Veda grinned. “You want to wash up? The kitchen is through there.”
“I’ll leave dessert on the counter then.” She winked and headed for the kitchen.
Veda spun around in a circle and then arranged the colorful pillows on the floor around the low coffee table that her mother had designed and built. The carvings on it were runes and magical symbols of power and protection.
She headed to the kitchen to retrieve their meal and found Sabrina drying her hands.
“You have a nice kitchen, but it’s rather tight.” Sabrina faced her.
Veda glanced around the warm gold kitchen and shrugged. The center island was a small one not the big one she dreamed of but the space was well ordered with her space-saver microwave and the must-have dishwasher that had cut out valuable storage space.
“I guess your place is huge,” she replied quietly.
“My kitchen’s bigger,” Sabrina agreed with a shrug. “But on the downside, it opens right into the living space with only a low wall between. I hate that and consider it a flaw in the floor plan.”
“I would love to have mine like that,” Veda exclaimed. “En suite? Big master?”
“Yes and yes, but again, the two other bedrooms are smaller and have to share a bath.”
Veda grinned. “Another flaw in the design.”
“Exactly,” Sabrina agreed with a soft chuckle. “What’s your ideal house like, Veda?”
“Oh.” She leaned against the end of the island. “Big center island in my spacious kitchen, a nice fridge, wood floors throughout and nice size bedrooms and each with their own bathroom. Naturally, I have an actual laundry room and a greenhouse.”
Sabrina came to stand in front of her. “You like growing plants?”
“Yes.” She twisted her hair onto her shoulder. “I grew up with a garden in the backyard and a gazebo shaded by trees.” A fond smile played on her lips. “I’d like to have that at my own home someday. And my dad is putting me in charge of a new line, so I might be able to afford a home.”
“Yay! Congratulations. Tell me all about it while we eat?”
She smiled. “There’s not much to tell.” Veda turned to the fridge to grab the small containers of two different kinds of salad. One a pasta salad and the other a green one with chunks of chicken and veggies. “Can you grab the pitcher of tea?”
“Sure.”
After the meal was on the table with tea and napkins they sat down and Veda said a quick blessing before launching into an explanation of her new line.
“My father said I could make the new perfume part of my line. I’ll likely have to put in some of my own money, which I don’t mind doing.”
“And you’ll be doing some of the designing?”
She grinned. “Yes, but I have a full-time designer that I work with since I handle all of the advertising and marketing. And the best part of this line is we’ll be selling to women of limited means.”
“Without scrimping on quality?”
“Of course,” Veda told her firmly. “What good is affordable clothes that don’t look good on you?”
“I agree and with all your passion, the line will take your company far.” Sabrina speared a piece of chicken.
“I’m excited about it, but I’ll be working with my stepmother a little bit. She’s got a brilliant mind, but she doesn’t get the chance to use it except on social work. You know chairing some committee.”
“It’s admirable work, Veda,” Sabrina said dryly.
“But she’s so much more than that, and I can tell she wants more, but her family is upper middle-class and raised her to be a society girl.” She made a face. “My father’s kept her that way.” And yet Anne-Marie stayed with him, loved him despite his secrets.
“You have a good relationship with her?” Sabrina asked curiously.
“She raised me when my mom passed away,” Veda told her softly. “She could have been a bitch, but she was the best second mother I could have asked for.” Anne-Marie hadn’t been able to help her with or understand her issues with being bi-racial or tri-ethnic, but she’d done the second best thing. She’d been there.
“Does she know how you feel?”
“I’ve never really told her that I love her. I respect her. She’s the reason I didn’t fall completely apart when my mother died.”
“You should tell her.” Sabrina shrugged. “Let her know what she’s been to you hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
Veda looked down at her half-eaten salad. Despite being frigid, Anne-Marie was strong in every other area of her life. And when all was said and done, in the worst moments of her battle with bulimia, it had been Anne-Marie’s strength that had pulled her back.
“What about you? You said Pamela was your stepsister.” She frowned.
Sabrina’s expression hardened. “There’s nothing to talk about, Veda. My life wasn’t as good as yours after my mom died. So, I made all the arrangements for this weekend.”
Veda opened her mouth to press, but the implacable coldness in Sabrina’s eyes made her bite her tongue. She didn’t really have any right to know anyway. They were just hanging out. It was nothing serious.
“Fantastic. What time are we leaving? I can get away from work as soon as twelve.”
Sabrina smiled. “I’ll pick you up there then.”
“Can you pick me up here? I’ll want to change into comfy clothes for the drive,” Veda replied. She didn’t want anyone to see them together. She didn’t want questions now or later. And Veda certainly didn’t want to argue with her father.
Sabrina lifted her glass of tea to her lips and took a long drink. Veda watched thinking how impossibly hard her expression was to read.
Sabrina probably suspected she didn’t want to be seen with her, but for the wrong reasons. She couldn’t change what Sabrina thought or what she might feel right now, but if this lasted longer than she expected, Veda would definitely introduce Sabrina to her family.
“Twelve-thirty then?” Sabrina asked.
Veda nodded. “I’m really looking forward to this weekend.”
Sabrina smiled. “I can’t wait to see you naked in the lake beneath the moon.”
Her eyes widened. “No!”
“You’re going to be so hot in nothing but your luscious locks and rosary, sexy baby.”
Veda laughed nervously, and Sabrina leaned toward her and claimed her mirth with a soft kiss. She drew back and gazed into Veda’s eyes making her heart race even faster.
“I could never …”
“You can and you will because I said so,” she said and kissed her again.
Veda didn’t argue because Sabrina made her feel like she could do anything, and she liked that feeling.
Chapter Sixteen
“I don’t know what the hell you were thinking,” the quiet tone vibrated with rage. “You should have just stayed out of that shit. No. You should never have brought them into this.”
“We needed them,” Pamela’s killer, King of Clubs, murmured and reached for the bottle of gin on the side table next to the chair he was seated in. The lights in the study were a light bright making him feel as if he were under a spotlight.
He poured himself another splash. The ice was melting in his glass, but that merely meant he didn’t have to add more soda.
“You’re an ass,” his companion muttered. “Now, The Hatter’s pissed and Trigger’s in deep shit. I’m going to have to kill him.”
“So what?” he asked. “The bastard should never have allowed her to skim so much. I warned him to watch her.”
“Wes was a loss too, but with DHS snooping around. It’s better he was taken out of play,” Black Jack muttered. “You let this shit get out of hand.”
“Yeah, but I’m cleaning it up just like you did a few weeks ago.” Black Jack was The Hatter’s right-hand man, and Black Jack had had to kill a few of the men Black Jack had brought into the organization. One had been a longtime friend.
Black Jack hadn’t batted an eye lash,
but neither had he. They both understood that this was a hard life and hard choices had to be made sometime.
“So, are we getting back on track?”
“DHS is really pushing for Crandall’s murderer and they’re still on Mojo,” he muttered. “And Mojo has been too quiet for my taste since The Hatter’s fuck up.”
“Why didn’t you pull him back?” King of Clubs demanded. “Mojo is a pack of rabid females with guns. A little knowledge has made them damned dangerous.” Mojo was an agency of female mercenaries The Hatter wanted to see dead, but the feds weren’t able to get to them despite the assassinations of public servants Mojo had carried out.
“They aren’t just a two-bit agency of bitches with guns,” Black Jack murmured.
“That is my point, so why is he insisting on fucking with them?”
“I don’t know what his deal was, but I know what it is now,” Black Jack told him. He wants this city filled with drugs he supplies, and he’s worried they’ve put down roots here and won’t let it happen.”
“According to my contact, it’s not them,” he said and then took a sip of his drink.
“Who is it?”
“DEA,” King of Clubs said. “I heard they’ve got a mole inside the organization.”
“Five by Five? Our organization?” Black Jack demanded. “Who is he?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “I’m still working that angle, but my informant said everything’s real tight around this case. They’re determined to take us down.”
“What about Mojo?”
“CIA wants them, but the mole they managed to put inside is dead. The girl didn’t last two weeks.”
Black Jack grunted. “We’ll have to be careful,” he said and narrowed his eyes. “Did you get the tapes back?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t been able to break into her place yet, but it looks like she’s sleeping with some chick.”
He’d known Sabrina Cain since she was eleven and back then she’d been weak and easily controlled. If pressed, she’d cave, and he didn’t expect much different from her now.
“Tail on the girl?”
“Taken care of. I know where she lives and works,” King of Clubs said. “My people will get the 4-1-1 by Monday.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I have a couple of bullets with Cain’s name on them, but only after I’ve obtained the intel.”
“Clean this shit up by Monday. No later than next Friday. We need that information on The Hatter in our hands if we’re going to pull this off.” Black Jack’s tone had hardened.
“We’ll have it,” he assured his partner. They both had the same agenda and their own preservation was only part of it.
Chapter Seventeen
Sabrina hated to leave Veda so soon, but she still needed to check out the SD cards she’d taken from Pamela’s. It didn’t matter what had gotten her killed, but she might be charitable enough to turn the information over to the feds.
The headlights in the mirror hadn’t faded, and she was starting to wonder if the feds were tailing her. The agents had assured her she was a person of interest, but as they could see she wasn’t doing anything illegal.
Sabrina turned into the lakeside community where she’d bought her condo a few years ago. She liked the lake views and even had a boat moored in the marina. Her neighbors left her alone for the most part and she stayed out of their business.
Pulling up to the security gate which was always open during the day, Sabrina input the code. The headlights past and she waited for the gate to open before moving inside. She drove through the community slowly until she reached her condo.
Sabrina found the garage opener and tapped the button. As she waited for the door to roll up, she wondered about something Pamela had said. She’d mentioned getting everything that happened that night on tape, and she’d said nothing about more copies except Charlie would get one.
Did that mean she had more than the one she’d given Sabrina that night or that she’d make Charlie a copy?
Sabrina had assumed the SDs contained at least four more incidences of molestation, but she couldn’t understand why Pamela would have found or even kept them. That footage would only make Billy look bad.
She stepped on the gas and glided into her garage, a pale light illuminating the well-organized space. Now, in a hurry, she cut the engine and climbed out heading inside. The lights were motion–activated and came on as Sabrina moved through the condo.
The thick curtains at the windows covered the shades beneath which she hoped hid some of her progress because no doubt the feds had found a way past the gate by now.
In her spacious bedroom, she dimmed the lights and turned on her computer before going to her closet and the floor safe hidden beneath the carpet inside. She lifted out the square and keyed in the combination before pulling the safe door open.
Sabrina removed the cards and took them back to her computer where she selected the card on the bottom and pushed it into her computer. The drive read the card and displayed five files. Each one had a simple name and number—insurance.
She selected the first file after noting the dates were only a few years old. She watched the murder and rape of a teen-aged girl. The girl was first taken from a shelter for teens. She could tell because of the number of kids in the background.
The conversation during the kidnapping made it clear the girl was being taken against her will, but the fight the girl put up and laughter of the men who raped her was chilling.
“My sister will get you,” the girl said weakly.
“She’ll never even find your body after they’re done with you in Central America,” one man said and laughed at the girl before dragging her up off the ground and shoving her into the arms of a familiar face.
“Take her and make sure she’s never found.”
“Don’t worry,” the man said.
She knew him. He’d been in the Air Force, the last time she’d seen Major Curtis Douglas. He was the son of the Billy’s pal. He’d been in the service when she’d first met him years ago. But he’d been a private then.
Sabrina had run into him once during the time she’d been working for Mojo. Back then Mojo had no name, no home base. They moved around and lived wherever the two owners of the firm took a fancy to live. He’d thought she was in Guatemala on vacation, but she’d been there as part of a team sent to take down a drug lord.
Douglas was in uniform there, but he might not still be in the service now.
She continued with the files until she’d finished the last one. It was three hours later and Sabrina sat back shocked and angry.
The Hatter had been caught talking about parts of his operation in Texas, but she wasn’t sure it was enough to get the man arrested.
Sabrina rubbed her eyes and reached for a second SD card. The second was dated more recently and contained conversations of The Hatter ordering hits of FBI and DEA agents. One of those agents was Crandall. She barely got through some of the footage, murders, rapes, and men who seemed to enjoy their work with a maliciousness that made her want to throw up.
She’d recognized a couple of the faces including Pamela and Charlie who’d known about the trouble Pam had gotten into with The Hatter. She couldn’t believe him, and she hoped he rotted in hell for knowing Pam had been involved with kidnapping teenagers from shelters and promising to protect her when she told him an agent knew.
Crandall and another agent, Cooley.
She spent another two hours watching the footage from the last SD card and was even more stunned and outraged than before.
She sat back in her chair realizing there was no way to ignore what she had. She had to get the information of the crime that was being planned for the next few weeks to someone who could stop it.
Her life would be at risk if she went to the FBI, and she knew it. Charlie might even try to kill her for minute information that implicated him in kidnapping. She’d heard cops of any kind didn’t do we
ll in jail.
She had to make copies of all the cards she’d taken except the ones of her crimes. But she needed help in getting things handled right.
Sabrina knew she couldn’t call Darice. She’d never put Chloe in that kind of danger. She got to her feet and retrieved her cell phone from the bed where she’d dumped it and her keys.
As she picked it up, it rang. Sabrina studied the number and didn’t recognize it, but decided to answer it.
“What?” she demanded.
“Hello, Sabrina, this is Dell, a friend of your sister’s,” he said in a voice that sounded mechanically altered.
“I don’t have any sisters, Dell, so cut to the chase.”
“You have something that belongs to me and if I don’t get it back, your brother is going to pay the price,” he said.
“Fuck him.” She ended the call and dialed one of the only other people she could trust.
“Sabrina, it’s late, what the hell?”
“Ace, I’ve got something volatile and I need advice. My life could be at stake, but it could help you get your man too.”
“What man?” she asked drowsily.
“The Hatter.”
Chapter Eighteen
Veda ended her meeting the next morning with the small team that would be working with her on the new line. Everything was going so well, but this was still the early stages and anything could happen.
“You’re doing well, so far, Veda,” Anne Marie murmured as everyone filed out.
Veda gave her a smile. “Do you think so?”
Anne-Marie smiled. “There won’t be any doubt in your father’s mind how competent you are six months from now,” she said and squeezed Veda’s hand.
“Are you saying that because you think I’m too fragile to take the truth?”
Anne -Marie laughed. “You? Fragile? You’ve never been fragile where business is concerned. In fact, you have the same sharkish attitude as your father. He’s so hung up on the disease he can’t see the real you.”
She pushed out a harsh breath. “That’s my fault.”
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