Chapter 34 Drill

[One Hour ago]

Jace pocketed his burner phone and glanced back towards the building. The tension inside was palpable, and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt for Jevonte's involvement in this mess. They used to be tight on the block so if he could avoid it he didn't want to hurt him but he is the cause of this current debacle. If not for him he wouldn't have been forced to make such a choice, But business was business, and right now, survival was key. He needed to secure the deal with Leon and get rid of JT before things got even more complicated.

As he made his way back into the room, the tension had escalated. Jevonte was still pinned against the wall, the cold steel of the revolver a constant reminder of the precariousness of their situation. Tommy's fury was barely contained, his hands twitching as he considered his next move.

"Alright, enough!" Jace's voice cut through the air like a knife, drawing everyone's attention. "We got bigger fish to fry. Jevonte, you better start talking. What's your connection with JT?"

Jevonte swallowed hard, eyes darting between Tommy and KID. "Look, man, I didn't know JT was gonna cause this much trouble. We grew up together, ran a few hustles. He reached out, said he needed a place to lay low. I thought I was doing him a solid."

"A solid is what I'm doing for you, offering you an opportunity out of the hood, He robbed 50M and killed one of the Aces," Jace stated with a calm smile staring into Jevonte's pleading eyes. However, upon the mention of the money the latter looked surprised having seemingly not known about it. "You look surprised, you know he shot an ace member but didn't know that he robbed em," he continued letting his words trail off for those in the room to connect the dots on what was going on.

"You mad cuh, your dumb ass protecting this N**8a after he hit the biggest lick of the year and didn't ask quest," Tommy spat, releasing Jevonte and taking a step back. "I know I ain't seen you in a minute but since when did the hood get this soft," He stated a gain to on one in particular flabbergasted by the situation. 

"I swear man I only know about the shooting," Jevonte said, his voice shaking where it was because of fear or age no one cared. "I didn't know about the 50 Mill's or the Aces or any of that. I swear he just told me he shot a crib."

"haha He shot a crib alright, the fucking enforcer of the LA Aces, because of that dumbass their war dogs are roaming the streets for blood," Jace retorted with a slightly amused as his chuckle broke into a burst of laughter prompting the rest to follow. However, if one took a second and noticed their expressions they were all perplexed as to what was going on with their young boss. 

After a few seconds of laughter, Jace took a deep breath, weighing his options. They couldn't afford to waste any more time and he needed to decide what to do with Jevonte. Taking out a black revolver he pointed it at Jevonte causing the latter to stand frozen on the spot. He didn't pull the trigger though instead held eye contact with the boy who was about to lose his cool. 

"This is a tricky situation you put me in," Jace began speaking calmly assessing his options and putting pressure on Jevonte staring down the barrel of his gun. "I believe you didn't know about the lick and that he probably double-crossed his partner. But that leaves me with what to do with you." he clarified letting everyone especially Jevonte know what the boy was struggling to decide. 

However, the more he spoke the more anxious his target felt, the beating of his chest was particularly drumming in his chest. Matter of fact his back had been completely soaked and if he hadn't gone to the toilets before dinner they would be solid too. "The voice of reason within me is telling me to make a clean brack, Y'know two bullets for good measure," He stated animatedly flicking the gun in twice as if to demonstaright two bullets leaving the chamber. This was the final barrier for Jevonte as tears and snot started streaming down his face as despair overcame him. 

Just as Jevonted was about to lose his last bit of sanity Jace said something that gave him a glimmer of hope. "But I'm trying to turn a new leaf and catching my first body wouldn't be the way to get started," One could tell that he was contemplating the logic in his words as he said them, seemingly trying to convince himself more than anything. 

"So I'm letting you decide," Jace finished as he turned the gun around holding its barrel as he handed it to the stupefied Jevonte. Through his tear-filled eyes and trembling hands he firmly grasp the gun in his hand. Feeling the weight he knew it was fully loaded but he didn't know what to do now that he held it. 

"Lower your guns, We are all civilised individuals here, if you want to take a shot take it no one will stop you," Jace said to the rest of the room who followed his instructions with a little reluctance not understanding what was going on in his head. 

The room fell silent as Jevonte stood there, the revolver heavy in his trembling hands. His mind raced, trying to process the bizarre turn of events. Jace's calm, almost playful demeanour contrasted sharply with the gravity of the situation, leaving everyone on edge.

"Jace, you sure about this?" Tommy's voice was low, filled with a mixture of confusion and concern. He didn't lower his gun fully, but his grip relaxed slightly. "I don't know but the choice is with him," He told his friend wit a carefree tone as he turned to face him completely ignoring the situation. 

"(Click) (Click) (Click)... Danm it why isn't it working?!!" Jevonte exclaimed as he continued to apply the trigger of the gun aimed at Jace's head.

His despair grew with each moment as he seemed to realise that this had been a test by Jace and he had failed. Normally he would have picked up on this but his emotions were too haywire filled with only the thought of survival. He knew if he could take down the Jace the others wouldn't have a reason to hold them any longer. Plus upon feeling that the gun had real bullets he never thought that something could be wrong with it but he had miscalculated. 

"Oh I really wish You hadn't done that," Jace said as his previously nonchalant smile morphed into one of rage. "I really wanted to let you go, but you just had to prove the other me right, and now I gotta hurt you," He stated with a half smile as he walked to his side before proceeding to uppercut him in the gut. He wasn't lying about wanting to let him go since he was just unlucky enough to get caught in the crosshairs. 

Rex said they should test him first and came up with the method of removing the pairing pin. Had he placed the gun on the table, given it back or shot JT he would have let him go. However now that he pulled the trigger he had to make him pay, killing him was out of the question tho. Not because he was averse to taking a life, but for the simple fact it was better to throw him to the wolves along with JT. 

Thus he spent a few moments laying into the kid with punches until he passed out. Things moved quickly from there as he handed out instructions to the rest telling them that they were going to kill them but simply hand them to people who have use of them. Since most of his new crew were used to such a life of non-argued despite wanting to stay off the radar of the law. 

Despite their feelings, they did their job perfectly which was mostly packing up for them to relocate. Tommy, Jace and Dragon would handle the rest regarding the two packages' delivery to their intended recipient. "So much to being smart and getting out," Tommy mumbled to himself as they sped off in their 'borrowed' SUV, "No more shootouts, no more risks he said"

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To Be continued...