Page 120 of The Hardest Hit
Jackson Deveraux
Jackson got out of the car and waited for the rest of his crew to do the same. Pete stepped out and looked around the neighborhood critically. The streets were wide, clean, and at ten in the evening, empty. To Jackson, it seemed strange. Devonte got out of the SUV and jogged across the street to meet him.
“This place gives me the creeps.”
“Same,” said Jackson, looking suspiciously at the tall oak trees. He thought they were oak based on the leaf shape, but he wasn’t completely sure.
“Yeah, but you probably aren’t going to get shot for being here,” said Devonte.
“I’m hoping we brought enough white dudes that won’t happen,” said Jackson.
“Not funny,” said Pete, walking up behind Devonte with Kerschel in tow. She looked excited.
“I wasn’t joking,” said Jackson. “This is exactly the kind of neighborhood I would have been ripping off back in the day. I know what kind of private security and cops I had to bribe. I’m hoping Devonte wore a vest.”
Devonte flipped open his jacket, revealing his vest. “Might be overkill, but my girl likes me to come home alive.”
“Seems reasonable,” said Jackson, wondering how everyone he knew had someone to go home to. He loved all of his cousin’s significant others, but he was starting to feel like the odd man out.
“Here comes Garcia,” said Pete. They all turned to watch the dark-haired man walk briskly down the sidewalk.
“I didn’t see anyone,” said Garcia without preamble. “But some lights came on while I was watching. So someone has to be home.”
“Are we sure about this?” asked Pete.
“Riley said bail would be revoked when she got the charges filed on Evan’s Nazis. So as of…” Jackson checked his watch, “forty-five minutes ago, Granger is wanted by the police. Now probably, they’re talking to his lawyers and expecting him to turn himself in, but I don’t care what they want. I didn’t go through the trouble of getting licensed in a bail bonds and recovery just so I could make our building’s sign accurate. I want to haul Granger’s ass back to prison personally.”
Pete sighed. “All right. If you’re set on this, then we are going to do it with the minimum amount of fuss and bother. Kerschel is going to cut the security system. Garcia and I go in the front. You and Devonte go in the back. We stay live on coms. No one fucking gets trigger happy. I want zero guns drawn. Once we have him, we signal Kerschel and she drives up to the front door and we leave nice and quiet.”
They all looked at Jackson to see what he thought of the plan.
“Sounds great,” said Jackson, giving an exaggerated thumbs up. Devonte snickered and Pete gave him a drop-dead look.
The team split up and he and Devonte walked along the back alley until they were behind Granger’s house.
“So I talked to Evan this morning,” said Devonte, as they waited for Kerschel’s signal.
“Yeah?”
“He grows on you after a while.”
Jackson chuckled. “Yeah.”
“We usually talk about stock trading and stuff.” Jackson squinted at Devonte, trying to assess where this was going. “Anyway, um, he said that if I was interested in taking the Series Seven, he could help me.”
“What’s a Series Seven?” asked Jackson.
“It’s the test you have to pass to become a stockbroker. You have to be sponsored by a legit firm to even take the test. Evan said he could sponsor me if I wanted to get serious.”
“Well, fuck, no,” said Jackson. “You can’t go work with him. I need you around to give Pete shit so that I don’t have to.”
Devonte laughed. “Is that my primary job function?”
“You may do a few other things,” admitted Jackson. “Are you going to do it?”
“Are you going to freak if I do?” asked Devonte.
“A little bit,” said Jackson. “I’m freaking out right now. Hiring people is hard. Who am I going to get to replace you?”
