Page 25 of The Hellcat Barbies: Aubree
“It must be the season of second chances. Jordan is taking me to dinner tomorrow night.”
My brows lifted, but I didn’t say anything. My mom started dating Jordan three years after my father died. They lasted for two years, and she ended things because he had a gambling addiction.
“He hasn’t gambled in over a year. At least that’s what he says. But his house is paid off, and his two cars are paid off. He has his own trucking company along with a fleet of six trucks. If he isn’t being truthful, at least I know he’s not squandering away everything he has in the casino.”
Other than his addiction to the casino, from what I remembered, Jordan was a pretty cool guy. Because of that, I wasn’t opposed to her spinning the block with him. My mother had been through enough. I didn’t want her to be alone forever. I didn’t want a man taking her through the most either.
“I say go with your gut, ma. It’s not like you have to marry him. There’s nothing wrong with dates and hanging out.”
“Exactly. I saw that boy the other day. With the funny name. The one that used to be with Ish. I think they call him Nice,” she stated slowly trying to recall his name.
My teeth gritted at the mention of his name.
“He hugged me and asked me how I was doing. He offered me some money. I’m not sure how much it was, but it was a decent sized knot. I didn’t take it though. I can’t spend that blood money in good conscience.”
Just when I had started to calm down, Nice was back on his BS playing in me and my mother’s face. I didn’t even have the heart to tell her he was the one that killed Ish.
“Yeah, that’s his name. Nice.” My tone was as even as I could make it. Killing Nice was so heavy on my mind I had even dreamed about it.
I visited with my mother for another hour before leaving. My time with my mother was hers, so I left my phone in the car while I was with her. When I got in the car, I saw that I had a few missed calls. The first phone call I returned was Cook.
“What up?”
“You good man? I haven’t heard from you in a few days.”
“You know how I get,” I mumbled. “This situation with Nice has me in a not so good mood. You know I like to keep to myself when I get like that.”
“I feel you, but I have a way that we can handle his ass without you possibly going to prison for a body. We rob that pussy ass nigga. That way, he takes a major loss. He might not be dead, but for a person like him, falling off is worse than death.”
“How are we supposed to find out where he lives? The day I got the work from him, I think that was Nika’s crib.”
“I already got it fam.” I could hear the smile in Cook’s voice. “And the best part is, the nigga has a keyless door. My little cousin is a computer wiz, and he hacked into that shit faster than I could take a piss. I have the code to get in the house.”
“Damn you been handling business. You know I’m with it. I just left my mom’s house, and she saw him. He hugged her and offered her money. That man is really playing in me and my people’s faces.”
“I’m ready whenever you are. All you gotta do is give me the word.”
“Let’s get that nigga tonight.”
“Say less.”
As Cook punched the code into the keypad, I held my breath. When the door clicked and opened, I exhaled lowly. Cook quietly opened the door, and we heard the alarm chirp. He had less than a minute to put in the code before the alarm sounded. His cousin was able to hack into that to. We didn’t even know what we would find in the house, but Cook’s cousin was so cold with it, that Cook gave him $1,000. He was only sixteen. By the time he was in his twenties, he’d be a beast with hacking.
Another sigh of relief pushed from my throat as the alarm turned off. “Got damn your cousin is the truth,” I murmured.
“For sure.”
We had gloves and masks on. As much as I wanted Nice to know that I knew what he did, letting him see my face and letting him live would be stupid. I wanted him to look me in the eyes when I asked him if he killed my brother. But I was trying to avoid catching an unnecessary body. There were plenty of unsolved murders in Diamond Cove, but I just wasn’t ready to take any chances. This time was supposed to be different. I made a promise to myself.
Cook and I crept up the stairs. It was four in the morning, and the house was quiet and dark. Inside the master bedroom,the only light that shone in the room came from the massive television that was mounted on the wall. The light allowed us to see Nice. He was sprawled out in bed, and he was alone. There was money on the nightstand and the dresser. Slowly, I unzipped the bag that I was carrying and placed the money inside. After I zipped it back up, I walked over to the bed and hit Nice in the head with the butt of my gun.
“What the fuck?” he awakened with wide eyes darting around the room.
I was positive he’d be able to recognize my voice if I said anything, so I remained quiet. Instead, I hit him in the face with the gun and as blood spurted from his nose, Cook approached and tied his hands up with rope.
“What the fuck yo?” Nice was panicking. “I don’t even have anything in here. I don’t keep money in the crib. There’s a few chains and some earrings and shit on the dresser, but that’s it.”
He was lying. Even though his hands were tied, I kept an eye on him while Cook searched the dresser drawers and the closet. There was a safe in the closet, so Cook grabbed him by the neck and dragged him into the closet. He wasn’t trying to talk either, so he just kicked the safe. Nice knew what it meant.
