Page 34 of Memphis

“Thank you. So…you came here to do a performance evaluation? That’s it?”

He stared at me as if making a decision. Then he said, “Come here,” in this low voice. Not exactly commanding but not begging, either. Rather, it felt beseeching and full of deep desire. And damned if I didn’t want to obey him. I wasn’t the obeying type when it came to men or much of anyone else because fuck that. So, I didn’t move…although I wanted to.

Instead, I asked, “Why?”

He licked his nice lips, his eyes darkening. “Because I said so, King.”

“You might be my boss, but you don’t own me. You can’t make me do shit, Mr. 001A.”

“Bo.”

That one word made my heart jolt in my chest. “What?”

“My name is Bo. That’s what I want you to call me.” He moved closer to me, the scent of him crawling all over me. “When I finally fuck you, I wanna hear you scream that, not some damn numbers.”

I blinked hard as he moved even closer. “I’m not fucking you. To be honest, I don’t even like you. You can fire me if that’s going to be a problem.”

His face was mere centimeters from mine as he countered, “You don’t like me, but you’re damn near hyperventilating, King. Don’t worry, I won’t touch you today?—”

Some crazy bitch inside me jumped out and kissed this nigga, hard and rough. He was so caught off guard that he moaned in what had to be an uncharacteristic and momentary show of weakness. He kissed me back, matching my vigor, and when we parted, we just sat there, our heaving breaths crashing in the small space between us. What seemed like a millennia later, he pecked my lips one soft time, before wordlessly leaving my sofa and my home.

My only thought?

Why the fuck did I do that?

19

Now…

Iwas dragged through the grove into the trees beyond the house.

There, I was warned, “I’m going to let you go. Don’t run or scream,” as if I didn’t already know not to do that. I’d just killed a sitting US senator. I wasn’t trying to get caught!

Once free, I hit him upside his damn head with my fist before backing up to kick him in the gut.

“Damn,” he grunted, holding his stomach. “This how you greet a nigga?”

“You lucky I didn’t shoot your stupid ass! Bo, what the fuck are you doing here?!” I said through clenched teeth. “I am working, fool!”

“I saw. Good, clean kill, by the way.”

I dropped my shoulders. “I saw someone standing outside the house. A kid, maybe. A-a witness.”

“You’re that kid’s hero. That was one of her victims.”

I nodded. “I figured that. I just…shouldn’t we go back and help them? What if there are others? What if some other ass-wipe swoops in and sells them or something?”

“The authorities will be contacted as soon as we get out of here. Speaking of which, let’s go. We’re running out of time.”

He grasped my hand, leading me deeper into the canopy of trees until we reached what looked to be a shack. By then, the sun was beginning to creep into the sky. I watched as he opened the door, pulling me into the dark structure.

“There’s a ladder that leads down into a tunnel. This is how they move the kids,” he said, pointing to a wide hole in the floor in the middle of the one-room shack.

I gasped, “What?”

“We gotta hurry, baby. No time to discuss this.”

I nodded, observing as he descended the ladder. I decided to close the door before following him with my rifle slung over my shoulder. We both wore gloves—an essential part of our uniform—so I knew we wouldn’t leave any fingerprints behind. Thenagain, a place used to illegally transport people would probably be a nightmare to investigate—fingerprints everywhere.

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