The Demise (25 page)

“Yeah well, you're a little late. They've been disposed of,” Miamor replied.

Sam wanted to get inside the house to retrieve the phone. It was her only reason for coming. The feds were close to bringing Carter up on charges. On Tuesday they would have all the evidence they needed when they intercepted the exchange between Estes and Carter. If Miamor discovered the phone, it may arouse suspicion. Sam was anxious to get it back.

“Call Carter. He won't mind me coming in to make sure I didn't leave anything,” Sam pushed.

“You don't need to speak with Carter. You're speaking with me,” Miamor said firmly. “You don't have any more business with him.”

Sam chuckled, infuriating Miamor. “Actually, I'll see him soon. We've got a date that neither one of us can avoid,” Sam said slyly. She couldn't help but antagonize Miamor. She turned to walk away, knowing that she would have the last laugh. Soon she would have Miamor in handcuffs and all of her tough talk would be used as evidence to convict her.

 

C
HAPTER
18

“Alright, people, look alive,” Sam said as she strapped on her bulletproof vest and addressed the men and women before her. “Today is the day we bring down the most deadly criminal enterprise in Miami. The plane will be here at six a.m. We'll have a bird in the sky in case Carter tries to flee, and we'll have men on the ground, hiding behind the trees in these woods next to the clear port strip.” Sam had a map of the area spread out over a large table as she gave out the directions. “These men are ruthless. I want you to be sharp today. Stay focused. I want every agent in this division to make it home to their families tonight. I don't want any casualties. We haven't come this far to have it end with dead suspects. Let's try to keep this thing clean, by the book. We don't want to give them any room to get off on a technicality. Let's load up.” She grabbed her gun off the table and holstered as she made her way through the Miami field office. Today was the day her career would be made.

She walked briskly through the halls and as her partner, Agent Jacobs, rounded the corner, he aligned by her side. He handed her a vanilla latte as they exited the building. “You ready to be Agent Tiffani Gamble again?” he asked.

“I've been undercover so long that I forgot that was my real name,” Sam said as they entered their unmarked SUV. “I can't wait to see the look on Carter's face when he has my cuffs around his wrists or that pretty little bitch of a wife he chose.”

Agent Jacobs pulled away from the field office with SWAT and a twenty-person DEA team following them. It was time to take down The Cartel.

*   *   *

Zyir stood in the bathroom, gripping both sides of the sink as his head hung low. He was ashamed of himself. He was about to lose a brother today. Zyir had tossed and turned all night, thinking about his betrayal to Carter. Their bond was more than friendship. They couldn't be closer even if they shared the same bloodline. Carter had fed Zyir when he was starving; he had protected him; nurtured him. Carter had been the single force in his life that had molded him into the man he had become. He owed Carter everything, but instead he was showing him the ultimate form of disloyalty. Zyir looked up at himself and rage took over him. How he had been so stupid to get himself in this position in the first place was beyond him. He should have never allowed himself to love Breeze. It was his affection for her that forced him to put her well-being before his honor. The feds knew that. They banked on that. Either he got them to Carter, or they arrested her on drug charges. Sacrificing what he stood for was the only choice he could make. He couldn't let his wife go through that, so it was Carter who had to take the fall. Zyir told himself that Carter would do the same if it were Miamor, but even as the thoughts entered his mind, he knew they were false. There was no question about Carter's character. He was real, through and through; a real street nigga with
je ne sais quoi.
Carter was a rare breed.

Zyir's rage caused his chest to feel empty. He felt queasy. In his frustration he reached up and pulled the entire medicine cabinet off the hotel wall. The mirror shattered as it hit the floor. He couldn't even look at his reflection without feeling overwhelming disgust.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Zyir took his time answering because he knew who stood on the other side. He walked over to it, wearing nothing but his Calvin Klein boxer briefs, and opened the door.

“Today's the day,” Sam said.

Zyir said nothing as he turned and walked back into the room. She entered along with Agent Jacobs. “I've done my part,” he said as he flopped down on the bed. “I'm done. I don't need to be there to watch it all go down.”

“Actually, you're not done. There is still one more thing left to do. Since Estes refuses to do direct business with Monroe, we don't have anything on him that will stick. I need you to wear a wire and go to the Diamond estate. Get him talking about today's exchange,” Sam instructed.

“I said I'm done,” Zyir stated.

Sam nodded. “Okay,” she said. She picked up her walkie-talkie and said, “Send local PD to Flint, Michigan, to retrieve Breeze Rich. Conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, possession of a controlled—”

“Wait!” Zyir shouted. He was between a rock and a hard place. “I'll do it.”

“I thought so,” Sam said smugly.

She turned to Jacobs. “Wire him up.”

*   *   *

Sam hid behind the large tree and looked down at the members of her team awaiting the plane's arrival. Even in the early morning, the Florida heat was suffocating. Sweat covered her entire body under her clothes and vest. “Where are they?” Jacobs's voice came through her earpiece, asking the same question she had just been asking herself.

“Patience is a virtue, Jacobs,” Sam replied, keeping her eyes straight forward. The sound of an approaching aircraft could be heard before it ever came into view. Sam held her breath in anticipation until she finally saw a small aircraft descending from the sky.

“Hold steady. Move on my mark,” she whispered into her headset. She held up a closed fist to the other agents, keeping them at bay. She wanted the aircraft to be turned completely off before they made their move. She waited. Five minutes, then ten, then fifteen. “Where are they?” she whispered.

“Where is Jones?” Jacobs's voice came through her earpiece again. “Isn't he supposed to meet the plane to pick up the shipment?” Sam didn't answer because she didn't know what the hell was going on. She knew Carter. She had spent the past three years getting to know him. He executed plans with precision. Something was awry.

“Let's take the plane and find out where Carter is later,” Sam said. When she heard the pilot cut the engine and saw the staircase lower to the ground, she opened her fist. “Move, move.”

They swarmed the plane, running full speed with guns drawn. Sam's adrenaline pumped as she shouted, “DEA! On the ground, now!” The pilot came off the plane, alarmed and with hands raised.

“This is a search warrant to search this aircraft,” she said, handing him the papers.

Sam rushed up the steps and into the cockpit to find an empty plane. “Where are the drugs?” she asked, confused.

She rushed down the steps and confronted the pilot. “Where are they?” she shouted, enraged.

“Where is who?” the pilot asked. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Take him in,” Sam said. “And tear this plane apart until you find something.” She turned to Agent Jacobs, frantic. “Are we picking anything up on the wire from Zyir?” she asked. She was flabbergasted.

“Yeah, he's walking into the Diamond estate as we speak,” Jacobs said. “This wasn't his doing. He hasn't tipped anyone off.”

“Damn it!” Sam said as she threw up her arms. “I'm making this arrest today! Carter ordered the shipment. We just have to figure out the real location for the exchange. Get me to the surveillance van now. I need to be on the other end of that wire.”

*   *   *

When Monroe's guards saw Zyir's face, they let him into the gates without second-guessing. It only made the pit in the bottom of his stomach deepen. He was a snake and he knew it. Monroe and Carter trusted him with their lives. They gave no one this much access to them, but he had earned the privilege. He drove down the long driveway and exited the car. Taking the steps two at a time, he approached Monroe's front door. He hesitated on knocking. He stood there, conflicted, but he knew it was too late to turn back.
The exchange is done. Carter's probably already in handcuffs,
Zyir thought, an extreme sadness filling him.
I might as well finish this.

He rang the bell.

Moments later, Monroe opened the door.

“What's good, bro?” Monroe greeted him. It wasn't even a question as to why Zyir was at his door before noon. Zyir was family and was always welcome. “Come on in. I've got the chef whipping up breakfast.”

Zyir stepped inside and followed Monroe into the dining room. “I was just telling Carter to call you. It's been a minute since we've sat down and broke bread together. Perfect timing,” Monroe stated. “We were just discussing the shipment that's coming in today.”

Zyir couldn't hide his shock when he saw Carter sitting coolly at the table, sipping coffee, while reading
The Wall Street Journal.

“I thought you had that business to take care of this morning, bro?” Zyir asked.

Carter nodded. “It's still on.”

Monroe took his seat and added, “This paranoid nigga and his extra security measures. He switched the shit up. He doubled back to Estes after y'all left the golf course and had him put the bricks on a sixteen-wheeler the same day. They'll be there this afternoon.”

“I'll fly out to meet the driver and store the bricks in our warehouse,” Carter said.

Zyir cringed because he knew the wire had picked all of that up.

“What's wrong, Zy? You look like you've seen a ghost,” Monroe observed.

“I'm good. I'm good. Drank a little too much last night. I need to get some food in me,” he said.

Carter frowned. “Since when you drink to get faded?” he asked.

Feeling the need to change the focus, he said, “Breeze is pregnant. Got me thinking if I'm going to be a good father and all that. This life … this game … the treachery,” he said, feeling like scum. “I needed to take the edge off.”

Carter stood. “My man a hunnid grand,” he said jovially. He walked around and embraced Zyir, giving him a firm pat on the back. “Congrats.”

“That's dope, Zy,” Monroe added. “That's love right there. I can't believe B didn't tell me. We're going to have to celebrate. Throw a huge party.”

“Yeah, well, before you bring the entire city out, let me go back West and handle this business,” Carter stated. “After this, we are all out. We're done with the street shit. We got babies. We're fathers. It's time we hang this shit up. It's only so long we're going to run this game before it destroys us. We have a responsibility to know when enough is enough. Let's not make the same mistake as our father. Let's learn from that and leave gracefully.”

Zyir was crushed. The magnitude of Carter's words and the timing of it all was so ironic, Zyir knew he would never forgive himself for the chain of events that were about to occur.

“You need help out there with the shipment? You good?” Monroe asked.

“Nah, I got it. One last flip,” Carter said.

“One last flip,” Monroe confirmed.

*   *   *

Miamor stood, gazing out of the window, chuckling as Magda and C.J. built a snowman in the front yard. She was so far removed from the streets in the isolation of these mountains, and it was comforting. She felt so lucky to have survived everything she had been through. To have another chance at real love and to have her son safe felt so good. Miamor had come out of the fire molded instead of burned and she was grateful.

“Let me tackle this laundry,” she whispered to herself. She knew that Magdalena would have done it, but she was trying to settle into this domestic routine. If she kept herself busy, she could never mess up the good thing she had going. She planned to fill her days with dutiful wife and mom work so that she would never fall back into her habits as a Murder Mama. She was done with that. Everything she needed was right here. Carter would be home later that evening and he had assured her that after this last run, he would step away from the game as well.

Miamor went to the massive laundry room and began to sort through the dirty clothes. She picked up a pair of her jeans and shook them out. Her eyes widened when the cell phone she had found in Sam's drawer fell to the floor. Her heart skipped a beat. She didn't know how she had forgotten to go through it the other day, but today she knew she wouldn't be able to fight the curiosity. She picked it up, flipping it open.
Damn it, it's dead,
she thought. She rushed to the kitchen and pulled open one of the drawers. Inside were all kinds of electronic cords and extras. None of them fit. She knew that her phone wasn't compatible.
Magda has an older-model phone,
Miamor thought as she rushed out the back door. An in-law apartment sat above the main house. It was where Magda retreated to after her shift was over. Miamor crept inside and quickly located her charger. She took it and went back to the main cabin. She didn't know why she was so pressed to go through Sam's phone. She was confident that Carter had ended things, but something still gnawed at her. Call it women's intuition, but Miamor had always been able to sniff out a snake. After waiting a few minutes, the phone finally powered on and Miamor went through the text messages. They had all been erased. She then went through the call log.