She had been out of the field for a while, but her instincts were still intact. She inwardly praised herself.
Destiny heard two sets of footsteps at the door and stood readying herself. She was going to let Reece have it, no matter who he was with!
A pause at the door then . . . BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three deep explosions blew the door off the hinges! The explosion blew Destiny back against the wall where she slid down. She was barely conscious, but when the smoke cleared partially, she saw two men standing in the doorway. In front of them lay the once-killer pit bull. The dog was dead, with shrapnel and gunshot wounds to his head and abdomen. One of the figures had a shotgun in his possession.
Destiny began to panic. This was not Reece. The only question was who was it?
* * *
Doe laid in amazement at the cosmic fellatio he was receiving. The rhythm was right, as was the pressure. In fact, everything was right, which was making the encounter even harder to bear.
Doe had snuck out earlier in the morning with the excuse that he had to see Reece about something. If Qwess wasn’t down to lie for him, surely Reece would have his back. Besides, he only wanted one last romp with Dana before he ended things. He knew he couldn’t turn a hoe into a housewife. He had married his wife for a reason. She was a keeper. She was special, she was loyal, she was smart. Yes, he had played outside his pasture, but now he was ready to return home to till his own land.
But first he wanted to roll in the strange grass one more time.
When Doe called Dana, she was available as always. She seemed like she lived for Doe’s call. Doe laid his game down, and an hour later he was being pulled into a hotel room on the twentieth floor of the Hilton.
Dana wasted no time removing Doe’s clothes and giving him what he came for, only how she could do it. When she sensed Doe about to peak, she stopped. This was Dana’s specialty. Prolonged, delayed ejaculation made for a more intense orgasm.
She led Doe over to the balcony, to resume their intercourse outside. She wanted Doe to give her back shots while she overlooked the city. Doe obliged her happily. This was what made her memorable. Made her worth coming back for. Made her worth risking a marriage for.
Dana stopped Doe short of climax yet again and led him back inside. She wanted him in the shower. They went into the shower. Doe slayed Dana up against the wall. She then washed him, and they exited after tremendous luxuriating. Dana was drying Doe off when the buzzer rang. Thinking it was room service, he put on a robe to answer the door. He started to answer it naked he was feeling so good, but he thought better of it. He was a big-time music exec.
Doe swaggered to the door with big nuts and flung it open...
And Niya punched him dead in the face.
* * *
Gil and Chabo had gotten wind via television that they were wanted men. Samson’s picture was being flashed on the tube every half hour with the word “Charged” tattooed at the bottom of the photo. Gil and Chabo didn’t speak much English, but they understood what that word meant. When their pictures flashed right after Samson’s with the word “Wanted” plastered across it, they understood really well what that meant.
It was time to get the hell out of Dodge.
They had no qualms about going back to Mexico. However, because their stateside partner was in jail, they had no way of getting to their real money. Samson had left them in a bind—broke and wanted, which was a deadly combination. However, the ingenious brothers devised a plan to put some money in their hands to flee the country with, and it involved King Reece.
Gil and Chabo had first discovered the bunker when Samson brought them along to drop off something for Reece. Samson’s instructions were explicit to the brothers: This place didn’t exist. He explained to them that Reece would spazz out if anyone came near who was inside. Gil and Chabo thought it was weird that the great King Reece would confine someone he loved to conditions so medieval. They dismissed their confusion as cultural misunderstanding at first. However, curiosity overwhelmed them, so they prodded a little further and found out that the person inside was actually the mother of King Reece’s child.
That’s when things made sense to them.
They figured that King Reece hid Destiny away from the world because he wanted to protect her from his enemies or the prying eyes of law enforcement. They labeled him a genius for the move, because no one would think to look for her out in the woods. Nobody but them. They figured that this was King Reece’s hideout, and if this place was good enough to stash his woman, then surely his money would be on the grounds as well. If anyone knew where some of King Reece’s fortune was hidden, it was Destiny. If they could convince Destiny to reveal the whereabouts of King Reece’s fortune, they could be halfway to Mexico before anyone knew what happened.
The brothers staked the bunker out for a day, then decided to make their move. After a little observation, they ascertained the grounds were empty except for the dogs. Ready for war, they approached.
Gil grabbed the shotgun, Chabo the machete. On their way to the bunker door, Chabo sliced one of the dogs so smoothly, the animal didn’t have a chance to yelp.
At the door, Gil charted out the hinges as he had done a thousand times in the past, aimed the shotgun accordingly, and pulled the trigger. Voilà! The door rocked from its hinges.
When the dust settled they stepped inside to find a lone woman cowering in the corner. The place reeked of feces, and a slain dog lay at their feet. They deftly stepped across the dog in the direction of the damsel in distress. Gil palmed her face, looking at her carefully. She was cute despite the ragged jumper she wore.
Destiny attempted to speak, “W-Where’s Reece?” she sputtered, clearly befuddled.
Gil looked to his brother and smiled.
“He’s not here, but I have a message from him.” Gil paused a moment. “He said to take us to where his money is.”
Destiny was confused. “What?”
“We can do this nice or the hard way,” Chabo said as he approached Destiny where she cowered in the corner.
“Wait, so you don’t work for Reece?” Destiny asked.
The brothers looked at each other and shared a laugh. “Not anymore!” they chimed in unison.
“We came for the money, puta! Where is Reece’s money? Tell us and we will go.”
Destiny frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Gil struck first. He lashed out with an open-palmed slap to Destiny’s jaw. The blow echoed inside the tiny chamber, and Destiny slid across the bunker floor into the corner, sobbing pitifully.
“What are you doing?” Destiny cried. “No . . . no . . . please don’t do this. I don’t know anything about any money.”
“You lie!”
The brothers advanced on opposite sides of her. Gil grabbed her left arm and Chabo tried to clutch her right, but Destiny maneuvered out of his clutches and kicked him in his legs. Chabo stumbled, but when he recovered he smacked Destiny in the face with his heavy hand. Blood poured from her nose as she tumbled back onto the bed.
“Toma!” Chabo yelled triumphantly.
Gil turned Destiny over and sat on her chest on the cot. He rained blows on her mercilessly. She attempted to shield her face with her hands, but a good blow slipped through her guard and knocked her in the head.
“Where is the money?” Chabo asked.
While Gil sat on her chest, Chabo ransacked the bunker looking for signs of a safe or a secret compartment. Meanwhile Destiny lay on the cot drifting in and out of consciousness, shaking her head slowly.
Suddenly Destiny gathered a burst of energy and rolled Gil off her chest. He tumbled to the ground, and Destiny managed to rake her fingers across his eye.
“Ahhh!” Gil yelled, clutching his eye. “Chinga puta! I’m going to kill you!”
Chabo rushed to his brother’s aid and caught one of Destiny’s legs. He dragged her over to the cot and kicked her in her midsection. Destiny rolled into the fetal po
sition to protect herself from the blows. Gil and Chabo commenced to beating Destiny together, kicking her savagely.
Chabo wrapped his hands around Destiny’s neck and hoisted her high into the air. “Last time, where is the money?”
Blood poured from Destiny’s mouth, and a huge knot lumped up on the side of her forehead. She was dizzy but coherent. “I don’t know where any money is,” she insisted, then added, “And even if I did I wouldn’t tell you—puta!” Destiny spit a huge gob of blood right into Chabo’s eyes.
Chabo dropped Destiny to the floor and wiped the blood from his eye. As soon as she hit the floor, Gil was on her. He raised the butt of the shotgun high in the air and smashed it into her face. A sickening thud echoed throughout the bunker, and Destiny collapsed. Gil racked a round into the head of the shotgun and pointed it at Destiny’s head.
“Wait, hermano, if you kill her then we cannot get the money. Let’s tie her up and torture her. She’ll tell us where the money is.”
Gil turned Destiny’s limp body over on her stomach while Chabo looked for something to tie her up with. Destiny stirred a bit, and Gil clocked her with the butt of the shotgun again.
“Careful, don’t kill her,” Chabo warned. He found a strip of clothing and began to tie her up.
Suddenly, they heard a car roaring down the trail.
* * *
“You dirty muthafucka!” Niya stole on Doe again, knocking him to the floor. She jumped on top of him and dug her nails into his face.
“I trusted you, you lying piece of shit!”
Hearing the ruckus, Dana ran from the bathroom naked. Her eyes locked on Niya, and she almost shit on herself. She tried to run back whence she came, but Niya caught her, wrapped her pretty hair around her hand, and commenced to wailing on her head while she dragged her toward the door.
“You trifling whore! You looked me in my face and now you fucking my husband?! I’ma kill both you no-good cheaters.”
Niya dragged Dana out into the hallway naked, kicking and stomping the breath out of her. Niya was taking it back to B-More on that ass. “I ain’t no punk bitch! I ain’t no punk bitch!” Niya swore with each kick. Dana rolled around on the floor, maneuvering from the blows.
Doe recovered from his spot on the floor and tried to pull Niya back, but Niya would have no part of it. She stopped long enough to look at Doe and ask, “Oh, you trying to protect yo’ hoe?!” After that, she was swinging again, this time on Doe.
Hotel security came rushing, followed by a man in a cheap suit. Cheap Suit rushed past security and yoked Niya up.
“Niya, please, you swore you wouldn’t do this! Calm down,” Cheap Suit begged.
Niya was still tripping, but being restrained, she finally stopped swinging.
Through blood on his face, Doe saw the man in the cheap suit calming his wife down. He didn’t like it one bit.
“Who the fuck is this?” Doe demanded to know.
* * *
Reece whipped his Cadillac down the trail in a rush. He couldn’t waste another minute. He had slept on his decision and felt even better about bringing Destiny home. He had had breakfast with Prince and dropped him off at his uncle Qwess’s house. He left Prince with a couple hundred dollars in case he needed something while they were out, promised him a surprise, and jumped in his chariot to claim his queen.
Reece had finally realized the secret to a happy life. No matter how rich you were, how ruthless you were in the sight of your enemies, how respected, feared, or whatever, without someone to share it with, life was meaningless.
Reece had screwed women the world over, but never had he encountered chemistry like he shared with Destiny. Before she removed her façade or after. Reece didn’t believe in soul mates, but what he and Destiny shared was undeniable. He couldn’t hide it any longer. It was time for him to be happy.
What Reece saw when he rounded the bend to the bunker made his heart drop. Like a trained assassin, he took in everything with one good look. The late-model Chevy. The slain dog. The bunker door blown from the hinges.
Reece knew all along that this scene was not the work of the authorities. This was done by people on the other side of the law. Only question was who?
Reece palmed his .45 in his right hand and reached in the glove box for its twin. He exited the Cadillac cautiously to learn who had infiltrated the king’s court.
Reece crouched low, scanning the grounds as he approached the bunker. He planted his back to the wall of the bunker and began sliding down the outside of the bunker checking for his intruders. Going down the east wall, he saw no one. However, he did see footprints. Two sets. Reece peeked around the corner before turning it. Coast clear, he slithered around with his two heaters spread out and leading the way. He resembled a crucifix on the wall.
Seeing nothing on the outside of the bunker, he carefully came around to the entrance. Reece peeked inside and lost it!
He saw the dog first, sprawled out on the concrete floor with a huge hole in his bloody head. A horrible stench singed Reece’s nose. His eyes followed the scent, and there he saw the love of his life sprawled on the cot twisted up like a contortionist.
Reece raced inside, forsaking all danger, to Destiny’s aid. He threw one of his pistols on the cot and grabbed her hand to check her pulse.
It happened so fast. A burst of pain hit Reece as a bullet slammed into his back. Simultaneously thunder boomed inside the bunker as Gil fired another shot and missed.
Chabo and Gil emerged from each corner of the bunker with their guns blazing. The shots turned Reece around, and he instinctively squeezed off a few rounds at them. The first shot imploded Chabo’s chest. The rest missed their mark, as the cannons made their presence felt inside the cramped space.
Gil saw his brother go down and rushed toward Reece with his .38 blazing. Reece met him step for step, bullet for bullet. Five of each. The two collided into each other with Reece falling underneath the bigger Gil. Both men continued to pull their triggers. Unfortunately for Gil, his trusty .38 would be his downfall this day, for while he pulled his trigger, the hammer snapped and snapped with no report.
Reece’s .45’s answered each time he called on it. Seven more shots lifted Gil clean off of Reece’s body. Reece turned over on his side and sent a fatal round to Gil’s face.
As soon as he saw his bullet hit its mark, Reece collapsed on his back. Darkness threatened to envelop him, but Reece remembered Destiny and fought through the fog. He was losing energy rapidly. He didn’t know how many shots he had taken and he didn’t care. He had to check on Destiny.
Reece crawled toward the cot. He crawled until his knees collapsed. When he couldn’t crawl anymore, he dragged himself toward Destiny on his arms. He reached her eventually but couldn’t muster the energy to mount the cot. Damn, why didn’t he bring her a bed?
Unable to mount the cot, Reece draped his bloody arm over the bed and paused to gather his strength. No matter how hard Reece tried and tried, he couldn’t gather the strength to mount the cot. He was losing blood, and numbness and pain began settling in. His head swooned, and his face plopped on the floor with a thud.
Reece lay dying in his own blood, the love of his life inches from him yet so hard to touch. Unable to move, Reece allowed his eyes to wander across the floor. Maybe to take a last picture with him to the afterlife. Maybe because that was the only thing his sight would grasp. Nonetheless, they wandered.
His eyes caught the used ramen cups. The old jack-mac cans. The partially eaten cookies.
The EPT pregnancy test.
Reece squinted and saw the plus sign in the window. He heaved one last deep breath.
Then darkness enveloped him.
* * *
Doe and Niya were locked in a heated argument. The room had cleared out. All who remained were the chief of security, Doe, Niya, and Cheap Suit. Dana had been allowed to put on some clothes before being escorted off the premises. After much pleading (and a stack of hundreds) Doe had managed to stay in the
hotel long enough to talk to his wife.
Doe held a bloody rag to his face while he demanded answers.
“I’ma ask you one more time, Niya, and I’ma fuck you up if you don’t answer. I’ma fuck you up anyway about my face,” Doe promised. “But I wanna know who this cheap-suit-wearing mu’fucka is?”
Niya looked at Doe like he missed the butt end of a cruel joke. “You still don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?!” Doe roared. He was getting more pissed off by the minute.
“Get this!” Niya reached into her Coach bag and started throwing pictures on the bed. “And this. And this. And . . . this!” She flung picture after picture on the bed.
Doe’s mouth gaped open in surprise. On the pictures Dana was riding Doe. The pictures were taken from their Marriott episode. Obviously from an adjacent hotel window.
“I had you followed, you dirty bastard,” Niya explained.
Then it hit Doe. Cheap Suit was a private investigator. He had been trailing Doe. That was how his wife found out about him being there.
Doe blanked out and charged Cheap Suit.
A couple minutes later, a gang of hotel security guards were pulling Doe off of Cheap Suit.
* * *
A hazy plus sign was what Reece saw as he drifted in and out of consciousness. The little bit of his mind that still functioned was bent on one thing: saving Destiny.
Reece felt his whole right side of his body in flames. His left side was numb. He moved his head a bit and saw that he still clutched his hammer in his hands. Looking up, he saw Destiny’s bloody leg hanging from the bed. That one glimpse provided a much-needed adrenaline boost.
Reece reached deep inside his core where the spirit of a warrior resided and pulled out strength.
He stood enough to grab Destiny’s leg and pull her down to the floor with him. She landed with a smack, in all his blood. Reece felt around for a pulse. A light thump greeted him, which was all the motivation he needed.
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