Nedra took a deep breath, in an effort to stay calm. She never did trust Richard. The only reason she tolerated him was because of Carla. She would pray for him, but she could no longer hide her disdain.
“Sharon needs you, Nedra, and so do I, because Lord knows I have hate in my heart today, and it’s against my own brother. Oh, God! I can’t believe this!” Carla’s sobs intensified.
“Don’t worry, honey, I’m coming home. I’ll be there today.” She saw Sin tense but turned her back as she reassured her friend. “You hold on. I’m on my way.”
Hanging up, she turned to Sin, ready to defend her decision if necessary. It wasn’t. He understood.
“I’ll drop you off at the house and go fill the tank while you pack. We should be there before dark.”
Without another word, they hurried to the car, both mentally preparing themselves for what they would face in Oakland.
CHAPTER 13
Sin’s demeanor appeared calm, but inside he was a raging tornado. Nedra drove her car to Oakland and he followed her, right to the entrance of the hospital. He left her there after she promised to spend the night at Carla’s house. She also promised him not to reveal their newly formed relationship to her friends.
It was nearly one o’clock in the morning when he made a phone call to his contact. He was determined to get some answers to his questions before Monday, no matter what he had to do to get them. It could be Nedra was right. Maybe he had jumped to conclusions. Maybe she wasn’t the target. There really wasn’t any definite proof. The break in at her house could have been a simple burglary. That happened often enough. The car that he spotted outside her church that Sunday he attended could be explained in a million ways. Perhaps he had been living his life in shadows for so long he saw a boogieman around every corner. Still, years of fine tuned intuition told him that he was right, and he could not bear the consequence of misread intuition.
Unable to rest with this uncertainty, he dialed the same number he had dialed a few weeks ago. The phone rang three times before a groggy voice answered with a less than friendly greeting.
“It’s Reasoner. I need an update on the East Oakland situation.”
“What the hell! Man, what time is it?”
“Time for you to give me the $200 worth of information I already paid for.”
A crude expletive singed his ear. Sin was unfazed. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. This wasn’t a request. It was a demand.
“I’ve given you plenty of time to find out the name of the “do-gooder” marked for the hit in East Oakland. If you don’t have the name, get it, before midnight tomorrow.”
There was silence on the other end. He knew the little weasel was weighing the level of danger he heard in his voice. The man was wary, and he should be. The silence was short-lived.
“That subject is dead in the water, man. You late. The shooters got wasted Friday night.”
“Wasted? Friday night? What kind of game are you playing?”
“No game, man. Word is they was the ones in the shoot-out on Friday.”
“Shoot-out? What shoot-out?”
“The one with Eddie Carter’s people.”
“Eddie Carter’s people?”
“Yeah. Where you been? It’s all over the news. Two young bloods tryin’ to move into his territory hit Carter and some of his people. Carter and four others got wasted. Word is that two of them were the shooters that was supposed to do the hit.”
Sin’s body went numb. Eddie? Dead? The shooters were wasted? His mind raced to comprehend. How were the shooters related to Eddie? Was he the one who put out the contract on Nedra?
He could visualize the youthful face of the man who, like himself, had grown up with no childhood. The filth in which they wallowed had sullied them both and wouldn’t allow Sin even the luxury of liking the man. It was all too crazy! Who knows, under other circumstances they might have been friends. Now, all he felt was a sense of relief that both Eddie and the hired assassins were dead.
Eddie was now a memory, and Nedra was free. If that bastard had been responsible for a contract on her life, there wasn’t a spot in hell hot enough for him!
“Are you sure about this?” His tone warned the snitch he had better be.
“Yeah, man. Ninety-nine percent.”
It was the one percent that still bothered Sin, but the odds were the best he had heard yet.
“And did you get the name of the person who was to be hit?” He had to know for sure.
“No, but I know it was a woman.”
Sin’s heart skipped a beat.
“Say man, why you so uptight ‘bout this? They kill yo’ kin folk or somethin’?”
Sin ignored the question. “I’ll keep in touch.”
Long after he had disconnected, Sin still felt a hint of anxiety. The end of the danger had come as swiftly as the beginning. He trusted the reliability of the information the contact had given him. The man knew that inaccuracy could cost him his life. He felt fairly sure that Nedra was safe for now, but what about the future? She was playing in flames that could consume her, but so was he.
As he drove toward his house in the Oakland Hills, his mind was still swirling with the events of the weekend. He recalled Eddie and Lynn in his office, and that it was Eddie who had first mentioned that things would get “hot” in Oakland. It was he who was bragging about how all of his “problems” would be solved. Yeah, they were solved all right. Permanently!
Where was Lynn in all of this? Did she have anything to do with this contract? He knew she was aware of what her brother was doing, but he had never found any evidence that she was deeply involved in his business. Men and fashion seemed to be her preoccupations. However, that day in his office he had sensed something in her tone—
The ring of his cell phone interrupted his train of thought. “Hello.”
“I miss you, already.” Nedra’s voice washed over him like a spring rain.
“I miss you too. How’s Sharon?”
On the other end, Nedra fought to contain feelings of anger and contempt for Richard. She’d found Sharon with black and blue bruises covering her upper arms and torso. Nedra had been mad enough at Richard to kill him, which was less than Christian. She had done some hard praying to keep from cursing his very existence on earth.
“She’s doing better. They’re releasing her tomorrow but, God help her, after all she’s been through she still loves that man.”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m at Carla’s.” She gave him the address. “We’re bringing Sharon here when she’s discharged. Nobody can find Richard. Lord knows what he’ll be up to next. It’s safer for Sharon not to be at her apartment right now.”
“Is she pressing charges against him?”
Nedra bristled. Her displeasure was aimed at Sharon this time.
“No. As a matter of fact she’s defending that scumbag! It doesn’t matter though, because what he did was still assault and battery. The authorities are going to bring him in for questioning.”
“Good.” Sin had only seen Richard Ryan once, and couldn’t say that he would remember him if he saw him again, but he’d never forget the way he had draped himself over Nedra’s chair. That alone was enough to color his opinion of him. “How are you?”
Nedra smiled. That was why she loved this man. He was not only kind, but considerate.
“I’m fine, just tired. Carla and Jacob went to bed about fifteen minutes ago.”
“Did you tell them about us?”
Nedra frowned. Sin sounded a little too anxious.
“No, we agreed that I wouldn’t. What’s wrong? Why is this a problem for you?”
What could Sin tell her? That he did have a problem, but not one she could solve. The life he had chosen left little accommodation for romantic attachment. His was a lonely existence. Love had been an illusion for most of his life. To have found a love like this was more than he had ever hoped. He wanted to hold on to her as long as he could, if on
ly for a few more days or even hours. He’d take what he could get. In the end he could end up hurting her, and he’d do anything to keep that from happening because she had become his world. Yet—
“As I told you before, I think we should keep a low profile.”
Nedra heard his hesitation, took note of how he had evaded her question, and the apprehension that had been a pin prick when he first suggested not revealing their budding relationship escalated. There was something wrong with this picture. She had jumped into deep waters with Sin, feet first. She had to know whether she was going to sink or swim. Her question was blunt.
“Are you married, Sinclair?”
He didn’t hesitate. “No, I’m not, although I can see why you might think I would be. Believe me, Nedra, its best that nobody knows about us right now. Please, trust me on this.”
Trust him? She loved him. She trusted him with her life. As a matter of fact, she was trusting him with it.
“Okay, then when can I come out of hiding?”
Surprised by the abrupt shift in conversation, but glad it had changed, Sin explained the recent developments. He skillfully avoided the name of Eddie Carter and her question about how he got the information he was sharing.
“Just let me make a few more phone calls and confirm what I’ve heard,” he told her. “And if I’m satisfied with the answers you’re home free.”
Nedra tittered nervously. Somewhere in her subconscious she still was not totally convinced that the intrigue against her was real. “Well, that was quick.”
“Not quick enough for me.”
Sin sensed her unspoken doubts, but he knew the reality of the streets, where every day the impossible became a possibility. Nedra had to remain vigilant. If she didn’t it could mean her life.
“I want you to start watching your back, Sweetheart. Believe me, every snake out there might not be poisonous, but those that are can be deadly.”
****
Richard was still angry. The fight with Sharon had sent him out into the streets of Oakland in search of some coke, and his usual supplier was nowhere to be found. Hell! The bitch had dumped his good stuff down the toilet demanding that he stop snorting, and then she had the nerve to throw that pregnancy bomb on him. What did she expect to happen but an ass kicking? Word was he was now in trouble! Where was the justice?
He cruised by another corner and had no better luck finding a dealer. Eddie Carter’s death had temporarily caused a shakeup in the ranks.
Making a U-turn, he headed his bright red Beamer in the opposite direction. He knew where he could get his supply, and not from some street jockey but from the main source.
A burly bodyguard with whom he was familiar answered Lynn’s door. After patting him down, he accepted Richard’s explanation that he came to offer his condolences. After checking it out with Lynn, the bodyguard led Richard to her.
Lynn’s appearance was shocking. Usually impeccable from head to toe, he found her dressed in a loose flowered silk robe. She was devoid of makeup, her hair was unkempt, and her eyes were swollen from crying. She was taking her brother’s death hard.
She looked at Richard with large, vacant eyes as he offered his sympathy, all the while wondering how he was going to talk her out of the dope. He was already deep in debt to the Carters for past purchases, and Lynn had pulled no punches when they met for lunch awhile ago. She had informed him that the time for payment on that debt was long overdue.
He had been outraged at the less than veiled threat of harm if he didn’t pay up. They had gall! After all the favors he had done for them—namely making sure that their dope was distributed in the highest places—he felt that his overdue debts had been paid long ago. Sure, he’d chipped a bit off the top for himself, but it was he who was risking his career and his reputation to satiate the drug appetites of a class of people the Carters only wished they could infiltrate. Even Lynn’s degree from UCLA couldn’t buy her way into the circles he was born into. He was certain that she was jealous of him.
Neither of the Carters liked him, and the feeling was mutual. At their meeting that day, the little slut had looked at him with disdain, railing at him about how he had everything and how she couldn’t understand why he would jeopardize it all for money he didn’t need, and a high that didn’t matter.
Hell! Of course she didn’t understand. The little ghetto rat came from the sewer. She wouldn’t recognize a good time if it hit her in the face, which was exactly what he wanted to do that day. Instead, he had sweet-talked her into an extension, agreed with her that the next favor she asked would be a big one in exchange, and had been provided with enough dope to last him for a while. That was, until Sharon dumped it!
His blood boiled whenever he thought about how selfish she had been. Sharon never considered him, only herself—telling him that she was pregnant. The last thing he wanted was a kid! Hopefully, he took care of that matter when he showed her who was boss.
Faking his best look of concern, he turned his attention back to Lynn who was nearly incoherent as she lamented over the death of her brother. She blamed his demise not only on rival drug dealers, but on the situation in the East Oakland territory that the Carter organization had once ruled. They had been pushed out of the area and forced to invade other sections of the city. Their presence had caused dissension and dispute. The result had been Eddie’s death. She vowed revenge on the person who she believed had been responsible for their ouster from East Oakland.
Sensing her present state of vulnerability, Richard took advantage of the opportunity and worked his sympathetic musing into a request for more dope and extended credit. He added hastily that he still intended to pay his previous bill.
Lynn’s state of mind proved not to be as susceptible as he suspected. She looked at him through narrowed eyes. Richard tried not to recoil at the hurt and anger on her face.
She studied him long and hard. “You are a piece of work, but I’ll tell you what I’m going to do for you. I’ve been saving the little favors you owe us, adding them up until I could come up with one that could wipe out your debt completely.”
Interested, Richard sat up. Wipe out his debt? He could live with that! How big of a favor could it possibly be?
“I’ve got a little job that my brother had a couple of people on, but circumstances being as they are, they’re no longer available. I need somebody else to take over for them.” She flashed him a sinister smile. “And you’re the perfect person for this little job.”
Richard looked smug. “What is it?”
“I need somebody wasted.”
The smug look vanished.
“There’s a do-good preacher that has been costing us money for much too long, and now she’s cost my brother his life.”
Richard nearly choked. “She?”
Lynn’s expression was deadly. “Yes, she.”
“Who is it?” Richard held his breath as he waited for the answer, but he already knew. East Oakland. Drugs. A “do-good” preacher. He heard the name in his mind before the words left Lynn’s mouth.
“Nedra Davis. I want Reverend Nedra Davis dead.”
CHAPTER 14
It was Sunday, and Nedra sat in the chair next to Sharon’s bed, reading the bible. Sunday had always been special to her. Being a preacher’s daughter, how could it not be? It was the Lord’s Day—one of worship, fellowship, and prayer.
Her daily habit was to read a passage from the bible and say a prayer, but on Sundays that ritual always seemed special. It was as if, on his special day, God could hear her words more clearly and grant her request a little quicker. She knew it was a foolish thought, God heard prayers everyday; but, she closed her eyes and whispered her prayer a little bit more fervently this day, asking God to move her friend past this pain.
Earlier, she and Carla had taken Sharon home from the hospital and whisked her to the house in the Berkley Hills that Carla and Jacob shared. Sore and emotionally scarred, Sharon had spoken very little as they tucked her into bed and tr
ied, unsuccessfully, to feed her. Presently, she was sleeping peacefully, but Nedra knew that she was not at peace. What Richard had done had injured more than her physical body, it had injured her spirit. It took longer to heal a wounded spirit.
“How is she doing?”
Nedra opened her eyes. Carla stood in the doorway.
“She hasn’t stirred. Go rest. I’ll take your watch and stay with her a little longer. You’ve had a long weekend. You’ve got to be tired.”
Tightening her arms across her chest, Carla gave a deep sigh. “It’s been a long weekend for all of us.” She managed a drawn smile. “Come on down and get a cup of tea. There’s nothing either of us can do for her right now, and you didn’t eat breakfast.
Minutes later, Nedra sat in the cozy kitchen nook sharing a cup of tea with Carla. Her friend looked exhausted. Dark rings lay beneath her eyes.
Nedra dunked her tea bag, laid it aside, and relished the warmth of the liquid sliding down her throat.
“Is Jacob still upstairs?
“Would you believe he went downtown to his office?”
Nedra raised a questioning brow. “On Sunday?”
Carla chuckled at what she described as Nedra’s preacher voice. “Yes, he’s working on some big case the Prosecutor’s office is putting together against this Carter Group, or something like that. They had a big shoot-out this weekend—drugs, rival gangs. You know the story.”
“Oh, Lord.”
“There are bodies all over the place. Jacob’s office has been tracking these creeps for a while, and they’re about ready to lower the boom. A lot of people are going down on this one. The shoot-out may speed things up a bit, and with all that’s happened with Sharon and Richard....” Carla’s shoulders slumped. “Well, Jacob hasn’t had time to take care of the business he brought home with him, so he went to the office where it’s quiet.”
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