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  I wanted to tell her to mind her damn business and just do what I say, but I bit my tongue. I needed her right now. I couldn’t mess that up with my attitude. She was my only hope of getting a safe place for Miley and me to lay low until we could come up with another plan. I figured that, out of Trina and Amy, Trina would be less scary and less likely to run her mouth about my request for help.

  “Yeah, I’m cool. I just need some place to stay for a few nights. I’ve got a few things to sort out. Just get the room in your name for two nights. That way, anyone looking for me won’t be able to find me. I’ll figure out the rest as I go. Here is the cash,” I said, handing her a fistful of wadded-up bills. Trina looked down at the cash and back up at me.

  “Tell them you don’t want to give your credit card. They will try to force you to leave a credit card for incidentals, but just tell them you’ll pay in all cash. Don’t let them bully you because they will try,” I instructed. “There are no rules statewide that say you have to leave a credit card at a hotel.”

  Trina shook her head in agreement. She snatched the cash from me and smiled. I watched her as she rushed around to the front of the hotel. I didn’t get a bad feeling about her. I was confident I had made the right choice in getting her to help me. The first damn thing I had done right in days.

  When Trina was gone from my sight, I furtively signaled to Miley to lay low until I had the key. I had to keep up the ruse that I was alone and in need of time alone. Trina hadn’t noticed my sister sitting across the parking lot in Sidney’s SUV, and that was how I wanted it.

  It took Trina longer than usual to get the room, which made me slightly uneasy. I had probably checked my watch fifty times in the twenty minutes she’d been inside. I exhaled when I finally saw her round the corner from the front of the hotel back into the parking lot. She was smiling like she had just won the lottery or something. My shoulders slumped with relief, and I was smiling right back at her.

  Thank God for small favors.

  “All done. Did everything you said. Just like you said, that bitch inside tried to force me to give her a credit card. She even called a manager, but I recited the law you told me about. Bam. There was nothing they could say. She had an attitude, but I bet you she checked me in and gave me the damn keys. Here you go, Ms. Karlie,” Trina relayed, handing me the key.

  “You said keys. Did you get more than one?” I asked. I had caught it.

  “Um . . . no. You know what I meant. I only got one key since it’s just you. You don’t need more than one, do you?”

  “No. No. One is enough,” I quickly corrected myself. I didn’t want her to get suspicious.

  “Oh my God, girl, you’re a lifesaver.” I smiled, taking the key from her. “I will make sure I pay you back for this huge favor. As soon as I take this little break and get my mind together, I will take you out to dinner and give you a few days off . . . paid,” I lied. Trina twisted her lips like she kind of figured I was lying, but she played it off anyway.

  “Please, Ms. Karlie. It’s nothing. I don’t need anything in exchange. I’m glad to help. Anything else I can do to help you, just holler at me,” she replied. I reached out and gave her a hug. Wait, did she just say she’ll help me with anything? I thought to myself. Because while I’m thinking about it, she may be the perfect person to get the other two duffel bags of money. And then Miley and I would be good.

  “Thank you,” I said honestly, still contemplating asking her to get the duffel bags for me. Then I changed my mind. Trina seemed like the type that would look inside the bags once she retrieved them from the lockers. And then one or two things would happen. She’d get scared and put the money back or she’d take it and slip out the side door without being detected.

  “Look, I know we’ve had our ups and downs as manager and employee, but I didn’t hold a grudge at all. I’m not that type. When people are mean to me, I try to turn the other cheek. So, count this as my way of turning the other cheek,” Trina said. It seemed like she had been waiting to remind me about our past disagreements.

  My eyebrows flew up into arches. I was taken clearly aback by Trina’s little speech. I felt guilty now. She was right. There were times as her manager that I’d come down on her hard for being late, leaving early, using the phone too much and making mistakes on loan processing. I didn’t think she had taken any of it personally, but obviously she had. Trina wasn’t an ideal employee at all. She was always using the kids as an excuse when I knew damn well she was late or missing days because of her most recent no-good baby daddy. Still, I didn’t expect her to mention it at a time like this. I let out a nervous laugh.

  “It was always all about the job, Trina. I just wanted you to be the best you could be. It was nothing personal,” I assured her. “Thank you so much again for coming through for me.” I wanted to get away from her now. There was uncomfortable energy between us.

  “No problem. I forgive you. I think,” she said followed by a fake laugh. “We all need a helping hand every now and then. I really didn’t mind. In fact, it was my pleasure . . . really,” Trina continued. “Let me get out of here and get back to the plantation. I won’t tell anyone I saw you.” She got close and gave me a quick hug.

  “Thanks again,” I said as she turned and started for her minivan.

  “I’ll see you soon. Try to get some rest. Seems like you will need it,” Trina called out over her shoulder. There was something about her parting smile that seemed sinister to me. But then again, there was something about everyone that seemed sinister to me at that moment. I didn’t fully trust a soul.

  I went into the hotel lobby so that Trina would see me go inside. Once she pulled out of the parking lot, I slipped out of the back door. I rushed over to Sidney’s SUV and opened the door.

  “C’mon. I got the key,” I said to Miley excitedly. My excitement quickly faded when I noticed that she was on her phone. Right away, a hot, stomach-sick feeling came over me. I knew my sister and her mouth.

  Who the hell could she possibly trust enough to be talking to right now?

  “What the hell are you doing on the phone?” I whispered harshly. She put her hand up to tell me to wait. I twisted my face into a scowl.

  “Don’t shush me or tell me to wait. Who the hell are you talking to?” I growled. “Get the hell off the phone!”

  Miley rolled her eyes. She wasn’t supposed to be letting anyone know where we were, which meant there should’ve been no damn reason for her to be on the phone. We didn’t know who to trust at this point so phone calls should’ve been out. Miley mouthed the name Taz to me. That was even worse. Taz was a street dude to his core so it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that he could be one of the people after us for the money. I’m sure by now Miley had told him she was about to come into some good money.

  Frustrated, I waved my hand in front of Miley’s face. “I’m going inside. You want to stay out here like a sitting duck you can. But don’t fucking tell that simple nigga where we are.”

  She sucked her teeth and told her boyfriend she would call him right back.

  “What the fuck is your problem?” she grumbled. “I know what I’m supposed to do and not supposed to do, Karlie.”

  “Miley . . . do you understand that we can’t trust anyone right now? You run your mouth and go tell Taz where we are . . . what if he tells one of his boys and it gets out? We have no idea who is after this money. It could be him you know. You think because he’s your so-called man that it is not him? Think again. Niggas in the street will set their own mothers up for that amount of money, much less some chick. I’m sure you’ve run your mouth and told him about the money so don’t act like I’m overreacting. Stay off the phones for now,” I lectured. Why was this so hard for her to understand? Everyone around us was dead or missing. She had seen what had happened to Sidney right in front of our eyes. I was disgusted with her. I couldn’t hide it either.

  “Don’t front like if the shoe wasn’t on the other foot you wouldn’t be calli
ng Sidney to let him know you were okay. I hate when you act like what’s good for you is not good for me,” she replied with an attitude. She was acting really childish in my opinion, but it was not the right time to be arguing. We needed to stick together. I had to take a deep breath and count to ten in my head. She’s right. I can see her point. Does she see my point? Probably not. Just fix it, Karlie. I gave myself a quick pep talk. It wasn’t about who was right or wrong. It was about making peace so that we wouldn’t be under any more unnecessary stress.

  “Look. I’m sorry for snapping on you, but this is a stressful time for both of us. I just want us to get out of this alive, Miley. I’m not telling you that Taz is a bad guy, but we just don’t know who to trust right now. Once the dust is settled, you can reconnect with Taz. Shit, you can take your money and run off into the sunset with him, but for now no phone calls. And most importantly, no fighting and beef between us. Deal?” I said.

  Miley pouted and rolled her eyes. “Deal,” she replied reluctantly.

  “Good. Now, let’s go up to the room and get some rest. We have to sort out our next move,” I said softly.

  “I’m sorry too,” Miley said, cracking that cute smile that had always melted my heart since she was a baby. We both knew that meant no more discussing it. When she got out of the truck, I grabbed her for a hug. At first she was reluctant. She was still playing mad. It was another game we played from childhood until now. After a few seconds she gave in and hugged me back. We giggled.

  “We are going to get through this . . . together,” I said, my tone lighter than it had been in days. Miley cracked a small smile and shook her head in agreement.

  “Like always . . . together,” she said. What was understood didn’t need to be said. My sister and I knew that all we had was each other.

  I was so grateful for a clean, safe place to stay that as soon as I opened the hotel room door, relief washed over me. I rushed through the door and quickly went about closing up the blinds. I wasn’t taking any chances. It seemed like whoever was after our whole crew had no problem finding us somehow. Miley was obviously exhausted. After driving like she had, I could understand it. She rushed over to one of the beds, threw herself stomach-first in the center and sprawled out with her arms and legs splayed wide.

  “Oh my God. I didn’t even realize how tired I was. I guess adrenaline will do that to you,” she said, clutching one of the pillows tight. “This bed feels like heaven. Like the best bed I’ve ever been in.”

  I laughed, but I wanted to feel it too. I walked over to the other bed and flopped down on my back. I slipped my shoes off and pushed myself back against the soft, fluffy pillows.

  “Ahh. Yes. My entire body is aching. This definitely feels like heaven,” I said. “My bed at home is better, but this will do for now. At least we are not stuck in that damn truck driving around aimlessly or worse . . . sleeping in it.”

  “Yeah, Trina really came through,” Miley said.

  “Shit, yeah. She was definitely a lifesaver,” I said, my words starting to slur. I closed my eyes . . . exhausted. Miley was saying something to me, but after a few minutes, I couldn’t hear her. Sleep overcame me so fast I didn’t even know what hit me . . . until something actually hit me.

  * * *

  The force of the blow to my chest instantly took my breath. I made a loud sucking noise as I tried to keep the air in my lungs. My eyes and mouth popped open in shock in response to the pain crashing into my chest. I felt like a ton of bricks had been dropped on me from the ceiling.

  “Mmm,” I moaned when the sleep finally cleared my brain and I realized that my mouth and nose were covered. “Mmmmm,” I feverishly protested, trying to move my head from side to side in an attempt to loosen the grip that was holding me captive. I could smell and taste the leather from the glove that was suffocating me. Suddenly it registered in my brain that I was being attacked. My body came alive like I’d been hit with a live wire of electricity. I started kicking my legs wildly, but another blow to my midsection abruptly stopped that. I felt vomit leap up from my stomach into my throat. I was choking. I was dying. The next vicious punch to my gut gave me pause. It landed with so much force that it made a small bit of urine escape my bladder.

  “Stop fucking fighting or I’ll blow your sister’s fucking brains out right in front of you,” the assailant hissed. I went stock-still at the mention of Miley. My heart was squeezing so hard it hurt. Tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes. This was it. They had found us.

  But how?

  How did they get into the room? They hadn’t kicked in the door. There was no warning before they were standing over me and Miley while we slept. They must’ve had a key.

  Suddenly I felt my body moving. Instinctively, I extended my arms, trying to find something to hold on to. My efforts were futile. The next thing I felt was my legs hitting the floor with a thud. My heels crashing to the floor sent small shock-waves of pain up my legs, causing my thighs to tremble. The carpet burned the heels of my feet as I was dragged. I tried to twist my head in protest, but that caused pain too. It wasn’t until I finally was positioned in such a way that I could see my sister with a black cloth bag over her head that I started to fight with everything I had in me. It was like I suddenly had the strength of ten men. I reared my arm back and drove my elbow into my attacker’s midsection.

  “Fuck!” he wheezed and bent over slightly. That still didn’t make him let go of his vise grip on my face. “You little bitch!” he growled, clamping down on me with even more force.

  “Mmm!” I groaned under his black-gloved hand, twisting my body. I raised my hands and began punching and clawing at his hands, but the gloves kept me from being able to dig my nails into his skin.

  “Mmm! Mmm!” I went wild, bucking my body with the ferocity of a caged animal trying to get away. My constant movement made it increasingly difficult for him to keep such a tight grasp on me.

  “Keep still, bitch, or I swear I’ll spill your fucking brains right now,” he hissed viciously. I was no match for his power, but I kept fighting. If I was going to die, what did I have to lose anyway? I tried to drop my body weight down in order to loosen his grip on me. I’d seen that on a self-defense class on television. That little stunt just made the angry assailant tighten his grip on my face even harder. My neck felt like it would snap from my shoulders at any second. The pain rocking through my entire neck, back, and spine made my legs go limp. I was exhausted. I finally gave up my efforts to get away. I realized that with one false move he could snap my neck and end my life instantly.

  “That’s right. You better obey or else you’re a dead bitch,” he snarled in my ear. “But not before I make you watch me murder your sister.”

  I gulped and swallowed the large lump that had formed in my throat. I didn’t care if they killed me, but I had to do whatever it took to save Miley. Even if I didn’t make it out alive, I was praying she somehow could.

  “Yeah. Atta girl. You learn quick,” he said as I kept still. There was something eerily familiar about the assailant’s voice. So familiar that the sound of it made my body go cold like someone had pumped ice water into my veins. My mind was so jumbled with thoughts of death that I couldn’t immediately place the voice, but I knew I had heard it before. There was a commotion to the right of where I was being held. I stretched my eyes to see what was happening.

  “Mmm!” I started protesting again as I watched one guy throw my sister over his shoulder like a big sack of potatoes. Miley’s head dangled precariously over his back. She looked like a lifeless ragdoll.

  “Mmm. Mmm!” I groaned, writhing in protest once again as the guy hauled Miley’s limp body through the door. That was it. Not my sister! They couldn’t separate me from my sister! I wouldn’t keep still. I kicked my legs and twisted my body like a fish out of water. I didn’t care anymore if they killed me. I needed to know where they were taking my sister. I was sobbing; tears ran down my eyes and over his glove. I kept writhing my body, trying to fl
ail and kick. I couldn’t understand why Miley wasn’t screaming, kicking or fighting. It dawned on me that she must’ve been drugged. That would be the only thing to keep a spitfire like Miley quiet in a time like this. I didn’t have to question that for long. Right after they disappeared through the room door with Miley, another dude rushed toward me. He came and stood in front of me, and I watched in horror as he sprayed something on a cloth and got closer to me. The one holding my face removed his hand.

  “Agh! Help! Help me!” I screamed out in the second between one attacker moving his hand and the other one forcing the cloth over my nose and mouth. I had my wide mouth open so whatever was on the cloth went straight to the back of my throat and up my nose. I felt a burning sensation dull my senses. I began coughing and wheezing. I couldn’t catch my breath. My eyes, nose, and throat started to burn like I’d swallowed a fire-lit sword. I knew I was moving my arms, but keeping control of my body was becoming increasingly difficult. My ears started ringing. I wanted to lift my hands to cover them, but I couldn’t get my body parts to cooperate with my brain. Suddenly, the room began to spin. I could hear voices, but they sounded like they were coming through a tunnel. I could sense movement around me. I was fighting to keep my eyes open, but I was losing the battle. Darkness began closing in on me. I felt my chest heaving up and down as my breathing became labored. I opened my mouth and managed a scream. My screams were short-lived and so was my consciousness.

  CHAPTER 11

  DEVIL IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

  “Ah!” I gasped and gulped in a lungful of air so fast it made me cough and gag. “Uhhh,” I panted, my head whirling around in circles as I tried to catch my breath. My entire body trembled and shuddered so hard, all of my muscles ached. Finally my eyes fluttered open, my wet eyelashes partially obscuring my vision. I could see the shadowy figure standing in front of me holding the source of my torment. I was freezing from the bucket of ice-cold water that had been thrown on me. I finally got my eyes opened wide enough to see clearly, but that didn’t last long before a blindfold was forced over them.