Part 14 (1/2)

He's right. I'm underestimating Case, she thought. What if he doesn't hold up his end of the bargain? My family could be in danger right now and I wouldn't even know it. Prince hasn't called me either, and that's not like him. She played a thousand scenarios out in her head, but Macy had planted the seed of doubt, and now it was starting to grow. Anxiety manifested itself and concern plagued her.

Macy smiled in satisfaction. Although he was the one tied up, he felt as if he were in control. With three people holding him hostage, there was no way that he could get himself out of the situation by force. He would have to get inside of their heads, and although Aries had been the hardest to break, he was now mind-f.u.c.king her nice and slow.

He had always been a thinker. The ability to outsmart his enemy had always been one of his greatest a.s.sets. Macy had discovered Aries' weakness-her family-and now her concentration had s.h.i.+fted.

As long as she's thinking about them, she won't be thinking about me, and I'll be able to talk one of her li'l workers into setting me free.

Chapter Sixteen.

Case looked down at his watch and then he picked up his cell phone to double check. Edris still had not called him so that he could drop off Macy's ransom. Case knew that he was playing with fire by kidnapping a mayor, let alone a former drug boss. Case didn't want to admit it, but he needed the ransom money. His drug business was going under and his c.o.ke connect's prices kept getting higher, but the city's demand was getting lower. Not a good combination.

Case grew more anxious as the ticking minutes went by. He couldn't wait to put the order in to kill Macy, but he needed that money before he could make it final.

Case needed to calm his nerves, so he went over to what he called his candy jar and emptied its contents on the table. A big white pile formed, and he dipped his nose in it and sniffed. He quickly jerked his head back and closed his eyes, trying to prevent his nose from running.

Case began to pace his floor back and forth as the potent c.o.ke began to work its magic. Paranoia began to sink in, and Casey grabbed his a.s.sault rifle from the closet and peeked out of the window every couple of seconds, antic.i.p.ating some of Macy's goons. ”Mu'f.u.c.kas ain't gon' catch me slipping,” he said loudly as he dipped and snorted another small pile. His phone rang, which startled him as he snapped his head in the direction of the counter where his phone vibrated and danced around. He rushed over to the phone and picked it up.

”h.e.l.lo!” Case yelled into the phone as sweat beads began to form on his forehead.

”We here. We got him,” the other voice said on the phone. Case smiled and then closed down the phone. He had just gotten confirmation that his henchmen had Aries' unsuspecting husband in their presence.

He'd sent a couple of his most ruthless goons for Aries' family, and he knew that they wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if needed. Case's thoughts began to race and the thought of Macy being a mayor and being successful burned him up on the inside. He then began to think about how Macy had taken Fatima away from him.

This all added fuel to the fire as his trigger finger began to itch. He wanted Macy dead. f.u.c.k the ransom money and f.u.c.k waiting; Case was ready for blood. Case's once slow pace back and forth across the floor now became a rapid stride. Case took off his s.h.i.+rt because of his rising temperature.

”He gon' take my b.i.t.c.h?” Case asked himself, talking out loud. ”Do he know who the f.u.c.k he's f.u.c.king with?” The more time that pa.s.sed, the more the c.o.ke kicked in and the more Case's blind rage grew.

Case, out of pure adrenaline, raced out of the door with his a.s.sault rifle in hand. He headed over to the trap house so that he could put a bullet in Macy's skull personally. He was at a point of no return. He got into his big, tinted Hummer with the rifle in his lap. He cranked up the music and headed to the hood. He was about to end it once and for all.

Fatima sat in the holding cell and buried her face in her hands. Camera flashes were nonstop, and the chatter in the room was gradually rising. A cop had tipped the press about the mayor's wife being held in custody, and within minutes, the precinct was crawling with news reporters and journalists trying to get a jump on the story.

Fatima cried her eyes out as she sat on the cold, hard bench, regretting everything that she had done. She had put herself in a losing position and knew that her life would never be the same. The police promised her that by helping them it would ”look good” for her when she went to trial for conspiracy to kidnap.

The reporters called for her, but Fatima didn't budge. She was too ashamed to show her face. She had shamed her family name, and she would go down in the record book as a traitor.

”Mrs. Sigel! Mrs. Sigel! Did you set up the mayor to get kidnapped?” one reporter asked as he held his recorder through the cell's bars.

”Are you connected to known thug Casey 'Case' Rogers?” another reporter asked.

Fatima's tears flowed nonstop, and the reporters' questions drove her overboard. She revealed her face, which had mascara-filled tears falling.

”Get the f.u.c.k out of my face. f.u.c.k all of you! You have no idea what the f.u.c.k I have been through!” she yelled as she walked to the bars and went on a vicious rant. Spit flew out of her mouth as she gave them a venomous tongue-las.h.i.+ng.

The sergeant on duty felt that it was enough and ordered everyone out of the holding cell area. As the reporters filed out of the area, they all snapped photos, trying to get the mayor's wife in a crazed state.

”No, don't leave! Y'all want a show. I'ma give y'all a.s.s a f.u.c.kin' show,” she said while spitting on them as they left. Her usual sophisticated and uppity demeanor had totally vanished, and she acted more like a hoodlum than a lady.

Fatima plopped down on the hard bunk bed and breathed heavily as she shook her head from side to side. She had sold her soul to the devil-and the price was cheap.

Case finally reached the trap spot, and he had sniffed at least another gram of c.o.ke on his way there. Another car was pulling up just as his was. Case hopped out of the truck with a handgun and saw Harlo getting out of the car with a bag of fast food and drinks.

”What the h.e.l.l are you doing? You are supposed to be inside!” Case screamed as anger entered his body.

Harlo saw the look in Case's eyes and froze in his tracks, not knowing what to say or do. ”I ... I was just . . .” Harlo stuttered as he couldn't find the words to explain.

Before he could get a clear word out of his mouth, Case aggressively slapped the food out of his hands.

”You just what? n.i.g.g.a, get in the house and do what I pay you to do, li'l n.i.g.g.a! Can't believe this bulls.h.i.+t!” Case spat as his bloodshot red eyes put fear in Harlo's heart.

Harlo nodded his head and entered the house through the back door. Case followed close behind.

”Yo, where is Aries?” Case asked as he scoped the house.

”Don't know. She was here when I left,” Harlo said as he too looked around the house.

”Where's Macy?” Case asked as he frowned and gripped his gun tightly.

”He downstairs with Jordan,” Harlo said as he stood at the bas.e.m.e.nt's door and looked down. A bad smell like feces reeked from the bas.e.m.e.nt, and Case immediately frowned.

”Yo, Jordan!” Harlo called down the stairs, but got no response. ”Yo, Jordan!”' he yelled this time, but even louder. He again got no response. and his antennas immediately went up, sensing that something was wrong.

Case also grew suspicious and headed down the stairs where Macy was supposed to be held captive. They both rushed down the stairs, and the body that was sprawled on the floor startled them. Harlo's eyes immediately shot to the area where Macy was supposed to be and dropped his head when he saw no one there. He knew that he had f.u.c.ked up big time.

”Where the f.u.c.k is he?” Case asked as he stormed through the bas.e.m.e.nt and did a full circle. Macy was long gone.

”d.a.m.n, Jordan,” Harlo whispered as he kneeled down and closed the dead eyes of his childhood friend.

”f.u.c.k that li'l n.i.g.g.a! Where is Macy? That's what you need to be worried about,” Case said as he flipped open his cell phone to call Aries. Case put the phone to his ear while he paced back and forth. Finally Aries picked up.

”h.e.l.lo,” Aries answered.

”Please tell me that Macy is with you,” Case said in between clenched teeth.

”What the f.u.c.k are you talking about?” Aries asked as she was pulling into the driveway of the trap house.

”f.u.c.k!” Case yelled as rage overcame him. ”Where the f.u.c.k are you?” he asked as he gripped his phone so tightly that it was on the verge of breaking.

”I'm walking in,” Aries said as she began to panic. She wasn't afraid of Case personally, but the thought of her family being hurt by him petrified her. Aries hurried in and jumped at the sound of a gun blast.

Case stood over the two dead bodies with a smoking gun. He was so mad at the incompetence of his goons that he decided to lay down Harlo as well. Case stared down at the b.l.o.o.d.y hole that rested square in the middle of Harlo's skull. A small red puddle began to form underneath Harlo's head, and Case was at a point of no return. The mixture of the cocaine and blind rage had turned him into a madman, and he was out for blood. His deep hatred for Macy only made his blood boil more at the thought of him escaping from his clutches and subsequently winning-again.

Fatima breathed heavily, and everything seemed to be going in slow motion to her. Dried-up tear stains were on her face as her hands shook nervously and uncontrollably. She thought about her only child, Boomer, and smiled briefly as she thought about how innocent he was as a child. He was her baby, and somehow she had failed him. She let him transform to the weak-minded young man he had become.

”I'm so sorry, baby. Momma is so sorry,” she whispered as she closed her eyes, only imagining his smile. Fatima's mind then drifted to her husband and how she had intimately betrayed him. She couldn't accept or forgive him for killing her son, but she understood why he did it. Boomer was already on a destructive path, and she knew that eventually Boomer would have killed Macy because of his deep-embedded animosity toward him.