Tainted

by Kallie Mathers

  Chapter Five

  Carter

  Once I’ve made it back to New York, and to the grand hotel, I’m met by a pent-up Chase pacing the shared living area. “Dude, what’s going on you look like you’re about to kill someone.” I tell him as I wheel my suitcase over by the wall out of the way.

  “You heard of that Rapper G-Mod?” his eyes are so wide they look like they’re about to pop out of his damn head.

  Taking a seat at the grand, wood stained round dining table, I nod. “I do. I like his stuff.”

  “You won’t in a minute. In fact, you’re going to want the asshole dead,” he spits while reaching for a crystal glass that rests on the table containing what looks to be scotch on the rocks.

  “Go on,” I urge. I know I’m not going to like whatever it is he’s about to tell me, but not hearing it would no doubt leave me far worse off.

  Once he’s slammed back the contents of the glass, he tells me, “That’s who Mia’s been getting most of the drugs from. Stef just called and filled me in on the last few months of my sister’s goings on. She was so caught up talking about the lawyers gaining us power of attorney while we were at the facility, that she forgot to mention the asshole. Apparently, they met one night at a club he was playing at and they struck up a friendship which turned into them doing pills and whatever else he managed to get his hands on, together. I want to find him and kill him!” He slams the glass down onto the table and I was shocked when the thing didn’t shatter.

  Doing my best to keep calm, I respond, “We’re going to find him and we’re going to beat him black and fucking blue to the point where he’s begging for mercy. The lawsuit he’ll bring forward will be worth every cent. So, how do we get to him?” Famous or not, the guy is an enabler, and he needs to be stopped before Mia is released from rehab.

  “Stef told me to check the guys social media. Apparently, he’s always online bragging about where he’s performing next. He does pop up shows at smaller venues here in New York. All we need to do is stalk his pages and get the next venues details.” He shrugs.

  “The only issue we have is the fact that he has a huge fan base, that shits gonna be sold out in seconds.” Tickets to see popular artists always sell out, fast. Hell, his last major concert tours sold out in minutes. This will not be an easy task to accomplish.

  Chase gives me a sideways glance. “I have more money than god. I can get us in anywhere. A wad of cash to the right security guard earning minimum wage, will get us the green light,” he smirks in a menacing way.

  “Hell, I’ll try anything. If it means the asshole will be out of Mia’s life for good, then I’m up for anything. I’ll go grab my laptop and we can begin the stalking.” And that’s exactly what I did.

  ***

  For two days we sat and watched the douchebags social media sites waiting for G- Mod to announce a pop-up gig. As bored and frustrated as we were, we knew we had to keep steadfast and hold the fort, and I was glad we did because finally it paid off.

  “Dude, he’s just tweeted that he’s playing a gig tonight at a place called The Blue Lounge.” Quickly, I pull the address up on my phone. “It’s only a twenty-minute cab ride from here. Wanna grab some dinner before we head to the lounge?” I’m starving, and I could do with a couple of beers before confronting the piece of shit.

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  ****

  After dinner was over, Chase and I headed over to the venue. Walking up the dark, dirty alley behind the club, we approach a large gentleman, with a bald head, bulging muscles and he’s wearing a black T-shirt with ‘security’ in capital letters across the chest.

  When he sees us, the man holds up his hands. “Sorry, guys. You can’t come in.”

  Chase is the one to speak. “Not even for this,” he pulls out a giant wad of cash. “There’s eight large here. All we want to do is get in to see the show.”

  The man takes a few moments to think, and soon enough, he pulls two passes attached to lancets from his rear pocket. “Here, these will give you access to the back area. I was saving them for my girl and her friend, but I’m sure she’ll get over it when she sees that,” he smirks, pointing to the cash.

  With a blink of the eye, the exchange is made. “Thank you, my man, much appreciated. And make sure you put some aside for yourself. Chicks love to shop,” Chase and the guard laugh.

  “You bet your ass I will. Have a good night, boys,” he opens the back door and when he does, the music blares

  blaring.

  With the passes in hand, we push our way through the crowd and make our way over to the bar where we sit on stools.

  Leaning in, I practically yell, “Let’s save the ass kicking for after the set. There will be too many questions if we go back there now.”

  “Agreed,” He yells back.

  When the scrawny asshole took to the stage, I was surprised by the fact that I instantly detested him. I used to be a fan of his work, but having the information that he’s been the one feeding Mia’s addiction, and who knows what else he could have done to her with his God complex, has me feeling sick to my stomach as I watch him rap, thrusting himself towards the dreamy eyed, underage looking girls in the audience.

  A whole two hours later, (it felt more like 10) the set was over and the blonde rapper who reminds me of J-Rock from The Trailer Park Boy’s, leaves the stage.

  It’s our que to get up and push through the crowd until we are met with two security guards who try to stop us. In true Wayne’s World fashion, we smirk as we hold up our passes, and when we do, the men step aside, letting us through.

  Heading up the corridor, that is lined with barely clothed, and barely legal girls, we soon reach the dressing room and when we do, we push our way in.

  The room is crowded, getting to G-Mod will not be an easy feat, but when I see Dwayne (yes, the assholes real name is Dwayne, I looked it up) sitting in his chair smoking a cigarette while a young, blonde, girl who’s fake tits are practicality in his face as she uses a towel to wipe away his brow sweat, a snarl eliminates from me. He’s a filthy piece of work.

  Chase doesn’t want to waste time, so he moves in, and he gets Dwayne’s attention. “Hey, you. I need to talk to you, in private.”

  Dwayne looks up at him, a snarl now on his lips. “And who the fuck are you?” He spits.

  “My sister is Mia Masters. If you don’t want to go to jail, I suggest you clear the room,” Chase’s arms are now crossed over his chest. He isn’t playing around. This asshole had better take him seriously.

  The rappers’ brows rise. “Everyone, out,” the piece of shit snaps his fingers and immediately the room empties. When the door is closed, he questions, “So, what’s going on with that fine piece of ass, Mia? I tried calling her...” but he’s cut off when Chase races forward, leaning over him with his hand wrapped firmly around his neck, keeping him in place.

  “My sister is not ‘a piece of ass.’ She a fucking human being with real problems and you’re the one feeding her addiction! How long have you been supplying her?” Chance’s hand tightens.

  “I don’t know,” he chokes out, with his arms flailing about.

  “If you ‘ever’ make contact with her ever again or if I find out you gave her any more pills, I will, and don’t think I’m joking when I say that I ‘will’ kill you. I’ll do the jail time with a fucking smile on my face. I don’t care how ‘famous’ you ‘think’ you are, I can buy and sell you in an instant and I can also make you ‘disappear’. Do you fucking hear me, Dwayne?” He nods aggressively. “And don’t think for one moment of sending security after us when we walk out of here. My lawyers would have me out of a cell in a minute, and then I’d be coming after ‘you’. Comprende?” Again, Dwayne nods. “Very good.” Chase then looks over to me. “You got anything you wish to add?”

  “I think I’m good,” I shrug. “However, if he does break his word, it isn’t Chase you’re going to have to worry about. You’re a scrawny stick insect, I’ll have you
beaten down before you have a moment to defend yourself.” My eyes bore into his. I don’t wait for a reconvene. Nope, the guy knows what’s going to happen to him, that’s enough for me, for now.

  Once Chase lets go of Dwayne, we exit the room and we leave the venue.

  As we wait out on the main road for the car service we’d ordered, I turn to face my dear friend. “How you feeling?” I know that being able to face one of Mia’s dealers would help him emotionally, but it could have also brought the emotions he was hoping to keep buried deep in his gut, up to the surface.

  “The guy is a piece of work. I know Mia was seeing him for drug purposes, but I can’t help but feel he may have taken advantage of her in a way that eats at my soul. I swear, if I found out he did, I will end him.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Chapter Six

  Carter

  It’s three AM and as I lay back on the bed in the hotel room, my phone vibrates.

  Blindly, I reach for it and pick it up off the side table only to find that it’s not my phone receiving a call, rather Kallie’s phone.

  When we had found and entered her dingy motel room, I made sure I grabbed her phone hoping to find her dealer. But since being back at the hotel, I haven’t been able to bring myself to go through it.

  Each time I try, a pang of guilt hits me and I always end up putting it down. It felt like I’d be betraying her by sifting through her private messages, but for her to receive a call this late in the night, tells me something’s up.

  When I look at the screen, I see the name Derek come up, so I let it ring out and I wait to see if this Derek person leaves a voice mail.

  Sure enough, the voice mail notification pops up just moments later. As I go to check the message, I’m stopped when the phone asks for a four-digit password.

  Desperate for answers, I think back to when we were dating. Both Kallie and I never kept secrets from one another, and that included the passcodes to our phones. Back then, she always used the date and month of my birthday, so I figure it’s worth a try.

  Popping the numbers in, I can’t help but smile to myself when I see she is still using my birthday as her password. It gives me a sense of hope, hope that maybe, just maybe, she still has feelings for me, because I’ll never stop loving her and I’ll never give up hope.

  Dialling her voicemail, I listen to the message.

  “Yo, girl. I don’t know where you be hidin, but I got some primo stuff here I know you be lovin. Message me. I be waitin.” Asshole.

  And this is the very reason I didn’t want to tell the manager of the motel Mia was staying at charge us for the room and tell him she wouldn’t be coming back. Nope, I knew there had to be more than one dealer supplying to her.

  It’s time to set the trap.

  Quickly I hop up, thankful because I never bothered changing out of my clothes when arriving in my room earlier, and I head over to Chases room where I knock on the door.

  “Yeah?” I hear his call-in return.

  Upon entering the room, I ask, “You couldn’t sleep either?” His bed is still crisp, and he’s seated on the sofa in front of the enormous window.

  “Nope. I’m still pissed off from earlier. So, what’s up?” He sits up a little straighter and closes the lid of his laptop.

  Holding up the phone I take a seat beside him. “She’s got another dealer. He just tried calling. Here, I play the message he left for you.”

  Once he’s listened to the voicemail, his hands ball into tight fists, and the veins in his arms are bulge. “Fucking asshole. Let’s get him!”

  “Tell me what you think of my plan, and feel free to tell me to shove it, but I want to message him as Mia and tell him to bring what he has. I’m going to wait inside her room, and while I do, I need you to wait in the car. I want five minutes with him. The second those five minutes is up, call the cops, and we’ll get him for possession.”

  It has to work. I want every single asshole who fed Mia drugs, to pay and I want to stop them from supplying to anyone else. Yes, I know there’s are hundreds of thousands of dealers and that we won’t even be able to make a dent in that number, but I will at least know I tried.

  “I love the idea, except the part where you want to have him alone in the room. I think we should get him there and have the cops deal with him. We don’t know if he carries a gun, and it’s a risk I don’t wish to take.”

  He’s right, but the very thought of beating up the man who helped keep Mia on her destructive path, outshines the thoughts of a gun being pulled on me. “Let me make a counteroffer.”

  “I’m listening,” He gives me a sideways glance.

  “We wait at a distance out of sight and see what and who we’re dealing with before deciding whether we jump or whether we go ahead and call the cops.” However, my gut is telling me I won’t be able to sit back and do nothing.

  “Fine. Set it up.”

  Pulling up a new message, I begin to text Derek, telling him to bring everything he’s got on hand and that I’d be waiting in the motel room with the cash.

  Not a minute later, he replies to me.

  “What did he say?” Chase questions as he leans forward to tie up his laces.

  “He’ll be at the motel in an hour, so we better get our asses into gear and over to the motel. I don’t want him spooked by pulling up after his arrival.”

  “Let’s roll.”

  When we pulled up at the motel twenty minutes later, we were grateful for the fact that the tint on the windows of the hire car were the darkest legal tint available.

  I made sure I parked on the opposite side of the road in a Taco Bell parking lot, as to not raise suspicion.

  “Man, the smell is driving me crazy,” I tell Chase as my stomach gurgles.

  “Seriously? You ate a pound of steak at dinner,” he chuckles.

  “Hey, I’m a big guy, these muscles need constant nourishment so I can keep looking this good and not turn into a skinny runt.” I state. I’ve always had a big appetite. Mia used to give me hell about it, telling me it wasn’t fair I can eat as much as I do without gaining an ounce of fat. But I’d always remind her of the fact that I spend many hours at the gym lifting weights. Exercise is my drug of choice.

  If I’m feeling frustrated, I hit the weights, it’s always been the one thing that could calm me down. Unlike Mia’s vice, other than the drugs and alcohol, when upset or angry, she used to take her car out to a piece of property her family owned, and she’d drive like a maniac.

  My girl has always been addicted to speed and power. The girl can drive, too. I always tried to encourage her to hit the racetrack and compete, but she never thought she was good enough, and I’m not just talking about racing. Mia has always suffered with lack of self-confidence; it was something I’ve never been able to wrap my head around. She’s so smart and so god damn sexy, that she’s always commanded attention just by walking in a room, but in her mind, she’s a nobody, regardless of what we told her.

  Once I’d talked Chase into hopping out and grabbing me some much-needed tacos, I sat back and continued to watch the motel, but as I do, my phone rings.

  While my eyes stayed trained on the motel door, blindly, I answer it. “Hello?”

  ”Hey, fuck face, how’s it going?”

  A smile spreads across my face. It’s my half-brother, DJ. DJ is my father’s son to his second wife, Mary. Mary has always treated me as if I were her own child, but besides that my brother DJ is special.

  When he was only six years old, a drink driver hit my father’s car as they drove home from dinner one night. The car hit the side of the car my brother was on, meaning he took the brunt of it, and it left him paralysed from the waist down.

  He’s been a trouper, especially for a nineteen-year-old. Most teens would detest the fact that they’ll never be able to walk again, and yet DJ keeps telling me that he’s grateful he’s not dead. The dude is my hero.

  “Fuck face, huh? You’d better watch it, boy...” />
  He cuts me off, “Or what, you’ll use your long legs to run away?” He chuckles.

  “Got it in one. Anyway, is everything okay, my man?”

  “Nothing wrong on my end, but I did call your house and your mom answered. She told me you had to leave town in a hurry. Are you in trouble? Because if you are, I’ll be there in a heartbeat to kill whoever’s fucking you over.”

  “You don’t have to play hitman for me. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

  “Come on, man. You should let me carry out the hit. You’re far too pretty for jail. Your asshole would look like Ed Norton’s after they ass raped him in American History X.”

  “What and yours is so loose that it wouldn’t happen to you?”

  “Man, I’m paralysed. They can ass fuck me till the cows come home, I ain’t gonna feel shit. Pun intended.”

  This devil always makes me laugh. “I’m in New York. Chase managed to track down Mia.”

  “No shit!”

  “No shit, but she was in bad shape when we found her. We managed to get her into a rehab facility. Hopefully, she’ll do as she’s told.”

  “Good luck keeping her there. You, of all people, know that Mia is strong minded and as stubborn as they come.”

  “Agreed. However, Chase managed to get power of attorney. She has no option; she must stay in rehab for the next six weeks. It’s that or jail.”

  “Damn, you guys aren’t messing around.”

  “We can’t leave her to her own devises. If we did, she’d be dead in no time at all.”

  “I take it you aren’t heading back to LA until after Mia’s finished up?”

  “Bingo.”

  The car door opens and Chase slips in carrying a tray of both food and drinks.

  “Send me the address you’re staying at. I’ll drop by to see you.”

  “No problem, little bro. I’ve got to go, Chase just walked in with my food.”

  “Tell Chase I said hi. I’ll see you guys soon.”