Heist

by Kiki Swinson; De’nesha Diamond

  I glance down at my half-eaten meal and my glass of wine before making a decision. “I guess not.”

  His sexy dimples return, and the next thing I know we’re in the middle of the living room floor—him trying to blow out my back and me scratching his.

  “After tonight, baby, you belong to me. You got that? This pussy is mine. Don’t you give this pussy to no other nigga, you hear me?”

  “N-no.” Hell, I would agree to give him my soul as long as he doesn’t stop stroking me so deep.

  “I knew your ass was the one for me the minute I laid eyes on you,” he whispers raggedly. He reaches up and tilts my chin toward him. “Look at me.”

  In between my sighs and moans, I manage to peel my eyes open and meet his intense gaze. “From now on, whenever we’re making love, I want you to look at me. You hear me?”

  I nod.

  “Aw. Shit. This pussy is so tight.” His hips pick up speed. “You feel me girl?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t fucking hear you.” “YES!”

  “That’s right, baby. All this shit is yours. Any time you want it.” He drops his head and pulls a nipple into his mouth. “Are these titties mine, baby?”

  “Yes,” I pant.

  “I can have them any time I want them?”

  “Aw. Fuck yes.”

  He hooks my legs high over his shoulders and drills me until the bottom of my pussy falls out. After that, I’m sure my ass is straight talking in tongues. He has taken me to a whole new level. Yesterday, I would’ve bet cash money that I was just in love with his dick and mad head game, but today I believe I’m falling in love with the man.

  After watching my mother fall apart today, I know that nothing can fuck a bitch up more than falling in love.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next morning I wake up with the sound of birds chirping outside my window. I smile and roll over in bed only to find that I’m in that bitch by myself again. What the fuck? I sit up, turn my head, and breathe a sigh of relief when I see there is no money left on the nightstand. Still I’ll be hurt if Keston crept out of here again in the middle of the night.

  I climb out of bed and wrap the top sheet around my body and then go and see if he’s really gone. He isn’t in the bathroom, so I storm down the hall. I start to call out his name and then stop abruptly outside my home office.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  Keston hits a key and hops up from my laptop. “Oh, morning. You’re up.”

  “Are you looking at my stuff?”

  “What? No. I was just checking something out online,” he says before spreading on a smile. “You’re up early.”

  “The bed was empty.”

  “Sorry about that.” He walks over to me and wraps his arms around my waist. “I didn’t think that you’d miss me. Did you have fun last night, baby?” He dips his head and nuzzles kisses down the side of my neck.

  “Yeah,” I answer while fighting like hell not to melt into his arms. I’m not quite sure that I buy his explanation.

  “C’mon. Why don’t we take a shower together and then maybe afterward I can fix you some breakfast?”

  “Ah. The cooking spree continues.”

  “I’m still trying to impress you,” he says. “C’mon.”

  My eyes fall back to my laptop, and I have to fight the urge to just run over there and double-check behind him.

  “What’s the matter, baby?”

  I tilt my chin up at him.

  “You’re acting like you don’t trust me.”

  My stomach muscles clench into a tight knot. Now that the romantic glow from last night has dimmed some, I’m struggling against my basic instincts to not trust anyone.

  Keston whispers, “Come on. How about that shower?” He kisses me again until I can slowly feel my defenses melt away. Maybe I’m just being paranoid.

  I allow him to take me by the hand and lead me back to the shower where we play just as much as we try to get clean. After that, I really don’t have too much time for breakfast or I’m going to be late for work.

  “Are you sure?” Keston checks. “It’s just going to take a few seconds for me to scramble us up something,” he asks while grabbing his things as well.

  “No. That’s all right. I’ll just pick up some coffee on the way into the office.”

  He bobs his head, and together we walk out of my house and lock the door. “You know, you never did tell me how you got into my house,” I remind him as I hop into my SUV.

  “What? You think your dad is the only one who knows how to get around alarm systems?”

  My heart drops for a second, but then I remember that with him being Mishawn’s son, of course he’d know all about the Jackal. “All right, then. How about you put your stalker tendencies on ice and only enter my apartment when I open the door?”

  He stretches his brows. “I think I can do that.”

  “Good.”

  I smile. “See you later tonight?”

  “Sounds like a date. I might even take you to one of those fancy restaurants downtown.”

  “Oooh. I get to put on some more girlie clothes.” I wink.

  “Yeah. As long as dresses are as short and tight as the one you wore last night.”

  “You got it. Can I drop you off somewhere?”

  “No. My car is just up the block. I’ll see you tonight.” He leans into the SUV and plants a soft kiss on my lips.

  I sigh and breathe him in. “See you tonight.” I pull out of my driveway. My smile remains in place for a few blocks while I replay last night in my head. Yesterday was bad but last night was beautiful.

  “I don’t fucking believe it,” Elliott says, tapping his watch. “You’re actually two minutes late.”

  “Bullshit.” I glance at my watch but see he’s right. “What the fuck ever. What are you going to do, write me up?”

  “Ah. I see it’s going to be that kind of morning.”

  “What, the kind where you work my last nerve?” I ask, laughing.

  “Aw, shit. Is that a glow I see?” Elliott starts shooting an invisible gun at me. “I guess that means that you and the thug kissed and made up?”

  “Fuck you very much and stay out of my business. We got transport duty, right?”

  “Yep.” He sighs and pushes off his desk. “It’s you and me and our boys Eric and Aaron.”

  “The four amigos.” I suck in a long breath. “All right, let’s get down to the evidence department. The faster we get there, the faster we can get back.”

  “Go on ahead. I’ll meet you down there. I just have to make a quick call.”

  I tap my watch. “Make it snappy.” I laugh and walk off. Halfway to the evidence department, I catch up with Aaron and Eric.

  “Yo, Hayes. What’s up?” Eric says, giving me daps.

  “I’m hanging in there,” I tell them. “Who volunteered us for this babysitting job?”

  Aaron laughs. “Hell, I thought you did.”

  “Hell no. I’d rather kick in doors than have to listen to Elliott try to sing along with the radio for hours on end.”

  “Then it must have been your partner because it certainly wasn’t us.”

  We make it over to the evidence department in time to see Agents Peterson and Jeffries sign out the department’s record bust of cocaine while a team from the tech department loads up the van.

  “Is everybody ready to rock and roll?” Aaron asks, sliding on his shades.

  Peterson and Jeffries turn and start exchanging daps. “So you guys are our babysitters today?”

  “Yep. We’re just waiting on my partner,” I say.

  “The wait is over,” Elliott announces, strolling up behind us. “Let’s do this.”

  I turn toward him and slip on my shades. “You drive.”

  Jeffries and Peterson climb into the black van while Elliott and I climb into one black Taurus and Aaron and Eric hop into another. The minute we pull off from headquarters, I ease my seat back and kick my fe
et up on the dashboard.

  “Comfortable?” Elliott laughs.

  “Just drive. I didn’t get that much sleep last night.” I clear my throat. “I figured that you would understand.”

  “Aw, shit. Was that a snippet about somebody’s sex life, Ms. I-Don’t-Kiss-and-Tell?”

  “Fuck you, Elliott.”

  “Nah. Nah. You had your chance, but no. You’re into thugs and gangsters. You don’t like us square, hard-working niggas.”

  “Cut it out.”

  “What? I’m just peeping your game. It’s all good.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Women always want the bad boys and then be crying foul when they run all over you.”

  “I’ll spare you. What’s this square shit? Your ass bounces from chick to chick. Your ass needs to be on a leash just like the rest of the dogs. Don’t even play me like that.”

  “Who? Me?”

  “Yes, you, so go on with that bullshit.”

  “I think you got me confused. I’ve been trying to get you to give me the time a day for a minute. What’s the deal?”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “Nah. Come on. I want to know what’s up.”

  “Man.” I shake my head and plant my feet back down. “You know I don’t have nothing against you. It’s just that we work together. That shit would be awkward and fucked up.”

  He starts shaking his head. “You’re just punking out now.”

  “No. Real talk,” I tell him, sliding up my shades. “I don’t want to bruise your ego. You’re my boy and all, but that office romance shit never works out. Not in our line of business anyway. Fuck. We’re together all the time as it is.”

  Elliott just twists his face.

  “You know I’m right.”

  “It doesn’t mean that I have to like it.” There’s a loud screeching noise, and we both jerk our heads to the left. “WHAT THE FUCK?”

  Out of nowhere, a car careens into us and sends us barreling into the concrete guard wall. Given our speed, we immediately spin back out like a toy top. The second we stop, I glance up to see another car blowing its horn and heading straight toward us.

  “Oh, shit.” I try to brace myself for the impact, but there’s no time. The next thing I know, my head bounces off an air bag and my entire body erupts with pain.

  Head ringing, I’m vaguely aware of the sounds of rapid gunfire. What the fuck?

  Dizzy, I glance to my left and see Elliott’s head twisted at a weird angle and his head drenched in blood.

  “Elliott?” I croak, and reach out toward him.

  He doesn’t move.

  I give him a good shake and then check his neck for a pulse. Fuck. He’s dead.

  My mind reeling, I hear more guns firing, people screaming, and car horns blaring. To top it off, the pungent smell of gasoline starts wafting into the car.

  Get out of the car! I try to move but can’t. Then I remember my seat belt and struggle to unsnap it. Once it releases me, the pain in my chest doubles. Get out of the car! I grab the door handle, but it doesn’t move. After ramming my shoulder against it a few times, I finally realize that the window is broken, and I can climb out. I ignore the sharp glass stabbing my hands as I push my way out of the car.

  Once I succeed in planting my feet on the ground, my knees threaten to drop me.

  “Ma’am, you should stay put,” someone calls out to me, but I wave them off and start toward the sound of gunfire.

  I retrieve my gun from my holster, and despite my blurry vision, jog up a few feet to see Agents Peterson and Jeffries being tossed out of the van and onto the highway.

  “FREEZE!” I lift my gun and start shooting at the tires.

  The perps peel off, running over a body in the road.

  “Fuck. Goddamn it.” I lower my weapon and run toward the other smashed-up Ford Taurus. It’s not until I get closer do I realize that the body the van ran over was Aaron. “Shit. Shit.” I draw closer to the car.

  Still strapped in the passenger seat, Eric is shaking and blowing blood bubbles. “Eric, oh, God. Don’t move. You’re going to be okay.” I turn and shout to the people hanging back, “SOMEONE CALL nine-one-one!”

  Eric tries to speak.

  “Shh. Eric, don’t talk. It’s going to be okay. I’m going to get you some help.” I whip my head back around. “GET HELP NOW!” “What … happened?”

  “I don’t know, buddy. Don’t worry about it. Just try to relax. Everything is going to be okay.” I hope.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Alvaro watches the late breaking news on CNN with an expanding smile. The carnage and different eyewitness reports make him wish that he had been there to see the shit go down for himself. “That’s right, you slimy muthafuckas. You don’t fucking mess with Alvaro Guzman’s shit.” He pumps a fist against his chest as if it declared him king of the jungle.

  “Delmar!” he shouts. “Delmar, get your ass in here!” Chuckling to himself, he turns to head back over to his desk where he proceeds to chop off a few more lines of coke.

  Delmar rushes into the room, looking tense and nervous. “You call for me, boss?”

  “Yeah, come on in here, amigo.” He waves him in. “Impossible, huh? Just look.” He points to the television. “Does that look impossible to you?” He starts laughing again.

  Delmar turns toward the television and watches a few minutes of the breaking news. Finally he relaxes a little. “You were right, Alvaro. Nothing is impossible.”

  “Damn right. From now on, this is how we handle our business. Without fear and with big-ass cojones.” He grabs his balls and gives them a good shake. “After today, everyone will know that we’re not the ones to be fucking played with. It’s all about respect,” he shouts. “C’mere, you.” He stands back up and waltzes over to Delmar to embrace him in a big hug. When Delmar hesitates to hug him back, Alvaro frowns. “What’s wrong? This is a time to celebrate!”

  “Mind if we join in?” a voice booms behind them.

  Alvaro and Delmar turn to see Hector Guzman standing in the doorway.

  “Ah, Uncle Hector!” Alvaro’s arms sweep back open as he strolls over to give his father’s only brother a welcoming hug. “What a surprise. I didn’t know that you were coming here today.”

  “It was an unplanned trip.” He glances over his nephew’s shoulder to look at Delmar. “I hope that I’m not interrupting anything.”

  “No. Don’t be silly. You know I always have time for you. C’mon in.” He sweeps an arm toward the television. “Surely you’ve heard the great news. I have dealt a powerful blow against the federal government. From now on, they will think twice about who they’re fucking with,” Alvaro declares, bright-eyed.

  “So you’re proud of this disturbing news?” Hector inquires sternly.

  Alvaro’s smile shaves off a few inches. “Disturbing news? I don’t understand.”

  Delmar’s gaze shifts from the uncle and the nephew to the four brick walls that masquerade as Hector’s bodyguards. He doesn’t like the way this looks.

  “Alvaro, I know a great deal has been placed on your shoulders to fill your father’s shoes.”

  “Yes. But I have risen to the occasion. Except for that minor hiccup when the DEA breached a line of our operation. But today, I struck back,” he brags.

  “You call that fiasco today taking care of things?” Hector’s cool voice starts to rise. “This atrocious public display of violence in the middle of a major fucking city is the way you chose to handle a situation?”

  Clearly confused, Alvaro’s mouth drops open.

  “Tell me, Nephew. What do you think the government is going to do about this bold heist that you’ve chosen to pull off in broad daylight?”

  “Do?” Alvaro blinks.

  “Yes. Do.” Hector steps toward his nephew, and Delmar thinks he actually sees steam rolling off of him. “Do you think they’re just going to accept this backhand slap? Do you think the public will accept it? Do you want to know what I think?”

  Alv
aro steps back.

  Hector continues without waiting for an answer. “I think that in response to your childish act, the federal government will make our lives a living hell.”

  “But … but … they stole from us.”

  “Yes. A mild inconvenience. Nothing more and nothing less. We win some and we lose some. Nine times out of ten, we win more than we lose, no? This”—he points to the television—"will demand the attention of local police. This will demand the attention of Homeland Security. This will demand the attention of the president of United States. The public will demand that they do something. Americans don’t like the idea of major drug wars breaking out in the middle of a major city.”

  Hector steps back and drags in a deep breath. “The key to our success, Nephew, is the ability to remain invisible.” He points to the television again. “Does this look like we’re invisible to you?”

  At a loss for words, Alvaro shakes his head.

  “This is the work of a clown,” Hector says. “This is the work of a fool. This is the work of a child.”

  As Alvaro stares up at his uncle, his eyes start to glisten with tears. “Sorry, Uncle. I didn’t—”

  “You didn’t think,” Hector thunders. “And now I have to do the thinking for you.” He walks past Alvaro and moves to his cocaine-covered desk. “What’s this?”

  Alvaro starts stuttering. “It … it’s just a little pick-me-up.”

  Exhaling an impatient sigh, Hector turns back around to face his nephew. “You have disappointed me greatly today. I can’t help but think that your father is rolling around in his grave. How much of this do you do a day?”

  “What? It’s nothing.” Alvaro tries to wave off his uncle’s concern. “I just do it on special occasions. Isn’t that right, Delmar?” He turns to his childhood friend.

  Delmar keeps his mouth shut and his eyes glued straight ahead of him. He knows better than to get involved in a family squabble.

  “Do you think that your father and I built this organization off our blood, sweat, and tears just so you can shove it all up your fucking nose?”