Page 112 of Shadow's Surrender
“Yeah. He said he knew her and she …” his voice trailed off, and his gaze caught Shadow’s. “I don’t want any trouble. I didn’t say this shit. I’m just repeating what he told me. I just do family problems like cheating spouses and—”
“What the fuck did he say?” He struggled to keep his tone steady and calm as liquid fury rushed through his veins.
“That she deserved exactly what she got,” Charlie whispered. “I don’t believe that at all. What happened to your mother was—”
Shadow stepped back from the car, his head throbbing as thoughts twirled in his brain like a spinning top.The sonofabitch knew my mom.Hewas her sugar daddy.Hefuckin’ killed her.
“What’s the fucker’s address?”
“He lives in Pinewood Estates. I don’t know his exact address. I swear. He came to my office.”
“If I find out you’re double-crossing me—you’re fuckin’ dead.”
“I’m not. Please don’t tell him you got the information from me. I just want to go back to my ordinary life and easy cases and—”
Shadow glared at him. “Shut the fuck up about that. If you’re telling me the truth, you won’t have any trouble with me or the Insurgents.”
“Iamtelling you the truth—I swear it. I wouldn’t fuck you over. Do you think I’m stupid or something?”
Shadow stared hard at Charlie, who was sweating profusely, and looked like he was ready to pass out. “Get the fuck outta here,” he growled, and the private investigator quickly slid into the driver’s seat and slammed the door. Shadow heard theclickof the automatic locks before the engine started and Charlie Bowen sped out of the lot.
For a long while Shadow stood rooted to the spot, staring into the darkness. A red tabby cat leapt up on the dumpster and rummaged through it, then, it looked over in Shadow’s direction, froze for a second until it jumped off the edge and ran away, vanishing into the darkness. He let out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding and took out his phone. His first thought was to call Scarlett and ask for the address of BrucefuckingHuntington, but he didn’t want to involve her in this, so he called Smokey instead.
“I found out who tried to kill me—the same fucker who killed my mom.” His jaw tightened along with his chest.
“What the fuck, bro? Who?”
“Huntington—but there’s no damn way that old man was the one in the video camera. It must’ve been his pussy son and a friend. The fucker was my mom’s sugar daddy. Fuck!” He hated how his voice hitched, and he bit his inner cheek hard, hoping the pain would push away his emotions. He had to be clear and level-headed; otherwise, he’d fuck up and that’s the last thing he wanted to do. Killing Huntington and his fuckin’ son had to be done with calculated precision. No bodies or evidence would ever be found—the Insurgents would make sure of that.
“Where are you? I’m coming now. Don’t do anything stupid, man. We gotta take care of this in the right way.”
“I know, but I wanna kill the bastard with the same mercy he gave my mom. Fuck, this is hard. I’ve waited all these years and the sonofabitch was under my nose the whole time.Fuck!”
“Cool down, bro. I know this is difficult, but we gotta be smart. I’m gonna call Hawk and Banger. I’m walking outta the clubhouse now. Are you at Scarlett’s?”
“Nah—I’m in the lot behind the First Union Building.”
“Stay tight.”
Shadow leaned back on his boots and tried to put a shield between his thoughts and what needed to be done, but threads of memories kept weaving through his mind. Shadow’s cell phone rang out from inside his jeans pocket, and he hurried to retrieve it. He glanced at the screen and saw it was Hawk.
“Yo,” he said.
“How’re you doing? Smokey told me what’s going on. Finding out about your mom must be fuckin’ rough.”
The support of his brothers cocooned around him like a warm blanket. “It is, but I’m dealing with it. Thanks.”
“Yeah, you gotta get your head on straight with this one, even though it’s harder than shit. Emotions have no place when exacting revenge. If you don’t think you can keep it in check, we’ll take care of the asshole for you.”
“I’ll be okay.”
“I located the fucker’s address, and I also called Banger. He’s calling an emergency church tomorrow so we can decide how we’re gonna proceed. There’s no fuckin’ way this asshole’s getting away with what he’s done to you or your mom.”
“I’ll finally give my mom the justice she deserves. Those fuckin’ badges have had all these years and manpower to find this sonofabitch, and they’re still clueless.”
“Maybe they were getting paid off. I don’t trust the damn Establishment,” Hawk said.
The sound of loud cams had Shadow walking over to the alley and looking down it. He saw a single headlight approaching.
