| |
“THEY GOT HER, MAN,” Ghost said and turned to Reem.
Reem knew what it was. He was so angry that he couldn’t even say anything. Just like Ghost, he was silently blaming himself. He knew he should have pressed more to kill Reese and Mar. Not getting at them sooner had come back to bite them in the ass. First, they had tried to kidnap Toya, and now they had grabbed Kia.
“So, what are they talking about, man?” Reem asked, concerned.
“This nigga talking about he want a quarter million.” “When and where?”
“He didn’t say. He said he would call me tomorrow with the place and time.”
“I’ll put half of the money up, man,” Reem told him.
Ghost just nodded. He knew Reem was just showing his loyalty because they both knew the money wasn’t an issue. The quarter million was peanuts. The safety of Kia was more of a concern. They both knew Reese and Mar were dangerous, so it was no telling what they would do.
Ghost thought back to the conversation he’d had with Shareef. He had told him the only rule to war was to win, and Reese and the crew were showing they were trying to come out on top. The ransom demand was the only good sign. At least, it didn’t appear that Reese was going to kill Kia because he called with a ransom. If he wanted her dead, she would be gone already. Ghost hoped he was right. Of course, the possibility of them killing her after getting the money remained.
“We gotta tell Reef and Schemes,” Reem said. “We’re going to get her back,” he added, patting Ghost’s shoulder.
“After that, you know what we gotta do.”
Ghost nodded. What was understood didn’t need to be said.
Kia was knocked out cold for hours. She wasn’t sure how long she was asleep because the basement she was in was nearly pitch black. The windows were sealed and covered, blocking the sunlight out. Besides, she had a blindfold covering her eyes, and her mouth was gagged. Her legs were numb from being in the same position all night. Both her arms and legs were tied to the arms and legs of a chair. It took her forever to get to sleep, and she was surprised she did. The basement was dank, giving the air a moist feeling. The sound of water dripping every few seconds eased her to sleep.
Finally, she was awaken by the sound of a creaking door. Footsteps followed, and, by the sound, she could tell it was more than one person.
“Well, good morning, pretty lady,” one of the men said.
Kia was frightened by their presence. She was shaking compulsively and couldn’t bring it to a stop if she wanted to. She nearly jumped out her skin when one of them touched her. Toughen up, bitch. Kevin is going to get you outta this, she told herself.
“Relax, I’m just taking off your gag,” one of them told her. She tried to remain calm, but she couldn’t stop shaking. She felt nauseous and started sweating profusely.
“Please, just let me go,” she cried once the gag was removed. “In due time, pretty lady,” one of them said. She couldn’t see them because she had the blindfold on, but she could tell only one of them was talking. It sounded like the guy was disguising his voice. It sounded as if the kidnapper had a mouthful of tissue or something to change his voice.
“Here. Chew on this,” the kidnapper said, putting a granola bar in her mouth.
Kia was reluctant to eat whatever it was she was being given because she couldn’t see it and didn’t know what it was she was being fed. However, the sound of the wrapper crumbling let her know it was food, and the sweet taste on her tongue once he shoved it in her mouth was undeniable. She gobbled the whole bar down as he fed it to her. Then, he gave her some water. He couldn’t lift the bottle to her mouth as fast as she was guzzling the water. Her mouth was dry, and her lips were chapped from going hours with nothing to drink, so the water was a blessing.
“Damn, girl,” he joked. “All right. Put her gag back on,” he said to his accomplice.
Before he could get the towel tied back around her mouth, she started vomiting all over herself. She gagged like her entire insides were being thrown up. Instantly, she felt better, like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.
“What the fuck! Are you all right?”
Kia shook her head before pleading with the men holding her captive.
“Please, let me go,” she cried in a whisper.
“Sorry, this isn’t about you. It’s about the money and that no-good nigga of yours. This will be over today, depending on how your man plays.”
Kia snapped, yelling, “Motherfucker, Ghost is going to kill you! I swear on everything I love—you’re going to rot in hell!”
That earned her a smack across the face, leaving blood in her mouth. She spat it on him, which gained her a closed fist the second time.
“Put the gag back on this bitch!” The other man did as he was told.
“Let’s go make the call before I kill this bitch!”
The two men left the basement and almost instantly Kia started crying. She began feeling nauseous again and started perspiring.
What the hell is wrong with me? she wondered.
Not only was she being held captive, but little Ghost growing inside her was, too.
Special Agent Vito Boselli was sitting at his desk going through a file about a series of robberies committed in the Philadelphia area. He was the best at what he did, and he was determined to solve the string of robberies.
“Vito, we got those records back from the phone company for that phone we recovered at the Beneficial Bank job,” Special Agent John Graham said, entering Vito’s office.
“What about the DNA and hair samples?” Vito asked without raising his head from the file.
“Nothing.” John hated to tell him.
“Do we have a profile put together on this Hawkins guy?” Vito finally looked up, showing some interest.
“Yeah. He lives in the Northwest Division, or, at least, that’s the address we have listed for him.”
“Looks like we have to pay someone a visit,” Vito declared, getting up and snatching his suit jacket from the back of the chair.
“Do you wanna put together a task force?”
“Naw, not yet. We’ll pay this guy a visit, ask him a few questions, and obtain a DNA warrant to see if we can come up with a match,” Vito said.
“Yeah, let’s go. We got our man now,” John said before they left the office to find Schemes.
Bird was watching Khashan once again. However, he’d left him with his mother, Khashan’s grandmother, for the time being. Right now, he was with Ghost and Reem back at Ghost’s place.
Ghost, Reem, and Bird practically sat in silence while awaiting the phone call from Kia’s abductors. They already had the money for the ransom counted and in a duffle bag.
“Have you heard back from Frog or Schemes yet?” Reem asked, breaking the silence.
“Naw, not yet. They wanted to come as soon as I told them, but they’re hot, so I told them to lay low. They’re going to fuck around and get us all jammed up. We don’t need that kind of heat right now,” Ghost answered.
“What about Shareef?”
“He’s supposed to be flying in today. He offered to pay the ransom himself, but I couldn’t let him do that. I told him we had it covered.”
Ghost’s cell phone started ringing. The three of them looked at each other, and then the phone. Bird nodded at Ghost to get it. Bird was just as anxious to get his sister back and retaliate against the men responsible for her disappearance.
Ghost looked at the phone’s screen.
“It’s not them; it’s Schemes,” he said, disappointed.
“Yo!” he answered.
“What’s going on? Is everything all right? I mean have you heard anything from Reese and them yet?” Schemes asked, concerned.
“Naw, they haven’t called yet. This shit is driving me crazy, man.”
“Listen, Ghost. I know I fucked up big time. I was on some nut shit, but, if you need me, I’m here, man. Them niggas gotta pay, dawg,” Schemes said sincerely.
“I know, I know. Don’t worry about that now. Where are you? As a matter of fact, don’t even tell me. Just lay low, man. This shit will blow over. How’s your money looking?”
Ghost had nothing but loyalty to his team. He knew Schemes and Frog were laying low and couldn’t do much. Because of that, he knew they couldn’t move how they wanted to in order to make ends meet, so he was willing to make sure they were good. Schemes told him that he was still good financially.
“What about Frog?” he asked.
“He’s good. I got him,” Schemes replied. “Hold on. He wants to speak to you.”
“What’s up, big homie?” Frog greeted Ghost.
“Man, this is driving me crazy,” Ghost responded.
Ghost was a living example that money didn’t bring happiness. Here he was a millionaire, but it seemed like, just as he reached new heights, his world had come crashing down. Money didn’t mean anything without Kia.
“I feel you, man.” Frog sympathized with him. “I know what you’re going through. We will make them niggas pay for this, man,” he added.“Listen, I got some paper for you, Frog,” Ghost told him. “I know things are tight for you, and I don’t want you to do anything else crazy, so I’m going to give you something to hold you down.”
Frog didn’t reply right away, so Ghost asked him if he’d heard him. “Yeah, I heard you, man. It’s just...it’s just here you are going through a crisis, and you’re still tryna make sure I’m good,” Frog said.
As they were talking, the other line beeped on Ghost’s phone. He read the screen and saw a blocked number.
“This may be them. I have to take this call.” Ghost clicked over before Frog could even respond.
“Yes,” he answered.
“All right. Listen closely,” Reese said. “Do you have the money?”
“Yeah.”
“Of course, you do,” he said, snickering.
“I wanna speak to my wife,” Ghost informed him.
“Shut up, nigga! I’m running the show. You’ll talk to this nasty bitch when I say so, pussy,” he retorted with a lot of animosity.
Ghost bit his tongue. He wanted to flip out on him, but, because he was in no position to do so, he played along.
“Okay, I got your money, man. Please let’s just get this over with,” he pleaded. “And don’t hurt her, man.”
“Stop bitching, nigga.” Reese seemed to be taunting him rather than trying to get the exchange over with.
Sensing Ghost’s impatience, Reese said, “All right. Here’s the deal. You and only you, take the money to the abandoned Taskykake Factory down on Hunting Park. I know you’re not dumb enough to call the cops, but leave those trigger-happy boys of yours at home.”
“All right. I’ll be alone, but I want to speak to her.”
“What did I tell you?” Reese snapped, sounding like he had a mouthful of food. “I’ll let you talk to her when I’m ready. Now, no guns, no company, and no cops! Eight o’clock. Tastykake Factory. Alone!”
Then, the line went dead. Again.