The Dirty Red Series
Page 61
She had taken care of all of her enemies. She had been living high on the hog in Scottsdale for a few weeks, and she didn’t have a care in the world. If only she had Q here with her in the hot tub. Being free and clear and getting away from Detroit with her own money had always been her dream. But she always thought that she would be doing it with Q.
A hot wind blew across the desert, and Red looked up into the star-studded sky. The desert wind reminded her of Mexico, and she made a silent promise to herself to return there. She loved Mexico now. Being there with Q had really been fun; even though Bacon had spoiled her the last time she was there, it had been more exciting with Q. Maybe one day, he would forgive her.
Chass Reed was that bitch’s name, Red recalled. She was all over Q, and Q was acting like that bitch was something special. She would have to get rid of old Chass in order for Q to see clearly. Red was the only woman for Q, and Q was the only man for her. He just needed to be reminded of that. Sometimes an extra bitch in the picture complicated things. A nigga can’t see straight until he’s fucked her and got it over with. Then he realizes where he belongs and takes the dick back home. That’s all Q needs. To just hit Ms. Chass and get it over with. She would check on him in a few months and see where things were at.
A ringing tone broke Red from her thoughts.
“What the fuck?” Red eyeballed her cordless phone. She had just had her telephone cut on and it was a new number. Who in the fuck could be calling? she wondered.
The phone rang again.
Red pushed the “talk” button on the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey, Red.”
“Who the fuck is this?”
“Who the fuck you think this is?”
The voice sounded eerily familiar. “Catfish?”
“That’s right, bitch! I told you, you can run, but you can’t hide.”
“How the fuck are you calling me?” Red panicked. “How did you get this number?” She was too dumbfounded to offer a different response.
“Somebody should have told you, Red. The thing about legit money is that it’s easy to track. Somebody also should have told you I bury bodies in the desert.”
Red hung up her telephone, jumped out of the hot tub, ran into her house and locked the door. Her breath had rushed out of her body, and her heart beat like an African drum. She nervously scanned around the interior of her mansion, afraid to move, afraid to go upstairs, afraid to grab her keys and run for the garage. She hadn’t taken the time to go and buy a gun yet, because she hadn’t been in a rush to do so.
Red’s heart did a somersault in her chest, as her doorbell chimed.
It chimed again.
A voice rang out from the other side of her door. “You can run but you can’t hide!”
Red fell to the floor in tears.
Catfish had found her.
Acknowledgments
My son’s and legacy: Valen Mychal, what can I say, you keep me proudly smiling. Victor Amon, what can I say, you keep me believing.
My best girlfriends: Mary Lilley and Valerie Hunter, love you guys!
The team at Atria Books: Judith Curr, Malaika Adero, Nancy Inglis, Todd Hunter, thank you for the fifth time!
My loving and drama-filled family: The Stringer’s in the house!
Distributors, bookstores, media, fans, and readers: Without you, there is no me and TCP.
To my homies on lock with love: Chancey (West Coast) Fuller, Lloyd Black, Rodney R. Stringer, Rodney E. Stringer, Rudolph Lynch, be easy and rest up.
To my legal eagles: Michael Anthony Law & Staff, F. Robert Stein, thank you for keeping the hounds at bay.
To my financial support: Arnell Hurt, the world’s kindest accountant and friend.
To my authors, thank you for writing incredible stories.
Last, but never least: My TCP staff that labor daily with me to get the damn thing’s done! Matthew Roberson, Christina Carter, Valerie (leap graphics), Maxine Thompson, Lisa Woodward (welcome back), Sharon Ballew, Frankie Stringer (road dawgz).
My mother’s: Eula Thompson and Elder Vera Jackson
It’s the G-O-D in me, Lord and Savior, thank you for your grace, mercy, and favor.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 by Vickie M. Stringer
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First Atria Books hardcover edition February 2010
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stringer, Vickie M.
Dirtier than ever : a novel / Vickie M. Stringer. — 1st Atria Books hardcover ed.
p. cm.
1. African American women—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3569.T69586D56 2010
813’.54—dc22 2009049423
ISBN 978-1-4391-6611-6
ISBN 978-1-4391-6613-0 (ebook)
VICKIE M. STRINGER is the author of Essence bestsellers including Imagine This, Let That Be the Reason, Dirty Red, and Still Dirty. She is the publisher of Triple Crown Publications, one of the most successful African-American book publishers in the United States and abroad. She has been featured in such prominent news media as the New York Times, Newsweek, MTV News, Publishers Weekly, Vibe, Millionaire Blueprints, Black Expressions, and many more. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her two children. Visit her website at www.triplecrownpublications.com.
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