Chapter 10

ASHTON

Late nights were the perfect time to work in the garage. You didn’t have to worry about the heat from the sun. You didn’t have to worry about the traffic distracting you. Nothing but the hum of an engine and iron clanking to keep you company. I never got this kinda peace from anything else.

While Grant emptied out the SUV, I stayed underneath the hood of the car, giving the engine a good look.

“What do you see?” he asked.

“Nothing fancy. Everything looks stock. It’s clean though. Like he just drove this thing off the lot.”

“Not many miles on it. Picardo knew what he was getting when he got this ride. It’s only got one job.”

“You think he made the right decision leaving it in the hands of a couple of jokers like us?”

Grant chuckled while he kept rearranging the upholstery. “The man was looking for two good mechanics. He got the best men in Ivory he could find.”

“Yeah, he did…”

I whistled as I got to work. I had all the equipment I needed to make sure the thing was running properly. Now it was just a matter of improving its performance. MCs. Cops. Feds. Random gangsters who wanted a piece of him. Drugrunners. No doubt Picardo had to worry about everybody chasing after him.

“You tell McFadden she’s not gonna see her ride for a long time?” he asked.

“She’ll understand. She told me over and over. An old woman like her doesn’t really need her car. It’s not like she’s moving weight.”

“I don’t know… Mrs. McFadden could be up to something. It’s always the ones you least expect.”

“I’ll believe it when she shows up with 20 large because her car needs a special tuneup.”

I spent every day in the garage and it wasn’t often I spent nights there, too. Special projects like the one Picardo hired us for were the kinda times when Grant and I would stay late. It wasn’t much of a hassle for either one of us. Even without Picardo’s ride to work on, both of us would find an excuse to stick around if we had one.

But I had to admit I was a little distracted. A few texts and a phone call  from Rose just reminded me of what I was missing out on.

“How’s Rose taking it?” Grant asked suddenly.

“How’s Rose taking what?”

“You sticking around late at night. Working on a fucking car when you’ve been doing it all day.”

“Jesus, Smoke… You make it sound like we can’t live without each other.”

“Ain’t that the case?”

I had my eyes focused underneath the hood because I could still picture that smarmy little smile on his lips. I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Rose is a grown woman. I’m a grown man. We can go a few nights without seeing each other. Besides, it’s not like she’s my girlfriend or anything.”

“Right… So you’d be fine if Rose went out with her girlfriends tonight.”

“Rose doesn’t have any girlfriends.”

“Even worse. A girl all alone out there. Having a drink by herself. If that ain’t an invitation for someone to talk to her, I don’t know what it is.”

“Rose can do what she wants.”

“And it wouldn’t bother you if she went home with another man… Bent over for him… Screamed out while he gave it to her nice and deep…”

I straightened up and saw Grant standing right next to me. Sure enough, that stupid little smirk was on his face. I didn’t take it personally. The bastard was just trying to get a rise out of me. I smiled back at him and we shared a laugh.

“Maybe she’s not your old lady but she’s special.”

“Yeah… She’ll be fine without me though. Besides, it’s not like we’ll be working the whole night. Maybe late tonight she’ll still be up for something.”

“I don’t know why you’re even trying to bother with this monogamy thing. The best thing a woman can do is get your rocks off. Once you do, you move on until you’ve got the need again.”

“Teddy used to say the same thing. Funny how things worked out with him…” I stuck my head back underneath the hood of the car while Grant got back inside of it.

The night was only just getting started and we had plenty of work ahead of us. Even though thoughts of Rose and the time I spent with her last night lingered in my head, I kept my focus.

“Looks like Picardo knew what he was doing,” Grant said. “He’s already got a few extra compartments in here. If he’s using this thing to move weight, it looks like he’s already halfway there.”

“I don’t know Picardo very well but if the man is in charge, he’s gotta have some idea what he’s doing.”

“What do you think of him? Seems kinda young to be running the cartel…”

“The Picardo Cartel has always had clout in Ivory. Even since way back then. He seems like he’s got just the right amount of enthusiasm to be running another game here. Frankly, it don’t fucking matter. Cobras are staying out of that shit.”

“I’m surprised Jordan even gave the okay for this shit.” Grant stepped out of the car and moved right next to me. “Fucking around with the cartel…”

I stood up straight again when he stopped. “What about it?” I looked into his eyes and noticed he was staring into the distance.

His mouth half-open, Grant looked over my shoulder. “You hear that?”

Before I had a chance to respond, I heard the screech of an engine screaming down the road. In the blink of an eye, a white van pulled up right next to the garage. The passenger doors and the back burst open. Four men, all dressed in black, masked up, spilled out. They had their weapons up before any of us could react.

“Shit—”

“Hands up! Now!” the lead man shouted at me.

I turned to Grant and sighed. Neither one of us was in a position to do anything. We did as we were told as the lead man walked up to me, his gun pointed at my forehead.

“Where are the keys?” he barked.

“What—”

“The keys! For this ride! Where are they?” He looked right at the SUV. It didn’t take me very long to figure out the asshole knew who this ride belonged to. And it wasn’t a secret what he planned on doing.

I looked back to Grant but we still didn’t have the answers we needed.

“I fucking asked you a question!”

He pressed his gun against my temple and pushed the side of my head. I looked into his eyes. I couldn’t see his face through the mask but there was something about the way he looked at me. He was young. He was nervous, too. I could tell even though he was shouting. But there was something else bothering me. The way he stared at me almost felt familiar.

“Where are the fucking keys—”

“They’re inside,” I said. “Fob is in the cupholder—”

Grant suddenly rushed forward and slugged the guy in the mouth, sending him stumbling back into one of the workbenches. He couldn’t do much else as two other men converged on him, slamming him to the ground and pinning him on his stomach. They pressed their guns against his head while the lead man regained his footing.

“I know who this car belongs to. So do you. You really feel like dying tonight over someone like him?” the man said.

I clenched my jaw, staring hard at the man. Grant didn’t struggle as they kept him pinned down to the ground.

The lead man nodded as he got inside of the SUV. “That’s what I thought.” The last man slammed the hood of the car down before getting back into the van. They kept their guns pointed at us while the van slowly rode away.

“Let’s go! We gotta hit the road!” a voice from a van called out to the man who sat in driver’s seat of the SUV.

I watched as the van burned rubber down the road. The lead man, his gun still pointed at me, stared at me as he pulled out of the garage. That same feeling I had when I first looked at him didn’t go away. Something about it bothered me more than the fact that he was stealing Picardo’s ride.

He sped off down the road and disappeared into the darkness. I helped Grant back up to his feet and he dusted himself off.

“Shit… You think we should go after him?” Grant said.

I stared down the street, still trying to get over everything that just happened.

“Those guys knew what they were doing. Picardo’s the last man anybody would try to cross.”

“He won’t be too happy about somebody stealing his ride.”

“It’s not like we had anything to do with that.”

Grant chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t know if Picardo is as rational as you think he is.”

“Well… I guess we’re about to find out.”