Simply the Best.
While the others continued talking, I pulled out my wallet, retrieving the card Josette had given me, checking the location.
“Is there something wrong, brother?” Alexander asked.
“Not wrong. Just curious. Something I’ll need to check.” While there was no chance in hell she’d orchestrated having her own dog hit by my car, the coincidence could fall in my favor. Perhaps she’d seen some activity with the gun shop. Or had conversations with the Johnsons that could prove helpful.
Perhaps for a change karma had worked in my favor.
At minimum, I had an excuse to see her again.
Not that I officially needed one.
I rubbed my thumb across my bottom lip, my dick throbbing all over again.
Why did I have the feeling the feisty woman might be of some help?
Time would tell.
One thing was certain. She and I had met for a reason, and I planned on taking full advantage of the opportunity.
For as long as necessary.
CHAPTER 10
Sinclair
Darkness had never been oppressive.
In fact, I’d relished the shadows created, the quietness reserved for the late hours when most people were sleeping in their beds, completely unaware of the monsters lurking around every corner. Only they weren’t demons or witches as so many who embraced the city of New Orleans believed.
They were living and breathing humans, some able to easily blend in with coworkers and members of their church, parents in the pickup line and shoppers on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. They were the masters at crime, protecting their evil deeds with anonymity instead of violence.
Then there were the others, men and women who personified evil, their acts particularly heinous. No remorse. No conscience. No thought for human life or property whatsoever.
I considered myself and my brothers to fall into another category.
Alpha predators.
We were more cunning than most, which had allowed us to live in a lap of luxury, respected by our peers and enemies alike. Perhaps our methods were no longer considered savage since we’d embraced the use of modern technology over a decade before. That didn’t mean we weren’t still practiced in the art of torture and killing. It was a necessary evil in our world.
I stood in the parking lot of the strip mall, silently studying the various buildings, shops that had once been the darlings of the neighborhood. Now they were reminders of the past when shopping had been a pleasure and no one needed to worry about getting robbed or shot while picking up a few things or enjoying a muffin at the local bakery.
From what little I’d learned about Simply the Best it was a shining beacon for so many small businesses who wanted nothing more than their piece of the American dream. I admired Josette for taking the concept head on, refusing to back down to either crime or a shrinking customer base for the area.
Even from where I stood, the small store was inviting. She’d made the most out of real estate afforded her, the hefty rent a solid reminder of how greed overcame goodwill. The Johnsons were landmarks in the community.
Or at least they’d once been.
They’d been immigrants a century and a half before, changing their surname to fit a more American lifestyle. Very slowly, they’d purchased real estate, amassing a fortune over the years. Yet they’d become greedy, the new generation of the family using tactics similar to what my family had used over the years.
Only they were inconsistent, never learning one of the most important aspects of business was choosing your friends wisely. From what I’d been able to tell, they’d fallen onto hard times over the last ten or so years. Gambling. Bad business decisions. And greed.
That’s why they should be considered volatile. While it was entirely possible they were offloading the property to the highest bidder and nothing more, my gut had told me there was more going on.
Hopefully, the lovely woman could provide me with some information.
At least I could check her off a list as being a problem.
