Titus sighed and I asked, “All the money?”
Nassir shook his head and pushed off the sedan. “The money is fine. I’m a cautious man by nature. That’s how I’ve managed to stay alive so long.” He cut a hard look at Titus. “I’m serious, cop. If you get a name, I want it.”
Titus didn’t say anything as Nassir wandered off with his phone pressed tightly to his ear. I looked at Bax, who exchanged a look with his brother and shrugged.
“Nothing else for us to do here.”
Titus grunted. “No. Go home and be glad you were somewhere else tonight or else you might be in the back of one of those vans, or down at the station for questioning.”
I couldn’t help but cringe as my gaze automatically shifted to the stark white coroner vans. I didn’t want to think about the people ending their Saturday night with a trip to the morgue, but it was kind of impossible not to. This was the kind of price the Point required people to pay for venturing into its depths. I got lost in my dreary thoughts, started to feel like no matter how hard I worked, how much of a stranglehold I had on this place, the worst of the bad things and bad people were always going to win.
I was startled out of my reflections when Bax knocked me on my shoulder.
“Let’s get you home to your lady. This night is done for.” He sounded like it was just another day, just another glitch in the wiring that made this place run. It sent chills running down my spine.
“All right.”
Once we were back in the car headed the few blocks to the garage so I could grab the Stingray, he asked me if I was all right. I took my time answering.
“I’m not sure. This is the Point. It’s supposed to be a place that takes care of itself. Nothing and no one is supposed to be worse than the Point. I don’t know how I feel about it being under attack and losing.”
He made a noise low in his throat. “It’s more than the Point. This place is more than a warning to spoiled kids and one wrong turn away from the Hill. It doesn’t matter how ugly it is, how vicious and hard it is to live here, it’s still home. It’s my home, it’s your home, and when you see it getting torn apart, when you know the threat is real and coming from outside, it makes you want to fight for it, even if you know it would watch you rot and not give a shit.”
He was absolutely right. The Point might be a rotting kingdom, but it was my rotting kingdom and I couldn’t abide by an outsider trying to tear it down. As much as I never thought it would happen, I was with Nassir on this one. When we had the person behind the destruction, behind the bloody and murderous message directed right at the heart of my city, there would be no long arm of the law, no pursuit of justice—there would only be retaliation and payback in the name of this place that was not nearly as unbreakable as it seemed.
I told Bax good-bye before he raced home to my sister. I understood the clawing need a little bit more, now that all I could think about was Brysen and keeping her safe and in one piece. She was my tether to the reality outside of the violence and machinations that made up my day-to-day life. I needed her if I was going to win this war that was being waged. She kept my head on the end game.
I got to the condo that was built on the docks right on the edge of the city. It was far enough out of the heart of the Point to be safe, but still far enough away from the Hill and burbs that no one would think to look for two upper-middle-class girls to be using it as a hideout. The condo had been my dad’s secret love shack. It was where he took all the women he cheated on my mom with. He paid for the place in cash, so it had managed to escape the feds’ lockdown on anything with the Hartman name attached to it. The only reason I knew it existed was because Novak had taken great pleasure in not only pulling all of my strings, but also in letting me know just how much dirt he had on my dad in order to keep me in line. A few handshakes and a greased palm belonging to the property manager, and all traces of my dad’s ownership were gone. I had no second thoughts about having the title to the condo put into Brysen’s name. Sure, if it ever got dragged to court, the legality of her ownership of the property would fall apart, but for now, the place was hers, even if she didn’t know it or ended up not wanting it.
I parked in the underground garage and took the elevator up to the top floor. The condo looked out over the water, onto the shipping docks. If the Point had been in a better place, been in a prettier city, the view would be awesome. As it was, all anyone could see for miles was smog, rusty ships, and crusty dock workers. When I pushed through the door, I was greeted with the open end of a gun pointed at my face. Booker wasn’t messing around since Brysen’s tumble at the school. I knew he wasn’t the sentimental or sympathetic type, but he also wasn’t the type that liked to look like anyone had gotten the better of him. He was taking Brysen’s attack personally, which was fine by me.
He lowered the gun and the scar that covered half of his face twitched.
“I didn’t know you were coming by tonight.”
He stashed the gun back wherever it had been before he pointed it at me as I shut the door behind me.
“My girl is here. Where else would I be?”
He snorted and picked up an open beer that was on the coffee table. “You better tell her that. She wasn’t thrilled I was the one taking her home from the hospital today. She’s been a real peach to be around all day.”
I winced a little. I should have freed up the time to get her here. I sucked at this relationship stuff. She should always come first.
“And the little one . . .” He lifted his eyebrows up. “She’s going to get herself in trouble. Always walking around with those big puppy-dog eyes like she’s looking for a master to give her a good home. I would keep her locked up until she’s legal.”