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“He’s not going to go against Malik.”
“Maybe not but Malik will have marks and bruises on him just like you do. It will be obvious he was hurt.”
“And if Jordan wants the flash drive?”
“Then we have to tell Junior since his dad was the one to give it to him.”
I nodded, despising everything about this. I didn’t want Perry involved or my brother and Dominic. They would be if we involved Perry.
“Go shower. I have a feeling, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner you’ll start to settle. We can hopefully get this situated today and put it behind us.”
Me cleaning up was nothing more than going through the motions of washing the sweat from my skin and hair. I didn’t like this feeling inside me. Things were spiraling out of control. If I looked back, they had been since we first knew someone was in Dexen’s house. At least we had a lead now, not that it did us much good considering who it was. JJ’s dad hated me. I wasn’t under any false pretenses where he was concerned. Me going with Dexen and JJ helped. At least he wouldn’t throw them out on sight like he probably would me.
Dexen was sitting on the end of the bed when I got out of the bathroom. “JJ didn’t answer. My guess is he’s completely absorbed in what he’s working on. We’ll go down there and tell him what we’re doing.”
“I don’t have a plan outside of meeting with his dad.” That part bothered me. It was a whole fifty-fifty thing. Half of me wanted to say fuck it and plow forward, handle things as they rose. The other half said to think about it more, try to plan. That half sounded suspiciously like my brother in my head. He thought everything through. I wasn’t sure which was right and since Dexen said we should talk to JJ’s dad; I leaned that way. At least it was us doing something to get to the bottom of this.
“Maybe we don’t need one.”
“You’re the one who said we did.”
“I know.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “But I hate seeing you and JJ like this. So, we’re jumping in and hoping for the fucking best.”
“I’m on board with that.”
We took my SUV into East Dremest, hitting too many red lights, stopping too many times for people in crosswalks. It was lunch on a Sunday, and they were out in full force, even though it was cold.
The garage bay doors were closed when we pulled up along the curb. It wasn’t surprising since JJ kept as much heat inside as he could while they worked. The lights were on and there were noises coming from within.
The front door was unlocked when I turned the knob. We went through the office to the shop to find Val standing beside the tire of an older model Ford Taurus that was up on the lift. Val’s uniform shirt had risen up, showing off a patch of smooth skin. I shouldn’t look but it was the same as when I was home, and Dominic wore those damn boy shorts. I was a guy who found other guys attractive. I was going to look.
Val was lean in a pair of pants that were loose enough for him to move while showing off his legs at the same time. He had on a baseball hat turned backward, a bit of his dirty blond hair peeking out from beneath it. He stopped working when he saw us. “I thought you two were staying home today.”
“We were,” Dexen answered. “We decided to surprise JJ.”
“You just missed him. Malik came to pick him up. Said his dad was asking for him. I hate that man. Fuck, I hate both him and Malik.” Val shook his head. “They expect Jay to drop everything when they need him. And he does because what the fuck’s the alternative? He can’t say no to him.”
My hands fisted at my sides. I didn’t like JJ seeing his dad to begin with but now with this shit with Malik, I hated it even more. Knowing JJ was with him made me angry as hell. “Did Malik seem pissed?”
Val shrugged. “I always thought he looked that way by default. He was the same as usual.” He narrowed his eyes. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I just don’t like him going there.”
“That makes two of us.” He eyed Dexen. “Three if you count the murderous look on Dex’s face.”
Dexen tried to smile but it appeared too forced. “How long’s he usually gone when Malik picks him up?”
“An hour but depending on the reason, could be more or less. Jay’s always in a shit mood when he gets back. I told him I’d go there and try to off his old man, but he won’t let me.”
“You’d die,” Dexen stated.
“Meh, maybe not. Maybe I could get a bullet in Malik or Jordan’s head before someone took me out. We’ll never know because Jay made me promise never to go there.”
“Smart man,” I said.
Val couldn’t take on all the guards they had there. Hell, even with the training my brother and I had, Dexen and X, Dom, JJ, we couldn’t go against them. Val would be killed if he attempted anything where JJ’s dad was concerned.
“You can wait in here if you want,” Val told us.
