Page 132 of Heart Of A Goon II

“Interesting.”

Menace turned the phone to face him. “I said the same thing. Lil’ fella is very independent.”

“What the fuck?”

“Any fucking way. Forty, you want to keep your career and clear your name, so you have to turn yourself in. The advantage we have is that allows me to get my ducks in a row before you ever turn yourself in.”

“They’re saying you tried to kill Robinson,” Aimee spoke.

“Bullshit. I went to his house because he asked to see me. I put the conversation off for a while, but when somebody broke into my apartment, I knew we needed to talk.”

“And you stabbed him?” Capp asked.

“He lunged at me when he heard something drop from the back. It was like he had to make a move, and that’s when Inez came out from the back. I had the knife in my hand and she was high. I could tell by how slow she was moving.”

G hung his head. “She said you were trying to kill her.”

“G, come the fuck on… why would I kill her? She’s like family, and I’ve always looked out for your people like they’re my own. I didn’t bother to go after her, I just left the apartment because Kevin had called it in… played right into his shit.”

“Robinson is working with Preston Vance. What he and Vance got going on has nothing to do with whoever the Red Hook killer is. That seems personal to Robinson.” Corleon came walking up from the beach.

“My girl been spooked out with her pops since finding the evidence in his house. She won’t say nothing, but her family got some secrets.”

“Vance wants your head… you killed his father.” Corleon looked at his best friend in the eyes. “Preston Vance is an Eaton.”

“Boom!” Aimee did an explosion with her hands. “Sorry.”

Menace stood there with the phone in his hand. “Sigel, like we knew is a do boy… the small fish. He’s supposed to be undercover but not doing a fuck thing. You were the connection to bringing your brother down.” Core pointed to Zoya.

She hung her head. “Being hardheaded gets us nowhere. We protect him always… it has and will always be the plan, Zoy. You hear?”

“Yeah, Kora.”

“Right now, he doesn’t know that you suspect anything. He wants to take everything from your brother. Menace destroyed his life, so in his eyes he wants to return the favor and take everything the Eaton’s owned back. Technically, all of it should have gone to him.”

“How is he related? We covered all our shit when we decided to end his ass… how the fuck is this back to bite us in the ass?”

“Nash had a wife and son in Atlanta. He kept them away, never mentioned them and Eaton was never put on his birth certificate.”

Menace started pacing. “You telling me this bitch could take everything?”

“And put you in prison or kill you,” Skyler added, like it made shit any better. That was the reality of what he was trying to do.

“I’m stupid, Mens?”

“Nah.”

“He’s smart. Starting with Case House because he knows that is important to you. Took some of our top spenders over there… well the disloyal ones. One of the houses was just raided this morning.”

“What the fuck?” Zoya and Kora both hollered at the same time.

She ripped her glasses off and looked into the camera. “Case House has operated without any raids because everyone is paid well to make sure that doesn’t happen. He fucks with our money, then we fuck with his.”

“How?” Capri questioned.

“Truthfully, he thinks that Stevie is dead, which is why Mens went on his rampage. We let him believe that while also believing that he fled. Close down all the Case House locations within the city. Let him believe he sent Menace Caselli packing.”

I could tell from the way Menace looked that he didn’t like that. “We stay low a little bit longer. Enjoy your families and then we all arrive back in the states one at a time. Zoya, you first, then the rest of us pile in. I don’t take too kind to niggas playing with our pockets, so I got their drop off schedule for their armored trucks.”