It’s not a difficult request, but Loco looks away and taps his fingers against the arm of his chair a few times before answering. “Are you planning to intercept the transaction?”

“You mean, go instead of the girl? Possibly.”

He stares at me for a few seconds. “You plannin’ to have some sort of personal chat with him?”

“Maybe not a chat.” I can’t afford for Kelly to see me again and connect me to Loco. What I’m really after is access to the man’s car when no one else will be around. Can’t think of a better place than the large, private garage behind Loco’s place where the more high-profile clients usually park. I’m not sure I want to let Loco know that I might be planting a bomb in one of his customer’s cars.

“I’m gonna be totally straight with you, Z. He roughed up one of my girls. She was scared, so she didn’t tell me about it right away.” He holds up his hand and shakes his head as if I questioned him. “She was new. Didn’t realize I won’t tolerate anyone putting hands on my girls.” He smirks. “Well, handling them in a way that hasn’t been negotiated in advance.”

“And?”

“Because she didn’t tell me until he’d been arrested, I couldn’t do anything about it. But I was planning to have a serious conversation with him if he came back here.”

“Planning to have Malik wait for him upstairs instead?”

He grins. “Maybe.”

“Will it make you feel better to know I have something in mind to make sure he won’t be bothering any of your girls again?”

“I can’t have someone that high-profile get roughed up in my house, Z.”

“I promise it won’t come back to you.”

He tilts his head, studying me while he considers my request. “How unfriendly we talking?”

“Brutal.”

“He hurt someone in the club? I didn’t think he had anything to do with the local crime syndicate. Too good for us lowlifes and all.” He rolls his eyes.

“He hurt someone close to me. Like you, I found out about it later than I would’ve preferred.”

“Ahhhh. Shit, I’m sorry, Z. If we’d known, maybe one of us could’ve—”

“I don’t think so, but I appreciate that.” I run my hand over my chin while I consider whether I want to ask my next question. “The girl still work for you?”

“Nah, she went back to school. The Green Street Crew scholarship fund is alive and well.”