The Conglomerate: A Luxorious Tale (29 page)

Joey got out the car, rushing toward the office building she stumb
led and fell onto the concrete. Bursting out the glass double doors in hurry after receiving the same message, Zay came to her aide.

             
“How did you fall?”

             
“I was running to show you this,” she held out her phone.

             
“I saw the text already.”

             
“What are we going to do?”

             
“I’m about to send him a message back.”  Zay typed and sent a text.

Joey read the message when it popped up on the screen:
My wife don’t owe you shit.  I’ve never been extorted in my life and I’m not about to start getting extorted by a text message gangster.

             
“Zay do you think that was the right thing to say? This lunatic could go after the kids.”

             
“We could pay money that you
don’t
owe and he could come after us or the kids.”

             
“Oh God he’s sending another message.”  Joey read it:
Send $2,000,000 dollars to this account #234878956010 at the Caribbean National Bank. Cayman Island’s Country Swift Code FCIBKYKY by 5pm TOMMOROW or else.

             
“This nigga is out his mind.”

             
“Zay take me to get the kids, I wanna make sure they’re okay. I’ll take them to work with me until we figure this thing out.”

             
“Ain’t nothing to figure out we’re going to have to go on extra guard ‘til we find this nigga. We not paying that money. Evan can pay it, this is her problem and she can pay it again and again when he decides that he wants more money.”

             
“I think there may be someone who can help us.”

             
“Who?”

             
“Kane told me about this chick whose real good at finding people. I think it’s time I reach out to her.

***

              After retrieving the kids from school, Zay drove to the Luxe Enclave to drop his wife and their children off. Before pulling off, he asked Joey, “You feel okay here?  I know the pictures of you inside your office shook you up.”

             
“At first I thought that he’d gotten inside and took those pics, but I can tell by the angles that they’re from the security cameras.” Joey waved at two security guards who were patrolling the property on a golf cart. “I called the tech guy who installed the security system; he said it sounds like we were hacked. He’s already in there trying to see if we were. If so, he can trace it.”

             
“Cool. When I get with Jason I’ll bring your car back, but I still want you to call me when you’re ready to leave so I can follow you home. Give me a kiss.”

             
Joey leaned into the driver’s window and kissed her husband passionately; happy to be on one accord again. “I love you.”

             
“I love you too baby. Call you in a little while.”  Zay drove away.

             
“Ewww Mommy you kissed Daddy in the mouth!” Joey’s daughter, McKinley, sang out teasingly.  “Yuckey!”

             
“They had to kiss for your big head to get here!” Joey’s oldest son, Braden, said.

             
“What do you know about kissing?” Joey quizzed.

             
“He kisses his girlfriend after school,” the youngest boy, Axle, said.

             
“Oh so mister Braden has a girlfriend,” Joey smiled at her blushing son.

A white BMW 750 pulled up to the curb and out jumped Dawhar’s wife, Leska.

Joey looked to the sky,
what now?

             
“You slut whore,” Leska screamed coming at Joey. “What did your husband do to my Dawhar?”

             
“My husband didn’t do shit to that rapist. He should have, but he didn’t.”

             
“My husband is no rapist all you whores seduced him and then screamed rape!”

             
“I have no time for this non-sense I don’t argue with fools. Bye Felicia get the fuck off my property.”

             
“Who is Felicia?”

             
“You bitch!  Now, bye.”

             
“I’m not going anywhere until you give me some answers.”

             
“Leska, for real leave before I beat ya ass worse than Cee did the last time.

             
“Ain’t going down like that this time,” a tall, stout woman said emerging from the passenger seat. 

             
“That’s right,” another tall, clearly overweight woman said, getting out the back seat.

             
“Braden,” Joey said to her son, “take your brothers and sister inside now.”  She looked around for the patrol guards that she’d seen earlier, but they were nowhere in sight.  “Hurry get them inside.”

             
Braden picked up McKinley, “Come on Axle.  Run Daire go to Auntie’s Cee’s.”                The kid’s ran into the spa. Once inside, Braden put his baby sister down and ran room to room until he found Cee in her private suite, styling a client.

             
“Auntie Cee they’re going to hurt my mommy you have to call for help!”  he screamed.

             
“Calm down Braden, who’s going to hurt your mommy?”

             
“Three ladies,” he held up three fingers, “and two of them are really-really big.”

Cee looked over and saw Joey’s other three
kids standing in the door way. She quickly grabbed her purse from under her station, telling her client, “I’ll be back and you kids stay right here. Do not move.”

             
Outside Joey was not cowering away.  She was an experienced fighter. She knew whenever it went down to grab Leska and do her dirty. 

             
“What you thought Leska? That bringing these two big country biscuit eating bitches with you was going to scare me?” Joey asked. “You still going to get your ass molly whopped, so I suggest you burn the road up.”

             
“You got a real smart mouth,” the big boned passenger said.

             
“Do something about it.”

             
The big woman charged Joey, but stopped about a foot away when she saw Cee aiming a .380 right at her.

             
“Back your big ass up. What the fuck is going on out here?”  Cee asked.

             
“Not shit,” Joey replied. “This bitch up here tripping again.”

             
“Leska,” Cee shook her head. “You again? The last ass whipping wasn’t good enough.”

             
The big woman backed up toward the car. “Leska you my lil cousin and I love you. But I’m not down to die behind this shit.” Both passengers got back into the car.

             
“I just want her to tell me where my husband is,” Leska cried out. “Her husband did something to him that’s why the police picked him up today. Now tell me where he is.”

             
“Look bitch, that nigga ain’t here,” Cee said.

             
“I would think as a woman who’s lost her husband you would have some sympathy for me.”

             
“Don’t you dare compare our situations. My husband died a real man with an impeccable reputation. Your husband is a rapist who left your dumb ass to go on the run instead of standing to face his charges.”

             
“This is far from over,” Leska seethed at Joey then got into her car and sped away.

             
“This day just cannot get any crazier,” Joey said aloud.

             
“What was that about?” Cee asked.

             
“The police think something happened to Dawhar. I guess he’s missing or something. They picked Zay up for questioning, but he don’t know nothing about where Dawhar is.” Joey lied, protecting her husband’s secret. “I’m glad those two big bitches didn’t get a chance to get some licks in on me. Thanks for saving my neck that was big considering.”

             
“Considering what?”

             
“The last thing you said to me was you fucking hate me.”

             
“Yeah I did, sorry about that,” Cee blushed. “I’m past that though I was so angry at y’all that day. All I could see was red.”

             
“I couldn’t tell that you’re past it, this is the first time that you’ve spoken to me in over two weeks.” 

             
Cee put her gun into her purse. “I was going to talk to you today. I’ve been dealing with a lot. I had to get myself in order first. I had to get my little cocaine issue under control. Even though I was beyond pissed with y’all that day… I could see the hurt in your eyes when the coke spilled out and I felt ashamed. I went to a meeting and I haven’t gotten high since that day.

             
“That’s so good,” Joey hugged Cee. “Snorting powder is not a good look for anybody.”

             
“I know I’d been binging out for a couple of weeks just trying to absorb the pain.”

             
“I wish you would’ve come to me, but that’s neither here nor there now. If you ever need to talk or want me to go to a meeting let me know. I’m here.”

             
“I know that you are.”

             
“How are you feeling about Evan right now?” Joey asked Cee. “Have you talked to her?”

             
“No, her crazy ass wrote me a ten page letter telling me why she was sticking up those dudes back then and apologizing. I’m going to talk her though. I don’t hate her either. Wait a minute,” Cee paused. “Did you see that group message with the pictures?”

             
“Hell yeah that’s why I took the kids out of school and brought them up here with me.”

             
“Maybe I should have  one of the trips pick up Shelby and PJ.”

             
“You should and keep them in the house for a few days until this blow over.”

             
“What makes you think it’s going to blow over soon?” Cee asked.

             
“I’m about to make a call that I should have made two weeks ago.”

             
“Hey Joey,” a medium height Indonesian man called out as he exited the Luxe Headquarters’ building carrying a black computer processor.

             
“Hello Iwan,” Joey greeted, as he got closer. “I didn’t know you were here already.”

             
“I was nearby when you called.”

             
“Excuse me,” Cee interrupted. “I have to get back to my client and I’ll make sure Braden and the little ones are okay.”

             
“I’ll be in there in as soon as I’m done out here,” returning her attention to Iwan, Joey asked, “Did you find out who hacked into our security cameras?”

             
“No one.”

             
“Are you sure?”

             
“I’m positive,” Iwan answered. “Although, there is something fudgy going on with the hard drive that’s linked to the security cameras.”

             
“Fudgy? What does that mean?”

             
“I believe that it’s been tampered with. I installed a new hard drive and I’m going to take this one with me and see what’s going on with it.”

* * *

              Later that evening Jason and Zay stood in baggage claim of the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, awaiting the arrival of their older brothers. Tony and Rico Tappens had been released that morning from Manchester Federal Prison in Kentucky. Jason and Zay had not told anyone that the older Tappens’ boys would be home on this day. Everyone else in the family wasn’t expecting them for another twenty-four hours.  Jason and Zay beamed with pride when they saw their older brothers descending down the escalator. Rico and Tony were tall, slim, and athletically built. Tony’s skin was the color of a toasted almond and Rico’s was the color of dark honey.  Both older Tappens brothers were in their early forties, but neither looked a day over thirty-three.

             
At the bottom of the escalator the brothers hugged tightly, smiling so hard that all thirty-two teeth in each of their mouths could be counted. “It feels damn good to be free.”  Tony announced with tears in his eyes still having a hard time grasping that he was free after eighteen years.