Niyah’s face twisted with disgust. “How many times does she have to tell you? Naomi is clean!”
Her mother threw her hands up as if she were a victim of Niyah’s viciousness. “Okay, okay!”
Niyah ignored her theatrics and walked away. She jogged up the stairs two at a time and rounded a corner until she stood at Naomi’s door. After inhaling a deep breath, she exhaled and pushed inside. Instantly saddened by the sight of her sister still sleeping on a twin bed, she suddenly wondered if she could have done more to help her. Maybe she should’ve brought Naomi home to live with her. Maybe she should have pushed for her to go to therapy. If she had done more, maybe she could've stopped her from becoming a serial killer. But Niyah pushed all empathy for her sister to the back of her mind and stormed over to the twin bed. She was in a deep, open-mouth slumber when Niyah hauled off and slapped the dream out of her head.
Naomi snapped awake and squared up for a fight. At first, she appeared dazed and confused, but when her eyes landed on Niyah, she screamed, “What the fuck? Bitch, are crazy?”
Niyah stepped to her taller sibling and looked her square in the eye. “Naw, bitch!” She held up the trinket for Naomi to see. “Are you crazy?” ?
CHAPTER 29
DONATELLA
Donna walked into Bella’s room, expecting to find her sleeping. To her surprise, her sister was not only wide awake, but she was sitting up in a chair, looking extremely angry.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Donna looked down and rubbed her bruised torso. “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”
Bella hit her with a glare that had heat. “So, you’re impersonating me and fuckin’ up my cases?”
Donna rolled her eyes. “Girl, ain’t nobody fuckin’ up your cases. I’m just trying to find the motherfucka that’s trying to kill you and yo’ man.”
Bella grabbed a pillow from her lap and slung it toward Donna. “By using yourself as bait?”
Donna picked the pillow up and placed it on the bed. She walked over to her sister, placed both hands on the arm of the chair, and stared into her eyes. “Then get the fuck up!” she hissed through gritted teeth. “Get yo’ ass outta this chair!” Stop smoking that shit Vic gave you and get the fuck back to work!” ‘She grabbed Bella by the arm and yanked her out of the chair. “I buy dope and sell pussy! You’re the homicide detective! Get up and do your fuckin’ job!”
’Donna wasn’t a monster. She wasn’t insensitive to what her sister had been through, but she knew Bella better than anyone. Her sister was afraid. She could see it in her eyes.
Bella remained quiet and still as she stared at her sister.
“Bella, I know you’ve been through a lot. And, to take that pain away… to make you safe again, I will happily step into your shoes. But for you to be safe, we gotta find the motherfucka that’s after you.”
Tears began to fall from Bella’s eyes.
Donna pulled Bella into her arms and held her until her shoulders relaxed and she let go and allowed herself to be comforted. “Belly,” Donna whispered. “You can find him. This is what you do. There’s nobody better than you. It’s time to get back to work.”
Bella allowed her head to relax in the crook of Donna’s neck. And when she heard her twin exhale the fear that had been choking her, Donna knew that days were numbered for the motherfucka that had tried to kill Bella and her man.
Donna sat with her twin for an hour, catching her up on her two most important cases, which were Lucas’ shooting and the serial gangbanger murders. When she left, she left the case files for both with Bella.
BELLADONNA
Bella tossed the file on the serial murders on a table next to her chair and flipped open the autopsy report that Niyah had prepared for the Asian shooter whose body had been abducted from the morgue. She was looking for any connection that she or Lucas had to the shooter -. But, when she couldn’t find one, she converted back to the basics. Who would want either of them dead? Lucas was sure that he’d had no dealings with Asians that had gone bad. In her entire career, she’d had no dealings with any Asian gangs. What was the common denominator? What enemy did she and Lucas share and why?
Bella sighed with frustration. They had no common enemies. Maybe it was an enemy of Victor’s. With him running for president and heavily guarded by the Secret Service, were they trying to get to him by hurting his family? And why were all the attackers Asian? There was only one way to find out.
Bella grabbed her cell phone and called the boss. When the call was connected, she spoke. “Hey, Miss Tabatha, we need a family meeting.”
“When?” Tabitha Creed asked.
“As soon as you can get everyone together.”
“Will tomorrow evening be okay? I may not be able to get Victor and Taylor here, but I’m pretty sure I can get the rest.”
Bella smiled, impressed by the power of the matriarch to mobilize the Creed family. “That’ll be perfect. Thanks.”
“No problem, sweetheart.” ?
