India. Vivica’s assistant. Her secret lover. The one I caught with her face buried between Vivica’s legs that morning in Georgetown.
I filtered the records by her extension and started scanning.
And there it was.
Three calls to the LAPD Cold Case Unit. Two calls to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. One call to a Detective Morrison—the same detective whose name was on Zainab’s arrest warrant.
All from India’s phone. All within a five-day window. All right before the feds showed up at Sweet Zin and dragged my pregnant fiancée away in handcuffs.
“You seeing what I’m seeing?” Quest asked.
“Yeah.” My jaw was tight. “I’m seeing it.”
“India made those calls. But we both know she ain’t do that shit on her own. She don’t got no reason to come for Zainab.”
“She was following orders.”
“Exactly. And there’s only one person who gives India orders.”
Vivica.
My own mother.
The woman who birthed me, abandoned me, let me rot in the system, then tried to play mommy when I came back successful.
She’d done a lot of foul shit over the years. Manipulated my brothers. Cheated on her husband. Used her political power to crush anyone who got in her way. But this?
This was personal.
She went after Zainab because she couldn’t control me. Because I chose a woman she didn’t approve of. Because her precious family image was threatened by a girl from the hood who had the audacity to love her son.
So she made some calls. Dug up Zainab’s past. Found out about the identity theft, about Zahara, about the murder case that had gone cold in California. And she served my woman up to the authorities on a silver platter.
All because she couldn’t stand not being in charge.
“What you wanna do?” Quest asked.
I was quiet for a long moment. Thinking. Planning. Running through scenarios in my head.
“I need to dismantle her,” I said finally. “Piece by piece. Everything she’s built. Everything she loves. Her career. Her reputation. Her secrets. All of it.”
“That’s a big play. She’s the mayor. She’s got connections everywhere.”
“And I got patience.” I walked to the window, looking out at the California hills. “She think she untouchable because she got a title. But titles don’t mean shit when your skeletons start falling out the closet.”
“You talking about India?”
“I’m talking about everything. The affair. The backroom deals. The kickbacks she’s been taking from contractors for twenty years. All of it.” I let out a slow breath. “She wanted a war with me? She got one. But she ain’t ready for how I fight.”
“You need me to do anything on my end?”
“Not yet. Just keep digging. I want everything—financial records, emails, text messages. Anything that ties her to corruption. And keep this between us. Get Justice hip to what’s going down. I want him involved.”
“Understood.” Quest paused. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I know she’s our mother. But what she did to Zainab… that’s unforgivable.”
“She stopped being my mother a long time ago.” I turned away from the window. “Now she’s just a problem that needs solving.”
“Bet. I’ll be in touch.”
