Their deep eye contact was cut into by the sound of his phone going off. He never missed a call, so he reached into the pocket of his sweats and answered the incoming call from his brother Ezekiel. There wasn’t even a greeting shared between the brothers before Kross’ face screwed up, which concerned Remedy. Ezekiel was speaking so loudly that even she heard bits and pieces of what he was saying.
“Zeek, slow the fuck down! What the fuck happened?!” Kross’ voice boomed through the condo, startling Remedy.
She watched him shoot up off the couch and search for his keys. In the midst of his search, he put the phone on speaker so he could multitask. “Them niggas got Los, man! Meet us at Jackson Memorial!” Ezekiel roared before being drowned out by the sound of the engine on his Lamborghini.
“Fuck!” Kross stressed as he rushed into his Air Forces. Remedy followed his lead and quickly grabbed her things to leave right behind him. “I’m on my way,” he told Ezekiel before banging the line.
“You okay?” Remedy finally mustered up the courage to speak once they stepped onto the elevator. Kross had a lethal and dark look in his eyes as his jaws clenched with anger.
When he averted his attention over to her, he could see the look of concern that panned across her face. Ultimately, he softened his face, not wanting to scare her.
“I’m good, shawty. C’mon.” He extended his hand to her so they could step off the elevator and into the parking garage.
He walked her to her Lexus and made sure she was safely inside. “I’ll hit you up later, a’ight?”
Remedy nodded while allowing him to strap her into her belt. “Kross,” she called his name just when he was on the verge of shutting her car door.
“What’s up, love?”
“Be safe, please.”
Kross nodded before craning down to sit a kiss on her lips. “I got you.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kross and Ezekiel rushed into Jackson Memorial Hospital like a hurricane that came down to destroy the city. Dark clouds hovered over them as their hearts ached at the thought of possibly losing a homie they considered a brother. Los was family, and losing him would devastate them and possibly dismantle and break the Paper Chase Crew. They walked into the waiting room and were met with Noonie seated with his head in his hands. Alongside him were two of their soldiers, Juvie and Dee, who had the same distraught look on their faces.
“What the fuck happened?” Kross asked as he pulled a seat.
Noonie glanced around to ensure no one else was in earshot of them. “I don’t fucking know. I got a call from his sister, and she said a car slid at her house and just started dumping.” He offered the little details he did have.
“If they know where Audri stay, then they for sure got eyes on us.” Ezekiel shook his head. Audri was Los’ twin sister, and he frequented her spot often to kick it with her and see his nieces and nephews. The Zone 7 niggas had to have been watching and plotting all this time to pinpoint the right time to spin on Los.
Kross ran his hand down his face frustratedly. Los was hit. Now, either one of them could be next in line. “Aye, gopost up at Raq’s and Andres’ crib,” Kross ordered Juvie. “If anything happen to my son, mom, or stepdad, then it’s on you, nigga,” he made it clear to Juvie, who nodded and took up the responsibility.
Juvie didn’t waste another second. He got up and took the nearest exit to speed over to Raquel’s and Andres’ crib. Kross wasn’t about to let the people he cared about the most go unprotected. This was a war he put fire to, so if any smoke was to be thrown, he wanted it all on him.
“Dee, go make sure everything straight by Noonie’s people’s crib. Same thing goes. Nothing better happen to my auntie,” Kross ordered. Dee nodded before dapping the boys up so he could leave out.
“I got them boys strapped out there in Pompano just in case them niggas try to run in our spot,” Ezekiel advised Kross and Noonie.
Kross wouldn’t put it past the Zone 7 crew to use Los’ situation as a distraction so they could raid the trap out in Pompano. Shop had been open for a little over a week now, and the Paper Chase Crew was doing numbers. Kross was hustling smarter by undercutting the numbers the Zone 7 crew were going for just to build clientele in the area. The Paper Chase boys plugged themselves in with a few heavy hitters in the city who wanted to cop by the boat load. Not only was Kross planning to put the Zone 7 niggas in a body bag, but he wanted to hit them where it hurt the most: their money. After just a week, if any money was to be made in Pompano, Kross was now touching the majority of it.
During the days leading up to Los getting hit, Los had been real paranoid, and Kross hated himself for clowning his homie and telling him he needed to calm the fuck down. Los had always been paranoid, though. He was one of them niggas who was out to get everybody before they got him. Kross wished he would’velistened to Los and had a few soldiers riding with everybody. Los for damn sure wouldn’t have been in a hospital bed if he had.
Tension in the streets was at an all-time high right now. After the club shootout, the Zone 7 Disciples were planning two funerals. Kross dropped two bodies that night, and that still wasn’t enough. He wanted to wipe all them motherfuckas out. He spent days scoping out the Zone 7 crew, and he still had yet to see or hear about the head nigga in charge. He knew he ran into the nigga with the scar on his face when he rolled through their hood solo, but that nigga just didn’t have the demeanor to be running shit.
With the Paper Chase crew, everyone knew who the big homie was, and that was Kross. He had the demeanor, the respect and the reputation. Zone 7, though? They just lacked that structure, which was why it was so damn easy to take over their city in just a week. They were dismantling, and their foundation was crumbling, so they reacted and spun on Los.
“We need to hit up Nina to cop some shit to blow these motherfuckas’ heads off. Ain’t no way they got Los, and we ain’t gone spin back in the next 24 hours,” Kross gritted with his fists balled up in anger.
Noonie agreed and whipped out his phone to make the call to Nina. She was their arms dealer out in South Florida. Shawty was touching everything and could get them whatever the fuck they needed. Her roots with the Cartel gave her a hell of a reputation, and Kross was fortunate enough to be in the right rooms and network with her before he got locked up.
Kross sat with his mind brewing, trying to figure out what their next move should be. As much as he wanted to say to hell with the hospital and hit the streets to murk every last one of them Zone 7 niggas, he knew he couldn’t. The Paper Chase Crew was a family, and there was more to them than just makingmoney together. Los was down, so he needed to be there for support.
“Oh, shit! There go Audri.” Ezekiel nudged his brother, snapping him out of his thoughts.
As he looked up, he saw Audri exit through the double doors that led to the trauma unit. Her usual vibrant olive tinted skin was dull and pasty, almost as if she had just seen a ghost. Weakly, she trudged over to the men, and they all stood up to hear what condition Los was in. Before she could muster up the strength to utter anything, all she did was shake her head as a storm of tears rushed down her face. Kross knew that look and feeling. It was the same look and feeling he had when Ezekiel told him Cassie died. It was like his entire life changed in just one second, and he was left lost to fend for himself. That was exactly how Audri felt as she returned to them with the news that Los had succumbed to his injuries.
