Return of the Cartier Cartel (25 page)

Cartier wondered how Wonderful could break it down like that, but then she remembered that Jason had told him everything, and he’d seen everything from the sideline.

“Wonderful, this is too much to take in. All those people you just named, I would trust with my life.”

“Well, you must not value your life much, ’cause a nigga just told you how it went down. You can’t trust anyone, or you’ll end up like my man.”

Cartier wiped her tears. “What’s the location of the block?”

“I’ma go with you.”

“Nah, I gotta do this one solo. Just like you said, I can’t trust no one.”

Chapter 29

Heartless

Cartier dropped Bam and Li’l Momma back off, not spilling one word of what Wonderful told her. The whole time she kept her eyes peeled from Li’l Momma in the backseat to Bam in the passenger’s position. All she kept imagining was either one of them putting a silver bullet in the back of her head. They knew she was upset and had been crying, but she’d told them the telephone call was from Trina, who’d reported she still hadn’t heard anything from Head or Jason. She told both girls she was heading over to Head’s, but really, she was on a whole other mission.

The night air was extremely brisk for a summer evening. Cartier circled the block numerous times before settling on a hideout. She parked Jason’s conspicuous bright white Benz almost a mile away and hiked to the location Wonderful had given her. She had no idea what she was going to do once she got there, nor did she know whether or not she was walking into a trap. All she knew was, those closest to her were dropping like flies.

Clad in oversized jeans and sweat-hood that she’d smeared in dirt, a baseball cap, and kicked up Timberland boots, she pulled her hat low and gripped her gat firmly under her sweatshirt. Cartier trekked toward the location, staggering over to the steps and sitting down. All business establishments were closed—laundromat, cleaners, realtor, and daycare center. The only store open was a bodega that sat in the middle of the block. Cartier sat very closely to the trash bins and pretended to be homeless. She knew that area well, and it was littered with panhandlers, so she’d fit right in.

Cartier sat peering at some young girls walking down the block. They were in five-inch stilettos and dresses so short, if they needed to bend for any reason, they’d be giving a full view of the crack of their asses.

Young gangsters finished their shifts of hugging the block and turned in their hustling clothes for party gear. As the patrons went in and out of the tenement building, no one seemed to care that there was a homeless person just a few feet away.

Minutes turned into hours, and hours felt like days. Cartier wanted to go home and come out to fight another day, but she knew if she wrapped things up tonight, she wouldn’t have to come back another day. Besides, the way things were going down, she knew there wouldn’t be too many safe days in front of her.

Could someone close to her have really wanted Jason dead? Did someone other than Ryan and Marisol want Cartier dead?

The sharp kick to Cartier’s lower back jolted her out of her daydream and thrust her back into reality.

A young thug who was trying to impress his entourage barked at Cartier, “Move ya stink ass off this stoop! This ain’t the Holiday Inn!”

The two young girls he was with started giggling.

With her head hanging low, Cartier moved slowly, as an elderly person would, off the stoop and crawled up next to three large garbage cans. As she wrestled the cans to have a seat, a large rat came darting out of its safe haven and skirted across her feet. Cartier stifled a yelp. She knew she needed to control her emotions.

Cartier didn’t need to look at her watch to know it was getting late. Fewer cars traveled down the concrete pavements, and the block felt almost desolate. Every thirty minutes or so you’d hear a New York City bus come rumbling down the block to either pick up or drop off a passenger. Still, the bodega remained open. Cartier surmised that it was open twenty-four hours, with one or two customers every hour.

After counting cars, Cartier needed to stretch her legs, cramped from sitting on the cold, hard cement. Bending down to touch her toes, she didn’t notice the familiar figure breeze past her. By the time she stood up, he was already gone.

Thirty minutes later, Cartier couldn’t believe her eyes when Ryan came walking out of the bodega with a paper bag tucked under his arm and a cell phone glued to his ear.

“I be there in twenty minutes, so keep it warm and wet for daddy,” he said.

Cartier’s hands began to tremble. She’d pictured this scene over and over in her head for almost a year. She had no idea what she was going to do. She’d always thought The Cartel would kidnap Ryan and torture him to death after he’d confessed to killing Shanine and Monya. She wanted to look directly into his eyes and watch him bitch up as he pleaded for his life. She’d even thought about setting him on fire while he was still alive and watch him scream as his skin melted off his bones.

But in life not everything happens as planned, and in the split second she had before Ryan realized she was walking behind him, she did something unconventional.

“Whoo-hooo,” she whistled.

Ryan turned around slightly in a non-threatening manner, oblivious to the impending danger. In that split second his mind began racing. Had he done the right thing by setting up Head? He knew that they’d had a truce and that Head was family, but with him out of the way, he wouldn’t have to leave New York, which was his territory, and he wasn’t about to let anyone run him out.

Ryan tried his hardest to keep his word as a man, but that wasn’t his makeup. He’d backstab his own momma, if it would mean advancing.

Now, with a gunman staring him in his face, he wished he’d rethought his decision. Had he kept his promise, he and Marisol would’ve been looking out on the blue water on Ocean Avenue on the Miami strip, and he’d have his share of Spanish mommies to gawk at. This late-night trip to pick up cash was routine for Ryan. He didn’t feel as if he needed a crew, especially since no one was supposed to know about that location.

Before Ryan could reach, Cartier looked him squarely in his eyes, so he could know where the hit came from, and let four hot slugs rip through his body. When he dropped to the ground, she stood over him and pumped three into the back of his head. Oddly enough, she didn’t run away. She bent down and picked up his cell phone and could hear the frantic voice of a female.

“You’re next, bitch!”

Chapter 30

Devil in a New Dress

Of the few people Cartier could trust, Trina was definitely on that list. She and her mother didn’t keep any secrets, and if Trina had snitched out Jason, she would have told Cartier.

Cartier tried to creep into the house, to not wake anyone, but Trina was up sitting in the kitchen. The house reeked of cigarette smoke.

“Thank God, you’re home.” Trina leapt from the table and embraced her daughter as if she’d never see her again. “I have been sitting here all night worrying about you.”

“Ma, I’m all right, but first thing tomorrow morning, we gotta bounce.”

Trina was ready to get off that block and didn’t want to ask too many questions. “OK, cool. I’m ready to go with just the clothes on my back.”

Cartier could see that she had her mother worried. She had that same look when the detectives had kicked in the door to arrest Cartier for murder.

“Good, the earlier, the better. I don’t know where we’re headed just yet. I didn’t sort all that out yet. We could probably drive to Jersey and stay at a hotel for a couple weeks until I figure out our next move.”

“What happened out there tonight?”

“Ryan is done.” Cartier closed her eyes tightly and then opened them to face the reality of the situation. “And I also got his cell phone. I want to give the number to Bam to see if her connect in the telephone company could get an address, but—”

“But what?”

“Wow! Trina, I don’t know where to begin. Tomorrow I gotta go to the precinct and file a missing person’s report on Jason and Head. I think they’re both dead.”

“I hate to think like that, but it’s been two days.”

“Well, not only that.” Cartier paused and willed herself to not lose it. “Wonderful called me earlier, and not only did he tell me that Jason called him and his answering machine taped the whole murder—”

“What?”

“Yeah, let me finish. He said that Ryan is caught on tape torturing Jason to give up my location, and from how it sounded, there wasn’t any way they left Jason alive. And on top of that info, Ryan also says on the tape that there’s a traitor in my camp.”

“A traitor? You mean someone is working with Ryan to have you killed? Someone we know?”

“That’s what he said, but until I hear the tape for myself, I can’t go around accusing anyone. Wonderful even said that Janet could be one of the usual suspects.”

Cartier didn’t dare tell her mother that he said Trina too, which would surely have hurt her feelings. She thought Trina would start breaking to take up for Janet, but instead, she just remained silent.

Cartier continued, “So let’s break out first thing in the morning without telling anyone. We’ll stop by the precinct on our way out, and I’ll think of a way of matching an address with the telephone number.”

“Well it’s always darkest before the dawn, Cartier. You can’t give up. You’ll find out who’s leaking information.”

Cartier pulled out Ryan’s phone and went through the contacts. Ryan had over two thousand contacts in his iPhone, and when she searched for the obvious names, Li’l Momma, Bam, or Janet, nothing showed up. Then it dawned on her what she’d learned from Mari. If Ryan knew he was dealing with a double agent, he might file the telephone number with a codename.

****

Cartier’s cell phone had to ring six times before it woke her up. It was only seven in the morning, and she’d probably been asleep less than three hours. She’d fallen asleep with Ryan’s phone in her hands, going through the massive address book.

“Hello?”

“Babe, finally.”

“Head?”

“Yeah, it’s me. I don’t got long, I got someone—”

“Tawana. You got Tawana connecting you. Get it right, now.”

“Be easy, Tawana. You know how they are with these three-way calls, and I don’t have much time before they end this. Cartier, look, I couldn’t call your cell phone collect, so Tawana is doing me this solid. I got jammed up when I left you the other night. The cops caught me ridin’ dirty. The only person who knew my movements was Ryan. He called for me to meet him—look, that’s a long story, but if I get the chance, if you ever decide to come and see me—a nigga will be out of commission for a while—I’ll kick it with you. But right now you’re in danger. Niggas know I ain’t there to hold you down, so you gotta bounce. And I mean, right now. Don’t trust no—”

The line went dead.

Sleep-deprived Cartier hopped up, her mind racing. Yes, she was thankful beyond words that he wasn’t dead, but the urgency in his voice spooked her. He was the second person in a short timeframe to tell her that she couldn’t trust those around her.

“Ma!” Cartier screamed.

Within seconds, Trina came bursting into the kitchen. “It’s time. We gotta go! That was just Head. He’s alive, but he said that niggas are gonna be gunning for me and that I shouldn’t trust no one.”

“OK, I’m going to get the kids up.”

“Don’t take anything. Don’t wash them up, nothing. I’m going to get the car and bring it around front. Wait until I call before you come downstairs.”

Just as Cartier began pulling on her jeans, Christian came out of her room with wide eyes. Cartier tucked her pistol in her waistband and pulled on her T-shirt to conceal it. Before she could pull on her sneakers, Christian began whining.

“I wanna go.”

“Quiet! And go and get dressed with your grandmother. We’re all going. Mommy’s going to get the car.”

The defiant little girl wasn’t having it. She truly missed her mother, who had been running the streets for weeks. “Please, Momma, I wanna go with you. I’ll be good, I promise.”

Cartier looked at her little face and couldn’t resist. She hurried and began to dress Christian.

Trina came out of her room fully dressed. “Look, you taking too long, Cartier. Get the others dressed, and I’ll go and get the car.”

Fendi, Prada, and Jason Jr., ran down the stairs, while Cartier carried Christian, who was in baby mode. She had her head tucked snugly under Cartier’s chin as her small hands gripped her mother tightly.

As Cartier approached the opening of the building, she could see Trina already out of the car and securing Jason Jr. in his car seat, while the others scrambled to put on their seatbelts.

The wild-eyed beauty did a slow trot up the block, like a racehorse about to compete, her gat draped conspicuously in her hands.

Instinctively Cartier dropped Christian and then caught her child with one arm just before she hit the ground. The frightened child shrilled in horror, as all of Cartier’s attention went to protecting her child. The warm sensation plunged into Cartier’s thigh, causing her to stumble forward.

As bullets whizzed by, Cartier kneeled down in an effort to use her body to shield her baby, but it was too late. She felt her child go limp and then drop down by her feet. The second bullet lodged into Cartier’s abdomen, and the sensation was no longer warm. It felt as if someone had stuck firecrackers in her navel and lit them. She peered over and saw that Trina had taken her whole body and laid it across each child inside the car.

With blood oozing, and pain ripping through her whole body, Cartier finally mustered the strength to pull out her pistol and began bucking back. With a steady hand, she emptied her clip, but she wasn’t sure she’d hit Marisol.

Just as Cartier was about to lose consciousness, she saw Marisol stand over her and then, Boom!

As Cartier closed her eyes, she felt a heavy body drop right next to her.

Chapter 31

Halo