Deep Deception 2

by McKinney, Tina Brooks

  We walked into the empty living room. This was the first time that I’d been in the house since the night I was shot and Ramón was killed. A flashback of the night he died almost brought me to my knees. “Victória, are you all right?” Verónica gripped my arm, but it felt like she was a million miles away.

  “Yeah.” I snatched my arm away from Verónica. “He needs to hurry the fuck up. I can’t be in this house too long. Too many memories.” I had no idea I would feel this way. I wanted to get out of there so I could grieve again in private. I looked toward the stairs expecting our mother to come down them, but that wasn’t going to happen. “Where the fuck is he? Call him, I don’t have all day,” I barked at my sister like she was to blame for my feelings. She wasn’t in the house the night of Ramon’s murder, so she couldn’t possibly be feeling the same emotions I was feeling.

  Verónica whipped out her phone. “Padre, where are you? We are here.” She nodded her head and closed her phone. “He’s coming.”

  I heard footsteps but they didn’t appear to be coming down the stairs. I looked around in confusion. “Where the fuck was he?”

  “Victória, your mouth is filthy,” Padre announced as he slowly came into view.

  I wanted to tell him to kiss my entire ass but I held the words inside.

  “We’re here, now tell us why,” Verónica said.

  I would have phrased it differently, but he got the message. I wanted to know what was so important that he brought me back to the scene of so much heartache without regard to our feelings.

  “Victória, I know this is hard for you, and I sincerely apologize, but I need you to see this.”

  My father sounded humble. A part of me hoped that I could feel love for him again.

  “What is it? I need to get back home to rest.” I was lying my ass off; I just wanted to get out of there.

  “Of course, I understand and I thank you both for coming. Will you follow me?” He was being so formal, I was scared to follow as he turned and walked out the same doorway that he had come from.

  I looked at Verónica and she looked as scared as I felt. I thought my nephew even picked up on it.

  Verónica said, “Give him a chance, Victória. He’s trying.”

  I wanted to smack her up against her foolish head. I didn’t want to blame her for all the bullshit that had taken place, but she was knee-deep in the shit and I resented her for it. If she hadn’t gotten involved with Moses, our lives might have turned out much differently. I knew I was being irrational but I could not help myself.

  “Please,” Verónica begged.

  I could not ignore the begging in my sister’s voice. I would indulge her; but if I smelled bullshit, I was out—even if it meant turning my back on the only family I had left. “I just want you to know, I ain’t feeling this.”

  LM started to get fidgety.

  “I know. But please indulge him.”

  We followed my father through the kitchen and into the basement. I kept my eyes averted from the living room. I didn’t want to be where my brother had died. The urge to run out of the house crying was overwhelming.

  “Where are we going?” I demanded as I stopped midway down the stairs. If this was some dog-and-pony shit, I’d have rather he tell us about it before I walked down the stairs. For all I knew, it could be another trap we were walking into blindly.

  Verónica said, “Victória, please, this won’t take long.” She tried to calm LM.

  How the hell does she know how long this shit is going to take? I let loose a loud sigh as I counted backward. Verónica grabbed my hand and practically dragged me down the rest of the stairs. She was working her way up the list of people that I wanted to tell to kiss my ass. As far as I was concerned, he had years to make this shit right and he chose to do nothing. He allowed his brother to walk into our lives and destroy them. I wasn’t about to forgive him for it anytime soon. “Why do we have to do this? We’ve been in the basement before. He’s not showing us anything that we haven’t seen before,” I mumbled.

  “Chill, Victória,” Verónica hissed.

  I stopped short. I didn’t like the way that she was siding with him instead of me. Did I miss something? Last I checked he was the one who had abandoned us. Padre stopped at the bottom of the steps, causing us to bump into him. This just irritated me even more.

  “Dumb fucker,” I mumbled as Verónica jabbed me in my stomach.

  She was lucky I wasn’t feeling all that strong or we would have been fighting all over the basement.

  “Ouch, bitch,” I said, ready to let her have it, wishing she weren’t holding my nephew.

  “Victória ... enough.”

  My father didn’t have to raise his voice to let me know he was serious. It was a tone I wasn’t familiar with but it brought tears to my eyes. I felt like I’d been transported in time and I was a little girl again. I was going to play his little game—one last time—and I was done. Padre led us to where the washer and dryer normally sat but they were pushed off to the side.

  “What’s going on here?” I asked as I peeked down twelve steps to what appeared to be a subbasement. I turned to my sister. “Did you know this room was here?”

  “No, I didn’t. Padre, what is this?” Verónica asked. Her voice was gentler and less accusatory than mine. She was working hard to keep the peace.

  “I can show you better than I can tell you,” my father replied.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  VERÓNICA RAMSEY

  My cell phone scared the shit out of me when it rang. I whipped it out of my holder and placed it up to my ear. “Hello?”

  “Hey, baby, where are you?” Moses asked.

  “I’m over at my old house. My father wanted us to meet him here. He wanted to show us something.”

  “Oh really, what?”

  “Don’t know yet. What’s up?” I could feel all eyes on me as I tried to get off the phone with my husband.

  “I was just checking to see what time you would be home. I’ve got some running around to do.” Moses was getting bored.

  “Padre says it won’t take long, so I’ll be there as soon as we’re done.”

  “Oh, one more thing, my mother and father are coming to visit.”

  My heart skipped a beat but I tried to sound calm. “Oh, really? What’s the occasion?”

  He said, “It’s no occasion. It’s just time they met their daughter-in-law.”

  He had a point, it was time, but I could not help but to wonder why now? We’d been married for months and I hadn’t heard boo from them.

  “Wow, when are they getting here?” I was in panic mode. There were so many things I wanted to do before I met my in-laws. I needed to get my hair and nails done; the house could have used a thorough cleaning.

  “They will be here at four.”

  If he said anything else after that, I didn’t hear it because my mind was working overtime.

  “Let me get off the phone, I have a lot to do. I’ll see you at the house.” I closed the phone. “Victória, we have to get going, I have to get home.”

  “What’s wrong?” She looked alarmed.

  “I need to get home. My in-laws are coming and I’ve got to prepare.”

  “Wow, did you know they were coming?”

  “No, Moses just sprung it on me.”

  Victória cringed. “Ouch. I’ve never met in-laws before, but I think I would prefer advance notice.”

  “Tell me about it. Padre, what’s this shit about!” With one phone call I’d forgotten about being the peacemaker. My ass needed to get home with a quickness.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  TILO ADAMS

  I woke up in a cold sweat once again. I pushed back the heavy covers—damp with my sweat—and rushed to the bathroom. My stomach was so queasy, I felt like I was about to throw up, but nothing would come out. I felt hungry all the time but every time I tried to eat, I threw up.

  “This shit is getting old,” I mumbled to my reflection. I looked like
hell but I felt even worse, if that was possible. The nightmares were driving me fucking crazy. I couldn’t sleep because I felt like someone was chasing me all the time. I thought my conscience died with my former lover, but I was obviously wrong. I was disgusted with the weakness I was showing. I had dark circles under my eyes and my whole face appeared sunken in.

  I pushed away from the mirror. I refused to spend another second looking at my tired reflection. I couldn’t wait for my cruise to start. I needed the fresh start so I could get my head on straight and get back to the business of making money. I was scheduled to leave in a few days for New York, and I hadn’t done a lick of shopping.

  Truth be told, I was afraid to leave my hotel room. Even though I knew it wasn’t true, I felt like everyone knew who I was and was waiting for me to step out of the room to apprehend me. This kind of pressure was not good for anyone, but I was sure most of my issues were related to guilt. The people I killed before were unknowns. They weren’t a part of my everyday life. Therefore, it didn’t bother me. Someone should have schooled me on that so I could have hired someone else for the hit. I got dressed so I could do some shopping. I didn’t need much, but I needed something to go with my new look. I planned on doing my major shopping on the cruise. I grabbed my key card and purse and headed out the door. When I got to New York, I intended to hit shopper’s row and buy some banging outfits.

  I was good until I reached the lobby. I broke out in a sweat when I saw all the people rushing around. I thought they all were looking for me and my heart started beating real fast. I could feel my blood rushing from my head. I was feeling faint.

  “Are you all right, miss?”

  I leaned against the wall. I was trying to balance my weight without appearing drunk. This was totally unexpected. The feeling unnerved me so much, I couldn’t answer right away. I stumbled over to one of the sofas in the lobby and lowered my head between my legs. I tried to control my breathing and my nerves. Slowly my heart rate became normal. I lifted my head and realized that no one except for the bellhop was paying me any attention.

  “Can you get me a cab please?” I said.

  “Sure, it would be my pleasure.”

  I watched him go out the door to hail a cab. I should have followed him but my legs were shaking. I waited until he started waving at me before I got up and tried to make my way to the door. I was halfway to the door before my legs gave out on me and I crumpled to the floor. It wasn’t a blackout. I was totally aware of what was going on around me, but I didn’t have the strength to do anything about it. However, by the time the ambulance arrived, I had gotten a second wind.

  A female paramedic said, “We just want to examine you, miss.”

  “I’m fine. I told the bellhop not to dial Nine-one-one but he insistent upon doing so.” My eyes locked with the bellhop’s. If eyes could communicate, mine were begging him to corroborate my story if he wanted a good tip.

  The bellhop said, “She did tell me not to call, but the hotel requires we do it for insurance purposes and for the safety of our guests.”

  Thankfully, he got the message. I winked at him. He was going to get a big, fat tip.

  “I understand, but since we’re here, why not let us take your blood pressure?” she said, preparing to examine me.

  I wanted to choke the fuck out of this preppy bitch who just wouldn’t go away. I hated to get ugly, but I was about to show my ass for real. “If my blood pressure goes up, it will because you won’t leave me the hell alone. Now go somewhere and save someone who really needs your help.”

  I wanted to end my sentence by calling her a bitch, but I held it back. However, if she came at me again with the cuff, it was on. I definitely didn’t want them to take my pressure because I hadn’t been taking my medicine. I left my medicine at the apartment, and since I was presumed dead, I couldn’t get a refill.

  “Fine, we can’t force you to accept treatment, but we can advise you that refusing our assistant may have dire consequences, which we will not be held responsible for.”

  I felt bad about being such a bitch, but I had no other choice.

  “Rome, don’t tell me to calm down. Those idiots you are dealing with have just cost me a million dollars,” I yelled into the phone. I knew my pressure was through the roof, but I couldn’t pull back. I couldn’t stand incompetence. Since I couldn’t be seen, I was forced to allow others to handle my business for me—for a small fee of course.

  “I’m just saying, we have no way of knowing how the Mexican officials learned of the new shipment. It could have been a fluke,” Rome said, sounding irritated.

  “Fluke, my ass. Perhaps you don’t understand how this shit works. If I lose money, you don’t get paid.”

  “Tilo—”

  “Don’t call me that again—ever. The person you are referring to is dead, got it?”

  “Yeah, I got it, but what do I call you?”

  I thought about it for a few seconds, but since my head was hurting so badly, it was difficult to think. “Call me ... Boss. Yeah, that’s it: call me Ms. Boss. I kinda like that shit ’cause if the boss ain’t happy, nobody is happy. You feel me?”

  He probably wished he could kick my ass, but he didn’t have a choice but to follow my instructions. I owned Rome. He had a gambling problem, which kept him out of the FBI. It wasn’t big enough to keep him out of civil service. At least, it wasn’t at the time he applied for a job with the Atlanta Police Department. And if I found out that he was the reason why my guns had been hood-jacked, I was going to kill his ass personally.

  “Ms. Boss,” Rome stuttered, not wanting to say the words. “It’s not my fault. Everything on our end was on point. Shit got fucked up over the border somewhere,” Rome whined.

  “I don’t give a flying fuck where it happened. It happened! And as a result, I don’t fucking get paid,” I shouted into the phone. If I could’ve done everything myself, I would have. But I needed to rely on Rome to do at least 95 percent of the things I asked him to do right. If his percentage dropped, so did he.

  Rome was lucky I was talking to him over the phone instead of face to face, which I would have preferred because I would have shot him right between his motherfucking eyes.

  “Well, I’m just saying, get my fucking guns back or be prepared for the consequences. And you might start thinking about ways to take out that mayor. He’s messing with my money and I don’t appreciate that shit.”

  “But this is the second mayor we’ve handled since the election.”

  “And your point would be?” I wasn’t trying to hear that shit. I was done talking to Rome. I didn’t care how he made it happen, I just wanted it to happen. I had one more call to make before I left the country.

  I hung up on him and dialed another number. “Yeah, it’s me. I just got off the phone with Rome. The motherfucker is scared. I need for you to sell that stupid ass the same shit you took from him but double the price.”

  “He can’t afford it.”

  “You idiot, tell me something I don’t know. I need that nigga dirty.”

  “Okay, all right then.”

  “Wait a week and leak another story saying the guns were jacked. This gets Obama and his administration off my ass and you move up again. You feel me? Obama’s team will think they are doing a good job and move their nosey asses out of Mexico so we continue to get rich.” I was feeling pretty good because everything seemed to be going as planned.

  “What about the kidnappings?” my anonymous malefactor said.

  “Damn, man, do I have to tell you everything? You’ve got to keep things poppin’, keep the violence spread out. Don’t do too much in any one area or we’ll have more attention than a little bit. Get creative. Do something to surprise me for a change. Shit! If I have to tell you how to do everything, what do I need you for?” I slammed down the phone. “I ain’t trying to change the name of the game, I’m just trying to be the winner.” I rolled over for a few hours to get some much needed rest. When I woke up, I promised t
o try, once again, to eat something and hold it down.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  MOSES RAMSEY

  My stomach was filled with butterflies. I’d never been so nervous in my entire life. I didn’t know what scared me most: the fact that I’d actually fathered a child or Verónica’s reaction when she found out I had a paternity test done without her knowledge.

  Mom and Dad were excited about meeting their first grandchild and my wife. I was still trying to digest the fact that LM was actually my son. Part of me was beaming with pride, and the other half hated the way I treated him when he was born. I despised myself for allowing Tilo to fill my head with nonsense that almost made me kill his mother. This made finding Tilo a number one priority because I could not ever let it be known what I’d planned to do.

  Verónica loved Olive Garden, so I went by to pick up something for dinner for all of us. I happily paid the bill and rushed home to make sure that everything was perfect. On a whim, I stopped by the liquor store and bought some wine and their best champagne. I was in the mood to celebrate. To my knowledge, Verónica still thought LM was Mike’s baby, but my plan was to reveal it to her tonight. I hoped that by showing her my baby pictures she’d be convinced of his parentage.

  For me, I had a newfound commitment to the love I had for Verónica. I wanted and needed for us to grow as a family. Tonight I was going to tell her that. The fact that my mother and father would be there to witness it was a bonus because at least they would be convinced I wasn’t gay. Being a black man living in Atlanta wasn’t easy. Every woman assumed I was gay. I was tired of defending my manhood. My wife would walk through the door any minute and validate me.

  I quickly set up the table with candles and flowers after I called Verónica to make sure she was on the way. Mom and Dad were resting in the guest room and eager to meet their first and only grandchild. As I lit the last candle my mother came down the stairs.