Loretta sat back against the booth and gave him a coy smile. “Why all this interest in Preacher? Jealous?”
“Of a jailbird? I don’t think so.” No way would Andre admit that Preacher was the only man in Loretta’s life who worried him. Though he tried hard to hide it, his attraction and desire for Loretta had grown over the years, and now he wanted her all to himself. She didn’t know it yet, but they were destined to rule an empire together.
“I don’t believe you. Just think, Andre. If you sign up for this program, you could end up being Preacher’s boss. Wouldn’t you like that?”
He shook his head. “I bet you would though.” He grinned at her audacity. “You’re a dangerous woman, Loretta. A man would have to be a fool not to see that. I’m not a fool.”
“Then stop thinking about Preacher and the police and start thinking about this opportunity.”
“Risk, you mean?”
She leaned forward. “Think, Andre. Having an ex-con on the premises could be perfect. If anything went down, who do you think the cops would blame? Certainly not two upstanding men in the community like you and Dante. No, the cops would look at the ex-con.” She tapped a finger against her temple. “This could be the perfect cover for us.”
Andre grunted. “Or it could be the nail in all of our coffins.”
“But you’ll think about it. For me?”
Andre had never been able to deny her anything, and he knew this time would be no different. “I’ll think about it.”
She smiled and blew an air kiss in his direction. “Good, now buy me lunch. I’m hungry.”
Loretta was practically giddy after her lunch with Andre. An idea had begun forming in her mind as soon as he had mentioned the jobs program. Preacher didn’t know it yet but soon he’d be back in business with her where he belonged. She’d never let him be set up to take the fall as she’d suggested to Andre, but then Andre didn’t need to know the details of her thoughts. She’d keep him in line and she’d get her brother back by her side. It was only a matter of time. The thought of it made her heart race. She picked up her cell phone and punched in Tanya’s number. When Tanya answered, she said, “I’m on my way over to talk with Preacher. Make yourself and the boys scarce when I get there.”
“You don’t tell me what to do, Loretta.”
“Please, I’m not even going there with you again. I need to talk to Preacher alone. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Loretta parked her Chrysler 300 in Preacher’s driveway a short while later. She took the outside stairs to the apartment over the garage where he now lived. She hated the thought of her brother living over a garage like some poor relation, especially when that money-hungry Tanya was living large in the main house like some queen of the manor. When she reached the top step, she stopped and took a deep breath. She knew she had to remain calm if she was going to get Preacher to see things her way. She knocked twice and waited.
When Preacher opened the door and saw her, his eyes widened with joy and Loretta saw flashes of her old brother in them. “You look happy to see me,” she said, stepping into his embrace.
Preacher hugged her close, tight actually. She felt the strength she’d always experienced in his arms, but this time the barely restrained violence that usually marked his touch was gone. She’d taken comfort in that violence, knowing that it meant Preacher could protect them; she missed it. Confused, she stepped away from him. “You’ve changed.” She said the words aloud though she hadn’t planned to.
Smiling at her, Preacher took her hand and pulled her fully into the apartment. “I’ve been trying to tell you that,” he said, “but you wouldn’t listen.”
“You didn’t need to change,” she said, her eyes taking in him and the cramped space that was his combination living room, dining room, and kitchen. She’d done a good job in picking the furnishings, but a garage apartment was still a garage apartment. “You were fine the way you were.”
Preacher sank down in the leather recliner in his living room. “No, I wasn’t, and we both know it. A Bible-toting, drug-dealing thug. That’s what I was and I needed help.”
“You weren’t a thug,” she said, sitting on the matching leather couch across from him.
“Yes, I was. A thug in a suit, but still a thug. It’s all about the attitude. I thought I was the man, but then I met the real man. He changed my life, Loretta. Sitting in that prison cell I found what I’ve always been looking for.”
“How can you say that, Preacher? You had everything. We had everything.”
“Yeah, we had things, but when I was sitting in that cell all by myself, those things didn’t mean much. What meant something was the people I love, especially my kids, and I realized that what I was giving them was going to land them in prison, too. I didn’t want that for them, I don’t want it for myself, and I don’t want it for you.”
To avoid the look of pity she thought she saw in his eyes, Loretta focused on the Varnette P. Honeywood painting above his head instead of looking directly at him. Why should he pity her? From where she sat, she was better off than he was. Turning her gaze back to him, she said, “So you’re afraid of prison. Is that what this is all about?”
“I won’t lie to you, ’Retta. I didn’t like doing time. It’s not for me. I had to find some peace in that place and what I found was Jesus. So in a sense, it was worth it. But I don’t want to repeat it.”
Not wanting to hear those words from her brother, Loretta got up and walked to the bar that separated the living area from the kitchen. “What about our business?” she asked. “What about all we’ve built?”
Preacher followed her to the bar and stood beside her. “I don’t want it.”
She looked over at him. “You say that now, but how are you going to take care of your kids and keep Tanya in the style to which she’s become accustomed? Jobs don’t come easy to ex-cons, not good ones.”
He smiled down at her. “I’ll be all right. God has my back and He’s put some good people in my life.”
“What about me?” Loretta asked, turning so they faced each other. “We used to have each other’s backs. Are you turning your back on me now? I need you, Preacher. You’re all I have. You’re my brother.”
Preacher took her hand in his. “I love you, ’Retta. You want out and I’m here for you, but I can’t go back to the life. I can’t.”
Loretta jerked her hand away. “You’re afraid, Preacher. You won’t have to do any more time,” she said. “I can promise you that.”
Preacher shook his head. “No, you can’t. I thought we were too smart to get caught, but I got caught.”
“It was a setup, Preacher,” Loretta said, pacing in front of him. “We both know it had to be. No way would you be driving a car with drugs in it. Somebody put the kilos in your trunk and then called the police to tip them off. Together, we can find the person and make him pay.”
Preacher shook his head, unwilling to share with her the name G-Money had given him. He knew all too well what she’d do if she had it; the same thing he would have done two years ago. “I’ve thought about it and you’re probably right about me being set up, but it doesn’t matter,” he told her. “Prison was where I needed to be, even though I didn’t realize it at the time. If we found the person who set me up, I’d have to thank them.”
Loretta laughed. “Come off it, Preacher. You’re taking that ‘turn the other cheek’ stuff a bit too far. You can try to tell somebody else that story, but not me. I know you.”
Preacher shook his head. “You knew the old me, ’Retta, but you don’t know the new me.”
Loretta relaxed against the bar. “You know I’ve never been a church person and I’ve never trusted church people. Sister Lillie Mae taught me all I need to know about church folks. The government says drugs are illegal, but if you ask me, churches ought to be illegal. Nothing but a racket if you ask me.”
“Everybody’s not like her or the other people you and I knew growing up. That was church, ’Retta.
I’m talking about a real Jesus who’s as close to you as I am now, who loves you more than I ever could, and who’ll be a better friend to you than I’ve ever been. Think of how Big Momma loved us; well, Jesus loves us more.”
Loretta scrunched up her nose. She couldn’t believe her Preacher was spouting this mumbo-jumbo.
“I know you don’t believe me, and I can understand, because I wasn’t a believer at first. You’re as hardheaded as I was, but I hope you don’t have to fall as far as I did before you ask for help.”
“Okay, Preacher,” Loretta said. “You’re going too far now. I’ve been taking care of myself for as long as I can remember. When I needed God as a child, He wasn’t there, and now I don’t need Him.”
“Yes, you do,” Preacher said. “I know you better than anyone, Loretta, and I know you need Him as much as I did, as I still do. Do you still cry yourself to sleep at night?” he asked softly.
The words whipped at Loretta’s heart and she shot a fiery glance at her brother. “Don’t go there with me, Preacher. We both have our demons. You know mine, but I know yours, too.”
“But now I sleep at night, you don’t. That’s the difference between us.”
Loretta shrugged off Preacher’s words, but her eyes locked on his. “Just because you need the crutch of some god you can’t even see doesn’t mean I need it. I can take care of myself, and in case you don’t know it, I’ve been taking care of your family too. God didn’t do that, Preacher,” she said, thumping her chest. “I did. I was there for your kids after Tanya blew your cash. I kept those shops in the black when Tanya was spending money like there was no tomorrow. That was me. Not God. And you should be thanking me, not telling me what I need.”
“Tanya told me today what you did. She shouldn’t have come to you. I left her more than enough money.”
Loretta laughed. “You don’t know the woman you’ve taken up with very well, do you, Preacher? Tanya is about the dollar, always has been, always will be.”
“I know you don’t like Tanya. You’ve made that very clear.”
“I think you can do better than her. Tanya doesn’t want you. She wants what you can give her. You’re a smart man about everything except her. I don’t get it. What is it about women like Tanya that make normally smart men like you act like fools?”
“She’s the mother of my children,” Preacher told her. “And she’s going to be my wife.”
Loretta raised her arms in frustration. “You’ve got to be kidding, Preacher. Do you really think Tanya’s going to marry a broke ex-convict? Get real. Sister girl needs money and lots of it. Something tells me your girl is going to be as gone as your money.”
Preacher rapped his fist against the bar top and Loretta knew she had touched a nerve. “I can take care of my wife and my family, Loretta. I appreciate what you did for Tanya but we no longer need or want your help.” He walked to the door and opened it.
“You’re kicking me out?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I think we’ve said all we have to say. You’ve never liked Tanya and you’ve never liked me with her. I have a new life now and the only way I know to make the new one work is to let the old one go.”
“And that includes the people in the old life, too?” she asked, barely containing her despair at the callous way Preacher was treating her. “People who’ve known you and had your back for most of your life? You’re going to choose that money-grubbing Tanya and some new people you’ve met at church over me? I’m your sister, Preacher,” she pleaded, “the only family you have. I’ve always been there for you and you’ve always been there for me. Things don’t have to change.”
Preacher shook his head sadly. “They already have, ’Retta. How can we be as close as we were when we’re living different lives? I’m on probation and you’re trafficking drugs. Nothing good can come of it. Either you’ll get caught and sent to prison, or I’ll be charged with violating probation and be sent back there. I don’t want that for me, and as much as I want you out of the drugs, I don’t want you to end up in prison. You don’t wanna go there, ’Retta.”
“So I have to choose?”
Preacher nodded.
She walked toward him. “If you really loved me, you wouldn’t make me choose.”
“I’m doing this because I love you,” he countered. “If you really loved me, I wouldn’t have to make you choose.”
Loretta bit down on her lower lip, making Preacher wonder if she was fighting tears. But when she spoke, her words were strong. “You’ll need me, Preacher. We’re a part of each other. You may think we aren’t right now, but I know we are, and soon you’ll know it, too.” With no more words, she brushed past him and out of the apartment.
Preacher looked after her, his heart filled with love and concern. He closed his eyes and prayed, “Help her to see that she needs you, Lord. Make her nights restless and show her the emptiness of her life. But, in all things, keep her safe in the dangerous life she’s chosen for herself. Show me how to love her in the way you want her to be loved. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
His prayer finished, Preacher picked up the phone and dialed a number he hadn’t dialed since he became a Christian, a number he didn’t think he’d ever have to call again. But he had to make the call if he was going to keep his sister from doing something stupid. He knew her. Once she got an idea in her head she wouldn’t let it go. They were alike in that way, or had been.
“Boss?” the voice on the other end of the phone said.
“I’m not your boss anymore, Big Boy,” he told the man who’d been his sometimes driver and bodyguard. Next to Loretta, Big Boy was the only one of his crew that he really trusted.
“Old habits die hard, boss,” Big Boy said. “You’ll always be boss to me.”
Preacher didn’t bother trying to convince Big Boy otherwise. “I need a favor,” he asked.
“It’s done,” Big Boy, the always loyal soldier, said.
Preacher sighed. “I need you to arrange a private meeting. No firepower.”
“You got it. Give me the name, place, and time. It’s done.”
“Sooner rather than later,” Preacher said. Then he gave Big Boy the name G-Money had given him.
CHAPTER 5
Sean decided to sit while he waited to be called into the Boss’s office this time. His Gucci shoes were getting worn down with all his pacing. To keep his mind off his impending thrashing, he checked out the receptionist. He’d been too wrapped up in his own problems to take much notice of her on his previous visits, but now that he took the time to study her he saw that she was a cutie. He cleared his throat to get her attention. When she looked at him, he gave her his best smile.
Without an answering smile, she said, “You can go in now.”
Sean would have been insulted that she’d ignored his attempt at flirting, but his anxiety over entering the Boss’s office overrode all other emotions. He found the Boss seated at his desk, the white earbuds to his iPod clipped to his ears, his head bobbing. Now this was a first for Sean. He’d never seen the Boss kicking back like this before. He began to relax. Things couldn’t be so bad if the Boss was in such a good mood. He cleared his throat, causing the Boss to glance up at him.
The Boss waved Sean to a chair in front of his desk and kept bobbing his head. Sean relaxed even more. Maybe he was going to get some praise this time. He’d been working hard on Preacher and his family. The report he carried in his portfolio showed his progress.
With a broad smile still on his face, the Boss took off his earbuds and handed them to Sean. “Want to hear some real music?” he asked.
Matching the Boss’s smile, Sean reached for the earbuds. This was the first time the Boss had shared anything with him like this. The day was looking up. Full of anticipation, Sean placed the white buds in his ears. When he didn’t hear anything, he lifted questioning eyes to the Boss.
“Oh,” the Boss said. “I forgot to turn up the volume. I keep forgetting your senses aren’t as sharp as mine
.”
Since that was a well-known truth, Sean didn’t think much about it as he waited for the music to fill his ears. His smile turned into a frown as wailings and screams blasted from the iPod. It sounded as though people were being tortured. He lifted questioning eyes to the Boss again as he pulled the earbuds out.
“Now that’s music,” the Boss said.
Sean wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t know if the Boss was joking or what.
“What do you think of my music?” the Boss asked.
“I’m not sure I heard music,” Sean said, deciding it was best not to lie.
“That’s because you’re an idiot with no taste and even less discernment,” the Boss said, all remnants of his smile gone. “That was the sound of Third Hades. You’d better get used to it.”
Sean slumped back in his chair. “Third Hades?”
“You heard me,” the Boss said. “At the rate you’re going, that place is going to be your new home real soon.”
Sean flipped open his portfolio and handed the Boss his written report. “Things aren’t as bad as they seem. I’ve been busy. It’s all here in my report.”
The Boss snatched the report, his smile now a snarl, and scanned the first page. “You got Preacher that information about who set him up,” he said finally, “but you aren’t doing enough with it. Get Preacher to start thinking about revenge. You understand?”
Sean nodded, making a note on the legal pad that was in his portfolio.
The Boss turned to the next page of the report. “The groundwork you’re doing with that Natalie is interesting. She’s the typical, been-done-in-by-a-bad-man desperate single woman, which makes her an easy target, like most single women. Send them a decent-looking guy with some cash in his pockets and we can get them to believe he’s the second coming of His Son. Keep letting her think Dante is what He wants for her. Don’t let her see him for what he really is until it’s too late.”
Sean made another note. “Got it, sir.”
Up Pops the Devil Page 7
