Page 67 of Search My Soul (Taylor Family Saga #3)

I sat in my car because I wasn’t in a hurry to get out. Something in my spirit told me that I wasn’t going to like the information I got today, but there was no turning back now. I needed to know the truth.

“You good?” Duke pressed, shifting in his seat.

“Yeah, I’m straight. I’m ready to get to the bottom of this shit so I can handle it. Salvador has been on my ass lately and I’m not feeling it.” I understood why Salvador was concerned because if there was an enemy lurking, then they posed a threat to our organization.

“All right. Well, let’s head inside and get this shit over with,” Duke urged. Instead of responding, I simply nodded my head before opening my door. I already had enough on my plate right now, and this detective bullshit was an inconvenience I didn’t need.

Duke and I were both armed, but I also had Huncho and Mace posted up in another car.

I was certain they wouldn’t be needed, but Huncho wasn’t trying to hear shit about staying behind.

The moment I stepped into the building, I glanced around.

One could never be too comfortable in any situation, and with the way things have been going lately, I couldn’t afford to be too comfortable.

It appeared to be a normal office with a secretary sitting at the front desk.

I wasn’t a fan of killing women, but if push came to shove, I would do whatever was needed to protect myself.

“Welcome, gentlemen. Who are you here to see?” she asked with a small smile on her face.

“We’re here to see Detective Welsh.” My jaw flexed just saying his name. I had no idea who this mothafucka was, but he was about to find out exactly who the fuck I was.

“He’s expecting you. Come right this way,” she instructed as she stood up from her seat. Duke gave me a look as the two of us followed behind her. I cracked my knuckles and tried to calm my thoughts.

“Mr. Welsh, your guests have arrived,” the secretary announced. She stepped back so we could go inside the office.

“Ah, hello, gentlemen.” The short Italian man stood from his seat with a disingenuous smile on his face. He held his hand out, but I stared at it as if it was covered in shit.

“Very well then. Why don’t you two have a seat, and we can get right to business.” There were two chairs sitting in front of his desk so we each took a seat. I wasn’t in the mood for any small talk and I’m sure he could sense my impatience from my expression.

“It’s nice to finally get to meet you in person. You are a very popular man around this city.” He tittered. I glared at him with my head tilted. This mothafucka really thought this shit was a game.

“Look, I don’t know what the fuck you think this is, but I’m not in the mood for this shit.

You reached out to my people and said you had some information that I would find useful.

Either get to the reason I’m here or I’m gonna get up and leave.

My time is valuable, and I get real angry when people waste it.

I’m sure you can understand that, can’t you, Mr. Welsh?

” I gave him a warning look and watched as he squirmed in his seat.

“I understand. Well, I’ll get right to it then. You are not the person I’m after. You are simply a small fish in a great pond of criminals. I’ve been investigating Salvador Alvarez for many years, and he has managed to evade any convictions.”

“What the fuck does any of this have to do with me? I don’t know anybody named Salvador, and I damn sure don’t know what their connection to me has to do with anything.”

Salvador was very cautious so I knew if he had any information on him, it wasn’t something that would be useful.

We only held meetings in Columbia, and even then, he made us go through three levels of searches and scans before we could even get in the room to make sure no one had phones, weapons, or wires.

“Mr. Taylor, I admire your loyalty, but that won’t get you very far when you’re in a maximum-security prison for the next sixty years.

As I mentioned before, you are not the one I want.

All you have to do is cooperate and we both can come out of this on top.

” Duke chuckled under his breath while I stared blankly.

“I don’t know what you want me to say. Like I said before, I don’t know who you’re talking about.

You made it seem as if you had some information regarding my family and their safety.

However, you have yet to say anything useful.

I’m gonna go ahead and head out before you waste any more of my time. ”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It would be in your best interest to work with me because when things hit the fan, I’ll be able to persuade the DA to offer you a reasonable plea deal.

” I could hear the underlying threat in his words, and I found it to be humorous.

My grandfather schooled us on the manipulation tactics of law enforcement long ago.

It was the reason we paid such a hefty amount to get the mayor and police commissioner in our back pockets.

I made sure that my people were covered even when they fucked up.

“Mr. Welsh, I can appreciate your dedication to your job and your hunger for a big break. However, you are barking up the wrong tree. I am simple businessman, and outside of beating a few niggas asses, I can assure you that I haven’t committed any crimes.

Besides, you are nothing more than a private investigator.

A small fish as you so eloquently put it.

You can’t persuade anyone to do a damn thing.

Please make this the last time you reach out to me about this subject.

” Duke and I both stood from our seats, but the words he blurted out halted me in my tracks.

“I know who shot your cousin!” I turned back to face him, this time with a menacing glare.

“What are you talking about?”

“I-I was trailing you and it led me to his house. Something told me that I should stake the house out so that’s what I did. I filmed the whole interaction, and I’m willing to share it with you. However, I need you to work with me.”

“I already told you I can’t help you. I can’t tell you about shit I don’t know.”

“You filmed a crime and didn’t report it? Isn’t that shit illegal?” Duke pressed.

“It wasn’t like I was expecting things to happen the way they did. I thought about leaving, but I figured you would want answers later on.” I knew enough about the law to know he was bullshitting. However, I decided to play along so I could obtain the information I needed.

“Where is the film?”

“Well, I was hoping?—”

“Let me explain something to you, Mr. Welsh. I don’t make a habit of asking twice. Where is the video?” The tone in my voice must have shocked him because he flinched.

“I understand how upsetting things can be, but I assure you I am not the enemy here. I’m simply trying to do my job.”

“The video.” I tapped on my Audemars Piguet to let him know he was once again wasting my time.

“Right, give me one moment.” Duke and I watched as he walked out of the room before we reclaimed our seats.

Neither of us said much in the office because we weren’t sure if they were recording us or not.

My leg bounced in frustration as we waited for this idiot to come back into the room.

I planned to hit up Salvador the moment we got to a secure location.

Everything about this situation seemed suspect, and I couldn’t afford to get caught up in any bullshit.

“Sorry for the wait.” Mr. Welsh walked back into the room with a TV on a rolling cart. It reminded me of when the teachers used to bring in a TV when we watched movies.

“It’s pretty dark and there are moments where the footage isn’t clear. However, there is a clear image of the license plate of one of the getaway cars and you can see the culprits as well.”

He pressed play on the video, and we all watched in silence.

I recognized the girl with the purple wig the moment she got out of the car because it was the same girl who was there when I confronted Remi’s ass about slacking on the job.

When the second car pulled up, I couldn’t get a good view of the girl because of where she was parked.

We watched as the two women stepped into the house and closed the door.

He fast-forwarded the video until we saw them come back outside.

The other girl in the video appeared to be frantic as she paced back and forth.

The two women appeared to be arguing before the thick one walked to her car with a duffel bag of our money.

An eerie feeling took over as I continued to watch the video.

It started to become pixelated, and with it already being dark, it made things difficult to see.

One of the women walked back into the house, but the other one lingered in her car for a while.

It made me wish there was some kind of audio so I could hear what was being said.

Eventually, the second woman headed back into the house, and within a few minutes, we heard the sound of a gun going off.

My heart rate sped up as I realized this was the moment Remi must have been shot.

I couldn’t believe two women orchestrated this.

Not to say that women weren’t grimy because I knew that was not the case.

I guess I expected there to be something deeper than a bitch hitting a lick.

The two women rushed out of the house again, and this time you could tell the second woman wasn’t okay with what took place.

Her hands were waving in the air as the two argued.

The two of them got into their cars and then the thicker woman left the scene.

At some point, another car pulled up, blocking the view of the video.

From what I could make out, two men came to help the purple haired woman.

They loaded the rest of our money into their trunk and then went back inside with her.

The next moment was when rage filled my body. Seeing my cousins’ limp body being tossed into the back seat like a piece of meat. The purple haired girl hugged one of the men before getting into her car.

“Pause it,” I instructed, reaching for my phone so I could save the license plate number of the girl.

“I already have the information including who the car is registered to and their address. Now, I don’t have an issue giving you the information, however, I need to know that you will not cause any harm to anyone. I can’t be an accomplice to a murder.”

“What kind of person do you take me for? Does this look like the face of a killer?” I pretended to be offended, but I could see the skepticism in his eyes. Clearly, he knew more about me than I thought, but I liked fucking with him.

“Mr. Taylor, I’m begging you. I have only shown you this to let you know that I’m on your side. You cannot go after these people. It would compromise my investigation, especially since I haven’t submitted this information to the police.”

“So basically, you’re telling me that you fucked up and now you want me to keep quiet?

Do you understand how silly that sounds?

My cousin nearly died due to the recklessness of the people who robbed him.

You claim you want justice, but who are you actually seeking justice for?

” I could tell by his mannerisms that this went beyond him wanting to do the right thing.

There was something else going on and I fully intended to get to the bottom of it.

“You have every right to have your doubts. However, I can assure you that I am only trying to take Salvador down. If you help me, I’ll make sure your cousin receives the justice he deserves.

” His body language indicated that he was hiding something.

There had to be more to this story than what he was saying.

“Well, I appreciate your concerns. Thank you for showing me the video.”

“Do we have a deal?”

“I have your contact information, so I’ll be in touch,” I replied.

I needed to get to the bottom of this shit, and I wasn’t using his help to do it.

I adjusted my suit jacket as I headed out of the office.

Once we made it to the elevator, Duke and I both stood there in our thoughts.

The entire interaction seemed off, and the eerie feeling persisted.

I needed to play it smart in case this was all a setup.

If he had the video of Remi being robbed, there was no telling what other information he had on us.

I shot a text to one of my tech guys to see if he could hack into the investigator’s computer.

Before I made a move, I had to verify what he had on us.

I also sent him the license plate number so he could run those plates.

I had already killed her family, and I was sure she was probably in hiding.

As soon as I got a solid address on her, I was going to put an end to all of this.

“Something about him isn’t right. He claims you aren’t the person he was after, but if that were true, why would he be staking out Remi’s place?

” Duke questioned. His thoughts mirrored mine as well.

Remi handled the pickups, but we didn’t conduct any real business at his house.

None of the drugs or guns were stashed at his house.

Hell, Remi wasn’t even privy to where we kept most of our shit.

“Yeah, I picked up on that too. Either he’s a really shitty PI or he’s playing games. Either way, he’s about to be in for a rude awakening.” Mothafuckas were about to unlock a version of me the streets have never seen, and once I got started, no one would be able to stop me.