Chapter 5 – "Dead Roads & Dirty Cops"
3 Days After Tone's Death
Steelpoint was boiling under tension. The streets were loud, the corners too quiet, and the air felt like it was hiding a storm. Jayce knew someone was pulling strings way above his level—and now Tone was dead, the clock was ticking.
That morning, Jayce went to check the docks alone, carrying nothing but a piece and the folder Maya gave him.
He never made it.
---
Abducted
As Jayce pulled up to the edge of Pier 17, a black SUV cut him off. Tires screeched. Four men in dark suits and Kevlar jumped out. Before he could pull his piece—
WHACK!
A baton cracked across the back of his skull.
The last thing Jayce saw was the water... then darkness.
---
The Badlands
Jayce awoke in the trunk of a car. His mouth was taped, hands zip-tied. The car bounced on dirt roads. Every turn made his head throb worse than the last. They drove for what felt like hours.
Finally, the trunk popped open.
"Out, motherfucker," said one of the men, yanking him up and throwing him to the ground.
Jayce squinted at the sun.
Dust. Pine trees. Mountains.
This wasn't Steelpoint anymore.
They were somewhere in the Badlands—the no-man's-land between the city and the old border.
A man stepped forward. Bald head. Cigar between his lips.
Detective Royce.
The same crooked bastard who used to shake down Jayce's pops back in the day.
"You lookin' healthy, Jayce. Thought you'd be six feet under by now."
Jayce spat blood.
"What the fuck you want, pig?"
Royce grinned. "I want you alive… for now. We got mutual enemies."
---
The Offer
They tossed Jayce into a run-down ranger station miles from civilization. Royce poured himself whiskey and leaned against a rusted file cabinet.
"There's product movin' through your city. Not your kind of product. This is cartel-level shit. Military grade. Human trafficking. Weapons. Stuff you little block boys ain't ready for."
Jayce glared at him. "And what? You want me to clean your mess?"
Royce laughed. "I want you to see it. Then maybe… maybe you'll help."
Jayce said nothing.
Royce continued: "You're here now. Out in the sticks. Far from your crew, your girl, your city. Your name's already in the system. You're a marked man. I own your ass."
Jayce stood slowly, fists clenched.
Royce lit his cigar.
"I ain't askin'. You'll do what I say. Or next time… we dump your body in a lake."
---
Meanwhile, Back in Steelpoint
Keisha and Rell were pacing the block.
"Where the hell is he?" Keisha snapped, eyes red. "It's been two days."
"His phone's dead. No tags. No trail," Rell said. "Shit ain't right."
Maya walked up, holding her laptop. "I tracked a signal. Last ping from Pier 17. Then it's dead."
Dre cursed. "That's where Tone was last seen alive."
They all exchanged looks.
"Then we gotta get him back," Rell said. "No matter who's got him."
---
Back in the Badlands
Royce threw Jayce a bag with old clothes, a burner phone, and a map.
"You got one job. Head to the outpost marked 'Red Cliff.' Talk to a man named Ramirez. He'll show you what your city's really hiding."
Jayce took the bag, eyes burning.
"You know this ain't over," he growled.
Royce smirked.
"It never is."
---
To Be Continued…