Real Riders Never Die 3 (14 page)

“Why won’t he just kill the person who ordered it?” Taryn was sitting flat on the ground now, so Buck had to look down to talk to her.

“They won’t tell him who sent it because it’s a conflict of interest. Double O has a policy where it’s kill or be killed. He can’t deny this contract, Taryn. No matter how hard he tries to fight against it.”

Taryn’s eyes watered as she rubbed the top of her head over and over. “What am I going to do? I don’t want him to die.” Taryn cried. “I don’t want to die either.”

Buck kneeled down next to her and rubbed her shoulder. “You won’t. I have an idea.”

Taryn looked at him with hope. It took Buck nearly thirty minutes to explain everything to her. Once she got herself together enough to get the ball rolling, she left. By the time she got to her house she was in survival mode. Demoto had been fighting for her since the first day they met, now it was time for her to fight for him.

Taryn sat on the bed in her room and flipped through the folded piece of paper between her fingers. Buck had given it to her just before she left. Now all she needed to do was make the call and make some things happen. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about what she was about to do, but she had no other choice.

With her phone in her hand, she dialed the numbers and placed it to her ear before she lost her nerve.

“Yes.”

“I need a contract completed by Thursday.”

“Face-to-face or telephone?” That statement was in reference to the meeting they had to schedule to secure the contract.

Taryn knew all of this already because Demoto had been doing it for years. Rarely did clients choose face-to-face because they wanted no parts of the murder. Taryn, on the other hand, was different. She needed to explain everything to make sure nothing was left out.

“Face.”

“Today. Noon. Pizza Hut on Buena Vista Road.”

After Taryn finalized the details they hung up. She looked at the clock. It was twenty minutes after ten, so she had a little while before her meeting. She spent that time cleaning up and folding clothes. Time went by rather quickly, and soon it was time for her to go. Taryn grabbed the money from the safe in her closet and stuffed it down into her purse.

She drove in silence all the way there because she wanted to get her thoughts in order. She wasn’t sure how she felt about everything, but she didn’t want to give that away during the meeting. Her Range Rover swooped into the parking lot of Pizza Hut, drawing a little unwanted attention. Taryn sat there until the people that had stopped to look at it, got in their cars and left.

When she was ready, she grabbed her purse and her shades. She placed them on her face and slid her purse on her shoulder. She looked around as she entered the restaurant. Like it had been stated on the phone, her contractor was seated in the back at the last table with a red hat on. Taryn walked to the back briskly and sat down.

“Damn, when did you get pregnant?” The shock in her sultry voice almost made Taryn’s eyes roll.

“Been pregnant.”

“You weren’t when I saw you at the club.”

“Correction, boo, I was. I just wasn’t showing yet.”

Theresa smiled with a quick roll of her eyes. “Well, congratulations.”

“Thank you. So what is it that needs to be discussed?”

Theresa lost the smile and got into business mode. “Tell me what you need to be done, how you would like it done, and the deadline for it.”

“Okay, long story short, I’m adopted. My parents were killed in a car crash and just recently I found some of my family. I met them and they were nice, but the day after I met them, Demoto’s mother kidnapped me and took me to Cameroon. So, of course I wasn’t able to keep in contact with my family for a few days. I don’t know what went wrong in a matter of days, but my uncle feels as though I’m going to break my aunt’s heart the same way my mom did, so he wants to take me out.”

“Okay, keep going.” Theresa nodded.

Although Taryn felt like they had gotten off on the wrong foot, she could appreciate Theresa’s professionalism. It probably would have been a lot harder if she was a catty female. Her demeanor now was much like Demoto’s when it was time to work.

“Well, the problem is they hired Demoto to do it.”

Theresa’s mouth dropped. “You have got to be kidding me?”

“I wish I was. I’m sure you already know the Double O policy about denying a contract.”

“Kill or be killed.” Theresa stated like the soldier she was.

Taryn nodded.

“So, basically, you want me to take them out so that the contract goes away?”

“Yes. My daddy told me the only way we can make this happen is if the funds don’t go through. The last time he checked, being that the contract hadn’t been confirmed yet, no money has been paid.”

“When?”

“My deadline is Friday. Today’s Wednesday. So as soon as you can would be great.”

“Damn that fast? I have contracts for the rest of the week. Two of them are out of town. I leave tomorrow and I hadn’t planned to come back until Sunday.”

Taryn instantly felt defeated. She and Buck had come up with the perfect plan and now it was falling through.

“Please.” Was all she could think to say.

“I’ve already been paid for all of them.”

Taryn tried to stop the tears that she felt rising, but for some reason it wasn’t working. They fell from under her sunglasses and down her cheeks. Theresa’s hand on hers only made her feel worse.

“I’ll see if I can make something happen, but I don’t want to make you any promises.”

“Thank you.” Taryn nodded and scooted away from the table. “Let me know if you can, please.”

Theresa said she would before Taryn got up to walk away. When she was back safely in her car, she let out all of her frustrations. She had been so sure of what to do, and now she was back at square one.

By the end of the week, she or Demoto would be dead, if not both.

D
emoto sat at his desk with his hand resting over his mouth. It was Thursday morning, and he had made his decision. It had been a hard one to reach, and an even harder one to get Double O to agree to, but after speaking with the contractor, they agreed. They still hadn’t told him who it was that had wanted her dead, but they did let him know that they would take his life in exchange for hers.

The fact that they agreed to something like that let him know that this was some type of personal debt. He had come up with a list of people that it could be, but the only two that stood out the most was Taryn’s aunt and uncle. Being that he trusted his gut more than anything, he paid them a visit. Upon hearing their reasoning, he wanted to bust. He tried explaining to them what had happened and the reason for Taryn not calling, but that only pushed their decision further. If he was out of the picture, they assumed she would do better since they would be all she had.

After a few failed attempts and small arguments, Demoto left their house. The only reason they were still alive and breathing was because he wanted Taryn and his kids to stay alive. Bradley had relayed the message from the higher parts of Double O that if anything was to happen to the contractors, then he would be in breach of contract and the contract would be carried out anyway. He thought about just killing them for the hell of it since he was going to die anyway, but if there was any chance for Taryn’s life to be spared, he didn’t want to mess it up.

There had been an eerie silence around the local Double O office that Demoto worked at ever since everyone had become privy to Demoto’s decision. A few employees had come and tried to talk him out of it, but his mind was made up. He had to do what he had to do. All week he had been contemplating his decision about working with Double O, and now he wished a thousand times that he could just go back. It had been ruining his life since he was a child.

A knock at his office door startled Demoto. He looked up and Jacko was standing there. “You good?”

Demoto shook his head no.

“What time you supposed to do this shit?” Jacko was one of the employees who had been dead set on Demoto not giving his own life, but he didn’t press it. He knew Demoto was just doing what he felt he had to do.

“Six.”

It was just before four in the afternoon and Demoto was no readier to die than he had been at the time he made the decision.

“You still ain’t told Taryn?”

Demoto shook his head again.

“Well, I would come, but you already know how I feel about this shit.”

“Nah, you don’t need to be there anyway. I appreciate it though.”

“I think I’mma put in for an early retirement tomorrow. This company doesn't care about you for real.”

Demoto laughed for the first time in days. “Yeah, you should, because they don’t.”

“This shit got me so fucked up. Like who the fuck do these people think they are?”

“Some rich muthafuckas with nothing else to do with their money, so they use it to dictate the lives of others.”

Jacko and Demoto sat in his office talking about Double O and all of its leaders for another hour before Jacko left. He hugged Demoto, told him he loved him, and that he respected his decision before leaving. He didn’t want to be anywhere near Double O at the moment, and definitely not when six o’clock hit.

Across town, Taryn had just picked Ayo up from daycare when her phone rang. She strapped Ayo in and got into the car before grabbing her phone from her purse. It was a missed call from Kia. She was about to call her back, but her phone was already ringing again.

“What’s up, girl?” Taryn asked, as soon as her phone picked up on Bluetooth.

“Girl, you need to get to Double O right now. Deon just called me crying, talking about my daddy was fussing and crying and shit about Demoto getting himself killed.” Kia’s voice was a mix of fear and tears.

“What?” Taryn screamed. “What does he mean getting himself killed?” Taryn sped out of the parking lot in route to Double O.

“I don’t know. I keep calling Jacko, but he’s not answering.”

“Okay, I’m on my way there.” Taryn didn’t even bother to hang up the phone, she just drove.

She could tell something had been wrong with him that morning before she left the house, but she figured it was just because her contract expired tomorrow. As careless as it may sound, she hadn’t been worried about it anymore because she figured he would handle it like he always did. There hadn’t been one problem that had risen in her life that he hadn’t handled, and she figured this would be the same.

When she finally got to Double O it was five forty-five. She grabbed Ayo from his seat and ran in the building as fast as she could with her belly in the way. She didn’t even bother to stop at the desk, she ran straight for the elevator. People who knew her gave her weird looks as she ran, but she couldn’t worry about that right then.

The door to his office was closed when she finally got there, so she checked every other door on his floor and they were all locked. Taryn felt like she was slowly losing her mind as she turned in a complete circle in the empty hallway. When she couldn’t think of nothing else to do, she called Buck. He didn’t answer, so she called Jacko.

“Pretty-Lee, what’s good?” His voice sounded a bit muffled.

“Where’s Demoto? I’m at Double O but I can’t find him. Why isn’t anybody at work? Kia said he was getting himself killed. What’s going on Jacko?” Taryn screamed, frantically.

He was quiet, and she thought he wouldn’t answer, but he did. “He’s just doing what he has to do, Taryn.”

“No, Jack! I don’t want to hear that shit. Where is he?”

“Just meet me at your house and I’ll tell you everything.”

“Nooooo! No! No! No! Tell me where he is right fucking now.” Taryn screamed.

Ayo jumped every time she yelled.

“The basement.” Jacko sighed.

Taryn took off running with Ayo still in her arms. She was barely making it, but she got to the elevator. When it took too long to come, she decided to take the stairs. There were six flights she had to get down. She stumbled a few times and almost dropped Ayo, but she finally made it. Being that there was only one room in the basement, she knew exactly where to go. The large digital clock hanging on the wall let her know it was five fifty-seven as she passed.

“Oww Mommy,” Ayo said, as he began falling again.

Taryn fixed him back on her hip and kept moving. The long, cold hallway seemed like it stretched for miles, but she had to push through. Whatever Demoto was doing, she needed to stop him.

“Ah shit!” Taryn screamed as she nearly slipped on a puddle of water on the floor.

When she looked down, she noticed her legs were wet as well. Out of all the time in the world, her water chose to break right then.

“Hold your horses, little girl. We have to get your daddy first.” Taryn kept running with Ayo.

He was sliding down, but she could see the door. When she finally reached it and stepped inside it was as if time had stopped. Demoto was on his knees in the middle of the floor with his head down. There were three other people in the room as well. Two she didn’t recognize, and the other was Bradley. He was seated in the corner. His face was red and wet with tears. He jumped to his feet when he looked up and saw Taryn.

“You can’t be in here, Taryn.”

Demoto’s head snapped up and turned in her direction. “Taryn, get out!” He yelled with more force than she’d ever heard. He never spoke to her like that, but clearly right now was different.

“No!” she yelled back at him.

“Papa.” Ayo reached for Demoto.

When Taryn wouldn’t let him go to Demoto, he began to kick and scream. She was having a hard time holding him because he was moving so much, but she managed to get him back upright on her hip.

“Taryn.” Her name was a breathless plea on his lips. “Please, just leave. Go home and take care of our kids, baby.”

“Mr. Youngblood, it’s time.”

Demoto looked at Taryn and held his head down. He didn’t want her to see this, but she wouldn’t leave.

“Taryn, get out! Get out!” He yelled from the floor. Tears were now running down his face. “I don’t want Ayo to see this. You have to go.”

Taryn ran toward him and fell down on the ground next to him. As soon as she was next to him, Ayo grabbed onto his neck and wouldn’t let go. It was almost as if he knew something was wrong. Taryn tried to pull him away, as did Demoto, but he wasn’t budging. Every time they would remove his hands from one thing, he grabbed something else.

“Demoto, get up. Please, please, please don’t do this.”

He leaned his head toward Taryn’s. “It’s the only way, baby girl. It’s the only way.” He kissed the side of her wet face.

She had been crying just as long as Ayo had been.

“Mr. Youngblood,” one of the men spoke.

“Give him some fucking time. Don’t you see his family is here?” Bradley yelled in frustration.

The pain in his voice only wounded Taryn more. She grabbed Demoto’s shirt and kissed all over his face. “Baby, please.”

“Taryn, don’t do this.”

“You don’t fucking do this Demoto! You don’t do it. We need you, baby. My water just broke. You have to see Azmera,” Taryn said whatever she could to get him to change his mind. “Don’t you want to see her?”

“I do, baby, but I can’t. I just can’t, Taryn.” He pushed her hair out of her face. “You remember when I told you that I would give my life for you?”

Taryn nodded.

“Well the time has come for me to do that.”

Taryn shook her head wildly. “No. You can’t.”

“Mr. Youngblood.” The man’s voice interrupted them again.

“Just fucking kill us!” Taryn yelled. “Kill all four of us. I’m not getting up, and I’m not leaving my husband here to die alone. No!” Taryn yelled.

She had given all she had and Demoto hadn’t moved. The same way that he said he would give his life for her, she would do the same for him. There was no life for her without him. He was her life and had been since the first day she met him. If she was going to die one day anyway, she’d rather it be with him. Taryn looked Demoto in his eyes so he could see just how serious she was. They would die, there, together, as a family.

“Taryn, please get up.”

“No. We’re staying with you.” She held onto half of Ayo’s body, being that he was still holding on to Demoto’s neck, and bowed her head.

Defeated, Demoto grabbed her hand and squeezed it in his. Taryn looked at him and Ayo one last time before closing her eyes. “I love y’all.”

“I love you, too.” Demoto said to her.

She was a rider. She was down to ride with Demoto until the end, no matter what. As she kneeled in the middle of the floor with her head down waiting to be killed, the only thing that circulated in her mind was maybe real riders really didn’t die.