“She’s good, right?”
“I’m uh… I’m afraid not. Hallie was killed two nights ago.”
Tuck’s reality felt as though it had lost all sound. He stood frozen, hand gripping the phone while his breath stammered inside his chest. How would he process those words? Hallie dead? No, that couldn’t be. Tuck had put her away in a secluded area outside the city. No one knew about her except a selected few. How was she still able to be harmed when he ensured that she was safe?
“How the fuck that happen?” he gritted, not caring about his language.
“I don't know. It appears someone tried to rob her. The police are trying to obtain the footage outside her salon.”
“That’s where it happened?” Tuck went an octave up in tone. “Fuck!”
Deep down under his devastation, Tuck knew this wasn’t a robbery. Noble had struck. They’d been on the chessboard and he had checked him. Tuck foolishly thought he had his ducks in a row but Noble had knocked them over. He hit Tuck where it stung. His precious Hallie had become collateral damage. She’d been placed in the middle of a war, and Tuck felt like he had a sudden case of the flu.
“We’re trying to find the suspect—”
Tuck hung up the phone, unable to bear more news of her death. Tears filled his eyes but he blinked them away. In this dungeon, showing displays of emotion was a sign of weakness. Tuck always had to remain on guard even though this news had ruptured his heart. After swallowing hard, he reluctantly walked back to the pod.
All the inmates were either engaged in conversation or participating in an activity that took their minds off their current circumstances. No one had a clue of the torrents of pain flooding Tuck. He was a wreck. His emotions were higher than outer space as he struggled to keep his tears from falling.
This was complete torture. He couldn’t mourn his love because of the jungle he was in. His reputation had already taken a hit with the pictures of him and Jovanis. Tuck had been fighting to keep his throne untouched but this was too much.
“Fuck.” His agony suddenly turned into rage. Thoughts of Noble caused him to stalk back to his cell. “Get the fuck out!” he ordered to his cellmate.
The older white man cut his eyes at him before hesitantly making his way out. Tuck closed the door and reached under the table where he kept his burner phone. Dialing a number, he paced back and forth, impatiently waiting for an answer.
“Yeah?”
“Fucking Noble just hit my girl!” Tuck snapped.
“What girl?”
“My fucking girl,” he harshly whispered. “Why you ain't handle that nigga?”
“I thought I did but I missed.”
That statement caused Tuck to grit his teeth. “You missed? What the fuck you mean? If you would’ve handledfucking business, my girl would still be here, po-ass mothafucka.”
The silence on the other end angered him more.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, what?”
“Listen, you gay bitch, I don't answer to you. I’ll get that man but I don't give a fuck about your girl being hit. You should've protected her better, mothafucka.”
“Fuck you say to me?” Tuck’s eyes transformed into slits. “Don't you know you can be next? You think you my only contact. I’ma tell you just like I told Van, don't end your life too early. ‘Cause it wouldn’t be much work to put your po’ ass in the ground.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Ain't no whatever. You need to come see me.”
“For what?”
“‘Cause I said so. Now don't test me ‘cause I’m on some murder shit right now. Be here.”
Tuck hung up and plopped down on the plastic mattress. Covering his eyes, he allowed them to pour out the pain he’d been holding captive. Tuck had taken so many L’s over the course of two years. He’d been ordered to sit for ten years, which put a pause on his life. His alternative lifestyle had been exposed for the entire city to see. He had to defend his name not only on the inside but in the streets as well. And now his heart had been taken from him.
