Page 24 of Crown: Phase 4

The woman stared past him, tears streaming down her face, caught in a dilemma over which answer would end her life. If she revealed what little she knew, would the other men return to finish the job? And if she lied and claimed ignorance, would the man before her pull the trigger? This was the second time that night armed men had stormed her home in search of Gunner, and she still couldn’t grasp the chaos he had brought into her life.

Preach raised his gun, pressing the barrel against the center of her forehead. Her breath hitched as she squeezed her eyes shut, and she settled on an answer. She had to tell this man something.

“I…I don’t know where they took him.”

“Who took him? What happened in here?”

“Some men came.”

“What men?”

When she took too long to answer, Dimitri wrapped one hand around her throat. He squeezed until her words became strained and her hands flew toward his wrist. As her face darkened and her body began losing strength, he loosened his grip just enough for her to drag air back into her lungs.

“Please. Please,” she begged between desperate gasps, sobbing. “I beg of you. Please.”

“I had a little sister about your age once, Alexandra. Pretty spoiled girl. Softhearted. Used to think crying could make anybody feel sorry for her.” Preach said, watching her struggle.

The woman’s eyes filled with fresh tears as Dimitri’s fingers tightened again. She wondered how Preach knew her name, but didn’t dare ask.

“She’s dead now. I killed her.” Preach leaned forward, his stare empty of remorse.

“My own blood couldn’t cry her way out of what she had coming, so what the fuck make you think your tears gon’ save you? Tell me who those men were, or m ap touye w next.”

“I…I swear I don’t know.” Alexandra forced out. “There were two of them. Older men. I didn’t recognize them, but Gunner seemed to know who they were.”

“What did he call them?”

She swallowed painfully as Dimitri finally released her throat. “He didn’t call them anything. One of them said the Council wanted to see him. They fought until he was shot and dragged out.”

Preach glanced at Dimitri, both understanding what that meant. Gunner hadn’t disappeared because he was clever enough to outrun the Dessalinés Mob. The Council guards had reached him first. Preach turned his attention back to Alexandra, and before relief could fully register across her face, he pulled the trigger, putting a bullet through her head.

Within an hour, he made it to Loki’s place, where Loki sat in his office watching television while his nurse rubbed his back through a coughing fit. As usual, his skin looked pale beneath the warm lighting, but Preach also noticed his fingers were extremely puffy. Just another sign of fluid that his failing kidneys could no longer properly clear. A half-empty glass of water sat beside him, along with his medication and a bowl he kept nearby for the nausea that had been coming more often lately. When he finally caught his breath, Preach looked at the nurse.

“Step the fuck out.” He ordered.

She nervously removed her hand from Loki and walked out. She had been working for Loki for a few years now, and to this day, every time she laid eyes on Preach, she didn’t understand how someone so handsome could be so damn evil.

Preach waited until the door closed behind her before turning back to Loki. “We have a problem.” He announced.

Without saying a word, Loki looked away from the television. He just listened.

“Crown survived. Gunner has been taken by these Council muthafuckas. But fuck him. One less nigga I gotta worry about. Our stash house got hit by the Knights. Millions of fuckin’ dollars…product gone.”

“How?” Loki asked, his expression hardening.

“Benjamin. He was captured at the cabin and sang like a Canarian.”

Loki stared at him for a moment before another coughing fit seized his chest. He leaned forward, gripping the arm of his chair as his nurse’s warning echoed in his head about resting when his body started doing this.

Preach turned toward the window, gazing out at the lakeside view while contemplating his next move. “I warned you this wasn’t the time for a war. But you brought these pussies into our business, and here we go.”

Loki slowly rubbed his throat as he came down from the coughing fit. His breathing remained strained, and he reached for the glass of water with a trembling hand.

“Shit happens, Preach.” He took a small sip before continuing. “I’ve cleaned up worse. The question is, what you gon’ do to fix this? Crying damn sure won’t fix it.”

Preach glanced back at him with a heated gaze. “What the fuck you just say to me?”

“You heard me. Instead of standing there bitchin’ about the issue, why you ain’t out handling it? Let me find out these young bike muthafuckas got you shook. About to trick you out your spot. I don’t know if it’s our history with the Knights or what, but you gon’ soft. You slippin’. Ou pè yo?” Loki added with a crooked smile. “You scared of them?”