More Pain, Pleasure and Lies

by Qiana London

  “You can tell that she still loves you, man. I don’t know any woman who would still go above and beyond for you the way that she does despite everything that she’s been through.”

  “Yeah, I know, and she’ll always have a special place in my heart, but—”

  “I get it, man. Dezzyis a good one too,” he interrupted.“Just make sure you don’t fuck it up.” Snow stood and continued to look out at the view. Without turning around, he spoke nonchalantly.“You know we have to kill this motherfucker, right?”

  “Is it bad that I’m looking forward to it?”

  “If you weren’t, I would think that something was wrong with you.”

  “We can’t leave any loose ends.”

  “I know.”

  “But I don’t think Fatima does.”

  Snow turned around to look at me. “We ain’t gonna hurt her, Khalil.”

  “Of course not, Snow. You know me better than that. But I don’t think she understands that we’re talking about doing more than sending her brother to prison for life.”

  “Then we need to make it our business to help her understand,” he said firmly.

  I nodded in agreement. I knew shedidn’t think highly of herbrother, but I wasn’t sure that she wanted him dead.

  “Well, time is of the essence. Let’s get to work.”

  I stood up, and we both headed back into the apartment.

  *****

  Snow had taken Fatima shopping for clothes and other things she would need over the next few days. We all had agreed that she needed to stay clear of her place for now until we had finalized our plans and Diandre was no longer a threat. I told Dezzy that it was a good idea for her to stay under the radar too. I wouldn’t put it past him to come after her again, especially since he knew she was my main motivation for pursuing him in the first place. She cooperated without hesitation, and contacted her clients scheduled over the next week to reschedule their appointments. After all, she knew firsthand what he was capable of. They would both stay at my place where they would be safe.

  Melanie was no longer secluded upstairs. She had taken over my office area and was using my computer to conduct surveillance mapping of both Fatima’s house and the law firm she worked out of when she wasn’t teaching. Melanie was able to hack into the security systems to get an inside view. She was also able to tap into nearby surveillance cameras in order to view different vantage points and determine which location would be best for us to strike. While she focused on our assignment, I finalized business with one of our clients over the phone. I needed to make sure our money continued to flow, especially since Snow and Melanie had only agreed to this assignment as a favor to me.

  Now that Dezzy knew the truth, I was comfortable with allowing her to see me in my element. She observed from a distance as Melanie and I worked.I could tell she wanted to ask questions, but she didn’t interfere. Instead, she sat back on the couch and fiddled with her phone. As I slowly paced the floor, I caught her eye and winked. She smiled and went back to what she was doing. I wrapped up the call and as I did, Melanie called me over.

  “I want to do a bit more surveillance, but I think that we should ask Fatima to have him meet her at work. It will make it a lot easier for us to infiltrate the building.We’ll have Fatima contact her sister-in-law and ask her to have Diandre contact her since the two of them are literally partners in crime.”

  She picked up a notepad to show me the ideas she had been brainstorming. I looked on over her shoulder as she explained the potential plan. I nodded in agreement as I listened to what she’d come up with. Melanie was definitely skilled at intelligence. The plan was brilliant.

  “You may decide to call in favors and involve a few additional men, but I think less is more in this case,” she explained.

  “No, I think you’re right. Involving too many people can complicate things.”

  “I’ll get some additional information from Fatima on her colleagues’ work schedules and monitor activity the rest of today and tomorrow. If everything goes over the way that I think it will, we can make this happen in a couple of days.”

  “That sounds good to me.”

  Snow and Fatima walked through the front door. He was carrying several shopping bags, and she was holding a small overnight bag. Snow put the bags down near the front door as Fatima walked further into the apartment.

  “So I see the two of you went by Fatima’s place,” I said.

  “Yeah, she insisted that there were things she needed from her house,” Snow mocked. “And I told her that the only way she could go there was if I went with her.”

  “Hey, you guys told me that I couldn’t go home for several days,so I wanted to grab a few things and important documents,” Fatima interjected. “How did you all know that we went there anyway?”

  “It’s our job to know,” I replied and smiled.

  She looked confused at first, but then she caught a glimpse of her house on the computer monitor. “Of course,” she said nonchalantly.

  “How was it looking, Snow?Melanie’s outside view is a bit limited.”

  “Fortunately, her house sits on a corner. I rounded the block when we turned onto her street so that I could scout things out. He’s got eyes on her. I saw a car parked across the street, but the guy was sloppy. We were able to enter and exit through the back of her houseand he didn’t even notice.”

  “Well,that’s a good thing,” I replied and turned my attention to Fatima.“So is there anything in that bag that might be able to help us?”

  “Let’s see,” she started, as she opened the bag and began sorting through the items.“I needed to grab some contracts I’m working on for some clients, my mom’s life insurance documents, the paperwork that establishes me as the executor of her estate, the safe deposit key where her will is kept, and—”

  “That’s it!” Melanie interrupted.

  We all turned our attention to her.

  “We will have him meet Fatima at work to discuss the inheritance, but she won’t have the paperwork. She’ll tell him that they need to go to the safe deposit box to get it, and when they move,we will too.”

  “So wait, I’m going to be with him by myself?” She sounded a bit nervous.

  “Not exactly,” Melanie replied. “We will be there too, but he won’t know it.”

  "And how is that supposed to work?" She sounded agitated.

  Snow placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “What did you come up with?” Snow asked, rephrasing her question.

  “Come over here andlet me show you what I’ve mapped out," Melanie began.

  Dezzy stood from the couch, and excused herself. She seemed uncomfortable as she headed upstairs. I picked up on it right away.

  "Mel will bring you both up to speed. Excuse me for a minute."

  I felt Melanie looking at me, but I avoided her gaze. I could tell that something was bothering Dezzy so I headed upstairs to check on her. When I got upstairs, she was sitting on the foot of my bed, staring off into space.

  "What's wrong, baby?"

  "This is all a bit much, Khalil. I know this is something that you're used to, but I'm not and I'm scared. I don't want anything to happen to you."

  "Nothing is going to happen to me, Dezzy."

  "How do you know that? You can't say that for sure. Diandre is dangerous. You already know that."

  "Because this is what I do. I can protect myself and I damn sure ain't worried about Diandre."

  "I don't doubt that you can protect yourself, KJ, but I know what he's capable of too. I wish that none of this had ever happened because if it hadn't, you would not have gotten involved."

  "Well, I'm involved now and that's not going to change. I want you to be good and the only way that I can make sure that happens is if I take care of this situation once and for all."

  "I appreciate everything you're doing. I really do, but I don't want to lose you."

  "I'm not going anywhere, Dezzy. I prom—"

  She put h
er finger up to my lips, stopping me mid-sentence. "Don't do that. Don't make promises that you can't keep."

  I nodded in agreement. I knew there was nothing that I could say in this moment to assure her. "Just believe me when I tell you that we've got things under control."

  "I'm sure you do. I don't doubt that your team has your back, especially Melanie."

  I was caught a bit off guard. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "KJ, I'm not stupid. I see the way she looks at you. You just make sure that she stays in her lane and gets you back to me in one piece." She looked me dead in my eyes as she put her arms around my neck. "I love you."

  Her words lingered in my head. It was the first time she had ever said them even though I knew that’s how she felt. I paid attention to her actions, and they told me everything I needed to know. But it was nice to hear.

  “You have nothing to worry about, baby. That’s the past.”

  “It better be,” she said with arrogance.

  I was amusedand I wanted to smile, but I held my composure. I didn’t want herto think that I didn’t take her seriously. Instead, I raised her chin, placed my lips on hers, and slid my tongue into her mouth. As we pulled away, I smiled.

  “I love you too.”

  Chapter Nine

  It was the morning of the day before we were going to move in on Diandre, and I was working out in the gym to get my head right the way I always did. I felt an adrenaline rush as I thought about what I would do once I was alone with him. I let my thoughts fuel me as I sweated out my aggression. I twisted from side to side and touched the floor with a weighted medicine ball while I held my knees in the air. My cell phone began to ring, but I ignored it. I was in my zone. I was getting in a good workout and I didn’t want anything to interfere with it. I finished the repetition and had begun doing arm dips when my phone rang again. I was beginning to get annoyed because whoever kept calling me was killing my vibe. I rushed through my set and quickly answered the phone.

  "Yeah?" I asked through heavy breathing.

  "Khalil, we've got a problem," Snow announced. "You need to get back here now."

  I didn't bother responding. Instead, I ended the call. I grabbed my towel, wiped the sweat from my brow, gathered my things, and left.

  *****

  As I opened my front door and walked inside, I heard voices coming from the living room. I locked the door behind me and then moved further into my apartment until I reached the living room. Snow and Melanie were seated in chairs while Fatima sat on the couch with a woman I didn’t recognize at first. They all looked up at me when I entered the room, and the conversation ceased.

  “Khalil, this is my younger sister, Indya. She flew in unexpectedly today from Boston. I wasn’t expecting her until next week to assist withplanning our mother’s funeral. But she said that she received an urgent call from Anthony saying that she needed to get to California right away.”

  I walked over to her and extended my hand to shake hers.“It’s nice to meet you, Indya.”

  She looked confused as she shook my hand. “You as well,” she replied.

  “Apparently, he told her that I had been in a terrible car accident last nightand was in the hospital,” Fatima continued.

  “I told him I would come as soon as I was able. I booked the first nonstop flight I could find after we got off the phone,” Indya added. “You can imagine my relief and surprise when I got here and learnedthat she was just fine.”

  “I wish you would have called me, Indya. I really didn’t want to get you involved in any of this.”

  “You can’t be serious, Fatima. I wasn’t thinking about calling first. My brother called me and said that my sister was hurt and in the hospital. We just lost our mother. If the shoe were on the other foot, you knowyou would have done the same thing.”

  Fatima nodded her head. “I can’t argue with you there.”

  “But I’m trying to wrap my head around everything that’s going on.” Indya directed her attention toward me. “They told me that theythink Anthony had something to do with our mother’s death. And now he’s after Fatima too? This just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  “It’s definitely a lot to try and understand,” I agreed.“But, it’s the truth, and the fact that he made it a point to lure you here lets me knowthat there is probably a price tag on your head too. I’m willing to bet that he got you to come here so that he could get ridof the both of you. From what Fatima has shared about your family, he stands a lot to gain with the both of you out of the picture.”

  Indya looked at Fatima as she processed everything I’d said. She searched her face for answers. Fatima’s eyes filled with tears as she nodded her head, confirming everything that I had told her.

  Indya took a deep breath, shook her head, and sunk back into the couch. “But why would he do this?” She was baffled.

  “That’s the million-dollarquestion, and I wish we had an answer for you,” I replied.

  I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. I leaned against the breakfast bar, and spoke to Indyafrom there.“So how did you end up here?”

  “When I touched down, I tried to call my brotherto see what hospital Fatima was in, but he didn’t answer. So I pulled up a list of hospitals closest to her house on my phone and started dialing, but that was pointless.They weren’t able to give me any information. They were able to confirm that no car accident patients had been admitted to the hospital in the last twenty-four hours. After calling four hospitals with no luck, I decided to try Fatima’s cell phone just in case it was working and in the room with her. When she answered, I told her what Anthony had told me. She told me to stay at the airport, and that she would send someone to pick me up. That’s when he showed up,” she explained, pointing to Snow.

  “So your brother doesn’t know you’re here?” I asked.

  “Not yet. The last time I spoke to him, I told himthat I was going to look into flights, but I haven’t spoken to himsince then.”

  “Good. We need to keep it that way for a little while longer.”

  “Khalil, I don’t want her involved. She’s my babysister,” Fatima insisted.

  “Involved in what exactly? You keep saying that, but I don’t know what you mean.”

  “The less you know,the better,” Fatima replied.

  “Wait a minute, I came all the way—”

  “She’s right, Indya. The less you know,the better,” I added.

  “All you need to know is that they plan to stop Anthony once and for all, and I’m going to help them do it,” Fatima said firmly.

  I could tell that Indya wanted to know more, but Fatima’s tone suggested that she leave the matter alone, so that’s what she did.

  “Well, is there anything that I can do to help?” she asked.

  “Not at this point,” Melanie chimed in.“But if anything should change,we’ll let you know.”

  I gulped down the water and got lost in my thoughts briefly before speaking. “So let’s take a step back for a moment,” I said.“If he baited Indya here,then that means he’s probably up to something too.”

  “My sentiments exactly. And that’s the reason why I said we’ve got a problem,” Snow responded.

  “Okay, so what does this mean?” Fatima inquired.

  “It meansthat we don’t wait until tomorrow. We have to act tonight. We’ve gotta stay one step ahead of your brother,” I responded.

  Fatima took a deep breath as reality started to sink in.

  Snow stood from his chair and went to take a seat next to her. He put his arm around her and gave her shoulder a subtle squeeze.“Breathe,” he reminded her.“You’ve got this. We will be right there with you.”

  She exhaled and nodded her head. Her tense posture let me know that she was nervous. Her hand trembled as she raised it to wipe the sweat that was beginning to form on her brow.

  Indya moved closer to her on the couch and took Fatima’s free hand into hers.“Are you sure you can d
o whatever it is they’reasking you to do?” she asked.

  Fatima took another deep breath and nodded her head quickly. “Do you have anything in there to drink to help take the edge off?” Fatima asked me through nervous laughter.

  “What would you like?”

  “I don’t even care at this point. I just need a shot of something strong.”

  “Not too strong because we need you to be able to focus,” Snow said gently, rubbing her shoulder.

  I wasn’t used to seeing this soft side of him. I was definitely going to give him shit about it later,but now wasn’t the time. I turned around and grabbed a few shot glasses from the cabinet before pulling out a bottle of Rey Sol Anejo tequila.

  “Anyone else needa shot?” I asked before I began pouring.

  “None for me. Thanks,” Melanie said.“I need to keep my head completely clear.”

  “I’m good,” Snow replied.

  Indya raised her hand.

  Dezzy came down the stairs and into the kitchen. She placed her laptop down on the counter. “Count me in too,” she said.

  I was a bit shocked because I knew Dezzy to be a wine drinker, but I guess her nerves were bad too. She walked over to Indya and introduced herself before she took a seat on the barstool in front of the breakfast bar.“I was trying to do some writing, but I heard the conversation going on down here and I couldn’t concentrate.”

  I filled the shot glasses and handed one to Dezzy. She looked at me as she took the glass. She must have been able to read the concerned look on my face because she responded without me saying anything.

  “I’ll be fine, KJ.”

  I picked up the other two glasses and brought them over to Fatima and Indya. Dezzy waited for them to get their drinks, and then they took the shots at the same time.I found it amusing that they all fanned their mouths, attempting to cool them down after they’d swallowed.