Lana could hear them talking.
“Did you get her?”
“Hell, yeah man, she’s done.”
“Good, that’ll teach that bitch to try and run me over,” he said angrily.
“Yo, man, another car is coming, we gotta get outta here.”
She didn’t move until she saw the high beams of the goons’ vehicle disappear from the sight of her car. The vehicle that was coming toward her was coming from a different direction. Lana had willed the car to stop as she struggled to sit up. She had been in a lot of pain, but she had to get someone’s attention, or she would freeze to death. No one at the FBI knew she was out there. A brother with a short afro was before her. He had said he was going to take her to a clinic. As he helped her out of the car, she thought, he’ll get me to a clinic or something. I can call the FBI office from there. Alec will come.
Lana screamed bloody murder as her eyes popped open.
“Shit!” a man yelled as he scurried away from her.
“Oh my god!” Lacey exclaimed as she held her hand over her chest.
Another man looked at her with bewilderment. “Well, I guess someone came back to the land of the living.”
Lana breathed heavily as she glared at them. “Who the fuck are you?” she asked with suspicion.
“They’re two guys who were nice enough to come and try to help us. They were outside in another unit,” Lacey answered.
“Oh, I’m fine,” Lana said and sat up.
“You were out for almost twenty minutes,” Lacey said.
“Maybe we should call an ambulance,” one of the men said.
“No. I’m fine. Thanks for your help, but I’m cool,” Lana insisted. “I just need a minute to collect myself.”
“Well, if you’re sure . . . Miss?” the man began.
“Murphy. Lana Murphy.”
“Huh?” Lacey replied.
“We better get going,” the other man said. “We got work to do.”
“All right, thanks again,” Lacey said.
“Sure,” one of the men said. They walked out of the unit.
Lana slowly got up. She started dusting herself off. It’s like she had a second wind. Things were so clear. She was finally whole, and now it was time to take her life back. “I don’t have much time. Let’s load some of this stuff up.”
“Like what?”
“The diary, as you suggested. I want my jewelry, and I’m taking some of my clothes. The only reason I’m going back to the house is to get Keisha. There’s no way I’m sleeping under a roof with that mad man for another night. He could stick me again with that garbage for all I know.”
Lacey nodded in agreement.
Lana opened her suitcase and packed some of her clothes, her purse, jewelry, and guns. They loaded the one full suitcase and the empty one suitcase and the carry-on in the trunk of the BMW. Lana pulled the garage door down and locked it. She put the keys in her pocket.
They got into the car. Lacey was holding the diary that Damien had incriminated himself in.
“You said that you wanted to help me,” Lana said.
“I did. I do,” Lacey confirmed quickly.
“I need you to do something for me.”
“What is it?”
“I need you to make two copies of the pages in the diary. I can drop you off at the library–”
“Corey has a copier at home. It’s not one of those big industrial ones, but it will get the job done.”
“Okay, good. Make two copies of the pages where Damien admitted to giving me Memrose while I was unconscious and the pages where he had noted my progress.”
“All right, but what are you going to be doing while I’m doing that?”
“I’m going to pack up mine and Keisha’s things so we can get as far away from Damien as possible. When you’re done, just bring the diary and the copies to me before we leave.”
“I understand you wanting to leave him, but aren’t you going to stay in town long enough to notify the police?”
“I’m going to call Alec. This is above a cop’s pay grade. This man took an experimental drug meant to be used against foreign enemies and injected an unconscious woman who was under federal protection. Then kidnapped her.” Lana started the car.
“When you put it that way, the FBI should be notified.”
Chapter 40
When Lana got back to the house, she asked Izabella to pack Keisha’s things while she packed up her own clothes in the empty suitcase and the carry-on she had brought back. She pulled out a hundred-dollars cash from her vanity drawer. She kept a little cash in the house in case of emergencies.
Izabella walked into the bedroom. “Señora?”
“Are Keisha’s clothes packed?” Lana asked without turning around.
“Si. Along with a few of her favorite dolls.”
“Good.”
“Señora? Where are you going? What is going on? I noticed when you came back that you were upset.”
Lana turned around to face the old woman. She quickly explained the events that led her and Lacey to Damien’s storage unit and what they found. Izabella turned greyer after every bomb Lana dropped.
“That’s beyond awful. No wonder you want to leave.”
“Good, you understand,” Lana said and licked her lips.
“Si, but if you leave with the little señorita, I won’t have a job.”
“I’m sorry, Izabella. I can’t risk staying with him. I can’t pretend that I don’t know what I know. All I can do is give you a generous severance pay. Hopefully, it will last you until you find another job.”
“No, no. You don’t understand. Our fugitive status was revoked two months ago. My children had to flee Florida four weeks ago because INS agents had started looking for them. They’re in Texas now.”
Lana’s eyebrows furrowed. “If that’s the case, why didn’t the INS come for you too?”
“Cause I got a work Visa. Remember when I asked you to sign those papers from the foreign relations office six weeks ago?”
“Of course I do, but you didn’t say they were for a work Visa. You said you needed it to prove that you had a job.”
“Si, so I could get a work Visa, so I could stay in this country.”
“Oh good grief, Izabella, why didn’t you tell me this when your kids had to run away?”
“I didn’t think I had to. Plus, I didn’t want it to get around that my kids are illegals now. Not that you would have told someone, but Dr. Miles might have. I started getting suspicious of him when you started telling me your troubles concerning your memories. But I didn’t think it was as bad as this. If you leave with the little one, and the wrong people find out, I can get deported back to South America. The cartel doesn’t forget. I won’t survive a week down there.”
Lana blew out. This was supposed to be a simple getaway plan. Grab her kid, their stuff, get out of dodge, and call Alec from a safe location. Then she had an idea. She could use an ally on the road. “The only thing I can think of is for you to come with us. If the INS asks, we can still tell them you’re the nanny. Are you willing to come with me?”
“Si, si. I have no one left in Tampa but you and Keisha,” Izabella replied with desperation.
“All right, help me pack the car. Lacey shouldn’t be much longer. I’ll take you to your apartment to pack your things. While you’re there, I’ll run to the bank and come back and get you. Okay?”
“Si, señora.”
Fifteen minutes later, Lacey handed Lana the diary and two folders filled with the copies. They were standing outside in the driveway. Izabella and Keisha were already in the car.
“Thank you, Lacey. I appreciate it,” Lana said with a hint of sadness.
“Are you going to call me to let me know you’re all right?”
“Yes, I’ll let you know where we end up.”
“Don’t. When Damien figures out that you and Keisha are gone, Corey and I will be the first people he’ll ask for information. Corey sees D
amien as a close friend. If he even suspects that I’m hiding something–”
“Say no more. I’ll just call to say hi,” Lana said.
They smiled at each other and then hugged. “Stay safe,” Lacey said over her shoulder.
“I’ll do my best,” Lana said as the ladies released each other.
Lacey bent down to look at Keisha in the backseat. “Goodbye, Keisha, I hope to see you soon.”
“Bye, Ms. Lacey. Tell Mr. Corey I said bye to him too, please,” Keisha said as she kicked her feet in the car seat.
“I sure will, honey,” Lacey said.
Lacey and Lana hugged one more time before Lana got into the car. She started the car and pulled out of the driveway. The house was her dream home, the street was her dream neighborhood, but she had to give it up. She had planned to do it anyway when she told Damien about Alec. It was just happening a little sooner than she thought.
Lana grinned as she drove down Sunset Boulevard for the last time. The good thing in all of this was that Damien would get what he deserved.
“Señora, why are you smiling?”
“I was just thinking about the note I left for Damien.”
****
He knew it. As soon as she resurfaced, they should have taken her out then. It was everything Hugo Mitchell could do not to throw his phone across the garage. He had just got off the phone with two young bloods he had met in Tampa months ago. They had recognized him as an OG and wanted him to bring them into whatever he had going on. He had told them that he didn’t do business in Tampa, but they didn’t care. Hugo spotted the vigor and ambition in both of them and took their phone numbers. Then he had told them that if he had an opening, he would call.
Hugo had forgotten about the two until Carter had called Lana a few days ago. He had remembered the kids, and he still had their digits. All he needed them to do was follow her for a few days to see what she was up to. And they had called him and told him the last thing he wanted to hear. They asked him was he sure about her name being Layla Miles because she had called herself Lana Murphy. Hugo had told them that he would get them some money for their trouble and to see if they could keep following her. They had demanded the money first. The first one was a freebie to show him that they were legit. He didn’t blame them. They had earned an advance.
He got into the black Bentley and pulled out. First, he went to the Western Union and wired the guys two thousand dollars. Then he headed for Carter’s penthouse. Because of New York traffic, it took him forty-five minutes to get there.
When he arrived, Carter, their other cousin, Wendy, and Hugo’s sister, Ebony, were in the living room having drinks.
“Hey, Hugo, I was about to call you. Tis the season. I know Christmas Eve is tomorrow, but we started to celebrate early,” Carter said happily as he raised a glass.
“I hate to rain on the good time, but we got a really big problem,” Hugo announced as he put his hands in his brown pants’ pockets.
“What is it?” Wendy asked.
“I met two guys in Tampa when we were there a few months back. I had taken their number, thinking we still might expand our operations there. My gut told me to call them back a few days ago to have them follow Lana for a few days to see where she leads.”
“What?” Carter said seriously. “You didn’t clear that with me.”
“I didn’t want to say anything unless I was sure. Besides, I’m a partner and your cousin. I don’t work for you. And I’m head of security for our organization.”
Carter pursed his lips together, but he didn’t contest what Hugo said.
He decided to continue. “Their job was strictly recon, and they followed my instructions to a T. They followed Lana and her next-door neighbor to a storage facility. The ladies went into the office then came out to go to the unit. They were there for three hours, and then they heard one of the ladies call out for help. These boys decided to see what was going on. They pretended to have another unit around the corner. Lana was on the floor, out like a light.”
“What happened?” Ebony asked.
“According to the friend, she fainted. The unit was full of boxes and some ladies’ clothes. Anyway, it took a while for them to revive her, but . . .”
“But?” Carter urged with intensity.
“Long story short, she told them her name was Lana Murphy.”
“What?” Carter said as he stood up.
“I thought you said she had some sort of amnesia?” Ebony said to Carter
“Well, I don’t think she has it anymore,” Hugo said. “The guys left them alone, but they didn’t leave the place until the women did. Lana and the other woman loaded suitcases into the car and drove back to Lana’s house. It sounds like she found something in that unit that . . . Lana wanted or needed. I think it could have been some of the cash she stole from you when she left,” Hugo said to Carter. “Before she lost her memory, I think she stashed it and now – she has remembered and retrieved it.”
“If she has remembered her past, we’re fucked!” Ebony yelled.
Wendy sat on the sofa with her mouth open.
“No, if she decided to talk or contact the FBI, they would have been here by now,” Carter said.
“Carter, I just got off the phone with the guys an hour and a half ago.”
“An hour and a half ago? You should have called me as soon as you got off the phone with them,” Carter stated.
“I didn’t know if anyone was listening, so I came over. Plus, I needed those guys to keep tailing her, and this time they wouldn’t do it without payment.”
“Did you send them money?” Carter asked.
“Yeah, a wire transfer at Western Union. I used my alias account just in case the feds had a watch on mine.”
Everyone was quiet.
Wendy broke the silence. “She needs to be taken care of – quick.”
Finally, someone speaking sense other than me.
“No,” Carter said.
“You can’t still have feelings for her after all this time?” Ebony said.
“Damn it, I’m not killing the mother of my child!” he shot out.
The news rippled through the room like someone had shot off an Uzi.
“What child?” Ebony inquired.
“The girl in the Florida magazine. She’s mine. I know it,” Carter said.
“How do you know?” Wendy asked. “You said she was married now.”
“The blurb at the bottom of the article said the girl is over three years old. She’ll start pre-school next fall. She’ll turn four just before then. Lana was pregnant when she left me. She had to have been.”
“Carter, there are two or three months that she was unaccounted for before those idiots thought they had left her for dead on that old road,” Hugo reasoned.
Hell, the kid might be his, but you never know.
“I want to see this article,” Wendy said.
“Wait here,” Carter said as he put down his drink on the marble table. He dashed up the stairs.
“So what do you think?” Wendy asked
“I don’t know. He always had a soft spot for her,” Ebony said. “I just hope it doesn’t cost us.”
“The kid could be his,” Wendy said.
“What about her husband? It could be his. It’s obvious that doctor believes that,” Hugo said.
“No chance. It’s probably the doctor’s,” Ebony said.
They ceased talking when they heard Carter coming back down the stairs. He was carrying a magazine. It was folded open.
“Here,” Carter said and thrust the magazine at Wendy.
She took it and looked it over. Ebony leaned over to look at it, too.
“This kid is too light-skinned to be yours,” Ebony said as she leaned back on her end of the sofa.
“And the hair is wrong. This child has dark brown and straight hair,” Wendy said.
“You know just as well as anybody that a good, hot straightening comb can work out any kinks, and I had dark brow
n hair . . . when I had hair.”
“True,” Wendy admitted as she pulled the magazine closer to her face. “It looks like Lana married this guy when she was pregnant, if what she told the magazine was true.”
“Let’s say if she was telling the reporter the truth about when she married Miles. That doesn’t mean the kid is Carter’s. It could be someone else’s that she slept with,” Hugo said.
“Like who? She was in protective custody,” Ebony said with furrowed brows.
“To this day, I believe she contacted that FBI agent that confronted you on the street all those years ago,” Hugo said to Carter. “It could be his for all we know. Hell, he was the guy that Lana left for you.”
Carter laughed. “She didn’t even sleep with him when they were together. Why would she fuck him after the fact? Shit, they probably wouldn’t be able to screw if they wanted to. There would have been too many people around. I looked into that dude’s eyes when he came at me in the street. He was still pissed about losing Lana to me. It was more about his pride getting bruised, not her.”
“Yeah, but he’s a man. It’s very few occasions that a man turns down sex,” Ebony said and sipped her drink.
“Unless his ego had been bruised before the offer,” Carter stated with a know-it-all smirk. “And I doubt Lana offered him any, anyway. Like I said, she didn’t even sleep with him when they were together.”
“How do you know that?” Wendy asked.
“Well, if you must know, I was her first, but I would have known it even if she hadn’t admitted she was a virgin. Her pussy was tighter than a drum. She said she wanted her first time to be with me – and only me. I knew I had her then,” Carter bragged.
“Ugh,” Ebony recoiled.
“Damn, Carter, they are family, but they’re still ladies,” Hugo chided.
Carter gave him a wicked smirk.
Disrespectful bastard. “Why didn’t you say something when we were in Florida?” Hugo asked.
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