RedBone 2 (26 page)

 

 

Nadia strutted into the precinct, high off coke and ready to do everything in her power to put Farah Cotton underneath the jail. Once inside, she was surprised at all of the strange expressions from her coworkers. Each person she walked by had the look of knowing something she didn’t, and to say this bothered her would be an understatement.

She walked to her desk and threw her purse and car keys on top of it. When she saw her boss’s straight face, she grew nervous. He left his house before she did, and apparently knew something she didn’t. “What the fuck is up with you?” She turned around and looked at everyone. “And why is everyone acting so strangely?”

He laughed and placed his hand on her shoulder. “So you really don’t know, do you?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I did.” She pushed his hand off of her. “Now stop fucking around and tell me what’s going on. You’re scaring the hell out of me.” She looked at her coworkers again. All of the deceitful things she did in the dark put her on edge.

“How about I show you?” He handed her a sheet of paper.

She snatched it out of his hand and sat down. Before reading it, she gave him one last suspicious glare. Then she submerged herself into the sheet, hoping to find answers. When she finally saw what was written, she was startled. She’d had visions of how this moment would play out, and she never thought it would go down like this. The document floated out of her hand and fell to the floor. “What . . . I . . . I don’t understand.”

He picked up the sheet. “It’s easy to see why you don’t understand.” He laughed. “I didn’t either, but essentially you’re getting what you wanted. If anything, you need to be celebrating. This is a career case.”

“I know.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “I wanted this for the longest, but how did it happen? I mean, she swore before God and all His angels that she had nothing to do with Amico Glasser’s disappearance. So what changed now?”

“I don’t know, Gibson. What I do know is that she’s saying something different now.”

“Where is she?” She looked up at him. “I don’t trust this, and I have to see her.”

“She’s in a holding cell in the back.” He placed the sheet back in the folder. “Why?”

Nadia stood up and rushed toward the back where they kept the prisoners. She passed cell after cell, until she was staring directly in Farah’s face. The first thing she noticed was that she didn’t look anything like a woman in fear for her freedom. “What are you doing here, Farah? Why the change of heart?”

Farah stood up and walked toward the bars. “I’d think you’d be happy to see me, Nadia. After all, you’ve been on a mission to ruin my life for the longest, and it looks like you succeeded.” She looked around, “Doesn’t it?”

“I asked you a question,” Nadia said seriously. “What the fuck is up?”

Farah chuckled. “Wow, you don’t even know when you’ve won, do you? I realized that you are so much smarter than me and that I must surrender. You truly are a great cop, Nadia. I’m sure they’ll give you an award for this and everything.” Nadia stepped closer to the bars and Farah did also. “Smile, Nadia Gibson, you finally got what you wanted: me behind bars.”

“Why would you sign a confession, Farah? Just be straight with me and tell me the truth.”

“Because you wanted me to.”

Nadia frowned. “Because I wanted you to? What the fuck are you talking about?”

Suddenly Farah’s disposition moved from cocky to bashful. It was as if she were playing up for an audience. “You told me that if I didn’t admit to knowing something about Amico’s disappearance, you would hurt me. I’m afraid for my life, so I admitted to something I didn’t do.”

The little hairs on the back of Nadia’s neck rose. “I didn’t say I would hurt you, Farah! If anything I said you need to confess and stop hurting other people!”

“But you did blackmail me, Nadia. You said you would hurt me if I didn’t turn myself in, and since you roll with killers, I was afraid for my life.”

Nadia stepped so close to Farah, she could feel her warm breath on her nose. “What are you trying to do?”

“I know everything about you,” Farah whispered into her face. Her breath tickled her eyelashes. “And you know nothing about me. You have no clue what I’m capable of. But guess what? You’re getting ready to find out.”

“I don’t know what you got planned.” Nadia pointed in her face. “But you fucking with the wrong person.”

“If I was fucking with the wrong person you wouldn’t be a worthy adversary.” Farah giggled. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m waiting for the perfect time for everything to blow up in your face.”

Nadia laughed loosely even though she was petrified. “I’m not even worried about this shit, because nobody will believe anything you say.” She tried to speak louder so anyone listening could take notes. “I’m a decorated officer and you’re a coldblooded murderer. We’re two totally different people.”

“If you truly feel that way, why are you trying to prove it to me?” Farah paused. “I will give you a little tip, you got something white on your nose.” Nadia rubbed her nose so hard it reddened.

When she was done, Farah was in stitches laughing so hard. “You see, Officer, I got your number, and soon everyone else will too. When I’m done with you, you’ll wish you never saw me.”

 

 

Nadia Gibson was on her sofa after snorting as much cocaine as she could breathe into her nostrils in one sitting. She couldn’t believe her life had actually turned into diarrhea in a matter of weeks. One moment she was a decorated officer who brought down the DC Vampire, also known as Farah Cotton, and the next minute she was being investigated for blackmailing Farah.

Not only was she about to lose her job, but also, thanks to the pictures Farah obtained of her copping cocaine, courtesy of a private investigator, she was facing drug charges. In the end, Farah was released from jail after staying only two nights, and vindicated of all charges. Farah was right when she said she wasn’t to be fucked with, because somehow she was also able to get her hands on the video that showed Chloe with Amico Glasser in the movie theater together, as opposed to her. In the end, Farah’s confession looked like it came from a drug addicted officer who was on the take.

She was stretched out on the sofa, considering her fucked-up life, when her phone rang. When she saw it was Beverly Glasser, she immediately grew irritated. In her opinion, had it not been for Beverly’s insistence that Farah was responsible for Amico’s disappearance, things may not have been so bad.

She picked up the phone. “What do you want, Beverly? I really don’t feel like it right now.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear all of that, but I need to know what’s going on with Farah. I heard they released her the other day. Can you tell me why? She wasn’t in jail for even a month.”

“Beverly, that’s not something I can help you with. And like I said, I don’t feel like it right now.” She turned on her back and looked up at the ceiling.

“Fuck you mean, you don’t feel like it?” She paused. “This bitch killed my son, and I want justice! The justice you promised me!”

Nadia placed the call on speaker and threw the handset on her stomach. “She didn’t do it, Beverly. Her and this high-powered attorney she hired made me look ridiculous in court! You’ve had it in for her for the longest, and I guess you were wrong.”

Beverly started laughing. “Wait . . . you’re claiming that I’m the one who was after her? I told you from the start that Lesa was the person my son was last seen with. He said it when he sent the last text message from his phone.”

“Well, her name is not Lesa. It’s Chloe, who, as you know, is dead. Apparently she lied to your son and gave him the wrong name. Perhaps she had ill intentions the entire time. One will never know. I do know this: we were wrong about it being Farah, and it’s all your fault.”

“I can’t believe you’re blaming me for this.” Beverly fired back. “It was you who convinced me after some time that it was Farah instead of Lesa. Now, I’ll be honest. After looking into her eyes, I was a believer too, but that’s after the fact.”

“You say that shit now, but every other day you were coming after me to go at her. Now I’m in the process of losing everything! My life, my job, and even my respect.” She was now laughing so hard that the pinks of her gums were visible. “Not only that, but she was able to get her hands on some pictures of me copping from a drug dealer.”

“So wait, you’re blaming me for your drug habit, too?”

“I’m not saying that. What I am saying is that my life was fine before you came into it.”

“Let me clarify some things, Nadia. Yes, I do want the person who murdered my son arrested, and if I’m wrong for that, sue me. If you are receiving some type of fly back because of your wrong hunch, then blame yourself. You’re the officer, remember? Not me.” She paused. “Now, if that Chloe girl murdered my son before she died, then justice was served because she’s dead too, but if I find out that Farah had even one thing to do with his disappearance, there will be nothing Jesus could do to keep me from her. Regarding your career, I raise my cup to Farah, because at least she did one thing right.”

 

 

Nadia knew the moment she saw her boss and ex-lover’s face that something terrible was rolling her way. Still, she pushed herself into his office, despite wanting to run the other way. “I tried to get into your house last night with my key, but you changed the locks.”

“Have a seat, Nadia.”

She could tell immediately the romance was over. “That’s cool.” She gave him a knowing glance. “I’ll remain standing.” She looked around for one indication of what was coming. “You wanted to meet with me?”

He couldn’t look at her at first. “Yes, uh, I need your badge and your gun.”

“So I guess the department doesn’t even want to hear what I have to say about all of this, right?”

“We’ve heard your position already, and the decision has been made. Not to mention the fact that because you harassed Farah Cotton, she and her attorney are suing this department for millions.”

“But don’t you see? That’s why she confessed. If I was really harassing her like she claimed, she would’ve submitted her claim before being arrested. She knew the big money came in only if she turned herself in.”

“It doesn’t matter, Nadia. The evidence is stacked against you. Now, quit wasting time and hand over your badge and gun. The least you could do is go out with some dignity and respect.”

“And if I don’t give you my gun and badge?”

“Then I’ll be forced to have them removed from you.” He looked over her shoulder at two officers in the distance.

Here it was; she’d fucked this nigga more times than not, and yet he stood on the other side of the desk ready to judge her like a stranger. Where was his part in all of this? He fed her cocaine on many nights just to enhance their sex life, and now he was perpetrating the worst fraud by acting like he wasn’t aware of her habit.

“So what’s going to happen to me now?”

“Gibson, that’s not what we’re here to discuss.” He paused. “I need your badge and your gun right now, and I won’t ask you again.”

“You never loved me, did you? You just used me for my body.”

When he didn’t answer, she could feel two people approaching her from behind. Her worst fear was being realized. She was about to be arrested. There was nothing worse than an officer going to prison and having to deal daily with the people they helped put behind bars. She couldn’t see her life going down like this.

In that moment, she made a decision. If she was going to go to prison, she would make it worth her while. She raised her weapon and fired into her superior’s head. His blood, guts, and life splattered out of his body and slapped against the wall. She was immediately pushed forward, and the gun flew out of her hand. Although it wouldn’t change her situation, it did make her feel better.

 

 

Farah lay on the rug in her apartment with Shadow and Mia as they smoked a blunt and stared up at the ceiling. Everything Mia had planned worked, and Farah could finally move on with her life. “Mia, your plan was the most vicious shit ever!” Farah cheered. “I still don’t know how you came up with it. At first I was worried, but now, damn!”

“I told you to trust me, and luckily for yourself you did,” Mia bragged. “Besides, with Chloe and Mama dead and Daddy in jail, I can’t lose another family member.”

“I’m so glad I’m on your good side, because you’re the most manipulating bitch ever! Even Dr. Martin’s ass disappeared when I was released from jail. Left his practice and everything.” Farah giggled.

“It’s a good thing he left, too, because Grandma acted like she had plans for him if he didn’t,” Mia said.

Farah accepted the blunt from Mia, and they talked about how everything went down. Thanks to her biological father, she was able to pay for an attorney and a private investigator. With a pending lawsuit against the police department, she stood to make millions.

“I will never doubt you again, Mia. Ever,” Farah said honestly. “I don’t know what I would do without you two.” She looked at Shadow. “I don’t know what I would do without both of you.”

“You won’t have to worry about it.” Mia nudged her and sat up. “Oh, before I forget. Somebody named Bones called you. He called a lot when you were in jail.”

“I know. I never told him where I went,” Farah said sadly. She hoped she didn’t burn her bridges with him.

“Well, he said he was coming over to check on you tonight. He found out you’re home.”

“Oh, shit,” she said, covering her mouth.

“You don’t want to see him? Because we can spin him around,” Shadow said.

“I’m gonna try to reach him now and tell him I’ll get up with him later.”

She got out her phone and sent a message.

“Oh . . . Vivian said she coming by later to get the rent. You got it?” Shadow asked.

“I don’t have no choice, because God knows you two don’t have shit. Jaffrey gave me a couple of bucks to last for a few months,” she said, looking at them. “But when y’all gonna start helping me out around here? To be honest, I don’t know what y’all do.”

“Let’s see, we got rid of unwanted people for you and cleaned up your loose edges so you could stay out of prison,” Mia said. “If you ask me, we helped out enough around here.”

“I guess you right about that.”

“I am.” Mia laughed. “But just so you know, me and Shadow got some things in the works with Willie.”

Farah’s eyebrows rose. “You sure that’s a good thing to be getting into business with him, seeing how he murdered his own son?”

“Money is money, Farah,” Shadow replied.

“Whatever. Y’all grown people, and there’s nothing I can do to change your minds.”

“Exactly.” Mia grabbed the empty vodka bottle. “Now, since it was my plan to set you free and it worked, who going to the store to get another bottle?”

Farah jumped up to answer the door. “Unfortunately it won’t be me, because I have to get the door.” When she opened it, Slade was on the other side.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” He looked inside and saw Shadow and Mia. He hadn’t seen her since she helped him bring down Randy.

Farah felt he looked so good, and he was only wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt.

“I can come back later if you too busy.” He paused. “Although I really want to be with you, and I miss you like crazy, Farah.”

She hadn’t had sex in a while, so she saw the look in his eyes and knew what time it was. “Slade’s here,” Farah said, trying to keep her calm. “Didn’t y’all say something earlier about going to the store to get some liquor?”

 

 

Farah was in the bed with her legs wrapped around Slade. This was the best part about being with him: the tender moments like this, where she had him all to herself in an empty house.

“So when are you going back home?” she asked him. “To Mississippi?”

He sighed. “My mother is going tomorrow. Me and my brothers are staying behind.”

“Really?” she asked hopefully. “Why the change of heart?”

“Because we’re still hoping that this bitch will show up.” Farah seemed sad. “And even if she did, I’m not sure if I can pull myself away from you.”

She looked into his eyes and kissed him on the lips. “You don’t know how good it feels to hear you say that. It’s one thing to be here for business, it’s a whole other thing to be here for me.”

“It’s the truth.” He rubbed her hair. “But I’m glad it makes you feel good.”

“I gotta ask you something,” she said in a low voice. “Why are you with me? I mean, you have Shannon and God knows how many other groupies who would kill to be with you.” She rubbed his chest.

“Why you saying stupid shit?” He was beyond annoyed. Shannon hadn’t stopped giving him grief ever since he left her at the restaurant. If she wasn’t calling his apartment every five minutes, she was calling Markee’s crib where Major stayed alone. “Shannon is the last bitch on the face of the earth I’m thinking about. And I’m with you because I love you. Stop asking me stupid-ass questions.”

She hated his generic answer. “This is why I don’t like to talk to you sometimes. Every time I try to express how I feel, you shoot me down. It’s like it don’t even matter.”

He lifted her chin so she could look into his eyes. “It’s like this, we won’t always agree on things, babes. And yes, some things you say may rub me the wrong way.”

“And vice versa,” she admitted.

“And I’m cool with you not always agreeing with me. Most couples don’t. I’m offering you love, Farah. Unconditional love. Maybe you aren’t used to it, but it is true.” He lifted her onto the tip of his dick. “I thought I was in love with my ex-girlfriend.” He moved inside of her. “And to be honest, I thought there wasn’t a woman alive who could come close to what I felt for her, and you know what you taught me?”

“No,” she said, biting her bottom lip as she rode him.

“You taught me I don’t know shit. I’m in love with a bitch who I’m sure is bad news, and I don’t even care anymore.”

Farah tried to keep a straight face, despite the fact that he was talking real shit and fucking her at the same time.

“I stepped to my family for you, Farah. My brothers are telling me that I shouldn’t be with you, and my mother said she’ll never respect you. But guess what? I’m a real nigga, and I have chosen. I’d rather be with you for the rest of my life than to be with some bitch I’m not feeling for another minute.”

She kissed him passionately without responding, and he had his answer. “I can’t believe after all of this time, I’m really in love.”

“Now, that’s what I like to hear.”

They were just about to get into it real heavy when there was a knock at the door.

“Who is that?” Slade asked.

“If they knocking, it can’t be Shadow or Mia.” Farah was nowhere near being presentable, so she said, “It’s probably Vivian. Can you hand her the rent money on the kitchen counter?”

“You keep that. I got a few bucks on me. I’ll pay you up for the next two months.”

She grinned. “Why do I feel spoiled?”

“I haven’t begun to spoil you yet.” He tapped her on the ass. “Let me hurry up and get rid of this bitch so we can finish where we left off. I’ll meet you back here.”

Farah jumped up and went to the bathroom to wash their lovemaking session off her body. She took a look at herself in the mirror and smiled. “You really did it, didn’t you? I guess you’re smarter than people give you credit for.” Her skin was clear and barely held a blemish.

When she was done with her whore’s bath, she walked back into the bedroom, but Slade wasn’t there. “Baby, where you at?” She looked in the closet and even under the bed. She laughed to herself when she realized there was no way he was squeezing his big ass under her mattress. “What you trying to do, play some kinky game or something?”

She walked into the hallway and saw her man standing by the kitchen counter. He was talking low, and she wondered what was up. She started to go back into the room, not feeling like seeing Vivian, until she saw the look on his face. When she continued on her journey and saw him holding one of the mysterious red boxes she’d received, her legs gave out from under her body and she fell. Somehow she was able to push herself up and walk into the living room. That’s when she saw
his
face.

The moment she laid eyes on him, it all made sense. After everything she and her family did to him as a child, why wouldn’t he want revenge? It was Theo Cunningham, the boy she kicked in the penis as a child, because her mother told her to. The boy who lost his mother by the hands of her family.

When Slade took the lid off of the box and pulled out a picture, it was over. From where she stood, she could see it clearly. It was a duplicate of the first picture she’d received and destroyed. It was the photo where she stood over Knox’s bloodied body, covering his nose.

Slade held the picture out and looked in her direction, and the box fell from his hands. “Baby, what is this?” Tears poured out of his eyes. “What is he showing me?”

She moved cautiously toward Slade. “I don’t know,” Farah lied. “What’s going on, Theo? Uh . . . what are you doing at my house? Bringing me fake pictures again?”

“It’s not fake, Farah,” Theo replied. “You and me both know that the photo is authentic. Just tell him the truth.”

She looked at Theo, but her heart was with Slade. There she was, worried about Eleanor, Lesa, and Randy, when all this time it was Theo Cunningham. He wanted revenge, and he’d gotten his wish.

“Farah, why are you standing over Knox’s bloodied body?”

“Baby, I don’t know what this nigga is trying to do, but I bet money that picture is a fake. Don’t let somebody step us back again. We came too far to be together!”

“I’m not telling a lie,” Theo combatted in his two-piece blue suit. Although he was there to ruin her life, he looked like money, like life had been good to him. “These pictures are real, and I have more if you want to see them, Slade. Farah and her family are evil, man, real evil, and it’s time you knew the truth.”

“Farah, is this my brother Knox?” Slade yelled, interrupting him. His voice rocked her eardrums and caused them to itch. “I want you to stop playing games with me! Please . . . please . . . tell me the truth!”

“Slade, can we at least talk about this first? I think this nigga is giving you the wrong impression about me, and I want an opportunity to make it right. There’s so much I want to tell you, but I need to do it in private.”

“I want you to stop telling lies, Farah. Did you or did you not have something to do with my brother going missing?”

Farah remained silent.

“The least you can do is tell the truth, baby,” Slade pleaded. “I’m dying over here.”

“And I’m telling you the truth, but you not listening.”

She never saw a grown man cry that hard before. Sure, she witnessed weaker men shed tears, but never, ever, in all of her life had she witnessed a man she respected cry from his soul. Although she hated to witness it, she understood where the pain came from. She didn’t lose Chloe in the same way, but her death hurt her just as deep. She could only imagine how it must’ve felt to lose a family member at the hands of a woman who stole his heart.

“Be decent, Farah,” he said with a voice full of bass. “Are me and my family looking for a dead man?”

Now she was crying. “Baby . . .”

“Answer the fucking question!”

The boom in his voice rocked her back a few feet. She was trembling. This was it. This was the moment she feared. “I don’t know about the picture, Slade. All I know is—”

“What?” he cut her off. “What do you know?”

“All I know is that I love you.” She stepped up to him. “And that I’ve never loved another human being more than you. Not even my family, Slade.” He stepped away, and she pulled him back and put her head on his chest. She could hear his heart thumping wildly. He tried to walk away, but she pulled him and held on to him so tightly that her nails dug into his skin. “Don’t walk out on me again . . . please.” In a low whisper, she said, “I made a mistake. Please . . . don’t take yourself away from me again.” She paused to look into his eyes.

Finally he pulled himself away from her. “Did you kill my brother?”

Softly she said, “Yes.”

He stepped to her, preparing to do her harm, when there was a knock at the door. Without approval, Theo opened it, and in walked two police officers with angry faces. “Slade Baker, you’re under arrest for the murder of Warren Farmer.” They forcefully grabbed him, threw him up against the kitchen counter, and placed handcuffs on his wrists.

“Where are you taking him?” Farah asked, walking into their space. “Please stop! You’re hurting him!”

“He’s going to jail, ma’am! And if you don’t back the fuck up, you going too.”

“I don’t know nobody named Warren!” Slade had screamed, trying to wrap his mind around everything that was happening. First he discovered that his family had been right about Farah all along, and now he was being arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.

“You may not know him as Warren Farmer, but you should know him as Tornado,” one of the officers yelled. “If that doesn’t jog your memory, maybe you’ll recall the man you beat to death with your bare hands in the hallway.”

Slade felt weak at the knees, because he knew immediately where he went wrong. Because he left Shannon in the restaurant, she did the unspeakable and snitched on him to the cops. She was there the day he killed Tornado, and now he would pay. If he was able to make it out of the situation, he had plans for her, and Farah, too.