My Addiction: Second Chances Series (20 page)

I looked wide-eyed at my brother’s limp body and then slowly my eyes went to Ramone.

“Thought you could stay away from me, you bitch?”

I moved to the bathroom hoping it had a window when I was suddenly hit with, shit, I don’t know how many volts of electricity and I hit the ground hard.

Unbearable pain ran through my body as I screamed out in agony.

This can’t be happening to me.

I closed my eyes, my last thoughts being how disappointed Brad would be in me. I thought that was the end, so you can imagine how surprised I was when my eyes suddenly fluttered open. I turned my head just in time to see Ramone remove a needle from my arm.

My brain was so scattered that I didn’t have a clue what was going on, but I knew Ramone did something to me. I could feel it running through my veins.

“What did you just give me?”

Ramone frowned. “You think you could just fuck me over? All you had to do was fight in one more fight… That’s all you had to do.”

Whatever he put in my arm was starting to make him go in and out of focus. The room started spinning uncontrollably and I started to panic. I’d been clean for years. I’d never done hard drugs, but whatever he gave me started making my heart rate increase as if it was going to bust out of my chest.

“What have you done to my brother?” I said to him.

“Why don’t you worry about what I’m going to do to you?”

I started to get up when he punched the shit out of me, not once but twice before he pounced on me.

He placed all his weight on me, and I could feel him touching me, caressing me but I couldn’t stop him. I couldn’t move anything. Every part of me felt like it weighed a ton. My eyelids felt as if they were bricks and I had no choice but to close them.

I could feel the bed shift and suddenly felt Ramone’s hot breath on my face, his smell taking over my nostrils, burning me from the inside out right along with whatever was coursing through my body.

“I heard you like to get high,” he whispered, in my ear. “So I made you something very nice. Something that will make you feel real good at first, but that won’t last long. You’ll start to feel an enormous amount of pain right before your heart explodes. But hell, it’s not like anyone will miss you.”

I felt him lick my face and then heard him laugh.

“Leave me alone,” I managed to say, albeit weakly.

“Don’t you worry. I plan to… I plan to. When they find your body, it will look like you overdosed and with your track record no one will dispute it. And best believe I’ll get to that bitch you’re hiding. Yeah, I’m thinking that’s what I’m going to do. Right after I kill that cop’s brother staying at the Aloft. What’s his name? Brad, right?”

“No, please,” softly fell from my lips. I tried to will myself to move, but I couldn’t.

Shit
. I opened my eyes just in time to see Ramone grinning from ear to ear just before darkness suddenly took over my senses.

Then suddenly, as if a curtain went up on a stage play, I was laying poolside dressed in a white bikini, getting some much-needed sun. I had a tropical looking drink next to me, the sky was blue and so was the ocean. It was paradise.

I started to smile and looked around to see who was in paradise with me. I turned to the left and saw my brother and Lock. They were drinking beer and smiling at each other. That alone should have triggered some alarm bells but it didn’t. I didn’t know how to explain the feeling that came over me. It’s as if my brain was signaling that something wasn’t right, except I felt content with what I saw.

Lock and Terrence were looking off to my right, so my eyes traveled to see what had their attention and I saw Brad. He was dressed in an all-white linen suit, looking good enough to eat. He had a huge smile on his face and he was looking over at us. I smiled back and was about to get up to go to him when the brightest smile came over his features. He turned away from us and stood with his arms open.

I stretched to see who he was expecting and nearly passed out as I watched Nora jump in his arms and wrap herself around him. I couldn’t move. My heart started breaking instantly and when he brought her lips to his I heard “No” rip through paradise as if the words never came from my lips.

I opened my eyes abruptly to darkness and thought I was in hell, but the harsh sound of my heart beating in my ears told me I wasn’t there yet. Yes, I still had time. If only I could...

I sat up, trying not to vomit from the vertigo and realized I was alone. I needed to get out of here.

I moved to the front door, but the moment I stood and started walking, my legs went from under me. This feeling, something I never felt before, came over me. I just lay there on my back looking up at the ceiling.

My chest started to hurt, as if someone was sitting on it. I couldn’t breathe. My head was on fire and it hurt to blink.

I was going to die here.

Ramone was right; no one would believe that I was set up and drugged.

As much as my head hurt, my thoughts drifted to the one person, the one regret of my life. My mom would be so upset that I didn’t make it right with him. I was going to die without saying goodbye, without telling him how sorry I was.

I tried to roll my body to the door, hoping that if I could just get it open, maybe someone would see me. Then I felt something hard in my back pocket. I slowly brought my hands behind me and felt for the object underneath me.

My phone.

I pulled it out and tried to call Brad. It took me three attempts, but the moment I heard his voice it felt like the pain in my head lifted slightly. It was his voice, no matter how bitter and angry he sounded, that gave me enough energy to crawl to the bathroom and try to get some of whatever I could out of me.

I don’t know if it worked because I blacked out.

Hell, maybe I deserve exactly what I was getting.

Nora looked at Lock then Brad before she sighed and went to the couch. She said looking at the floor, “There’s nothing to tell. Special Agent Allen called me one day asking me about Brad and what his affiliation to Ayana was.”

Lock moved closer to her. “And you told him?” he asked.

“I knew I was losing him,” Nora met Brad’s eyes, then looked over at Lock. “Or
lost
him, rather, and I was bitter and angry, so yes, I told him everything I knew about her and Brad, but mainly I told him everything about her.”

“What’s everything?” Brad asked.

Nora shrugged her shoulders. “Everything.”

Silence filled the room and Lock finally understood why his brother let this woman go. No matter how put together this woman was, no matter how assured she seemed, she was far from that. The look in this woman’s eyes wasn’t love for his brother or regret; hell, it wasn’t even desperation. It was defeat. She had that look of losing a race, coming in second, and not liking it at all.

Lock felt his phone vibrate and he picked it up. “Mills.”

“All the techs could do is narrow down the call area to a thirty-mile radius. She’s somewhere around Lewisville,” Scott told him.

Lock looked at his brother and said to the phone, “Send me what the techs gave you and meet me out there. Brad told me he thinks she’s in some hotel. Get the techs to find all hotels and motels in the thirty-mile radius. Also, send the information to Martins. I’ll call him when I get to the car.”

“You got it.”

“Do you have eyes on Noelle?” Lock asked.

“Yes, Derek has her on lockdown. However, she knows about Ayana. She’s not taking things too well.”

Lock inhaled. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was feeling the same way as Noelle. “Alright, I’ll see you in a few.”

Lock looked at his brother. “Look, Brad, I know I promised you answers. Believe me, I’ll tell you everything that’s going on, but right now I really need to get on the road.”

Brad moved and grabbed Lock’s arm. “How bad is it?”

Lock looked in his brother’s eyes and saw the look in his eyes that he expected to see in Nora’s. It’s the same look he used to have in his eyes for MJ. No matter how much his brother fights his emotions, Ayana is his weakness. “It’s not good.”

Brad took a few deep breaths. “Send me what you have, and I’ll meet you out there.”

Lock nodded. “Are you sure?”

“She and I may not be good for each other, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care for her.”

Lock nodded again. “Okay, I’ll send you the information. Make sure you leave your gun here, Brad. I don’t need you to go off half-cocked, understand?”

Brad smirked. “Yup, I got it.”

“Brad!” Lock pointed his finger at him. “Don’t let me catch you with it, or I’ll arrest you on site.”

Brad shook his head. “Bro, it’s my right as a Texan and as a licensed carrier to carry as long as it remains cold.”

“Yeah, you remember that,” Lock interrupted, looked at Nora, then added as he headed to the door. “Let’s go.”

“Brad,” Nora stood and moved toward Brad, but he didn’t stop.

“Nora, I need to find her. Then we can finish our conversation.”

Nora retreated slightly and nodded. “Okay, I’ll be waiting right here for you.”

*****

Lock felt relief when Brad sent him the address where he found Ayana, but dread immediately hit him when he asked for an ambulance.

Anger flooded him when he saw the condition Ayana was left in. She looked horrible. She had a bruise on her face that boiled him, especially since she told him he choked her before. He hoped he would get a chance to see Allen before Martins got to him.

Scott walked up to him as Lock stood on the outside of the hotel room watching the paramedic stabilize Ayana. “I just got finished with the manager of the hotel.”

Lock nodded. “What did you find out?”

Scott smiled. “Well, our friend has a broken nose, so he complained to me about some crazy white boy assaulting him.”

Lock scoffed and shook his head. “Brad?”

Scott nodded. “Yup. He said he asked about the girl and due to their strict privacy policy, he didn’t say anything, so Brad apparently beat the answer out of him.”

“Privacy policy,” Lock grunted, “Seriously?”

Scott chuckled. “That’s what he said. He also said that Brad was crazy and threatened to kill him if he didn’t give up the information.”

“Does he want to press charges?”

Scott’s brows furrowed. “No, he understood that the man was just under a huge amount of distress over his girlfriend.”

Lock looked questioningly at him and Scott held up his hands, “Hey, I didn’t do anything to him. I just encouraged his thought process, that’s all.”

“Yeah, I bet. What else? Did he say how she got here?”

Scott pulled out his notebook from his back pocket. “He said she arrived with some black guy that he claimed had to be her pimp.”

Lock frowned. “Why did he say that?”

“Well, he claims that the guy she came with just dropped her in the room. About a few minutes later, he said he saw another black guy go into the room. He didn’t have a description, said some fucked up shit that all black people look alike. He then said that a few minutes later a white guy, tall, stringy blonde hair went in the room. He said shit like that happens in lots of hotels along this strip; not here, mind you, that’s why he paid close attention.” Scott rolled his eyes at the last point.

“Did you ask him about what kind of car Allen arrived in, assuming it was Allen?”

“He said he drove a black sedan…average looking car. He also said he left about thirty minutes later by himself. He claims he never saw the other black guy leave. He did mention hearing a lot of commotion right before the white man left. There was a lot of yelling, he told me, and car tires screeching, shit like that.”

“Did he see anything?” Lock asked, even though he knew the answer.

“Nope, conveniently by the time he got to the window, all was silent.”

Lock rolled his eyes. “Yeah, how convenient was that? He saw two people go into the hotel room, one come out, but he didn’t see anything else.” Lock took a deep breath and tried to understand what this shit meant, but drew a blank. He looked at Ivey.

“I need for you to stay on the scene to make sure the techs get everything I need from that room. Did he say if there was a security camera?”

Scott shook his head. “No, sir, and I confirmed it as I looked around the building. I will say I just got some good news.”

Lock’s eyebrows rose. “Yeah, what is it?”

“The guy that was driving the car I was chasing, the one that dropped off Ms. Peters, has just been picked up.”

Lock’s eyes widened.
Yeah, that was good news. Maybe they can tie some loose ends sooner rather than later,
he thought to himself.

“Finally, we might have a break.”

Just then, the paramedic moved out of the room with Ayana strapped to the gurney. Lock watched as they moved quickly to the back of the ambulance. Lock turned to Scott.

“I’m going to the hospital to check on Ayana and take her statement if I can. I want you to get someone to the station to interrogate the driver of the car you were following. Have them lean on him heavily if they have to, I want answers.”

Ivey nodded his understanding and Lock continued, “If you get any additional information let me know. Also, put an APB for Ramone Allen. I know for a fact the motherfucker was here. He fits the description the dumbass motel manager gave, plus the car. I can also smell that hideous cologne that Peters mentioned the other day covering that hotel room too.”

Scott nodded agreeing on all counts and started taking notes in his pad. “And tell everyone he’s a federal agent, and extremely dangerous. Tell them to approach with caution.”

“You want me to tell them Allen’s a Fed?” Scott asked, skeptically. He knows how the Feds are received by cops, so to hear one of them is wanted is going to make cops a little on edge.

Lock knew it too and added, “Yup, I want them to know. They will pay more attention to Ramone, and I don’t want anyone to second guess putting cuffs on that son of a bitch.”

Scott nodded and Lock moved to his car.

*****

The moment he got to the hospital, he found out Ayana was stable and responsive. He walked in her room just as her eyes opened and fell on his.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

She took a few deep breaths. “I’m okay.”

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Lock grabbed a chair, pulled it close to her bed, and sat down.

She closed her eyes a moment and told Lock what she remembered; from getting the call from her brother and deciding to meet him, to Allen walking in and Terrence not being surprised. She told him how Allen hit her brother, knocking him unconscious, then hitting her with a Taser.

She shook her head slowly.

“That doesn’t feel good at all.”

Lock grinned slightly. “Yeah, it’s not supposed to.”

She continued to tell him how he drugged her and threatened to go after Noelle and Brad.

Ayana started, “Is she…”

Lock nodded. “She’s good. Derek has her on lockdown.”

“What about Ice’s? Was anyone hurt?”

“A few people had some bumps and bruises, a lot of damage, a lot of arrests and unnecessary paperwork.”

She sighed deeply. “I have a feeling Terrence had something to do with that, so I could get away from you. Have you heard anything about him? Has he come forward or shown up somewhere I should be alarmed about?”

“No, but don’t worry. I’m looking for him.”

She closed her eyes. “I shouldn’t have left.”

“No, you should not have, but I understand why. I get the love you have for your brother,” Lock replied, and Ayana opened her eyes and looked at him.

“Yeah, but he didn’t deserve my trust or my love it seems. He had something working with Allen, I could feel it. I know my brother, and whatever it was, it wasn’t good.”

Lock leaned closer to her. “Ayana, you know very well your brother thinks he’s a boss. Maybe he thought he was helping you. Maybe he was gonna take your place with Santos.”

“God, I hope not. I love him for trying, but hate him for not trying to help me when I needed him the most.”

She paused then she asked him, “Is um… Brad… Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s as good he can be. He’s the one that found you.”

She let a slow breath out and closed her eyes, “Of course, he was.”

Lock could see all the fight drain out of her instantly, as if she was waiting for the hospital floor to open up and swallow her whole.

He leaned closer. “What about you?” he asked. “Did they tell you what it was he drugged you with?”

“No, not yet,” she said shaking her head. “But he told me he gave me something that the Feds use, so I doubt they will find anything in my system.”

Lock leaned back in his chair and told her everything he knew about the situation and about Ramone and Martins. Hearing everything from someone else’s perspective made her sick to her stomach. She closed her eyes again. “I am so stupid.”

“Ayana, you couldn’t have known.”

“Yes, Lock, I did know. I mean, I could see it in his eyes that he was gone.”

“Yeah, but you were right to worry about Martins. You had no idea Ramone was working alone. Martins could have responded in a way that could have put you and Noelle in jeopardy. And shit, I didn’t make it any easier on you. You came to me for help and what did I do? I pretty much drove you to the Feds.”

“I’m sure throughout the years I didn’t make it easy for you to believe in me, and I know you were going through a lot.”

“Honestly, Ayana, it shouldn’t have mattered. I was in a bad place yes, but I’m a professional first and foremost. You should’ve been able to come to me, but I get why you didn’t. I am glad that you finally got through to me, even though it was at gun point.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” she chuckled.

Lock smiled and shook his head. “Yeah, I’m sure you are.”

They both grew quiet, and then Lock said, “Are you going to call Brad?”

Ayana’s smile faded and she shook her head, sadness suddenly evident in her eyes. “Come on, Lock. I blew that.”

“Ayana, this wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t really matter. You heard what he said. This was my chance, and I blew it. There’s no way he’s going to give me a second chance.”

“Shit, I’m going to be sick from saying this, but you and my brother belong together.” Ayana’s eyes bucked, but he continued. “Yeah, don’t be so surprised. I think I’ve known all along that there is no you without him, and vice versa. When I used to see you two together, I was envious. I wanted what you two had, and I think anyone around you felt the same way. You two are great together and, if you give up now, I guarantee you will never find another person better than Brad, and he won’t be able to find anyone better than you.”