Chapter 39

The last thing I wanna do is drive an hour away after promising Candyce I wouldn't leave her alone. I wouldn't be doing it at all if I wasn't going to meet the one person she need to be staying away from.

Daz ain't that person.

I don't know why he offered to take her home but it's good lookin'. Me and Red could both benefit from a distraction right now. As long as she in somebody else's company, then I got the space I need to make this meeting with Guiterrez happen. From the looks of it, I'ma need all the time I can get.

Baton Rouge is only an hour away so I'm pulling up to The Mall of Louisiana in no time.

I'd never agree to meet up at a place this wide and in the open but Felicity spookin'. She more concerned about me killing her than she is about getting caught.

Too many eyes. Too many ears.

That's all I'm thinking as I walk inside the mall. I don't know where she plan on having this conversation 'cause there's people everywhere. Parents stand in line with their kids waiting to see Santa. People are racing around looking for last minute gifts. The only quiet place is the food court. Disgruntled dads and impatient kids use up the tables and chairs waiting for their people to finish shopping.

I feel for them. Shit, I used to be them. Every holiday Beatie would drag me around while she bought last minute gifts for messy ass church ladies she know she ain't give a fuck about.

More often than not she'd wind up with a candle or sum'n else cheap talkin' bout "It's the thought that count."

Every year I had to watch them make side comments about my grandma's gift while she was busy pushing up on the pastor. Beatie was something else bruh.

I figure I'd join them while I wait for Felicity's scary ass. I sit at one of the empty white tables waiting for the prepaid she gave me to ring. I told this bitch I was here ten minutes ago and she still ain't hit back yet.

While I'm waiting, a white nigga pull up his chair next to me. Not at my table though; his ass know better. But he chose the table right next to me so it ain't like I got all that much elbow room.

All these fucking tables and he chose the one with a quarter inch of space between us. Obviously somebody before us pushed the tables together who didn't have enough room. Now ion got enough room.

"Hi, how ya doing?"

I stop twirling the flip phone around in my hand. I ain't even posed to be seen here so I really don't need some white dude in my face tryna make small talk.

"What's good, bruh," I say dryly.

"Nothing much. My wife's at home cooking dinner for her crazy relatives. The house is filled with the in-laws so the boys and I thought we should take off before anyone notices," He says.

He chuckles afterwards. I don't say shit. There's a long silence until motor mouth starts up again.

"Actually, that's not all," He says.

His chair scratches against the floor then his knee knocks against mine. I smack my teeth.

"Fuck is you doing, bruh?" I ask.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just really need someone to talk to," He says.

I look over at him. He as white as they come. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Grey sweater, plaid blue shirt underneath and some damn khakis. I don't even look at his feet. I know they just as insulting as the rest of his fit.

He rubs his hands over his face.

"It's just... the boys don't know," He says.

I glance at the two kids sitting behind him. One of 'em got long brown hair and the other got blonde hair like his dad. They can't be no more than ten. Either that or they lame as hell. Neither one of em looks up from their Nintendo Switch the whole time I'm staring at 'em.

"I don't think I'm the person you wanna have this conversation with," I say.

"I cheated on my wife," He whispers.

"Do I look like a therapist, nigga?" I ask.

"With her sister."

"I ain't a pope either motherfu--"

My phone dings in my hand. I look at the lit up screen. It's a message from Felicity saying she's here.

I shake my head and stand up.

"Well, thank you for listening. I had to tell someone or I swear I was gonna word vomit it all over the dinner table. I have a guilty conscience. Always has gotten the better of me," He says.

"Good luck with that," I say.

I tuck my navy blue fitted cap lower so that it covers more of my face. My hoodie already hang over the top of the hat. I woulda wore sunglasses too if I ain't think mall security was gon get suspicious.

"Good talk!" Dude yells behind me.

Fuck is his problem? Can't he see when a nigga ain't tryna be bothered?

Goofy ass nigga got everybody else in the food court glancing my way as I walk past.

I keep my head down as I walk through the mall. Felicity said she was here but she ain't tell me where to find her. I guess that means she'll find me.

I shouldn't be hard to find. If she's already here, chances are that she prolly saw that dude make a scene behind me.

Speaking of, when the fuck did malls become holy ground for dads making bad decisions? I can remember when Santana took me and Ace to a mall after he cheated on Ms. Rochelle. He wasn't spitting his wrongdoings to random niggas at tables but I could tell he felt guilty. It was the only time he let Ace talk back to him.

Ace wasn't the only one. I heard Candyce was giving him the cold shoulder too which was weird cause she was a true daddy's girl. I ain't think nothing was gon turn her against Santana. If Ace hung onto his every word, Santana and Candyce was joined at the hip. She never left his side when he was home, but shit was different cause he wasn't at home anymore. Turns out, the chick he had been sleeping with was Paryis' mama.

It fucked with everybody's head including mine. Only cause I looked at them like the Huxtables. It was like finding out Cliff was outchere chasing hoes while Clair was at home waiting for him. I was shocked but I wasn't mad. The nigga wasn't my daddy. He treated me like a son regardless though so if he was ona outs with everybody that meant me too. He spent so much bread on me and Ace that day that Beatie made me give some back.

It ain't get him back in Ace's good graces that easy but he was good in my book. So maybe I do see why niggas bring they kids here to right their wrongs.

I push open the door to the bathroom. Some niggas leave out as I come in. I'm the only one in here so I get to to thinking as I walk up to the urinal.

I knew Tory had some pull in his crew before I got him killed. Ace told me once before how all the niggas respected Tory, but especially the hittas. He said Tory was like him in his own gang. Most of the time he told Tory who he wanted touched and trusted Tory to send somebody on that mission. Ace said he always knew the job was gon' get done whether Tory pulled the trigger or not.

Nobody wanted to disappoint Tory. It wasn't about fear. It was about respect.

Today showed me how much I underestimated the respect they have for him. I never imagined taking that nigga's life would push them further into his hands. I mean the nigga dead, and I'm the one who pay 'em. You would think niggas would put the money first, but hitters don't run on green like everybody else. They move on loyalty and it's prolly cause they only trust each other.

A world full of enemies so they loyalties lie with they brothers, like they ina army or something. Now that their general dead it's gon be hell to pay.

Still, this was unavoidable. I couldn't have a nigga with that much power questioning me in front Ace's whole gang. Once he planted that seed, it was bound to grow. Munch accusing me and then Keezy disobeying me is just the leaves that fell from that tree. I anticipated it.

But I'll be lying if I said it didn't piss me the fuck off.

I shake myself clean then wash my hands. My hands are under the water when the bathroom door opens again. I glance up at the person walking inside. I have to look up again.

I smirk as I grab a paper towel.

"I see you found me," I say drying my hands off.

"I never lost you. I saw you when you came in," Felicity says.

I watch her open all the stall doors. She even gets on her hands and knees to look underneath the doors that are locked with "Out of Order" signs printed on the outside.

"Stay just like that. I got something for you," I say.

"Do you really wanna add sexual assault charges to a long list of crimes already against you?" She asks.

I smack my teeth.

"Nobody want yo dyke ass foreal. Unlike you, I don't climb into bed with my enemies," I say.

Felicity walks over to me with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

"Here I thought we had a common enemy," She says.

"We do. The Louisiana State Penitentiary."

"I'm not here to make jokes with you, CI," She says.

"Then what the fuck are we here for? 'Cause it seem like you tryna get us both jammed up."

"It's simple. I don't trust you."

"You trusted me enough to pull a trigger for me. Why you hesitating now?" I ask.

Felicity glares at me. I can't tell whether the bitch wants to spit on me or hit me. She catches me off-guard when she starts patting me down.

"Come on, man," I sigh.

I gotta hand it to her. She covering all her bases.

"Spread your legs," She says.

"You think I'm wearing a wire?" I ask.

Felicity starts patting down my legs.

"I don't know. That's why I'm checking," She says.

I shake my head.

"Where the fuck I'ma get a wire from?"

"You never know."

"Sounds to me like you don't trust yo own people," I say.

Felicity stands up with her hand out. I look at her hand then back up at her.

"What?" I ask.

"Give me your phone," She says.

"For what?"

"Cause you're my goddamn CI and I'm ordering you to give it to me!"

I raise my eyebrow at her.

"Nothing has changed, Caldwell. I did what I did to preserve the integrity of my investigation. I'm still an agent. I'm still the only thing standing between you and a prison cell," Felicity says.

Except now I'm the only thing standing between her and a prison cell. I don't remind her of her harsh reality. It's best if I let her think she's still in charge.

I pull my iPhone out of my pocket.

"You bet not break my shit," I say as I hand it over.

I watch her turn it off and slip it into her pocket.

"The other one too."

I give her the measly flip phone she got me carrying around.

"Now strip," She says.

"You want me to bend over and cough too?"

She stares at me but she can keep on. I ain't gettin naked in a public bathroom for nobody.

When she sees that I'm serious, she heads to the door.

"Let's go back to the food court. You seem to be popular over there," Felicity says.

She's out the door before I can think of something slick to say.

...

I keep a good bit of distance between us as I follow Felicity through the mall. Every now and then I stop to make sure nobody familiar is looking my way. So by the time I meet Felicity at the food court, most of the people from before is gone, including Sir Talk-A-Lot.

How convenient. I'm starting to think Felicity sent him to scope me out while she waited in a corner somewhere.

I would ask her 'bout it, except she's all business when I approach. Her mouth starts running before I'm seated in the chair.

"Here's what we do--" She whispers.

I hold a finger up as I sit down.

"We can't talk about what we doing until we talk about what we did. We gotta get our stories straight," I say.

It throws her off like I knew it would. Her black curls swing in her face as she tilts her head.

She opens her mouth to say something but I can tell by the look on her face that it's gon' piss me off. So I cut straight to the chase.

"Baton Rouge ain't far enough away for us to talk about what happened? Cause I thought that's why you got me out here risking my life in the first place," I say.

Felicity's tongue works its way across her jaw as she stares at me. I don't know what she thinking 'bout but I ain't got all day.

"If we ain't talkin then what the fuck I'm here for? Stop wasting my time. And stop playing with my life," I say.

The chair scrapes against the floor as I get ready to stand up.

"There was a girl," Felicity says.

Candyce.

I put on a poker face and turn back around in the chair.

"What girl?" I ask.

She squints her eyes.

"You're telling me you don't know?" She asks.

"How I'm posed to know anything when you ain't saying shit?" I ask.

Felicity just keeps staring at me like we got all the time in the world. Like I ain't risking my life with every second I sit across from her.

I lean across the table with my hands folded.

"The time for trust is long gone. I ain't saying we in this together but I got something on you and you got something on me. Ain't the whole point of this arrangement was to make sure it stayed like that? Just between the two of us?" I say.

My speech don't sway her even the slightest bit. I try my turn at a different avenue.

"Besides, talkin to you keeping me outta jail and away from RICO. Why would I jeapordize witness protection to set you up? I gotta chance to actually be around for my kid. I ain't giving that up for you, Ace or nobody. So can you hurry the fuck up? My son expecting Santa Claus any minute now," I say.

I lean back in my chair when I'm done. Felicity twists her lips up. Then it's her turn to lean forward and drop her voice to a whisper.

"I didn't see the girl until it was too late," She says.

What's that shit Beatie used to say? God is good, all the time.

"What's it matter? You got her ass right?" I ask.

Felicity shakes her head with a frustrated sigh.

"She got away."

I turn up my anger.

"What you mean 'she got away'? How fast was the bitch running?" I ask.

"Too fast."

Now that's a lie. Candyce couldn't even pace the room without needing to sit down.

"So you telling me there's bitch out there somewhere that saw what you did?" I ask.

Felicity slams her hand against the table. A few people glance over at us.

"I know, okay?! I know!" She whisper-yells.

"What did you say to Tory?" I ask.

Felicity looks up at me.

"Don't worry, I didn't say anything about you. Nobody knows you were the one that orchestrated the hit."

I sit back with my hands spread out.

"Good. So we ina clear," I say.

"No. We're not cause she saw me do it," Felicity hisses.

"How she saw you but you didn't see her?" I ask.

"I don't fucking know. Maybe she was hiding in the back or something. It doesn't matter now, does it? What matters is that she saw me open fire on an unarmed citizen with no provocation. It doesn't matter where she was in that car if she can testify to that."

"But can she pick you out in a line up?" I ask.

"If you're asking if I introduced myself as Federal Agent Gutierrez then no, I didn't. I borrowed Lake's squad car to pull them over. I don't even think he knows that I took it."

"So it's only one person who saw you kill Tory last night," I say.

"Exactly," Felicity says.

Then suddenly, she stops nodding her head and looks at me.

"You wouldn't happen to know who she is do you?" She asks.

I smack my teeth.

"I barely knew the nigga. How I'm posed to know what bitches he hang around with?"

"So you wouldn't be protecting anyone?" Felicity says.

"A bitch that fucked with Tory is a bitch I don't need around me. Trust me," I say.

Felicity sits up in her seat.

"You didn't answer the question," She says.

"Cause I ain't think I had to spell it out for you. But if you need to hear me say it, then no, I ain't protecting no one."

"Not even Candyce?"

I furrow my eyebrows. How much does this bitch actually know?

"What she gotta do with this?" I say.

"I don't know. You tell me."

"If you got something to say just say it," I say.

Felicity smirks, "Why? Cause we're in this together?"

"No. Cause I got something on you and you got something on me."

Felicity stops smiling. Yeah, bitch. You catch my drift.

"Are we done here?" I ask.

"Not quite."

I give her a bored expression.

"I did a thing for you because you promised you would do something for me in return," She says.

I nod my head.

"And I will. You'll be the first person I call as soon as Ace touch down in the city," I say.

Felicity nods her head.

"Oh, I know you will cause you're gonna make that happen sooner rather than later."

"What?" I ask.

Felicity pulls my iPhone from her pocket. She slides it over to me.

"You're gonna call Ace and tell him that it's time to come home. Use Tory's death or whatever. I don't care. Use whatever you have to, to get him here," She says.

I stare at the phone then back at her.

"I did my part of the deal. Now's your turn. No bullshit. No games. Just call him," She says.

Why didn't I see this coming? She'd be a fool to trust me to blind faith after all the games I've played.

"Well do you have all day or don't you?" Felicity asks.

I almost sneak the bitch right there, I ain't lying.

I pick the phone up and turn it on. My heart drops when the screen powers on. I don't know why I was hoping it had suddenly went dead. It was impossible. I kept my phone on the charger the whole ride here just in case Candyce called.

I unlock my phone with my heart jumping in my throat. I wonder if this how Judas felt when he betrayed Jesus. Or better yet, maybe this was how Brutus felt when he took the stab that ended Julius' life.

Yeah, that's more aligned since that's exactly what I'm doing as I select Ace's name out my contacts. The phone starts ringing in my ear. All I'm thinking is that this betrayal is as old as time. Ace should have seen this coming. Shit, he probably did, but he trusted me anyway.

He trusted me anyway.

"Put it on speaker," Felicity says.

I can't really argue with that so I do it. We both listen intently while the phone sings back the ringing tone. So that means he still using this phone.

Fuck, Ace. I thought I told you to switch out phones every other month.

We listen for a while longer until the operator picks up saying the person could not be reached. I almost let out a sigh of relief when the phone goes to voicemail. I go to hang it up but Felicity narrows her eyes at me.

"Leave a voicemail," She mouths.

This bitch really don't know when to take a sign from God.