Page 70 of The Fire We Make

The feeling was new and maddening. There was a moment — just a brief moment — where he’d wondered if he’d regain control of his mind if he went ahead and put a bullet between her eyes. He’d considered it, and the fact that he had no desire to do it, and couldn’t even if he did, made his predicament that much more precarious.

One hand continued flicking the top of the lighter while the other tugged at the hair on his chin.

“Ace.”

His movements halted and his head snapped in the direction of his name being called.

“What?” he asked, finding Jrue’s eyes on him.

“You have the deciding vote. What are we gonna do about the detective?”

Ace sighed. Detective Harris was becoming a thorn in his side that he couldn’t wait to pull out and crush beneath his Ferragamos.

First the arrests, then the raid, and now, he’d received word a racketeering task force was in the process of being formed. Ace still had suspicions that he had something to do with the missing shipment as well but he couldn’t figure out how that would benefit him besides just pissing Ace off.

Ever since Blue’s arrest, Harris and DA Young had shaken every tree, looking for something to drop. Luckily, 50 years of their organization had made it solid and their team was unshakable.

Still, he couldn’t underestimate the lengths they would go to.

“The moment you underestimate your opponents is the moment you lose,” Pops would always say.

“We’re still holding. Jrue, have Rem put together a packet on him and see what cracks we can wiggle into. Von, keep an eye on the lieutenants. If they’re digging for information, they’ll go to them first. Same rules apply.”

“Shoot first, ask questions later,” Von finished.

Ace nodded.

“This is crazy,” Isaac spoke up with a huff. “This is just a fucking detective. I say shoot him and that pussy ass DA in the head to be done with this so we can move on.”

Ace speared his overzealous acquaintance with a hard glare.

“That just a fucking detective and pussy ass DA slipped a raid under our nose and has my best man sitting in a cell. He’s accomplished more in 6 months than any of his predecessors achieved in 30 fucking years. This requires to be handled with finesse or we’ll be playing right into their hands,” Ace lectured.

Isaac smacked his lips. “Man fuck finesse. If it was me, I’d say take everybody out and start fresh.”

Ace chuckled. “And that’s exactly why it’s not you and never will be.” Ace turned away from Isaac, effectively dismissing him.

“Anything else on the docket?” he asked. He was over this meeting. He was antsy and couldn’t focus and knew the only thing that would ease his irritation was laying eyes on Joy.

He wondered what she was doing.

A quick glance at his watch said it was a little after four in the afternoon. The office would be emptying soon but he knew his Rose would still be planted firmly in her office until at least seven.

“Actually I had one thing,” Isaac spoke up again. Ace swallowed a growl of frustration.

“Go ahead,” Ace waved him on.

With a smug smile, Isaac sat up straighter and Ace had a sinking feeling in his gut that he wasn’t about to like whatever came out of his mouth.

“I looked into that missing shipment from January,” he started.

“Who told you to do that?” Ace asked.

“I took initiative,” Isaac shot back.

Ace raised a brow, chuckling coldly. He felt Jrue kick him under the table, a silent reminder to remain calm.

“Anyway, I figured out that it was some of the De Leone’s boys. Low level niggas. I couldn’t let that fly so I assembled a team and had them snatch up one of their men and take their gun shipment for retribution,” Isaac finished, the accomplished smile back on his face.