the safe house where I usually met Toni. I texted her, and let her know that I had product, and needed cash to trade it out with. I had to be on high alert getting this back safely so I wouldn’t blow my cover.

As I was climbing out of my car to go into the safe house, my phone rang. I didn’t even look to see who was calling. “Yeah?” I held it to my ear, and a gasp sounded on the other end.

“Is that how you always answer the phone?” Jenni’s sweet voice filled my ear.

It took me a minute to catch my bearings. “I see you finally decided to be the one to call me.”

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