Takedown (20 page)

“He wanted me to give you a message:
You know the code
.”

“ 'Course I know the code. Ain't nothing they can do to make me talk. Remy neither. Tony knows that, right?”

I looked away, knowing that what you didn't say could be heavier than what you did. “I'm just the messenger. That's all he said.” I started to walk away, but Tyrell grabbed my sleeve through the bars. The guard in the hall barked for him to back off, so he let go.

“You gotta tell Tony he can trust me.” His voice shook. “You gotta tell him. I know it was a big mistake to keep the gun, but it was too good to throw away. I was gonna use it for—
you
know. It don't jam, see. I needed a piece like that. One I could depend on.”

I shrugged. “I'll tell him if you want.”

“The cops are saying he's gonna kill me either way. But I know that ain't true. Tony trusts me.”

He was begging me to say something to reassure him, but I gave him nothing. I wouldn't even look at him.

“Good luck, T.” I knocked his knuckles through the bars, then walked away.

The Snitch's Dilemma

Every man will have his chance

To place his final bet

Stick to your story, Morning Glory

Cut a deal, slip from the net

Betray the king and then survive

It might be the only way

To save your family and yourself

Go with your gut and make the play.

T
hat night, I slept like a baby. And when I woke up, the secret cell was ringing.

“Tyrell's talking,” Kessler said. “Whatever you did worked.”

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. This wasn't a dream. Diamond Tony was going to get put away for Prescott's murder. Finally he would get what he deserved.

“I'd like to pick up Walker as soon as possible,” she said. “Word could get out that Tyrell talked, and I don't want Tony skipping town. Can you locate him for me?”

I checked the clock. It was 9:05 a.m. “He's probably still at his crib. I think only Marcus knows where it is. Odds are Tony's going to want to meet with his executives at some point today. I'll keep you posted.”

“I'll be waiting for your call. And, Darren—thank you. Ed was right about you. You're a good kid.”

“Thank me once Tony's locked up.” I didn't feel much like a kid anymore. Hadn't for a long time.

*  *  *

Less than an hour later, I walked into the China place. Only Tony and Marcus were there. Tony paced the room like a restless cat.

When he saw me, he took off his sunglasses. His eyes were red, as if he hadn't slept. “Tell me about your meeting with Tyrell.”

Obviously the text I'd sent Tony last night hadn't reassured him. That suited me just fine. I'd called Kessler minutes ago with our location. The cops would be here any second.

“I told him everything you wanted me to. He knows he's dead if he opens his mouth.”

My pulse was going crazy, but by now I'd learned to appear ice cold no matter what was going on inside me. I kept expecting the door to get kicked in at any moment. I was ready to hit the floor with my hands behind my back.

“He wanted me to tell you that he's no snitch,” I said.

Tony stopped pacing. “I bet they're leaning on him hard.”

I spread my hands. “I told him you'd have his back and take care of his family if he kept quiet. But he was stressed out. I can't tell you a hundred percent that we can count on him. I don't know.”

Tony's jaw flexed. “We can't have him talking.” He flashed Marcus a look. “You got someone?”

Marcus gave a nod. “I have a couple of possibilities.”

“
Possibilities?
I need someone who can do the job and not fuck it up. You got someone or not?”

“Yeah. When do you want it done?”

“Yesterday.”

Marcus got on his phone.

Holy shit.
Tony really wasn't going to take any chances. I guess I'd done Tyrell a favor by getting him to talk. If he hadn't been transferred out of the city yet, it would have to happen right away. I'd tell Kessler as soon as I got out of here.

Where the hell were the police, anyway?

Tony was muttering—to me or to himself, I wasn't sure. “I wanted one job done, one easy job. Now I have to deal with fuckups like Tyrell. I'm not going down. No way I'm going down.”

“Tyrell will be out of the picture soon,” I assured him. “Marcus is on it.”

“He might've already talked. They could have a taped confession by now!”

“I don't know how it works, but if he can't testify in court—”

“Cops! Cops!”

The shouts came from the back porch. Ashtray ran in. “We spotted the cops a block down. Get out—now!”

T
ony pulled a gun from under his shirt. “Get back out there,” he ordered Ashtray. “Keep them away from the house.”

Ashtray looked panicked, but he followed orders.

Tony and Marcus didn't hesitate. They bolted upstairs. I went with them, though I had no idea where they were going. I'd have thought they'd make a break out the back before the place got surrounded.

Tony headed for a bedroom cluttered with broken furniture. He tore open a closet door and disappeared inside. Marcus went after him. I stared into the closet. There was a hole in the wall that led into another room.

Into another apartment,
I realized. The houses were connected. I crawled through.

“Close the closet!” Tony shouted back to me. We were in another abandoned house. Tony and Marcus ran down a hallway, then crossed to another house through another hole in a bedroom wall.

As I ran with them, my mind reeled. Tony had this escape route planned. That was why we'd met in this building in the first place.

Paranoia paid off.

In the third house, we ran downstairs to the back door. Marcus peered out the dirty, half-broken window. We heard gunshots. Ashtray and the other security guys must have been following Tony's orders and firing their guns to keep the cops away from the house.

“We clear?” Tony demanded.

“There's a lot of them out there,” Marcus said, trying to catch his breath. “We should wait till they take the house. If most of them go inside, we've got a better chance of getting away.”

Tony pushed him aside and looked out the window himself. “We go
now
. If we wait for them to get inside the house, we'll only have a few minutes till they track us here. You go first,” he said to Marcus. “Stay low to those bushes. You'll make it.”

Marcus opened his mouth to argue, but his gaze flicked down to Tony's gun. “Okay.”

Marcus slipped outside, crouching low. Tony and I watched from the window as he hid behind some bushes ten feet from the
house. Police were all over the place. There was no way I could go out there—the odds of getting shot were too high. The cops wouldn't know I was on their side. To them, I was just another of Tony Walker's crew.

A cop suddenly called to the others and waved them over. He'd spotted Marcus in the bushes. Marcus made a break for it.

“Freeze!” several cops shouted.

Marcus didn't stop. He ran at full speed, firing on the cops. They returned fire.

“Now!” Tony grabbed my arm and shoved me outside. Bastard wanted me to eat the bullets while he slipped away.

Fuck him.

I tried to push back inside, but Tony blocked the doorway. “I said,
Go now
. I'll stay close.”

“It's suicide,” I said. “We're better off letting them take us in.”

The shooting stopped. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Marcus was down. When I turned back, I found myself staring into the barrel of Tony's gun. “We go together, or I drop you right now.”

I didn't move. “I'm not taking bullets for you. You're on your own.”

Tony's eyes were easy to read. He was going to squeeze the trigger.

I lunged, head butting him in the face. I grabbed for his gun just as it went off. Bullets whizzed past me. I'd barely registered
the slice of pain in my neck when Tony tried to shove me to the ground. Catching him in a bear hug, we went flying down the steps.

My head made contact with the pavement, and dark spots flashed in front of my eyes. Tony scrambled to his feet and broke into a run.

I lifted my head to see him shooting the air full of bullets. The cops shot back. Tony took a bullet in the shoulder, but kept going. The next bullet caught his head, and I had to look away—but not before I saw blood and bits of skull explode. He fell to the ground.

It was getting harder and harder to breathe. My neck burned. When I reached up to touch it, my hand came away covered in blood.

And then my world went black.

One Month Later

I
woke up to Kiki jumping on my bed and giggling.

“Can't I sleep a few more minutes?”

“No!” He clapped his hands on my ears. “No! No! No!”

I couldn't help laughing. “How about we go eat breakfast?”

“No! No! No!”

But he dissolved in laughter when I Superman-carried him into the kitchen and plunked him down in his booster seat.

Tasha already had his Cheerios and banana slices ready.

“Where'd you go last night?” she asked. It didn't sound like an accusation, but you never knew with Tasha.

“Jessica's dad made dinner. It was ridiculous. The man's an Iron Chef.”

“Lucky you. How's Jessica doing, anyway?”

“Better every day. She's back at school.” Jessica's determination blew me away. She was already caught up and achieving top marks, though physically she still had to take it easy. She was even talking about a summer co-op placement.

“That's great.” Tasha paused, as if she wanted to say more on that, but then said, “I'm out of class early today, so if you want me to pick up Kiki . . .”

“I got it. Right, Kiki?”

He gave me a sticky high five.

Tasha was nicer these days. It was weird. Now that I was around a lot more, she'd run out of reasons to bitch at me. Maybe that would change, but for now, it was a relief.

Both she and Mom knew I was out of the biz. The whole neighborhood had heard what happened to Diamond Tony, Marcus, and me that day. But nobody knew that the bullet that grazed my neck was from Tony's gun, and nobody ever would.

There were no more cash drops on the kitchen table. Mom never said a word about it. Her dream of living large might be dead, but I knew she was glad I wasn't dead too.

Since Tony's death, everything had changed. The moment
Andre got released, he'd taken back the streets. He'd shattered what was left of Diamond Tony's operation, secured his old suppliers, and kept a tight rein on his dealers. I'd gotten out just in time.

I took a shower, then headed out to pick up my choco-latte. The moment I got to the bus stop, Trey launched into the weather forecast for the rest of the week. Sunshine all the way. I sipped my drink and smiled.

“Our bus!” Trey cheered. “I knew it was going to be early today.”

“You called it.”

Trey started to reply, but I wasn't listening. A car was parked a few yards away with two guys in hoodies in the front seat. My instincts prickled. They were watching me.

The guy in the passenger seat got out and walked toward me, his eyes deadlocked with mine. The bus pulled up to the curb, its brakes making a long squeak before the doors opened.

Trey got on. The guy in the hoodie was just ten feet from me, hands in his pockets. He was turned away from the bus, as if he didn't want anyone to see his face.

“Darren, you coming?” Trey shouted.

I was tempted to hurl myself onto the bus. But I couldn't do it. If this was it—if I was going to get shot—I didn't want anyone else getting hit too. I took a breath and shook my head. “Nah, I'll get
the next one.” The door closed in front of Trey's puzzled face, and the bus pulled away.

“Darren.” The guy pushed his hood back. He was older than me, maybe twenty-five, with sharp brown eyes and a slight dent in the side of his skull, like he'd taken a bullet there. “Darren Lewis.”

“That's my name.” I broke eye contact for a split second, scanning for an escape route. There wasn't one.

“You were one of Tony Walker's executives.”

“Once upon a time.”

“I want to thank you. And make you an offer.”

Suddenly I knew who he was. The bloodred ruby in his left ear gave him away. “Andre.”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “Enjoying my freedom.”

Was he ever. The streets were his now.

“I understand you're an effective infiltrator,” he said.

I didn't react. Didn't even flinch.

“My lawyer heard the cops had a CI inside Walker's operation,” he said. “I figured that might be you.”

“How'd you figure that?”

“You survived. When Tony and Marcus were shot dead, you lived. And then you got out of the game.”

He'd guessed the truth. Made it sound so damned easy. “You got it wrong.”

“Whatever you say. I came here to ask you to work for me. I could use someone connected to Walker's old crew. Rumor has it Ray-go is trying a little start-up operation.”

The news caught me off guard, but it shouldn't have. Ray-go had the ambition and the connections to go into business for himself. Andre was right to be concerned.

“I'm not interested,” I said.

“You can name your pay.”

“I'm out. For good.”

He looked skeptical. “I said that once too. Problem is, the game is like the product we sell. Once it's in your blood, you need it to feel alive.”

“Not me.” I wasn't like the others. I didn't need the status, the money, the adrenaline. What I needed was to start over.