When the lights came on, I stopped breathing. Rico was sitting in my living room with two other Crown men. One leaned against my wall with his arms folded. The other sat on my couch.
I got so terrified that piss threatened to rush down my legs.
Rico nodded at the chair across from him. “Have a seat.”
As I did, Rico leaned back with his hands folded in his lap. “How did the Cartiers find our stash house?”
Confused, I just stared at him for a second. “What are you talking about?”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Don’t play dumb.”
“I don’t know what you mean. What happened?”
Rico stared at me for a long second, as if he was deciding how much patience I deserved. Then he spoke like he was explaining something simple. “Our main stash house got hit. All the product and guns are gone. And the Cartiers left their calling card.”
I blinked hard. “That’s not possible.”
Rico snarled. “It happened.”
“I didn’t tell them,” I said quickly. “I swear to God, I did not tell them. I’ve never told anyone about my involvement with the Crown.”
Rico leaned forward. “Then explain how they found it.”
I started to panic. “I-I-I can’t. Because I don’t know. They must have found out on their own. They’re organized. They have money. They have people. They—”
Rico cut me off. “No. That spot was not public. That spot was not obvious. That spot didn’t get found by luck.”
“I’m telling you the truth,” my voice cracked as I insisted.
One of the Crown men behind Rico laughed under his breath like that was amusing.
Rico stared at me. “You think I’m stupid.”
“No, I think the Cartiers are smart. I think they dug. I think they followed trucks, watched patterns, paid someone. I don’t know. But I didn’t give them that address.”
Rico sat back again, studying me.
“I swear to you,” I urged. “You don’t have proof that I did anything.”
But he looked at one of his men and tilted his head toward me.
The first punch landed across my face so hard my vision flashed white. My head snapped to the side, and my teeth clacked together. Pain shot through my jaw and into my ear.
I tried to stand, but the second man grabbed my shoulders and shoved me back down into the chair. Wood scraped the floor. My back hit the chair hard. The first man hit me again, this time in my ribs. Air left my lungs in one violent rush. I folded forward, but the man behind me yanked me upright by my collar.
Rico watched like he was bored. “You’re going to learn that I don’t need proof to punish betrayal.”
Another punch hit my stomach. My body convulsed. I gagged, trying not to throw up, trying not to lose control of my bladder. My eyes watered. My face burned. I couldn’t catch my breath.
I lifted my hands to protect myself and got hit for that too. A fist crashed into my forearm, then into my mouth. My lip split. Warm blood flooded my tongue. The man behind me drove an elbow into my side. Pain lit up my ribs again. Something deep inside me ached in a way that made me fear something cracked. I gasped, trying to pull air in, but my lungs didn’t want to work.
The first man grabbed my head and slammed it back against the chair. Stars exploded behind my eyes. I lost orientation for a second and couldn’t tell if I was sitting up or falling.
They dragged me out of the chair. My knees hit the floor. One of them kicked me in the lower back. Pain shot down my spine and into my hips. A boot landed against my thigh. Then another against my ribs. They took turns. They aimed to hurt, not kill. But that made it worse. They wanted me conscious for it.
I tried to crawl away and got dragged back by my jacket.
I heard myself begging. “I didn’t do it. I swear.”
