“Yeah, I believe so,” Tabitha responded, not too drunk to pay attention.
“Well, they’re not like that, so leave them out and I’ll give you something that’ll be good for you and get you closer to the muthafuckas who killed Mama and Mercy.”
“Miss.”
“Nyte. My name is Nyte.”
“Nyte, I honestly don’t have a case on either of them. I told Mr. Bondz earlier that I don’t believe he or his brother had anything to do with the murders, and I meant that. So I can give you my word that I won’t try and put a case on either of them as long as they do not have any parts in the shootings. I’m a homicide detective, miss, so that’s all I care about.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Nyte said before she then lowered her voice. “Well, you know that Mercy Bondz was into human trafficking.”
Nyte paused and dipped her hand inside her Prada bag and retrieved two ID cards. She placed them on the table in front of the detective.
“He got a hold of these two runaways and was breaking them in to work them in one of his spots.”
“Are you telling me these two killed the Bondzes?” Tabitha asked, looking at the two young women on the cards.
“No, they didn’t. But if you find them, then you might find the people who did. I believe the same people who came and took those two lil’ bitches are the same ones who killed them.”
The detective quickly took the cards off of the table and stuffed them in her back pocket before promising Nyte again that she would leave the Bondz brothers out of her case. Once assured, Nyte got up and returned to the trick she had left waiting for her at a table across the room.
The information was just what Tabitha needed to keep her mind off of her sudden life change.
“Tabitha, was she just talking about the pimp Mercy Bondz that was killed with his bottom bitch not long ago?” Aurora asked as she flagged over the waitress to refill their drinks.
“Yup, but you know I can’t talk to you about my ongoing cases. But if you got something you would like to add?” Tabitha said to her nosey friend before she then downed the rest of her second drink.
NINETEEN
Nyte called Noeekwol before leaving the hospital and suggested that he have a word with the workers in his newly inherited converted apartment building. The building was also home to the family’s very lucrative whore-house, which was just one of several in the state. Nyte wanted Noeekwol to make an appearance at the spot because he was about to go to prison for the next year and a half, and Beysik was in the hospital for however long it would take him to get better.
Nyte knew a Bondz son needed to show his face to ensure everyone understood that she and Heaven only answered to him and Beysik. She also wanted him to prepare them for the much-needed changes that were coming soon.
Since Noeekwol still had a little time to be out on his curfew, he agreed to make a quick stop at the brothel. It was not his first time in the place, just his first time being there without his dad. It kind of surprised him to see how calm business was when he and Heaven walked in. It was Heaven’s first time being inside the place of pure prostitution though. Before now, she had only heard of the brothels from Nyte and a few other girls that were allowed to come to Mercy Bondz’s home.
As one of Beysik’s goons escorted them back to the cash room, Heaven counted maybe ten scantily dressed whores just sitting around talking or wandering around the place. She knew it would not be like this if the pimp was still around, and she guessed they were all curious as to why she and Noeekwol were there.
Heaven was grateful Felisha had saved her from having to work in the place, or one like that, that her husband had owned. While Noeekwol talked to Rich and the other workers about the changes being made and demanded their continuous loyalty during the harsh times, she fought her fear and urge to psych herself up to run and get as far away from all of it as soon as she could. Heaven knew that not spending as much time with the group as Nyte did, it made her less respected and less valuable, especially now that Felisha was dead and her sister had the kids. All Heaven had was the fact that she was fucking Noeekwol, and that was about to be gone. So her future scared her.
Once Noeekwol was sure everyone was on the same page and understood the positions Nyte and Heaven played, he gave them each a $300 bonus to show how much he appreciated them. After issuing out approximately $4,800, Heaven reminded him that he had to rush home to make curfew. It did not go unnoticed that her mood had changed since they were inside the brothel. He saw that Heaven was quiet and stared out the window the whole ride home. Noeekwol wondered what was going through her mind. Up until that point, he had not really thought of her as one of the other working girls the way he did with Nyte. He had just seen her as the nanny. He did not want to force her to talk to him, so he just kept his thoughts to himself and drove them back to his place. Noeekwol just wanted to enjoy his last night of freedom with her stress-free, just the way they had been doing. He needed her to be there for him, and he needed her to keep her word to him. He needed her.
* * *
Tabitha woke up from her Long Island-and-wine-induced slumber at approximately 5:00 a.m. It took her a moment to realize that the warm body lying beside her was not Bret’s, but her best friend’s. Aurora had stayed over to comfort her, just as she promised she would.
Tabitha’s head was foggy from all of the liquor she and Aurora had drunk the night before. Her hangover made her slow to move, but she knew she had to be at the station early today. So she got up and proceeded into the bathroom. She took a hot and then cold shower in an attempt to clear her head for her long day of solving crime ahead of her. Once she was all dressed, Tabitha went over to the bed and lightly shook Aurora by her shoulder.
“Go away! I’m asleep!” Aurora grumbled, burying her head under the covers.
“Hey, listen and you can go back to sleep, I promise,” she told her, pulling the covers back from Aurora’s face.
“Whhhhhat? I’m listening.”
“I’m leaving for work right now. I put the spare key by your phone so you can lock up when you get ready to go. I’ll call you when I get a break later, okay?”
“Okay, and you could not have told me all of that in a text, why? Hey, Tabi, is there anything you want or need me to do for you while you’re gone?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind doing it. I don’t want to see any of Bret’s stuff out there in those boxes when I come home. Fuck him!”
“I was going to do that anyway. Tabi, you’re better off, and I’m glad you see it or at least are trying to see it,” Aurora said with a bright smile. “Don’t forget those IDs that girl gave you last night, and tell me if they really do help you with the case. Have a good day fighting crime!”
“Aurora, you’re a good friend.”
“The best. Now go to work and let me sleep.”
The detective snatched up a pillow and hit her friend with it before she ran out of the bedroom. On her way out to her car, she collected her gun and wallet and the two ID cards from the coffee table. Tabitha looked at what remained of her past life with Bret and then kicked one of his boxes and headed to work.
* * *
Unable to sleep for too long, Noeekwol carefully got out of bed, trying not to wake Heaven. He peeled himself away from her warm, soft body. The only thing on his mind in the early morning hour was turning himself in to start serving his time. He only had a few hours before he had to go, and he felt that he needed to be doing something besides sleeping.
“Noe, what are you thinking about that’s so good that it made you get away from me?” Heaven inquired as she re-closed the space he made between them and lay on his chest.
“It’s nothing good. I just couldn’t sleep,” he explained, staring up at the ceiling and stroking her arm. “I tried not to wake you up, so go back to sleep.”
“I’m up now. Noe, I need you to know that you’re way too big to be trying to ease away from somebody.” She giggled before she placed soft kisses
on his bare chest. “If you need to talk, let’s talk. I told you I’m here for you in every way you need me to be,” she reminded him.
“I hear you. That’s kinda why I can’t sleep. I’m not used to this. I don’t even know what this is that we got going on here. I mean, we’re just nappin’, so it makes me wonder.”
“It makes you wonder what, Noeekwol?” Heaven demanded, with her thoughts going to their time at the brothel right away.
“Well, damn.” He looked down at her then continued, “It makes me wonder what you are gonna do when I’m gone, now that you can do whatever.”
“Oh, I wasn’t expecting that.”
“What was you expecting?”
“Noe, uhmm, I don’t know what you wanna call what we got going on, but I know I like you a lot and I’m yours. What part of yours don’t you understand? Tell me and I’ll see if I can help you.”
“That part, Heaven,” he said as he pushed her off of him so he could see her eyes. “Are you mine the way you were to my pops?”
She hesitated before answering. Heaven never really thought past protecting herself and enjoying being with someone who was with her just for who she was and not for what she did for survival.
“Is that what you want from me?” she asked in her shaky voice.
“What I want from you is truth and loyalty, Heaven. I’m not Beysik or Mr. Big Pimpin’ Mercy Bondz. May he rest in peace! I don’t get down the way they do. I fight. That’s it! That’s all! But I’m still my father’s son and know how to play the game if I have to. So if you like me, if you’re feeling me the way I am you, I need you to promise that you’re going to be truthful and loyal to no other muthafucka but me.”
“I promise you, Noe, this is your pussy.”
“Nawl, Heaven. I want everything. The pussy, the heart, and your mind. I’ma be gone for over a year. I need to know that if you’re out here fucking around, that I’m the one you’re thinking of. I need to know that when you’re fucking, it’s not for free. As harsh as that sounds, that’s what the fuck I need to know.”
“I understand,” she said, sitting up with her legs tucked under her on the bed. “Noeekwol, I need you to know that I’m not some weak-ass bitch that you’re used to fucking with. A year or two ain’t shit for me with somebody I care about. I ain’t ever had this in my life. I’ve always wanted it, but I’ve never had it until now. Being with you these last few months has shown me that I deserve better than what I’ve been allowing people to give me. So, yes, I promise all that to you. You have my heart to do with as you please. Just please don’t throw it away.” She moved closer to the edge of the bed. “Stay here. I got something that can help me prove myself to you right now.”
“What is it?”
“Just wait here!”
Heaven got out of bed, tossed on his shirt, and then briskly walked out of the bedroom. She went outside to the Volvo and retrieved her to-go pack that she had hidden in the trunk under the spare tire. Heaven had moved it after Noeekwol had told her he was selling his parents’ house, and had given her the car since she liked it so much. Heaven hoped that giving him the money she had stashed would prove to him that she was serious about everything. But just in case it did not, she removed a few rolls of cash and stashed them back behind the spare for safekeeping.
“Here!” she tossed the bag onto the bed. “That’s all I got to fall back on if you toss me out. You can have it all, because I want you to trust me the way I’m trusting you with my life right now. Noe, I’m not going anywhere,” she vowed.
Noeekwol looked inside the bag and then tossed it back in front of her.
“I don’t want your money. You can go put that back where you got it from. I believe that you’re mine. Now come here!”
Noeekwol grabbed her hand and snatched her to him. He then kissed her pouty lips. His free hand cupped her arm and he lifted her up off her feet. Heaven locked her shaking legs around his waist and broke their kiss just long enough to pull the shirt over her head.
When her lips found his again, he moved his tender kisses from her lips down her neck. He licked and sucked on her shoulder and collarbone and continuously worked his way down her chest to her breasts. Noeekwol spent equal time with his mouth on her hard nipples.
Heaven pressed her mound against his hardness. The feel of it and his mouth was so exhilarating that she was almost dripping wet. When he felt her body quiver the first time, Noeekwol lifted her up enough to slam her down on his full hardness. The sudden yet explosive pleasurable pain caused her to instantly cum and claw his shoulders, but it did not stop him from roughly bouncing her up and down on his length. She caught his rhythm and began gyrating her hips to make sure he felt every inch of her warmth. Within minutes, they were cumming together while locked in each other’s arms. Both felt like they belonged together.
TWENTY
Detective Allison did not have any trouble tracking down the first of the two young women whose ID cards Nyte had given her at the restaurant the previous night. Tabitha just drove to the address listed on the card under the name Lisa Sands. The ambitious detective had high hopes that Lisa would shine a light on the Bondz’s murder case by telling her about what had happened to her. If she could get her to do that, it would help close it.
“Ms. Sands, my name is Detective Allison. I’m a homicide detective with the Milwaukee Police Department. The reason I’m here is not that you are in any trouble or anything like that, but I just would like to ask you a few questions.”
“Why me?”
“Well, for now, we’re talking because your name came up in my investigation,” Tabitha explained once she was inside the spotlessly clean and organized home.
“I don’t know why. I don’t know anything about anything outside of this house. I haven’t been a very social person for months,” Lisa admitted, sitting down across from the detective at a cozy dining room table.
“What is that?” Tabitha inquired with her pad and pen ready to jot down key notes of their conversation for her records.
“I went through a very personal and tragic event not long ago that made me take a step back from a lot of things and people. I’m sure you know it’s crazy out there in the world, and I just need to have a better plan for myself before I get back out there in it.”
“Ms. Sands, is it alright if I call you Lisa?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“Okay, well, Lisa, I can understand just what you mean. I’ve recently made some sudden changes in my crazy world as well,” she said to break the ice. “Would you take a look at a few photos for me and tell me if you recognize any of the people in them?”
“They aren’t going to be pictures of dead bodies, are they? Because I can’t stand the sight of blood.”
“No, there’s no blood or bodies in these shots, I promise,” she assured her before retrieving her phone from her jacket pocket.
Tabitha pulled up the phone’s photo gallery and first went to the mugshot of Noeekwol for her to see.
“Do you know this man?” Tabitha asked as she held up the phone so Lisa could see the photo.
“Yeah, that’s the dude who won the chance to fight on the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter Show or something like that, right?”
“Is that all you know or have to say about him?”
“Yeah, I don’t know him personally or nothing, if that’s what you are asking. Is he the one that’s dead?”
“No, he’s very much alive,” Tabitha explained before she swapped to the next photo. “Do you know this man?” she asked, this time showing her one of Mercy Bondz’s mugshots.
As soon as Lisa saw the face, she tensed up and went pale with fear.
“You know this man, don’t you? Lisa, tell me, how do you know him?” Tabitha demanded, restraining herself from badgering her first lead toward maybe solving her case.
“I, I, I think you should go now. I don’t wanna talk anymore. If you really need to talk to me, there’s going to have to be a lawyer around. I’m
sorry. I just can’t. I don’t want any trouble,” Lisa explained, getting to her feet in an emotional stutter.
“Lisa, I promise you if you talk to me now, it can help you. Whatever this man may have done to you in the past, I promise he can’t anymore.”
“How can you be so sure? You can’t promise that!” she exclaimed with tears forming around her light-colored eyes.
“Yes, I can, Lisa. I can promise it because it’s his homicide that I’m looking into, so anything that you can tell me can—!”
“So he’s dead?” Lisa suddenly asked.
“Yes, and he has been for awhile now.”
“How?”
“I’m sorry, Lisa, I can’t tell you the details of the case because it’s ongoing. But if you can tell me everything you know about him, it would help me get closer to closing this case.”
“No! I’m sorry, Detective, but whoever killed that muthafucker did the world justice. I can’t help you. I don’t want to talk anymore.”
Tabitha did not push it. She simply did as Lisa asked, but she made sure to leave her a card just in case she had a change of heart.
After leaving Lisa’s house, the detective headed back to the station after stopping and finding the address listed on the ID card for the second young woman, Heather Mosse, up for rent.
* * *
When the time approached for Noeekwol to surrender himself into custody at the Milwaukee County Jail, Jake Sharps was there as requested to escort him inside. Noeekwol and Heaven sat in the rear seat of his lawyer’s forest-green Chevy Equinox while he played chauffeur.
Heaven held Noeekwol’s hand as he stared out at the freedom that he was about to give up for the next year and a half. When they pulled up and parked in front of the jail, the champ thought of telling the lawyer to pull off and take him anyplace else but there, but he knew his lawyer would not do that. That was the main reason he had asked Jake to escort him today. After getting a few last hugs and kisses from Heaven, Noeekwol allowed the impatient reception deputy to put him in steel handcuffs.
Scarred Knuckles Page 9
