Page 8 of Fire & Roses: Harli

“Oh, my bad. That was me. Ryda just asked me if I’d talked to you yet. Is this the call ‘bout the potential you saw in us?”

“Y’all potential is limited. Y’all need a third.”

“A third?”

“Yes, didn’t stutter so there shouldn’t be any confusion. Find a third and call me back, and we’ll see if y’all have the potential or not.”

“Bet.”

When the call ended, I immediately started racking my brain to figure out who the fuck was going to be the third. It had just been me and Ryda and with our past, we hardly trusted anybody that wasn’t each other. Plus, I refused somebody who wasn’t beneficial to our group. With my role as the mastermind, I made sure that there were a plan A, B, and C, and everything was executed to perfection. Ryda was the wildcard, which allowed her to float between doing reconnaissance and manipulating male targets to her will. Now we needed a third, and I had to figure out what we were missing.

Pulling up to the shop, I sat in the car as I tried to figure out who to bring into the fold. After twenty minutes, I stepped out of my car feeling a little defeated. I pride myself on coming up with a solution or always finding a way out of no way. When I stepped into the office of the shop, I noticed Kruz behind the computer.

“Hey, Harli,” Kruz greeted.

“Wassup, Kruz,” I acknowledged as I refocused my attention. “Just stopped in to check on my bike.”

“Last I checked, I was still waitin’ on the part to come in. Let me check the track on it real quick.”

As she typed away at the computer, I grew even more agitated because now I was going to have to wait even longer for my bike to be finished. I needed to get back on the racing scene to make money while I tried to figure out a damn third. From the looks on the way Dice and her girls were living and those expensive-ass bikes they were riding, they had to be touching real money. Me and Ryda had goals of getting a condo together, and working with those women would help us get there a lot quicker than on our own.

“It’s saying here but should be delivered tomorrow,” Kruz informed.

“Fuck, I was tryna do a race tonight,” I huffed. “Alright, bet. Just text me when it’s ready.”

“Wait, hold on. Since you’ve been loyal to me, let me see what I can do.”

“What you mean, see what you can do?”

“I’ma hack into their system and put it for delivery today. It won’t take me long to put the part on, so you could race tonight.”

“Hack? Kruz, you’re a hacker too?”

“I mean I dibble and dabble.”

“Shit, that’s more than enough.”

“Enough for what?”

“A money makin’ opportunity.”

“I’m all for makin’ money.”

“And just like that, I think I just found our third we need.”

Chapter 6

Trench

“Can I help you, sir?” The waiter held his hand up to prevent me from continuing my stride. “Are you meant to be here?”

“Excuse me?” I expressed, offended.

“Only platinum members can eat at this establishment. And you, sir, ain’t our, how would you say, target audience.”

“Yo’ pale scawny ass itchin’ for an ass whippin’, but you know what that’s what you expect for me to do. Let me checkmate yo’ ass. I have a reservation with your platinum member of your target audience, Ms. Mallory McCoy.”

“Let me go verify. What’s yo’ name?”