CHAPTER THREE

SOLOMON

This ordinary work day was proving to be a lot more interesting than I anticipated. 

"Ivan," I called over my shoulder. "Get a bottle of water and some food from the minimart. And I mean actual food like a sandwich not Cheetos or any of that bullshit." 

With a tight-lipped frown, my underboss holstered his weapon and did as I ordered. I already knew he didn't approve of me letting this girl live. He was an old-school gangster raised on values like making sure there were no witnesses to our business transactions. 

But I was still in charge. And this girl could prove more valuable to me while alive rather than dead.

She also seemed quite determined to die despite her big blue eyes growing to the size of saucers at the mention of food and water. I wanted to know the reason behind that. 

"I can help you out," I said, keeping my voice friendly and my hand extended to her. "No one is going to hurt you. You have my word." 

She said nothing but placed her thin fingers in the center of my palm while keeping a firm grip on her knife with the other hand.

"That's it, come on out."  

I smiled, trying to look relaxed without taking my eyes off that knife. Dried blood still rusted the blade and I wondered who was the poor bastard she used it on. This girl seemed so frail, I had no doubt I'd be able to overpower her if she tried using it on me, but for some reason, I didn't think she would. 

By the time I led her out of the truck and dragged my lawn chair into the shade of the auto shop for her to sit in, Ivan returned from the store with two turkey sandwiches, a water bottle, and a bag of baked potato chips. 

"The fuck are you going to do with her?" he muttered as he handed the plastic bag over to me. 

"Not sure yet," I admitted. "Keep an eye out, alright? We don't know if someone wants her bad enough to follow her." 

She was practically salivating when I approached with the food items. I held the bag out to her and just as she grabbed for it, yanked it back. 

"Nuh-uh," I said in response to her glare. "Tell me your name first." 

Her hand tightened on the knife for a moment while she stared at me with all the hateful strength left in her. I almost thought she might really use it on herself right then. 

Finally, she spoke in a low whisper. 

"Natalie."

Pretty name, I thought. 

"Now was that so hard? Here you go, Natalie," I said, holding the bag out to her. "Enjoy."

She snatched the bag from my hand as if afraid I would yank it away again and continued to eye me warily as she tore into the first sandwich and inhaled it. The poor girl looked and acted like she hadn't eaten a proper meal in months. 

Something gnawed at me as I watched her. My humanity, my conscious, whatever. It twisted painfully and couldn't understand how someone could let another human being suffer this much. This girl was someone's daughter. A person with rights, dreams, and autonomy. 

I swallowed it down. I couldn't afford to be an emotional guy in this line of work. But this was why I made sure my work didn't involve treating people like cattle, even if some of my colleagues did. 

When I walked off to speak with Eddie, my driver, she already gulped down half of the water bottle and was starting on the second sandwich. 

Eddie was having a cigarette leaning against the side of the truck and shared my amused smile as I approached. 

"I take it you didn't expect a stowaway today?" I said, accepting a smoke and a light from him. 

"Nah. Haven't had any of them since the agreement." He sent out a long exhale of smoke thoughtfully. "Which probably means the traffickers are just getting better at hiding 'em."

"You think Antigua would deliberately deceive me like that?" I asked. "We've been nothing but happy neighbors for years." 

Eddie shifted his eyes toward me. "He probably never expected you to find out." 

I took a long drag on my own cigarette as I tried to gather my thoughts. 

"You didn't see anything up there that would indicate this?" I flicked my cigarette butt in Natalie's direction. "Nothing at all?"

"Not a sign," Eddie replied. "It's all as you would expect. They even gave me a tour last week. Three warehouses dedicated to growing, processing and packaging marijuana! Nah, boss." Eddie hocked a loogie on the dry dirt ground. "On the surface, everything's as clean as a fuckin' whistle."

Rubbing the stubble on my jaw, I watched Natalie as she reclined in the chair, seemingly relaxed and finished with her food.  

Antigua ran his crew a good three hundred miles from here up in Amador County. We agreed on a trade deal that explicitly said no human trafficking would be conducted on either end. I didn't want any involvement in that but prostitution was profitable for a lot of these scummy crime bosses. I sincerely thought Antigua was above that though. 

If what I suspected was true, and Natalie escaped from Antigua's hidden prostitution business, I had some gigantic fucking fish to fry. 

Fish much bigger than me. I was only a big fish in this game because I picked out a small pond that no one else snatched up. 

I had to prove not only to my own people but to everyone else I did business with that I didn't tolerate being cheated in my deals. 

The only issue was, even if I was a big fish, Antigua was a fucking blue whale compared to me. 

Oh yeah, and I had to figure out what the hell to do with this girl, who was technically his property, that stowed away in my delivery truck.  

I sighed as I tossed my cigarette butt to the ground and crushed it under my shoe. For a crime boss, life had been pretty sweet and simple up to this point. It was about to get a hell of a lot more complicated. 

Whipping out my phone, I hit the only number on my speed dial and brought the phone to my ear. 

"Hey Netta," I said into the speaker. "Gonna need you to do me a solid." 

"Ugh. What now, Solomon?" asked my disgruntled neighbor. 

"Pick up Ari from school and keep her at your house tonight. I'll pay you double," I promised. 

"Seriously? Can't you keep it in your pants for like, one week?" 

"This isn't like that," I chuckled into the phone. "I mean, I am having someone over but I'm actually doing a good thing this time."