Rise of the Street King

Chapter 54 — Policed Shadows

The rumor spread faster than smoke.

By morning, every corner boy in Ojuwoye knew Musa had been swallowed by men without uniforms. No warrant, no questions, no trace. Just a black van and silence.

Jayden sat in the tailoring shop, knuckles pressed to the table, the weight of eyes on him. The Burned Boy shifted restlessly, Malikah’s blade clicked open and shut, and the younger recruits whispered like nervous birds.

“What if they flip him?” someone muttered.

Jayden raised his head, voice low but sharp enough to cut the room. “Musa’s strong. He’s not talking. He’s family. Remember that.”

He said it like iron, but inside, he wasn’t sure. Everyone had a breaking point. The police knew how to find it.

Routes Under Watch...

That evening, Jayden sent runners to test the streets. Three came back wide-eyed.

“Boss,” one boy stammered. “They’re everywhere. Not in blue, but you can smell it. Vans at the bridge, checkpoints without signs. They don’t even ask they just stop you.”

Malikah cursed. “They’re tightening routes. Razor couldn’t pay for this himself.”

The Burned Boy spat. “So now cops do his dirty work?”

Jayden frowned. Not just Razor. The net was too wide, too sudden. Someone bigger was pulling strings.

He grabbed chalk and drew fast on the cracked wall: lines for streets, circles for van sightings. The city map looked less like home and more like a throat closing in.

Amara’s Whisper...

When the rain started, so did the whisper.

Amara appeared in the doorway, wrapped in a shawl, her face half-lit by the dim bulb overhead. The recruits froze like she was a ghost.

“You’ve got shadows on every route,” she said softly.

Jayden studied her, jaw tight. “You came to tell me what I already know?”

She stepped closer, eyes darting around the room. “No. I came to tell you why. Someone in uniform is being pressed to act. They want the streets scrubbed clean especially you.”

“Pressed by who?” Malikah demanded.

Amara hesitated, then answered in a whisper: “The Council. Or something above them. The police don’t move like this unless hands higher than Razor push them.”

The Burned Boy growled. “So they’re feeding us to the wolves.”

Jayden met Amara’s gaze. For a moment, her mask slipped, and he saw real fear flicker behind her eyes. She wasn’t playing this time.

The Bribe...

By midnight, the pressure was suffocating.

Two of Jayden’s couriers were dragged into an alley by plainclothes cops, released only after being beaten bloody. Razor’s crew watched from across the street, laughing like hyenas.

Jayden had no choice. He called a meet with one of the officers a round-bellied man with a crooked smile, reeking of beer.

They met under a rusted awning behind a shuttered store. Rain dripped down the officer’s cheap suit as he rubbed his palms together.

“Protection don’t come cheap these days,” the cop said, teeth flashing.

Jayden’s voice was flat. “You get what you need. My people move, you look the other way.”

The officer chuckled. “And if I don’t?”

Jayden leaned closer, his shadow swallowing the man. “Then you and Razor both find out what it feels like to bleed in the gutter.”

The silence stretched. Then the officer smirked, snatched the envelope Jayden held out, and slid it under his coat.

“Careful, boy,” he muttered. “You’re not just fighting gangs anymore.”

He walked away whistling, as if he hadn’t just sold his honor for cash.

Jayden stood in the rain, fists clenched. The bribe bought breathing space, nothing more.

The Uneasy Calm...

For two days, the streets loosened. Tribute trickled in again, scouts reported cleaner routes. The recruits cheered, thinking they had survived the storm.

Jayden didn’t celebrate. He knew better. Peace this sudden always came with strings.

One night, as he walked through the tailoring shop, he found Amara waiting alone. Her eyes softened at him, but her words were knives.

“You paid them,” she said.

“You knew I would.”

“And you know it won’t last. You’re a pawn to them, Jayden. One they’re willing to break when the board shifts.”

He stepped closer, voice low. “Then I’ll stop being a pawn.”

Her breath caught, just for a second. Then she turned away, hiding whatever lay in her eyes.

The Radio...

The recruits huddled around a battered radio, static humming like ghosts. One boy had picked up police chatter by accident.

Jayden crouched, listening as a crackling voice broke through.

“…target identified. Male, mid-twenties. Known to operate in Ojuwoye sector. Orders from above: neutralize with extreme prejudice.”

Jayden’s pulse slowed. His chest burned.

Then came the voice. Familiar. Smooth. Cold.

“Priority one: Jayden Cole. Repeat. Jayden Cole is the main target.”

The room went silent. Malikah’s face hardened, the Burned Boy gripped his knife, and Amara’s lips parted in a whisper of shock.

Jayden stared at the radio, teeth clenched. He knew that voice.

And whoever spoke it… wanted him buried...

A familiar voice on a police radio names Jayden Cole as the main target.