Summary of Book:
Excerpt:
Maurice Ousley seems to have it all: his team captures first place after a gutsy win before All-Star Break, he's voted by the coaches to the NBA All-Star Game, and he plans a cozy evening with his girlfriend Gabrielle to pop the question.
However, the evening begins to unravel as Maurice finds out about a dark secret that Gabrielle has hidden from him. He subsequently leaves her at the restaurant once the truth is revealed. He then goes to a party hosted by one of the All-Star basketball players to blow off some steam. There he meets a stunningly attractive actress and finds out that she has a huge crush on him.
Finally, Maurice caps off the evening by small talking to some of his teammates, and his best friend on the squad drops another bombshell on him. Just when the night couldn't get any worse, he discovers he's also the target of the same federal fugitive who kidnapped his stepfather a year prior. Will Maurice leave Gabrielle for the actress, or will he stay with her? What news does his teammate tell him? And lastly, will Maurice survive, or will his past finally catch up to him?
However, the evening begins to unravel as Maurice finds out about a dark secret that Gabrielle has hidden from him. He subsequently leaves her at the restaurant once the truth is revealed. He then goes to a party hosted by one of the All-Star basketball players to blow off some steam. There he meets a stunningly attractive actress and finds out that she has a huge crush on him.
Finally, Maurice caps off the evening by small talking to some of his teammates, and his best friend on the squad drops another bombshell on him. Just when the night couldn't get any worse, he discovers he's also the target of the same federal fugitive who kidnapped his stepfather a year prior. Will Maurice leave Gabrielle for the actress, or will he stay with her? What news does his teammate tell him? And lastly, will Maurice survive, or will his past finally catch up to him?
Review by Mary Lignor:
A book to warm the hearts of professional basketball fans.
Maurice "Mo" Ousley has been blessed with a lot of talent on the courts and he also has a lot of support from family and friends. His basketball team has just won first place mid-season and is on his way to the All-Star Game before finishing up for the year. His biggest fan, his girl Gabrielle, is waiting for him after the game and he plans to ask her to marry him. Half way through the evening, he finds out that Gabrielle has been keeping a secret from him since college days. Mo becomes very upset and leaves her at the restaurant where they had been having dinner and goes on to a party alone. The party is being given by one of the basketball players. Upon leaving the party Mo meets with a friend from the team who announces to him that he intends to propose marriage to Mo's younger sister. Mo's day is becoming better and better. Just when things couldn't get any crazier, Mo finds out that he is being stalked by a fugitive from justice who had kidnapped his stepfather the previous year. Mo is abducted by this outlaw and things go from bad to worse. Mo is a nice guy who had some trouble in his youth but, is now on the straight and narrow and deserves the good luck that he is having. Believe me, you will root for this guy and his family. This story is a good one and Mr. O'Neal knows his basketball. I enjoyed the story and read it at one sitting. It reminds me a little of Mike Lupica and/or Harlan Coben. The facts are good and the characters are believable. This book is a sequel to Mr. O'Neal's previous book, "Ulterior Motives." I plan to obtain a copy so I can see how Mo evolved into the person he is today. Mr. O'Neal is a Chicago native and certainly knows whereof he speaks of the basketball world. I hope that these stories continue as I think there's a lot of material that can be written about Mo and his family. There sure are a lot of people in his circle that would make good stories. Good Luck Mr. O'Neal. More reviews are available on Amazon.
Excerpt:
My cab arrived at Brian’s party in the Gold Coast area a mile and a half from downtown. I tipped the driver and got out. The wind was briskly coming off Lake Michigan—the temperature had drastically dropped down to the high twenties. It was still fairly early as guests were just starting to show up.
I stepped inside of Brian’s condo and found a seat at his bar. He had hired his usual crew who put together his extravaganzas—DJ Alpine was on the music, his sister Brenda catered the food, and his cousin Clarence worked the bar. His bi-level condo was very spacious and contemporary, and one could easily detect that a woman with exquisite taste furnished it.
The bass of the music was thumping—DJ Alpine was mixing the rap song Quarter Brick by Gucci Mane featuring OJ Da Juice Man. There were a few people sitting at the bar bobbing their heads in rhythm like me, and a few people were in the middle of the floor dancing.
The acoustics of the state-of-the-art sound system were clear and crisp, and could feel the base pounding inside of my chest. The music was the catalyst that triggered my catharsis—I always loved the atmosphere of a good party.
There was a young woman sitting two chairs down from me at the bar drinking shots of tequila. She had on some low-rise jeans that exposed her butt crack and had a tattoo of an eagle right above it. It was one of those instances when you know it was wrong to stare for too long but couldn’t help it—kind of like the scene of an accident on the freeway.
"What’s good with you Maurice?" Clarence asked. "What are you drinking?"
"Hey, Clarence," I answered. "I’m okay. I guess I’ll just have a Miller Lite."
"Cool, coming right up. Hey, great game tonight, Maurice."
"Thanks, man, it feels good to finally be in first place."
"I got my money on you all going to the Finals."
"What about Chicago?"
"Hey, man, I’m from Detroit, and they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of making it."
"Well, in that case, thanks."
Clarence brought my beer, and I continued to relax at the bar. The crowd was growing, and some of the Comets had shown up. I still didn’t see Brian at this point, but he always loved to make a grand entrance.
I took a sip of my beer and noticed a gorgeous woman with a shapely pair of long and beautiful legs staring at me from across the bar. I glanced back, smiled, and then looked away. I motioned to get out of my seat to walk around the loft before I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Hello, my name is Melanie," she said. "I’m a big fan of yours, Maurice."
"Nice to meet you, Melanie," I said. "Wait, you look familiar to me. You’re the girl who played Andre Epps’s girlfriend in the movie Second Chances, right?"
"That’s me. It was my first film role."
"I loved that movie. You were great, and I’m a fan of yours, too."
"Thanks, Maurice. Any positive feedback I get lets me know that I’m on the right track."
"You have nothing to worry about. You have a bright future ahead of you."
"Thank you, thank you so much. Do you want to dance?"
"Sure. You lead the way."
I finished my beer and proceeded to walk toward the dance area with Melanie. We danced, we laughed, we talked. We had a good vibe going on and before I knew it, midnight had snuck up on me. I hadn’t planned on staying too long because I had made reservations at the Palmer House for Gabrielle and me. We were just going to make an appearance and leave.
Brian and his entourage arrived fifteen minutes ago; and Malik, Sonny and Rip had just walked in. The party was a collection of stars from all genres—Hollywood, NBA, NFL, the music business, etc. Some not so savory characters were present as well—if you needed to score some drugs, there were several guys there who could happily oblige you, and if you wanted a girl for the night, there were plenty of high-priced call girls masquerading as struggling actresses or models to satisfy your desires. Brian was like gravity—attracting different types of people from all walks of life.
Melanie wanted to get another drink, so we left the dance area and sat back down at the bar. I search the room for Brian because I wanted to let him know that I made an appearance before I left.
"Fuzzy Navel, please," Melanie requested. "Do you want anything, Maurice?"
"No, thanks, Melanie. I really have to get going...I hadn’t planned on staying too long."
"Aw, baby, the party is just getting started. I’m really feeling you, and I thought you felt the same."
"I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression. I think you’re great...it’s just that I have someone and we...."
"Shhh," she exhaled, putting her index finger on her lips. "You need not say anymore. It’s okay, and I understand, Maurice. I think you’re a nice guy, and I still would like to get to know you better...as friends of course."
"Sure, I’d like that. Here’s my card. Enjoy the rest of the party."
She pulled her card out of her purse and handed it to me. "The next time you’re in LA, feel free to give me a call. Maybe we can go out for drinks or something."
"Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. Take care."
"Bye, Maurice."
I left the bar and walked toward Malik, Sonny and Ripley. My intentions were to chat for a hot minute and leave. I had a busy day later on, and this included brunch at Dad’s, a press conference about the upcoming game on Sunday and the Rookie All-Star Game at night. I also wanted to put out the fire I potentially started with Gabrielle before I went to bed. I realized I may have overreacted to learning the truth about Jason's paternity and understood that it didn’t have anything to do with me. My life was an open book—an open book to Gabrielle as well as the rest of the world. I expected her to be as open as I am, but I failed to realize that she wasn’t comfortable enough to reveal something so personal to me yet.
However, the fact that she led me to believe Sam was Jason’s father still bothered me. She never actually said it, but she never corrected me either whenever I brought up the subject. In spite of all this, I still felt that the relationship was still salvageable.
"What’s up fellas," I said, extending my hand to each one of them.
"Hey, Mo," Sonny said.
"What going on, big bro," Ripley said.
"I’m cool," I said. "Brian knows he can sure throw a live party."
"The best," Malik said. "Hey, where’s Gabrielle, Mo? I saw you rapping to that honey over there."
"Yeah," Ripley said. "She looks familiar to me."
"It’s a long story, Malik, and she’s an actress, Rip. You probably saw her in the movie Second Chances."
"That’s right, I loved that movie," Ripley said.
"I’m going to mack to some of these girls," Sonny said. "I’ll holla at you all later."
"Me, too," Ripley said. "Later, Mo. Malik."
Both of us nodded, and Malik started fidgeting—I could always sense when he wanted to ask me something. "Hey, bro, I need to talk to you," Malik said. "I’ve been meaning to bring it up for a while, but the timing was always bad. Let’s step outside for a minute."
"Alright," I said, thinking to myself that a quick getaway was next to impossible. "I hope nothing is wrong...are you okay?"
"No, it’s not like that."
We stepped outside and started strolling down the street. There was a woman walking a small dog at the corner, and a couple was walking toward us holding hands. I was trying to guess what Malik had to tell me, but I didn’t have a clue about what bombshell he was going to drop. People don’t generally ask to talk to you about something small—they usually just say it.
"Alright, Malik, what’s so important that you have to drag my ass out here in the cold?"
"Before I spill my guts, where’s Gabrielle? I thought she was coming to the party with you."
"Like I said before, it’s a long story, bro. I just found out that Jason isn’t Sam’s son. Gabby never told me the truth."
"Say what? If Sam isn’t the father, who is?"
"Some guy she met at a bar while we all were still in college, and she didn’t even know the guy’s last name, man."
"So, let me get this straight, Mo. She led you to believe that Sam was Jason’s father so you wouldn’t think she was a slut?"
"To make a long story short, yes."
"From what you told me about Sam, that’s not such a bad thing. Face it, she was only giving him some good, old-fashioned payback. Too bad she ended up getting pregnant in the process."
"So what, you’re going to take her side?"
"She’s a good girl. Somebody has to be man or woman enough to tell you this, so I’m gonna."
"Tell me what?"
"Don’t take this the wrong way, but people don’t exactly know how to be themselves around you. You’re a tough act to follow, man...you really have your stuff together, and others view you as being like, you know, perfect."
"Perfect? I don’t think I’m better than anyone."
"No, that’s not what I’m saying. How can I describe it...our friends, peers, and even Gabrielle think of you like we think of Coach Weaver."
"They all think of me as an old man?"
"Yeah, they do. You have an old soul, bro. It’s like you’re been here before...like God sent you back here to get it right a second time or something."
"Damn, I don’t know what to say. Do you think of me like that, too?"
"No, bro. I’m too damn arrogant to put your ass on a pedestal. Besides, I’ve seen how ugly you look in the morning."
"Whatever, man. So, what’s up? What’s so damn urgent?"
"Remember when I said I’m not ready to settle down or have kids earlier?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"Well, I lied. The truth is I didn’t want that with Tanya. She is a great girl, but there were no sparks. I’d been living a lie and that wouldn’t have been fair to either one of us."
"You’re right, Malik. I’m sure breaking it off with her was hard, but it was necessary."
"It was the hardest thing that I ever had to do."
"So, you lied about settling down. Who is the new girl, and better yet, how long is this going to last?"
"How long is this going to last? What are you saying?"
"You told me about myself, so allow me to return the favor. You are a classic serial dater, and anytime someone doesn’t measure up to your impossible standards, you dismiss them. I have never seen you keep anyone longer than nine months."
"You’re right, but this time it’s different. I never felt this way about any woman in my life."
"Who is she?"
"Erin, your sister."
"What! Tell me that you’re joking."
"It’s not a joke. I love her."
"Erin is not some plaything for you to get your rocks off and then dump! If you hurt her, I swear I’ll...."
"I promise you that I won’t, man! She has my heart just like I have hers. I proposed to her and she accepted."
"What! Hell no! You’re not marrying my sister, Malik. I saw firsthand how you dogged women, and you aren’t putting Erin through that."
"Come on, Maurice, I thought we were friends. I would never disrespect you or Erin. She is a grown woman, not your baby sister anymore."
"I don’t approve of this, Malik. A leopard doesn’t change his spots in a couple of weeks."
"Why not? When you were faced with the possibility of doing hard time, you did a complete one-eighty."
Damn, he was absolutely right. When I was on the precipice of a fifteen-year sentence, I evolved and altered my ego entirely. The ruthless drug dealer had died, and the model citizen I had become rose like a phoenix from the ashes of a dismal former life.
"Gabrielle hits me with a right cross, then you deck me with a left hook. This night keeps getting better."
"You’re my brother. I love you, man."
"You’re an asshole, Malik. You make it impossible for me to stay mad at you. Alright, meet me at my dad’s house tomorrow for brunch at twelve, and you can ask him for his blessing."
"Okay, thanks. Thanks for understanding. Just so you know, we are going to wait until after we get married."
"Wait for what?"
"Sex, man. It’s all about the love that we have for each other, not just the physical aspect of it."
"Damn, I guess you are serious. Later."
"Yeah, later."
My driver had just pulled up—capping off one of the most bizarre days of my life. Malik had motioned back to the party, and my driver had a startled look on his face as he parked the limo. He had ordinarily got out to open my door, but he sat motionless in the driver’s seat and didn’t acknowledge my presence.
"Wallace, are you okay?" I asked. "What’s going on?"
I reached out to open the rear door, and what I found in the back seat stunned me completely. The past I tried to bury had resurfaced again like a recurrent nightmare.
"Get in," Grim said. "Surprised to see me, I bet."
"What in the hell are you doing here?"
"Get the hell in here!" he yelled, pointing his pistol with a silencer on it at me. "I won’t say it again."
"You know, this kidnapping nonsense is getting a bit stale. Maybe you should try a new approach...hell, I’m certain that abducting my father and now me carries a life sentence."
"Don’t get smart, Ousley, unless you want to be the winner of the wet t-shirt contest. As for life in prison, I’ve committed enough atrocities to get executed a hundred times over."
"I’m sure you didn’t wait almost a year to shoot me at some damn party," I said, shutting door after I sat down. "What do you want, Grim."
"Smoke. My real name is Smoke."
"Smoke, Grim, whatever. What is this about?"
"Shut up, Ousley! Driver, take off! Enough with your questions. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride."
"Where are you taking me! Wallace!"
"You’ll find out in due time," Smoke said. "In due time."
"Hey, Clarence," I answered. "I’m okay. I guess I’ll just have a Miller Lite."
"Cool, coming right up. Hey, great game tonight, Maurice."
"Thanks, man, it feels good to finally be in first place."
"I got my money on you all going to the Finals."
"What about Chicago?"
"Hey, man, I’m from Detroit, and they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of making it."
"Well, in that case, thanks."
Clarence brought my beer, and I continued to relax at the bar. The crowd was growing, and some of the Comets had shown up. I still didn’t see Brian at this point, but he always loved to make a grand entrance.
I took a sip of my beer and noticed a gorgeous woman with a shapely pair of long and beautiful legs staring at me from across the bar. I glanced back, smiled, and then looked away. I motioned to get out of my seat to walk around the loft before I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Hello, my name is Melanie," she said. "I’m a big fan of yours, Maurice."
"Nice to meet you, Melanie," I said. "Wait, you look familiar to me. You’re the girl who played Andre Epps’s girlfriend in the movie Second Chances, right?"
"That’s me. It was my first film role."
"I loved that movie. You were great, and I’m a fan of yours, too."
"Thanks, Maurice. Any positive feedback I get lets me know that I’m on the right track."
"You have nothing to worry about. You have a bright future ahead of you."
"Thank you, thank you so much. Do you want to dance?"
"Sure. You lead the way."
I finished my beer and proceeded to walk toward the dance area with Melanie. We danced, we laughed, we talked. We had a good vibe going on and before I knew it, midnight had snuck up on me. I hadn’t planned on staying too long because I had made reservations at the Palmer House for Gabrielle and me. We were just going to make an appearance and leave.
Brian and his entourage arrived fifteen minutes ago; and Malik, Sonny and Rip had just walked in. The party was a collection of stars from all genres—Hollywood, NBA, NFL, the music business, etc. Some not so savory characters were present as well—if you needed to score some drugs, there were several guys there who could happily oblige you, and if you wanted a girl for the night, there were plenty of high-priced call girls masquerading as struggling actresses or models to satisfy your desires. Brian was like gravity—attracting different types of people from all walks of life.
Melanie wanted to get another drink, so we left the dance area and sat back down at the bar. I search the room for Brian because I wanted to let him know that I made an appearance before I left.
"Fuzzy Navel, please," Melanie requested. "Do you want anything, Maurice?"
"No, thanks, Melanie. I really have to get going...I hadn’t planned on staying too long."
"Aw, baby, the party is just getting started. I’m really feeling you, and I thought you felt the same."
"I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression. I think you’re great...it’s just that I have someone and we...."
"Shhh," she exhaled, putting her index finger on her lips. "You need not say anymore. It’s okay, and I understand, Maurice. I think you’re a nice guy, and I still would like to get to know you better...as friends of course."
"Sure, I’d like that. Here’s my card. Enjoy the rest of the party."
She pulled her card out of her purse and handed it to me. "The next time you’re in LA, feel free to give me a call. Maybe we can go out for drinks or something."
"Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. Take care."
"Bye, Maurice."
I left the bar and walked toward Malik, Sonny and Ripley. My intentions were to chat for a hot minute and leave. I had a busy day later on, and this included brunch at Dad’s, a press conference about the upcoming game on Sunday and the Rookie All-Star Game at night. I also wanted to put out the fire I potentially started with Gabrielle before I went to bed. I realized I may have overreacted to learning the truth about Jason's paternity and understood that it didn’t have anything to do with me. My life was an open book—an open book to Gabrielle as well as the rest of the world. I expected her to be as open as I am, but I failed to realize that she wasn’t comfortable enough to reveal something so personal to me yet.
However, the fact that she led me to believe Sam was Jason’s father still bothered me. She never actually said it, but she never corrected me either whenever I brought up the subject. In spite of all this, I still felt that the relationship was still salvageable.
"What’s up fellas," I said, extending my hand to each one of them.
"Hey, Mo," Sonny said.
"What going on, big bro," Ripley said.
"I’m cool," I said. "Brian knows he can sure throw a live party."
"The best," Malik said. "Hey, where’s Gabrielle, Mo? I saw you rapping to that honey over there."
"Yeah," Ripley said. "She looks familiar to me."
"It’s a long story, Malik, and she’s an actress, Rip. You probably saw her in the movie Second Chances."
"That’s right, I loved that movie," Ripley said.
"I’m going to mack to some of these girls," Sonny said. "I’ll holla at you all later."
"Me, too," Ripley said. "Later, Mo. Malik."
Both of us nodded, and Malik started fidgeting—I could always sense when he wanted to ask me something. "Hey, bro, I need to talk to you," Malik said. "I’ve been meaning to bring it up for a while, but the timing was always bad. Let’s step outside for a minute."
"Alright," I said, thinking to myself that a quick getaway was next to impossible. "I hope nothing is wrong...are you okay?"
"No, it’s not like that."
We stepped outside and started strolling down the street. There was a woman walking a small dog at the corner, and a couple was walking toward us holding hands. I was trying to guess what Malik had to tell me, but I didn’t have a clue about what bombshell he was going to drop. People don’t generally ask to talk to you about something small—they usually just say it.
"Alright, Malik, what’s so important that you have to drag my ass out here in the cold?"
"Before I spill my guts, where’s Gabrielle? I thought she was coming to the party with you."
"Like I said before, it’s a long story, bro. I just found out that Jason isn’t Sam’s son. Gabby never told me the truth."
"Say what? If Sam isn’t the father, who is?"
"Some guy she met at a bar while we all were still in college, and she didn’t even know the guy’s last name, man."
"So, let me get this straight, Mo. She led you to believe that Sam was Jason’s father so you wouldn’t think she was a slut?"
"To make a long story short, yes."
"From what you told me about Sam, that’s not such a bad thing. Face it, she was only giving him some good, old-fashioned payback. Too bad she ended up getting pregnant in the process."
"So what, you’re going to take her side?"
"She’s a good girl. Somebody has to be man or woman enough to tell you this, so I’m gonna."
"Tell me what?"
"Don’t take this the wrong way, but people don’t exactly know how to be themselves around you. You’re a tough act to follow, man...you really have your stuff together, and others view you as being like, you know, perfect."
"Perfect? I don’t think I’m better than anyone."
"No, that’s not what I’m saying. How can I describe it...our friends, peers, and even Gabrielle think of you like we think of Coach Weaver."
"They all think of me as an old man?"
"Yeah, they do. You have an old soul, bro. It’s like you’re been here before...like God sent you back here to get it right a second time or something."
"Damn, I don’t know what to say. Do you think of me like that, too?"
"No, bro. I’m too damn arrogant to put your ass on a pedestal. Besides, I’ve seen how ugly you look in the morning."
"Whatever, man. So, what’s up? What’s so damn urgent?"
"Remember when I said I’m not ready to settle down or have kids earlier?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"Well, I lied. The truth is I didn’t want that with Tanya. She is a great girl, but there were no sparks. I’d been living a lie and that wouldn’t have been fair to either one of us."
"You’re right, Malik. I’m sure breaking it off with her was hard, but it was necessary."
"It was the hardest thing that I ever had to do."
"So, you lied about settling down. Who is the new girl, and better yet, how long is this going to last?"
"How long is this going to last? What are you saying?"
"You told me about myself, so allow me to return the favor. You are a classic serial dater, and anytime someone doesn’t measure up to your impossible standards, you dismiss them. I have never seen you keep anyone longer than nine months."
"You’re right, but this time it’s different. I never felt this way about any woman in my life."
"Who is she?"
"Erin, your sister."
"What! Tell me that you’re joking."
"It’s not a joke. I love her."
"Erin is not some plaything for you to get your rocks off and then dump! If you hurt her, I swear I’ll...."
"I promise you that I won’t, man! She has my heart just like I have hers. I proposed to her and she accepted."
"What! Hell no! You’re not marrying my sister, Malik. I saw firsthand how you dogged women, and you aren’t putting Erin through that."
"Come on, Maurice, I thought we were friends. I would never disrespect you or Erin. She is a grown woman, not your baby sister anymore."
"I don’t approve of this, Malik. A leopard doesn’t change his spots in a couple of weeks."
"Why not? When you were faced with the possibility of doing hard time, you did a complete one-eighty."
Damn, he was absolutely right. When I was on the precipice of a fifteen-year sentence, I evolved and altered my ego entirely. The ruthless drug dealer had died, and the model citizen I had become rose like a phoenix from the ashes of a dismal former life.
"Gabrielle hits me with a right cross, then you deck me with a left hook. This night keeps getting better."
"You’re my brother. I love you, man."
"You’re an asshole, Malik. You make it impossible for me to stay mad at you. Alright, meet me at my dad’s house tomorrow for brunch at twelve, and you can ask him for his blessing."
"Okay, thanks. Thanks for understanding. Just so you know, we are going to wait until after we get married."
"Wait for what?"
"Sex, man. It’s all about the love that we have for each other, not just the physical aspect of it."
"Damn, I guess you are serious. Later."
"Yeah, later."
My driver had just pulled up—capping off one of the most bizarre days of my life. Malik had motioned back to the party, and my driver had a startled look on his face as he parked the limo. He had ordinarily got out to open my door, but he sat motionless in the driver’s seat and didn’t acknowledge my presence.
"Wallace, are you okay?" I asked. "What’s going on?"
I reached out to open the rear door, and what I found in the back seat stunned me completely. The past I tried to bury had resurfaced again like a recurrent nightmare.
"Get in," Grim said. "Surprised to see me, I bet."
"What in the hell are you doing here?"
"Get the hell in here!" he yelled, pointing his pistol with a silencer on it at me. "I won’t say it again."
"You know, this kidnapping nonsense is getting a bit stale. Maybe you should try a new approach...hell, I’m certain that abducting my father and now me carries a life sentence."
"Don’t get smart, Ousley, unless you want to be the winner of the wet t-shirt contest. As for life in prison, I’ve committed enough atrocities to get executed a hundred times over."
"I’m sure you didn’t wait almost a year to shoot me at some damn party," I said, shutting door after I sat down. "What do you want, Grim."
"Smoke. My real name is Smoke."
"Smoke, Grim, whatever. What is this about?"
"Shut up, Ousley! Driver, take off! Enough with your questions. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride."
"Where are you taking me! Wallace!"
"You’ll find out in due time," Smoke said. "In due time."
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