JAY LET OUT a heavy breath, blowing out plumes of smoke from the last cigarette in his pack. The brand was his favorite, but it wasn't hitting the way it usually did.
This trip to Dellmount Point was supposed to just be a small check-in.
Now it was all thoroughly fucked.
He glanced at the half-burnt cigarette with sadness before dropping it to the street side and stomping on it. Effectively crushing it with far more force than necessary.
What a waste of a good cigarette.
Jay sighed as he stretched his legs to reposition himself on the sidewalk. It was a shame; The pants were nice, but they'd have to be thrown out now. Still, he had been on his feet all morning and he needed a break.
He held his hand out to the man who stood a few paces behind where he was sitting.
"Capo?"
"Phone."
The tattooed man fumbled for a moment to unlock the device before he passed it to the impatient outstretched hand.
Jay was quick to punch in a number and bring the phone to his ear while it rang. And ring it did, for far longer than he would have liked.
Was the fucker out getting stoned already?
"What?"
"Don't 'what' me you little shit."
"Oh, it's you again. What?"
"I need to borrow some of your men, and for God's sake please tell me you got Lucky's body."
"Relax, of course I did. Dad's not gonna be happy about this though."
"Yeah, no shit. That's why I've gotta find out who did it."
"I'll send you a few people, though I don't have many to spare."
"And Ronan?"
"What?"
"Don't yap to Ruben until I've sorted this out."
"Wasn't gonna but sure thing, big brother."
Jay ended the call, knowing that if he kept talking it would turn into endless complaints. That sounded a bit too much like Ruben for his taste.
The second he saw Lucky's body, he knew he'd have to do all the work despite Dellmount Point being his younger brother's jurisdiction. Ronan cared about drugs, which made him excellent at his job. All he cared about was drugs. Making them, selling them, taking them, he was superb at; Everything else was whatever to him.
Lucky deserved better than whatever.
So here he was, ass contracting a million and one germs from the sidewalk as he waited for a kid in front of a matchbox house that looked like it was about to topple over at the faintest breeze.
He turned to Ajax, one of Ronan's men who lived in Dellmount Point.
"You're sure the kid lives here?"
"Yeah, the guys always dragged him over to the bar to have him throw dice."
"Just him here?"
"Nah, there's some other guy who stays there with him."
"Name."
"Erik. Kept digging but couldn't find a last name."
"Erik..."
Perhaps this Erik and Silver are related somehow.
Despite the trouble he was now causing Jay, he couldn't help but like him. He was quick to act and smart in a slippery sort of way.
Unfortunately for him, he was still a kid, and Jay had a few more years of experience under his belt.
If Silver really wanted to sell his innocence, he should have stayed and stuck to his story. He ran, which meant he knew more than he was letting on. As of now, he was Jay's only lead to Lucky's assassination.
He knew for a fact that the man died by assassinated. The death was far too clean to be an accident or scuffle; Which would have been his second assumption based on where they were.
The bullet went directly to his heart. He was probably shot from behind.
Fucking coward's work.
Someone had ordered a hit on him, of that Jay was certain.
Besides all that, there was still a question lingering in the back of his mind.
WhatthehellwasLucky, achroniccityman,doingintheshitstainofanoutskirttownlikeDellmount Point?
Either way, Lucky was far too important for this to be left cold. His body had yet to rot. Whoever killed him could still be here. It was a big ass assumption, but it was one Jay was betting on.
And even if they were gone, it didn't matter. Jay had the money to fly to fucking Alaska if that was what it took.
The two waited in silence until the sound of a truck came running along. The rusted thing ground to a halt before the wheels could come within a few feet of Jay's legs. It let out a groan of relief as the men piled in the back dismounted.
Well, it seems Ronan was taking this seriously, as seriously as he was capable.
Jay climbed to his feet before addressing the crowd now in front of him.
"I'm assuming you all know who I am, so I won't be doing introductions. What I need from you is your knowledge of these streets and the eyeballs in your head. There are two people you need to find, a boy named Silver and a man named Erik. Keep your phones on; You'll need to communicate since I want you spread thin to cover more ground."
He was already walking up the creaky, half-rotten steps when he stopped to look at the group of ragtag henchmen. Not his first pick but beggars can't be choosers.
"You got questions you ask Ajax, he's in charge."
Jay reached into his coat pocket, only to click his teeth in annoyance when he remembered he was out of cigarettes.
Irritation rising to a new peak, he turned his glare at the men. The order came out with an anger that had been boiling in him from the moment he laid eyes on Lucky's body.
"You will find them, and when you do, I want them here alive. That's all for now. Find anything you call Ajax. He's with me."
Not bothering to wait around for their answer Jay looked at the door. On it was a surprisingly expensive, sturdy lock. Like a clean silk bow around the neck of a bedraggled street cat. Jay tilted his head in intrigue.
From behind him Ajax let out a curse and called out to the men who had received their orders and were now clearing out to execute them.
"Can somebody get me a shotgun?"
"No need for that Ajax, I got everything we need right here."
He reached into his pants and pulled out a pocketknife set. Custom-made with a sharp blade and a few other things, including lock picks.
Jay chuckled as he bent to angle his tools at the keyhole.
"How fun, I haven't picked a lock in ages. I feel like I'm unwrapping a present."
After a few moments of wiggling, the lock popped open with a resounding click. Jay exclaimed in joy as he opened the door. When he got a look at the interior, his smile dropped.
"I should have expected this but damn, some present."
There really wasn't much to it. Half a kitchen and a run-down mini-fridge pushed to one side. Just paces away was a decrepit brown leather couch facing an empty wooden table. A single mattress lay on the floor on the far side of the wall next to a door. A small chest sat in the right corner of the house.
At least it was clean.
Jay pointed to the other side where the mattress lay.
"You search that half. If you find anything interesting, don't keep it to yourself."
Ajax nodded before turning to rifle through meager belongings.
Jay whistled an upbeat melody from a popular children's cartoon as he perused the small area. Skimming over the clean kitchen and few washed dishes scattered across the counter, he turned his attention to the leather couch.
Sunken in as it might be, it sure is a hell of a lot better than the sidewalk.
Jay kept along his merry tune as he sat on the old thing, letting out a grunt as he sunk deeper than he thought he would.
His shifting to get comfortable slowly turned into something else.
Getting up from his seat, he slowly removed a cushion to reveal a black cloth bag.
"Bingo."
There were only a few things in it. A change of clothes, a toothbrush, and a few pairs of socks. The size of them meant they obviously weren't Silver's, which meant they belonged to whoever lived with him.
Jay pulled out a small notebook, clicking his teeth in frustration when all the pages turned out to be empty. The thing was brand new.
Jay shook it as he held it by the spine, watching as the pages fluttered aggressively and a single paper fell out.
Bending down to get a closer look, Jay chuckled. He brought what turned out to be a photo closer to his face.
"Well would you look at that."