Deep Deception 2 (30 page)
Authors: Tina Brooks McKinney
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
GREG CARTER
“Fuck,” I whispered. I didn’t expect to see Tilo on her feet. Before I left, I managed to slip two roofies into her glass, which should have knocked her out for the rest of the night. I picked up her glass and realized why it didn’t last. Tilo didn’t finish drinking the cocktail I had prepared for her when I showed up at her door unannounced. She was so drunk, she thought she’d invited me and I played along. I’d just about given up on finding her until I went through Rome’s phone. When I saw that she’d been texting Rome, I almost lost it. I couldn’t believe she would tell him where she was staying and not me, but it also confirmed my fears that she was fucking him too. It was the push that I had been looking for.
Part of me wanted to grab the suitcases and run, but the other part of me knew I had to get rid of Tilo once and for all. Using the little time I had left, I wiped clean all the surfaces I remembered touching. Not that it mattered, because my plan was to leave the country as soon as I’d disposed of Tilo’s body. I refreshed our drinks. Since Tilo had made a name for herself with the hotel staff, I didn’t want to kill her in the same hotel. I would find somewhere to ditch her after we checked out. For now, I needed her compliance. I opened the door and rolled in the baggage cart I’d hijacked from the hotel lobby and loaded the luggage onto it. She came out of the bathroom as I stowed the last piece.
“We going somewhere?” She looked frightened. If she weren’t such a bitch, I might have felt sorry for her, but I didn’t. I walked toward her and handed her the drink. “Didn’t you tell me you were ready to leave this dump?” I said, laughing. I was winging it and hoped she wouldn’t put up a fuss.
“I did?” She drank from her glass, which lowered my anxiety level by a few degrees.
“Uh, yeah. After the way they treated you downstairs, you said you didn’t want to spend another dime of your money in this—to use your words—bitch of a dump.” She drained her glass and sat back on the bed.
“Yeah, I remember that.” She nodded her head, but her eyes still held remnants of doubt.
“I got us a room over in Times Square. We can leave for the boat in a few days.”
She started to lie back down on the bed but I couldn’t allow that to happen. I put her shoes on. As I pulled her to her feet, I handed her purse to her. She looked at it for a few seconds as if she didn’t recognize it but she finally took it. The drug was working faster than I anticipated, but that was probably because she hadn’t been eating. She didn’t complain as I led her out of the room and into the elevator. When the elevator opened, she had this goofy grin on her face, but she followed me like she knew where she was going.
As we approached the desk, Tilo started for it and I started to panic. “Honey, where are you going?” She was going to mess everything up, and I couldn’t afford to let that happen.
“I got to check out.” She was rocking on her feet and slurring her words.
My heart was beating double time and I was starting to sweat. “No, you don’t. We paid in cash, remember?” I coaxed. I didn’t know if she paid in cash or not, I just needed to get her away from the front desk. When I turned back, Tilo was pointing a gun at my head. Instinctively, I reached for mine too. “What the hell are you doing?” I yelled as I tried to think of a plausible reason I could use for her pulling a gun on me.
Her eyes were wide and wild, and I was beginning to believe she was on to me.
“It can’t be,” she murmured as she swung her head from side to side. Spit flew from the corners of her mouth. It appeared as if she was waging some sort of internal battle.
“Tilo,” I hissed. I needed to diffuse this situation or I was going to have to cap the bitch in the lobby and make a run for it before anyone called the police. “Shit,” I yelled as the sound of multiple gunshots filled the air. My arm felt like it was on fire. I looked down in disbelief because Tilo’s gun wasn’t the first one to go off. My finger tightened on the trigger as I was pushed to the floor, I swung my head around to see what was going on as Tilo’s bullet caught me in the chest.
Pandemonium had broken loose in the lobby. People were scurrying like roaches when the lights were turned on. Someone kicked the gun from my hand and it slid across the shiny floor. I wanted to go after it, but the pain in my chest wouldn’t allow me to.
Tilo was shaking like a leaf and screaming obscenities. Her head was still whipping back and forth like she was trying to escape from an awful dream. “No, why won’t you leave me alone?” she shouted. And just as suddenly as her screams started, she stopped. She raised her arm and pointed the gun to her head and pulled the trigger. Her lifeless body dropped to the floor.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
VERÓNICA RAMSEY
“What else do you want from me?”
“Mrs. Ramsey, I know you’re tired, but we need to get your story on tape. Can you just repeat for us what you told the officers on the scene?” the officer asked.
I turned to my lawyer, Ricardo, for his advice. I was ready to go home and be with my family. He gave his approval with the nod of his head. I could see my husband, Moses, and Victória outside in the waiting area, and I was eager to join them so we could leave this hotbed of activity behind us.
“I drove to New York to surprise my sister. She’d been having a rough time and we were going to spend some quality time together. However, when I got to the hotel, I saw that woman who killed herself pointing a gun at my sister. I fired a shot to scare the woman, but I accidentally shot the man she was with. Now, can I go?” I was scared about lying to the police, but they were going to have to catch me in the lie before I’d admit to them that I came to New York to kill Tilo.
“Do you have a license to carry a weapon?” the officer asked.
“Yes, I do,” I answered confidently. I had my license and the gun belonged to Moses, so I had every right to have it.
“Then we have no further questions at this time. You’re free to go.”
Relieved, I walked out of the interrogation room a free woman. Greg Carter died of his injuries, but the shot from my gun wasn’t the one that killed him. As we left the police station, I felt vindicated. I did what I needed to do to protect my family, and now we were going to go about the business of living.
“Okay, y’all, I’m done with all that drama,” I said as I got into the passenger seat. I had some rest I needed to catch up on.
“I’ll second that,” Victória said as she closed her door.
Moses laughed as he got behind the wheel. “Remind me not to fuck up with either of you ladies. Y’all don’t play,” he said, laughing.
“Believe that,” I said, closing my eyes to the deceptions from the past. Tomorrow would be the beginning, and I was looking forward to it.
“Well, I want to know when the hell did you get to New York? Last I heard, you didn’t want to have anything to do with chasing Tilo,” Victória said.
“I didn’t, but since you two kept running around after her ass, I had to put an end to it somehow. I just want everything back to normal.”
“I guess you’re right, sis, and thanks for having my back. She could have shot me.”
I smiled. “Not on my watch.”
“Well, Victória got the bonds, thanks to her friendship with the bellhop. He rolled their luggage out of the way when the bullets got to flying,” Moses said.
I could tell he didn’t know what to think about this family that he married into, but given time, I was sure he was going to find out.
Urban Books, LLC
78 East Industry Court
Deer Park, NY 11729
78 East Industry Court
Deer Park, NY 11729
Deep Deception 2 Copyright © 2011 Tina Brooks McKinney
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the Publisher, except brief quotes used in reviews.
ISBN: 978-1-5998-3238-8
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living, or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.
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Submit Wholesale Orders to:
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