“She’s the entry point to him. The only reason she’s still alive is to help me get close to him. He called yesterday, so he knows who I am. Shit, probably knows all of us, and we don’t know shit about him.”
“Let me tap into my resources,” Hollow chimed in. “We have a back way of findin’ out shit if a muthafucka hidin’.”
Whodie nodded, and for the first time, I could see them attempting to get back to what it was.
“We stop reactin’ and start playin’ the game better than him. This is our shit, and who the fuck kno’ it better than us?” Whodie looked at me.
“Let her go home to him, but I’m going with you to release her.”
“No!” Hollow said.
“Hollow, please! This is my shit this man is trying to take. Who’s to say he’s not the witness that’s going to take the stand? If I can get to the bottom of this and stay free, that’s what I’m gonna do.”
“So, the only way for you to stay free is to kill him. Do you plan on doin’ time for murder?” Hollow asked me.
“Says the nigga that was a murder for hire for our uncle. That’s where you come the fuck in,” I told him.
CHAPTER 23: ZHANE
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tired of being in this damn house with nothing but chairs in it. Yes, I was thankful that Whodie was nice enough not to keep me cuffed another day. The shower he allowed was also nice, but the fact that all the windows were boarded and I was locked in from the outside was leaving me uneasy. If I didn’t get home to my son and Rico sometime today, I didn’t know how much longer I was going to be able to lie. Grabbing a bottle of water, I sat back in the hard wooden chair and went through my social media when I heard the locks being tampered with.
Who I was expecting to walk in was Whodie, not this bitch. Adore walked in instantly, sucking up all the energy in the room. She had an aura about her. I could tell why Whodie was so deeply in love with her. Her beauty was undeniable, and you knew when you saw her that she wasn’t just an ordinary hood girl. Then Whodie appeared behind her. You could just tell the way he always stood on the side of her or behind her that he had her at all angles. The kind of love that made me envious. Yet, I was the only one in the room married. My love was nothing like theirs. Whodie grabbed a chair and sat it in front of me. Adore then took a seat and just stared at me.
“I’m going to let you go home,” Adore started. “Whodie told me that you were willing to help us.”
“Yeah, I agreed, but what’s in this for me?”
“Your life,” Adore said coldly. “What the fuck else you want?”
My eyes went to Whodie.
“Ain’t no need to look this muthafuckin’ way. You can gon’ and get me outta yo’ head,” Whodie told me.
Adore opened her bag and pulled out some devices.
“You will plant these all over your house. I want one in his office in particular.”
“No! Y’all trying to get me killed?”
“Would you like us to do it or him? I believe he loves you a little too much to kill you. He’ll give you more chances than we would,” Adore said.
I swallowed hard when she said that. Something about it sounded so cold and sadistic. The look in Adore’s eyes showed me she had nothing to lose.
“I’ll do it. But what do I say if he catches me?”
“Zhane, please stop wit’ thewoe-is-me antics. You from the streets, you kno’ how to sweet talk a nigga. Ain’t that how you got his ass in the first place?” Whodie said.
I grabbed the cameras and stuffed them in the bag that Whodie had bought to make it appear that I had gone on a trip for real. They gave me a few more instructions before letting me hop in a Lyft and head back to the club to get my car. When I got back to my car, I pulled the pink sticker off the window and climbed in. For a few minutes, I just sat there trying to get my lies together. Rico had a way of looking through my soul that made me uncomfortable when I lied.
To my surprise, Rico was not home when I arrived. I snuck in before my son could see me, rushed to take a shower, and get my appearance together. Once I was satisfied, I tiptoed to where I heard the noise coming from. He and his nanny were watchingtelevision. When he noticed me, he ran up to me and hugged me. He was the only person in the world that I felt loved me genuinely. My son didn’t judge my past and didn’t care if I had a dime to my name. As long as I was around. I sent my nanny on her way and spent this time catching up with him and what he had been doing the last few days. Rico hired the live-in nanny because I always fussed about going to school, but still hadn’t made the first move on that.
Hours later, I put my son to bed and was about to place the cameras when I heard Rico walk in through the kitchen. The sound of his shoes hitting the freshly polished floor sent chills down my spine. Usually, I wasn’t a bitch that was afraid of anything. Here lately, everything scared me. I was in the middle of some shit I didn’t want to be a part of.
“Oh, you finally made it home,” Rico said as he placed a black bag down.
“I’ve been home for a few hours. I’m sure you saw me walk in with my bags on the camera,” I told him.
“I did.” He walked up and placed a kiss on my lips.
