The Prada Plan 2: Leah's Story (7 page)

The red, white, and blue flashing lights lit up the streets like it was the Fourth of July. While Disaya felt a sense of relief from the presence of authority, Indie’s chest tightened uncomfortably. He was cut from a completely different cloth than Disaya. Under no circumstances did he trust the police; even something as daunting as Skylar’s disappearance didn’t spark an urge for him to request their help.

Tension thickened the air as YaYa looked at Indie from across the room. She could see his anger in his pulsing temples as he spoke with the lead federal agent in charge of Skylar’s case. She herself had been questioned a million times in a million different ways. They asked the same questions repetitively in an attempt to find a loophole in her story, but YaYa had nothing to hide. She was as honest as she could be, but as she watched Indie’s demeanor she knew that things were not going as smoothly for him.

YaYa could see that Indie needed her by his side. She was his regulator and could calm him down just by standing beside him. Her presence was therapeutic for him. She made her way to him and interrupted the line of questioning that the agent was taking him through.

“Hi. I’m Disaya Morgan, Skylar’s mother,” she said as she extended one hand and rubbed Indie’s back gently with the other. She could feel his shoulders relaxing from her touch.

“Federal Agent Norris,” he replied as he shook her hand. His tone of voice was tight and unfriendly, his eyes accusatory and stern. YaYa could tell that the man would not extend them the benefit of the doubt. He cleared his throat and continued with his interrogation.

“Where were the two of you when your daughter was taken?” he asked.

“Asleep in the master bedroom,” Indie replied.

“There was no sign of forced entry? Neither of you heard anything? An infant usually cries when their rest is disturbed. You must be a pretty heavy sleeper, huh?”

YaYa could hear the sarcasm in his voice, and she frowned slightly, but kept her cool. Now was not the time for theatrics. She didn’t care how much of a jerk the guy was, as long as he did his job and recovered baby Sky.

“We don’t know how they got in, and we didn’t hear anything,” Indie said.

“Hmm, convenient,” the agent scoffed. “Excuse me?” YaYa asked.

Norris shook his head and replied, “Why did you wait an entire day before reporting her disappearance? You wake up in the middle of the night and your baby is missing. Why hesitate to call?”

YaYa was at a loss for words. She didn’t know how to respond. The innuendo of guilt that Agent Norris expressed was enough to let YaYa know that she had no ally in him.

Before they could even answer him, he continued, “Do you see how this looks from where I’m sitting? So, tell me what really happened. Ms. Morgan, did you accidentally bring harm to your baby? And did Dad help you cover your tracks?”

“I would never—” YaYa began to defend herself, but Agent Norris held up a hand to stop her midsentence.

“That’s what they all say. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and nine times out of ten, the parents are the guilty party,” he stated firmly.

“That’s enough,” Indie finally spoke up and said. “I thought this was an interview, not an interrogation. You can contact my attorney if these are the types of questions you’re going to ask. Somebody has my daughter, and it would be in your best interest to start doing your job instead of insulting my family.”

Norris smirked, unimpressed and unthreatened by Indie’s show of manhood. “We’re going to set up in the living room for forty-eight hours. This could be a ransom kidnapping. All we can do is sit back and wait for the perpetrator to make contact.” He began to walk away. His cocky attitude displayed dominance, as if he owned the place.

He stopped when he was halfway across the room and snapped his fingers. “Oh, yeah, Mr. Perkins. What line of business did you say you were in?” he asked.

“I didn’t,” Indie replied.

Agent Norris looked around the plush townhome while nodding his head in approval. “Whatever it is, must be lucrative,” he commented sarcastically as he took in the luxury around him.

Indie’s jaw tightened as he watched local and federal cops take over his home. “This is just the beginning,” he said loud enough for only YaYa to hear him. “Be careful what you say to them, YaYa. If it’s not about Sky, they don’t need to know,” he warned as he kissed her cheek before making his way out of the room.

“Indie,” YaYa called to him, but he ignored her calls as he stormed out of the room. Indie made his way into their master bath and locked the door behind him. There was only so much one man could take. All control had been shifted out of his hands, and the possibility of Skylar’s safe return was fading. The realization that he may never see her again tore his heart out of his chest. His resolve broke, and as he stared at himself in the mirror, he sobbed silently. It was a moment that he would never share with another soul, tears that were only meant for God to see.

YaYa stared out of her bedroom window in awe at all of the media outlets that were parked outside of her house. News stations all over Houston had come out at the chance to jump on the big story of a kidnapped infant. A part of YaYa was relieved. The more people who knew about Skylar’s disappearance, the more eyes there would be to look for her, but she knew that the attention would put a lot of strangers in their business. Indie’s empire would be at a standstill as long as the spotlight was shining so brightly upon them.

She felt his presence behind her and closed her eyes as he wrapped his toned arms around her waist. He kissed the top of her head and she sighed.

“I didn’t know that all of this would come about when I called the police,” she said.

“I know you didn’t, ma. Don’t worry about that. That’s one thing that you don’t need to let stress you out. Everybody will just have to be careful, watch what they say, and be aware of how they move while this is going on. I’ll let Khi, Chase, and the girls know to be low key.

“I’ve got a feeling that Agent Norris has a hard-on for a nigga like me. He would love nothing more than to see me in jail, so I have to play the cut and act accordingly,” he replied.

YaYa could hear the anxiety in his tone, and she looked at him apologetically. “I’m sorry, Indie,” she said.

“Don’t be. As long as this brings our daughter home, there is nothing to be sorry about. She’s worth more than a little inconvenience,” he said. “Now, get ready for the cameras. They are going to want a statement.”

YaYa watched nervously as every national news station in the country littered her front lawn. Skylar’s case miraculously made the headlines all over. Out of all the little missing black girls out there, somehow Skylar was interesting enough to make the cut. Her face was amongst all the white news stories. Nancy Grace, MSNBC, Fox, and every local station were all waiting anxiously to witness the reaction of her parents. They were all waiting to either support or persecute Disaya Morgan.

YaYa stood on the podium in front of her home as she looked out on the flashing lights in front of her. There were so many microphones shoved in her face and cameras aimed directly at her that they made her shake nervously. Her eyes watered as the intense pressure of the moment stifled her. The statement that she was about to make would be broadcast live all over the state of Texas.

She looked over to Indie for support, and he nodded his head confidently. The subtle wink that he gave her sent a wave a reassurance over her, and finally she found her voice to speak.

“My name is Disaya Morgan. Two days ago, my daughter Skylar was taken from my home in the middle of the night. She’s not even a year old. She needs to be with her family…with me. Please do not hurt my baby girl. I will do anything for her safe return. She is all I have. This is a mother’s plea. To the person responsible for taking her…I beg of you, please just return her to me unharmed.”

The look of worry on her face could not be faked by the best of actresses. YaYa was distraught, and as the media and the police watched her step down from the podium, they all felt a little bit of her pain. It was as if she had chipped off a tiny piece of it and placed it in their hands.

It was then that Agent Norris concluded that she was not a part of this escapade, but as he looked at Indie, he wasn’t so sure. He could smell a drug dealer from a mile away, and Indie fit the bill. The arrogance and shrewd authority that Indie possessed was a dead giveaway. He was a hustler, and his swagger was too great to conceal. He was too large, and despite the fact that his operation ran with efficiency, he still drew attention.

As YaYa stepped off of the platform, she walked directly into Indie’s warm embrace. Although there were people all around him, when her head hit his chest, everyone else disappeared. She closed her eyes and exhaled as he rocked her gently from side to side.

“You did good, ma. Everything will be okay,” he said. The more he said it, the better it made her feel, but inside, he was well aware that this thing could end badly.

She looked up at him and frowned. Her heartbeat quickened, but everything else seemed to move in slow motion as she noticed the red dot appear in the middle of his chest. She stepped back from him instinctively and fixed her mouth to warn him, but before the words could even leave her mouth, the red dot was replaced with a red hole.

Muffled by a silencer, the gunshot gave off no sound. Indie gripped his chest as his mouth fell open in an O of horror. The hot lead spread through his chest like a wildfire, burning his insides and tearing apart his organs as he collapsed forward into YaYa’s arms.

Everything happened so fast and discreet that it wasn’t until YaYa screamed that the crowd realized something had gone horribly wrong.

“Somebody help me!” she shouted as she caught the weight of his body. “Oh my God, Indie!” she screamed.

The heat ricocheting inside of his body was unbearable. He couldn’t speak. All he could do was gasp for air as he grasped at his chest while staring YaYa in the eyes with desperation. His mouth hung open in agony as he groaned. He gulped as he tried to suck in oxygen, but he was choking on his own blood as it overflowed from his mouth.

“Indie, talk to me! Say something, baby. Wake up!” he heard Disaya scream. Her voice seemed so far away, so muffled, as he slipped in and out of consciousness.

Agent Norris rushed over to Indie and YaYa, immediately calling for assistance as he looked around simultaneously for the shooter. He was already suspicious of Indie’s profession, but this confirmed things. Legit businessmen didn’t take bullets in broad daylight. Indie ran Houston, and although he hid his thuggish nature extremely well, the streets had given him away. Beef was left stinking at his front door, and Norris was about to come sniffing.

Leah lay in bed in agony. The bleeding between her legs had gotten worse. She was sure that she had an infection from the miscarriage she had suffered. She was fighting the inevitable. Eventually she would have to go to the hospital. The pain was growing too great to self-treat, and the fever she was running indicated just how serious it was. A layer of sweat glistened on her body as she watched YaYa’s press conference on the motel television. She could see that YaYa was falling apart at the seams, and she smiled in satisfaction.

You deserve everything that’s coming to you, bitch. Shit ain’t so sweet for you now, is it?

Leah couldn’t help but laugh hysterically at YaYa. It was funny how things had changed. Leah felt overdue triumph, because YaYa finally knew what it felt like to be on the bottom, and this was only the beginning. Shit was about to get real for YaYa.

I’m about to tear that fairytale life of hers apart.

Waaa! Waaa!

Leah’s antics of insanity were broken up by the shrill wails inside her head. She covered her ears and closed her eyes.

“Shut the fuck up!” she screamed. For days, the sounds of infant cries had tormented her, reminding her of the atrocity she had committed. A few tears of regret slipped out of her eyes, but she quickly swiped them off of her ashen cheeks. The cries were so loud and daunting that she was almost certain they could be heard through the walls. She wasn’t prepared for this. Although she was pressing the buttons and calling the shots in this entire thing, the crying was throwing her off, distracting her, making it difficult to decipher through the pain of her past and present.

The crying was reminding her of all the tears she had shed in her lifetime. It forced her to relive all of the bad she had done. The crying wouldn’t stop. It was the one factor in this entire thing that she could not control. No matter what she did, it was a reoccurrence that was unavoidable.

Acting as her conscience, the wails caused her to think of the shallow grave she had dug and the innocence she had shattered. Leah put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes as she sat Indian-style on the bed.

“Please, just stop!” she hollered in frustration, but it continued. She leapt angrily to her feet and grabbed the keys to her car. The only way to get away from the screams was to run from it, but she knew that her relief was only temporary. She had to finish this. She had no time to waste. The sooner she got her revenge, the better.

Sticking around to see Disaya crack under pressure would be so sweet, but she knew that she needed money to get away. She wasn’t the type of chick to punch anyone’s time clock. She had gotten by off her looks and sexuality for so long that she should have been rich, but the old saying “easy come, easy go” was true. She never stacked the cash that she accumulated from selling ass. Instead, she spent dough and replenished it as she needed it. It was nothing for her to find a new trick or gain a new hustle. She didn’t have to label her game; she was about getting paper. But with her insides feeling as if they would fall out at any moment, she knew that lying on her back would no longer work. Besides, she didn’t have time to sit back and let money stack. She had to get rich quick so that after her plans for YaYa were fulfilled, she could skip town.