by Mike Dagons
“I don’t like the way you’re looking down your nose at me,” she huffed.
“We were friends, or so I thought. Can you explain why you did it?”
She chuckled derisively. “What the fuck you want to hear?” she asked when I continued to stare.
“I want to hear the real reason, Janie. It can’t just be the money.”
She rolled her eyes at me, and then pushed her head back against her pillow. “You think that Melvin Ryan is such a nice guy, but he’s not. He’s a selfish user. I just decided not to wait around for him to screw me again.”
“Screw you again?” I was confused. “You know how important this job is, and not just to Genesis. It is a threat to national security. You’re telling me that you jeopardized our operation because you got beef with Melvin Ryan, and what about me? What did I do to make you send your brothers to kill me?”
She smirked, and I understood instantly. “You know that I don’t drink. They had no idea who I really was, or what I was capable of doing to them, did they? I could have killed them both.” Instant revelation! “That’s what you wanted me to do, wasn’t it? My God, Janie! They’re your brothers!”
“What I wanted was for you to do your fucking job! But you proved to be as much of a disappointment in that area as they did. You spent months sleeping with Steven, and you didn’t learn anything useful about the auction. You should have never been allowed to be a part of this operation.”
“Bitch, you had better be glad we have orders to keep you alive.”
“Newsflash, I’m a techy, but I was trained to be a field agent, which means I’m not only smarter, but I’m better at killing than you. Get up and test me, why don’t you? I think you’ll find that even with one arm restrained, killing me is something you’re not equipped to do, honey,” she sucked her teeth like my threat bored her.
“When Ryan lifts the order, we’ll see,” I promised.
“I look forward to it.”
“Thanks for saving my life, Severe,” Jamal said, surprising us both.
Men were usually kept in the other ward, so I wasn’t expecting him to be in the next bed. From the look on Janie’s face, neither did she. I pulled back the curtain separating us, and he looked pass me at her. “You set me and Jamil up to be killed? Then what were you going to do with Melvina? Sell her to the highest bidder?”
“Don’t be stupid. Why would I sell my daughter or set you up to be killed? The Russian was after me, not you, and having Melvina with me would have put her in danger. I was going to leave her with Lisa where she would be safe. Don’t look surprised. It’s what you wanted, right? I know that Lisa isn’t the drunken bitch Jamil portrayed her to be. You think I’m stupid enough to believe he would ever suggest I do anything he knows would upset you?”
“You have a kid?” It was shocking news. I had been to her place, and I had never seen any trace of a kid. “Where is she?”
“Her daddy went to get her, so she’s probably with him and Valow by now.”
“So she wasn’t safe from the Russian, just like she wasn’t safe with that crackhead you used to babysit.”
“Crackhead, your babysitter is a junkie?” The information was coming so fast, I was having a problem keeping up. “Are you saying Ryan is your child’s father? I didn’t know that he had a kid with you.”
Now that I knew the level of deception she was capable of, the information about her leaving her daughter with a doper was not that surprising, but Melvin being complacent…that was hard to believe.
“He’s her sperm donor. I’d hardly call him a father,” Jamal growled. “The man don’t care nothing about his daughter.”
“Jamal, that can not be true. Think about it. You saying that he don’t care about her, but this job is off the scale important, and he dropped everything to go and get her because he thought she might be in danger. It’s not what a man that doesn’t care would do,” I argued.
“He cares about getting information from me. I gave him what he wanted in exchange for y’all lives. Don’t get it twisted, he saved your life but it don’t mean he care about none of y’all.”
“Jamal, Melvin would never do anything to hurt a child, and he most definitely would not bargain with his own kid’s life. Janie is lying,” I insisted.
“Confirm it with Jamil, Blue, or Valow. They heard me tell Ryan that I would tell him whatever he wanted to know if he saved you, Jamal.”
“Ryan sent us after you because he needed to know if my cover had been blown. He knew nothing about you or Jamil until this morning when I reported you were involved in Steven’s death. Until then, none of us knew that Janie even had brothers.”
“You don’t know Melvin Ryan the way I do, Severe,” she snapped. “You didn’t know he had a daughter with me, and you certainly didn’t know he turned his back on us when she was born, so he could marry some civil servant lawyer bitch! The man is not the person you think that he is, and you need to take off the blinders and see him for who he really is, little girl.”
“If he did all that, then why leave the Bureau to work for Genesis? You leaving some of the particulars out the story,” I scoffed. “Like the part about you fucking over your friends!”
“Get off your moral high horse. You judgmental hoodrat! You need to mind your own business and stay out of mine.”
“I didn’t hear you deny it when Severe said you expected her to kill us, before you knew that I was listening. You been lying about Mel’s daddy too, ain’t you?”
“Whatever, you’re alive, right? It’s because of me that you are little brother.”
“Not true!” Melvin stormed into the room interrupting our little chat.
Doc followed him inside, and then walked over and placed a stack of clean clothes, and a new pair of Jordan’s at the foot of my bed.
Ryan moved around and stood between me and Janie’s beds. He glanced over at Jamal. “Your brother and Melvina are safe. I know you think that I’m shit, but the truth is, I didn’t know about Melvina until today. If I had known, I would have done something about how she was being neglected,” he said to Jamal.
“That’s what Severe just told me.”
“Did she?” he smiled at me. “Jamal, I need you to tell me why you got involved with the Russian?”
“He doesn’t know anything about the Russian, so don’t hurt him!” Janie cried.
The bitch was acting like she hadn’t just told me that she wanted me to kill him. Growing up in Englewood, I had acquired a talent for reading people’s true nature even when they were good at hiding it, but this bitch had duped me good. Until this moment, I had no idea she was so fucking evil.
“I don’t know anything about the Russian, I swear,” he directed his answer to me.
“His real name is Petro Yeltsin. Janie took money from him in exchange for information about Steven Chandler, the man she got you to kill. Tell me why you agreed to kill him if you weren’t doing it for Yeltsin?” he asked.
“Janie told me you ordered her to kill the dude and steal his computer. She is so fucking scared of disappointing you that she threatened to sell Mel if I didn’t help her do it,” he turned his steely gaze on Janie. “And I believed that she would do it because even though you walked out on them, she loves you more than she does Mel.”
“That’s a lie!” she snapped. “Melvin, you know me. I would never do anything like that. He’s telling you that to save his fat stupid ass life. He’s weak, and he always has been.”
Her brothers were big and tall, standing at least six seven, and weighing a solid three fifty easy. I looked over at Jamal. He was shirtless, and his chest looked like hard chunks of well proportioned muscle. He didn’t have man boobs, or a flabby belly, like most men his size. True, he wasn’t a trained assassin, but I’d hardly call him weak. Janie was implying he lacked heart because he was sensitive, and I hated the sad look it put on his face. He was soft hearted, and loyal, and I didn’t consider caring a weakness. I believed him when he said he did what
he did to protect his niece. His actions were motivated by love, not greed. It was commendable that he was willing to sacrifice his soul to save the girl. Janie was snubbing him because that kind of faithfulness was something she clearly knew nothing about.
“You might want to rethink calling people weak, since you still obsessing over a man you said dumped you for somebody else. Bitch, now that’s weak,” I snapped, and Jamal suppressed a laugh.
Melvin wasn’t in a laughing mood, and he shot an annoyed glance in my direction, implying I should cut it out. I heeded the warning and zipped my lips.
“I never ordered Janie to kill Steven or to solicit your help. I’m sorry that she got you involved.”
“Okay, man, if that’s true, then why you bring me here? What’s all this really about?”
“You’re here because you’re not safe out there. I have a very important job on the line. By involving you, your sister has jeopardized it, and the lives of Jamil and Melvina. I need to know how much she has revealed to you or anyone else about it.”
“All she told us was you wanted what was on the man’s computer, and killing him was the only way to get it. She didn’t tell us why, and we didn’t ask. She did say you were in a race to get your hands on the thing, but she didn’t say who else wanted it.”
“Ryan, think about how whatever you do to us will affect Melvina.”
Melvin shot her a double take, and then took a moment to glare at her hatefully before he answered. “Your worth does not compare to your brothers, or the child to me. Everything I’ve learned about you in the last few hours indicates they’ll be better off without you.”
“Regardless of what you think of me, I’m Mel’s mother. She loves me, and losing me would be devastating to her.”
“You gave birth to her, but you are no mother,” he shot back.
“Me, Jamal, Jamil, we’re her only living family. She is only five. It won’t matter how you spin our deaths, losing us will hurt her terribly.”
“I know about the sacrifices your brothers made to keep Melvina safe. I know you tried to make her hate me by abusing her, and then telling her I was to blame for it. I also know I have Jamal and Jamil to thank for what little happiness she has known. Jamil is the reason she knows me as her loving father who wasn’t there only because he wanted to keep her safe. I owe your brothers. They have nothing to fear from me. You, however, are not innocent. Whatever I decide to do with you, Melvina is never going to see you again. She’s going to be living with me and my family from now on. She is going to learn that family matters to me as much as it does to her uncles. I am going to allow them to visit with her often, and I’m going to tell her that you decided to give her to me, because you thought she would be happier, and she will. I don’t suspect she’ll miss you much. After all, you couldn’t stand to be in the same room with her, and you made sure she knew it.”
“I am not going to give you my child!” she blustered.
“Jamal, I need you to answer a few more questions for me. It’s very important to my operation that you answer truthfully.”
“Okay, man,” he pushed himself up in the bed.
“Have you ever heard the name, Tyler Basin?”
“No, I’ve never heard of him.”
“Did you tell anyone else that you were planning to steal Steven Chandler’s computer?”
“No, we didn’t tell anybody, and I didn’t know anything about any Russians until they showed up at the hospital looking for the computer.”
“Maybe it’s contained to Yeltsin’s people,” he looked at me thoughtfully.
“I could have told you that it’s contained to Yeltsin,” Janie droned. “He is the only person I talked to about the card, and the deal I cut with him was for information only. I never mentioned our plans to him. Of course, I told him what I knew about the auction, and I promised to deliver the computer. I guess he told whoever is prepared to finance him. I don’t know who that is, but I guarantee that it’s not Basin. Maybe you should question Yeltsin about it before you go rushing down to Kentucky, and get caught with your dick in your hand. Now, can we get back to the discussion of MY DAUGHTER?”
“You are fucking unbelievable.” I’d been warned to butt out, but I couldn’t stop myself from saying it.
“What I tell you about minding your own business?” she took her gaze off him, and glared at me.
Melvin combed his fingers back through his hair, and then he just stared at her like he was trying to see into the depths of her soul, which I figured had to be too dark for him to see anything worth saving.
“All you had to do was tell me about her. I would have taken her if you didn’t want her, and we could have remained friends. What you did to that child to hurt me is unforgivable.”
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to interfere with your marriage. I did it for you, not to you!”
I didn’t know the whole story, but what I’d learned about her in just the last few minutes convinced me that she was definitely capable of killing puppies, so it wasn’t hard to believe she’d abuse her child.
Melvin didn’t bother to acknowledge her lying response. He dropped a small stack of papers on her lap. Sign these,” he demanded.
“What is it?” she glared up at him.
“You are acknowledging that I am Melvina’s biological father, and relinquishing all parental rights to me. My wife, who is a first rate lawyer, prepared them. She is adopting Mel, and you’re signing the consent forms. It’s all nice and legal.”
“I’m not giving you and your wife my child,” she chuckled. “However, I will think about it in exchange for two million dollars and a first class ticket to London,” she folded her arms across her chest and glared up at him defiantly.
A collective gasp echoed in the room. We were all horrified by her response. I don’t believe that men should beat women, but I couldn’t help thinking, he should kick her ass. And then like a wish come true, he threw a punch. I swear I didn’t see coming. It wasn’t a girly slap, but a tooth loosening right cross that made her head swivel on her bony neck.
Blood flew from her mouth in a wide arc, splattering his shirt. Instantly, her lovely cheek knotted up in a ripe red bruise. “Sign it!” he roared.
I’d never seen Melvin so angry. The veins in his neck looked like they were about to pop through his skin.
“Jamal?” she cut her eyes to him like she expected him to defend her. In the past, he probably always had, but today, he answered by reaching up and pulling his curtain closed.
She turned her eyes back up to Melvin, and before she could say a word, he tagged her again.
“Stop it, Ryan!” she screamed, and wiped blood from the corner of her mouth with her fingers. “I didn’t mistreat Melvina like they’re telling you I did. And I only asked for the money just now to piss you off. I don’t really want to sell her. I love her, and she loves me!”
Melvin pulled his Glock out and put it to her head. “I am sick of listening to your lies. I am taking my daughter one way or the other,” he said in a quiet calm voice that was scarier than the yelling. “You sign her over willingly, right now, or I’m going to blow your fucking brains out. The choice is yours.”
Janie grabbed up the papers, and started scribbling her name on one sheet after another until she had signed them all. Melvin holstered his Glock, and then he picked up the stack of papers. “Valow will be here to take her to lockup in a few minutes, Doc.”
“I’m injured, you can’t put me in a cell,” she protested.
“You betrayed the team. We’re not going to keep you in a nice comfortable bed while you’re here, Janie.”
“I’m your daughter’s mother! You owe me more respect than this, Melvin Ryan!”
“I promise to pay you everything that I owe you. But for now, I’m just locking you up.”
“She’s not really your kid. I lied,” she blurted.
“The DNA comparison says that he is,” Doc interjected.
I swear the
woman was incorrigible. Everything that came out of her mouth was a lie.
“Am I interrupting,” Valow stepped inside the ward with Jamil.
“No, we were just finishing up. You can transport Janie to lockup.”
“Jamil, look at my face! You can’t let him get away with doing this to me! I’m your sister.”
Jamal reopened his curtain when he heard his brother’s name. “Hey man!” he grinned.
Ignoring Janie, Jamil walked over to his bed and gave him a hug. “We’re going to stay here until things are settled. Mel is with Melvin’s family. She was helping her brother and her aunt bake cookies when we left her.”
“Is she going to be safe there?”
“The place is a fortress.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“They’re nice people. They’re going to treat her right. Melvin says we can see her anytime we want. We’re invited to dinner as soon as this thing is over.”
“Thanks man,” he said to Melvin with a big grin.
“No, thank you…both of you,” he replied, and then started out the door. He stopped and looked back at me and Valow. “I want you two in the war room ASAP. Jamil you can bunk here with your brother or upstairs in the sleeping quarters. There will be no restrictions on your movement inside, but you can’t leave the building, understood?”
“Yeah, and thanks again. We appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, and was out the door.
“Well, I guess we’re going to lockup now,” Valow smiled devilishly.
“You’re making a mistake. At least let Doc clean me up first.”
“Clean yourself when you get in your cage,” Doc huffed.
“Jamil, you’re my brother. Melvin is going to kill me if you let them take me. You can’t let him do it, please.”
Jamil stood up, and then he pulled the curtain like his brother had done earlier.
