Troy pulled up another chair, turned it around, and then sat down. “So who is trying to get rid of me, and why?”
“You know I can’t tell you that.”
Troy looked at Savannah. “Turn the lights down a little. It’s too much light.”
Savannah went to the light switch and turned the knob.
“No, don’t!” Redford yelled.
“Don’t tell me a big old burly man like you is scared of the dark,” Savannah heckled.
Troy added, “It’s funny how an assassin can have fears, just like the rest of us.”
“You’re as good as dead, and you”—Redford looked in Savannah’s direction—“You’re going down with him.”
Savannah walked and stood in front of him. “I should have used my other heel and messed up your other leg.”
Troy had created a dangerous interrogator. “We don’t have all day.”
“The commander said you were a threat to our operation. I was only following directions.”
“Did those directions include killing me?” Troy asked.
“If it took that.” Redford looked him in the eyes and didn’t flinch.
Troy was tired of playing around. He stood up and flipped over the chair that Redford was sitting in. Redford fell to the floor. “Time is running out,” Troy stated.
“You know too much. Commander feels like Major collaborated with you.”
Before Troy could respond, Savannah stepped in. “Did you kill my father?”
“No, that’s one assignment I refused to take.”
In a quiet voice she asked, “Then who did?”
“I’m not at liberty to say,” he responded.
Before Troy could react, Savannah stood by where Redford now sat on the floor and kicked him. Redford knew not to attempt to retaliate because at this point Troy didn’t need a reason to take him out. Troy let Savannah release her frustrations before intervening.
“They’re here,” Asia called downstairs.
“Press the button I showed you before!” Troy shouted back. “Back to you.”
“Commander said Major was going to expose us. All of us. You dropping out of The Agency made us think you had no loyalty to us anymore. We—”
Troy was livid and interrupted Redford. “I dedicated ten years to The Agency. My loyalty stopped the day Major was killed. You might not have pulled the trigger, but you were on the team that did. For that, you, too, will pay.” Troy pulled out his gun and pointed it at Redford’s forehead. Savannah’s hands went up to her mouth in surprise. “You might want to leave us alone for a bit,” Troy suggested.
“Don’t. He’s not worth it. Take him where you took the other one. He’s not worth it.” Savannah walked over and touched Troy on the shoulder.
He put the gun down. “She saved your life. I was a trigger away from sending you to hell.” Troy placed the gun on the table. He reached down and pulled Redford up from the floor. “Sit down.”
Redford was sweating by now. He said, “Even if you get rid of me, he’s only going to keep sending someone else.”
Troy asked, “What does he think happened to Irene?”
“He figured she went underground. What do you know about Irene?”
“The Terminator has been terminated,” Troy stated.
Redford hung his head down. “She was a good agent.”
“‘Good’ and ‘Irene’ shouldn’t be in the same sentence,” Troy stated.
Savannah asked, “Do you think it’s wise for me to leave you two alone? I need to go check on Montana.”
Troy looked at Redford. “It all depends on him. If he has one more smart comment to make, he’s history.”
Savannah looked at Redford. “I saved you once. Next time you might not be so lucky.”
He watched her as she ascended the stairs. “She’s a looker,” Redford commented.
Troy laughed. “You’re seconds away from being blown away and you’re focusing on a woman looks. Pathetic. No wonder most women think we’re dogs.”
“You have the hots for her the way you’re acting. Man, if the commander knew that, he would flip,” Redford commented.
“You won’t be talking to the commander anytime soon,” Troy responded. “Answer this last question and then we can proceed.”
“Why torture the girls? You know that’s what he calls them.” Redford laughed. “Never trust a man who will cause harm to his own family. Or in this case adopted family.”
“Get to the point.”
“He found out one of them was poking into things they shouldn’t have been. We were sent to shake them up a bit. No real harm was going to come to them. Major had some information with our names on it. Once we found that, life as they knew it would have gone back to status quo.”
“Tell me this. How could life go back to normal for them? One of you flunkies killed Major.”
“That’s where you’re all wrong. Major was killed . . .” Redford didn’t finish his statement. His body went into an uncontrollable spasm.
Troy realized at that moment he was having a seizure. He didn’t have anything to keep his tongue from choking him. He knew enough not to use his hand, because the person in the seizure could lock onto it, and it wouldn’t be good for either one of them. Redford died right there in front of Troy.
He didn’t know how he was going to break it to the Blakes, but it may have been for the best. Redford would not have survived in the exile he called The Dungeon. Not with his phobia. He knew enough about him to know he would rather have committed suicide than be locked up like a dog.
He needed to get Meeks out of the house. He didn’t need to know that Redford had expired. Meeks was sworn to uphold the law, and he didn’t want to put Meeks in a compromising position.
26
Savannah was shocked to see Dion Meeks sitting and chatting with Montana when she arrived upstairs. He was Montana’s ex, and if memory served her correctly, they didn’t end on such good terms. Montana caught him cheating, and he ended up marrying the woman after she got pregnant.
She listened as he updated them on what he had been doing since high school. “This is really a small world,” Asia said.
Savannah added, “Six degrees of separation.”
Montana looked to be fine. She said, “Imagine how I felt when he showed up to check me out.”
“The expression on your face when you saw me was priceless.”
“If I would have done what I was thinking, I would still be there, trust me,” she responded.
Asia asked, “So why did you divorce?”
“It’s complicated. Let’s just say, things didn’t work out.”
Montana looked at Asia and answered, “I heard she cheated. Karma is something else.” Savannah kicked Montana’s leg under the table. “I’m just saying.”
Savannah motioned for Troy to sit by her. “Your friend and my sister used to date.”
From the look on his face, Troy was surprised. “Small world.”
“That’s what I said,” Asia chimed in.
“Meeks, thanks, man.”
“Anytime. Man, your place is huge. Business must be good,” Meeks commented.
“Let me show you around. I wanted to talk to you about something, anyway,” Troy said while getting up.
Savannah scooted over closer to Montana. “Girl, I know you wanted to croak when you saw him.”
“So many memories came back to mind,” Montana said. She started talking about a few good memories, and then the last memory of finding out he cheated.
Asia said, “He’s looking good.”
“You’re so shallow,” Montana retorted.
“So tell us about the ride over,” Savannah said.
“Do you know he had the nerve to say he wouldn’t have cheated if our dad didn’t intervene and tell him he didn’t want him dating me?”
“I can believe that,” Savannah said.
Asia said, “I would have left you alone, too, if I had to deal with Dad.”
&n
bsp; “That’s the thing. He just should have broken up with me. He didn’t have to cheat.” Sadness swept across Montana’s face.
“Maybe, but that’s water under the bridge now,” Savannah said. “Let us tell you about our guest downstairs.”
Savannah updated Montana on what had happened. Asia didn’t say anything in front of Meeks because of the pact the sisters had made about trusting folks. Montana was amazed at what Savannah was telling her.
“I still can’t believe Uncle Raymond would go to this extreme,” Montana said.
“He has, and I’m just glad Dad isn’t here to witness this betrayal,” Asia stated.
“Ladies, I think Uncle Raymond may be the triggerman,” Savannah confessed. “Think about it. When I arrived at the house, it didn’t look to be disturbed. Whoever killed Dad had to be someone he knew, because he would have gone out with a fight, otherwise. The person had to have caught him off guard.”
Montana and Asia thought about it. Asia spoke first. “You’re right. I remember you telling us how the door was locked and nothing seemed to be out of place.”
“In order to bring Uncle Raymond down, we’re going have to get a confession from someone on that list. We have two down, and two more to go,” Savannah said.
Montana said, “I’m over Dion. But him being here is making me uncomfortable.”
“Just ignore him,” Asia stated.
“If he wasn’t so doggone sexy, I could,” Montana said.
Asia’s mouth dropped open.
Montana continued, “There I said it.”
They shared a private laugh just as Troy and Dion returned to the room.
Dion said, “Ladies, it was a pleasure seeing you all again, especially you, Montana, but I have to go.”
Savannah looked at Montana. “Walk him to the door.”
If looks could kill, Savannah would be dead. Montana mumbled some things that Savannah couldn’t hear.
Troy remained standing. “Ladies, we have a situation.”
Savannah held her head down in disgust. “What now?”
Troy informed them of their guest’s unexpected demise.
Asia stood up. “How are we going to get rid of a body without the police finding out?” She held her hand up to her mouth. “The police was just here. What if Dion got wind of this? This place will be swarming with police.”
“Calm down,” Troy said. “We don’t want him to hear you now, do we?”
Savannah walked to where Asia stood and put her arms around her to calm her down. “We have to trust Troy to handle this.” Savannah looked at Troy. “And we do trust you to take care of this.”
Troy’s eyes said what his mouth didn’t. Savannah felt relieved. Troy left her and Asia in the room huddled up.
When Montana returned to the room, Savannah gave her an update. Montana said, “I don’t know about you all, but this has been one hectic day. Are we staying here or going home?”
All eyes were on Savannah. Savannah made a decision for all three of them to return to their family home. “If we’re going home, we need to leave now before it gets dark.”
“We can leave some of our stuff here, just in case we have to come back,” Montana suggested.
“True. Well, y’all go get your stuff together and I’ll meet y’all at the front in about fifteen minutes,” Savannah said.
Savannah went to look for Troy. She figured he would be in the dungeon, so that was the first stop she made. “Troy, we’re going home tonight,” she said.
“I don’t think it’s safe,” Troy stated without hesitation.
“We’ll be fine. You’re only a phone call away, right?” Savannah knew that now wasn’t the time for joking, but she wanted to ease the situation.
Troy stopped what he was doing. He removed the black gloves he was wearing and walked up to Savannah. “Promise me, you’ll call. Even if you hear a cat screeching,” Troy said.
“Promise.” Savannah was sure Troy could hear her swallow. He was so close that Savannah could feel Troy’s breath.
Savannah turned to walk up the stairs. Troy turned her around. Without waiting for an acknowledgment, Troy planted his lips on top of hers. Time stood still as they explored the depths of each other’s mouths.
Troy released her after a long embrace. He held her hand and led her up the stairs. He playfully patted her on her behind before they were in the sight of her sisters. She popped him on the arm. The sound was loud enough for her sisters to hear, because they turned around.
“I’m ready,” Savannah said while she gave Troy the evil eye.
Troy hugged Montana and Asia. “Call me when y’all make it home,” Troy said to Savannah.
“I’ll think about it,” Savannah responded.
“You’re so stubborn,” Troy commented.
“And that’s what you love about me,” Savannah responded as she blew a kiss at him, then followed behind her sisters.
Savannah waved at him as she entered the passenger seat of Montana’s vehicle.
“Between you and Montana, y’all make me sick,” Asia said from the backseat.
“Girl, please. Troy is just a means to an end.”
“End of your singlehood,” Asia joked.
“That’ll be the day,” Savannah responded. She knew she was fighting a losing battle.
27
Troy removed all traces of Redford from his house. He made sure whoever found him would not be able to trace it back to him. If Redford hadn’t had any kids, Troy would have made his body disappear for good. He hated he died, but it may have been best. He would keep what he knew about Redford’s involvement sealed for his kids’ sake.
Savannah left Troy a message to inform him that they had arrived safely. Keeping Redford’s declaration in mind, he wasn’t too keen on Savannah being out of his sight. She was equipped to handle herself, but it didn’t make it easier.
In the meantime he had a business to run. He was long overdue for an update on some of the projects his staff was handling. He called Cheryl and had her update him. It was way past midnight by the time Troy got off the last call. Satisfied that all was well, Troy went to bed.
Troy never used alarms to wake him up. His body had an automatic time clock. He woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. He sat straight up when Savannah’s distressed voice came from the other end. “She’s gone” was all he could make out.
“Vanna, if you don’t calm down, I can’t hear you.” He jumped out of bed and put on his clothes as Savannah tried to explain to him what had happened.
“Montana, she’s gone. She left a note that she was going to go meet Uncle Raymond, and she’s not answering her phone.”
Troy was heading out the door before Savannah could finish telling him what had happened. “Where’s Asia?”
“Right here. She’s going out of her mind,” Savannah responded.
“If she met him at the office, sometimes the phones don’t work up there,” Troy said, hoping he was correct.
“Something just isn’t right,” Savannah said. “She is so pigheaded. I told her not to trust Uncle Raymond.”
Troy knew now wasn’t the time to remind Savannah that being pigheaded must be a family trait, because Savannah, likewise, was not the easiest person to get along with at times. He sped down the highway.
“I’ll be there soon. Call me if she returns, or if you hear from her before I get there,” he said, then disconnected the call.
Troy dialed Meeks’s phone number. He left a message for him to return his call. Meeks called him back a few minutes later. Meeks sounded out of breath. “Did I catch you at a bad time?” Troy asked.
“No, just working out,” Meeks responded.
“What I’m about to tell you has to stay between us,” Troy stated.
“Sure, man. You know you can trust me.”
Troy asked him to meet him at the Blakes’.
They pulled up in the driveway at nearly the same time.
“Thanks, man, for coming. I need you
r help in locating Montana,” Troy said as they walked toward the front door.
“Montana. What do you mean help finding her?” Meeks said in a low voice.
Before Troy could elaborate, Savannah had opened the front door. She rushed into his arms. Troy hugged her tight. “Come on. Let’s take this inside,” Troy said.
“Dion, thanks for coming,” Asia said. Her eyes were red and puffy.
They all sat in the living room. Savannah snuggled up next to Troy as he tried to soothe her. Asia held on to the phone as if it were her lifeline.
“Savannah, I need you to calm down and tell Dion what you told me,” Troy stated.
Savannah repeated everything. Troy rubbed the outside of her hand for comfort. “I need to look around,” Troy said.
“Where’s her room?” Dion asked.
“Dion, Montana doesn’t live here,” Asia responded.
“Oh, I thought you all lived together.”
“No, we’re just staying here for now,” Asia said.
“While you two talk, Savannah, please show me the note.”
Savannah led him to the kitchen. She handed Troy the message. He viewed it several times. “Her handwriting doesn’t seem like it was written in distress.”
“You can tell that from reading her note?” Savannah had a confused look on her face.
“Another one of my skills,” Troy said. “Where’s Asia’s laptop?”
“Follow me.” She led him to Asia’s old bedroom.
Troy logged on. “I see she has the icon of the golden eagle.”
Savannah stated, “I told you Dad equipped us well on some things.”
“I see. If he trusted her to access the golden eagle’s database, I know he must have felt this day would be coming.”
Troy reviewed phone records. “This is strange. He didn’t mention he talked to Montana.”
Savannah leaned over his shoulder to see what he was talking about. “Only number I recognize is Uncle Raymond’s.”
Troy wasn’t sure if he should tell Savannah or not. For the moment he would keep the identity of the phone number to himself.
“Savannah, we’ll get Montana back okay. I need to do some further investigating. I’ll pay Raymond a visit.”
“But that’ll blow our cover. He’ll know that we’re working together.” Savannah was upset. “I don’t know what to do.”
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