Renee 2

The driver who had been sent to pick her up from the airport drove down the streets of Miami in silence. After witnessing Julian’s blowup and Renee’s depression, Dane thought it would be best to give her some space. She never thought her and Julian’s constant nagging pertaining to getting rid of Carmen affected Renee, but that night, it became clear that even Renee had her breaking point. So for four days and four days only, Dane would leave their world behind and fall back into a life that was normal.

It had been years since Dane had seen her sister. The last time she saw her was at Reagan’s graduation when she received her bachelor’s in psychology. Reagan was on the right path. She lived a life of innocence and knew nothing about her family’s illegal activity. All she knew was that her uncle Ray and aunt Laura gained custody of her and her younger brother when they were children because their parents were murdered in a robbery done wrong. In her eyes, Dane had never quit medical school. Her family led her to believe that she had achieved her calling and still practiced medicine to this day. She never knew that she and her brother were the reason Dane stepped over into the dark side. Never knew that her aunt was a drug dealer who refused to leave the game alone. She had no idea that while they lived with her aunt, Dane saw it as her duty to protect them against their enemies and get revenge on their parents’ killers.

Dane wanted to preserve Reagan’s and her brother’s innocence. She wanted to give them what was taken away from her, and that was happiness. Dane had no kids, so in her soul, she was their mother. Time passed, and Reagan decided that she wanted to move to Miami, where she would work toward her master’s degree. It was her little sister’s dream to become a psychologist and one day run her own practice. Therefore, with Reagan out chasing her dream, and Dane living her life in the fast lane with Metro, days became months and months became years since the two had last seen each other.

Dane watched as the city’s palm trees raced past her window. She wondered how life would have been if her parents had never died. She looked down at her beautiful hands that had done such ugly things and knew that had they never passed, she would not have one drop of blood on them. Lately, Renee had been questioning her about when she would retire, and now that she was on the road to see her sister, the thought of retiring didn’t seem like such a bad idea. She had accomplished what she set out to do when becoming a hit woman a long time ago, and now that she thought long and hard about it, what more was there for her to do in this business that she hadn’t done already?

Dane felt the car slow down then come to a complete stop. She looked at the small, comfortable home that her sister occupied and placed her sunglasses over her eyes. The driver opened her door, and Dane’s long legs came into view. Before she made her way to the house, she observed the neighborhood her sister chose to live in. It was quiet, too quiet in Dane’s opinion. She looked around, searching for a sign of life. She saw no kids playing outside, elderly people taking a walk around the block, or hardworking parents coming home after a hard day’s work. Dane didn’t know why, but she didn’t like it there, and whenever her feelings spoke to her, she listened.

Uncomfortable and on guard, Dane walked up to Reagan’s door, and magically it flew open. The sight of her baby sister caused her to draw a blank. Looking at Reagan was like looking at her mother. Her hair was styled in loose waterfall curls that dropped down her back, and her bronze skin sparkled against the Miami sunrays.

“Dane!” Reagan squealed. She fell into her sister’s arms, and Dane held on to her for dear life. She knew people changed, but looking at Reagan was like looking at their mother. While they hugged, Dane could feel their mother’s presence. A cooling breeze surrounded the sisters, and Dane buried her face into Reagan’s hair. Their mother was hugging them.

“I’m sorry about that,” Reagan apologized. She forced herself out of Dane’s arms. “I know you’re tired. You just got off a plane, and here I am bombarding you with hugs.”

Reagan had such a carefree, childlike smile. It was the type that made people rewind time to when they were a kid, and paying bills and going to work didn’t exist.

“Never apologize for hugging me.” Dane smiled. She could no longer contain her happiness. She was ecstatic to see her sister.

Reagan’s smile got bigger, and she grabbed her sister’s wrist. “Come in. Let me show you around.”

It didn’t take Reagan long to show her around her well-decorated, intimate home. Looking in each room, Dane felt like the walls were closing in on her. She was used to huge spaces, like her home in Jamaica, and wondered what Reagan had seen in this tiny home. Then it hit her: Reagan wasn’t her. Material things didn’t better her mood or lighten up the dark days she spent stained in blood. Reagan didn’t hold on to the anger that pumped through her veins, and that was all because she was normal.

The two ladies sank into the white couch from Ashley Furniture and sipped on white wine. Dane asked, “Tell me, how has life been treating you?”

Reagan’s eyes sparkled and seemed to get bigger with every second that passed. “In a couple of months, I will have my master’s and will be able to open my own practice. So I started looking around for office space. I just can’t decide. Everything I see, I want.” Reagan giggled, and Dane flashed back to all the times she tickled her as a kid, and she let out that same sound.

“When you get your degree and are ready to make a decision, let me know. It will be my graduation gift to you.”

“Are you serious? Are you sure? Can you afford it?” The questions seemed to roll off Reagan’s tongue.

“If I couldn’t, I wouldn’t offer.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. My sis is a big-time doctor! You putting people back together and whatnot!”

In need of an escape from her lies, Dane poured herself more wine. The alcohol had reached the brim of her glass when she caught a glimpse of her sister’s wedding band.

“Will I be meeting the mister tonight?” Dane nodded at her ring.

Reagan’s smiled dimmed and then looked forced. “Yeah, he’ll be home in a couple of hours,” Reagan answered softly.

Not too long after Reagan made her move to Miami, she met her husband and wound up getting hitched. No one knew that she had vowed to love, honor, and obey this man until she made a call home after their honeymoon. Dane was the last to know her sister had jumped the broom. Reagan was scared her older sister would be disappointed in her for her spur-of-the-moment decision and for not allowing the family to help her plan and attend the wedding of her dreams. However, after she met Malcolm, she didn’t want to wait to marry him. The faster she could take his last name, the better. Everyone was angry with her, but with time, all was forgiven but never forgotten.

“That’s not the tone of a newlywed.”

Reagan was silent. Her eyes landed everywhere except on Dane. She thought about her woman’s intuition that kept knocking on her door. Almost a minute ran by, and Dane waited for her sister to speak, but no words were given.

“Are you going to just sit there, or are you going to tell me what’s on your mind?”

Reagan’s eyes were stationed on her glass, her mind playing a game of volleyball with her thoughts. “I think he’s cheating,” she blurted out.

Dane’s body froze, and her blood stopped in her veins. “Why do you think that?”

“Out of the blue, he started coming home late, keeping more to himself, and it’s nearly impossible to get in touch with him when he’s out. Either it’s that, or he’s back to . . .”

Instantly, Reagan stopped talking. She looked at her sister and knew if she said what was about to come out of her mouth, she wouldn’t approve.

“‘It’s either that or he is back . . .’ Finish your sentence,” Dane pushed.

It didn’t matter that Reagan was in her twenties and hadn’t seen her sister in years. She still couldn’t hide things from her. She needed a woman to confide in, so she decided to come clean.

“It’s either that or he’s selling drugs again.”

Dane’s chest caved in. “What are you talking about?” Dane didn’t raise her siblings to engage in that lifestyle. She did all she could to shield them from it, and now that Reagan was telling her that she had dealings in drugs, Dane beat herself up for being absent for so many years.

Reagan took a deep breath. “When I met him, he was a drug dealer. He made good money and was pretty deep into it. But after months of being with him, I couldn’t do it anymore. That’s not how I was raised, and I began to feel like I was betraying the family or something. And let’s not mention how afraid I was that something may happen to him. The fear alone made me want to be with him twenty-four seven, just to guarantee his safety. So when he proposed, I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I told him how I felt about him being a drug dealer. And just like that, he gave it all up. We were going to move out of Miami and start fresh, but I couldn’t tear myself away from my school, so we stayed. Once he cut off all ties with his illegal lifestyle, we got hitched and moved into this house. He always wanted to open a business, so he washed his money and opened a restaurant.” Reagan searched Dane’s eyes for her thoughts but saw nothing.

“What now?” Dane finally asked.

“I don’t know,” Reagan answered truthfully, her eyes a puddle of tears. “But I know I can’t live like this, and I definitely won’t stand for infidelity. I just don’t know what to do or where to start.”

“I know what to do.”

Reagan looked at her sister with hope in her eyes. “What? Tell me.”

Dane thought visiting her sister would place her in a normal environment and remind her of a life she had left behind a long time ago, but obviously, her current ways followed her. Hearing that her sister’s husband was possibly cheating on her enraged Dane, but to know that he was a drug dealer sent her over the edge. Dane was a hypocrite because she denied her siblings everything she indulged in on a regular basis, but that was only because she knew the dangers that came with the territory.

“You’re going to let me handle things. You’re going to tell him that I had to cancel and never showed. Then you will show me an up-close picture of him, tell me the type of car he drives and his license plate, and give me a list of all the places he frequents. Starting tomorrow, I will follow him the second he leaves in the morning. I will be waiting up the block for him to pull off at five a.m. However, I will have to leave here soon. I know the owner of a car rental company a few minutes from here that will give me a car right now if I give him the word.”

Dane pulled out her Apple phone and shot a text to the man she was speaking of. Reagan was amazed with how her sister ran Operation Catch Malcolm down in just a matter of seconds. She didn’t think she wanted her sister involved in her marital affairs, but how could she tell her no? Dane had a plan, a plan that she didn’t doubt would work. Without further delay, Reagan gave her approval.

“You have my full permission to do what you have to do.”

Dane looked up from her phone and at her baby sister. She wished she hadn’t just spoken those words, because without her knowing it, she had possibly signed off on her husband’s death warrant. Her phone vibrated in her hands, snatching her out of her deadly thoughts.

Calloway: The men Carmen recruited work for a Miami drug dealer by the name of Malcolm Maylin a.k.a. Benz. They seem to have an on-again, off-again relationship, but after meeting up a couple of weeks ago, they are now back on. Malcolm is dirty, Dane. Having him this close to us will be nothing but trouble, just like before. I suggest we exterminate him immediately.

Dane looked at her sister. Everything she assumed about her husband was nothing but the truth, and even though her intuition didn’t steer her wrong, Dane still knew she would take the truth hard. She no longer needed to investigate Benz, but she would let her sister believe she was.

“Reagan, try to get through to your husband and tell him I didn’t show, and then get me all the information I’ll need.”

Reagan stood up from the couch and made her way to the kitchen to retrieve the cordless phone. Dane was in the middle of stuffing her phone into her pocket when another text came in.

Metro: Lyfe’s house burned down, and he was in it.