Page 57 of The Impossible

CHAPTER 14

Hondo

Days later…

Briar South was a beautiful city if you knew the ins and outs. It was one of those places where someone could get lost in the richness of its history. It was home, even though me and my family lived on the outside, in the burbs that bordered other cities. It was where I was raised and did business.

It was my home turf.

“He’s at the door, boss.” Steeve’s voice alerted me before the door opened and Mayor Winston Joseph slid into the back seat next to me.

“Good seeing you, Hondo.”

I glanced in his direction and shook my head. “Cut the shit, Winston. It’s never good to see me. It’s better to be paid and never have to sit next to me.”

He chuckled uneasily. “I don’t think of it that way.”

“You should. We aren’t friends nor are we enemies. This between us is purely transactional.” I kept my eyes on the moving parts outside the car.

“Understood.”

“Good. I want Logan gone.” The next statement from my lips made him tense immediately. I could feel it.

“Like how?”

“Out of a job, Winston. Do you think I’d bring you here to ask you to kill your own chief of police?” I laughed at the mood.

“No.”

“Good because I have people for that and I damn sure wouldn’t be asking you. It has to be clean, well… maybe not that clean.” I shrugged. I owed Logan this much, especially when all that shit went down, he instructed the department to cooperate with the feds. Damn all the donations from my families and parks we made happen. At the end of the day, the system was against me and he did the pointing on record. He took joy in the whole ordeal, which was why I was about to enjoy every bit of how the chips fell.

“You know that’s impossible, right?” he asked after silence fell in the car.

I laughed. “How? You’re the fucking mayor, Winston. I put you in that chair and on that fucking ballot. I did the impossible to get you where you are right now, so no, you can’t tell me what’s impossible. You don’t have the right to deem anything impossible. Make that shit happen and be aware of political standings and affiliations when you weigh in on the options for a new police chief.”

He was silent but nodded so he understood the implications of my request.

“Good talk. You can go now.”

He was out of the car in seconds, leaving me to my thoughts before Steeve spoke. “Curr is Mainstream enjoying a meal with his mistress.

I nodded with a smile. “Let’s go have a word.”

I sat back in my seat as he pulled off, my thoughts immediately filled with Nic. Today she was back at the sanctuary and, from our earlier conversation, loving it. I loved her happiness and fulfillment like it was my own, because shit, truthfully it was. When she was happy and floating, so was I. When she was scared and fearful, I was pissed. Her feelings and experiences were mine.

The drive to Mainstream wasn’t long given that Uptown Briar was a massive business enclave. Everything was within walking distance for tourists to feel close to the action.

My phone rang, stealing my attention. Apparently I had conjured up a call from my wife, but then again, it was knocking on six-thirty and I told her I wouldn’t have a late day.

“What’s up, Nic?” I asked, mashing the phone against my ear to answer.

“You’re not here. But you’re on your way, right?” she asked, her voice desperately telling me to say yeah.

“I should be in a few. I’m leaving the city. You need anything?” I asked.

“Honeybun brownie from Best Kept Secret?”

I laughed. Ever since that day at the hospital, Nic had been obsessed with those fucking brownies. No lie, they were good, but baby was feral over them. “Aight, I got you.”