20 Shots' Request

After reminding Malik not to say a thing, Dylan returned to his car and drove out of the jail, speeding through the streets in silence. His conversation with the priest and Lich left him on edge.

He was halfway into the conversation when he got a call and had to help out his client.

"Where were we?" Dylan asked.

{We were at the part where you stop worrying about this and let it handle itself}

Dylan rolled his eyes and felt like punching the system, but it didn't have a physical body. To get information out in detail, he always needed to interrogate it.

"Can you just fucking talk!?"

{Okay, relax. I'm certain the priest has noticed something off about you, but that's not enough to put suspicion on you. He will tail you for a while, but as long as you do nothing suspicious, he will let it go.} Lich explained, but this didn't make the situation better.

Dylan hit the brakes, stopping at a red light before he got back into the conversation.

"Noticed what? Don't tell me that old man noticed you inside my mind?" He blurted out in disbelief.

It would be scary if these priests could easily tell him apart from other humans.

{Don't be stupid, he's not strong enough to sense me. However, your spiritual presence is stronger than that of the average human. 9/10 people with powerful spiritual presence are into dark magic and then there is the one who is just oblivious to his potential. I'm asking you to play the role of the oblivious man.} Lich explained and Dylan nodded in understanding.

It simply meant he needed to live awhile without using his abilities.

{I will also recommend keeping that woman close during this time. The same demonic presence that attracted that priest here will also attract demons. Strange deaths will become a common occurrence so don't worry, the priest won't have much free time to spy on you.} Lich added in a stern tone and Dylan frowned.

He had little knowledge about demons and how this entire spiritual thing works so he wasn't going to think much about it. The streetlight turned red and Dylan drove through before taking a sharp turn right and parked next to the same café he had been coming to for a while now.

"Blackline Café…" Dylan read the name out loud before walking in.

As usual, the café was crowded but mostly with members of the LNS cartel, 20 Shot's gang. He found the name funny because it meant. 'Loyal Ni##as Slide'.

Yeah, after receiving the $1.5 million, Dylan decided to do some research on the kind of person he was dealing with only to realize he was getting involved with a cartel. This LNS cartel had been in existence for over 30 years and was active in about 20 states.

Drugs, weapons, human trafficking… The LNS were into all these, and they had produced a good number of successful rappers like 20 Shots.

Even though Dylan has seen this crew before, seeing them with the new information has made him a bit uncomfortable.

As usual, his appearance attracted the attention of everyone present. Girls gasping and taking pictures while members of the LNS cartel gave him side eyes.

{Can you feel it?}

'Yeah… They are afraid of me.'

Dylan noticed the fearful glint in their eyes as he walked up to 20 Shot's table and took a seat. However, 20 wasn't as jumpy as usual and his eyes also carried a similar glint of fear.

"What's going on?"

Dylan's eyes darted around the room as he tried to understand the reason for the fearful glint in their eyes.

Bam!

20 Shot smacked the table and his eyes showed regret as soon as Dylan's questioning returned to him. He nervously leaned in before speaking in whispers;

"The fire at the abandoned warehouse… that was you right?"

{Ooh!} Lich stole Dylan's reaction as he leaned back and realization dawned on him.

Why else would 20 fix up an urgent meeting?

Why else would these ruthless gangsters be afraid of him?

Power! That was the obvious answer, but he was too distracted to notice.

On the other side of the table, 20 Shots tried to read Dylan's expressions as much as possible. He has given out Andre's locations in hopes of hearing he was shot in the news, not new of everything reduced to ashes by strange flames that no one could find an answer to.

If Dylan was truly the one behind this then he was wasting his talent by working as an attorney.

"You are putting me in a difficult position… I promised I won't tell a soul about this." Dylan shook his head with a mischievous glint hidden under the facade of reluctance.

20 Shot's eyes widened with excitement as he considered this response a 'Yes, but I ain't no snitch' response. He cleared his throat before getting up and walking to Dylan's side of the seat and sitting beside him.

He looked like a gangster who had just robbed someone of 50 bands and wanted to share the news with a homie in a discreet way.

"That Mil I sent you? It's nothing, bro; I can give you another just to get an opportunity to discuss with whoever pulled off that shit." 20 Shots whispered.

Even though he was offering an extra 1.5 million dollars, 20 Shots was still begging.

Dylan feigned hesitation before leaning into 20 and whispering.

"Bro, this shit ain't normal. All I can say it's a personal friend of mine is into really dark shit. As a friend, I'll tell you not to get involved."

Dylan tried to lean away but 20 held his arm and responded.

"Bro, where I'm from, we do dark shit, so I ain't losing anything getting into something darker." He said in a stern tone.

"I know you are trying to look out for me, brother, but I need someone like your friend right now. I'm giving you another 1.5 mil just to put in a good word for me. Let your friend be the one to turn me down himself. Okay?"