by A'zayler
“I can’t believe this.” Danna sat back and lay her head on Quay’s shoulder. “So, how does Don come into all of this? He’s a snitch too?”
Quay tickled Danna and she fell over in laughter. “Stop saying snitch like that.” His laughter brought about more of hers. They laughed until he stopped tickling her.
Danna wiped her face and turned so that she was facing Quay. “Tell me about Don.”
“I wasn’t on this particular case in the beginning, but from my understanding, Don and your father were really good friends and your father flipped on him. Apparently, Don is the first person to ever realize Echo was the truth behind all his lies, and planned to get him back. He’s been plotting to kill all of y’all for a while now, but—”
“All of us? He was going to kill me?”
“No, I don’t think so. That’s where the problem came in. He had every intention of doing that, but I guess after falling in love with you, he couldn’t.” Quay kissed her forehead. “I guess you have that effect on people.”
Danna smiled bashfully and looked away from him for a minute.
“This is crazy.”
Quay stood to his feet and pulled her with him. “Yeah, it is. We’ve got it under control though. We’ve had people in place to watch your family from the time he was released. Echo couldn’t come around much, so it bought us some time, but the moment him and your father ended up at Ezra’s dinner together, we figured it was time to move.”
Speechless was a good word to describe Danna right then. None of the things she was hearing made any sense to her. She’d thought her life with Quay had all been a lie, but hearing the things Quay was telling her was downright devastating.
Danna palmed her forehead. “Lord, I can’t take this.”
“Yes, you can. It’ll all be over soon.”
“So, you were one of the people here to watch me?”
Quay nodded. “Myself and Agent Collier.”
“Collier, who’s that?”
“Cannon’s mom.”
The hell you say! Danna’s knees got weak. She couldn’t take anymore.
“Just take me in the house. I need to lie down, I can’t even think straight right now.”
As always, Quay’s hands were on her. Once she was secure in his arms, he looked down at her and rested his forehead against hers.
“Forget all of this, I’ll handle it . . . what I can’t believe is that I was seriously out here about to cry over your ass.”
“I can. Most polices are bitches.” Danna’s laughter mixed with his once he realized she was joking. The lighter note was appreciated.
“We’ll see who is crying when I get done with you.”
Danna looked him up and down once before heading into the house. Quay followed close behind. As soon as she laid eyes on all the agents circulating through his house, all bets were off. Danna spun on her heels preparing to go back outside, but bumped into Quay’s chest instead.
“For me, please. I promise it’s almost over.”
Danna pouted, but rejoined him back in the house. “You owe me for this shit.”
“I know I do, and I’m sorry.” He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and pulled her back to his chest. With a kiss to her ear, he made it all better. “I’ll spend forever paying you back.”
22
I should have known better
The loud noise coming from the front room of Danna’s home startled Cannon awake. Her eyes popped open as she looked around the bedroom wildly. It was black dark like it had been before she’d fallen asleep, only now she could tell that she wasn’t alone. The weird feeling of another person’s presence stirred up her uneasiness.
“Danna?” she called out.
“Nah, baby girl, try again.” Ezra’s voice had Cannon jumping from her spot on the bed, even knocking the bedside lamp over in the process.
She’d been at Danna’s house all day waiting on her to come back and had obviously fallen asleep in the process. Her hands went to her eyes quickly, trying to rub the sleep from them.
“Ezzy!” She squealed in excitement.
Cannon was on her feet and straining her eyes the best she could trying to find him. With her arms stretched out in front of her, she felt around the darkness for her man’s body.
“Come to me, Ezra. Flip the light on or something. I can’t see you.”
“Danna’s house is always dark like this.” Ezra spoke again.
“I know. Hit the light. The switch is by the door.”
Cannon stood in place waiting for Ezra to turn the light on. She could feel and hear his movement, but it was still dark.
“Ezra, what are you doing?” she grew impatient.
“Getting you ready to see me.”
Cannon smiled at his voice. She was so in love. “I’m not supposed to be seeing you. You should be in Texas by now.”
“I couldn’t leave without you. I came back to take you with me.”
Finally! The lights flipped on and she could see her baby.
A loud scream pierced the silence of the room before Cannon’s hands landed over her open mouth. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she stared at the large silver gun resting against the back of Ezra’s head. His long hair was down and covering his face slightly as he stood, noticeably affected by the situation.
“Calm down, mama. I’m good.”
Still in a state of shock, Cannon shook her head while still covering her mouth. In her heart she wanted to believe that Ezra was “good,” but from what she could see that was most definitely not the case.
“Don,” Cannon cleared her throat. “What are you doing? Why do you have a gun to his head?”
The crazed look on his face while holding Ezra at gunpoint was enough to kill Cannon by itself, but she had to hold it together. I knew this nigga was crazy, Cannon thought as she finally lowered her hands from her face and looked Don in the eye.
He was sweating profusely and his breathing was rapid as if he were in some sort of hurry. His eye darted all around the room as his hand tightened on the fabric of Ezra’s shirt.
“Where’s Danna?” his eyes went from Cannon to Danna’s bed before returning to Cannon.
“I don’t know. The last time I saw her was when she left with you earlier. She hasn’t been back since.” Cannon swallowed hard. “Why, what’s wrong?”
“She’s fucking with me.” Don growled lowly before growling a little louder. “Somebody’s going to tell me something.” Cannon gasped when Don removed the gun from Ezra’s head and pointed at her. “Call her, call her right fucking now.”
Cannon ran to grab her phone but Ezra stopped her. “No, Cannon! Don’t call her. He’s going to kill her.”
Don’s scowl deepened at the same time as he slapped Ezra across the top of his head with the gun. “Shut your punk ass up!” He then pointed his finger at Cannon. “You fucking call her right now! Call her before I kill every fucking body!”
Cannon’s body shook with fear as she looked at Ezra’s bleeding head before running to grab her phone. Although she didn’t want Danna hurt, she didn’t want her or Ezra to get hurt either. At least with Danna around, she had some leverage. Don loved her, and not regular love. That nigga was downright crazy in love with her. Maybe she could talk some sense into him and they could all live.
“Cannon, don’t you fucking call her,” Ezra told her weakly.
Cannon looked to him with pleading eyes as she held her cellphone in her hand. “I have to, Ezra. He’s not going to hurt her. Are you Don?” Cannon nodded her head at him.
In a daze, Don nodded his along with her. “I love her.”
“The fuck?” Ezra spun around. “The fuck you mean you in love with her? Nigga, you’re old as shit.”
Cannon hurried to intervene, because Ezra clearly didn’t care. “They’re in love, Ezzy. I saw it myself. It’s beautiful.”
Don’s hand released Ezra’s shirt as he walked toward Cannon nodding his head. “It is, and it’s real. She’s just mad righ
t now. I can’t let her leave me, Cannon. Call her, please.”
“I will, but you have to promise not to hurt her. Danna loves you.”
“But she left!” Don stood from the bed and began pacing the floor back and forth. “She fucking left me.” He said again before hitting himself in the head with his fist.
Cannon and Ezra both looked on in uncertainty. Ezra took this opportunity to get closer to her. Once his body was a shield between Don and Cannon, Cannon called out to Don.
“Calm down, I’m about to call her.”
Don stopped walking and looked at Cannon. He was still breathing hard, and his eyes still held a crazed look, but he wasn’t pointing the gun anymore, so that was a good sign. Before calling Danna, Cannon said a quick prayer in her head that she would answer. The phone rang and rang and just before the call went to voicemail, Danna’s voice came over the line.
“Hey, Cannon, let me call you back sis. I’m in the middle of something.”
“No!” Cannon yelped without thinking. “I mean, hold on. I have someone that wants to talk to you really quick.”
“What? Who?” Danna had an attitude for reasons unknown to Cannon, but oh well. She was about to talk to Don whether she wanted to or not. “Tell whoever it is, I’ll talk to them another day.”
“Look, Danna, it’s Don.”
Don’s eyes widened when he heard his name. Cannon gave him a soothing smile before extending the phone toward him. Before taking it, Don just looked at it for a moment, but eventually grabbed it.
“Oh,” Danna’s voice lowered. “Put him on.”
“I’m here already . . . why’d you leave?” Don’s voice had taken on a totally different tone that before.
He’d been yelling and threatening to Cannon and Ezra, but his voice was soft and almost sweet as he spoke with her.
“I’m sorry, I just wasn’t sure how I felt about being there after the whole Totiana thing.”
Cannon watched as Ezra’s face frowned in confusion. He looked to her with questioning eyes, but Cannon just shook her head slightly. It was a time and place for everything and right then wasn’t it. She would have to fill him in on everything at a later date. Right then, her sole focus was on staying alive, something he obviously knew nothing about.
“Danna, I told you about that. Fuck her. Fuck the kids, fuck everything except for you.” Don began pacing again. “I can’t live without you.”
There was a long pause before Danna began talking again. “Don, it’s not that simple.”
“Yes it is.” He fumed. “You’re the one making it hard.” Don flopped on the bed and sighed heavily. “Where you at? Just let me come see you, please. I just need to see you.”
“I don’t know, Don, you’re saying all of that now, but things could change.”
“No the fuck they won’t!” he stood back to his feet yelling.
“Don, let me talk to her for you,” Cannon reached for the phone.
Don looked like he wanted to object, but held the phone out to her anyway. “You better not fuck up.”
“Danna, girl, Don loves you. You need to stop acting up on him. He popped up over your house with Ezra and everything trying to get you back. Everybody makes mistakes, he said he’s not worrying about that girl and those kids, then neither should you.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” Danna sucked her teeth. “You’re not the one in love with him.”
The way Don’s chest sank and his head fell forward displayed his obvious defeat. Cannon reached to pat his shoulder so he wouldn’t lose hope before she could get her and Ezra out safely.
“Danna,”
“Don, just give me a few minutes and I’ll be there. Are you still at my house?”
“Yes.”
“Stay there. I’m on the way.”
After Cannon was sure their conversation was over, she pulled the phone away and sat next to Don on the opposite side of the bed from Ezra. He was bent over holding a shirt that had been on Danna’s bed, on his head. His face was stoic and Cannon could only guess why. Ezra was a very no nonsense type of person, so she was more than sure that he was over the whole situation.
“You think she’s coming for real?” Don asked Cannon.
“I know she is. Danna loves you just as much as you love her. Y’all just going through some stuff right now. All relationships have their ups and downs. You just have to be strong.”
Don didn’t say anything but she could tell that he was listening, so she continued. “Me and Ezra are at each other’s throat ninety percent of the time, but you see how good we are together.”
Don’s head turned slightly in her direction before a small smile appeared. “Yeah, I saw y’all the other night at the little dinner, it was cool.”
Cannon smiled. “See, it’s not all bad.” She was about to say something more but her phone rang. “Do you mind if I answer the phone for my mom?”
A quick shake of his head was his reply.
“Hey Ma, what’s going on? Everything okay?”
“No, listen to me, Cannon. Don is a very dangerous man. Are you and Ezra okay?”
Cannon’s mind went from zero to one hundred because of that one question. How in the hell did Karina know anything about what was going on right then, furthermore how in the world did she know Don was dangerous? Cannon’s forehead frowned momentarily, but she got herself back together quickly.
“Yes, we’re good. Just sitting at Danna’s house waiting for her to get back.”
“Danna is on her way, but she’s coming with the police. When she gets there, I want you and Ezra to walk out of the front door.”
“But Mama, I don’t want to leave her here by herself. I told her I would spend the night.” Cannon did her best to play it off.
Don was staring at her with an unreadable look. It wasn’t threatening, but it wasn’t the friendliest either. Cannon gave him a small smile to keep him calm as she finished her conversation.
“She’s going to be fine, you all just need to be out of there. Do you understand me?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“I’ll be there shortly. Call me if something goes wrong before I get there.”
“Yes ma’am.” Cannon ended the call and tossed her phone onto the bed.
The situation was such a stressful one, she wanted to do everything she could to ensure she remained calm and normal. Don may have been chilling right then, but he’d still walked Ezra into the house at gunpoint. Not to mention the ferocious way he knocked him across his head as well.
“Call Danna again,” Ezra told Cannon.
The shirt on his head was soaked with blood as he lay backward on the bed. One of his legs was also resting on the bed while the other one hung off.
“Yeah, call her again.” Don co-signed.
“She’s on the way y’all.”
Don spun around to her and pointed in her face with the gun. “Do what the fuck I just said, and you,” He pointed toward Ezra, “you come with me.”
“Where y’all going? You don’t want to be here when I call her?” Cannon rushed out as she hopped from the bed and grabbed Don’s arm.
He looked at her like she’d lost her mind before snatching away and pushing her backward. Ezra immediately pushed between them and stood in front of Cannon.
“Keep your fucking hands off my girl. I don’t give a fuck what you do to me, but you ain’t about to be putting your hands on her like I’m not standing here.”
Don and Ezra participated in a small stare off before the scowl on his face softened and his top lip curled into a smile.
“Nigga, I fucking like you. Bring your young ass on.” Don began walking out of the room. “Got more heart than your pussy ass daddy.”
Cannon and Ezra shared a confused look before Ezra continued out of the door behind Don. Cannon followed. She still hadn’t called Danna yet, but that wasn’t her biggest concern at the moment. Don and what he planned to do with Ezra was.
Cannon stood back watching as Don pu
shed Ezra out of the door in front of him. The way Ezra continued to scuffle with Don even with his head bleeding profusely was really starting to worry Cannon. Although she knew this would never happen, she wished Ezra would just go with the flow and stop fighting Don every step of the way.
“Call Danna!” Don spun around and yelled at her from where he was standing. He and Ezra were now standing along the side of Danna’s street near the back of his pickup truck.
Cannon snapped out of her trance rapidly and pecked her fingers across her phone screen to call Danna. When she answered, Cannon wasted no time.
“Bitch, where the fuck you at? This crazy ass nigga over here has me and Ezra at gunpoint. You need to get your ass here,” she whispered quickly.
“What?! I’m about to pull up. I’m like two seconds away, but girl, I got Quay with me.”
Cannon’s head began to spin. “Why, Danna? Why the fuck would you bring that nigga over here? Don is acting crazy as hell.”
“It’s a long ass story, but he’s the damn police, girl,” Danna sighed. “Him and your fucking mama. Apparently, my daddy is in witness protection or some shit and they’ve been around here spying on our ass this whole time.”
“Get the fuck out of here.” Cannon’s open palm went to her forehead.
“Girl, they’ve been trying to save us from Don.”
Cannon’s eyes went to Don and Ezra. Don was snatching something from the back of his truck, while holding on to Ezra. Every time Don moved, he snatched Ezra’s lean body with him.
“Help me get this shit!” Don screamed at Ezra, making Cannon’s heart drop in the process.
“Oh my god! Ezra, just help him,” Cannon yelped in a panic. “Danna, get your ass here.”
“What he do to Ezzy? I’m pulling in now.”
Cannon could hear the panic in Danna’s tone, but she was settled quickly by who Cannon assumed to be Quay. All she knew was the voice was deep and it was close. Her stomach was twisted into knots as she watched Ezra struggle to pull the large bag over the back of the truck. When it finally hit the ground and Ezra was able to stand back to his full height, Cannon breathed a sigh of relief. He was moving slowly and looked like he was about to pass out, but leaned over the back of the truck instead.
