But he wasn’t sure about Brandi’s switch-up between Gucci and Balenciaga. He felt it flew in the face of appropriate sporting of logo wear.

What he was sure about was his distaste for Brandi appropriating Black statements.

That woman’s people had never been in chains.

Thank fuck he wasn’t partnered up with Marques today. As was his right, Marques had a serious issue with appropriation, not to mention the ability to share how he felt about that in a variety of ways.

“Fuck, how’d you find me?” she demanded while the last of the queen’s court scuttled down a side wall and made his escape.

“You’re on Hawk’s payroll, B,” Auggie told her. “And as such, Hawk expects, if you need to change scenes, you send in an updated address form.”

Brandi gave them nothing but a glare.

“Been a minute,” Axl noted.

“Sixty times twenty-four times about ninety-five days, maybe a few of them,” Aug added.

“Things got hot for me at my last locale,” Brandi spat.

“Hot how?” Axl asked.

“My business is your business only if I make it your business,” she stated. “That’s the deal.”

“Wrong,” Axl returned. “Your business isn’t our business unless you make it our business, in however we feel that might happen. And right now, ghosting us a couple of days after taking your last fee, you became our business.”

She said nothing.

“Brandi, what gives?” Axl pushed.

“Right, I’ll make it official. I’m getting out of the dicking-around-with-you-guys trade,” she declared.

“Okay, resignation accepted,” Auggie agreed readily. “So you’re good to return the retainer you didn’t earn, let’s say, now?”

She made a face.

That would be a no.

“B—” Axl started.

“You boys gotta stop dickin’ around with shit,” she told them.

Both Axl and Aug grew silent.

This was because Axl and Auggie were there to get an informant back online.

But neither of them were ever far off the trail they’d been sniffing now for-what-felt-like-ever.

And B disappeared maybe not exactly the time a variety of crews in town got interested in Cisco, which led them to death, dirty cops and a murder-suicide.

But the timing jibed.

Jesus, did she know something?

“That’s all I’m sayin’, and I’m tellin’ you, believe this, that warning is worth every penny of my last fee.” She lifted both hands and snapped twice. “Even.”

Axl broke his silence. “What do you know?”

“Okay, see, I like to,” she leaned forward, “breathe. So fuck off. You got what you got. Be happy. And keep breathing, or not, I don’t give a shit.”

“Is this about the Cisco sitch?” Auggie asked what was on both their minds.

“Fuck off,” she answered.

Okay, two “fuck offs”?

Axl was getting pissed.

He felt the same from Auggie.

But Axl got there first.