by Unknown
She took a bite of pretzel. “Not really; I guess I’m having one of those days.”
“Tonight should be fun for you. You get a chance to let your hair down and relax with your best friend.”
She smiled. “Seriously, Rodney? I think tonight will be more fun for you. You like Tonya don’t you?”
He released a confident but crooked smile. “Yeah, I’d go after her if she were older. You, young girls, are too much for an old guy like me to handle.”
Carla clicked her tongue. “Oh please, you are not old. Besides, I don’t think your wife would approve.”
Rodney rubbed his brow with his thumb. “I’m not married. Did Zach tell you that? Damn, he would attempt to sabotage me. Talk about a fucking sore loser.”
She frowned confused by his strange behavior. “Whoa, Zach didn’t tell me anything. You’re wearing a wedding ring.”
Rodney flexed his hand. “Well, this ring doesn’t mean a damn thing. My wife left me three years ago. I wear it as a reminder never to get myself into a jam like that again.”
“Okay, but why attack Zack like that? I thought you were homies?”
“We are. Just like women, men can run their mouths too much sometimes. Zach has a problem with my lifestyle, so I wasn’t sure what he told you.”
She tore off another piece of the pretzel flicking the large grains of salt away. “For real—Zach talks too much? Are we speaking about the same man I know?”
“It’s okay for you to defend him since you’re attracted to him,” Rodney said sticking the straw in his mouth to drink his pop.
Her breath caught in her throat as she choked down the dry bread. “Don’t make me gag. I am not attracted to that bland personality of a man.”
“You can’t fool me, sweetheart; I’ve been around the block too many times. Forget that I’m an FBI agent for a minute. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what you two were doing the night before he left. I’m not gonna lecture you about it either. You just need to know that Zach is not the man for you.”
An embarrassing heat shot up to Carla’s cheeks. “That’s good to know. Besides Zach being an ass, he isn’t my type either.” Carla willed her arms not to cross or her lips to pout. She had to maintain a stiff upper lip and not let on exactly how attracted to Zach, she was. “And to remove any misunderstandings about that night, we were talking, Rodney. I had a minor setback and Zach talked me through it. I asked him to sit with me until I fell asleep.”
Rodney raised his brow. “Yeah, because that’s what he does. Carla, I’m not gonna beat around the bush; Zach is every woman’s type that isn’t looking for anything long-term. He will satisfy you in bed but don’t expect him to come knocking on the door holding flowers and a box of candy on those special occasions.”
Her bottom lip began to tremble. Licking away the sensation she asked. “Can we change the subject, please? Has there been any movement on that sicko maniac hunting me? When are you leaving?” She was sure Rodney would pick up on the hurt tone in her voice and needed to distract him.
“Damn, I pissed you off and I’m sorry I was so forward about Zach. I should have kept my mouth shut. I wished I could have warned you before you got in too deep with your feelings for him. Carla, you’re a sweet young woman and deserve better than him. Plus, his type is busty, blonde, blue eyes and only looking for a one-night stand just like him.”
Carla felt her eyes clouding over. She slid from the plastic red chair and said, “We should get going so I can start dinner.
Back at her apartment Carla worked in the kitchen preparing dinner. Chopping onions gave her eyes a reason to tear and to let her real tears of sadness mix with them. She kept the phone by her side 24/7. Zach lied to her. He never bothered call and check on her once. She sniffed and kept chopping and dicing. Forget him.
Carla finished cooking the main course and put the apple pie in the oven to heat. She heard Rodney talking with Tonya. “Something smells good in here,” Tonya said strutting in the kitchen.
She didn’t look up from what she was doing. “It’s almost ready. How about giving me a hand and toss the salad?”
Tonya turned her lip up in the corner. “How about I keep your sexy uncle company? Just think, Carla, if we got married, I’d be your auntie.”
Carla got plates from the cabinet and set them on the counter. She turned to her friend trying to keep a straight face. “Really, Tonya? You settling down with one man for the rest of your life—don’t make me laugh, girl.”
“Geez, Carla, have some faith in me. My life plans do include a husband and maybe a kid.”
“I’m sorry if I offended you. We’ve been friends forever, and you’ve never mentioned wanting to be a mom. When you split with Phil, I thought that turned you off.”
Tonya’s perfect brows creased as she picked up the knife and cut through the head of lettuce with anger. “He’s a bastard and I hate him. I know he’s your cousin but what he did to me was wrong, Carla.”
“I agree what Phil did was wrong. But had you told me you were seeing him, I could have saved you the trouble of getting hurt. I knew his girlfriend was pregnant.”
“The bastard waited for me to tell him, I loved him first, before he dropped that information on me. That is not cool in my book.”
“Men don’t care about feelings when it comes to shit like that. It’s all about what they can get away with.”
“Not all men. Greg didn’t cheat on you, Carla. He was lousy in bed, but at least he treated you with respect.”
“I’m not talking about Greg.”
Tonya stopped mutilating the lettuce and looked at her. “Then who?”
It was obvious her attitude and anger with Zach was slipping through. She pulled the plastic trash bag from the can and shook it down before tying the long strings together. “Nobody. I’m going to take out the garbage.”
Carla dragged the trash bag through the living room where Rodney was on the phone. He paused his call long enough to ask her where she was going. “Excuse me, but where are you going?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes and huffed. “To take the garbage to the dumpster. It will only take me a minute.”
“I’ll take it out it out after I’m done with my call,” he answered.
“I can do it myself. I need the air.”
He hung up the phone and frowned. “No! You don’t leave the apartment without me.”
“People are outside, Rodney. I want to be by myself for two minutes! I’m tired of having people around me all the time.”
“Rodney, can you give me a hand,” Tonya shouted from the kitchen.
Rodney pointed a finger at Carla and said, “Don’t, go out that door. I’ll be right back.”
Carla opened the door and stormed out knowing he would be on her heels before her foot hit the top step. She ran down the four flights of stairs and out the back door to the back of the building where the dumpsters were located. She looked over her shoulder and didn’t see Rodney.
The set of blue dumpsters sat at the long end of the parking lot. Laughter from several kids playing in the swimming pool in the backyard of the house next to the apartment building caught her attention. Looking around the parking lot, other residents were getting out of their cars returning home after a long day of work. There were a few people standing around talking. These people were going about their lives freely while she had to be cautious of every move she made.
She stopped walking. The distance to the dumpster seemed so far away suddenly. If she ran, it would take five seconds to dump the trash and get back inside. If she lingered to chat with people, she’d be outside longer than necessary. “What’s the matter with you? There are too many people outside to be scared.”
Carla waved to at a couple who lived in the building as she strolled through the parking lot that seemed a lot larger and longer than usual. Fear consumed her, the further away from the building she got. She had left the keys upstairs and would have to walk to the front of the buil
ding to get in instead of using the back door.
Paranoid. She shook off the fear and kept walking.
She heard what sounded like a car behind her. The fine hair on her arms instantly stood on end, popped upright by goose bumps. Her heart raced, and her legs felt wobbly as she picked up her pace. She looked over her shoulder. The car was closing in on her. A man jumped from the car, and Carla dropped the trash bag and took off running between the parked cars to elude him. She didn’t know if he was chasing her or not, but she wasn’t sticking around to find out.
Carla pumped her arms as she ran around to the front of the building. A car swerved, jumped the curb and cut her off from her destination. The man chasing her caught up to her and attempted to grab her.
“Bitch, you knew he’d find you.” His voice had that modulated tone that scared little children.
He lunged, and she jumped, but he was able to get a hold of her t-shirt. He pulled her toward him. The man in the car readied to help haul her inside if necessary. She fought with all her might.
It was happening too fast, and no one came to help her. The thug cursed as he struggled to get control, and she resisted, digging her feet into the wet soil for traction.
Carla put all her weight on her legs as she crunched low to her knees making it hard for him to get a grip on her. She started screaming, wondering where Rodney was. Then suddenly an arm reached around her waist picked her up from the ground and tucked her behind him. She was shaking all over but managed to see Zach’s long arm stretched out, his hand holding and pointing an enormous gun in the face of her attempted kidnapper.
“Go ahead, give me a reason to blow your fucking brains out,” Zach yelled.
Rodney grabbed Carla and hustled her inside the apartment building. Dragging her like a ragdoll up the four flights of stairs. He shoved her inside the apartment and closed the door.
His eyes were raging dark pools of anger as he yelled at her. “I told you to wait! What the hell were you thinking? Oh, wait you weren’t thinking! Fuck!” Rodney ranted, pacing the floor.
Tears fell down Carla’s face. “Zach is out there alone! You have to help him.”
“Thanks to you, I can’t leave you and Tonya alone. You better pray he can fight his way out of this mess or your ass is in big trouble.”
“Don’t stand there yelling at me. Call the damn police!”
“We are the fucking police! Get down on the floor and stay quiet.”
Carla grabbed the side of her head to stop the spinning. She saw Tonya crouched on the floor in front of the sofa; terror plastered across her face. Carla dropped on the floor next to her and covered her mouth to keep from screaming. What have I done? Please. God, protect Zach and us…please.
A pounding on the door caused her to jump. Rodney opened it, and Zach entered. He was out of breath but looked unscathed. He rambled off instructions to Rodney, who quickly got on the phone.
Zach came over to her; his blue eyes glaring. “Get whatever you can pack in a bag. We gotta get out of here now.”
She didn’t question him but got to her feet and went into her room throwing clothes in a bag; she didn’t care if they matched or not. In the bathroom, she took her toothbrush and other personal items and tossed them in the carryon bag.
Carla heard the cabinets slamming in the kitchen. She saw Zach throwing food in a garbage bag. When he saw her, he didn’t hesitate grabbing her by the arm.
“Stay with me at all times,” he instructed.
They made it down the stairs and jumped into a car, and sped away. Carla hooked her seatbelt afraid to say anything. She’d messed up and knew Zach was angry. She looked in the backseat thinking Rodney and Tonya were with them. It was empty. Her hands started to shake. What happened to them?
Carla clutched her hands around the strap of her bag as Zach sped through the suburb making his way toward the highway. The downfall of living in Cleveland Heights was the lack of having access to a nearby highway and having to drive through several suburbs to get to one. It was rush hour and with his reckless driving, it would be tricky to fight the traffic and the cops waiting to hand out tickets.
Finally, Zach got on the onramp to take I-271 to who knows where this time. Carla dropped her bag on the floor and held onto the seatbelt as he cut in and out of traffic doing at least 90mph. The thought of what happened to Tonya wouldn’t wane. She asked, expecting to get the silent treatment from him. “I know I messed up again, but what happened to Tonya and Rodney?”
Carla saw his square jaw tense, as he looked straight ahead, concentrating on getting through the heavy traffic ahead of him. She waited for the barrage of words to fly from his mouth. Tactfulness wasn’t a part of his character. He was either too pissed to talk or picking carefully which slew of words to throw at her so he wouldn’t get in trouble with his bosses. Whatever he decided to do, she deserved it. Innocent people could have died because of her stupidly.
Zach slowed the car to the speed limit. After a series of deep breaths, he looked at her. “We had to split up. We’ll meet up later.”
“Zach, I’m sorry I screwed everything up. Rodney and I went out. So, I didn’t think taking out the garbage would be a big deal. Everything has been quiet the last couple of days. No trouble or anything.”
“Carla, what happened today is not your fault.”
Were her ears playing tricks on her? “What? How is this not my fault?” She bit down her lower lip. “Wait a minute. What are you doing back in Cleveland? I thought you were in Russia.”
He replied in a dry tone. “I never left.”
“Why didn’t you let me know?”
“I’ve been watching you. I had a feeling something wasn’t right so I defied an order, Carla. So keeping my whereabouts a secret from you and Rodney, has kept me off the radar with the powers that be.”
“Won’t your boss know you weren’t on the flight?” She wrung her hands. “What am I saying? I’m glad you’re here. I don’t care about the other stuff.” He actually smiled, and it was beautiful. Carla felt the shakiness leave her body and relaxed.
“Are you glad I’m here because I saved your life again or are you glad I’m here?”
Carla touched his arm massaging her fingers in his skin. He glanced at her and winked. She said, “Both. I don’t know what’s going on with me, but I missed you. But, I’m mad at you for not calling like you promised.”
“Don’t take what I’m about to say the wrong way, but I sort of missed you too.”
She broke out into a wide grin. “See, I knew you liked me.”
“Yeah, okay, don’t get carried away. We are back in hiding and can’t afford to let our guard down.”
Carla fiddled with the strap of the seatbelt. “I was talking to Tonya tonight and I forgot that she had dated Phil for about two years.”
“What? We have surveillance on a woman we believed to be Phillip’s girlfriend. So far, she has not had any contact with him.”
“They kept the relationship under wraps. Tonya left him when Phil’s girlfriend gave birth to his son. He didn’t tell her about the baby or that he was still with Nita.”
“Carla, what type of relationship did they have and do you think he would contact her?”
“I didn’t even know they were dating until he asked me if she was crazy. She threw a pot of hot fish grease at him when she found out she was the other woman. He escaped with a few burns, but nothing serious and he didn’t press charges against her.”
“Damn, never mess with a scorned woman. Anyhow, has she asked you about him lately?”
“Tonya dates a different man every day of the week. She could’ve have mentioned Phil, and I didn’t pay any attention. Lately, she’s been interested in getting to know Rodney but the wedding ring has kept her at bay.”
“He refuses to take it off.”
“That is weird. Zach, you aren’t thinking Tonya is setting me up; she’s my best friend. I trust her with my life.”
“Unfortunately, those are t
he people you have to watch out for, Carla. Here is what I want you to do. When we get to the lake house, I don’t want you to talk about anything pertaining to this case. Let her talk to you about tonight. I want you to listen for anything that generally wouldn’t come from her.”
Carla shook her head. “I know she wouldn’t help Phil commit a crime. Tonya is about making her money and being popular.”
“She might not have a choice. If Phillip is blackmailing her or threatening her life, she’s going to react.”
“I’ll talk to her, but it’s unlikely she’ll know anything about Phil. Tonya will not let a man manipulate her that way. And, she has seven big brothers that will do anything to protect her.”
“I’ll appreciate what information you can get for me.”
Carla couldn’t believe this was the same man. Where had the anger and coldness gone? What stumped her more was his admission of missing her. Had their two physical encounters affected him? She smiled at the thought of that feat. To bring a hardened man like Zach to his knees was a big accomplishment in her book.
“Zach, there’s something I keep wondering about.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m wondering why Rodney allowed me to go to work and go out with Tonya in the evenings. I mean, he was with us, but he’s just one man and I don’t know if he was armed.”
“We’re always armed. Rodney possesses the same set of skills I do. He’ll take a man out faster than you can blink. But to answer your questions, we had to flush out Yezhov. There was no way he went back to Russia empty handed.”
A chill ran down her spine. “I was used to flush him out? How could you do this to me? What if something went wrong and I got killed. Oh, my God!”
“Calm down, Carla. Every move you made, I was there. I wasn’t going to let any harm come to you. How you think I got to you so fast in the parking lot.”
“It’s still unnerving but knowing you were watching me makes it a little easier to swallow.”
chapter sixteen
Zach pulled the Explorer to a stop in the gravel driveway of the lake house. Rodney’s Ford Expedition was parked in front of him. They had arrived first since they got a jump ahead of them.
