Page 48 of Ride or Die
"That doesn't sound suspicious at all," I say.
"Right? But my sweet, innocent little sister won't listen to what I have to say. She thinks I'm not giving the guy a chance."
"You are the overprotective big brother. Of course, she doesn't want to listen to you," I tell him.
"She's fucking exhausting." He falls backward onto the other bed.
"Why don't you let her go, but have Sketch tail her," I suggest.
"That's another thing I don't get. Sketch has been all too willing to stay with her."
"Don't put too much thought into it. Sketch is a good guy," I remind him.
"I know. It's fucking weird," he says. "What's the plan for tomorrow?"
"We'll drive into Round Rock so I can stop and pick up Cali's ring. Rascal will ride with y'all back to the clubhouse while I head to the house. Minx and Rivet are setting up some flowers and balloons so I can surprise Cali. When I get to the house, I'll call Hollywood to bring her over," I explain to him.
"Oh shit. You're not wasting any time," Shade laughs.
"I know what I want and I'm goin' after it," I tell him, smiling. I fall asleep waiting for a response from Cali. Raze texted me and told me she and Minx were experimenting with some new recipes Cali found. When she gets in the zone, there's no stopping her.
The next morning we grab a quick breakfast and get on the road. We're all anxious to be home. It takes us around seven hours to get to Round Rock. We stop somewhere we can transfer product from my car to Shade's without being too suspicious then go our separate ways. I go to the jewelry store while they head home.
As I'm walking out of the jewelry store, there’s a suspicious car. The driver has his arm hanging out of the window and a tattoo of a clown on his arm catches my eye. It's all black and grey except for the red eyes. The driver is a hitman for the Torres Cartel. I stay as calm as I can walking to my car. As soon as I get in my car, I send a group text to Bull, Ranger, Shadow, and Rascal.
Group message:Torres hitman outside the jewelry store. I'm gonna try to lose him before I head anywhere near the clubhouse.
From Bull:Son of a bitch. Keep us updated. Call if you need back up.
I start my car. When I pull out of the parking lot, I get on the highway and head north toward Georgetown. Sure enough, the hitman is following me. I pick up speed and weave in and out of cars before taking a random exit. I don't see any cars around so I run a stop sign, drifting to the left and taking off. I glance in my rearview mirror and the hitman is keeping up better than I thought he would. There are some curves in the road ahead, but I don't slow down and neither does the hitman. We drift around a few curves. After the last one, I hit the gas and fly forward. I hit call on my Bluetooth, calling Shade.
"Buster, what the fuck is going on," he asks when he answers.
"This motherfucker is right on my ass. I haven't been able to shake him yet," I explain. "I don't have a good feeling about this."
Before Shade can respond, the hitman's car comes and clips the back left corner of mine. At the speed I'm going, it causes my car to spin out before rolling over three times. When it stops, I’m upside down. I'm shaken up but I don't waste any time. I undo my seat belt with one hand while putting the other hand out so I don't fall on my head. I slowly crawl out of the window and am trying to crawl away from the car when it explodes.
Everything goes black.
28
Shade
"Son of a bitch!"Rascal, Kicks, and I pulled up to the clubhouse when Buster called. His phone went dead before I could respond to him and now when I try to call back, his phone goes straight to voicemail.
"What happened," Rascal asks.
"Buster is in trouble," I tell him. "Get the prospects to unload the product. I gotta find Bull."
I fly through the front doors of the clubhouse on a mission.
"Hey, Shade! Welcome back," Porscha calls out.
"Not fucking now," I growl out, causing her to jump. "Tink, you seen Bull?"
"He's in his office," she responds. I head down the hallway. His office door is open.
"Bull, we have a problem." I close the door behind me. He lifts his head, giving me his undivided attention. "Buster called. Said he couldn't shake his tail. He said he had a bad feeling and before I could respond, his line cut out. Now it's going straight to voicemail."
