Her face flushed and her arms crossed and she stood up from the couch with the energy of a woman who had just been told no for the last time and couldn’t figure out how to process it.
“Whatever. I’m moving to Atlanta next week anyway.”
“Good for you.”
She stomped toward the back of the condo and disappeared down the hallway. Prime looked at me with one eyebrow raised.
“Don’t,” I said.
“I ain’t say nothing.”
“Your eyebrow said plenty.”
We waited. Justice posted up by the front door. Prime sat on the couch scrolling his phone. I stood by the window watching the parking lot below. Forty-five minutes passed before a silver Audi pulled into a spot near the entrance and Camille got out carrying shopping bags from Buy Buy Baby. She walked toward the building entrance oblivious to what was waiting for her on the other side of the door.
The front door opened and Camille walked in and saw me standing in her living room with Prime and Justice flanking the exits. The shopping bags hit the floor and her hands went to her belly instinctively.
“Quest. What are you doing here?”
I pulled the gun from my waistband and pressed it against her temple. She made a sound between a gasp and a whimper and her whole body went rigid and her hands pressed tighter against her stomach.
“Quest, I’m pregnant. Please.”
“Where is your cousin?” I asked.
“How did you…”
I pushed the barrel harder against her temple. “I’m not asking twice. Where is Mega?”
“Q.” Justice’s voice came from behind me. Quiet but firm. “She’s about to pop, bro.”
“She should’ve thought of that before helpin’ that nigga. Where is he, Camille?”
“I don’t know,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “I swear I don’t know. He left two days ago and said he had to handle something. He didn’t tell me where he was going. He doesn’t tell me anything. He just shows up and leaves and I let him because he’s family and he needed help.”
“He needed help. That’s cute. Did he tell you what he did to Serenity? Did he tell you he kidnapped my sister and has her tied up somewhere right now?”
Camille’s face collapsed. “No. I didn’t know that. I swear, Quest, I didn’t know.”
“Call him.”
“What?”
“Pick up your phone and call your cousin and get him back to this condo. Right now.”
I lowered the gun from her temple but kept it at my side. She wiped her face with shaking hands and picked up her phone from her purse on the floor and dialed. It rang three times.
“What’s up, Camille?”
“Mega, I need you to come back. Please. I don’t have anyone else to help me and the baby is coming next month and I needhelp putting the nursery together. The crib is still in the box and I can’t do it alone.” Her voice was trembling but she held it together enough to sound convincing. “You owe me for letting you hide from Quest under my roof.”
Silence on the other end. Then: “Aight. I’ll be there tomorrow morning. But I can’t stay long.”
“That’s fine. Just come.”
She hung up and looked at me and I could see her calculating whether cooperation was enough to keep her alive. It was. For now. She wasn’t the target. Her cousin was.
“He’s coming tomorrow morning,” she said.
