by D. Camille
Slowly she followed to see where he was going. He turned another corner and she was behind him. Diamond stopped when she saw a man waiting for him in the shadows, and the two shook hands. She moved closer to hear their conversation, but remain undetected.
“Jason,”
“How’s it going?”
Jason nodded. “Good, I may have what you’re looking for at the drop point.”
Diamond tried to get a look at the man with Jason.
“Really?” the man asked impressed.
“You know I handle business.” Jason told him.
“Some new talent?”
Jason shrugged. “Not necessarily talent, but definitely what you’re looking for.”
Diamond frowned and tried to angle herself to get a glimpse of the stranger.
“Okay, what did you find out about this woman you want us to pluck for you?”
Jason smiled. “She’s related to the CEO of Watson Entertainment. I saw her having dinner with him yesterday.”
“How are we going to get to her?”
“That’s your job.” Jason told him. “I’m delivering my end of the bargain.”
Someone pushing equipment, came loudly down the hall, getting the attention of the two men. When they looked up, Jason saw Diamond talking to the man.
Diamond spoke softly to the equipment guy. “Listen, I need you to pretend like we’re walking this hall together, okay?” She blinked her big brown eyes and he stared at her.
“Uh, okay…”
“Just follow my lead, and I promise you’ll get a bonus tonight.”
He looked her over and grinned. “Okay…”
She frowned. “Money…you’ll get money.
“Diamond?” She heard her name and kept her gaze on the guy. “Remember, play along.”
She turned and looked back at Jason, who was now alone.
“Jason?”
He looked around the area. “What are you doing back here?”
“I was talking to….” She looked at the man’s badge. “Jeff, about the X-Ception’s sound tonight.”
Jeff smiled. “Yeah, I can do everything you asked.”
Diamond smiled and sighed. “Thank you Jeff, you’re an angel.”
Jason looked her over in jeans and a dark blazer. “Always taking care of the X-Ception’s needs…” he commented.
“That’s my job.” Diamond stared at him. “What are you doing back here?”
He returned her stare. “Just walking the venue, making sure my act has everything they need.”
“Isn’t that the Assistant’s job?” Diamond asked.
Jason smiled. “I’m a Jack of all Trades.”
“Master of none?”
“No, I’ve mastered many…”
Jeff looked at the pair and Diamond turned back to him. “Okay, Jeff, we can move on now.”
“I’d like to see what the X-Ception is doing with his sound,” Jason said.
Diamond chuckled. “It’s nothing special and I’m sure you have more important things on your plate.”
“No, nothing more important.”
Diamond turned to Jeff. “I think you can handle the rest without me. You can show Jason your equipment.”
Jason smiled. “I’m good Jeff. I need to talk to Diamond.”
“Thank you, Jeff. I’ll see you later.” Diamond turned to Jason. “Good bye Jason.”
She walked away, and Jason followed, while Jeff waited and watched.
“Diamond?” Jason called.
“I’m working Jason,” Diamond walked faster.
“I want to talk to you!”
Diamond kept walking. “Last warning…”
Jason grabbed her arm. “Wait a damn minute! What were you really doing back here? What did you hear?”
Jeff’s eyes widened, then he frowned, before he went running in Diamond’s direction.
Chapter 18
Xavier and Six arrived at the venue and headed to Xavier’s dressing room. Walking inside, Xavier looked around.
“Diamond must’ve told Steph to upgrade my dressing room.” He commented.
Skye smiled. “She did.”
Justice frowned. “What the hell? You’re in here like an hour, max…”
“Thanks for worrying about my comfort, Justice.” Xavier told him as Six took a seat on the sofa with Justice.
Xavier looked around. “Where’s Diamond?”
Skye answered, “She went to confirm your dinner order for tonight.”
“How long has she been gone?” he questioned.
“Now that you mention it, she’s been gone for a minute,” Skye told him.
Xavier looked at Justice. “Where the hell is Diamond?”
Justice got to his feet. “She went to the catering area, let me find her.”
Six got Jade on the device. “What’s Diamond’s location?”
“She’s in the building. She’s stationary in a hall located in the back, northeast of the stage?” she said confused. “There’s not supposed to be anything back there.”
Xavier was out of the door before she finished talking, with Six, Justice and Skye right behind him.
“What’s coming through her microphone?” Six asked.
“She’s talking to Jason. Trying to brush him off, but he’s persisting.”
Six frowned. “Which way?”
“Straight about twenty more feet, then left.”
“Left, Xavier,” Six called out to the man, ahead of them. He heard Jade, in his ear, “Oh shit!”
Xavier turned the corner and stopped. Justice, Six, and Skye joined him, then Justice shook his head at the awful sight, while Skye put a hand to mouth.
“Damn, what did he do to her?” Justice asked, frowning.
Jeff looked up. “Call an ambulance!”
The three men stood there, not moving.
Diamond’s eyes flashed as she leaned down over the man in excruciating pain. “Put your damn hands on me again…and I’ll kill your ass.”
Jason groaned. “Please, call a doctor…”
Xavier walked closer and looked down at Jason sprawled on the floor, looking like a twisted mass.
“What did you do, Goddess?” he asked.
Diamond looked up. “He grabbed me and I flipped his ass on this concrete and stomped in his chest. She then screamed down at Jason. “I hope your damn back is broken!”
Jeff scrambled to his phone, since it seemed no one else wanted to get the man any help. Standing aside, he made the call.
Xavier looked down at Jason. “Six, escort Diamond back to the dressing room. Justice and I have some business.”
Six came and took his cousin’s tight arm. “Come on, Diamond, we need you out of the way, to get the information we need.” He turned to Jeff. “You need to come with me as Diamond’s witness.”
Jeff looked down at the man on the floor, and reluctantly agreed since he didn’t want to meet the same fate.
Diamond stared down at Jason, grimacing and trying to breathe slowly. “Don’t put your hands on women, because you might come across one that will kick your sorry ass!”
She turned and walked away with Six, Jeff and Skye. When they were out of sight, Xavier turned to Justice.
“We don’t have much time.”
Justice nodded, then turned to Jason. “What are you doing on this tour, Jason?”
Jason closed his eyes. “Get away from me.”
Xavier nodded, giving Justice the okay to continue.
“Are you involved in trafficking?” Justice asked.
Jason’s eyes popped open, but he remained silent.
“Who’s your contact?” Justice questioned. “What do want with Diamond?”
The EMT’s appeared, moving Xavier and Justice aside.
“Did you get anything?” Justice asked.
Xavier nodded. “More than enough. Let’s go.”
******
Diamond angrily entered the dressing room with Six and Skye on her heels.
> “I can’t believe that bastard grabbed me!” Diamond yelled.
Six took a seat in a chair with Skye on the sofa.
“The police will probably want to speak with you,” Six told her. “After they’re done with Jeff…”
“I should press charges against his ass!”
“Sit down Diamond and relax,” Skye told her.
Six looked at his sister. “It’s Diamond…we’re about to get a full-length feature film.”
Diamond frowned at Six and sat in a chair.
“Why were you gone so long?” Skye asked. “What happened?”
Xavier and Justice entered the dressing room, and Xavier made a beeline to Diamond. Pulling her from her seat, he held her in his arms. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Diamond returned his embrace. “Yes, where is Jason?”
“On a stretcher, headed to the hospital.” Justice answered, taking a seat.
Xavier and Diamond separated, before she took her seat again and Xavier stood next to her chair.
“What happened?” he questioned.
Diamond looked at him. “I saw Jason heading down an empty hall and I wondered where he was headed. He and another guy were back there and they were talking. Jason said he was delivering something at the drop spot.”
She looked at Xavier. “I think he’s trying to have me kidnapped or something.”
Xavier nodded. “I know. What else did you hear?”
“They were cut off by Jeff, and I never got a make on the other guy speaking with Jason. I only heard his voice, before he disappeared into the shadows.” Diamond explained. “Then Jason tried to question why I was back there, and I went to walk away before he grabbed my arm. I warned him, but he didn’t listen.”
She smiled at Xavier. “I remembered that you didn’t want undue attention, so I didn’t kill him in the venue.”
He returned her smile and touched her face. “Thank you. Don’t go off alone and not check in, please.”
“Everything was fine until he grabbed my arm, and Jeff was my witness…” Diamond replied.
“What did you find out, Xavier?” Six asked.
Xavier gave Six his attention. “Justice questioned him, while I tracked his thoughts. He’s on this tour trafficking for the Black Market. His contact is also the Snowman, like Lil D,” he explained.
“Is he trying to traffic Diamond?” Justice questioned.
Xavier looked at Diamond with anger in his dark eyes. “After he was done with her…”
Skye blinked and Justice frowned. “That bastard!” Justice spat.
“You didn’t get a glimpse of who Jason was talking to?” Xavier asked Diamond.
She shook her head. “I tried. He stayed deep in the shadows, but I’ll know his voice anywhere.”
“With Jason now out of commission, they’re going to need someone else to replace him. Lil D is hooking me up with his contact, and I’m going to make sure that I’m who they turn to,” Xavier told them.
“But, John Brown gave them your name for potential body parts…” Six reminded him.
“I have to make them believe I’m worth more alive, than dead.” Xavier replied. “Plus, Justice is fit and healthy, too.”
Justice frowned, following his line of thinking. “Hell no!”
“All part of the cover,” Xavier told him.
******
Xavier performed that night, after Diamond spoke to the local police, under her alias, and gave her side of the story. With Jeff as her witness, it was a done deal as far as she was involved. When Xavier exited the stage, Diamond and Six were waiting for him. The trio then headed toward his dressing room, and on the way, they ran into Lil D and his crew.
“What up, Lil D?” Xavier asked.
Lil D nodded. “I’m good, my nigga. We need to talk about that work.”
Xavier agreed. “Come by my bus tonight before we take off.” He looked at the people with Lil D. “Alone.”
Lil D shook his head. “Nah, my nigga. You got yours, I gotta bring mine.”
Xavier stepped forward and looked down into the man’s face. “You stole my shit, so now you playin’ by my rules, nigga. How you wanna do this?”
“No guns…” Lil D told him.
“If I wanted you dead, Lil D, I coulda done that this morning. I want my money and I wanna make more. So let’s do this shit.” Xavier told him.
Lil D nodded. “I’ll be there…”
“Bet…” Xavier said, continuing down the hall.
Six and Diamond followed slowly, watching Lil D head toward the stage with his team. Back in Xavier’s dressing room, they met up with Skye and Justice. Six got the rest of the team connected on their devices, while Diamond saw her brother eating from Xavier’s dinner buffet and stared at him.
“I’m kicking your ass for real,” she told Justice.
He smiled. “I paid for this.”
“Watson Entertainment paid for it,” she corrected him.
“I own Watson Entertainment.”
Diamond smirked. “You don’t own a damn thing. Daddy owns Black Diamond Holdings.”
Justice continued to smile. “And I’m the protégé to take over…so what’s Daddy’s, is mine.”
Xavier sat in a chair and took Diamond’s hand. “It’s fine.”
She turned to him. “You should eat something.”
“I’m good Goddess. Why don’t you make yourself a plate?” Xavier suggested. “I’ll eat later on the bus.”
“We can eat together, then.”
He nodded and squeezed her hand. “Okay…”
Xavier turned to the group in the room. “Lil D is coming to the bus tonight. Six and I will talk to him, but the rest of you will need to be on guard and ready,” he told them.
They all agreed and Six got everyone focused.
“Jade, what’s the update on Jason Stewart?” Six questioned.
“He’s going to be out of commission for a while. He has a spinal cord injury.” Jade relayed.
Skye looked at Diamond. “You really broke his back?”
“Also an injury to the back of the head,” Jade added.
Diamond smiled. “Good, I don’t know who he thought he was dealing with.”
“Since he’s not going anywhere, that’s one piece of the puzzle we don’t have to worry about right now.” Six commented. “And presents the perfect opportunity for Xavier to get in...”
Xavier sat back. “But I’m still not done with him…”
Diamond looked at him. “No, we’re not.”
They both smiled deadly smiles.
“We have six more cities before the Ohio stop. So six cities, to get what we need before the tour ends.” Six informed them. “We need to ratchet things up…”
Diamond frowned. “Ratchet them up? We’ve been going non-stop since we started.”
“Now, it’s turbo speed.” Six told her. “We’ve scratched the surface and now we have to dig in.”
“Let’s handle it.” Xavier told them. “This is what we do…”
The group wrapped up and went to their waiting bus, then everyone retreated to different parts of the vehicle to work.
Diamond found Xavier in the lounge area with some headphones on. His eyes were closed and his head bobbed slowly to whatever he was listening to through the speakers. She moved to stand in front of him and gently touched his face. His eyes opened and he smiled at her.
“What are you listening to?” Diamond asked.
Xavier pulled her down on his lap, then removed the headphones and placed them on her ears. Diamond put her hands over the speakers and listened to the singer, singing about how he loved a woman, and there was nobody else for him.
Xavier watched as she listened then removed the headset and sat it next to them. “I like that,” she told him.
“It’s how I feel about you,” he told her, moving her hair away and touching her neck.
“I thought you’d be listening to the songs you perform,” Diamond told him.
She laughed. “Whose song is that?” Diamond asked.
“Yours.”
“Mine?”
Xavier nodded. “I wrote it for you…”
Staring at him, Diamond picked the headphones up again and placed them back over her ears. “Play it again.”
Xavier took his device and restarted the song from the beginning. Diamond turned her head and closed her eyes listening to the words. Her brown eyes popped open in surprise half way through…
“The Gods! This is you…”
He laughed softly. “I told you I was a rapper, slash, singer, slash, entertainer…”
“You made this song for me?”
Xavier sighed. “I’ve been waiting a very long time for you, Diamond. I had plenty of time on my hands.”
She removed the speakers again and set them aside. “I can’t believe this…”
He shrugged. “I didn’t record it until I went in the studio for the X-Ception. I decided to make a copy for you to hear one day.”
“It’s beautiful…I love it.”
Xavier softly kissed her neck and she put her arms around him.
“I don’t know why you surprise me. I know that you are incredible…” Diamond whispered.
His mouth made a warm trail to her cheek. “Thank you for checking on me last night.”
“It amazes me how you transform into the X-Ception. He’s something else…”
“I think you’re vibing him,” Xavier said, pulling her closer.
Diamond smiled. “I’m not going to lie. He does have a certain sexiness…”
“You’ve been around too many thugs on this tour…” he teased.
She lifted his face to hers. “There’s only room for one thug in my heart.”
Xavier placed his face close to hers and Diamond touched her lips to his. “When we get home…” Diamond promised huskily against his mouth.
“You’ll be done chasing me?” he asked.
“You know that I don’t like chasing…I’ll just shoot you instead.” Diamond told him moving closer.
He caressed the shell of her ear. “I prefer your kisses to bullets.”
Diamond provided his preference, deeply and passionately until they both refrained. Diamond licked her lips and stared at him while catching her breath. “We should get ready for Lil D.”
