Trust No Bitch 3: Deadly Alliance Read online

  “That's what I'm calling to ask you,” said Riz. “What have you found out about Blood Money?”

  Wa'leek looked down at Treebie and put a finger to his lips. “I'm all over that,” he reassured Riz.

  Treebie slid out of bed. “I'm going to fix a drink. You want something?” she mouthed.

  “Ciroc,” Wa'leek mouthed back returning his attention to the call.

  “Do I need to send Bones down there to help you shake the city up and smoke out Blood Money?” Riz was saying.

  “Nah, I already know who they are and where they're at and I'm about to get at them,” Wa'leek whispered. “And you'll never believe who the fuck they are.”

  “Humor me.”

  “I'm going to do better than that, I'm bringing you their bodies one by one, starting with the most treacherous,” Wa'leek promised as he kept his voice low and his eyes on the door.

  Riz loved the sound of that. “A'ight, I'm giving you a month then I'm sending my goons,” he declared.

  “Trust me, you'll have the bodies long before that.”

  When Wa'leek hung up the phone his mind was set, Treebie was a dead bitch and her girls were next. He reached over the side of the bed and grabbed his banger off of the floor beside his pants. With a firm mind on what had to be done, he slid the Nine under the pillow beneath his head and laid back and waited. He was about to give the saying “getting some brains” a brand new meaning.

  Wa'leek folded his hands behind his head and half-closed his eyes as he formulated Lissha's death next. When he looked up Treebie stood at the foot of the bed in full Blood Money gear with a pump shotgun leveled at his chest.

  “Did you think some good pipe was going to spare your life, nigga?” she gritted. “I just wanted the dick one last time before I sent you where all disloyal niggas belong.”

  Wa'leek knew that this time there would be no reprieve. Treebie was one cold-hearted bitch. He just looked at her and tried to disarm her with his cool demeanor and piercing stare.

  “Finally,” he said, “Loyalty is us over them.”

  “Nah, you wanted Donella now I'm about to reunite you with her,” she rasped.

  “Like I told you, I fucked the bitch, I didn't want her. You're the only woman I've ever wanted.”

  “Nigga, please!” Treebie threw her head back and laughed mockingly. This was the slip up that Wa'leek had been waiting for and he was about to make it her last one.

  Wa'leek moved swiftly. His hands came from behind his head gripping heat and spitting lead. Boc! Boc!

  The first two shots missed wildly but the semi-automatic fired in rapid, deadly succession. Boc! Boc! Boc! The bullets slammed into Treebie's chest sending her stumbling back against the wall, but she remained on her feet.

  “Punk ass bitch!” spat Wa'leek, sending the next shot at her head, but his aim was high and the bullet lodged into the wall. He lowered his aim and squeezed the trigger again and again.

  Click. Click. Click. Click.

  Wa'leek looked down at the gun, it had jammed at the wrong gotdamn time.

  Treebie was wobbled but the heavyweight Kevlar vest had done its job and she was quickly getting her orientation back. She used the wall behind her to brace herself as air returned to her lungs and her stance became firm.

  She brought the shotgun back up and stepped towards Wa'leek as she slid her finger back inside the trigger guard. “I guess it wasn't my time,” she taunted and leveled the shotgun at his chest.

  Wa'leek lunged at her as the pump sounded off like a cannon. Boom! His body flew backwards and he crashed back down on the bed with a hole the size of a baseball in his gut. Treebie pumped another slug in the chamber, stepped closer and leveled the shotgun down at his chest. “Til death do us apart muthafucka,” she spat. Boom!

  Wa'leek's chest opened up like a busted can of tomatoes and he stared at her disbelieving as his vital organs quickly began to stop functioning. “Donella didn't tell me shit, stupid ass nigga,” she admitted. “I always suspected it though. Grimy ass niggas ain’t good for shit but stiff dick and good tongue. Still think I love you? Punk muthafucka.”

  Treebie looked down at her husband unmercifully as his eyes slowly began to glaze over from death's call. He gurgled on the blood that had quickly filled his mouth but Treebie felt no pity. She let the pump slip from her grasp and fall to the floor. She reached in her pocket and pulled out a crisp bill, then crawled up on the bed and grabbed Wa'leek by the head. “Blood Money, bitch ass nigga,” she snarled as she forced the bill inside his mouth and watched him slowly succumb to death.

  As Treebie stepped out of the shower her phone began to sound off with a familiar ringtone. She wrapped a towel around herself and hurried to answer it before Big Zo hung up. “Hello,” she answered, ignoring Wa'leek's body on the bed.

  “Hey, baby girl. I need you to handle something for me ASAP. Are you still down?” Big Zo's voice conveyed urgency.

  “You don't even have to ask me that, just tell me what you need done and I'm on it,” she assured him.

  “Good. I always knew you were the one I could count on most. Here's what I need you to do…”

  Treebie listened without interruption. When Big Zo was done she didn't even question his request. “Consider it done,” she said.

  Treebie hung up the phone, dressed quickly, and grabbed her gun. She covered Wa'leek's body with the bed spread before leaving out. She would deal with it when she returned, he damn sure wasn't going anywhere.

  Chapter 1

  A Pained Cry

  Kiam's mind was so preoccupied with Lissha's disappearance he drove straight through the red light as he neared the twins' complex. “Shit!” he exclaimed glancing over to his right and spotting a police cruiser parked in the lot of a strip mall. Adrenaline rushed through Kiam's veins like a live current of electricity.

  When the car pulled out and got behind him he saw that they were two hillbilly looking cops in the vehicle. He knew that if they pulled him over they weren't going to just write him a ticket and keep it moving, Jakes like them always wanted to search your shit. What they would find in his vehicle would open up a floodgate of trouble for Kiam, trouble that would bring his rise to the top to an unceremonious halt. His hand went to the Nine that he had sat on the counsel between the seats; the gun had mad bodies on it and he was about add two more to it if they flashed their lights.

  Going back to prison wasn't even an option. Court gets held in the muhfuckin' streets, he instantly decided. That was the code of every real nigga that had ever done a bid. Fake niggas talked it, trill niggas walked it. In a minute the Jakes were going to have the misfortune of pulling over the wrong muthafucka at the wrong time.

  Kiam scanned the area for the quickest escape route after he opened up on po po. Within minutes the helicopter would fly in and every available patrol car would flood the area where he had left two of their brethren leaking in the snow. He would have to abandon the truck, snatch a bitch up and make them drive him away from there. To think that after all the blood he had spilled since coming home, his downfall would be something as trivial as running a red light!

  Kiam felt a pang in his heart as the realization of how this would drastically change the lives of Faydrah and their unborn. A picture of her flashed in his mind intensifying the ache in his heart. He had promised her before walking out of the door that everything would be alright. Guilt leaped up in his chest but his gangsta forced it back down.

  “It is what the fuck it is,” Kiam said aloud as he slid the Nine over onto his lap and stared in the rearview mirror waiting for the flashing lights.

  Nothing but head shots. He clicked off the safety latch and slid his finger inside the trigger guard. “Eyez, I love you baby,” he whispered as if she was in the seat next to him. “Take care of my seed.”

  As the words left his mouth the police cruiser turned off and went about their business. Kiam relaxed his grip on his gun but the anxiety he felt remained strong. Where in the fuck was Lissha? Shit li
ke this threw a nigga off his square.

  JuJu and Isaiah was standing outside with their whistles tucked underneath heavy winter jackets when Kiam pulled up to the condo. As soon as he brought the truck to a complete stop JuJu hopped in front and his cousin climbed in the back.

  “What's up, Boss? Let's go make the city tremble,” said JuJu.

  “Muhfuckin' right,” intoned Isaiah bringing out his fo-fo and checking the clip.

  “Where's Isaac?” asked Kiam.

  “I sent him to stand guard at your house,” JuJu informed him.

  Kiam nodded his head and pulled out his cellphone to try Lissha again but her phone just rang until he was sent to voicemail. Kiam sighed. “Yo shorty, call me as soon as you get this message and let me know you're good,” he said with a heavy undertone of trepidation.

  Next Kiam called Treebie but got the same results. Fuck everybody at? Muthafuckaz need to be on call 24/7. The crease in his forehead spread across both brows. He hung up without leaving a message. With a look of frustration written across his face he turned to JuJu. “Youngin we gotta tighten up the ship. We're becoming too lax and I don't like that shit. I wanna know where everybody is at all times, no exceptions,” he spewed.

  JuJu nodded his understanding.

  Kiam put both hands on the steering wheel and stared out of the window at the snowfall wondering where in the fuck Lissha could be. If she was lying somewhere dead he would never forgive himself for letting Big Zo down. If she was somewhere all in her feelings and ignoring his calls he was going to fuck her up for real this time!

  His cellphone rung in his hand. Expecting a call back from either Lissha or Treebie, Kiam hurriedly answered without paying attention to the caller ID. “Yeah?” His tone was hard and admonishing.

  “Have you heard from my daughter yet?” Big Zo's strained voice boomed in his ear.

  Kiam softened his tone. “Not yet, Pop. But I promise you I'ma find her,” he uttered.

  “I expect you to and I expect her to be in perfect health when you do.”

  “Yes, sir,” he respectfully replied.

  A long silence followed Kiam's response before Big Zo muttered, “Son, Lissha is all that I have left in this world and if something has happened to her...”

  Big Zo couldn't even complete the thought. Kiam thought he heard Big Zo's voice crack, and the sound of his mentor's pain heightened the concern that had washed over him. “Pop, I'ma find her,” he promised. Or I’m killing everything in my path.

  “Turn that whole city upside down until you do. Don't underestimate Wolfman, he has survived in the game a long time and he's a ruthless muthafucka,” Big Zo advised. The sincerity inflected in his words hid his well-orchestrated deceit.

  By the time Kiam got off the phone he was convinced that nobody that he loved would be safe until he had demolished Wolfman and his entire squad. He looked over in the passenger seat at JuJu and said, “Call Isaac and check on Eyez.”

  **********

  As soon as Isaac turned onto the block he noticed the pizza delivery boy's car parked in front of the house, but he thought nothing of it. He pulled into the driveway, parked, and hurried towards the porch. He stopped in his tracks when he saw what looked like a man's body sprawled out across the threshold of the front door.

  “What the fuck!” he uttered.

  The first thought that came to mind was that the driver guy had slipped and injured himself, but when he stepped up on the porch he immediately became alarmed. Blood circled the man's head and the front door stood wide open. A black cloud of death seemed to darken the sky.

  Isaac's hand went inside his coat and he brought out his ratchet as he cautiously stepped inside the house, eyes on alert, and trigger finger poised to squeeze a few off. He slipped and almost lost his balance as his Timbs stepped into a small puddle of slowly congealing blood that was on the hardwood floor just inside the door.

  Regaining his balance, Isaac tightened his grip on his Desert Eagle and quickly scanned the living room. His eyes followed a trail of blood and his feet followed his eyes. What he saw when he got closer rocked his world because he knew that if she was dead it would devastate Kiam's. Blood was all over her face, chest, and stomach.

  Isaac swallowed hard as he knelt down and lifted her blood stained hand off of her stomach and checked her wrist for a pulse. Feeling nothing, he put his face to her mouth and felt faint breath on his skin. Her hazel green eyes fluttered open but that were glassy and unfocused.

  Faydrah mumbled something that Isaac couldn't quite understand.

  “Don't try to talk,” he urged her. But she repeated it.

  Again her voice was faint. It sounded to Isaac like she was saying “ba...by”.

  Judging from all of the blood on her stomach he didn't think there was a chance that her baby would have survived this. Isaac was just praying she didn't die. “Just hold on Faydrah I'm going to get you to the hospital,” he pleaded.

  “I—can't,” she gurgled.

  A gush of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth and her head fell slack. Her beautiful eyes went lifeless. “Noooooo,” Isaac cried.

  His phone rung in his pocket causing him to jump and squeeze off two shots that shattered a mirror on the wall. “Damn,” he uttered when he realized what had happened.

  He fished his phone out of his pocket and answered dourly. “Yeah, fam.”

  “Where you at, cuz?” asked JuJu.

  “I'm at Kiam's, and cuz this shit is fucked up! Blood is everywhere and she's not breathing.”

  “What the fuck is you saying, Bleed?” snapped JuJu. “Who's not breathing?”

  Kiam's head jerked to the side. He snatched the phone out of JuJu's hand and put it to his ear. “What are you saying, man?” he demanded to know.

  “Man, oh man, it's bad, fam. Somebody shot your girl up. They did her so dirty.” His tone relayed the grave reality, but Kiam didn't want to believe it.

  “What the fuck are saying?” he belted.

  “Boss, the door was wide open when I got here. I came inside and found her on the floor. She's been shot up. Blood is all over her face and stomach,” Isaac repeated as he knelt over Faydrah's body.

  “Is she still alive?”

  Isaac knew the answer to Kiam's question but he could not force himself to give it.

  “Hello! Hello!” Kiam took the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen to see if the call had dropped.

  “I'm still here,” said Isaac in a low tone.

  “Just tell me the truth, man. Is she still alive?” Kiam demanded to know.

  Isaac didn't respond.

  “I asked you a question,” Kiam boomed.

  Isaac took a deep breath and slowly forced the truth out of his mouth. “Nah, fam, she's dead.”

  Kiam let out a loud cry that echoed throughout the truck. JuJu and Isaiah bowed their heads as Kiam's pain resonated deep in their souls. Their eyes clouded up with the closest thing to tears that thugs could shed.

  Silently they communicated to each other that they were going to put the city under siege. For this, Cleveland, Ohio was about to become the new murder capitol.

  Chapter 2

  Wounded

  Kiam stood motionless at the foot of the cold slab that held her body; he was afraid to see what was under the white blood stained sheet. His chest felt like an empty cavity that contained no heart. The blood that used to pump through his veins with the love of Faydrah Combs now felt like thick clots that threatened to clog his arteries and stop his heart from pumping. He was there to identify her body but his mind had yet to accept that she was dead.

  No, that’s not my Eyez. It can't be.

  He had just left her at home an hour or so ago; had just kissed her lips and looked into those beautiful eyes of hers and told her not to worry. Now they were telling him that it was her on this steel gurney. Fuck no! He had to have firm confirmation. His shorty wasn't dead!

  Kiam's gaze eased slowly down her covered body and settled on her
belly. My baby rang loud in his mind and for the first time in years tears clouded his eyes and forced themselves down his face. He let out a deep breath fighting back more tears as he thought of the excitement that he and Faydrah had shared over her pregnancy.

  I'm going to give you a son who's strong and handsome just like his daddy, she had gushed exuberantly.

  Kiam could hear her voice as clearly as if she was whispering it in his ear. He closed his eyes but the tears continued trickling down. He sniffled them back and stilled the ache in his heart that was contracting with the intensity of unbearable pain. Again he blew out a deep breath and tried to stiffen his legs. Slowly he reached out and uncovered her face.

  What Kiam saw wobbled his knees and crushed whatever kindness resided in his heart. Some muthafucka had done the ugliest thing to the most beautiful person in his life and for that the world was going to pay.

  “I fucked up, baby. I let you down,” he said as a lump formed in his throat. He stood there in virtual shock, wanting to hear her voice; needing to have her reach out to him, but that was not going to happen. What the enemy had done to his girl was irreversible and ruthlessly final.

  He dropped his head under the guilt of knowing that he had left her alone and open to the revenge of his enemies. It was a mistake that he was powerless to undo and the reality of that was like a pair of strong hands wrapped around his throat strangling him. But Kiam was not one to wilt.

  He lifted his head, straightened his shoulders, and stiffened his back. Then he placed a hand on her arm and whispered, “I'm sorry, baby. Just know that I will love you forever and no other woman will ever take your place. You will never die in mind, heart or soul.” His voice cracked. “I love you so much, Eyez.”

  Kiam took a deep breath and swallowed the huge sob that was right at the front of his throat. The enemy had hit him where he was most vulnerable but he refused to bow. The love of his life was lying before him cold and lifeless; the gravity of that would forever rob him of the happiness that he sought but there was no way it would go unavenged.