Page 16 of Break Away (Riot MC Next Generation #2)

I shoved him against the wall in the hallway. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Get off me, you sick fuck,” Porter yelled.

I had four inches and at least fifty pounds on this asshole. He hadn’t learned how to defend himself any better since yesterday, so I put my forearm to his throat again. “How the fuck did you get in here?”

“Unlocked,” he rasped out.

I narrowed an eye at him. Then I recalled that Alexandra gave me her key. She couldn’t lock the door behind her, and I hadn’t done it either since Blood called right after she left.

Shit.

Still… his willingness to just come inside didn’t mean he wasn’t the person who broke in last night.

“You just wander inside whenever the fuck you feel like it unannounced? You didn’t even ring the doorbell.”

“Knocked,” he croaked when I let off his throat enough for him to speak.

My lips curled. “Why in the fuck would you knock when she’s got a fuckin’ Ring camera?”

“In case she was sleeping,” he rasped.

None of this shit made sense. My gut said Porter was lying. I ran my tongue along my lower lip and realized I could use his help. “Where does Brantley live?”

I let up on his throat a little so he could answer. “I’m not telling you that?”

I exhaled through my nose. “You got two fuckin’ choices, asshole. I call the cops and turn your ass over to them for trespassing at best and breaking and entering at worst—”

“I didn’t break in!” he cried.

I replaced my forearm hold with my free hand at his throat. “You weren’t invited inside, numbnuts. Seeing as we had a cop here last night because of a break-in, I’m sure they’ll want to talk to you.”

“I already answered their questions.”

“Doesn’t explain why you’d barge in here uninvited. Hell, maybe you decided to be a copycat. I don’t give a shit. Your other choice is to tell me where to find Brantley.”

“How should I know where he lives?”

I tightened my grip on his throat. “Don’t lie, Porter. From what Lex tells me, you were at his place Sunday morning to ambush her.”

“Ambush? I didn’t do anything like that.”

“Pick your poison. Cops or Brantley?”

His thin lips spread into a smile that made him look like a weasel. “Third option, I leave. You can’t stop me, you’re naked for God’s sake.”

I stepped closer to him and punched him in the stomach. “There’s no fuckin’ shame in my game. You leave, I’ll come after you. So which is it? Cops or Brantley?”

“Brantley,” he wheezed. I let go of his throat, and he took in a big gulp of air. “He’s across campus from here at the complex behind Vicious Vinyl. Unit one-oh-two.”

That helped, but I figured I had to have Porter with me. Without him there, Brantley would ignore me outright. Not to mention, Porter could just as easily be blowing smoke about the address.

“You’re going with me. You gonna try to run while I get dressed, or do I need to knock your ass out first?”

Anger glittered in his blue eyes. “I could charge you with assault.”

“You broke in while I was in the shower, moron. I’m standing my ground.”

He went silent for a beat. “Whatever. I’ll stay.”

I kept the bathroom door open in case Porter went back on his word, turned off the shower, and put my clothes on. When I came out of the bathroom, I saw Porter hadn’t moved from the wall. Maybe I had scared him after all.

I darted into Alexandra’s room, grabbed my boots, went to the living room, and sat on the arm of the couch to tug them on.

Porter raised a brow. “You don’t waste time.”

“This needs to be taken care of.”

His expression shifted. “I meant with Lexi. Your boots are in her room, you obviously didn’t sleep on the couch.”

I straightened from the couch. “Last night, someone ransacked the whole place, dipshit. Not a chance I was going to leave her side after that.”

“So now you care.”

I should have let it go because we didn’t have time for this, but I couldn’t help myself. “What are you talking about?”

“You broke her heart. Tossed her away without a second thought. Strange that you suddenly care now.”

Part of me thought he was lying, and yet… That would explain her distance over the past five years. It was water under the bridge now. A little voice in the back of my head said I had to talk to her about it anyway.

There was a gleam in Porter’s eyes that gave me a hint he was goading me - wanting to know what was going on with me and Lex. I wouldn’t give into his bait.

“Let’s get this done.”

I followed Porter along the sidewalk to a first-floor corner unit at a small apartment complex that looked like it was built over thirty years ago. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a peephole on the door, so I didn’t bother to hide when Porter knocked.

The door opened and Brantley took a look at Porter, only to ask, “What the fuck do you want? It’s not even ten yet.”

Brantley looked like he’d just woke up. I figured I had the element of surprise on my side and I went inside the unit. Luckily, Porter followed me.

“What the fuck? Who are—” He trailed off and glared at Porter. “Why the fuck did you bring this dickhead?”

Porter opened his mouth to answer, but I beat him to it. “He didn’t have a choice, since he broke into Alexandra’s apartment.”

“That was you?” Brantley asked.

Porter shook his head. “I didn’t break in; the door was unlocked this morning.”

Brantley’s hair was cropped close around the sides of his head, but he had enough hair on top of his head that he’d put it in a ponytail. He continued to hold the door open. “Get out.”

“Did the cops talk to you last night?” I asked.

“That’s none of your business. Get out.”

I had a theory that Brantley had bigger problems than being accused of breaking and entering. Bluffing wasn’t typically my strong suit, but neither of these dipshits knew that.

“The drugs you left at the apartment are gone.”

Porter’s head reared back and his eyes filled with surprise.

Except for the smallest jerk of his head, Brantley appeared unfazed. But he’d twitched just enough that I knew I’d caught him off-guard.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Did you come back for the drugs, or did your source break in for it?”

“I’m calling the cops,” Porter said.

“Do that,” Brantley said.

I hadn’t moved fully into the room, and only a foot and a half separated me from Porter. He had his phone in his right hand and his finger poised to dial with his left.

I swung a stiff arm down on his forearms. He dropped his phone.

Brantley charged toward me. I expected as much, and used a sweeping kick to knock his legs out from under him.

Porter lunged for his cell. I pulled him back by his shirt collar and shoved him to a nearby couch.

Quickly, I shut the front door and locked it. From behind me, Brantley swung an arm around my neck, attempting to put me in a headlock. Years of self defense came back to me. I bent forward, turned us around, and flipped him over my back and onto the floor.

Porter stared at me in wide-eyed confusion - like he didn’t know if he should be in awe of me or just couldn’t believe what he saw.

I rested my hands on my hips. “I’ll take on both of you if I have to, but I’m not leaving until I get answers.”

During Porter’s hesitancy, I picked up his cell and put it in my back pocket.

Brantley leaned up on his elbows, glaring at Porter. “Fuck, man. Get him!” he wheezed, trying to get his breath back.

Porter stepped forward and bounced side-to-side on his feet like a boxer.

What did Lex ever see in him?

He noticed I was distracted and sucker-punched me in the mouth.

“Shit! That hurt,” he hissed, waving his hand and stretching out his fingers.

“Idiot,” I muttered, landing a solid right hook at the side of his head.

He staggered and fell back on the couch.

“You killed him!” Brantley shouted.

I felt my lip swelling. I bent over, gripped Brantley’s small ponytail and yanked him up from the floor. He yelled, which made me wonder if his neighbors were going to call the cops.

I shoved him up against the wall. “What the fuck did you hide in the apartment?”

“Fuck you.”

I stared at him. “No, you’re the one who’s fucked here. If the cops don’t get you, your supplier will.”

His brown eyes widened, and I swore I saw a glimmer of fear there. “You’re whacked.”

“Am I? Why were you in the apartment? We showed five minutes after you got there. Either you couldn’t find something or you planted something. Which is it?”

“You don’t know shit,” he hissed.

One of my brows jumped. “What you don’t know is that I’m a prospect with an outlaw motorcycle club. I wanna earn my patch, I gotta kill someone.” I glanced around. “Quiet apartment like this, you threatening my woman yesterday… The universe might be saying something,” I lied.

My bluff went better than I thought, from the terror flooding Brantley’s face. And his pants.

I couldn’t hide my lip curl. “You’re disgusting. Answer my fuckin’ question before I make you shit your pants, too.”

After a long moment, he said, “Fine. I hid half a kilo of coke in her bathroom.”

My vision went red and I took a deep breath. “Whose bathroom? Ines or Alexandra’s?”

“Ines. I didn’t go in that, erm, her room.”

“Good call not insulting her in front of me. We interrupted you, so you had to break in last night after we left?”

“No. Jesus. Told that fuckin’ cop I didn’t do it like seven times last night.”

I shook my head. “When did you hide it?”

“Last Thursday. That’s when I put it in Ines’s bathroom.”

This asshole was trying my last ounce of patience. “Where in her bathroom?”

Brantley rolled his eyes. “Her vent. They have the kind that are in the floor.”

I gave that some thought. “Yesterday morning, did you get your fuckin’ coke out of the apartment?”

“It wasn’t there. I’d ask Ines about it, if your bitch hadn’t gotten us in that damn—”

I punched him in the gut. “It’s not Lex’s fault that someone drifted into the damned lane. You got me?”

He nodded and struggled to get his breath back.

“Is there any chance Ines moved it? Did she know you’re into coke? Hell, are you dealing to her?”

My mind was moving faster as I considered various possibilities on how this could blow back on Alexandra. I hadn’t asked her much about Ines because I was so pissed about how Ines had treated her on Sunday.

Shit.

Brantley blew out a breath. “She might have moved it. I’m not dealing to her…but she sometimes likes a hit before finals.”

I clenched my jaw. “So, she knew that you’re into drugs?”

“She knew I could score for her. I’m not a dealer.”

I shoved him against the wall again. “You hid a fuckin’ half-kilo in her goddamned apartment, asshole! Any cop in their right mind is going to call that intent to distribute.”

“Not my problem,” he muttered.

It wasn’t until I heard Brantley gargle that I realized I was squeezing his throat for all I was worth.

I let go and stepped closer. “It is your fuckin’ problem.

If you didn’t break into the unit, then who the hell did?

Your supplier would be my guess, seeing as a half a kilo of coke is worth thousands. ”

“Could be Tobias. He has the other half.”

I closed my eyes not believing what I heard. “You’re telling me you split a kilo of coke with someone… and the supplier doesn’t know it? Did you steal the fuckin’ drugs?”

“They have plenty of—”

The stench of his urine was getting to me, but I stepped closer to him anyway. “You fucking moron! Tell the fuckin’ cops.”

“Snitch? No fuckin’ way, asshole!”

I saw red again, and struggled to keep calm. “Does Tobias know Ines? Know where she lives?”

He made a strange sound in his throat and I couldn’t tell if it was a garbled laugh or a groan. “Know he’s stupid like Porter and has a thing for your bit—”

I punched him in the gut. “Does he know where they live?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s his last name?”

“Smith.”

I pulled my fist back. “Are you lying?”

“No, really. That’s his last name.”

Slowly, I lowered my fist. “Who did you steal from?”

“It doesn’t matter. They’re small time.”

I fought rolling my eyes. “Who’s the dealer?”

“The dealer is out of Orlando. I only know him as Carlos.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re bullshitting me.”

“I’m not.”

“An Orlando dealer isn’t going to spend their time in Gainesville. They’ll outsource it to street gangs so they know the product sells.” I slammed him against the wall again. “Who the fuck wants that coke?”

“The Twenty-Sixers, they’re new. Just started dealing six months ago, but they get their supply from Orlando.”

I nodded once. “Two more things. How often did you score for Ines?”

He shot me a half-snarl before he answered. “Only twice, three times if you count the gram she wanted for the concert. Had to fuckin’ get rid of that before the cops or the EMTs found it on me.”

Now I understood him blaming Lex. He wasn’t mad about the accident, he was pissed he had to ditch the drugs.

“Where the hell do I find Tobias?”

“I’m not a snitch, not to you or the cops.”

If he hadn’t pissed his pants, I’d have kneed him in the groin. Instead, I punched him in the gut again. “Where do I find Tobias?”

Brantley wheezed out a breath. “Eden Park - it’s a complex near State Road 24. I don’t know what building he’s in…” I glared at him and he spoke faster. “But, he always parks close to his unit and he drives a lime green SUV. I think it’s a Porsche or some shit. He had it custom wrapped.”

I debated what to do next. Odds were good he’d warn Tobias that I was looking for him; then again, that might draw Tobias out. Either way, I couldn’t worry about that. I needed to check if that cocaine was anywhere in Alexandra’s apartment. I’d hunt down Tobias later tonight.

“You two must have intended to sell the coke. Where’s your buddy planning to off-load it? Clubs or some place near campus?”

“Fuck if I know. We didn’t plan to take the brick, it just fuckin’ happened, and then he offered to split it. Who can’t use an extra seven or eight grand?”

I hated drugs. It cost the lives of too many people, including my maternal grandmother. Hearing Brantley minimize it to money angered me anew. Rather than just walk away, I punched him in the eye.

When I got to the door, he called out. “Hey! What about Porter?”

His question reminded me I had Porter's phone in my back pocket. I tossed it on the couch next to Porter's body.

Turning back to Brantley, I shrugged. “You take his ass home. Or he can get a fuckin’ Uber.”