“Good. Don’t leave that post for nothing. You understand? I don’t care if the house catches fire, you make sure they get out safe first.”
“Yes sir.”
I hung up and immediately called my lieutenant, Marco.
“Yeah boss?”
“I need everybody. And I mean everybody. Full squad. Meet me at the warehouse on Fifth in one hour. This a recovery mission.”
“Recovery? What we recovering?”
“One of ours. Not too much, just meet me,”
Silence on the other end. Then, “Say less. We’ll be there.”
I made five more calls. Each one the same message—meet me, bring artillery, this is life or death.
By the time I finished, I had ten of my best soldiers mobilizing. A couple niggas who had been with Dank since the beginning, and a few newer ones who’d proven to be loyal and thorough. Niggas who wouldn’t hesitate to lay everything down on command.
I stood up from the desk, checked my weapon—Glock 19, fully loaded with an extended clip. I had two more magazines on my hip, and a vest that I kept in the car just for shit like this. You could never be too prepared.
This wasn’t about being careful. This was about being prepared for war.
I took one last look around Griz’s office. Everything was neat, organized, exactly how he kept it. The nigga was meticulous about everything. And now he was out there somewhere, probably hurt, definitely waiting for somebody to come through.
I wasn’t about to let him down. Besides, he had prepared me for this shit.
The warehouse on Fifth was one of our spots. Nothing major stored there, just a place we used for meetings when we needed privacy. When I pulled up, trucks were already lining the lot. Niggas posted up, checking weapons, loading up. Marco gave clear instructions from me, so these niggas knew what time it was. I appreciated that because right now, I didn’t have time to be slowed down.
I got out and they all turned to look at me. You could feel the tension in the air—everybody knew this wasn’t a regular move. When the boss calls an emergency meeting and says bring everything, that means bodies about to drop.
Marco walked up first. He was my age, we grew up together. His father worked for mine and he was around often. It was only right that I brought him down here with me. I knew him and his character. If I trusted anybody outside of family, it was him.He’d worked close with Griz and Dank for years, so the nigga knew everything there was to know about this business. On all sides.
“What’s the situation?” he asked quietly.
“Griz got snatched yesterday. I got his location. We going to get him.”
“What the fuck? How? Who took him?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.” I looked him dead in the eye. “This what I need everybody to understand—we don’t know what we walking into. Could be five niggas, could be fifty. Could be a simple grab, could be a setup. I don’t got all the answers right now.”
I raised my voice so everybody could hear. “Listen up! This is a recovery mission. Our only objective is to get Griz and bring him home. I don’t know who took him or what they want. I don’t know how many people we up against. What I do know is this—kill anything moving that ain’t him. No questions asked. No hesitation. We going in heavy and we coming out with our people. Griz family, so every second we’ve wasted talking, is a second too long. We gotta head out.”
Heads nodded all around. Some niggas cocked their guns. Others checked their vests. The energy shifted from tense to focused.
“Now I’ma be real with y’all,” I continued. “This might get messy. Some of us might not make it back. Like I said, we don’t know who this is, what they want, or what we walking into. This the shit y’all signed up for when I welcomed y’all aboard, and broke bread at my table. No half stepping. No backing out once we there.”
Nobody moved. Not a single person stepped back.
Marco spoke up. “We with you. All the way.”
“Facts,” somebody else called out.
I felt something in my chest—pride mixed with the weight of responsibility. These niggas was willing to ride into the unknown because I asked. That meant something. I’d never had to run an organization, but these niggas made it easy right now.
“Aight then. Load up. We move now, and mentally prepare for whatever.”
Everybody dispersed, heading to the two vehicles I had waiting for my people. We rode together and we would leave together. I walked back to my truck, mind already running through scenarios. Best case, we pull up, smoke whoever guarding Griz, and we out. Worst case—
