Finding Love in Atlanta

by Olivia Saxton

  Dominic didn’t say anything.

  “Pick me up at the airport. I’ll be there in forty-five minutes – private airstrip. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

  Dominic exhaled. “All right. All right,” he said in a defeated tone.

  “I’ll talk to you soon.” Sebastian clicked off and immediately accessed his contact list. He was going to call his banker in San Francisco.

  Chapter 15

  It was five minutes to eight when Sebastian and Dominic arrived at Dominic’s former home on Sycamore. Sebastian was able to talk his banker in California into wiring the rest of the funds to the bank’s location in Atlanta under the guise of a short-term loan. Sebastian and Dominic established a plan, and they were about to put it into action.

  Thanks to a few of King’s scouts, they knew to go to the basement entrance. Sebastian looked around. With the exception of two streetlights, the neighborhood was dark. There were other houses, but it didn’t look like anyone was home with the exception of one place. There was a light shining through the window.

  “Are you sure about this?” Dominic asked with worry in his voice.

  “Yes,” Sebastian answered with confidence. “I know what I’m doing.”

  “I trust you,” he whispered. He leaned in and kissed Sebastian.

  They pecked at each other’s lips. Dominic acted like he didn’t want to stop. He knew Sebastian was about to walk into a life or death situation.

  Sebastian reluctantly pulled away from the kiss. “It’s going to be all right. Just be ready, just in case.”

  “I’ll be ready.”

  Sebastian took a deep breath and approached the door. He looked over his shoulder.

  Dominic was slowly backing up out of sight.

  He nodded and turned the doorknob.

  “Easy,” a voice said sternly. “Come in slowly.”

  Sebastian did what he was told. He was now standing in the threshold of the basement. The man who had knotty hair, dirty clothes, and ashy skin months ago at Mixx Atlanta was now shaved, clean, and more sober than a priest. He was also holding a pistol with a silencer.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Jerome asked angrily as he got off the plaid couch. “I told Dominic to come and to come alone. Close the door and don’t try anything, or I’ll blow your ass away.”

  Sebastian closed the door and started to step into the room.

  Mrs. Poindexter was tied to a wooden chair next to a small, rickety card table. A white gag was in her mouth and seemed to be tied at the back of her head. Her faint brown eyes looked tired, worried, and scared. The smell of dust filled Sebastian’s nostrils. The cream-colored carpet had brown spots in various places. Several wooden were chairs in the room. A clear glass half window high on the wall appeared to be clouded over.

  “Be fair,” Sebastian began in a calm tone. “Dominic couldn’t meet your new ransom request without help. You knew that. That’s why you ended up contacting me with the new number. Considering that at least half of this is mine, I wanted to see this through. Plus, Dominic is too emotionally involved. Someone with a level head had to deal with this situation.”

  Jerome’s dark eyebrows furrowed. “What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t call you. I didn’t make any new demands,” he said with a hint of shock and confusion.

  “I thought so,” Sebastian said and took two more steps toward him.

  “That’s close enough.”

  Sebastian stopped.

  “And what are you talking about?”

  Sebastian nodded. “Meghan,” he shouted. “Why don’t you come out and explain yourself? Your partner is confused as hell out here.”

  Sure enough, Meghan London descended the last four steps that led upstairs. She was wearing a black T-shirt and tight blue jeans. Her hair was in a ponytail. She had a crooked smile across her lips. “How did you figure out I was involved?”

  “After I got off the phone with my banker, I started thinking. How did Jerome get my cell number? Pair that with the term ‘we’ when the kidnapper called, and the person who called me was smart enough to use a voice scrambler . . . I knew it was you.”

  “You went behind my back and asked for more money?” Jerome asked with annoyance. “You stupid bitch! Being greedy is how people get caught! What if Dominic and the white boy triggered an IRS report, trying to get the money?”

  “Either way, you won’t have to worry about it,” she said simply.

  “And why is that?” Jerome snarled.

  Meghan pulled her hand from behind her back and fired several shots from the gun she was hiding. The first bullet hit the wall, but the other three hit Jerome in the chest. There was no sound because she had a silencer on the barrel.

  “Shit!” Sebastian yelled with horror.

  “Because you’ll be dead,” she answered as she walked to the middle of the room.

  Jerome’s eyes were wide with shock. He stumbled backward. He started to raise his gun, but he wasn’t fast enough.

  Meghan pumped two more shots in him, and he went down.

  Blood soaked Jerome’s pale-yellow shirt. His body jerked a few times and then he gasped his last breath. His eyes were still open.

  Sebastian was shaken. He didn’t calculate that Meghan would kill Jerome or anybody. He did not expect this.

  Megan glanced at the black briefcase Sebastian was holding. “Is that the money?” she asked like she hadn’t just shot a man to death.

  “Yeah,” he mumbled. He was still flabbergasted.

  “Slide it over here,” she ordered.

  “Just one question. How did you two . . . get together?”

  She thought for a moment. “First, where’s Dominic?”

  “He’s outside. He’s waiting for me to bring his mother out.” Sebastian looked over at Mrs. Poindexter.

  She was watching them intently. She was also breathing heavily.

  “Call him on your cell and tell him to come in. I want both of you where I can see you,” Meghan said.

  Sebastian didn’t move.

  She pointed the gun at Mrs. Poindexter. “Do it or–”

  “All right,” Sebastian conceded. He didn’t want Dominic to come in and see his mother like this, but he had no choice. Meghan had proven she wasn’t afraid to shoot anybody. He slowly pulled his cell out of his pants pocket and called Dominic.

  “Hello?” Dominic answered.

  “She wants you to come in. If you don’t, she’ll kill your mother.”

  “All right,” Dominic said and hung up.

  Sebastian put his phone in sleep mode.

  “Put the phone on the floor,” she ordered.

  He complied.

  The door started to open.

  “Come in slowly, Dominic,” Meghan said.

  Dominic walked in slowly and closed the door. He steadily started walking towards them.

  “Empty your pockets, Dominic. You, too, Sebastian.”

  They complied with her request. Dominic must have left his gun outside because he didn’t have it on him.

  “I’m glad you two had enough sense to come unarmed,” she said as she looked over their wallets and cell phones on the floor. “Sit down on the sofa.”

  They started walking over to the sofa. Dominic stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted Jerome’s lifeless body on the floor.

  “Oh, yeah,” Meghan said nonchalantly. “Watch your step.”

  “You killed him?” Dominic asked hoarsely.

  “Obviously,” she said. “I wasn’t going to share the take with him.”

  They sat down on the couch.

  “Momma, are you all right?” Dominic asked with worry.

  She nodded. It looked like she was sweating.

  “She’s fine; she’s just a pain in the ass,” Meghan said with annoyance. “First, she couldn’t eat what we had. Something about too much cholesterol. Then she started getting stiff, so we had to let her up a few times. Then she had taken a fluid pill, so she had to go to the bathroo
m multiple times. Now, she’s hot. Good grief, I was going to raise the ransom anyway, but it was everything I could do not to ask for half a mil for the headache she was causing us.”

  “Why are you doing this, Meghan?” Sebastian asked with heat. “Why her? An old woman.”

  “Well, we couldn’t take Dominic. He’s too big and strong. Well, according to Jerome.”

  “That’s not what I meant. If you needed money, all you had to do was call me,” Sebastian hissed.

  She smirked at him. “Have you ever heard of the saying that there is no fury like a woman scorned? I wanted – no — I deserve more than severance pay, Mr. Cole,” she bit out with venom.

  Sebastian took a deep breath. The last thing he wanted to do was agitate her, but he needed to buy time. “Will you tell me how you two met now?” Sebastian asked in a low tone.

  “Sure,” she said and sat down on the arm of a nearby chair. “After I left the hotel on New Year’s Eve, I went to a bar for a shot of tequila. My plan was to have a few shots and call the airport to see if I could get a flight back to Jersey. I met Jerome at the bar. He reeked of booze, and he was walking around begging people to buy him a drink. I obliged him. In his drunken stupor, he babbled about Dominic and whined about how broke he was. Long story short, he passed out at the bar, and I paid two guys ten bucks to get him into my rental car. I drove to a roach motel a few blocks away from the ghetto and got us a room. When he woke up the next morning, he barely remembered who I was. I reminded him and then I made him a proposition. The opportunity was too good to pass up.”

  “What opportunity?” Sebastian asked.

  “To make money,” she answered. “After all, I was unexpectedly unemployed, and Jerome was homeless and down on his luck. He liked the plan, but I made it clear to him that he had to get clean for me to help him – even if it was just temporarily. He agreed. He wasn’t so far gone not to realize that he had to be sober to pull this off, and he would get a load of cash all at once. We stayed at the motel for weeks together. I helped him to kick his drug habit, and I made sure he didn’t break.”

  “When did you decide to double cross him?” Dominic asked.

  “It was part of my plan all along. Half of seventy-five thousand isn’t much, but a hundred and fifty can get you far. Besides, he was just going to piss his half away on meth and booze.”

  “And what are you planning to do with it?” Sebastian asked.

  “Oh, Sebastian. Don’t worry your handsome head about that. I know how to handle money thanks to hanging around you for the past few years. Now, slide the money over.”

  “How do I know that you aren’t going to kill us as soon as I give you the money?” Sebastian asked.

  Meghan laughed. “For a moment, I forgot how smart you are. Never mind, I’ll take it afterward.”

  Before Sebastian could ask what she meant, she aimed her gun at his head. Before she could pull the trigger, she noticed the red dot on her chest. “What the–”

  Sebastian tackled Dominic to the floor, covering Dom’s body with his. Jerome’s body was next to them.

  Chapter 16

  The sound of glass breaking surprised Dominic. Meghan yelped out. Then the sound of the door being kicked open made Dominic’s body jerk against Sebastian’s. The sound of an AK being fired echoed in the room.

  “Momma!” Dominic cried out.

  Sebastian rolled off Dominic. They both sat up on the floor. King had busted in with three of his goons. They all had AKs. Meghan’s body was riddled with bullets. She was flat on her back. Two of King’s guys rushed over to Dominic’s mother.

  Dominic scurried to get on his feet. His shirt had blood stains on it – Jerome’s blood. He got to his mother, who was across the room. The guys were untying her wrists. Tears had fallen down her face. Dominic yanked the gag out of her mouth. “Momma, are you all right?”

  “Yes,” she breathed. “Are you?”

  “Yeah,” he answered.

  “Let’s get her on her feet,” Sebastian said as he rushed over to them.

  Kent rushed in carrying his sniper rifle. Two goons who had rushed in with Kent were quickly spreading out plastic next to Jerome’s and Meghan’s bodies.

  “You three need to get out of here,” King said urgently. “You know people heard that.” King gave Dominic his gun back.

  “Wait, what about—?” Dominic started to ask.

  “Yo, let us do what we do. Get Mrs. P home. Stay there until I come and change your clothes. Burn your shirt, Dom,” King instructed.

  “We better do what he says,” Sebastian suggested.

  “Hurry,” Kent ordered. “You know somebody called the cops.”

  Dominic scooped his mother up in his arms. They rushed out the door as King’s men were wrapping Meghan’s body in the large plastic.

  Thirty minutes later, Dominic had gotten his mother settled in bed. Sebastian and Dominic took a shower and changed their clothes. Dominic made his mother a sandwich while Sebastian burned their clothes in a barrel in the backyard. Sebastian wasn’t sure if blood got on his clothes or not, but he wasn’t taking any chances. They had taken the law into their own hands with the help of known gang members, and two people were killed. Despite the fact that the bodies were being disposed of, they couldn’t do anything about blood being all over the carpet in the basement.

  Dominic’s mother was rattled, but physically she was okay. He left her to eat her sandwich and drink her water.

  Sebastian was coming in through the kitchen as Dominic was entering the living room. “Is she—?”

  “Fine. A little upset, but fine,” Dominic said.

  “I suppose she is. She was abducted,” Sebastian said as he put his hands in his pockets.

  “It wasn’t just that. She told me that three of her neighbors saw Jerome shove her into the car, and none of them did or said anything. She’s known most of these folks for years — even babysat their kids when they were little.”

  “What?”

  “I’m not that surprised. People talk about how there is no sense of unity among the black community, and when push comes to shove, no one wants to get involved when there is trouble,” Dominic stated with slight annoyance.

  Sebastian shook his head. “What do we do now?”

  “We wait for King to come over. Let us know what’s up. I hope he brings my original license plates back when he does.” As a precaution, King’s goons switched Dominic’s license plates with another car’s plates in their neighborhood. So, if a witness saw Dominic’s car speed away from the Sycamore house, they would report the wrong license plate numbers.

  “Let’s sit down,” Sebastian said.

  They sat on the plastic-covered couch. His mother had that couch and the cover on it for twenty years, and it still looked new.

  “Dominic, tonight . . . things worked out, but it didn’t really go to plan,” Sebastian stated.

  “I know. I can’t believe she shot Jerome. Hell, I can’t believe he’s dead. I really didn’t think people were going to get killed.”

  “I know. Neither did I. I underestimated Meghan. I thought I could talk her down.”

  The original plan was to apprehend Jerome and his accomplice alive and then call the police. King and his men were there just in case something went wrong. However, Dominic didn’t think they would be needed.

  “The reason I’m bringing it up is because both of us . . . or one of us could have died tonight. When I . . . pushed you onto the floor, all I could think about was that one of us could die, and I never told you how I . . . felt about you,” Sebastian said.

  Dominic looked at him and remained quiet.

  “I love you, Dominic.”

  His heart swelled with pride and joy. “I love you, too. I realized that I loved you two months ago – when we were at the park.”

  Sebastian gave him an inquisitive look. “That day when it started raining out of nowhere, and I tripped and fell in a puddle trying to get back to the car?”

  Dom
inic chuckled. “Yeah. Even though I laughed, I was so concerned about you. That’s when I realized it was more than concern. I loved you.”

  “If you knew then, why didn’t you let me know?”

  “Because . . . I . . . I don’t have the best track record when it comes to love and relationships. Hence the predicament we just got out of.”

  Sebastian gave him a faint smile. “Oh, Dominic. Do you think you are the only person who has had bad luck in love? You know my history. And if you want to look at what happened an hour ago, my ex-lover was the mastermind of it all.”

  “That wasn’t your fault.”

  “I know that, and it’s not your fault that Jerome was a fool and an addict.”

  Dominic nodded. “I know that now. Jerome made his own choices. He couldn’t get clean and sober for himself, but he could do it when there was a lot of money on the line. That fact alone says a lot about the kind of person he was.”

  Sebastian put his arm around Dominic’s shoulders. “So, what do you say? You want to take a chance?”

  If Dominic was to take a chance on love again, it would be with Sebastian. Their communication was upfront and honest. They worked well together, and they had a lot in common. He grinned.

  Chapter 17

  Nine months later . . .

  Dominic gazed at the seven-foot-tall Christmas tree that was decorated with gold bulbs and white lights. The angel on top was dressed in gold and sheer-white cloth. Sebastian’s penthouse was a place right out of a décor magazine.

  The Atlanta Police Department was none the wiser about what happened at the Sycamore house nine months ago. The new owners of the house did report a break-in. All the cops had was blood in an abandoned basement. All of them had worn black leather gloves so there weren’t any prints. King took care of the bodies. All he would tell Dominic was that their bodies would never be found. Meghan’s cousin had filed a missing person’s report when she hadn’t heard from Meghan for two weeks. The cops questioned Sebastian. He told them that he hadn’t seen her since last New Year’s Eve. He explained that Meghan had expressed her love for him, and he had rejected her. She had been so upset that she quit on the spot, and he hadn’t heard from her since. They accepted Sebastian’s story and had not contacted him since. King’s informants at the police station had told him that the investigating officers believed she might have left town or committed suicide, and her body just hadn’t been discovered yet.