Page 10 of Pregnant By A Rich Demon 4

“Mr. Landry.” His voice had the particular pitch of a man who already knew this wasn’t about a tire rotation. “I ain’t seen Rahsaan. I swear on my mama, man ain’t been through here in months. Not since before all this mess started.”

I believed him.

I could see it plain on his face—no calculation behind his eyes, no careful arrangement of half-truths, just a scared man telling me exactly what he knew.

Which was nothing.

“I believe you,” I said.

Relief moved across his face, fast and grateful.

“Then—”

“It doesn’t change anything, Curtis.”

The relief died.

“What do you mean it doesn’t change nothing? I just told you⁠—”

“You’ve been running message drops for him for three years. Corinne confirmed it independently before I ever asked you a question.” I kept my voice even. “You gave him a place to be reached when he didn’t want to be found any other way. That’s not nothing. That’s infrastructure.”

“I ain’t know what none of them messages meant.”

“You never asked.”

His hands stopped moving over the rag.

“That’s the problem.”

“I got a daughter, man. She’s twelve. I got—I got a business, I pay my taxes⁠—”

“I know.”

“Then why⁠—”

His voice cracked.

For half a second, I wasn’t looking at Curtis anymore.

I saw Elias and Silas climbing over each other to get into my truck years ago, Silas shoving Elias toward the back seat while Elias cursed him out and laughed at the same time.

Two loud-ass teenagers convinced they were immortal because nobody had gotten around to proving otherwise yet.

Then, Rahsaan’s voice cut through the memory.

I killed your brothers.

The image disappeared.

“Because loyalty isn’t measured by what you know right now,” I said. “It’s measured by what you were willing to do without asking questions. You helped build the wall he’s been hiding behind.”

Curtis swallowed.

“I’m not tearing it down because I got something personal against you. I’m tearing it down because it’s in my way.”

His eyes moved toward the door.

Then back to me.