Killer Diamonds (7 page)

CHAPTER 12

“Deidra w
hen I was on the computer yesterday, I tried to check some of those additional files. I entered my password and the computer stated that I didn’t have clearance. Why’s that?”

“
The files you tried to review are classified by the department. The people in them are basically CI’s and witnesses. Do you know somebody whose file has that restriction on it?”

“
My cousin.”

“
Don’t worry. You can use my password to peep.” Deidra winked. “It’s C L U S T E R.”

“Cluster?”

“Yeah… cluster.”

“
Why Cluster?”

“
I don’t know. But do you think you’re going to finish that?” Deidra looked at the salad Monique had lost her appetite for. “No… you can have it.”

Deidra took the salad without hesitation.
“So, how do you like the job so far?”

“
I’m going to stay with it. I like it.”

Monique took a sip of her Dr. P
epper through the straw. They were eating at a small café down the street from the police department.

“
Do you have children?” Deidra asked out of the blue.

Monique
smiled, “I have a daughter. Her name is Candy and she’s four years old.”

“That’s nice. The Department has
good benefits. Especially for childcare. Deidra, can I ask you a dumb question?” Deidra leaned across the table. “Go ahead; the police do all the time.” Monique smiled again. She was really starting to like her.  “Have you ever been in a situation where…,” Monique looked at the ceiling searching. “Where you got this person and you wish he was somebody else?” Deidra scoffed, “I’m doing that right now.”

“
Are you serious?” Monique asked surprised.  “Yes… I got a dog and a man. I just don’t know which one to get rid of.”

This made Monique laugh
. “I’m serious Deidra!”

“
I’m serious too, but go ahead girl, Let me hear it.”

“
My boyfriend, we don’t share the same interests anymore.”

“
Okay… you’re having an affair. This is sooo juicy. Hold up!” Deidra forgot about the salad and grabbed a cigarette from her leather case.

*****

Ace pulled into Craig’s detail shop with a set of 30” rims on his Silverado truck. The truck was now taller than the stripper he has last night.  Craig quickly approached him.  “What’s this?” he asked.

“
What’s what?”

“
Don’t get funny on me Ace. We got this thing coming up.”

“Craig
you got a detail shop. Ain’t nobody going to trip on that.” Craig sighed knowing his brother was right.  “Just don’t get flamboyant on me. Tonight Hitman wants to see everyone. There might be some changes in how we are going to do this.”

“
Changes! What changes?”

“
I don’t know. But it might be good on our part. We might be the ones to touch the diamonds first.  If so, we straight lil bro.”

“
Dang… this is going to be easy as hell.” Just then, a car pulled up. They both looked to see who it was since it was around closing time.  “Craig, you bout to close right?” asked Ace. “Yeah… this is something else though.” Chell jumped out of the car with a big bag and a two-liter of Pepsi. The first thing Craig noticed that he didn’t see the night before was the dimples. Maybe because he wasn’t close to her when she had smiled. Now she had a huge grin on her face and it made her sexy. 

“I got a Supreme and a T
eriyaki chicken. Which one do you want?” 

“
I’ll take the chicken.” Craig looked at Ace.  “You remember my brother?”

“Yes,
Cherry’s friend. I would have brought extra, but I didn’t know you were around.”

“
That’s cool. I’m good.”

Chell looked at the Silverado
. “Nice truck, is that yours?” Ace smiled, “Yeah that’s me.”

“
Cherry know how you rolling?”

“
She’ll know tomorrow. We’re going out.”

“
That’s good. I wish y’all the best.”

“
Okay, I’ll see you tonight Ace,” Craig told him. Ace knew that was a hint for him to peel off. He nodded his head and headed for the truck. “He’s sweet,” Chell said.

Chapter 13

“Why did you want to meet me here?” Step asked. 

“
Cause something came up. This is what I want you to do.” Time walked into Krispy Kreme with Step right behind him. “Tonight, I want you to follow her!”

“
That’s stalking.”

“Listen… It’s all coming to me now; lately she’s been making it her business to get out at night. I wasn’t thinking this way about it though.”

“
So… you want me to follow her and then what?”

“
She’s going to see him tonight.”

“
How do you know?”

“
Cause I’m going to give her that room.” 

“
Boy… I can’t believe I’m doing this shit. When you’re proved wrong, you’re going to give her an apology.”

“
Okay… if I’m wrong, I’ll do that.”

*****

The group had been waiting on Time for the last forty-five minutes. When he finally arrived, they didn’t show any signs of agitation. He took a seat and looked at each of them.  “My bad, I apologize.” Tip nodded her understanding.

“
You getting your rest?” Hitman replied. Hitman came to his feet, still looking at Time. “I’m asking are you getting enough rest, cause you will be there by yourself at the Roger’s residence.

“
I’m not going to let anybody down.”

“
Good,” Hitman stated. “Alright y’all, I done gone over this whole thing. This is it.  Nano and Tip, the two of you will hold down the David’s residence. If y’all don’t have no problems with that.”

“
Nah…,” Nano said, Tip only shook her head. Hitman looked back at Time. “Bro… you probably need to shave before you go to the Roger’s residence you’re be their pizza man.” Everyone laughed. Hitman turned to Skillz.  “You’ll be dropping everybody off at these places. You will drop Time off first between 3:00 and 4:00.  Wait until Time gives you a signal.” Hitman looked back to Tip and Nano. I’ve got some USPS uniforms for y’all.”

“
The post office!” Tip smiled. 

“Yeah
the post office.” Hitman looked to Ace and Craig. “I want y’all at the drop site. We’re gonna get our hands on a commercial van. It will be up to y’all how much cash the group gets. Y’all will have five minutes to snatch as much cash as y’all can, but make sure we get diamonds first.” 

“
Get that bread,” Skillz said happily.

Everyone began to laugh again. “Remember… we ain’t greedy. The main focus is those diamonds and then we will be straight for life. This is history.” Everyone stood excited. The hard part was now over. They would now rendezvous over drinks. Time approached Tip and Nano.  “Tip, can I apologize for being an ass?”

“
We good, you don’t have to apologize to me.” Time nodded and turn to Nano. He then held out a pound to him. “There ain’t that many niggas round like you. I can’t do nothing but applaud you. You took a hit for us and I never told you thanks. Thanks man.” 

Nano smiled
. “Don’t thank me yet. Wait until we become millionaires.” 

“
Bet!”

“
You ready?” Nano asked. 

“
I’m ready if y’all are.”

Nano and Tip
looked at one another. “We ready.” 

“
Good… now I feel like we are a group. I’ll holla at y’all.” He gave them another pound and walked away.  “Hey Time,” Tip’s voice distinct called out to him. Time turned around to face them. “Make sure you get some rest,” she told him with a smile. 

“
I’ll do that.”

*****

When Time arrived at the house he and Monique shared, she was in the process of getting dressed. The first   thing he smelled was the scent of the perfume she wore.  “Damn,” he thought, “when you aren’t aware of your surroundings you miss everything.” Now that he knew about her, he could see it all.  At that moment, he vowed to never be played again. “Why you so quiet?” she asked more conscious than concerned. 

“
Nothing.”

“You sure?”

“
I’m good,” he said barely audible. He dropped down on the sofa in front of the television. He knew she was about to go out to someone else.  It was then, that he realized he still cared for her.  It was killing him.   “Where you going?” he forced himself to ask. Step and I are going to Wal-Mart. Time closed his eyes knowing he’d just been lied to.

“
I thought… maybe you and me could chill.”

Monique turned to him surprised. He never asked
her to chill. At least not recently.

“Chill? We’ll chill when I get back
.”

“
How could she lie to him?” he thought. Many questions suddenly bombarded him. How? Why? When? She was a baby’s mother.

“
You have to go?” It was definitely over. 

“Boy we’re
going to be alright.” She was looking at him the same way she did when they first met. Innocent and sincere. She then grabbed the last of her things and approached him.  “I’ll be back.” Time could do nothing but bite down on his bottom lip.  Monique headed towards the door. When the door had closed, Time closed his eyes, he felt crushed. he opened them and grabbed his cell phone. Step seemed to answer immediately.  “Hello?”

“
She’s on her way to see him now.”

Chapter 14

Step sat at her desk inside the powerful Stokes and Hudson law firm. She still could not believe what she’d seen last night when she followed Monique in Time’s blue Caprice straight to Skillz’s apartment. Parking in a vacant parking spot, about three parking spots away, she waited until Monique went inside.  It was then she started contemplating on what to do next.  Was it enough to conclude that the two were fucking? What else would Monique go to her man’s best friend house for? Betraying Time was so wrong. When her nerves settled, she slid out of the Lexus 350 and made her way to the hood. 

The fresh air
was needed. Step thought about walking to the door and making an announcement. Maybe lying for them would fix everything, but she and Time were too close and that   would not be fair. Time would have to just be fucked up about it. Step was watching the apartment for a sign when suddenly a light came on. Quickly, the light went back out.  Step looked around the apartment complex surprised there wasn’t anybody else outside on the cool summer night. That only encouraged her to creep to the window. After she looked around one final time, her feet began to move where her mind told them to go. When Step made it to the window, she learned a curious ear to the pane. The apartment was quiet. 

Step was about to change her position when suddenly, she heard the back door open
. She was frozen into place thinking she had just been caught. First, there was laughter. Then Step heard them distinctly.  It was Monique and Skillz.  They were talking about something that she couldn’t quite register. Her heartbeat was now racing. Tip peeped around the corner. When she did, Monique and Skillz were walking away in the other direction. It appeared they were carrying something. Soon they vanished around the corner. Step tiptoed to the place where the two were previously at. When she peaked around the corner, Monique and Skillz were heading to what looked like a small play area. There was a swing set, a merry go round, and a slide. She assumed it was for the kids in the apartment complex.  Skillz and Monique got on the merry go round.  At first, they began to fondle one another. After this went on for some time, Monique dropped on her knees in front of Skillz.  Monique then looked up and said something to Skillz. Skillz nodded his head. Monique then began to unfasten the shorts he wore. When they suddenly fell to the ground, Monique looked up at Skillz. She said something indistinct to him again. Step couldn’t believe it. Seconds later just as she thought, Monique had taken him in her mouth.

“Damn,”
the word escaped Step’s lips in a whisper. “Time had been right,” Step thought. It was all she needed to see.  She started to head back to the car but she had become drawn to the scene.  She watched while Monique slowly pulled on Skillz’s manhood. When she had been satisfied with her efforts, Skillz joined her. He laid down on his back while they played with each other. When he was comfortable in position, Monique climbed on top and straddled him. Step could see that Monique wore a skirt and she was positive that she didn’t wear any panties underneath. Their first movements were slow, almost inconspicuous. Then they formed a rhythm. Step had seen enough.  She pulled herself away and ran back to the Lexus.  Once she made it home, she knew she and Monique would never be cool again. Things were about to change.

*****

Monique was sitting at her workstation bored just as Deidra had said she would get. Last night with Skillz had been one of their best moments yet. She could not get it out of her mind. When she finally returned home  three hours later, Time had been asleep on the sofa. At least that’s the way it appeared. Actually, she didn’t care. She was at the point where she wanted to leave.  And if he initiated a break up, all the better. Skillz had her open.  Monique came back to the present moment.  She then redirected the mouse across the screen until she came to the name Victor Scott. After she entered her password. She went through the file again until the computer asked if she wanted to review the additional files. Monique entered C.L.U.S.T.E.R. and waited.  Seconds later, a murder case popped up on the screen. It read, “Young boy witnesses the murder of his father.” Monique started to read.

“
James Scott and Victor Scott, father and son were leaving O’Neal’s corner store Saturday morning when the father was gunned down.” Monique paused with her mouth open. She looked at the date of the incident. It was August 18, 1988. Monique then started counting the years.

“Damn….” s
he cursed. He was only four years old. Monique leaned back in her chair.  He had never told her.

*****

Tip sat at her desk awaiting 3:00. At the time, it was only 2:20 and she was feeling bad about the last two couples she had to deny for a loan. She looked out at the traffic that passed by on the main drive.  A lady passed walking a small dog. A van then passed claiming you could get up to 75% off at Rooms to Go. When a man appeared with a vase of flowers, Tip smiled. When he entered the loan office, her smile broadened. He approached the desk in a normal manner. 

“
Are you Tiffany Berry?” He asked.

“Who,”
she replied.

The man smiled. “
Are you Tiffany Berry?”

Tip
smiled, “Yes I am.”

“Well
these are for you.”

“
Who sent these?” she asked enthralled. It was the first time she had ever received flowers.

“
I can’t say. We have a policy.”

“
Tell me if he was dark skin and built.”

“
I can’t say.”

“
Where’s the card? I like words of expression.”

“
There was no card sent.” 

“
For real?” She eyed the man with a smirk.

“
I’m sorry. Please sign here.”

He handed her a clipboard. O
n the clipboard was a form. Tip quickly signed where there was an x. Step then passed him the clipboard back. “Thank you,” he said politely.

“No, thank you. Tell Nano
I love him.”

The man smiled and
turned away. Tip watched him until he left the building. She then sat the vase on her desk. Tip glanced back at the clock. It now indicated that it was 2:25. The deliveryman had taken five minutes off the clock. It was time to make a phone call. Tip dialed a number and waited. “Hello, Kizzy?”

“Tip, this you?”

“
Yeah! What you doing?”

“
Nothing, what’s up?”

“
I was calling to see if you could watch Dice for us.”

“
You know I will. When?”

“
Wednesday.”

“
How long?”

“
Well I need you to stay and drop him off at school.”

“
Ohhh…”

“
Please…”

“
Girl stop all that. I’ll do it.”

“
And drop him off?”

“
And drop him off,” Kizzy repeated. “Can we have pizza?”

“
You got it girl! I’ll buy you anything you like.”