Basement Level 5: Never Scared (29 page)

“
You named me after her?” Alexa asked, tears standing in her eyes.

“
I love her, ladybug. She’s my sister. I just couldn’t forget what she had turned into when she married Clive. He wanted to be in politics and he was constantly acting like we were scum. Even though we were close growing up, he distanced himself from anything that had to do with us and the old neighborhood. I felt like she turned her back on me when I had given her everything. But when you were born, you looked so much like her. I couldn’t help but name you after her.”

“
How did she react when you told her who I was?” she asked.

“
She cried,” he confessed softly. “She was happy I still had space for her in my heart.”

“
So why wouldn’t you let us have space for her in ours?” Lei asked, his voice cracking. “You always told us family first. Why doesn’t that apply to her?”

“
I don’t know, son. I’m sorry. I guess I was stuck in the old way. Betrayal is unforgivable. It can mean death. But you’re right. She’s still my family. And that’s why I couldn’t let Owens have her killed.”

Alexa sighed deeply. “I’m glad you protected her. And there’s still time in life to correct this. I want my children to know her. I want you to have a relationship with her. We need to get to work.” She walked out left the two men in her bedroom.

CHAPTER 29

November 7, 2011
:

A morning jogger discovered Melissa’s dead body lying in the park. Alexa and Kendrick watched from a window of an adjacent building as the cops scoured the park looking for clues. The news reporters were lined outside the yellow tape trying to get a story for the eleven o’clock news.

“
Déjà vu, huh?” Kendrick sighed.

“
Pretty much,” Alexa agreed. “I hope Daddy knows what he is doing.”

“
Do you have any doubt?”

“
I want to say no, but everything about this makes me uneasy. I’m used to getting rid of bodies, not leaving them around to be discovered.” Although they were careful to use gloves when handling Melissa, anything could have been left on the body or on her clothes. “I’m done after this,” she said after a few minutes.

“
I know.”

“
I just can’t do it anymore, Kendrick. I guess I’m getting soft in my old age.”

He nudged her with his shoulder. “I guess you are. You’re not the only one.”

She studied him. “You are too?”

“
It just doesn’t give me the same thrill that it used to. I used to get a rush of adrenaline, but now? I don’t know. I miss my wife and my kids. And if you leave...”

“
You can’t live without me, huh?” she joked.

He rolled his eyes. “No comment.” He wrapped an arm around her neck and she dropped her head on his shoulder. “What about Dro?”

Alexa wished Dro would come with her, but knew he wouldn’t. One of the things she loved about him was his loyalty to Martinez. She doubted he would leave when he felt he was obligated to stay. “I don’t know. But it doesn’t change anything. I have to leave for the kids.”

“
Stop trying to act all brave. I know you, remember. You’re going to be a wreck without him.”

“
I won’t be without him,” she replied, staring at a crack in the ceiling. “He’s always going to own my heart, Kendrick. I’ll never be with anyone else. I just can’t be with him here.”

***

Dro gripped the steering wheel as he sped toward the Martinez offices. Pop was riding shotgun. They had rode most of the way in silence and Dro preferred it that way. He had a lot on his mind.

“
How are you and Alexa?” Pop asked, breaking the silence.

The question threw Dro for a loop. “Why?”

“
I get the feeling there’s some sort of disconnect between you.”

“
We’re fine,” Dro lied. “We’re both tense people, especially when we feel threatened.”

“
And you’re both very driven and extremely loyal.”

“
Pop, Alexa is probably going to leave me when this is over.”

“
What?” Pop seemed surprised. “You just told me you were fine.”

“
We are fine. But she doesn’t want to raise the kids here.” He shrugged and tried to focus on the road ahead. “I can’t say I blame her. I mean, I’m going to try to keep her here, but we all know how that’s going to work out. Eventually, she will resent me and then what? I love her. I want her to be happy.”

“
What about your happiness? Would it make you happy?” Pop asked. “Listen, I’ve watched you and my daughter build a life together for a long time. I know you would be miserable without her.”

Dro knew it too. He wouldn’t be able to let her go, and he wouldn’t be able to go with her. How was he going to deal with this? Deciding to push that question to the rear, he changed the subject. “With all due respect, I don’t feel like talking about this right now. I need to focus on the plan.” He turned the volume up on the stereo and continued toward their destination.

***

Lei entered the security room, where Chase was tweaking a special project for Dro. He dropped a folder on the desk. “Are you ready, Chase?”

“
Just one more—there. All done.”

Lei slid another folder into his briefcase. “We need to meet Pop and Dro over at Martinez. Kendrick and Alexa should be there once they wrap up at the park.”

Chase grabbed his hat. “What time does the flight leave?”

“
Five o’clock. That should give us enough time to take care of loose ends. Are you sure you don’t want one of us to go with you?”

“
I have everything under control on my end, Lei. And you all have everything under control on yours. I just have to brief Kendrick on a few things before I leave. I talked to my Dad. They are staying put in Canada.”

“
Good.” Lei extracted an extra gun out of the weapons cabinet. “We’re all set then.”

***

When Alexa arrived at Martinez with Kendrick, everyone was there.

“
The cops are handling the scene at the park,” Kendrick told the group. “The news has been reported and our contact at the hospital morgue touched base with us. It’s a waiting game now.”

Alexa eyed Dro, who was busy typing on the computer. “Everything looked eerily similar to Alexi’s faked death,” she added. “Owens should take the bait.” She wrapped her arms around Dro from the back.

“
Did you leave the surprise?” Pop asked.

“
Yes.” Kendrick and Alexa replied simultaneously.

“
They shouldn’t miss it,” Kendrick added. “It will trace right back to him.”

Lei handed Pop a manila envelope. He opened it up and skimmed the contents. “Then, we wait,” he said.

“
What are you doing, babe?” Alexa opened one of Dro’s desk drawers and pulled out a bowl filled with starburst candies.

Dro kept his eyes on the computer. “Taking care of some business I haven’t been able to work on for the past few days.”

She popped one of the candies in her mouth and ran her fingers through his hair.

He stopped typing and sighed deeply. “What’s up?” he asked.

“
Nothing.”

Since he was being so secretive, she didn’t care if he knew she was lying. She wanted to discuss leaving town with him, but the time wasn’t right. She watched as he worked. Eventually, she headed over to the sofa and plopped down next to Kendrick.

When three o’clock arrived, Alexa noticed Chase and Dro huddled by the desk. She wondered what they were talking about and what Dro was thinking. He was ignoring her and hadn’t even looked at her since she arrived.

Chase gathered his bags. “I guess I better head to the airport.”

Kendrick closed his laptop. “Okay, bruh.” He turned to her. “You want to roll?”

She wasn’t doing anything else. “Okay.”

Chase said his goodbyes to everyone and they left.

***

Once Alexa, Kendrick, and Chase were gone, Lei gave Dro a stack of papers. “This is everything you wanted. Also, Kendrick switched the flight itinerary so that no one will be able to trace Chase.”

Dro examined the documents. “Have you heard from our contact at the hospital?”

Lei nodded. “Owens had someone sneak him into the morgue to view the body about an hour ago.”

“
Apparently Owens took Melissa’s death rather hard according to my contact,” Pop chimed in. “He insisted on going to view the body. Because Melissa’s family has its own money, police are doubling their efforts to find the killer.”

“
And our hospital employee made sure that there were cameras on Owens when he arrived even though he thought they were turned off,” Lei added.

“
That’s good.” Dro leaned back in his chair. “This will all be over soon, then.”

CHAPTER 30

November 7, 2011
:

Kendrick hopped on the freeway after leaving the airport. He felt antsy, but he couldn’t figure out why. Everything was happening too quickly and it felt off to him. He glanced at Alexa, who was staring out the window. “Alexa, what’s up? What’s on your mind?”

“
I don’t know. Something just doesn’t seem right about this. It’s too easy. I mean, Daddy’s idea was good. We set Owens up for Melissa’s murder and then he goes to jail. But nothing is that easy.”

Kendrick arched a brow. “I agree with you, but I trust Pop. He knows Owens so what else can we do?”

She leaned her head against the window. “Nothing. We just let this play out.”

He frowned when he spotted a black GMC Envoy driving on his ass. The windows were tented, making it difficult to see who the driver was. “I think we have company.” He picked up speed. The car behind them sped up as well, riding the bumper.

Alexa craned her head to look back. “Can they be any less obvious?”

“
You have a present in the back.”

She climbed into the back seat, while he kept his eyes on the road. In the rear view mirror, he saw her remove the double barrel shotgun from his leather case and load it.

He pressed down on the gas again. “They’re not making any sort of move yet, but they will soon.”

“
Well, I won’t move until they do,” she said.

He turned and caught her climbing to the third-row seat. Kendrick rolled down the deserted stretch of highway. The car switched lanes and he swerved into the lane in front of them. He gripped the handle of his gun. “Alexa, you’re up.”

The truck tried to pass on the other side and Kendrick blocked it. He tapped a button on the dashboard. The bottom of the rear window lifted slowly.

***

Alexa knew the exact moment the occupants of the truck realized that her shotgun was trained on them. The passenger immediately opened fire on them. Kendrick swerved back and forth. Since the truck was outfitted with bullet proof material, her only concern was a stray bullet hitting her through the open window.

Lifting herself up on her knees, she pulled the trigger and blew out the front left tire. The truck swerved. She guessed the driver was trying to keep it on the road. From the front seat, she heard Kendrick curse.

“
Alexa,” he yelled. “We have more company.”

She promptly blasted the front right tire, causing the truck behind them to flip over and roll off the road into a corn field.

She closed the rear window and hopped into the middle row of seats. Noticing a black car coming their way from the opposite direction, she reached up and pushed the sunroof button. Bullets pinged against the exterior of their truck and she heard Kendrick’s gun fire in retaliation. The other car bumped the side of their truck, knocking her back onto the seat.

She regained her footing, stood up through the open sunroof window, and fired on the car. Ducking down, she reloaded the gun then she jumped up and fired again, hitting the back tire. A backseat passenger shot at her. She fired, striking the man. From the passenger seat of the sedan, another guy opened fire on her.

“
Shit,” she screamed, falling down onto the seat. “Damn-it, I’m hit.”

“
Alexa,” Kendrick shouted from the front seat.

“
Fuck!” A sharp pain radiated through her left arm. Bullets continued to hit the truck and she faintly heard Kendrick firing back. She couldn’t move her left arm. Extracting her pistol from its holster, she stood up and fired again at the car. The front passenger slumped over. She unloaded the clip at the car, finally hitting the driver. The car flipped over and burst into flames.

Plopping down heavily onto the seat, she shouted, “Let’s get out of here.”

***

Kendrick eyed Alexa through the rearview mirror. She tugged her leather jacket off. He tried to focus on the road, but he was concerned. “The first aid kit is in the third row,” he shouted.

He saw her reach back and pull the white box from its place. Turning back to the road, he jerked the steering wheel sharply to the left. She moaned from the back seat and he glanced through rear view mirror. She had fallen onto her side.