up and returned to his lounging position.
“Fine, you find anything?” Riley asked.
“Not exactly. I’m still new. Nobody trusts me,” Lazarus said.
“We canvased the neighborhood. Nobody will talk. They’re all afraid of Talie’s ex,” Riley said.
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Lazarus answered. “Something will come up, though.”
“Thought maybe we’d head home for a couple weeks, do a little research on who exactly her ex and his mother are and plan from there. Next court date is sixty days, so we have a little time to plan better.”
“Sounds good,” Lazarus said, still looking away.
“I’d like to kill every fucking one of them,” Roman snarled low and deadly.
Lazarus pulled off his glasses and faced Roman. “You can’t do that. We need somebody to be responsible. Corpse can’t be responsible for shit. You understand?”
Roman glared at Lazarus. “Yeah.”
“We have a plan, Roman. Let’s go back home. Darcie needs you there and at this point we’ve exhausted about all our leads. We’ll do some research and develop some new ones. We’ll be back,” Riley said.
Roman nodded.
“I’m not going,” Lazarus said, looking disinterestedly away from Riley and Roman while he sat with them.
“What?” Riley asked.
“Got things to look into here,” Lazarus said.
“Like what? You got a new lead on Frederick and his friends?” Riley asked.
“Nope. But, hoping to develop one. Putting out some feelers, got a few different avenues to try. Gonna see what it turns up,” Lazarus said.
“Lazarus, do not get yourself into trouble we can’t get you out of,” Riley started.
“I’m not. But I can be the picture they need to see. And once I have their trust, I can find information. Like what the word on the street is about that stabbing that went down. Once I have that, if you’re not back already, I’ll let you know and then you can drive on up and give me a hand,” he said, smiling at Riley.
“This could get dangerous, Laz,” Riley said.
“Riley… this is who I was before you. It ain’t nothing new. Let me do my thing, and see what I can find. Come to think of it, don’t come back until it’s time for the trial,” Lazarus said.
“Wait a minute…” Riley said.
“No, you wait. Whatever I decide to do may or may not be discovered. You got a family that needs you, Roman has a kid and a woman that needs him. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get her free and home to him. Ain’t nobody at home needing me. But that don’t even matter, I can handle me. I just need some time to work these idiots. I’ll get what we need and I’ll handle it.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Roman said.
“Yeah, I do. Ain’t nobody ever believed in me except you,” he said, looking at Roman, “and you” he said, looking at Riley, “and your Pride. My own damn blood never believed in me. If all I can give back is your woman, Roman, that’s what I’m giving back.”
“What are you planning to do?” Riley asked.
“Whatever it takes. I’m gonna find Frederick, and I’m gonna find his friends, and I’m going to see to it that your woman comes to you.”
“I owe that bastard. It’s my right,” Roman said.
“Really? You want to get her free just to find yourself locked away if things go to shit?” Lazarus asked.
Roman locked gazes with Lazarus but didn’t speak.
“I got this. But, let me be clear, nobody’s gonna die, so it’s not as bad as all that. A dead man can’t take responsibility, and that’s okay, because some things are worse than death.” Lazarus stood up and rapped his knuckles on the table. “Ya’ll go home, I’m good here. If I don’t see you before, I’ll expect you around the time of the trial,” he said. He reached up and slid his shades back into place. “I got this, my brothers,” he said, sounding more like a street thug than the Lazarus they knew.
“You keep in touch,” Riley said.
“When I can,” he answered, grinned at them, and strolled out of the diner with a chip as large as the building they were in appearing to be perched right up where the world could see it on top of his shoulders.
“What the hell is he doing?” Roman asked.
“Making sure whatever happens here it doesn’t come back on us. He’s taking care of us the same way we all take care of each other,” Riley said.
“It’s not his fight,” Roman said, looking at the plate glass windows in front of the diner where he’d last