Hide & Seek (33 page)

Taking his time, adding sauce to his steak and ketchup to his fries, DeNoah finally lifted his eyes and addressed the man across the table from him.

“
Ex employee,” he said simply as Xae murmured his understanding.

“
I’ll show you where he lives when we leave,” DeNoah told him.

“
If you know where he lives, why haven’t you capped him already,” Xae wanted to know.

DeNoah sighed gently before answering the query. He told Xae that Role was extremely difficult to pin down these days and they needed someone who could watch the house day and night.

“
He’s gotta come home sometime,” DeNoah told him hoping it was true.

He believed more so that Ice had Role locked up somewhere making the task of finding him and killing him much more complicated.

“
Oh okay, cool,” Xae returned as they continued to eat.

“
When you kill him, make sure it doesn’t come back to our door,” DeNoah told Xae as the young man assured him he had it handled.

“
No problem,” he replied deciding he didn’t like DeNoah very much.

The man had basically talked down to his since he sat at the table. If he was such a good solider then Deuce wouldn’t have had to ask him to kill this fool for him, Xae continued to weigh finishing his meal and pushing the plate away.

“
You ready,” DeNoah asked, finished as well and pulling money out to pay his check. Nodding his confirmation, Xae rose with him as they ventured out of the restaurant and to the parking lot.

“
We’ll take your car,” DeNoah threw out. “If Role see’s it, he won’t panic.”

As they rode DeNoah lit a cigarette from the pack her carried, letting the window down and smoke out.

“
Turn here,” he told Xae as he complied easily maneuvering the Chevy down the narrow residential street.

They drove slowly passing the small row house sitting almost on top of each other.

“
He lives in that brick one, trimmed in blue,” DeNoah told Xae nodding toward the house.

Role’s black Lex was in the driveway but looked as if it hadn’t been moved in weeks.

“
Shit,” DeNoah mumbled.

Xae called him on it and he explained what they thought.

“
So you need to nose around Mardi Gras and see what you can find out,” DeNoah told him as they headed to the club.

After showing Xae where it was, DeNoah had him take him back to his own car they’d left at the steak house.

“
Watch your ass in Mardi Gras,” DeNoah told him. “Ice ain’t no fuckin’ joke, and he will kill you if he catches you.”

Xae relayed his understanding before pulling out the parking lot and immediately dismissing the warning.

“
His bitch ass needs to man up,” he mumbled to himself of DeNoah, cranking up his bass and heading back to the club.

*****

Freight and Myles were relaxing in his car watching Kim as she left the hair salon, chatting on her phone and smiling.
Damn, I want her again,
Freight thought immediately changing his mindset. Still, he planned to talk to her today. He wanted to apologize for hurting her, but he also wanted information.

“
You think she’s gonna talk,” Myles asked as they started the car and began following Kim as she merged onto the interstate.

“
Not at first,” Freight admitted honestly.

She wasn’t a pushover and he didn’t want to be forced to really hurt her, but he needed the information she had.

“
You sure you wanna do this dude Top,” Myles questioned again.

“
The only way to take over the territory,” Freight answered absently trying to keep up with Kim as she weaved in and out of the rush hour traffic.

“
They got some fucked up traffic in this city,” he cursed under his breath as Myles chuckled slightly.

“
You got everything set up for that other muthafucka,” Freight asked referring to Ice.

He had plans of retribution there for killing Spider.

“
Just about,” Myles told him. “Shit ain’t gonna be easy, that muthafucka is the truth.” Freight grunted at his last remark but said nothing more.

Kim made her way to the exit and got off, Freight and Myles two cars behind her. Freight watched the beautiful woman as she once again got out of the BMW and went inside the exclusive boutique.

“
Damn, looks like we’re gonna be shopping all day,” Myles groaned as Freight chuckled.

“
Looks that way,” he replied calmly.

To their surprise she didn’t stay inside long, emerging some 30 minutes later bag in hand and getting back into the car. They once again followed as Kim re-entered the interstate and began the drive to her condo.

“
She’s headed back toward Mardi Gras,” Myles made note as they got off the exit once more.

Instead of turning left however, they went right, driving another 5 or 6 miles until they reached the residential districts tucked away on the far end of the winding highway.

“
Nice,” Freight murmured as Kim turned into the high-rise and headed for the parking deck.

“
We following’ her in,” Myles questioned as Freight told him no.

“
Too obvious,” he added as they parked in a visitor space and entered the expansive lobby.

Staying just out of the line of sight, they saw Kim enter and head for the elevator. Waiting until she boarded and the doors closed, Freight and Myles walked over to the machine and watched which floor she got off on.

“
10
^th
,” Freight murmured aloud.

Heading back to the bank of mailboxes he began looking at all the names. He’d gotten her last name from Spider the last time they talked.

“
1030,” he smiled and turned around.

They wordlessly boarded the elevator and headed up to the same floor Kim ascended too moments earlier. The doors dinged softly as they exited and walked down the hallway to Kim’s unit.

“
How are we gonna get in,” Myles threw out. “I’m pretty sure she won’t open the door and say come on in,” he added as Freight chuckled slightly.

“
Gonna hafta bum it,” he replied shrugging.

Myles pulled his .9mm out in response, knowing Kim carried a gun as well and not wanting to get shot.

Arriving they were pleased to see the unit was at the end of the hallway without a corresponding unit directly across from it. Taking a deep breath Freight lifted his leg and kicked the door hard. The lock buckled and the door opened almost instantly. Rushing inside gun drawn, Myles looked around for any sign of Kim. Freight stepped in right behind him, hearing water running.

“
Shower,” he whispered as Myles nodded and closed the door, propping a chair behind it to keep it closed.

Freight quietly made his way toward the sound of the shower, carefully peaking inside and seeing no sign of Kim in the bedroom. Myles was rummaging around in her refrigerator from the sounds he heard. Freight quietly headed into the bathroom, standing right outside the door as the shower ran and steamed the room. The heavy hunter green shower curtain impeded his vision. He couldn’t tell if she were under the spray or not. Taking another deep breath Freight stepped to the curtain, gingerly reaching out and touching it. Just as he grabbed hold and snatched it back he heard the crash.

Seeing the tub empty, Freight ran back toward the front door where he’d heard the sound. Myles was laying on her kitchen floor his head bleeding, but still breathing. The front door was wide open alerting Freight that Kim had somehow managed to escape.

“
Fuck,” he swore aloud darting into the hallway hearing the elevator doors closing.

Defeated, he returned to the kitchen and an unconscious Myles, knowing he wouldn’t catch up with her now. Freight managed to rouse his friend enough that he could walk, with assistance, out of the condo.

“
What happened,” Freight asked after they finally made it to the car.

“
She came outta no damned where,” Myles told him, his head pounding.

“
I heard a noise, turned to see what it was, and wham,” he told Freight of Kim hitting him in the head with the baseball bat she held.

“
Shit you’re lucky she didn’t shoot you,” Freight threw back.

Myles squinted and closed his eyes trying to stop the throbbing.
I’m gonna have show this girl the dark side,
Freight thought ominously of Kim and what he was going to do to her when he found her again. He pushed the thoughts away long enough to become functional when they arrived at Grady and he helped Myles inside to the emergency room.

*****

Kim was furious as she drove.
This crazy muthafucka broke into my shit,
she thought as she drove. She headed to the hotel they used on a regular basis. She would stay the night there and have her locked repaired in the morning. Of course now that Freight knew where she lived Kim was a bit uneasy.
I need to kill him as soon as possible,
she continued to calculate pulling into the parking lot and heading to the lobby. Paying for her room and getting her key, Kim headed up the suite, throwing herself on the bed and taking several deep breaths. To her dismay she was trembling.
I am not gonna walk around scared of this asshole,
she chided herself. She couldn’t help it. She was having nightmares about Freight raping her over and over again. Then there was the loss of her baby, Kim continued to think. Mook tried to be hard when she told him about the baby, but she could hear the disappointment in his voice.
Didn’t hafta be like that,
she thought as the tear fell and she angrily wiped it away. The knock at the door scared her and she jumped, .10mm in hand.

“
Who is it,” Kim demanded.

“
Room service ma’am,” the man replied amiably.

Letting go of the breath she held, Kim opened the door. She’d almost forgotten she made an order at check in for something to eat. Thanking the young man and giving him a $20 tip, she closed the door and went to the bathroom to wash her hands. Her cell rang as she came back into the room.

“
Are you serious,” Kim mumbled aloud seeing Freight’s number on her ID.

She’d taken it because Top instructed her too. Sending the call to voicemail she sat down to enjoy her dinner. Hearing the phone vibrate repeatedly while she ate, Kim ignored it. After satisfying her hunger she headed to the shower. Thankfully she kept a packed overnight bag in her car all the time. She’d read an article somewhere that said you should always have on for emergencies. Right now she was glad she did. Relaxing on the bed she picked up the cell intending to call Mook when she saw the three messages. Clicking on the first one she read it frowning deeply. ‘Baby, I’m sorry, don’t be mad,’ it went on. ‘I know things got out of hand the other day, but you gotta know I’m really feelin’ you Kim.’  It ended there as the second one picked up. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you, and I never meant to cause you to lose your baby,’ that line brought the tears and hurt again as well as questions. How did he know she’d lost the baby or was even pregnant for that matter? Taking a deep breath and pushing the thoughts aside for now, she continued to read, moving on to the third message. ‘I don’t want to fight with you Kim,’ Freight typed. ‘But I do plan to have you, and I am going to kill Mook.’ Swallowing hard Kim closed the messages, not erasing them just yet, and dialed her man. Mook answered on the third ring and they began to talk. Ten minutes of talking to him and the earlier drama with Freight was already becoming a fleeting memory.

*****

Mook smiled after disconnecting, still oblivious to all the drama going on at home. He wanted them to hurry and find Tate and Ryan, kill them and head back to Atlanta. He knew that after they took care of these two, Ice was next up on deck.
Once that fool is done, I can take my baby and go back to Florida,
he thought smiling slightly as he made himself another drink.

“
You want pizza,” LaRon called out from the den where he and Jaron were watching basketball.

“
Yeah, supreme,” he yelled backed heading to the bathroom.

Talking to Kim also had him at full attention and needing some release. Mook looked at his reflection as he entered the facility, his own eyes looking back him.
I wish she hadn’t lost the baby,
he admitted as the hurt came. He was disappointed but he could hear the pain in Kim’s voice as well when she told him about it.

What the hell caused her to miscarry,
he thought frowning deeply. Mook couldn’t shake the feeling in his gut that there was something Kim wasn’t saying and it was bugging the hell out of him.

“
Pizza’s here, Mook,” LaRon yelled once again.

Mook used the restroom, washed his hands and returned to the den, digging into the steaming hot pie resting on the table in front of him. Jaron’s cell rang and he smiled as he answered giving LaRon and Mook a look.

“
Yeah,” he threw out and became silent, listening.

“
Good,” he said simply. “Nah, stay put, we on the way,” Jaron directed hanging up. “Found the house and the fool is at home,” he told them concerning Tate as both LaRon and Mook smiled, grabbing their slice, their guns and the keys, heading out the front door.