The front door swung open just as Kadir and Abrianna entered the foyer.
“Don’t move,” Kadir ordered, his weapon aimed straight at the woman entering the house. She looked up and screamed.
“Angel?” Abrianna said.
Angel stopped screaming to peer over the shoulder of the naked gunman. “Abrianna?”
Kadir lowered the weapon a few inches. “You two know each other?”
“Unfortunately.”
Angel swallowed while her head kept swiveling between the two of them. “Wh-what are you two doing here?”
Kadir handed the gun to Abrianna. “I’m going to put some clothes on.”
Abrianna rushed around Kadir to get to the door. “Are you alone?” she asked Angel.
“Yeah,” Angel said with her gaze glued to the gun. “You haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t watch the news.”
“No. I mean . . . I know that you got yourself in . . . some trouble, but why are you here? Shouldn’t you be, like, on your way to Mexico or something by now?”
“I would if I could, but I still have what you call a cash flow problem. Where is Madam Nevaeh?”
Angel shook her head. “I don’t know.”
The girl was a bad liar.
“C’mon. You got to know. You have the keys to her house.”
“I was just told to come and make sure the movers grabbed everything. I’m not interested in getting involved in whatever is going on between y’all.”
“Too late.” Abrianna invaded Angel’s personal space to glare into her eyes. “You got me involved, remember? Or were you part of the setup, too?”
“Me? You’re the one who killed that guy. No one told you to do that shit.”
“I didn’t kill him. It was that other trick that Madam Nevaeh sent to the Hay-Adams that night.”
“What other trick?”
“Oh, come off of it. Another woman showed up at the hotel to fulfill Mr. Lucky’s fantasy of having a threesome.”
“Bullshit. That’s not how Madam Nevaeh operates. She would’ve cleared a threesome with you first, and she most certainly wouldn’t have sent you out on your first night to perform one. Madam is not a street pimp.”
Abrianna shook her head. “Look. I may be a lot of things, but crazy isn’t one of them. Another woman showed up at the hotel that night! Kitty,” she remembered suddenly. “Her name was Kitty.”
Angel laughed and shook her head. “I know all the girls who work for Madam Nevaeh, and there isn’t a Kitty.”
Abrianna stared, but no matter how much she concentrated, she couldn’t tune the buzzing in her head to Angel’s thoughts.
Angel eyed her strangely. “Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. I’ve been set up and I have no way of proving that I didn’t do it and I don’t have any money to get out of town.” Frustrated, Abrianna raked her hand through her hair. “I really needed Nevaeh to pay me.”
“Pay you?” Angie barked, incredulous. “For what? Killing a client? You were already eighty grand in debt to her. She was already doing you a favor when Zeke talked her into taking you on.”
“Zeke!” Abrianna smacked the palm of her hand against her forehead. “Why didn’t I think about him before? He could’ve sent that woman to the hotel.”
“Now who is this Zeke guy?” Kadir asked, rejoining the conversation, fully dressed.
“Drug lord,” Abrianna said. Her mind raced. Had Zeke set her up to take the fall? Was that really the price of covering Moses’s debt?
“Of course. Madams, strippers, and drug lords. What did I expect?” Kadir asked.
Abrianna frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Forget it,” he said, but his set jawline made it clear that he was irritated.
Angel backed toward the front door. “Like I said, I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t care. I’m just going to pretend that I didn’t see you guys here tonight and you didn’t see me.”
Abrianna raised her gun. “That’s not for you to decide.”
“What? You think I’m going to snitch to the police? Tell them all about my illegal career as a high-priced call girl?”
“No. But you damn well may try to warn Madam Nevaeh that I’m looking for her.”
“Oh. I think she got the memo.” Angel laughed, glancing around the empty foyer. “I’m the only one who thought you’d be hauling it out of the country.” When she saw the argument wasn’t working, Angel shifted tactics. “Look. I work for the woman. We’re not best friends. C’mon. I’m from the streets, just like you are. I keep my nose out of where it doesn’t belong. And right now, it doesn’t belong in the middle of whatever the hell y’all got going on. Zeke brought me the keys and asked that I check everything out. That’s all I know.”
Abrianna cocked her head. “What’s the story between Zeke and Madam Nevaeh? Business or is it more than that?”
Angel sighed.
“I’m not letting you out of here until you answer all my questions,” Abrianna said, leveling the weapon at Angel. “I’m a desperate woman so you better start talking.”
“I told you, I don’t know anything. I have a strict ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy with other people’s business. Why don’t you ask that friend of yours? He sent that lady cop here—or private detective. I can’t remember which. I’m sure he has more answers than I do.”
“Who, Shawn? He’s dead.”
Angel laughed. “Well, you might want to tell the people at the hospital that.”
50
Abrianna ignored Kadir’s sermon about the risks she was taking by sneaking into Hadley Memorial Hospital to see Shawn. But he could talk until he was blue in the face for all she cared. Shawn was the most important person in her life. And she was going to see with her own eyes that he was still alive. Once Kadir realized that there was no talking her out of what he considered a suicide mission, he found himself agreeing to helping her pull off the impossible.
After a brief trip to the Salvation Army, Kadir produced a mismatching set of nurse’s scrubs and a pretty questionable Halloween wig that made her look as if she resided in a dump truck.
“It’s homeless chic,” Kadir said. “Think Kanye West collection.”
Abrianna rolled her eyes. “Whatever. C’mon. Let’s get out of here.”
Angel coughed. When Abrianna and Kadir’s gaze swiveled in her direction, she smiled. “Oh. Great. You do remember that I’m here.”
“It’s hard to ignore you since you won’t stop bitching,” Abrianna said.
“Well. If you’d just let me go, then I’ll be on my way.”
“We’ve already been over this. We can’t let you go yet.”
“Ah. Yes. You have to find your imaginary threesome partner, Kitty.”
“I didn’t imagine her.”
“No. Of course not,” Angel condescended. “But you do know that holding me against my will is a federal crime?”
Kadir and Abrianna looked at each other and then burst out laughing.
“We’re well aware of the federal crimes we’re stacking up. Thank you.”
Angel rolled her eyes and continued to twitch in the chair that Kadir had dragged in from the patio. “C’mon. Can’t you at least loosen this rope a bit? It’s too tight.”
Abrianna marched over, but instead of loosening the rope, she shoved Angel’s own scarf into her mouth and wound it around her head. “There. Much better.” She stepped back to inspect her work. “Silence is golden.”
Angel grunted and grumbled into the scarf.
“See? It works like a charm.”
“We better get going,” Kadir said before leading the way out of the vastly empty house.
An hour later, Kadir drove to the employee service entrance at the back of the hospital. Luckily the place was incredibly busy and they blended in with the patients and staff effortlessly. It didn’t mean that her heart wasn’t pounding
a mile a minute.
Kadir snuck onto a terminal and found Shawn’s room number in less than a minute.
When Abrianna finally entered Shawn’s room, a tsunami of emotions swept through her entire body and her rarely seen tears rolled down her face. “Shawn!” She rushed to his side. “Shawn, are you awake?” Abrianna whispered, leaning over him.
When he didn’t move, she shook his shoulder. “Shawn!”
He groaned, irritated.
“Shawn, it’s Bree. Wake up!”
Shawn pulled open his eyes. “Bree?”
“Oh thank God!” She rained kisses all over his face. “I thought that you were dead. I saw how they . . .” A sob prevented her from completing the sentence. “You were gone. Oh God.”
Shawn’s face twisted. “God? You believing in God now? Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?”
“Oh, don’t tease me. You have no idea what I’ve been through these last few days.”
“I have a pretty good idea.” His gaze drifted over Abrianna’s shoulder to spot Kadir. “Hello.”
Kadir, manning the door, smiled back. “Hello.”
Shawn lowered his voice. “Okay. Who is Mr. Fine and Sexy over there?”
“Long story.”
“He’s the one that they’re looking for on the news though, right?”
“You’ve been watching the news?”
“Damn right. You’re the hottest thing on there lately.” He glanced over at the television. “See? You on now.”
Abrianna head’s swiveled toward the television set and her mouth fell open. “Ohmigod. It’s my dad!”
Kadir tossed a glance at the television set and then had to do a double take at the decidedly conservative Caucasian male on the screen. “That’s your father?”
Abrianna rolled her eyes away from the screen so she could find the remote. Once she spotted it, she shut off the television.
“I’m so sorry that I didn’t believe you,” Shawn said. “I shouldn’t have doubted you.”
“It’s okay. Really. I would’ve doubted the story if it hadn’t happened to me.”
“So did Castillo find you again?”
“Who?”
“You know. Lieutenant Castillo. Well, she’s a private detective now. She came by here yesterday, and I sent her over to talk to Madam Stick Up Her Ass. The bitch refused to talk though.”
The words pouring out of his mouth were gibberish. “I don’t know anything about that. Why is Castillo looking for me? Who hired her?”
Shawn blinked. “She . . . didn’t say. At least, I don’t recall. Hell, I doubt she’s the only private dick looking for you.” He shifted his gaze back to Kadir. “For the both of you. You’re on the terrorist watch list.”
“Great. You hear that, Kadir? We’re famous.”
“Guess we can head to Disney World now.”
Shawn laughed and then groaned in pain.
“Careful,” Abrianna warned him, concerned. “Are you all right?”
“Peachy. He’s funny,” Shawn said, nodding toward Kadir.
“Mind if I take a look?” she asked, pulling back the sheet before he could respond. When she saw his dressing wrapped tight around his abdomen, more tears sprang to her eyes.
“My goodness,” Shawn laughed. “You’ve really sprung a leak today. It’s okay. They managed to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
“I’m sorry. I just . . .”
“Don’t. Shh. Shh. It’s all right. The doctors say that I’ll live, probably right up until I get their bill.”
Abrianna chuckled. “That’s probably true.”
Shawn pushed a few buttons on the side of the bed to sit up and adjust himself. “So what’s the plan? Are you blowing this taco stand, or are you going to take your chances with the feds?”
Kadir laughed.
When the best friends looked at him, he quickly apologized. “Didn’t mean to butt in.”
“With no money, I can’t get far,” Abrianna said. “I have to find that other chick so I can have some kind of proof that I’m not just lying.”
“What? You think you’re going to be able to get her to confess?” Shawn asked.
“Or trick her into confessing . . . before I’m arrested.”
“Speaking of which,” Kadir cut in again. “We’re going to have to wrap it up and get out of here.”
Abrianna nodded but really ignored Kadir. Now that she had Shawn back, she didn’t want to leave his side. They had been through too much together.
“Shit,” Kadir swore. “Someone’s coming!”
“What?” She glanced around the room and realized there was nowhere for them to hide.
“The bathroom,” Shawn suggested, pointing to the wooden door across the room.
With no time to debate, she and Kadir raced to the bathroom, but they hadn’t even made it halfway there before Tivonte, Julian, and Draya entered.
Everyone froze, before Tivonte belted out a, “Oh my God! Bree!”
“SHHHHHH,” Abrianna and Shawn hissed.
But Abrianna rushed to embrace her friends.
Anxiety started webbing its way onto Kadir’s face. The more people saw them, the higher chance of them getting caught. “Abrianna,” he warned.
She held up a finger and resumed the reunion with her friends. A half hour later, she had them all up to speed with what she and Kadir had done and were working on doing.
Julian jumped in, “That detective chick has already been over to talk to Madam Nevaeh. The woman will not be moved. She’s wasn’t even interested in giving her name, rank, or serial number. Pretty much told Castillo to fuck off.”
“Where did she find her? Because we went out to her crib last night and the place is empty.”
Shawn blinked. “She cleared out in one day?”
“Yep. Vanished without a trace.”
Tivonte spoke up. “Well, I don’t know about Madam Nevaeh. But I know my restaurant is catering a party at her man’s crib tonight. Maybe she’ll show up there.”
“And who is her man?” Abrianna asked.
“Aw, see? Y’all loooove to slay me about my ass being up in everybody’s business, but the minute y’all need to know something, where do y’all go?”
“Is this sermon going to be long?” Abrianna asked. “I do have every law enforcement agency looking for my ass right now.”
Tivonte huffed. “Fine. The tea brewing in the streets is that she and the Teflon Don bump uglies on the regular and have been since our asses were in grade school.”
Abrianna beamed. “Then I guess we have a party to crash.”
51
Abrianna had always known that Draya had skills as a costume and makeup artist. Tivonte bragged on her all the time. Her talent was renowned in D.C.’s growing theater and drag-show circuit. But the reflection that stared back at Abrianna now blew her mind. “Damn. I’m a handsome man.”
Beaming, Draya stepped next to Bree and admired her handiwork. “I agree.”
Behind them, Kadir frowned.
Abrianna spun around. “You don’t agree?”
Kadir frowned. “I plead the fifth.”
Tivonte smirked. “It’s okay to be attracted to men.”
The group chuckled.
“You look nice too,” Abrianna told Kadir, even though she was still trying to get used to how Draya had aged him thirty years with believable wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. The gray hair spray was a nice touch too.
Kadir kept staring, then asked, “It doesn’t hurt having your breasts strapped down like that? I mean, your chest really looks flat.” He reached over and touched them for himself.
“It’ll take some getting used to,” Abrianna admitted, swatting his hand away and facing the mirror again for another look. The low-crop wig. The goatee. Draya had even strapped small pillows around her waist to hide her curves.
“One thing for sure,” Julian said. “Zeke and that madam are never going to recognize either of you tonight at that
party.”
A proud Zeke watched his guests mix and mingle from the second story balcony of his private estate west of Washington. The place was packed with the rich and powerful—from both sides of the law. For his birthday, he made sure he showed out with the best that money could buy.
Today, he was also closer to going from kingpin to full-fledged cartel mode. After a year-long negotiation, he had finalized a distribution deal for his Cotton Candy with King Carlos, a rising kingpin out of Detroit. While everyone partied and had a good time, Carlos’s men were loading their first shipment from his warehouse.
Basking in all of it, he signaled to the band playing on the pavilion. The music faded and guests tapped champagne glasses until Zeke had everyone’s attention.
“Thank you, everyone,” he said. “I promise that I’ll keep it short and sweet. First: I thank you all for coming. I truly appreciate the love and the gifts. The gifts a little more than the love, actually.”
The crowd laughed.
“This past year has been one hell of a ride. I’ve met new friends and we all made lots of money. I have every bit of confidence that this next year will be even better.” He lifted his glass. “Cheers, muthafuckas!”
Laughing, the crowd echoed his cheers and then applauded.
Minutes later, Zeke descended the stairs to join his guests out on the back lawn. Sometime later, he sauntered behind Madam Nevaeh and slid his arm around her waist. “Why the long face, Tanya? Aren’t you having a good time?”
She rolled her eyes, but kept her plastic smile firmly in place.
He chuckled. “C’mon. It’s my birthday. You’re supposed to be nice to me.”
His reasoning failed to move her.
“So it doesn’t matter to you that after tonight I’ll be one step closer to making all our dreams come true? C’mon. Smile. Who wants to be a king without a queen?”
Smirking, Madam Nevaeh turned around in his arms and faced him. “You’re always promising me the world.”
“Don’t forget the moon and stars,” he added.
Her smile strained. “And yet you can’t manage to find and kill one measly stripper?”
“Here we go again.” Zeke sighed. Nevaeh had finally burst his sunny bubble. How many times do I have to tell you that the situation is being handled?”
Conspiracy Page 27