Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Quincy blinked, then started chuckling. “Apt name, ma’am.”
Val made a harumphing sound, which had me chuckling.
She was on her period, hadn’t eaten just like me, and had only been at work for about six less hours than me. So yes, she was just as tired as I was at this point. Probably more so since her period was slowly killing her.
At least that was what she said. Her period was slowly bleeding the will to live out of her one tampon at a time.
Needless to say, if anyone here had a reason to be grumpy, it was her.
“Sorry, I’m not in the best mood,” she admitted. “It’s nice to meet you, Quincy.”
Quincy winked. “I wish I could say I was about to make your day better with what I have to say, but most likely it’ll only make it worse. Unless you’re into gangs and shit.”
Val shook her head. “Can’t say that I am.”
“Then it won’t get better,” he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
• • •
VAL
We made it into the conference room and realized that other than a few people who were left working shift, everyone was there.
We didn’t find a seat because they were all taken, so Felix and I went to the corner of the room and leaned against the wall as Quincy made his way up to the front.
“Everyone here?” Quincy asked, looking around the room to confirm that everyone was, indeed, here and ready.
“Floor’s yours,” the hospital director called out from his corner of the room.
I crossed my arms over my chest, and then leaned slightly into Felix, resting my head on his shoulder.
He dropped his mouth to the top of my head but didn’t move from his position any more than that.
It made my heart feel like it was about to shatter.
So simple of a movement. It was just a kiss. Yet, it made my heart so freakin’ full.
Like I was wanted.
Loved.
“Not to completely ruin your day”—Quincy sighed as he reached into his front breast pocket for a pair of reading glasses and slipping them onto his face—“but this is gonna suck to hear.”
I studied the man for a few moments while he spread out his papers, unfolding them from the tiny wad he’d managed to get them into before shoving them into his pocket.
Quincy was tall, much like Felix.
But where Felix had brown hair and eyes, Quincy was everything dark.
His eyes were dark. His face was covered in a dark, well-kempt beard. He had tanned skin. Dark, almost black tattoos. He was also wearing black suit pants, a black button-down shirt, black shoes, and black socks.
Literally, there wasn’t a single thing about him that had any color to it. Not even his glasses—which were also black.
Even the pen that he had tucked behind his ear was black.
“Wonderful,” I heard someone say.
I looked over to see if I could spot said person, but whomever had spoken had been in a crowd of people who were milling in the corner of the room near the food table I hadn’t seen until now.
Not that I would eat that when I had Taco Bell to eat.
Speaking of Taco Bell…
I reached into the bag and pulled out a taco.
If I was going to sit here for however long and endure a mandatory meeting, I was going to eat.
Crunchy tacos were only good for so long.
Amusement filled Felix’s features as he watched me dig in, but he didn’t eat.
Instead, he paid close attention to what Quincy said next.
“As some of you know, I’m the head guy in charge of gangs and gang related activity in the Dallas Police Department,” he said to the room at large, his eyes nodding at a few men he knew as he went. “It was approved by the brass to let y’all in on a few gang related activities going on in this city right now, and hopefully prepare y’all a bit for what’s about to come.”
The taco in my mouth turned into ash.
What’s to come…
“What’s going on is a turf war.” Quincy didn’t mince his words. “So far, it’s been all very under wraps, at least, as best as we can tell. But things have escalated in the last week, and with a new gang moving into town, the already existing ones are fighting openly to get out on top of it.” He pulled out a sheet of paper and turned it around for us all to see. “This is the new gang that’s just popped up here. It’s new to Dallas, but not new to the US. Originally, this gang was homebased in Houston, but recently, The Codes have moved into this area. And let’s just say West Backers, the neon green and blue you see there in that photo, and Breakers, the orange and teal, are not happy about it. It’s caused a lot of fighting between them—not that there wasn’t already a lot of that—but now they’re trying to find top dog so this bigger, more established Code gang comes in and wreaks even more havoc.”