Jazmin looked at her brother, still frozen between rage and relief.
Bryan's physical appearance has changed so much within the last six months... He looked much more muscular and deadlier with a grown beard and plenty of tattoos.
His dressing looked much better as he's wearing designer clothes.
After staring at him for a few minutes, she found her voice...
"Br... Bryan, you... you are supposed to be dead," she said, still panting a little bit.
He pressed his finger against her lips, hushing her. "Jazmin, those devils don't let people go... So I had no choice; I had to ghost."
She was still holding her blade. Trembling slightly, she said to her brother, "You set me up?"
"I saved your ass," he replied. "What were you up to, joining with the Colombians to run for the devils?"
"No!" she cut in without hesitation. "I was trying to find you. I never believed you were dead... I always felt, somehow, somewhere, you were alive, and I tried to get as close to the devils as I could to get firsthand information about you."
"That was a dangerous move," Bryan said with a frown.
"They will kill me if I don't bring them the rest of their dope by tomorrow. I promised them I would, just to win some trust."
Bryan smirked. "Then maybe it's time we burn their whole empire down."
Midtown Heat.
Back in the safehouse, James was still restless, but he is relentless and he was never going to back down.
He stood alone on the balcony of the devils' high-rise safehouse, looking over the streets. Below were dealers posted up in corners, like statues, exchanging dope for dollars.
Drake emerged holding a phone.
"Hey, Jammie, I just found out that Jazmin was spotted at Harbor Docks near Warehouse 9.
She wasn't alone, and it seemed to be a friendly gathering."
James stiffened. "Who was with her?"
"Word has it that it was Bryan Richardson."
James's expression hardened. With anger in his voice, he exclaimed, "That can't be true."
"It's possible," Drake retorted, "but there's one thing we know for sure: someone is playing both sides."
James faced him. "Prepare the team; we're leaving immediately."
Back at the Docks
Inside the warehouse, Bryan uncovered a hidden crate by removing the blanket. It was packed with bricks of the missing fentanyl.
Beside it were two duffel bags filled with handguns, AK-47s, ammunition, cash, and burner phones.
Jazmin's eyes widened in shock.
"What is all of this?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"This is the real deal, homie... the real deal!"
Bryan replied. "I didn't just jack the devil; I also hit Malik's operation—his undisclosed stash."
"You're out of your mind... completely out of your mind." Jasmine replied rolling her eyes and shaking her head in disbelief.
"You are the one who said the devils were relentless; you are the one who said they never back down, and that was why you ghosted. Yet you are the one who's jacking them... What do you really want, Bryan?"
"I want freedom, baby," he replied.
Jazmin stepped back.
"They'll kill us both."
Bryan closed the crate. "No, not if we hit them first. We leak Malik's shady deals to James, divide their camp, then strike," he said, smiling.
"Are you sure it's gonna work?" she asked.
Before he could respond—Boom!!
A deafening blast exploded the warehouse doors inward. Gunshots started flying high and low, piercing the crates. James, Drake, and ten Devils gang members stormed in with tactical gear, lasers, and smoke grenades. It was an ambush like never before—five minutes of gunshots from all angles.
Jazmin lay flat behind the crates as bullets tore through the air. Bryan, seeing half his crew lying in pool of their own blood, knew the only way to stay alive was to find a way out of the warehouse.
As the gunshots slowed, "Stay low," Bryan ordered Jazmin as he crept behind an overturned forklift.
Waited for the right moment with dreadful precision, took down two Devils gang members in very quick succession.
The warehouse lit up with muzzle flashes and screams.
James moved like a man possessed by a fierce demon, two pistols in hand. In a flash he clipped one of the Hustlers trying to run; he spun and dropped another.
He wasn't there to talk; he was there to finish it.
With almost all of Bryan's men down, it was more like a chess game.
You have to move swiftly and calculate your moves before making them, or you will be dead in a second.
Bryan and Jazmin moved quickly and silently, ducking behind pillars and piles of crates scattered all over, trying to make their way out through the back door.
Drake threw a smoke grenade deep inside to force any survivors out.
James and two men flanking him were moving slowly in search of Jazmin or Bryan.
As they approached the back exit behind a pile of crates.
Jazmin screamed, "Don't shoot, I'm here!" James held her by the hair and dragged her up. Immediately, he spotted Bryan trying to move further away from the scene. The Devil men fired, and Bryan returned fire from the shadows.
While still holding Jazmin's hair tightly, he froze for a moment.
It was him... it was Bryan; he's alive.
James shouted at Bryan, "In a count of three, Jazmin will be dead. If you want her alive, hold your fire and, with your hands on your head, show yourself."
There was a grave silence. James counted, "One... two..." Jazmin broke the silence, "Bryan, please show yourself... don't do anything stupid, we are outnumbered, we don't stand any chance."
Behind them, sirens howled; someone had called the cops. Theat distraction gave Bryan the opportunity to run out, shooting sporadically in the air, trying not to target James to evade hitting Jazmin.
Jazmin broke loose and ran towards her brother as they made their way to the back exit. James, Drake, and five remaining Devils gang members.
James ordered the men members flanking him to go after them immediately.
Bryan shot without aiming as they ran into the woods, taking shade from old abandoned vehicles.
James and Drake knew the cops were trying to surround all exits and quickly ran down the valley to the right of the back exit and into an underground tunnel.
It was already dark, but true to their reputation, the Devils were relentless in their chase.
Bullets still flying; in Jasmine's exhaustion, she got hit above her left elbow. She screamed and fell. Bryan yanked her up by the right arm and pulled her along.
The Devils' gang members had to retreat down to the valley to evade police trail.
Bryan and Jasmine made it into an underground house, which which is a hidden safehouse for his gang members.
Panting frantically, he tore the sleeve of his shirt and tied Jasmin's upper arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
"Are you okay?" he asked, shaking Jasmin to keep her alert. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where is this place?" "Don't worry, rest. Let me get you some snacks and painkillers .
Later that night back in the devil's safehouse, Malik was fuming .
"You should have killed that bitch when you got a hold of her," he barked. "Both of them."
James leaned against the wall, still breathing heavily, "she's more useful to us alive than dead."
"How?" Malik queried angrily.
"She cost us ten bricks and a war that took the life of some of our soldiers"
James was mute...
Malik stared at him coldly. "You soft now..
Over some girl from the docks?"
"What's your play then?" Malik asked James.
James lit a blunt, eyes like fire.
"We find them.. we take back the product, we burn whoever helped them. And when I see Jazmin again..."
He exhaled. "She better pray I still want answers."