10:18 p.m.

Nina was drinking with those men. She even danced around the room and laughed when they leered at her and made remarks DeShawn didn’t understand.

He didn’t like this. It was wrong.

Watching this made him sick. What was wrong with her? Was she so afraid of her brother that she thought she needed these guys to protect them? DeShawn wanted to protect her. He wanted to take her far away from here where her scumbag brother would never find them.

As he looked away, something on the television caught his attention. He stared at the muted screen. For several seconds the images didn’t make sense. Then Jerome’s face appeared front and center.

DeShawn rushed to the table where the TV sat and grabbed the remote. He pumped up the volume. The reporter was talking about multiple homicides in Pelham. This couldn’t be right. Why would Salvadore kill Jerome? He didn’t know anything. No one did.

DeShawn’s heart slid down to his feet as he listened to the details of the gruesome gang killings. Jerome was dead. Murdered by a bunch of thugs. Four others were dead, decapitated. Their faces appeared on the screen. His heart nearly stopped altogether then. Those were the four men who had brought him and Nina here.

They’d left and hadn’t come back. The six in the other room had filtered in throughout the day and evening. He didn’t know any of them but Nina seemed to know them all.

Then that lady cop, Jess Harris, was on the screen again. A picture of DeShawn appeared next to her. Ms. Harris was working overtime to find him and his female companion, the reporter said. A drawing that looked a lot like Nina came on the screen next. There was a big reward for anyone with information on either of them.

Why didn’t the news show anything about his grandparents? Were they okay? If Salvadore could hurt Jerome, he could definitely hurt DeShawn’s folks. Wouldn’t the police be protecting them?

But they hadn’t protected Jerome.

DeShawn knew better than to believe for a second that the cops would care about a handful of black folks who lived in the hood.

He needed to check on his grandparents.

He needed to get out of here.

“Hey, baby, what you doing?”

Nina sounded drunk. Her voice was thick. He wanted to rant at her but the others were listening and watching. He didn’t like this. Drinking in excess was bad.

“Jerome is dead,” he muttered. “So are those men who brought us here.”

She hugged herself around him. “I’m sorry about Jerome. He was a nice guy.”

“Yeah, he was,” DeShawn snapped. “And now he’s dead because of your brother and guys like that.” He stabbed a finger at the thugs in the other room.

“Look!” Nina pointed to the TV. “It’s that cop lady.” She beamed a bleary-eyed smile up at him. “She got in my brother’s face today. I mean, she was fearless, Jose said. She is so perfect for what comes next.”

DeShawn pulled away from her. “What’s going on, Nina? I thought we were trying to escape your brother, not hang around to watch him kill our friends. He could hurt my grandparents!” Fear wrapped tighter and tighter around his chest. Why didn’t she see?

“Shawney, listen to me.” She took his face in her hands. “I told you running away wouldn’t help. I’ll never be free until Salvadore is dead. This is a war. We have to be strong. So many of his people are on our side. See.” She waved to the guys in the other room. “And there are many more.”

DeShawn shook his head. “I don’t understand. What’re you saying?”

“I’m saying Salvadore is going down and that cop lady is going to help us make it happen.”

That was crazy talk. “That cop is not going to do anything for you! Listen to what you’re saying, Nina! The only thing she’ll do if she catches us is put us in jail for all the trouble we’ve caused.”

“She will help us,” Nina insisted. “She will do it to save you.”