When skilled assassin Jackson Cole meets with a news reporter, he’s thrust into the position of detective and guild enforcer all rolled into one. Finding a missing musician whose life is in grave danger becomes his top priority. The deeper Jackson digs into the investigation the more peril he and his family faces. Suddenly, his guild’s bar and headquarters are the setting for a shootout, putting his own mother’s life in danger.
When Jackson discovers that one of his friends was also shot by the same gunman, Jackson knows time is running out for the missing woman. With the help of his crew and some unlikely allies from the badlands, he vows to take down the enemy who’s threatening them all.
Torn between his desire to be like his mother, the president, and his resistance to emulate his uncle, the lifelong gangster, Jackson battles with his own demons while searching for the vicious killer who wants them all dead. Will Jackson succeed in making the rescue and assassinating the murderer, or will this be the end of the guild?
“Rania’s it is,” he said, pulling off to take us onto the ramp to start the spiral egress down and out of the towers to get onto the highway. “Jax, don’t laugh, but Steven turns three on Saturday, and we’re having a little party at the cube. Think you and Skai could pop by? Ford’s coming, oh—and Marco, so it won’t be all baby talk. More like a good place for us all to catch up, and the girls can—”
“No need to sell it, migo. You know I wouldn’t miss that if you’re inviting me. Marco and Ford, you say… no Diz?”
“Diz is racing, remember?” Cho shrugged helplessly. “A baby’s birthday won’t keep him from rolling hard for the extra uncs on the weekend. Plus, if I invite too many from the family, she’ll come for my balls, accusing me of making it about business over my son’s special day. You know how she gets.”
“Of course we’ll be there,” I said.
I sent a message to Lucius “Lucky” Liu to let him know I’d met the client. I also reached out to one of our directors, Jovan “Gorilla” Barber, to ask what he knew about Tequila and Lime. Jovan had some dealings with the music industry, namely a handful of local acts, and would know before anyone else I was associated with the status of artists who fell off the map.
Motor Crone was on the stereo, and the night outside was young and deceptively serene. When Cho offered me a Bliss wafer, I quickly dropped it below my tongue and let it dissolve.
“How’s that going?” I asked, referring to his attempt at family life.
Cho clucked his tongue and brushed back his short black hair, giving me the answer before opening his mouth. “I want to tell you it’s ice. You know how it is, migo. It’s an adjustment, but now that I have a son, I’ll do what it takes to be present in his life. Something we never had. Through him, the Takase name may get a clocker’s reality down the line.”
“Don’t count us out yet,” I said. “You’re with us now, and our stock is going up. We got the races with the Bones kicking, a piece of Rania’s, and we’re both young and stepping lively about our uncs. You could end up owning your own nightclub, like Rania’s, by the time it’s all over. Square money and a family. That’s a homerun for street runners with histories like ours. Keep your head up, migo.”
