ᴇᴍᴇʀᴀʟᴅ ᴘᴀʀᴋ.

VII

"Okay..." London huffed once she felt the sheet in between her fingers. She yanked the paper out and placed it on her lap for her to examine.

"His estimated time of death was around four in the morning," She began reading off the highlighted bits of information. "'Victim found with three gunshot wounds in total with three different points of entry: The victim's abdomen, chest, and skull. Autopsy results show traces of...Heckler & Koch USP 45 bullet fragments still lodged in the victim's body...'" London's eyebrows slowly scrunched together. "'Death was instantaneous as the victim appeared to have died in his sleep...'"

"Holy shit, he was sleeping...?!" Rodrigo scowled. "So whoever did it just crept up on him and shot him execution-style like a cobarde then!"

"My thing is, how the fuck they even get in his house?" Tony frowned. "His security shit was sensitive as hell, so they woulda set off somethin'..."

"Not if they sneak past it, they wouldn't..." Rodrigo argued.

"How, though, nigga?" Tony deadpanned his friend. "That's the whole point of my question..."

"I dunno, fool – ask Alex or some shit..." Rodrigo shrugged.

London had been silent for the first few minutes after she finished reading the report, attempting to connect dots in her head to piece together the situation, but failing miserably.

"The fuck...?"

"Wassup?" Tony turned to look at London, quickly picking up on the new aura surrounding her. "Aw shit, she got that look again..."

"Is...everything okay?" Mari asked in a soft tone.

"Hold on..." London paused, looking over at Rodrigo. "What manufacturer were we partnered with again?"

"Uhh...I think Ruger? From the last time I went and did inventory shit, at least..."

"Okay, that's what I thought..." She muttered under her breath. "So where the hell is Heckler & Koch coming from?"

"Does...that matter, L?" Tony quirked an eyebrow.

"It does when you think about the fact that all of the guns we got are Ruger-branded."

The boys stared at each other for a moment before Tony spoke up once more. "Woah, woah...What you tryna get at right now?"

"I got a theory in my head, but it may be a little OTT..." London informed the three.

"Let us hear it." Rodrigo proposed.

Then the girl sighed. "Either this was someone from the outside or someone in here with an unregistered gun. And the last time I checked, Nick didn't have a lot of rivals...at least ones that wanted to kill him..."

"That's dangerous talk, L..." Rodrigo now had something of an uneasy look on his face. "You know this could mean that all of us are in the crosshairs, right?"

"I know that – that's why I said it was just a theory," London reminded the boy. "I-...Really, I don't wanna accuse anyone for this, but this is our boss we're talking about, man – anybody here could've had it out for him and you know it."

"Alright, wait a sec." Rodrigo turned to Mari. "Do you remember Nick talking about any opps he might've had?"

"N-No..." Mari shook her head. "No, he never mentioned anyone...He never said he had a problem with anyone either..."

"If he did, would you remember it?"

"Of course, I would." Mari nodded. "Like if a name sounded familiar, I'd say something in a heartbeat..."

"There ain't no names attached to this, though..." Tony skimmed through the autopsy sheet before smacking his teeth. "The fuck we s'posed to do?"

"What is there to do?" Rodrigo countered his question. "If we go around checking fools' shit for a gun they probably don't even have, we're gonna end up looking like a couple of paranoid burros – that ain't a good look, especially since L just took Nick's spot."

"That part..." London agreed.

"Took his spot...?" Mari parroted Rodrigo with a head tilt.

"Yeah, so you knew Nick was running shit here, right?" London set the sheet back down on the table.

"I...had a feeling, sure..."

"You 'had a feelin'?'" Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Well, he never exactly told me what he did for work, but I had a feeling he was in a gang by how stressed out he was half the time..." Mari explained. "And the fact that you also said the word 'boss' makes a lot more sense..."

"Welp, she's Head Honcho now." Tony pointed to London.

"It was the chain of command's decision, not mine..." She tried to argue.

"That's...actually so badass..." Mari smiled a little, prompting London to do so as well. "You think so?"

"Hell yeah! I mean, think about it: You don't get to see a girl boss every day, let alone see her running a whole gang by herself; it's empowering..."

"Aww, look at you!" Tony nudged London with his shoulder. "Inspirin' people nshit..."

"I wanna work under you."

Caught off guard, London slowly looked over at the curlyhead. "Say that again?"

"You heard me..." Mari let out a small giggle. "I wanna work with you and learn from you."

Rodrigo chuckled. "She beat you to it..."

"Right, like I was just about to get to that, and she fucking saved me the step, damn!" London laughed. "Are you sure you want this, though?"

"Yes, whatever I gotta do to prove it, I will..." Mari swore, looking down at her hands. "I never had a woman in my life to look up to. Like I said earlier, I grew up without a mom, and I didn't have any sisters...There are...still things that I need to learn how to do..."

"Like what?"

"Defend myself."

The three exchanged glances, and then London motioned with her head for the boys to leave the room, which they both did in a matter of a few seconds.

Once the door to the conference room closed, London scooted her chair closer to Mari. "What you mean? Defend yourself from what?"

"Just in general, I don't know..." Mari shrugged. "I don't know how to fight, I don't know how to use a gun, I don't know any self-defense moves or whatever you wanna call it..."

"Okay, okay, slow down." London cut her off. "You realize that gangs are more than just fighting and shooting niggas, don't you?"

"I know that – I never said they were, but I'm willing to learn...everything there is to know, really. I mean, there has to be something about this place that has kept my dad here for so long, right?"

"...Yeah..." London quietly stifled a laugh. "Yeah, you can say that...You know, the first person to teach me everything I know about EP was Nick, and I was an annoying little shit with him too, but he got me to where I am now. So, if you're really serious about this, I can train you."

At that moment, London swore she had seen a glint of white flicker in Mari's eyes, displaying her apparent excitement and making her chuckle.

"Is it okay if I hug you?" Mari asked her, nearly springing from her seat before London could give her the go-ahead, which she did, opening up her arms to the girl.

The two embraced, and London could hear Mari let out a deep sigh on her shoulder, followed by a barely audible "Thank you."

~~~~