Chapter 25

EZRA

I sat on my ride with my eyes closed. The only thing I could hear was the cool night wind blowing across my face. I steadied my heart in my chest. The finish line was right in front of me. I didn’t know what was waiting for me on the other side. I hoped that Lacey would be there to greet me. I couldn’t think about that now though. I just had to get to the line.

A car rumbled in the distance and slowly started to get louder. The bright headlights forced me to open my eyes. I watched the car park in front of me and the silence of the night returned.

The door opened slowly and the man I’d been waiting for stepped out of the driver’s seat.

“Ezra.”

I didn’t respond to Jamie as he walked toward me. He had a satisfied smile on his lips like he always did. He puffed his chest out with his usual confidence and put his hands on his hips.

“Is there a reason you wanted to meet me way the fuck out here?” he said as he looked around. “We’re out in the middle of nowhere.”

“Couldn’t risk anybody overhearing our business,” I replied.

“Could’ve picked some diner in the city. Employees don’t give a shit. I doubt the cops have every place bugged. You’re being paranoid.”

“You and I don’t know Ivory like we know the city. You never know what can happen in a town like this. Can’t take any chances.”

“Hmmm…”

He looked down his nose at me and nodded.

“You always were too careful. It annoyed me sometimes but I can’t argue with results. Neither of us ever got caught.”

I looked out toward the distance as Jamie moved right next to me to enjoy the view.

“Look at this shit,” he said. “A barren wasteland. A whole bunch of nothing between here and the rest of civilization. It’s all ours for the taking. We get in on this deal and we’ll be a part of the monopoly. We’re gonna be rich, Ezra. You hear me? We’ll never have to work another day in our lives.”

“It’s strange.”

“What is?”

“This. All of this. I look out there and I see the same thing you do. Hills and valleys and canyons with nothing but wildlife. Deserted farmland. Unpaved roads heading toward God knows where. It’s a whole bunch of… nothing.”

“Nothing,” he scoffed. “That’s a good way of putting it.”

“I’ve only been here for a few days but I’m starting to realize that it’s not about what I see. There’s more to Ivory than that. There’s something else. I see… me.”

Jamie raised an eyebrow, his hands still on his hips.

“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?” he asked. “You having an existential crisis, son?”

“No…”

I shook my head and slowly turned toward him.

“…I know exactly who I am and what I’m supposed to do.”

“Do you plan on telling me what the fuck you wanted to talk to me about?”

“I wanted to talk to you about… business.”

“Obviously. You didn’t waste my time calling me out to the outskirts just tell me something you could’ve told me over the phone. What’s this all about?”

“I’ve secured the building. The paperwork went smooth. The land is unowned, so I’ve got the whole thing to myself.”

“Good. You picked a decent spot in Old Town. Old Town… Ha! It’s a real ghost town. Being so isolated from the rest of Ivory means you’ll get some decent traffic. Just enough to cover up the money we’re making once we get in on the deal.”

“I plan on making a lot of money with the restaurant I’m opening. More money than you’ll ever know. More money than this deal will ever make…”

Jamie squinted at me, his jaw beginning to tense.

“I already told you,” he said. “Don’t get any delusions about why we’re here. I don’t give a shit what kind of business you open. Don’t lose your focus.”

“I didn’t have any focus when I first came to Ivory. I’ve never been more focused than I am right now.”

“I knew it,” he sighed.

He looked down at the ground and shook his head.

“You make a little cash and spend some time around these small-town folks and all of a sudden you think you can do something different. It ain’t gonna work, Ezra.”

“Is that why you hired the Rebels to rough me up?”

Jamie slowly raised his head up and stared at me. I looked him right in the eye as I waited for a response. I was prepared to wait the whole fucking night for an explanation if that’s what it took.

“What?” he said.

“The Desert Rebels. They’ve been following me around and fucking with me ever since I got to Ivory. I should’ve known that it was a strange coincidence.”

“Ezra, I don’t know—”

“I thought about it. I figured maybe the Rebels wanted in on the deal themselves and they were trying to push someone out. But they’re nomads. They don’t stick around long enough to get into any serious trouble. And they’re definitely not gonna spend their time in Ivory, regardless of what kinda money they can make.”

Jamie was staring at me intently, no emotion on his face. That only made it more obvious that Ellis told me the truth about him.

“Maybe it was someone else,” Jamie said. “A lot of rich assholes are in on the deal. Maybe they’re trying to intimidate you.”

“I thought about that, too. But the people moving the drugs through Ivory don’t have the manpower. They wouldn’t push out a couple of candidates like us when all it would mean is more money for them. No… They would welcome us with open arms, considering we’ve already got the background up in the city. It had to be someone else.”

I got up from my bike and put my hands behind my back.

“There’s no one left,” I said. “It just leaves you.”

“Ezra,” he said. “Come on, son. You think I would do something like… what was it you said? Have some guys rough you up—”

“You were always telling me to stop dreaming. Even when I started flipping property and getting into real estate, you told me that I would never make any real money. New town, same shit.”

Jamie started blinking. It was a warm night but not enough to make sweat form on his forehead like it was now. He swallowed anxiously and shook his head.

“You better watch what you’re saying,” he said. “Or—”

“Or what? Or I’ll regret it? You made a mistake. You put too much time into me. You did it because you thought I would be your puppet. Someone who would follow in your footsteps and be your protégé.”

“You still have that chance.”

“That’s not who I am,” I said, shaking my head. “I know that’s not who I am. You know why?”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you hired a bunch of men to take care of me. But I’ve still got more money than you, Jamie. Enough money to hire those same men away. You’ve got nothing left.”

“You better watch your mouth—”

The screech of bikes in the distance cut him off. The unmistakable sound of panheads rumbling headed right toward us. Jamie spun around to see the four bikers coming toward us.

“What the hell is this?” Jamie said.

They parked right in front of Jamie and got off their bikes. Every man pulled their pieces from their waists and held them at their sides.

“Just give us the word,” Sebastian said to me.

I gave him a nod and turned back to Jamie.

Jamie wasn’t hiding his frustration anymore. The motherfucker knew he didn’t have any way out. The truth was out in the open now.

“You threatening me?” he said. “After I made you?”

“You didn’t make me,” I responded. “I was already who I was meant to be. You see, when I first moved the package for you, I didn’t know what it was. But all I needed was a few bucks to get started. You never cared too much about the business I was in. Flipping property in the city made me more than you ever imagined. It made me more than you could ever make being some wanna-be drug lord. No, you didn’t make me… I made myself.”

Jamie looked at Sebastian and the rest of the Devils and nodded like he’d accepted his fate.

“That’s it, huh?” he said. “You’re just gonna have these men kill me in cold blood?”

“That’s where you and I differ, Jamie. I’m not out for vengeance. I’m not out for blood. I’m not gonna have a man executed even though he tried to give me all the shit he did ever since I first arrived. And to be honest with you, I do owe you. That’s why I’m giving you a chance.”

“A chance? And what chance is that?”

“I want out. My business is my business. Let me walk away. You want in on the big deal in Ivory, you do it yourself. Just let me go my own way. I don’t wanna work with you or for you ever again.”

Jamie looked at Sebastian. He knew he didn’t have much of a choice. I was offering him a better deal than he deserved.

“I’m a man of my word,” I said. “I always have been. Leave me in peace and you can leave in peace.”

The older man kept eyeballing me. No doubt he was trying to come up with a solution in his head. That overbearing smug grin formed back on his lips as he started to nod.

“You’ve got a lot of talent,” he said. “You’re leaving a lot of money on the table. It’s a big mistake.”

“It’s my mistake to make, Jamie. I don’t want any part of the deal.”

“Then I guess this is goodbye. We had some fun, didn’t we?”

“I learned a lot from you. Lessons I’ll always remember…”

“Looks like it’s back to the city for me. Find a smarter man who’s willing to work with me so I can get in on the deal. Maybe I’ll get in on the deal myself. With you out of the picture, more profit for me.”

“I don’t give a shit what you do. Leave me out of it.”

He stopped smiling. Even though I wanted nothing more to do with him, I couldn’t deny how strange it felt to see him walk away.

Jamie didn’t say another word as he got into his car and drove away. The Devils stood by my side as he left down the dirt road.

“Are you sure you can trust him?” Sebastian said. “He might be looking for retribution.”

“This was a long time coming. He knew I was getting tired of working with him. Getting in on the deal with him would only make both of us frustrated.”

“Yeah, but he still might wanna do something to you.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Silver isn’t a gangster like that. He’s just a guy trying to make a buck. He wouldn’t waste any time or money to satisfy his ego.”

“Besides,” Roman said. “That motherfucker tries anything, I’ll kill him myself.”

Roman put a hand on my shoulder. The entire MC was smiling.

“All right,” Hunter said. “Shit’s over. I say we celebrate.”

So much had gone down tonight. The situation was settled. But there was still some tension in the air. Tension that I had to deal with.

I made it to the finish line. There was only one thing left for me to do.