“Aye.” Essex’s tone made my ears perk up.
I nodded at Italian and tossed the mask to him. “Get that to Ezio for me,” I said as I continued moving toward the front door before replying to Essex. “Wuz good, E-Block?”
“That spot, yo?”
My nerves tensed instantly, even though I knew he was calling about Bahati’s apartment. “It checks out, right?”
I knew it had. I’d already spoken with the leasing agent, who had confirmed that Bahati and Shya had been tenants of the apartment. I’d even paid the lease up, telling them they were just out of town on an extended vacation. I didn’t have many boots on the ground in the city since my people were here in the bay with me, but Essex did. Not only did he have a business that was still very much booming out there, but he also had people. Not many, but he had enough. He’d sent one of his customers, a robber who had turned stealing from niggas into a whole business. He did credit and shit now, but I wouldn’t trust a thief who used to take shit with my information. The hood did, though, and they’d turned the nigga into a business mogul.
“Answer ya FaceTime, G.”
As I opened the door and stepped outside, I pulled the phone away from my face and answered the call. Essex’s face appeared briefly before he flipped the camera around.
“What I’m lookin’ at, E-Block?”
My truck was turned off, and the keys were on the driver’s seat. I would send a couple of stacks to Italian for looking out because I had left my shit running, trying to get to Solana’s ass.
“Shit, nothing.” He moved closer. “My nigga, Clutch, pulled up to come run through it for us, and when he called and told me the building was on fire, I had to get on a plane and see this shit for myself.”
The giant pile of rubble where the apartment building should have been covered the entire camera. I knew the building was supposed to be exactly where Essex was because when he shifted the camera to the left and then to the right, I could see that the other two buildings were still standing that it was supposed to be standing between.
Essex rotated the phone again so that I could see the remnants from the fire. There wasn’t shit left.
“Even the fuckin’ leasing office gone, G. They said that shit was in the lobby of this building, so all the paperwork and computers and shit gone. Hopefully everybody got out, but you know how it is in Chicago.” He shook his head.
Alarm and anger rippled through my spine as I hopped inside my truck. Some shit wasn’t adding up, and a lot of shit was just too coincidental. Not having the mental capacity to deal with the shit tonight, I turned the car on and drove in the direction of downtown. It wasn’t shit popping in Jagoda Bay tonight, so I should’ve been able to get a room at one of my favorite hotels. I’d have to deal with Bahati’s slick ass another day because something wasn’t adding the fuck up.
God first
Make sure the family good
Eye them Cuppacio boys, the little and the big ones
Build a relationship with my brother
Get my brother rich
Health and wellness(ALWAYS)(Shake back)
Stay on top of my mob shit
Keep Hobo alive (DOING… Barely)
Get through the meeting with Ines Ledesma
House a random
Find the true reason Solana is here
Figure out if Solana is supposed to be my wife, again
Find a wife that isn’t Solana
Kill every breathing Rodríguez Cartel member (URGENT)
Fuck Bahati up (TBD)
Get my fucking daughter
