Page 14 of The Prettiest Outlaw

“Tell him you’re good,” Jameer suggested.

“Tell that nigga to get in his shit and drive away. I’m heading toward you now.”

“My brother says you can go.” At this point, I was back in front of the door of the establishment.

“You ain’t even have to call your brother. I told you we could’ve talked in my ride.”

“No, thank you. I’m not getting in your van.” There was no way in hell that I was willingly going to get in dude’s black Sprinter van with the blacked out windows.

He had the audacity to arrange his expression into one of confusion. “Why are you tripping?”

Before I had a chance to respond, the screeching of tires cut through the atmosphere. Since I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of shit Jameer was into, I opened the door ofAxe Marks the Spotand prepared to carry myself inside while I waited for Langston.

“Julianna!” The male voice called my name with strong authority.

I turned in the doorway and saw Nico.

“Nico.” His name came out breathlessly as the fear that had been gripping me slowly loosened its tentacles from my chest and lungs.

“Nico there?” Langston asked.

I forgot I had him on the phone. “Yes.”

“Tell Nico to stay there. I’m on my way.”

“Okay,” I said with another breath of relief.

Jameer eyed Nico intently. “Nico.”

“Jameer.” The disdain was evident. Nico turned to me. “The fuck are you doing with him, lil bit?”

“We had a date.”I almost wanted to smile at how his forehead creased, his eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes bugged, but I didn’t.

“You found this nigga online?”

I nodded.

“Delete whatever fucking app matched you with him off your phone,” he told me. Then he turned to Jameer. “Nigga, get the fuck on. You already know this ain’t what you want. Don’t have me let KG know what type of shit you’re on out here.”

“Fuck you, bitch.” He sneered at Nico like he really wanted to give him that work, but after a beat or two, he turned and walked toward his van.

“You don’t have to say it. He stole my truck…had my truck stolen.” I thumped the lower part of my palm against my own forehead. “Why would I park beside a complete stranger like that?” I shook my head. “That could’ve gone wrong in so many ways. That was so dumb of me. I let him park right next to me and didn’t even pay attention that he was driving the international vehicle for abduction. A Sprinter van with a blacked out front window? And he was doing everything he could to get me to willingly get into that van. Thank God he didn’t just lift me and physically put me in there.”

Nico let me get my rant off. He didn’t interrupt or interject.

“Who is KG? Somebody who’s into…illegallymovingwomen and young girls?” My head pounded with the thought that I could’ve gotten myself into a terrible predicament.

“KG is Kenny Garfield. You familiar?”

“Keenan Garfield’s daddy?” Keenan was a guy that my sisters and I had grown up with. His father was part of the same crime syndicate as my father.

He cracked a smile.

“Kenny Garfield isn’t into sex work.” I reminded myself. “That’s Simeon Jones. Kenny Garfield is into…cars.” Defeat moved through my entire body. “Damn! My truck is probably already at the chop shop, huh? The pretty red paint has probably already been covered over with black, huh?”

“I don’t know, lil bit, but I’ll put in a call.”

“You think dude would’ve really kidnapped me?”

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