The chief and sergeant were interrupted by one of the officers on the scene.
“Excuse me, Chief, dispatcher thought you might be interested in a nine-one-one call that just came in. They think it may be connected to the armored truck hit.” He handed the chief the walkie-talkie.
“This is Chief Randle, go.”
“Hey Chief, this is Wendy. Nine-one-one forwarded me this call that came in about five minutes ago. You listening?”
“Yeah Wendy, let me hear it.”
“Sister, you don’t have to do this.”
“Muthafucka I aint’ ya sistah now shut the fuck up.”
“Tyrone, please.”
“What? I was only trying to help.”
“You wanna help? Keep your fuckin’ mouth shut.”
“Anybody with cell phones pull ’em out.”
“Treach, go get those.”
“Think about what you’re doing. It’s not too late.”
“Yes it is.”
“Christ,” Chief Randle bellowed, hearing the shot go off. He didn’t have to witness it to know the female perp had just killed the man talking. Screams of children could be heard in the background.
“Everybody be quiet and no one else will be hurt.”
“Fuck. Treacherous baby, let’s get up outta here.”
The tape ended. “That’s all we got, Chief, think it’s connected.”
Chief was already putting it together in his mind.
“Wendy, do me a favor, play the ending back one more time for me,” he requested as something leaped out at him. He wanted to be sure he had heard what he’d thought he had.
“Sure.”
“Everybody be quiet and no one else will be hurt.”
“Fuck. Treacherous baby, let’s get up outta here.”
“Son of a bitch.”
This time the sergeant caught it as well.
“Chief, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I am, but it’s impossible. There’s no way Treacherous Freeman could still be alive. Hell, the shit was on national television, unless . . .” the chief said in mid-sentence.
“Wendy get me an address on that location ASAP.”
“Already have it.”
“Unless what, Chief?” The sergeant couldn’t figure it out.
“Those were kids screaming in the background, right?”
“Yeah, so?” The sergeant was still in the dark.
“So maybe Treacherous was a kid.”
“Her son?”
“Exactly.”
As soon as he said it the dispatcher came back on the line. “Chief, the address is to a group home for kids. You ready?”
“Shoot,” he said as the smirk appeared on his face. Once he jotted the address down, Chief Randle made a mad dash for his vehicle.
Chapter 23
Rich opened his eyes at the sound of the car door opening. He smiled when he saw Teflon getting in the front seat and little Treacherous in the back. Teflon looked over at Rich to check on him.
“You good?”
He nodded his head.
“Treach, hand me that box.”
Treacherous handed his mother the first aid kit. “We need to put something on your neck right quick.” Teflon opened the box and pulled out the peroxide, gauze pads, and a cloth roll. She leaned into Rich. “This may sting a bit, man up.”
Rich smiled. He braced himself and clinched his teeth as the sensation of the over-the-counter liquid ignited his insides. Treacherous watched from the back as his mother nursed the stranger’s wound.
“Hold this,” she instructed Rich, placing his hand on the gauze pads. Quickly she wrapped the cloth roll around his neck. Under the circumstances she knew she had done the best she could. Once she felt she had Rich’s wound sedated, Teflon started the car and peeled off. The peroxide and bandages Teflon dressed his neck wound with brought a little relief to Rich’s discomfort.
Rich managed to shift his body and looked back at his grandson. He couldn’t believe the strong resemblance of his son when Treacherous was his age. “Hey li’l man,” he spoke in a low, raspy tone.
Treacherous did not answer, though. He wondered who the man was that sat in the front passenger seat. Whoever he was Treacherous could see that he was bleeding. Rich’s blood had soiled the side of the passenger seat.
“Say hello to your grandfather,” Teflon told him.
“Hi,” Treacherous kept it short.
“That’s your father’s dad,” she explained.
Rich grinned. Treacherous noticed the grin resembled the same one he often found himself displaying at times for different reasons.
“We have plenty of time to get to know each other,” Rich said to Treacherous before turning back around.
“So what took so long?” Rich asked.
“Tsk, it got crazy in there. Some muthafucka tried to play Dr. Phil and I had to slump his dumb ass.”
“So much for in-and-out smooth. No kids, right?”
“No kids, but this piece of shit I was tellin’ you about snuck and called nine-one-one. Don’t really know all they got, but his phone was on for about three minutes.”
Rich frowned. Hearing that he knew it was just a matter of time before authorities got on their trail if they hadn’t already.
“We gotta get out of VA right now,” Rich managed to say through coughs.
“I know,” Teflon agreed as she accelerated on the pedal.
Chapter 24
Chief Randle was just minutes away from the group home when the unexpected call came through.
“Chief Randle, are you there?”
“This is Chief Randle, go.”
“Just got a call saying they got a visual on that royal blue Dodge Avenger. It’s heading northbound on two-sixty-four near Interstate sixty-four. They’re redirecting out all available units.”
The news caused the chief to slam on brakes. He threw the patrol car in reverse, backed up to the intersection’s opening he had just passed, and made a U-turn in the middle of the highway after traveling southbound. The chief wasted no time darting out into the ongoing traffic. He floored the gas pedal until the speedometer read 120.
Fifteen miles up the highway Teflon continued to gaze up at the helicopter that seemed to surface every five minutes as she navigated the Dodge. She couldn’t help but think about the last time a helicopter hovered over her on a highway, but shook the thought off.
“I keep seein’ that damn helicopter,” she pointed to Rich.
“Yeah me too,” Rich said. He was convinced they were being followed. He had enough run-ins to know when the heat was on. He could practically feel them breathing down their necks.
“I think I should get off and switch cars,” Teflon suggested.
Rich shook his head in disagreement. “If they’re on us that’ll be a bad move. As soon as we get off they’ll be swarming us.”
“If we stay in this it’s gonna be the same thing. We can’t outrun anything in this slow-ass muthafucka.”
Rich was thinking the same thing, but knew they had no time to make any type of pit stops. He looked up and saw that the copter was still in view of them.
“We can’t stop,” Rich stated.
Teflon sighed and looked back at her son. “You okay, man?”
“Um-hm.” Treacherous shook his head. He sat quietly and listened to his mother and grandfather’s conversation. Little by little he was putting the pieces together as best his young mind would allow him. Although he was glad to be with his mother, he still couldn’t figure why she had come to get him the way she had. Whatever the case, he knew it wasn’t good. Then just like that, the worst appeared.
Teflon saw the state trooper patrol car alongside the road to her left. A bad feeling began to invade her.
“Just be cool,” Rich said.
“I’m cool.”
They both were aware of the fact that troopers posted up all throughout the interstate and had hoped that was the case, but as she p
assed the patrol car their hopes became a distant thought that vanished into thin air.
“Damn,” she cursed.
The flashing lights of the state trooper’s patrol car appeared in the rearview mirror of the Avenger.
Rich strained to reach down on the floor in front of him.
“Baby, put your seat belt on,” Telfon instructed Treacherous. She looked over to see Rich preparing what they both knew was to come.
Rich checked his AR-15 then sat it in his lap.
“Treach, reach under Mommy’s seat and pass that up to me.”
Treacherous unfastened his seat belt, reached under the driver’s seat, retrieved the identical replica of the weapon Rich had, and handed it to his mother. Treacherous noticed a vanilla- colored envelope under his mother’s seat as well.
Teflon placed her AR-15 between her and Rich.
“Thank you, man, now put your seat belt back on.”
Treacherous did what he was told.
“You want me to stop?”
“Might as well,” Rich replied. “We’re all in now. Ride or die, right?”
“Ride or die.”
The trooper had already unsnapped the latch of his gun holster and drew his weapon as he stepped out of his patrol car. He cautiously made his way over to the passenger side of the vehicle. Despite the report saying the suspects were armed and dangerous, he decided against waiting for backup and instead approached the vehicle with his weapon pointed at the front-seat occupants.
“Ma’am, turn off the vehicle and let me see your hands, both of you” he shouted, his eyes going back and forth from Teflon to Rich. Seeing that no one complied the trooper became more aggressive with his tone. “Ma’am, turn the vehicle off now!” Had he focused more on Rich he may have seen it coming before he felt it.
Rich let off a barrage of shots through the back windshield, six of the eight shots cutting the trooper down where he stood. Teflon snatched the gearshift into drive and jumped back onto the highway.
“Treach, are you okay, baby?” she asked with motherly concern. She had told him to get on the floor and cover his head, knowing what Rich intended to do.
“Yes,” he answered. Treacherous could feel the glass debris hitting his back as his grandfather launched his assault on the trooper. The shots rang off in his ears like fireworks on the Fourth of July, thought Treacherous. For the first time since his mother had taken him from the group home young Treacherous was afraid.
“I’m sorry,” he heard his grandfather say to his mother.
Rich was not a man of many regrets, but seeing how what he thought to be a foolproof plan beginning to unfold he began to regret ever proposing all they had done hours ago to Teflon.
“I told you about talkin’ crazy,” Teflon replied. “You didn’t put a gun to my head or in my hand. I signed up for this shit, remember. We in this together.”
Her response was not surprising to Rich.
“Look,” she said, pointing.
“It ends here,” Rich retorted, seeing the two state trooper cars zooming onto the interstate.
“Treacherous, stay down,” she told her son.
He could tell by her tone another problem had occurred. All that had happened so far seemed surreal to Treacherous. It was like watching a 3-D movie, he told himself, only with real guns, real people, and real blood.
“We got more company.” Rich was the one who pointed this time. Three more cars traveling southbound looped around through the grass that divided the interstate.
By now Teflon had the speedometer to the max. Switching lanes and blowing the horn like a madwoman, Teflon wished Treacherous was there with her.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a beep. The gas light appeared on the dashboard as the needle rested on the letter E. Teflon and Rich exchanged looks without uttering a word. Their silence spoke volumes.
Chapter 25
Chief Randle saw the state trooper car up ahead alongside of the shoulder of the interstate and assumed it was the one that had called in the stop. When he didn’t see the Avenger alongside the highway also he automatically thought the worse. His thoughts were confirmed as he got close up on the car.
“Fuck,” he cursed, seeing the trooper’s body laying alongside the road.
He immediately picked up the walkie-talkie, radioed it in, and floored the gas pedal.
Within minutes Chief Randle could see the convoy of police cars up ahead. Traffic continued to pull to each side to allow him to pass as his silent siren’s light flashed on top of his patrol car. The more the highway parted like the Red Sea the quicker Chief Randle caught up to the other police cars, passing some along the way.
In no time he could see the back of the royal blue Dodge Avenger. He could see the Dodge weaving in and out of the traffic up ahead. Seeing the way the car maneuvered caused Chief Randle to reflect back on the time he had witnessed the last high-speed chase on WAVY 10 news on this very same highway with the girl and Richard Robinson’s son. He wondered what could possibly be going through the minds of the duo he and his colleagues were in pursuit of. His thought came to an end when it looked as if the Dodge Avenger was stopping.
“This is it,” Teflon turned to Rich as the Dodge began to jerk.
She knew they were just mere feet away from being trialed, convicted, and sentenced. Just as before when she had found herself in a similar predicament with her other half, although she didn’t intend for it to end this way, she was prepared for the final fate she and Rich had chosen for themselves. All she could think about was leaving her only child with nothing or no one to love, take care of, and watch over him. Tears of anger began to trickle down her face at the thought.
“Treach, promise me that no matter what, whatever happens, you’ll stay down,” she stated as the car drove its last mile.
“Okay,” he replied from the back.
“Promise me.”
“I promise.” he quickly responded.
“That’s my man.”
She then directed her attention back to Rich. He appeared to have regained some strength from somewhere, she thought, seeing the familiar look in his eyes. It was the look of a bona fide gangster.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Born ready,” she replied. There was a long pause. Something had been weighing heavy on Rich’s mind and heart and he was undecided on whether he should share with Teflon or not since he had taken the shots back at the armored truck and even before then. Teflon could see by the expression on his face there was something wrong. It was the same expression that appeared on his son’s when he was fighting with his thoughts or feelings toward something.
“What’s wrong?” She broke the silence.
The question helped Rich make up his mind. “Nothing’s wrong,” he started out saying. “There’s just something I wanted to tell you. Something I wanted you to know. I didn’t want it to end like this without you knowing.”
“Knowing what?” Teflon became impatient seeing that Rich was beating around the bush about something. “Why you talkin’ in riddles?” Teflon questioned as their two eyes locked.
Rich let out a half of a chuckle holding Teflon’s stare. He felt like a kid in high school all over again. As hard core and as gangster of an individual he felt himself to be he couldn’t believe how nervous he was. He was more nervous saying what he was about to say then he was about what was about to happen to them on the highway. Rather than prolong it any longer he decided to come out and say it.
“I just wanted you to know that I am in love with—”
The word you was silenced by the bullet that penetrated the back of Rich’s head. He had never got to tell Teflon how he had been secretly in love with her since the first day she had come home from prison. Rich’s head landed on Teflon’s shoulder. The shot the sharpshooter delivered was responsible for the blood that temporarily dyed her face.
“Nooooo!” she yelled as she attempted to lift him up. “Rich!” You could hear the pain in her crie
s as Teflon screamed frantically.
The second shot shattered the driver’s-side window, barely missing her head.
“Ma?” Treacherous rose up and yelled. He had no way of knowing the shots that were to follow ended because of him.
Chapter 26
“Seize fire!” the chief exclaimed. “I repeat, seize fire. This is Chief Randle, there is a child—abort,” he shouted into the walkie-talkie.
From where Chief Randle stood positioned behind his patrol car he was the only senior officer on the scene who had seen the little boy’s head surface. He knew the kid was none other than Teflon Jackson’s son. The last thing he wanted to see was for a child to get caught in the crossfire or worse, witness his mother get gunned down right before his very eyes.
“Copy that,” the sharpshooter replied. He too now saw the kid in the backseat.
Chief Randle made his way over to the closest officer. “Who’s in charge?” he asked, approaching.
“Lieutenant Lyles.” An officer pointed two cars up to the left.
Chief Randle kept his head low and made his way over to the superior officer on the scene. Hearing that he outranked the officer despite being out of his jurisdiction made him feel more confident with his decision.
“Lieutenant Lyles?” he asked, seeing the gold bar on the lieutenant’s shirt.
“What can I do for you?” the lieutenant answered, not bothering to turn around. His focus was on the car ahead.
“I’m Chief Randle. I heard you were in charge here.”
“You heard right,” the lieutenant replied, now turning around.
“Well, these particular perps are connected to an armored truck case up two-sixty-four I’m heading. Perps’ names are Richard Robinson and Teflon Jackson, both convicted felons, armed-robbery charges, both bank jobs.”
“Chief, with all due respect I appreciate you having my man stand down due to a child being in the vehicle, but this is my scene and we got it from here,” he said as his eyes shifted back and forth from the chief to the Dodge Avenger.
Carl Weber Presents Ride or Die Chick 2 Page 17