Most Wanted (5 page)

“I will meet you,” I answered roughly. I started to walk away but was startled to hear Sidney so close.

“You know Mr. Ace?” Sidney’s voice came from behind me. My knees actually felt weak; Ace looked surprised too. Neither one of us knew just how much of our exchange Sidney had seen and overheard. It was like he had just materialized out of the walls.

“Oh, nah, nah, Mr. Costner. I thought your wife was this no-good chick who I knew from DC, but it’s not her,” Ace answered Sidney’s question, wearing a sinister grin. Ace was being a smartass. Sidney looked from Ace to me and back again. I had a silly, nervous grin on my face. I couldn’t even say a word. All of the words were caught in my throat like I’d swallowed a handful of hard marbles.

“Sorry for the misunderstanding, miss,” Ace said, smiling again.

“No . . . no . . . um . . . no problem,” I replied with a nervous laugh. “Sidney, I will see you at home tonight,” I said to my husband, turning on my heels. I hauled ass out of the dealership doors like somebody had set my ass on fire. I didn’t even give Sidney a chance to answer me back. I was behind the wheel and screeching my tires out of the parking lot within a few minutes. My hands shook so badly I could hardly steer the car. I had to come up with a plan to deal with this situation. I knew exactly what Warren was after. I also knew he wasn’t going to rest until he got what he was looking for.

A
fter my encounter with Ace, driving home had been a task, to say the least. Every car that passed me on the highway made me jump. Every horn made me feel like I’d have a heart attack from fright. I could not get home fast enough.

I pulled up to my estate and jumped out of my car, barely putting the vehicle in Park. I was moving so fast that my heels sounded like firecrackers popping against the tiled pathway as I rushed up to my front door. With trembling hands I fished my keys from my bag, but it took me a few damn tries to get into the house. Finally, I raced into the house with one fucking thing on my mind. I needed to move my stash, which I hadn’t looked at in so long. I’d been so financially secure living off of Sidney that I hadn’t even bothered to check on my little secret hidden treasure. I called it my rainy day insurance, but in light of what was going on now, I was going to have to do things differently. It was mine now, but the shit hadn’t always belonged to me. My mind was focused on getting upstairs to my closet before Sidney came home. He didn’t know anything about what I had done in my past and what I had hiding right under his nose. I was also scouring my brain to think of where I could move my stash. I considered going to the bank and getting a private safe deposit box, but there was record keeping involved with that shit. I needed something highly secretive. Just as I got inside I heard the house phone ringing.

“Fuck!” I huffed. I didn’t need any distractions right now. I knew it was either Sidney or my nagging-ass mother. No one else called the house phone at all. I was too focused on my task at hand to answer it, so I ignored it. I barely made it up my spiral staircase that led to the bedrooms before the phone was ringing again. “Are you kidding me?” I grumbled. If I didn’t answer it I knew both of them would just keep on calling back. I walked into my bedroom and picked up the cordless on the nightstand. I still couldn’t figure out why we even had a house phone. Cell phones were all we ever used anyway. “Hello?!” I barked into the phone breathlessly.

“Damn . . . why you sound so mad?” the voice filtered through the receiver. All of the color drained from my face and I felt weak. They even had my house phone number, which certainly meant that not only did they know where Sidney worked, but they also knew exactly where we lived. I couldn’t even speak at first.

“I called to remind you about our meeting tonight. I really like your old man, too . . . good ol’ Mr. Sidney Costner. I wonder how he would feel knowing his little well-kept wife was a former hood rat, snitching-ass thief from the projects in DC?” Ace said, his raspy voice making me cringe like hearing nails on a chalkboard.

“I hope you don’t try no bullshit and you’re there tonight,” he continued. “Don’t make me do anything horrible to your old man cuz that’s what’s gon’ happen if you try not to show up,” Ace said with evil finality. I was feeling a mixture of anger and fear. How dare that muthafucka call my house! The house I shared with my husband! They were crossing the fucking line now! I held the phone so tightly my knuckles turned white. My jaw rocked so feverishly I was giving myself a migraine.

“Are you there, Mrs. Costner?” Ace asked slyly.

“How did you get my number?” I whispered harshly. It was all I could come up with at that moment. Too many things were fighting a battle in my mind to say anything more sophisticated.

“How the fuck you think I got it! Bitch, we know everything. Including what you took from the house when you snitched on my crew and ran. We want what belongs to us, so be ready to fucking talk about that tonight,” Ace boomed. I closed my eyes. I had a feeling those fucking diamonds would eventually come back to haunt me. I just didn’t think it would be so soon.

“What do y’all want from me? I did what I had to do to save myself. If it was up to Warren I would’ve been left for dead!” I gritted. That was the truth. Warren would’ve been fine letting me take the fall for his bullshit.

“Yo . . . at this point, we don’t even give a fuck that you ran your trap to the feds. All we want is what you took. You caused a war when you took that shit, and trust me we’ve been looking for you for a while now. It just took a while to get the information from your mother. My man Warren is on the hook for the shit you did and if you know like I know, you know that nigga ain’t about to tell these dangerous muthafuckas that he got stuck up by no bitch. Especially his own bitch,” Ace spat. I knew he was right too. Warren had a lot of pride, and he was all about upholding his street credibility by any means necessary.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied real quick. There would be no confessions coming from me. “All I did was tell the feds that those guns weren’t mine. I never said they were Warren’s. I guess they assumed the shits were Warren’s. I never snitched and I ain’t got shit that belongs to you or Warren. Now leave me the fuck alone!” I screamed. I wished that little bit of base in my voice had worked, but it didn’t. Ace wasn’t swayed one bit.

“Just be there tonight, bitch! Or else,” Ace barked. Then he clicked the phone off.

I held it for a few seconds, thinking about the gravity of it all. Things were happening so fucking fast I felt like a hamster on a wheel.

“Agggh!” I screamed as I forcefully snatched the phone line out of the wall. I collapsed onto the floor, no longer able to stand. I was emotionally and physically spent from the happenings of the day. I knew this shit was serious and that it was just going to keep getting worse. I also knew I no longer had all of what Ace and Warren were looking for. There was no way for me to get them back either. I rushed into my huge walk-in closet and raced over to one of Sidney’s safes. I struggled to move the heavy black metal safe, but after some effort I was finally able to get it moved from covering the spot on the floor I needed. I quickly lifted up the small, loose square of carpet that had been hidden under the safe. I used my long nails and peeled back the carpet to reveal the plywood floor underneath. I exhaled and used my nail to lift up a plank of the wood. Under the loosened plank was the small black velvet drawstring bag. I retrieved it, held it in my hand, and closed my eyes. My pulse still sped up whenever I held those diamonds. They had been like bad luck charms since the day I’d taken them. I clutched the small bag so tightly my hand hurt. I collapsed onto the floor and the tears just poured from my eyes. Up until that minute I had never regretted taking that tiny bag from Warren’s house. I don’t know what I was thinking that day I was trying to get the fuck out of dodge, but today I was full of regret for what I had done. Swallowing hard, I finally peered into the bag at the four remaining raw diamonds inside. The medium-sized gems twinkled even in the dimmest light. They were still beautiful. I had saved the remaining four as financial security in case shit with Sidney and I didn’t work out, but those four diamonds were all that was left of the twenty I had stolen. Warren and Ace wouldn’t be looking for just four diamonds . . . they’d be looking for twenty flawless raw uncut diamonds that were probably worth way more than the $250,000 I’d gotten rid of them for. I was so fucking stupid! I had certainly acted like a hood rat the way I ran through that money. Buying shoes, clothes, handbags, and paying to stay in high-priced hotels. I hadn’t even been smart enough at the time to buy a piece of property for myself. Now I had nothing to show for it. I was living off of my husband, whom I cared about but didn’t love. Again, depending on a man for everything. I had my mother depending on me and once again I was in deep shit with no way out but to throw someone under the fucking bus. But who would it be? Sidney? Stealing from him wasn’t an option. He kept his shit under strict lock and key. I lay on the floor of a grand house that I lived in with my husband thinking about how shit had gone so wrong and what I was going to do to get myself out of this mess. I had learned after the dustup with Warren and the feds that I had to put myself first always. Somebody wasn’t going to make it out of this shit alive. My mission was to make sure it wasn’t me.

 

I heard Sidney calling my name from downstairs. I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep on the floor of the closet while daydreaming of my checkered past. I bolted upright at the sound of Sidney’s voice.

“Fuck!” I whispered. I couldn’t afford for him to come up there and find me with the safe moved away and my hiding spot for the diamonds exposed. I didn’t want to put the diamonds back in the same place, but I had no time to think of another place.

“I’m coming down, Sidney!” I yelled back to stave him off for a few minutes. I knew how much his old ass hated coming up those stairs unless he was ready to go to bed, so I figured that would buy me some time. I raced around the closet, placing the diamonds back into the floor. I struggled to get the safe back over the spot. Just as I finished and stood up, I heard Sidney behind me.

“Gigi? Are you all right?” His voice was accusatory. Or maybe I was just so paranoid I heard it as being accusatory.

I almost jumped out of my fucking skin. He had definitely snuck up on me. I was panting after moving the safe back. My eyes were stretched wide with surprise. I had to place my hand over my chest to keep my heart from jumping loose of my chest bone.

“Sidney! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” I boomed, still holding my chest in a clutch-the-pearl manner. Sidney’s brows furrowed with confusion.

“What were you doing in the closet? You’ve been a little weird all day,” Sidney made me aware of his observation. He also ignored my outbursts. He eyed me suspiciously and looked around the closet the same way. I immediately felt like a child being chastised. Anger welled up inside of me like a pot about to boil over.

“What are you talking about?! Why are you acting like I’m some child to be questioned? I tried to do something nice for you today! But excuse me for trying to be spontaneous in this boring-ass marriage of ours! I keep forgetting all you like is missionary sex and the same routine! You’d rather be with a fucking client than have lunch with me, and now you want to come in here accusing me of being weird!!” I exploded, pushing past him until I was out of the closet. I needed to get him to stop focusing on the inside of that damn closet. Sidney seemed dumbfounded by my sudden outburst. He whirled around on his heels and followed me with his eyes. I had even surprised myself. It was all part of the plan. I knew I had to start an argument with Sidney, so his questions just made it that much easier for me to pick a fight. How else would I get out of the house at night without questions?

“Gigi . . . um . . . I didn’t mean it that way,” Sidney said, apologetically putting his hands up in front of him. I swear he looked like I had just slapped him in the face. I felt badly, but I had to keep up the act.

“Yeah, you never mean shit when you treat me like I’m one of your kids. That’s what the fuck I get fucking with a man who thinks he’s my father. Please . . . just leave me alone. I’m going out!” I continued my tirade for good measure. I had to make it seemed as real as possible. I also had to make it all Sidney’s fault so that whenever I returned home he wouldn’t ask me any more fucking questions.

“Are you done with your inquisition?!” I asked, hand on my hip. Sidney just stared at me like I was crazy. “Good! And don’t blow up my fucking cell phone while I am out. I’ll be home whenever I get back here!” I boomed. I kind of felt bad once I was out of the house. I knew Sidney didn’t deserve what I had just done. But it was either that or put him in harm’s way. I left the house unaware of what would happen next. All I could do now was pray.

D
riving to the meeting place, I’d thought about calling my mother to tell her I loved her, just in case. I’d even picked up my cell phone several times and dialed her number only to hang it up. I finally thought it best not to worry her, because knowing my mother, she would’ve sent the police out to find me or, worse, called Sidney and had him out on the streets looking for me.

I slowed my car down near Highway 264. A sense of dread filled me as I looked out at the place I was going. There was nothing fucking pretty about it, that was for sure. Anything could happen there without anyone noticing for a long time. Ace had instructed me to meet him at the Tides stadium parking lot in Norfolk. Everyone knew that the stadium parking lot was under Highway 264, which was desolate as hell at night. It definitely was no place for me. Only drug fiends, rapists, and other scary-ass creeps hung out there after the sun went down. A fact that didn’t give me a good feeling inside while heading to the stadium. I imagined a hundred things Ace might say or, worse, do to me when I arrived. Ace wasn’t the nicest person in the world, that was a fact. It didn’t matter if you were a woman or a man, if he wanted you dead, you’d be dead. I had heard stories about how Ace had killed one of his baby mothers for stealing from him. Rumor had it he’d shot her in the back of the head and put her dead body on her mother’s doorstep. Ace then went to court, acted like he had no clue what happened to the girl, and fought for custody of his son. Crazy shit! Warren told me he always depended on Ace when there was a really dirty job to be done . . . like when they wanted to wipe someone completely out. No remains was how they referred to the types of hits Ace carried out on niggas. He’d wipe out the person’s entire existence. The only thing that might save me was the fact that I believed or at least hoped that Warren did love me at one time. Then again, I’m guessing Ace had cared about his baby mother at a time before he executed her ass too. Damn, hindsight was surely twenty-twenty. If I could rewind time, I might’ve just left town broke as hell—no diamonds, no money. I sighed. I couldn’t change what I had done, so now I was going to face the music. I said more than one silent prayer as I peered out of my windshield at the deserted area. It was no place for a woman at night.

My heart thumped painfully against my sternum as I pulled my car slowly into the stadium parking lot. I could see a lone black SUV off in the distance as I inched my car forward at a snail’s pace. I just assumed it was Ace and about three or four goons waiting, since that’s how he and Warren rolled most of the time.

“It’s showtime, Gigi,” I whispered out loud to myself. I touched the 9mm Glock I had sitting between my thighs for assurance. I had already made up my mind that I was going to try and go out in a blaze of glory if they tried anything crazy. At least I would’ve been known to put a fight before my demise. I stopped my car a few feet away from the vehicle and I flicked my headlights from regular to high beam and back again. I wasn’t about to just get out and leave myself wide open to be shot down like a dog, but at the same time, I wanted to let Ace know I was there and ready to hear what he had to say. There was no immediate reaction to my signal. That was strange. I waited a few minutes after flicking the lights and still didn’t see any movement in the car. I flicked the lights again, this time I did it a few more times than I had the first time. Again, I waited. Still no movement. I let out a long sigh. I started to sweat so badly I felt the beads rolling down the center of my back.

“What the fuck, Ace?!” I whispered harshly. I was completely unnerved now. All that was visible in the distance around my car was darkness. I couldn’t hear shit due to the cars whizzing by overhead. Ace was playing a game probably to see how fucking scared I was, and it was working. Or maybe he wanted to see if I was going to come with the police or something. I inhaled deeply and exhaled a windstorm. I fanned myself with my hands. “Calm down, Gigi. Calm down.” I gave myself a pep talk to try and calm my nerves. It didn’t work at all. My teeth were literally chattering.

I squinted my eyes again, but with my headlights shining straight on the SUV like a spotlight there was a horrible back glare and I could not see anyone inside the vehicle through the windshield. I finally thought to turn my lights off thinking without the glare I could see something. I quickly realized that the vehicle was empty inside. Plus, now the entire fucking place was pitch black without my lights. I crinkled my eyebrows, confused as an ominous feeling washed over me. My chest heaved as I quickly realized this was a fucking setup at its best. “What the fuck?!” I whispered as my hands shakily grabbed for the gear stick to put my car into Reverse. I was about to break out of there because I wasn’t feeling the atmosphere at all. I was so scared I couldn’t get my hands to calm down long enough to get to the gearshift. I didn’t get the chance to move to change gears before I heard
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sound had come from outside the car.

“Aggghh!!” I screamed, instinctively throwing my hands up over my ears, ducking in response to the loud noises. My ears were literally ringing within a matter of minutes. I knew right away it was gunshots I had heard. Before I could do anything else I felt the cool night air wisp into my car. I jumped fiercely. That’s when I realized my driver’s side door had been snatched open. I looked over quickly, but all I got the chance to see was a big black figure.

“Agghgh!” I screamed again when I felt the presence of someone near me. I could literally feel the person’s breath on my face. My scream was short-lived. I felt big, powerful hands on my left arm and left leg. Then suddenly my head was being jerked and tugged too. I tried in vain to hold on to my seat, then the steering wheel, but my efforts were futile. Within minutes I was forcefully dragged from my car. I let out another half scream. I heard my handgun skitter to the ground. All hope of protecting myself was gone now. My screams were all for nothing because my mouth was covered by a big gorilla hand. Between the force and the fear, I could not catch my breath. I was hyperventilating. I just knew I was going into shock from being so scared. “Mmmm!” I moaned as I tried to move my head. That was futile too. I was being held like a ragdoll. I tried to scream for help, but my muffled words were barely audible. I knew whoever was holding me was probably powerful enough to snap my neck right there. My mind had drawn a complete blank. Suddenly, I felt a very thick, muscular arm closing around my neck. I gagged from being put in a chokehold. I tried to claw at the thick, meaty arm that was causing me to suffocate, but I could hardly muster enough strength to make any leeway. I immediately felt my air supply being cut off. My ears were still ringing from the gunshots, but I could still hear faint voices around me.

“Let’s move this bitch before we have witnesses,” one of them said; that much I could make out.

“Yeah, there’s a little building over there. We can do what we gotta do in there,” someone else said. They kept whispering about my fate. I knew I was going to die, but I wasn’t going to go out without a struggle.

Fighting for my life, I tried to flail and kick. I actually tired myself out because I wasn’t making any headway with the monsters that were holding me. All of that effort and I was no match for whoever was accosting me. I even thought I heard them laughing at my efforts. The more I scratched and clawed at the huge chunk of meaty arm around my neck, the tighter it got. Finally, I had been devoid of air for so long total blackness engulfed me. There was no fighting that dark cloud that closed in on me. I just knew I was a goner.

“G-money. G-money, I know you hear me . . . look at me.”

I came into consciousness hearing Warren’s nickname for me being called. My eyes fluttered to the sound, but I couldn’t open them.

“Yo! Wake the fuck up!”

I was immediately aware of the sharp pains shooting through my head as I tried in vain to get my heavy eyelids to open. “Mmmm,” I moaned as I became painfully aware of my surroundings. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain penetrate the side of my face. “Ugh,” I grunted from the pain. I actually felt my jaw click from the hit. I didn’t have enough energy to scream. I felt a more intense sensation on the other side of my face. I had been slapped on the other cheek this time.

“Wake the fuck up, bitch!” I heard a gruff voice boom. I finally forced my hyposensitized eyes open. There were at least five people in the room, that much I could tell as I counted the blurry shadows. Someone was walking toward me with fists clenched.

“Please,” I rasped, flinching. My throat felt like someone had shoved a firelit pole down it. I was hit across the face again. This time the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Tears immediately sprang to my eyes. Not only did I think they were going to kill me, but it seemed like they were going to torture me first. “Please,” I pleaded again through tears.

“Oh, now you want to say please,” a familiar voice said to me as the person grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked my downturned head up so that my battered eyes met his gaze.

“Warren?” I murmured through my swollen lips. It was crystal clear now. I was staring in the devilish eyes of my ex. My stomach muscle clenched and I balled my toes up in my shoes. I had been tricked! Warren was already home!

“Didn’t think you’d see me so soon, huh, Gianna, or should I call you Gigi Costner?” Warren spat, tightening his grip on my hair.

Tears were running down my face like a faucet. My body ached everywhere, but nothing compared to how much it hurt my heart to see him. The man I once loved was now getting ready to kill me. Warren’s face was filled with hate, yet seeing him after all of these years made me still feel love for him. For the first time I truly regretted what I had done to him. I hadn’t even called him after he was arrested. I didn’t check for him while he did his bid, nor did I ever put one dollar in his commissary. I had essentially turned him in and left him for dead. Now, for the first time, I realized how serious that shit was in Warren’s eyes. Especially since he had literally taken me out of the worst part of the hood and tried to give me a better life. I had shitted on him real bad. But in my eyes at the time, he had fucking shitted on me too.

“I’m . . . I’m . . . sorry,” I gasped through tears.

Warren finally let my hair go with a shove. The force was so great the chair I was forced to sit in almost fell over. Warren was in my face again within seconds. “Did y’all hear this bitch? She said she was sorry!” Warren yelled out to the others in the room. They all started laughing, including Warren. I squinted until my eyes focused on his face. I saw pain etched on the worry line he’d acquired since going up North. I could tell he was still weak for me. He didn’t want to hurt me, but he was angry, so he had to prove a point, especially in front of his boys.

“Sorry?! You wasn’t fucking sorry when you fucking snitched on me! You wasn’t fucking sorry when you stole from me!” Warren screamed as he paced in front of me. “Not even one fucking visit while I was up North! Not even one dollar in my commissary! You are the worst kind of bitch! A bitch I trusted to be mine! I should’ve known a hood rat bitch like you wasn’t about this life!” he barked. The veins in his neck pulsed fiercely and spit flew out of his mouth.

I was sobbing uncontrollably now. There was nothing I could say in response that would justify what I’d done. Warren’s vituperative words were like open-handed slaps to my face. I think the words hurt worse than a slap would have. Within minutes Warren was back in my face. I was trembling with fear. He grabbed my face, his strong hand gripping both of my cheeks. He squeezed my face so hard I could feel my teeth making an impression on the inside of my cheeks. He forced me to look him in the eyes.

“You have twenty-four fucking hours to bring me those motherfuckin’ diamonds or double what they were worth! If you try anything stupid . . . you and everything you love will die. If you think I’m fucking around . . . try me, Gianna,” Warren gritted. He released my face and waved his hand. The next thing I knew someone was standing in front of me with an iPad shoved into my face. “Play with me if you want to, Gigi,” Warren reiterated. The guy Warren had called over came quickly like a loyal servant. Warren pointed to something in the man’s hand. The guy pressed a button on the iPad and forced me to watch the screen. My eyes widened at what I saw.

“Agggghh!!” I heard the screams coming from the computer device. That’s when I saw the person screaming. It was my mother. She let out more blood-curdling screams as two masked men held guns to either side of her head. I lowered my head and sobbed uncontrollably. “Warren,” I sobbed, barely able to speak. “Please . . . don’t do this.”

“Shut the fuck up and keep watching!” Warren said through clenched teeth. I let my eyes wander back to the screen. The fear in my mother’s eyes made me wish I was dead for the danger I had put her in.