Page 27 of Haze
After turning on his headset, he turned to the private channel for him and Gideon as wind whipped past them.
“Talk to me, G.”
“Security said they’re east four blocks. They don’t really seem to have a destination in mind.”
“You thinkin’ it’s a trap?” Haze asked. The last thing he wanted to do was put his members in danger.
“Could be. I say we run at them from different angles.”
“Bet.”
Haze switched the channel and spoke to everyone. “Targets are four blocks east. I need y’all to split. Let me get ten niggas to approach from the west side, and five on either side. Ten more niggas, follow me and G. Everyone else, spread out.”
Haze didn’t need to look back to know his instructions were followed. He switched back to the private channel to talk to Gideon just when flashing lights surrounded them.
“Fuck! These niggas called the people on us?” Haze asked, irritation bubbling over as he pulled over to the side of the street.
They were still in a residential area, so they were definitely causing a huge scene with all the bikes and now the police. If Haze looked at this from the outside looking in, he would think they were the bad guys who were up to no good, when that was far from the truth.
Haze realized that was the Blue Boyz plan all along. They’d been trying to paint the Vicious Kings as the bad guys since the beginning, to box them out. What they failed to realize was that Haze was great friends with the police department, and that relationship couldn’t be broken.
“These niggas is wild.” Gideon’s chuckle in Haze’s ear caused him to shake his head.
“This shit is ridiculous.”
Now he had to spend his morning setting shit straight with the police and cleaning this bullshit up.
“Aw, she’s so cute and getting so big.” One of Devyn’s employees cooed as Devyn walked by with Hazel toddling beside her.
“Thanks,” Devyn replied with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Her mind was occupied with Haze. It had been two days since she saw him at the compound. He’d been calling her and texting her, but she’d been avoiding him.
When she left the compound, she sensed danger. She didn’t like how the atmosphere had shifted so suddenly. It reminded her of that day three years ago, when her best friend got shot, and they had to duck and run to safety from the gunshots ringing out. The smell of gunpowder still stung her nostrils if she thought about it too hard. The other day felt like God hadsmacked her on the back of the neck with his sandal to remind her that she needed to stay the hell away from Haze.
But that thought even felt wrong. The conflict inside her caused her normal bubbly personality to go mute. All she wanted to do was contemplate what to do about Haze.
Flashbacks of the night she shared with him filtered through her mind as she walked toward her office with Hazel clinging to her finger. The way he made her feel so safe, his smile, the words he spoke to her—how could she stay away from him this time around? She’d gotten to know him more. She’d gotten to know his family. The people she partied with weren’t bad people at all.
Then why does danger seem to follow them?
She sighed as she entered her office.
“Here, baby. Play with your iPad while mommy gets some work done.” Devyn handed Hazel her iPad from out of her workbag and got her comfortable on the floor with her favorite blanket and stuffed animal.
“Ice cream, Mama?” Hazel asked innocently as she woke her iPad up.
Devyn laughed. “Yes, baby. When mommy’s done with work, I’ll take you to get some ice cream. You need to eat some lunch first, though, okay?”
Hazel smiled at Devyn, showcasing her baby teeth and pink gums. Devyn’s heart melted. That little girl could get anything she wanted. As much as she got on her parents for spoiling her daughter rotten, Devyn was just as bad.
Her eyes shifted to her desk. She had a mountain of paperwork to go over, and she wanted to look into an expansion for the dealership. It had been on her mind for a long time now, before she even took over the dealership, but she couldn’t lie. Hanging around the compound, seeing all those beautiful bikes and meeting all the cool ass people that rode them, lit a fire under her.
Devyn knew that she had a solid two hours before Hazel started cutting up. Normally, she wouldn’t bring Hazel to work with her, but there were rare occasions that she needed to. Today happened to be one of those days. Her parents had doctor appointments to go to, and Koren and Emilia were at work.
Days like this made her wish she had a partner to help with Hazel. Her mind immediately went to Haze. Tears clouded her vision. She had tried to tell him a couple of times about Hazel, but the words never came out. Eventually, she knew she would need to answer his calls and have that conversation. Her heart both ached and raced at the thought.
With a groan, she slid into her chair behind her desk.
