Thin Ice 3 - Armageddon (24 page)

“
Can’t do that either,” Shells answered almost instantly.

          “
Whatever,” she told him angrily rising to leave.

Shells got up and followed her to the door, grabbing her arm and spinning her around just as she reached it. Tae was drowning in desire as Shells stood toe to toe with her, looking deeply into her eyes as he stared down at her.

“
Don’t take that dope nowhere, gurl,” he told her calmly, the warmth of his breath touching her neck. “You don’t understand how dangerous the game is now,” Shells went on, enjoying the closeness of their contact.

“
What do you care,” Tae threw back angrily. “You’re being paid to watch me, so just watch,” she added smartly.

“
Why women so damned blind,” he growled still looking into her eyes.

Tae had to look away, his stare was so intense.

“
Do ya hear me gurl, leave the dope alone,” Shells tried once more.

“
I can’t yet,” Tae admitted honestly.

“
Do this last run, and make it the last, fa real,” Shells acquiesced.

Tae nodded slightly acknowledging she heard him. She didn’t understand why this man intimidated her but he did. Shells groaned slightly but still didn’t move away from her.
Please step back,
Tae was thinking, her will almost broken by his scent and the sexy resonance of his voice.

“
I’m still watching’ ya gurl,” Shells told her softly, very close to her ear.

Unable to control her body, Tae felt her nipples harden, totally embarrassed. At the end of his sentence, Shells kissed her ear so lightly it was like he was still whispering in it. Stepping away finally he opened the door and allowed her to leave.

         
Tae had to stop and lean against his breezeway wall and gather her breathing. She hadn’t been that intensely drawn to a man in years. Not even Thames brought out the raw, uninhibited fire that burned within her as Shells touched and talked to her. She thought about what he’d told her and grew angry again.
That damned Kareem thinks he’s gonna run my life huh,
Tae thought angrily recalling his admonishment that she not see Thames anymore. She thought about him basically ordering her to stay with him this weekend when they went down to the Bayou.

“
Nipped that shit,” Tae mumbled recalling her refusal and his finally agreeing to rent her a suite instead.

When I see that sonofabitch tomorrow,
she fumed angrily finally making it to and getting inside her car. Her mind again fell on Shells and how sexy the big Jamaican was.

“
Delicious with a capital D,” she mumbled chuckling to herself heading to the Italian Grill, one of her other favorite eating spots. It was lunchtime and Tae was starved.

*****

         
Kim stepped off the elevator, adjusting the dress and looking at her reflection in the stainless steel doors. Mook made the mistake of leaving the suite first, so Kim took the opportunity to put her dress back on and enjoy her day.
You better have your ass back to the suite before he gets there,
her mind told her as Kim sucked her teeth.

“
He’s not the boss of me,” she mumbled, before checking her watch and indeed gauging what time she needed to be back to beat him there.

Pushing thoughts of Mook and his reaction if he caught her in the outfit out of her mind, Kim concentrated on the task at hand as she walked down the hallway to room 3703. She put her cell on vibrate this time. If Mook called she could honestly say she hadn’t heard her phone. Kim didn’t want anything to interrupt their talk today. For some reason there was a nagging in the back of her mind that told her she really needed to hear each and every word that was going to come out of Hope Cisneros’s mouth.

*****

         
Hope heard the knock and rose to answer, slowly making her way to the door, oxygen tank in tow.

“
Yes, who is it,” Hope asked as a precaution.

She was an older woman alone in a city where she didn’t know anyone.

“
It’s Kim, Ms. Cisneros,” Kim replied amiably.

Hope opened the door smiling, greeting her and inviting her inside.

“
Please have a seat,” Hope offered after closing the door and again engaging the deadbolt. “Would you like another bottle of water,” she asked kindly.

Kim smiled and accepted the offering, taking it from her hands once she brought it to her.

“
How are you feeling today,” Kim asked, looking at the woman closely. She looked like she’d had a very rough day.

Hope smiled slightly and told her she was as well as could be expected.

         
Kim sighed slightly and nodded her understanding, as Hope made herself comfortable in the other chair and again regarded her guest.

“
You said you’d read all the articles,” Hope began as Kim nodded and confirmed her statement. “They were true, every word of them,” Hope replied as Kim frowned deeply. “How do you know that,” she asked softly regarding the woman again.

Smiling sadly Hope closed her eyes a moment, blinking back tears Kim finally figured out as one escaped and rolled down the woman’s weary face.

“
Because Carlo ‘Hangman’ Cisneros is my brother,” she replied as Kim again swallowed hard and said nothing. Sighing deeply Hope wiped away the tear and regarded Kim again. “He’s evil,” Hope told her plainly. “There is no other word to describe him,” she told her as Kim finally found her voice.

“
He did all those things the articles mention,” she asked timidly.

         
Hope chuckled bitterly before answering. “Those were the nicer things he did,” she told Kim, the blue eyes regarding her again.

“
Tell me,” Kim said simply.

Hope shrugged again slightly and began talking about a past, a past with a shadow bigger than the sun itself.

“
Carlo wasn’t always evil,” Hope told her. “He was a sweet child, even into his teen years, he was a good person,” she went on as Kim listened wordlessly, curious still how it applied to the flyer, but not interrupting the woman as she spoke. “Then on his 18
^th
birthday, our mother was killed,” Hope told her as Kim nodded slightly. “Our father killed her,” she added coldly as Kim gasped slightly.

Damn, that’s messed up,
she thought but didn’t voice.

“
Carlo changed overnight, he became cold, distant, angry, abusive,” Hope told Kim, the small shudder passing through her body.

“
Did your father go to prison,” Kim ventured to ask.

Hope sighed gently and told her he’d killed himself right after killing their mother.

“
He did it in front of Carlo, killed her and then himself,” Hope told her as Kim could somewhat understand how that could have affected the man’s psyche. It still however, didn’t answer her question about the flyer or the connection. Hope went on to tell her about her brother’s life and subsequent involvement in organized crime.

         
This was the part Kim knew. She’d seen the newspaper articles about the man’s ruthlessness. They called him the hangman because of his penchant for hanging his victims. He was eventually brought down for racketeering, fraud, money laundering, drug transporting, distribution, manufacturing and countless charges of murder, accessory to commit murder, and solicitation of murder for hire. If she recalled correctly there were a couple of assault and rape charges as well. The man was an absolute animal. Hope continued to pour out for the next hour and a half as Kim listened intently developing a deep and intense fear and loathing of Carlo ‘Hangman’ Cisneros.

“
Ms. Cisneros,” Kim spoke as Hope fell silent for a few moments more. “What does any of this have to do with the flyer,” she asked finally the curiosity getting the better of her.

21

         
Gabrielle was running with all she could muster, hearing Seth yelling her name, getting closer and closer.
Please don’t let him catch me,
she prayed just as Seth’s huge arms grabbed her waist, lifting her from the ground.

“
No, let me go!” Gabrielle screamed as she fought her brother.

“
Gabrielle, please, calm down,” Seth told her as she continued to struggle. “I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise, please just calm down,” he tried again, still holding her tightly.

Gabrielle was exhausted and Seth was far too big for her to try and fight. She finally gave up, falling limp in his grasp.

“
Shhh, its all right,” he told her sweetly, still holding her as he turned and carried her back to the house. Seth place Gabrielle on her bed and sat on the side of it, gently stroking her hair.

“
Peyton, Seth what did you do,” Gabrielle asked as the shock began to take hold. “Shhh,” Seth told her rising and leaving her while he made her some tea.

         
He returned moments later finding her still lying where he left her, staring at the ceiling.

“
Drink this,” Seth told her, helping Gabrielle sit up.

“
What is it,” she asked giving him a questioning look.

“
It’s just tea,” Seth assured her. “I would never hurt you Gabrielle, you know that,” he added softly, never taking his eyes from her.

Nodding slightly she drank the tea down quickly since he always made it lukewarm. She didn’t like really hot drinks. They brought back bad memories of her scalding herself when she was younger.

“
Peyton’s dead, Seth,” she repeated quietly as he pulled her to him and held her, rocking her gently like he’d always done since she was a baby.

“
Shhh, relax and go to sleep Gabrielle,” he told her hearing the slur to her speech.

He’d added a couple of sleeping pills to her tea. Seth needed her incapacitated while he took care of disposing of Peyton’s body. Now he could without worrying about Gabrielle running away or calling the police.

         
After sitting a few moments more, Seth laid her gently on the pillows and covered her with the sheet from her bed, leaving her in the room, locking her inside. He headed back to the dining room standing over the lifeless body of his brother. The hurt of what he’d done came full circle and Seth began to cry. He hadn’t meant to kill Peyton, not really. He was angry and sick of his brother’s constant taunting and belittling him. Sighing deeply Seth made a couple of phone calls and put some things in order. After accomplishing his task, he found another sheet and wrapped his brother’s body in it, lifting it and taking it down to the boat house, dropping it inside the small vessel. Seth returned to the house once more and checked on Gabrielle, who was still sound asleep. Returning to the boat house, he got into the boat with his brother’s body and headed out into the Bayou, fishing gear in tact, prepared to wait for darkness.

*****

         
Tariq, LaRon and Mook were meeting again. They were working out the plans for their trip tomorrow.

“
What did we find out about the location,” Tariq asked.

Mook told him the scout they sent brought back pictures and other pertinent information as he pulled them from the small attaché case he carried. The three men poured over the photos, making note of surrounding areas, businesses and people in the shots. Tariq couldn’t explain his fury as he looked at Ian in the pictures.
I should have killed this bitch years ago,
he fumed angrily. One thing was certain however; this time when they left Bayou country Ian was not going to be breathing.

“
Shells still gonna tail the girls down there,” LaRon asked.

He’d confirmed with Jaleesa that she was going the other day at lunch.

“
Yeah he’s straight,” Tariq replied.

         
LaRon relaxed a bit knowing that end was covered. Shells was a beast and both he and Tariq knew their women were safe in his care. Mook lightened the conversation telling them about his encounter with Tae the other day.

“
You’re a good person,” LaRon told him. “I mighta had to take her up on that offer,” he joked as Tariq smiled and told Mook he did the right thing.

“
Yeah you did man,” LaRon told him. “I’m just bullshittin’, trust I’ve learned my lesson,” he added as they all agreed they had good women.

Crazy women, but definitely the cream of the crop as far as they were all concerned. “That’s exactly why I am going to permanently eliminate Ice this time,” Tariq said aloud his anger flaring again. “That asshole has brought nothing but pain to KiKi, but he just doesn’t get it,” he added as LaRon agreed wholeheartedly.

“
She’s a possession,” Mook told them as they all agreed the man had no capacity to actually feel or understand love in the true sense of the word.

“
We’re pulling out an hour after they do,” Tariq told them once more.

          “
You know where they’re stayin’,” LaRon asked, realizing he hadn’t asked Jaleesa.

“
No, but remember Shells is trailing them,” he answered as LaRon nodded.

“
I am so ready to do this shit,” LaRon told Tariq as his friend told him he fully understood.

“
I talked to Rebecca yesterday,” Mook told them, referring to Dixon’s mother.