“Shit, what happened?” Troy asked.
“I don’t remember,” I lied.
“Bullshit,” Trey said.
“They call it some kind of blockage that can happen when you’re in a trauma,” I told them.
“Well, you look too classy to be working. Now her, she’s working,” Troy said looking over at Cinnamon. She gave him the finger and told him to eat her.
“Hell fuck no!” he answered.
“So, what you guys doing now?” I asked.
“I’m Mr. Paul’s right hand man, and Trey’s one of his bodyguards,” Troy told me.
“Who’s Mr. Paul?”
“He owns this Casino and two in Washington State.”
I swallowed hard and bit back the cry that was trying to get out.
“Cricket, can you still do that thing with your tongue?” Troy asked.
“Troy, that was child’s play. I’ve so many more tricks in my bag now.”
“I bet you do too, woo!” he said, reminiscing about the old days.
Troy looked over at Cinnamon and asked her who she worked for. She told him C.J.
“Cricket, what the hell you over there nickel and diming it for? Girl, you got way too many skills for the streets. You need to be inside a casino working on the floor with the high rollers.”
“So, do you have a job for me?” I asked.
“You know what, as a matter a fact I do,” Troy answered.
“Wait, what about me,” Cinnamon asked.
“You can’t do this job,” Trey chuckled.
“I can teach her,” I assured them both.
“Okay, she’s your responsibility,” Troy told me. I stared at him and licked my lips slowly. He laughed.
“Girl, you’re good,” Trey said shifting in the seat of his pants.
“Four hundred a head, and any tips are ours,” I told him.
“Three hundred a head, you keep your tips, and free room and board,” Troy negotiated.
I looked over at Cinnamon and then back at Trey and Troy. “You need to take care of C.J.”
“Well, what about you?” they asked.
“I don’t work for anyone but myself, you know that.”
I stood, and Trey pulled me against him.
“Cricket, we’re having a private party tonight, why don’t you and your friend come out to the ranch?”
“Sure.”
“Where you staying?” Troy asked.
“Nowhere actually. I just moved here, and I haven’t had time to find anything yet.”
Troy picked up his phone and dialed a number. “This is Troy. Mr. Paul has two new employees who will need a two-bedroom suite for, well, until otherwise.” He hung up the phone. “It’s taken care of. Just check in at the front desk, and give them this card,” Troy said. He handed me a business card. I gave it to Cinnamon, and she slid it in her purse.
“Cricket, fix her tonight, and then tomorrow we can have you an account set up with one of the stores,” Trey said frowning at Cinnamon.
“Blow me,” Cinnamon told him.
“Hell no,” Trey told her, shaking his head. “There will be a limo downstairs in two hours to bring you out to the ranch.”
Cinnamon and I walked towards the door.
“Ladies, your employment starts as soon as you leave this room. Everything you see or hear from here on out is confidential,” Troy told us both. We nodded and left.
As soon as we got back on the elevator, I texted Chelle, “On our way.”
We got into the car, and Cinnamon started yelling at the top of her lungs. “YOU ARE FUCKING AMAZING. I LOVE YOU.”
“What happened?” Chelle and Ayashe both asked. I filled them in on the very well-edited version, and I told them that Cinnamon was so stoked about us going to this A-list party. Ayashe seemed pleased, but Chelle stared me down through the review mirror. I asked Cinnamon if she needed anything from her old stuff and she said, “HELL NO.”
We stopped at Macys in the Beverly Center so Cinnamon could get another dress and shoes. Ayashe went to the bathroom, and Cinnamon was in the dressing room. Chelle and I sat in the waiting area.
“You love him. You really do love him, and I can see that now,” Chelle told herself this.
“Chelle if-”
She interrupted me. “You are going to find them, and you will get them back home. I know that. But I also know, you’re not coming back with us,” she said, not making eye contact with me.
“Chelle, I need you to get him out of here, and make him forget me and make him let this casino go,” I told her through tears.
“What are you going to do?”
I looked at her and smiled, “A trade.”
We made it to the ranch, and Chelle was about a mile back behind the limo. I told her to wait until she heard from me to do anything. We walked into the house, and everything was clean. There was music coming from all over the house. A server walked up to us with a tray full of champagne flutes. We both got one, and Cinnamon was about to chug hers down. I stopped her at once. We found the nearest plant and poured them out. We walked on into the house and saw Troy coming from a door. That door had steps going down, and I knew that had to have been the basement. He smiled at us and waved us in. He gawked at Cinnamon and said, “My brother has to see this.”
We made our way to the main room, and there was nothing but rich cokeheads here. Trey walked up to us and hiccupped when he saw Cinnamon. I pushed her towards him, and he slid her over to Troy, and Troy wrapped his arms around her. Trey pulled me to the side, “I’d rather have the original,” he told me.
I smiled at him, and then I got to work. “Damn, this is a nice house,” I told him looking around up and down all over the house.
“Do you want a tour?” he asked.
“Sure, if it’s okay,”
“Oh yeah, it’s fine.”
We walked upstairs, and he showed me his room and the other three bodyguards’ room. There was a study, game room, and theatre. We went back downstairs, and he showed me the kitchen, two more bedrooms, a library, and a formal dining room. We passed the door Troy came out of twice, and Trey never said anything about it. We moved out to the backgrounds: there were horse stables, a walking path, a pool, the pool house, and another house a good ways off from the grounds.
“That’s where Mr. Paul lives, back there.”
“Why?” I asked.
“He doesn’t like being around a lot of people, and he likes his privacy,” Trey said.
We walked over towards the pool, and I asked if we could go into the pool house.
“Sure. Come on.”
We went in, and it was so nicely decorated in cool colors.
“You know Cricket, we looked for you and your sister for a long time.” Trey told me.
“I know, but we had to go.”
“I know things got too hot and your sister…well, I know.”
We walked back towards the house. I was just about to become frantic, and then I breathed through it. “I can’t believe a house like this doesn’t have a wine cellar or a basement.”
Trey looked over at me and shook his head. “I forgot you were a serious wine drinker back in the day. It was your thing. I remember that.”
“Yes, it is, and I would damn near kill for a decent wine right now.” I pulled Trey closer to me and shivered.
“You cold?”
“It’s a little chilly.” He pulled me closer, and we walked back to the house.
We went in through a side door, and then Trey pulled me to the corner.
“We do have wine cellar, but no one’s allowed down there right now,” Trey whispered.
“Why?” I whispered back.
“Because Mr. Paul has some guys down there he’s teaching a lesson to.”
“Oooh, what did they do?” I leaned into him.
“This big shot Indian over in Seattle has been buying his way in, and Mr. Paul don’t play that shit. He doesn’t care how much fucking money you got. He runs the casi
nos in Cali and Washington State.”
“Damn, Mr. Paul don’t play,” I giggled.
“Are there any dead bodies?” I asked with fake wide eyes.
“Nawh, Mr. Paul just had us beat the shit out of them for a few hours; he’s letting them go tomorrow.”
“Can I see? I won’t say anything, and I swear I won’t touch anything”
“Shhhh.” Trey said, and then we walked over to the cellar door and started stepping down. We entered an almost empty room with a wall-to-wall refrigerated wine chiller. Trey tugged at my arm, and we walked towards the other side of the room.
We walked up to a steel door, and I looked through the small glass window. There were four Natives sitting in chairs that were all tied up to each other. None of them was facing each other; they were all blindfolded. There was food all around them, and then I realized they were in the refrigerator.
I looked around for something to hit Trey in the head with, but found nothing. I saw a small table to the side, and it had their cell phones and wallets on it. My mind was racing, and I was running out of ideas.
“You know they haven’t said a word in English since they been here. They’ve been communicating in some old Indian language, and Mr. Paul is Indian himself and he doesn’t even know the language,” Trey told me.
“We need wine glasses.” I told him.
“Shit, I forgot. I’ll be right back.” Trey headed for the stairs, and I pulled my phone out. As soon as I heard the door shut, I dialed Chelle.
“Let all the seats down in the back and don’t come any closer to the house until I call or text you. Don’t let him know I am here. Make him think I am on the reservation and cannot come to the phone. Call Mrs. JJ, and fill her in. From what I can see their all okay. I gotta go.”
I hung up the phone and ran to the other side of cellar, looking for another door or a window, but there was nothing there. I still looked for something to hit Trey in the head with, but there was only the small table and that wouldn’t do anything.
I heard the door open, and then Trey was heading back down. But the person on the steps was not Trey; it was Troy.
“What are you doing down here, Cricket?” he asked.
“Trey brought me down to get some wine.”
“What are you up to?” he demanded.
“I want to make a deal with you.”
“I’m listening.”
“Me for them.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I give you myself completely for them.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because the only man who’s ever loved me for me is in that room. And I’d die for him if I have to.”
“My brother loved you, Cricket, and I think he still does. You’ve had many men who loved you,” Troy said.
I stood there, and then Troy laughed. “Oh, but you love this one back. I get it. So if we were to let them go, what can you promise me?”
“You’ll never hear from them or this stupid casino again, and I’ll do anything you want.”
“Love my brother even when he’s been drinking, and I want to feel the tongue trick my brother has been raving about for eight years straight.”
“I can do that.”
“Which one is he?” Troy asked.
“Does it matter?”
“Which one?” We both looked in, and I said, “The one in the white shirt.” Loon was wearing a white shirt; Jyme was wearing a black sweater.
Troy looked at me and shook his head. “Liar, that one in the white shirt is not your type. I can see you with…I see you with the one in the black sweater.” I stiffened, and Troy opened the refrigerator door.
He untied them from the chairs but still left them tied up as if they were in a chain gang. He pulled Jyme out last just to fuck with me. I pulled Kanoke’s hat off his head, and he shifted, messing up the coordination for the rest of them. I ran right dead smack into Jyme. As soon as our bodies touched, he started sniffing and sniffing like a dog looking for food. I knew he knew something, but I was not sure what. I pulled all of their phones and wallets off the table and put them in Kanoke’s ball cap.
My heels were loud, and Jyme was listening. He kept stopping, and then he would start back up, walking backwards again. I pulled my phone out and texted for Chelle to pull the car up and wait for me to come out. I told her to have the back already opened because they were all tied up and blindfolded.
She texted me back, “I’m here.”
We finally made it to the top of the stairs, and Troy opened the door. We all walked into the hallway. I wondered where Trey was. He told me he would be right back, but that felt like hours ago. My heels across the floor were so loud, and Jyme’s face twisted and turned from side to side. He absolutely knew something, but hadn’t put the puzzle together yet.
Chelle and Ayashe were waiting by the main gate. My heart was racing, and I knew I was about to lose it. The tears started first, and then I breathed and breathed slowly. The gasping of air caught everyone’s attention, and I could tell Sheen and Loon were scared. Jyme and Kanoke acted as though everything was okay.
I wanted to touch him, feel him, kiss him, and tell him I loved him so much, but I couldn’t . He would find the letter when he got home, and that is all that mattered. I knew all along he was too good for me, but I wanted to live in the bubble so badly that I pretended he was not. I knew we would never have a happily ever after, and I cursed myself for the months we had been apart. I would give anything to go back and fix it. He looked so strong and so confident. I loved him so much and I wished. I just wished.
Troy and I got them loaded up in the back, and I never once touched Jyme. Once they were all in, we shut and locked the hatch. I opened the door and got my three bags out, and Chelle handed me my purse. I handed her the hat with their belongings. I reached into my purse and handed her the stack of money for the plane tickets, my rental car keys, and my Blackberry. She got out and hugged me tight. Ayashe did the same. We were all crying and sniffling and looked a mess now. I mouthed, “I love you: to Ayashe, and she did the same. Chelle stood there, and then she smiled at me.
“I know I won’t ever see you again, and I will miss you. You’re my best friend and I love you,” she cried into my shoulder.
“Take care of him, and tell him I have this,” I pointed down at the ring, and she nodded.
“Don’t take those blindfolds off until you get to the airport; you have to convince him I’m not here,” I told her as I pulled away from her. They both blew me kisses and waved as they pulled off.
I turned around and set all the bags onto the concrete. I pulled my phone out and slammed it to the ground twice. Then, I dug into it with my Stiletto heel. I left the crumbled up pieces of my phone on the ground and walked away from my current life, stepping back into my old one.
Epilogue
I couldn’t get her smell out of my head; I smelled Cricket everywhere, and I could have sworn I heard her heels earlier. She felt like she was right there with me. She was my true lucky charm, and I was missing her like crazy. She asked me what I was afraid of the other day, and I couldn’t answer that, but now I know to smell her here, where we were, that scared me. To have Cricket around those monsters and for them to do to her what they just did to me—that scared me.
We were still riding, and I could tell Loon was about to lose it; his breathing was too sharp. I could tell we were in the back of an SUV. There was carpeting under us; there was a door on my side, and we entered through the back hatch. The person driving was not a good driver; we were slung all over the place. I was not sure if anyone was watching us or not. Kanoke kept asking if we could try to untie ourselves, but I told him no because we didn’t know for sure. I had told them when all this shit started to not speak in English anymore. And so far it had worked; they didn’t know what we were saying. We stopped all of a sudden, and then I heard two car doors open, but they didn’t shut. There was running and then the hatch opened.
I h
eard Chelle call out to Kanoke, and then Ayashe cried out to Sheen. They took our blindfolds off first, and then I looked for her.
“How in the fuck did ya’ll find us?” Kanoke asked.
“I got the numbers Sheen left, and then here we are,” Ayashe told us.
“Cricket?”
“She’s still at the reservation,” Chelle said, not looking at me. She used a box cutter and then Kanoke was loose and in her arms now. We were at the end of a terminal. Kanoke let Sheen lose, then Loon, then me. We all rubbed our wrists. Sheen was in Ayashe’s arms now, and I wanted Cricket badly.
“Give me a phone,” I demanded.
“They’re all dead, ours, yours. They’re all dead, and we have to go now,” Chelle said, still not looking at me. She had never not made eye contact with me before, but she was worried about Kanoke now.
We went through the terminal, and Chelle ran to buy the tickets. We all went to the bathroom. When we got back, Chelle had returned the rental and had our tickets waiting for us. We went to get something to eat, and Ayashe and Chelle kept away from me. I guess they’re mad at me for getting everyone in this shit. Well, I was done fucking with these casinos and all their fucking rules.
I sat next to Loon, and we were both staring at our phones. A man and women were eating behind us.
“Excuse me. My phone just died. Do you mind if I use yours for just a second to call my mom?” I asked the man.
“Sure, man, here you go.” I kept my body turned towards him so he wouldn’t think I was trying to jack him. I called moms, and Big Samson answered.
“Son, they’re next door, everybody is.”
I hung up on him and dialed the other house. Patty answered on the first ring. When she heard my voice, she started screaming and crying to mom. Mom got on the phone, and I told her we were safe, but I was borrowing someone else’s phone. “Let me talk to Cricket.”
“She’s not here,” Mom said.
“Where the fuck is she?” I stood up and looked down the hall we just entered from; something didn’t feel right. I had been feeling this feeling ever since we got out of that fucking cooler. Something was off, and they were acting different.
“She went over to Gail’s,” Mom assured me.
Heels of Love (G Street Chronicles Presents From Love to Loathe Series) Page 21
