Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
“Mad luck?’ I asked as answer.
Persia rolled her eyes.
“Not to dispense with the pleasantries,” Luna said, then she dispensed with the pleasantries. “But Nat is a little freaked about this sitch, and we have another errand to run, so can we get down to it?”
Important note: They had street names, we had code names. I was Natalie (as in Natalie Cook, next generation Charlie’s Angels). Harlow was Dylan (ditto next gen). And Raye and Luna were Kelly and Jill, respectively (they were named after OG Angels).
Persia looked to Jinx. Jinx looked to Skyla. Skyla looked to Divinity.
Divinity had eyes on me, a straw between her lips, and she was slurping on her drink.
“Can somebody start?” I requested.
“Okay, just to be sure, you bitches aren’t gonna try to shut Mountain down or anything like that, right?” Skyla asked.
Persia snorted. “Like this crew could shut him down.”
“I’d take a shot at shuttin’ him down,” Jinx muttered.
“Mm-hmm,” Divinity hummed around her straw.
“No, we’re not shutting him down,” I said. “I just want to talk to my brother, and we think he’s working with them.”
“Ooo, is he the new one?” Skyla asked.
My blood pressure ticked up a notch.
Persia eyed me. “I see it. The hair.”
“And eyes,” Divinity put in around her straw. “They both got the same pretty blue eyes.”
And again.
Confirmation.
I exchanged glances with my chicks.
“They got trouble,” Jinx remarked. “The cops don’t like Mountain and his boys showin’ ’em up.”
“Mm-hmm,” Divinity again hummed around her straw.
“They gotta be like, more shadowy than their normal shadows,” Skyla put in.
“Is there a way to get word to them?” Raye asked.
Jinx shook her head. “They be where they be, gringa. And you never know where that’s gonna be.”
“Isn’t there like, an underground communication system?” Harlow inquired.
All the girls looked to Harlow, clearly trying not to laugh.
But only Jinx spoke. “She so cute.”
That was a no on the underground communication system.
“What’s this about trouble from the police?” Luna asked.
“Tryin’ to round ’em up,” Jinx told her. “Like maybe they should focus on the dealers and car thieves and gangbangers.”
“Yeah, they should focus on them,” Divinity said, then blew bubbles in her soda.
Oh shit.
“Like, arresting them?” I asked.
“The Soldiers mean business, you hear?” Persia asked. “I mean, there’s a law to bein’ on the street, but they are the law on the street.”
“And they don’t carry handcuffs,” Skyla put in. “If they tell you to do something, and you don’t do it, they deliver the message another way. One you got a lot of time to contemplate during your hospital stay.”
I was pretty sure I was cruising to a panic attack that only a bacon double cheeseburger could contain (but barely, thus I was glad I ordered the tots), so I craned my neck to look for our server.
“He tight, Natalie,” Jinx said to me, watching me closely. “Mountain, I mean. He looks out for his crew.”
“I’m sure it means a lot for my brother to be a part of this kind of thing.” It took a great deal out of me to say my next, instead of what I wanted to say. That I wanted Jeff out of this mess. “I just want to talk to him. See him. Make sure he’s all right.”
“Well, if we see him or one of the boys, we’ll get that message to them,” Skyla said as the server put down our drinks, but the food wasn’t up yet, which would be a miracle if it was in that time, but it was still a bummer.
“I’d appreciate it,” I replied, grabbing my DC.
I took a hit of it and noticed Jinx, Raye and Luna giving each other looks.
“What?” I asked into this.
“Nothin’,” Jinx said.
“Really, please tell me,” I replied quietly, not to mention desperately.
Jinx looked at Raye and Luna again, and when she got nods from both, she turned to me.
“Not sure you’re seein’ the whole picture,” Jinx said. “The cops don’t like the Shadows, but the bad guys don’t like ’em a whole lot more.”
God damn it.
I sucked anxiously on my straw.
“Does anyone know the story of this Mountain guy, or his name?” Raye asked.
“No name, but he street,” Jinx told us. “To his bones.”
“And that means?” I pushed.
“Never shared a burger with el guapo, so he hasn’t told me his life story,” Jinx began. “But it’s known wide he grew up in a tent with his mamá.”
“Like, homeless?” Harlow breathed.
“His whole life?” Luna added.
“Not sure about his whole life. Heard word his mamá ain’t all there. She ain’t on the street no more, though. He got big and strong, he took care of her,” Jinx said on a firm nod.
“Is he known as el guapo as well as Mountain?” Harlow asked.
All the ladies smiled big.
“No, but he guapo, chica. Muy guapo,” Jinx shared.
“Good looking?” Harlow requested confirmation.
“Tom Hardy is good looking,” Skyla put in. “Mountain is guapo.” And she put a whole lotta emphasis on guapo.