My hands moved without thinking, fingers running over the chains around my neck. It was something I did when I was deep in thought, a habit I picked up from my pops. I touched each piece that hung around my neck—the one my father gave me when I took over, the one Dank got me for my inheritance, and then—
I stopped.
The chain Griz had given me.
It hit me all at once. We was at the hospital just two days ago, and Griz had pulled me aside while Malani was sleeping and baby Tre was in the nursery. He had this black box in his hand, while looking all serious.
“With everything going on around us, with you welcoming your new edition. I need for you to have this,” Griz said, in all seriousness.
“What’s this?” I asked, taking it from him.
“Insurance,” he said simply.
I opened it. Inside was a heavy platinum chain with a small pendant. Looked expensive but simple. Nothing flashy.
“Aight, it’s nice. But what’s the occasion? You know niggas don’t receive push gifts, right?” I said, wondering why the fuck this nigga was buying me a chain.
Griz showed me he had a matching one. “It’s got GPS in it. Military grade. Can’t be jammed or blocked. It’s not really optional, you need to wear it.” The nigga demanded, causing me to side eye him. Since spending time with baby Deuce, and now my son Tre, Griz ass had been acting strange. Like more paranoid than usual.Like an overprotective brother and uncle.
I frowned. “Why? You trying to keep tabs on me or something?”
“Nah, not like that.” He shook his head. “Look, you got a family now. A real family. Your wife, your son. If anything ever happens—if you go missing, if somebody tries to get up on you, if shit goes left—I need to be able to find you. And vice versa. Even a damn shipment gone bad, this shit is just extra reassurance.”
I looked at him skeptically. Having a nigga track my every move didn’t sit right, even if it was Griz. Yea, we was partners and all, but I wasn’t even this type of nigga. I killed for a living. I knew how dangerous sharing any kind of location could be. I was barely sharing my shit with my own wife. Her ass wasn’t playing that though, so I really had no choice in that matter.
He must’ve sensed my hesitation because he kept going. “Deuce, I’m not trying to invade your privacy or nothing like that. This ain’t about control. This about making sure you make it home to your family every night. You the head now. You got a target on your back that’s only getting bigger. And I’ll be damned if something happen to you and I can’t get to you because I don’t know where you at. And while you have Malani and baby boy with you, it’s just best to be safe and prepared for whatever.”
The way he said it, the look in his eyes—it was genuine. This wasn’t about him wanting power or keeping me close. This was about protection. About brotherhood.
“The app is already on your phone,” he continued. “Fingerprint protected. Only you can access my location, and same shit. Nobody else. I programmed it myself.”
I put the chain on right there, tucked it under my shirt. “Aight. I respect it. Good looking out.”
“I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t cautious.”
—
Now, sitting in his office twenty-six hours after he’d been snatched, I realized Griz had known something might happen. Maybe not to him getting snatched specifically, but he’d been preparing. Making sure we had contingencies.
I pulled out my phone with shaking hands—not from fear, but from the adrenaline starting to pump through my system. I scrolled through my apps until I found it. The icon was plain, just said “Locate” but I knew what it was.
I pressed my thumb to the scanner.
The app opened immediately, showing a map. There were two dots—one blue, one red. The blue was me, sitting right here in Griz’s house. The red was—
My chest tightened.
The red dot was damn near two hours outside of Dallas. Some industrial area I ain’t never heard of. And according to the timestamp, it had been in that exact same spot for the last twenty-four hours.
Since after he got snatched. Now, I was just thankful that they ain’t snatch the nigga chain off.
“Gotchu,” I said out loud to the empty room.
I screenshotted the location, then immediately started making calls. First was to my head of security at the house.
“Status?” I asked soon as he picked up.
“All clear. Your wife and son are safe. I just checked in with her and all is good. She just fed the baby, both of them should be sleeping now.”
