Authors: Dwayne S. Joseph
Eye for an Eye (21 page)
Her mouth low beside my ear, she said in a whisper, “The women got the savior's information, and the next day they called her for help. But guess what?”
She pressed the blade into my cheek and began to drag it down slowly.
I closed my eyes. A moan escaped from my lips as I felt my flesh tear.
“You know the rest of the story, don't you, you bitch?” she said, pulling the blade away.
Tears fell from my eyes as I forced my body to stay still.
“I've been planning this for six months, cunt. I hired your friend over there to play dual roles. He was Ryan to you, but Griffin to your easy protégé. I promised him money and a lot of sex. You whores didn't disappoint.
“Then I talked to people from your pastâyou weren't well liked by the wayâand got the information about your mother and about how she'd left you. I had Shante deliver the papers to her. I bought this house under a false name and kept it maintained just for this night. I've been watching your every move. Your meetings with Shante. Your dates with Ryan. Your searches for Myles. By the way, I think you should know that he's dead. Your associate, Marlene, would have been here tonight too, but luckily for her, she got a pass because of her son. I have a weak spot for kids. But you . . .” She leaned over me and looked down at Aida. “You won't be so lucky. You wanted to follow this bitch. Well, now you can follow her straight to hell.” She came back in and held her face inches away from my own. Her breath was hot and stale. “You took Kyra away from me, whore. You took my soul mate away. I've painstakingly waited for this fucking moment. An eye for a fucking eye. I'm going to kill your little star over there first. I want you to watch her die. And then it'll be your turn.”
She wiped the bloodâmy bloodâfrom the blade off on my breast, cutting it a little, and then stood up.
My cheek stung as blood flowed.
Six months.
She'd been planning revenge.
All because of Kyra.
I looked at Aida. Her eyes were wide with fear. Whatever drug they'd given her still had her immobile. I'd told Marlene that she'd been safe. That she had nothing to do with any of this. I looked at her as she stared at me.
I was horribly wrong.
Blood ran. My heart galloped. I felt cold with fear, but mostly hot with hatred. Hatred for Ryan. For Shante. For Myles's death. For Kyra's lover who held all the cards. Most of all, I felt hatred for Kyra.
The bitch just wouldn't leave me alone.
I looked at Aida. Told her I was sorry with my eyes. Told her to be strong. And then I saw something that surprised me. Her fingers closed ever so slowly until she was giving me a thumbs up sign.
In the six months that I'd known her, she'd been taking weekly kickboxing lessons from me. If Kyra's lover thought Aida was going to go down easy, she had another thing coming.
42
Music was coming from upstairs.
Rebecca was crouched low at the side of the house. Her heart was beating so hard, she could hear it. Her 9 mm was gripped tightly in her hand, which was becoming slicker with each passing second.
Lisette was in trouble.
She'd been repeating that in her mind like a mantra.
Lisette was in trouble.
On wobbly legs, she'd moved from her car and hurried quickly to the front of the house where she flattened her back against the home's red brick, just below the living room window. She didn't think it would have been, but she carefullyâas quietly as her trembling hand would allowâchecked to see if, by some miracle, it was unlocked.
Of course it wasn't.
She moved slowly along the base of the house, checking three other windows before going to the side of the house. That's when she heard the music coming from above her.
She moved away from the house a few inches and craned her neck upward. Although the blinds to the room were closed, she could see light flickering. Candlelight?
She flattened her back to the house again. Music and candlelight were for romantic evenings. But she'd seen Lisette get tasered and her car taken away and hidden in the garage. Then the younger female's car had been taken. Rebecca didn't know what was going on, but she felt in her bones that whatever the purpose for the music and candles had been, a romantic evening wasn't it.
She took a breath, then wiped her slick palms on her black slacks before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her cell phone. She looked at it.
One bar!
She exhaled. She had one bar. Quickly, she dialed 9-1-1 and hit the talk button to send the call, and put it to her ear. She took a slow, deep breath as she waited for the call to go through and connect with the police. But as she breathed out, a beeping sound went off in her ear.
“No,” she whispered.
She pulled the phone away and looked at it. Her heart dropped. The call had never gone through as she no longer had service.
She whispered, “No,” again and then held the phone up and moved it from side to side, hoping that she'd get lucky and come across a spot in which the phone would get service again. But that didn't happen. She sighed and put the phone back into her pocket.
Suddenly she heard someone yell out.
It sounded like Lisette's voice. Sounded as though she were cursing. Then she heard another voiceâanother femaleâcursing and yelling back.
A chill crept up Rebecca's spine.
Lisette was in trouble.
Somehow she had to get inside.
She swallowed and headed toward the back, being careful to avoid any twigs lying around. She was no expert, but she'd seen enough thrillers and horror movies to know what not to do, and what to avoid. In the movies, the actors always did great jobs of portraying fear, stress, and angst. As Rebecca made her way to the back of the house, she knew that none of the actors, no matter how many times they rehearsed, could come close to walking and breathing with the anxiety that was running through her.
Rebecca moved slowly and as swiftly as she could, and made her way to a back door. She didn't think her chances were good, but she lightly wrapped her fingers around the knob. She was about to turn it when she paused. She had ADT wired throughout her home. If someone opened a window or door, a chime went off, followed by a programmed voice, letting her know which window or door had been opened. Rebecca looked at the doorknob. What if they had ADT or something similar?
She pulled her hand away from the knob and wiped her palm on her slacks, the nervous and anxious sweat having built up again. She tried to peer in through one of three crescent-shaped windows, but saw nothing but darkness.
She swallowed again. Her throat was as raw as her nerves. She reached into her pocket, grabbed her cell phone, and prayed to see a signal, but her prayers went unanswered.
“Damn,” she whispered, putting the phone away.
She looked behind her, not because she'd heard anything, but just because. She was on edge, nervous. Crickets rubbed their legs together in the grass, giving off an eerie whine. The stale, humid air hovered over and around her as though it were draped over her shoulders. Rebecca peered into the darkness of the backyard. An idle thought passed through her mind: if this were a movie, when she turned back around to face the door, someone would be there waiting, their face grotesquely disfigured or hidden behind a hockey mask. She'd have time to let out a scream before something pierced through her midsection or came down and spilt the top of her head.
Rebecca flexed her fingers around the butt of the 9 mm and held it at her waist, ready to fire as she turned back slowly to face the door. No one ever used a gun in the horror films, and if someone was there, she wouldn't scream. She'd just pull the trigger.
But no one was there.
Rebecca looked at the knob.
Lisette is in trouble
, she thought. She wrapped her fingers around it again, squeezed it as her heart drummed on speed beneath her chest, and turned. Or at least tried to.
Lisette is in trouble
, she thought. She wrapped her fingers around it again, squeezed it as her heart drummed on speed beneath her chest, and turned. Or at least tried to.
Rebecca exhaled a breath of both relief and disappointment as the knob didn't budge, and then moved away from the door. Seconds later she was at the side of the garage. There'd been no way for her to sneak inside, which meant there was only one way in.
She moved toward the front again and looked across toward Kay's house. Her lights were still off and now the illumination from the television was gone too. She thought about running across and ringing Kay's bell to tell her to call the police, but as the thought ran through her mind, she thought also about Lisette and her screaming match a few minutes ago. Rebecca didn't know what was going on, but she knew it wasn't good, and as much as she wanted to, she knew that she couldn't risk anyone seeing Kay's lights go on and her front door open.
Rebecca took a breath and held it as her 9 mm seemed to vibrate in her hand. She'd fired the 9 mm many times, sending bullets center mass and straight through the heads of paper targets a few feet away. She was a damn good shot. Her instructor even bought her a T-shirt one day that read “Born to shoot” on the front, and the words “Test me” on the back.
Rebecca closed her eyes.
Lisette was in trouble and she was there.
She'd shot paper targets before. Tonight could be different.
“My steps will be yours, Lord. I trust you to guide my hand.”
There was only one way inside the house and Kay's lights were off.
Rebecca inhaled and exhaled and then moved to the front door.
She had an idea.
She just prayed it would work.
43
Aida did her best to keep her breathing as even as she could. Whatever drug she'd been given had almost worn off completely and although they tingled and felt a little weak, she could pretty much move her limbs.
She took a very slow breath. Vivian Steele was walking around the bed to which Lisette was tied, and heading for her with a blade she'd just used to slice a deep gash in Lisette's cheek.
Aida tried not to, but she shivered. She couldn't believe what had happened. Didn't want to believe it. One minute she'd been dressed and having wine, and the next, she was naked and hurting from wounds to her face. She was also hurting between her legs. A chill ran over her as she tried not to think about what had been done to her during her time of unconsciousness.
Griffin was a gigolo. Not a womanizer who traveled. A convicted rapist. Griffin. The man she'd fallen for. Almost broke protocol for. A man who despite saying she'd be done with after her job was complete, she still had doubts as to whether she could or would.
A tear snaked from her eye as she thought of the number of times he'd been inside of her raping her, not fucking her. And he'd raped Lisette too as Ryan.
She looked at Lisette lying helpless on the bed, bleeding badly from her knife wound. Aida had given her the thumbs-up. She wasn't exactly sure how or even if they'd be able to escape from the unbelievable horror they were experiencing, but, win or lose, Aida would get blows in for both of them. If she was going to go, she'd go down swinging.
Aida was a fighter. Always had been. She'd fought on the playgrounds at school. She'd fought in the streets of her neighborhood in the Bronx. She'd fought to break the cycle her grandmother, mother, and sister had all been prisoners of. She'd fought to do things her way, and her fight had been rewarded when Lisette first approached her.
Win or lose.
Do or die.
Aida took a breath.
“Make sure you pay close attention, Lisette,” Vivian said, coming toward her. “The things I do to her, I'm going to do to you, only worse. I promise. But before I do that . . .”
Aida turned her head slightly and averted her gaze upward. She could only see Vivian from the waist down. She watched as Vivian paused beside Griffin, or Ryan, or whoever the fuck he was.
“â¦let me take care of this small business matter first.”
Aida watched Vivian's legs turn toward Griffin. Seconds later she heard a gurgling sound and then watched in shocking dread and disbelief as Griffin fell to the ground. He was bleeding profusely from a gash across his throat. Aida clenched her jaw as he covered his throat and tried desperately to keep his blood from flowing out.
“You didn't really think I'd give you the other half of the money, did you?” Vivian said, stepping over him. “You're a fucking whore too, just like they are. But heyâat least you got to bust your nut one last time.”
Aida made eye contact with Griffin while Vivian laughed. He was staring at her as his life drained and pooled around him. She stared at him and thought about the sex they'd had in his Escalade, and over the phone. She thought about the few dates they'd had, the Mexican restaurant he'd taken her to.
Vivian was right.
He'd been damn good.
So good that as she watched him dying, she felt nothing but contempt. The motherfucker had gotten what he'd deserved. An eye for an eye.
Griffin stared at her, his mouth hanging open, his eyes open. For a brief moment, Aida was sure he'd seen the satisfaction in her eye. And then he went limp and made no more sounds.
“Now . . .” Vivian said.
Aida averted her gaze upward in time to see Vivian turning to face her.
“Back to you, you junior whore.” Vivian took a step toward her and then she suddenly stopped. “What was that?”
Shante said, “Someone's knocking on the door.”
“Fuck!”
“Wha . . . what should we do?”
Vivian growled. “What do you mean âwhat should we do'? Go and answer the fucking door and get rid of them.”
“What if it's the police?”
“The police have no reason to be here.”
“Butâ”
“Goddammit, Shante.Get the fuck down there now!”
Aida's heart beat powerfully in her chest as bumps rose from her skin. Someone was there.
She couldn't see Shante's legs but she heard when she quickly left the room.
With the speed of a snail, she turned her gaze back to Lisette, who was staring at her, her eyes alert with hope. Minutes before, Aida had been determined to fight to her last breath. Death at that point seemed imminent. But what had started with three was now down to one. And that one was now cursing in frustration. Her determination still there, still as strong, death was no longer an option.
She looked at Lisette.
Lisette looked at her.
They nodded.
And then Aida sprang to her feet, while Lisette screamed out for help.
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