The Last Chance (29 page)
Authors: Darrien Lee
He ran his hand lovingly down her back to her round, sexy backside. “That was nothing. When we have more time, I would like to show you how I really feel about you.”
She looked at him in disbelief. If that was nothing, she was a little afraid of what he considered something. He looked at his watch and said, “I guess we had better get up and get dressed so we can rescue your brothers.”
Keilah kissed him on the chin and pushed back the comforter so she could climb out of bed. Before she was able to put her feet on the floor, Ramsey grabbed her and pulled her back into his arms. “I know you don't think I'm going to let you out of this bed with a weak kiss like that.”
She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck and signed his mouth with her lips. She offered him the sweetness of her tongue as she slipped it inside his mouth, and he happily indulged her. “Now that is what I'm talking about.”
Ramsey climbed out of bed behind her, and they showered together before finally getting dressed.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Keytone, Ramsey, and Keilah went over their plan one more time with Li'l Mike and T. Money. Before leaving Malachi's house, Keytone said, “Keilah, I have something for you and Ramsey.”
Before she could ask, T.Money opened a box, pulled out two bulletproof vests, and handed them to the pair. Ramsey inspected them. “Where did you get these?”
Keytone laughed. “Don't ask.” Ramsey unbuttoned his shirt and slid into his vest. “I really appreciate this, Keytone. I feel much better now.”
Keilah removed her T-shirt and adjusted the straps on her tank top before putting on the vest. Once she had it on, she put her T-shirt back on. She sat down and raised the pants leg of her jeans and slid a .22-caliber pistol into an ankle holster. Ramsey and the rest of the crew did their final weapon check as well before heading out the door. Keytone looked at Keilah and asked, “What else are you carrying?”
She pulled a 9 mm out of her back waistband, popped out the clip and slammed it back in. “This.”
“I'm scared of you.”
She smiled. “You don't have a reason to be scared, but Xavier does. I still don't understand why he's holding everyone hostage.”
As if a lightbulb had gone off in his head, Keytone yelled, “Son of a bitch.”
Ramsey looked at Keytone. “What is it?”
“I just remembered something a junkie told me right after you got attacked at the hotel. He said he heard some guy talking about a take over. I bet X is trying to take over the casinos.”
Keilah yelled, “Well, he's not going to get them. I'll burn them down first before I let X or anybody take our casinos from us.”
“I feel you, Keilah,” Ramsey replied.
Keytone looked at his watch. “Now that we have an idea of what's going on, let's roll. Keilah, don't forget we have your back, and if it seems like things are getting ready to jump off, give us some kind of signal.”
She put on a trench coat and tucked a sawed off semiautomatic shotgun down in an inside pocket. Keytone frowned. “Can you handle all of that?”
“Do you know who you're talking to?” Ramsey asked. “Just call her Foxy Brown.” Ramsey laughed. “That's my girl.”
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At the Lucky Chance casino, Keilah drove Malachi's car through the private gate and parked. Before getting out of the vehicle she sent a text to Xavier, telling him to meet her near the poker tables. When she walked inside the building, she punched in the alarm code, then made her way downstairs, where she cut off certain circuit breakers. She only wanted the emergency backup lights on, and she wanted to make sure the surveillance cameras didn't record anything that might go down. After getting everything in place, she made her way over to the poker tables.
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It didn't take long for Xavier and his crew along with the Chance brothers, to pull into the parking lot. Xavier made sure the Chances were bound while Baby Dee and Romeo held their guns on the foursome. As they made their way through the casino, Ramsey, Keytone, and his crew held their positions through the building. They cautiously walked through the large room until they found Keilah sitting behind one of the larger poker tables.
The moment she laid eyes on her brothers, her heart thumped in her chest. She walked over to them and hugged and kissed each one. “Are you guys okay?”
Luke said, “We're fine.”
Xavier interrupted their family reunion. “Enough is enough. Let's get down to business.”
Keilah turned to X and angrily said, “Untie them.”
“Hell no. We have business to conduct first.”
She walked over to him. “What kind of business do you have to discuss with me?”
Xavier laughed. “Ask your brothers.”
Keilah turned to her brothers and they lowered their heads. That's when P.K. Sloan walked into the room. “P.K. What the hell are you doing here?” she asked.
As usual, he was dressed in a very expensive suit and his hands were sparkling with diamonds. He held his hand out to Keilah, and she numbly shook it. “It's good seeing you again, Keilah. I believe I have another document here for you to sign.”
Luke stepped forward. “Keilah, what P.K. is trying to tell you is he's just as crooked as Xavier is. He has falsified documents, and because we trusted him, he was able to trick us into signing away our rights to both casinos. All they need now is your signature, and we will no longer be the owners of either one.”
Keilah felt lightheaded. “You can't be serious, Luke.”
Roman said, “It's true. P.K. has been working with this trash for some time now to steal our casinos. For some reason, he thinks he deserves to own them all because his alcoholic father drank himself to death before Joe made their gambling house.”
“What are you talking about, Luke?” she asked.
“It doesn't matter, Keilah,” Xavier intervened. “I've earned the right to this casino just like you guys did, and I won't be denied.”
P.K. opened his briefcase and placed a single form on the table. He took a pen out of his jacket. “So, Keilah, if you would just sign here, we'll be done.”
She frowned. “I'm not signing a damn thing. My family worked hard to make this casino what it is, and you think I'm going to stand here and just sign it over to you? You're crazy.”
Xavier pulled out his revolver and aimed it at Keilah's head. She walked directly toward him. Luke yelled, “Keilah, don't.”
She ignored Luke and kept walking toward Xavier until the gun was pressed firmly against her forehead. “If you think pointing that gun at me is going to scare me into signing that paperwork, you're mistaken.”
Xavier lowered the gun and pointed it at Malachi.
Malachi mumbled, “Don't sign it, sis.”
Xavier looked at Malachi and then over at Keilah. He smiled mischievously and said, “Maybe this will change your mind.”
Xavier pulled the trigger, and Luke, Roman, and Genesis all dove under a nearby poker table. Keilah ran over to Malachi and held her hand against his wound. Xavier had shot him in the leg. She yelled, “You bastard.”
Xavier said, “I guess now you see I'm not playing with you.”
Malachi moaned in pain as he lay on the floor.
“Untie him, Xavier,” Keilah yelled.
“Not until you sign the paper,” he repeated.
“Go to hell,” she yelled back at him.
Xavier turned to Baby Dee and Romeo and said, “Go check the perimeter and make sure nobody heard that gunshot.”
Keilah pulled a knife out of her pocket and cut the restraint off Malachi's wrists. When Xavier turned back around he said, “Didn't I tell you not to do that until you sign the paper?”
She jumped up. “I don't give a damn what you said. Malachi needs a doctor.”
Xavier aimed the gun again but this time at Genesis. “Do you think I'm playing with you, girl? This is not a game.”
P.K. put his hands up. “Hold on a second, Xavier. Let's not go to the extreme. I'm not looking to get any jail time out of this.” Xavier aimed the gun at P.K. “Are you getting soft on me, P.K.?”
“No, I just don't feel like catching a case and getting a needle stuck in my arm for murder.”
“If I didn't need you, P.K., I swear I would shoot your punk ass,” Xavier informed him.
P.K. yelled, “Without me, you wouldn't be even close to having any of this shit.”
Xavier was getting agitated. “Keilah, sign the goddamn paper.”
“I said no.”
Xavier raised the gun again and aimed it at Genesis. Just before he pulled the trigger, Ramsey and T. Money stepped through the door with Magnums pointed at X and P.K. “Don't even think about it, because if you pull that trigger you're going to be dead before you hit the floor,” Ramsey said. “Now put the gun down.”
“Who the hell are you?” X asked as he sat his gun on top of the poker table.
T. Money said, “You don't want to know, partner.”
Ramsey winked at Keilah. “Cut those restraints off your brother's wrists.”
Xavier seemed somewhat dumbfounded. Keilah cut her brother's bindings before helping Malachi off the floor. “T. Money, get Malachi to the hospital right away.”
“A'ight, Keilah,” he replied as he tucked his .357 Magnum into his jacket.
Xavier turned to P.K. “Where's Baby Dee and Romeo?”
P.K. shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know.” Ramsey taunted Xavier. “It's hard to find good help when you need it, isn't it?”
Xavier pointed his gun at T. Money. “Nobody's going anywhere.”
“I disagree with you, dawg,” Ramsey said. “Go ahead, T. Money. Get Malachi to the hospital. I got this.”
T. Money put Malachi's arm around his shoulder and helped him out of the building so he could drive him to the hospital. A few minutes later, Baby Dee and Romeo stepped from behind the dollar slot machines with their guns blazing. They eased up on Ramsey. “Drop the gun, player.”
Ramsey put his hands up in the air and slowly placed the gun down on the poker table. “Where the hell have you two been?” Xavier yelled as he retrieved his gun.
“You told us to check out the building, X. It takes a minute. This place is huge,” Romeo answered.
“Well, while you and Baby Dee was looking around, y'all let Rambo get up close and personal.”
“I'm sorry, X,” Romeo apologized. “We're back now. Who is this dude?”
“Don't worry about it. He's with me,” Keilah blurted out.
“I thought I told you to come alone,” Xavier reminded her.
“Look, X or Xavier or whatever your name is. You might as well shoot me because I'm not signing that paper,” she informed him.
X said, “If that's the way you feel, have it your way.”
Ramsey looked at Keilah, and she looked over at her brothers. Everything moved in slow motion from that moment on. Gunshots rang out, and poker chips and cards flew everywhere. Luke, Genesis, and Roman dove behind the slot machines while Ramsey tackled Keilah and they fell over a cashier counter.
Ramsey yelled, “Baby, are you hit?”
“No. Are you okay?” she asked as she took her 9 mm out of her waistband.
“I'm fine. Where did they go?” Ramsey asked as he pulled a second weapon out of his ankle holster.
“I don't know. I can't see anybody,” she replied.
Keilah peeked through a section of the cashier booth and saw P.K. Sloan bleeding on the floor. She quietly moved down a little farther and saw Luke, Roman, and Genesis huddled together behind a row of slot machines. She waved at them to get their attention and motioned for them to get out. Luke shook his head and did charades to find out if she had an extra weapon. She nodded and whispered, “Cover me, Ramsey.”
“What are you doing?”
She checked the clip on her gun. “I need to get a gun to Luke.”
“OK. Go,” Ramsey yelled as Keilah jumped over the counter and ran in her brother's directions. Xavier saw her and immediately started shooting in her direction. Ramsey returned fire, forcing X to take cover. Roman's heart jumped in his throat when he saw Keilah take that unbelievable risk. When she joined them, he grabbed her by the collar. “Have you lost your mind? Don't you ever do anything like that again.”
“It's okay, Roman. Here's a nine and a twenty-two. There's one down and three to go. Watch your back.”
Genesis said, “No, you watch yours. Thanks, sis.”
Keilah pulled the shotgun from under her coat. “We need to take care of this now. Watch the crossfire. I'm going to make my way through the quarter slots until I get over to the bar. Don't let Ramsey get pinned down.”
She kissed them and disappeared around the corner.
Xavier yelled, “Keilah, you might as well come out, because you're not getting out of here until that paper is signed.”
Ramsey climbed over the cashier's booth and ran toward the rear of the room. Baby Dee aimed and pulled the trigger, hitting Ramsey in the back. Luke leaned over a poker table and shot Baby Dee in the chest. After checking to make sure Baby Dee was dead, Luke immediately checked on Ramsey. “Ramsey, can you get up? I need to get you out of sight.”
Ramsey moaned and raised his shirt, showing Luke the bulletproof vest. Luke patted him on the shoulder. “Good boy. Don't move, I'll be right back.”
Over the next thirty minutes, the situation intensified when Romeo cornered Roman near the front door. As he raised his firearm, Keilah whistled to get his attention. When Romeo turned, Keilah fired one shot, striking him in the abdomen. The force of the blast knocked Romeo completely off his feet and through a glass window. Keytone ran over. “You took my shot, Keilah.”
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