Renee 3 Page 3

  “Maybe we can do lunch soon!”

  Renee just stared, feeling like a circle trying to fit into a square, uncomfortable and out of place. Alone with no man and no power, Renee no longer wanted peace but to blow off steam by finishing what everyone else had started. When there was nothing left to lose, you lost your mind.

  “Renee, are you okay? Do you need me to come over there?”

  Mrs. Gibson’s loud, agitating voice brought to Renee’s attention that she hadn’t responded. “Yes, I’m okay!” Renee replied.

  “So what do you say? We should have lunch soon, maybe head into the city somewhere?” Mrs. Gibson prayed Renee would say yes. In her opinion, Long Island was boring, and making a new friend was exactly what she needed.

  Renee replayed in her head the question she was asked. It had been a long time since she had been out in the open just because, and that was when it hit her. If she wanted revenge, she couldn’t be Jordan and use Metro’s connections. “Take what you brought to the table and leave.” Metro’s words echoed through her head. Renee smiled and nodded her head. Forcing out a half-decent, friendly tone, she shouted, “I would love that, Prue. Just tell me when!” Goodbye, Jordan. Hello, Renee. It’s time for you to flaunt your power.

  * * *

  “You got this place together quick.”

  Standing in the middle of Carmen’s new living room, her mother, Raquel, took in the drastic transformation performed within only a few weeks. The once-dull and spacious apartment was now spruced up with spring colors and edgy furniture. Each item meshed together nicely, all while taking on a life of its own. The decor screamed, “Carmen,” but the numbers her new place represented didn’t.

  “I can’t take all the credit. My interior designer did lend a hand.”

  Scanning every corner and floor panel, Carmen smiled with pride. If there was one thing she loved, it was spending money and starting fresh. Her budget was no longer what it had been. She was limited nowadays, being that she no longer had anyone to care for her financially. The money she had received in the past from her uncle Lyfe and her deceased ex, Benz, was put away.

  “You did good. I always said you got your good taste from your father.”

  Raquel continued to admire the decor while Carmen fell back into a time when she learned about her father’s second life. Raquel’s mention of her father automatically made Carmen think of Renee and her escape from New York. She now felt like a wounded animal being hunted.

  “So, what’s next?”

  Raquel sits down on couch with a glass of wine. Carmen took a seat beside her mother and forced the thoughts of her father and sister out of her personal space.

  “I was thinking of getting some artwork. The walls are looking kinda plain,” Carmen replied.

  “I’m not talking about the apartment, Carmen. I’m referring to you. What are you going to do next? You spent your entire time here decorating this apartment. I know you didn’t come back home to play designer, and I know you’re running out of men to take care of you.” Her eyes glanced over her youngest child’s new outfit.

  Baffled by her empty hand, Carmen stood up to retrieve a replacement. With her back turned to her mother, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Raquel’s interrogation made it difficult for her to pour her wine without wasting it.

  “I’ve only been here for a few weeks, Ma. Can I get myself settled before conquering the big things?”

  “Carmen, why are you here?”

  “You know why I’m here. I’m trying to better myself, and in order for me to do so, I need to be in my comfort zone. I need to be home.”

  “But why?” Raquel inquired. “Why do you need to better yourself? What’s changed?”

  Raquel wasn’t buying what Carmen was trying to sell. She knew since the day her daughter called to tell her she was coming home that there were missing pages to the story. Sure, it was possible for someone to want to grow within the security of a familiar place, but Carmen wasn’t that someone. She was a manipulator and opportunist. Raquel knew this because she, too, was a master at getting what she wanted. She was the greatest deceiver of them all.

  Letting out a faint chuckle, Carmen sat on the loveseat across from her mother. The distance was very much needed. “New York has inspired me. I want more for myself. Why is that so hard to believe?” Carmen lifted the crystal up to her lips.

  “What did you get yourself into? What are you hiding from?” Raquel’s eyes searched her daughter’s for answers the minute she lowered her glass. The lies that seeped from her mouth, along with the defensive wall Carmen put up, were all too familiar.

  It wasn’t until the death of her children’s father that Raquel stopped running from the world and hiding who she was. In her early twenties, she met Daniel. She had taken on the role of his mistress without giving a second thought to the lives that would be affected. Instead, she welcomed the luxuries that came with an uncommitted relationship. Raquel kept her distance from acquiring any responsibilities. Her goal was to live life to the fullest, and that was unattainable when rules and expectations were laid out in front of you. Raquel lived in the moment, carefree. And when she became pregnant with her first-born, Madison, she gave the child to her sister and continued on the selfish road she’d paved.

  Carmen, on the other hand, had forced Raquel out of her world. Her birth had changed Raquel’s perception a great deal, but it did not have any effect on her and Daniel’s affair. By that time, she had mastered hiding their relationship from everyone, including his wife. Raquel managed to keep up the mischief until Daniel’s death.

  Carmen considered telling her mother the truth. Taking a big gulp of the alcohol, she imagined how it would feel to set her soul free and express how she had found out the truth about her parents’ relationship and her queen-pin sister who had chased her back into Miami. Not to mention her resentment toward her mother for not fighting for her father. They could have been a full-time family had her mother not been so content with being the other woman. With a stare that could burn holes through her mother, Carmen told Raquel exactly what she had been holding back, and she wished her mouth would deliver the message.

  Saved by the bell, Raquel’s doorbell ringtone alerted her of an incoming call. Without looking at the screen, she picked up the phone with her eyes locked on her daughter, who wouldn’t voice her honesty. “Priceless Realty, this is Raquel Hunt.” Pausing, Raquel took in the voice on the other end and smiled. Her change of mood lightened up the tension. “Zeke, how are you, and how is that gorgeous home you recently purchased?”

  Raquel made her way across the room, but not before grabbing her drink. She wandered around the lounging area, occasionally nodding her head. “Tell him to be at my office tomorrow at noon. If he’s serious, he’ll have a place in a secluded area by the next day. If not, tell him not to bother inquiring about my services again.”

  After a fast set of goodbyes, Raquel finished off the liquid, refilled her glass, and sat at the bar.

  “The name Zeke sounds familiar. Who is he?” Carmen queried.

  “Your cousin Zeke.”

  Carmen scanned her mental Rolodex and didn’t stop until she reached the letter Z. “Zeke? Are you talking about Aunt—”

  “Yes, my sister’s son.” Raquel cut Carmen off mid-sentence . The sister I trusted to raise my first-born and who disappointed me by allowing my daughter to strip. The sister I haven’t spoken to in years. Yeah, that sister.

  Raquel didn’t even want to hear her sister’s name, let alone speak it. So, for her to keep in contact with her nephew was eyebrow-raising.

  “You haven’t spoken with them in years, so why now?”

  Raquel poured a fresh glass of vodka and pushed aside the wine. “He bought a place out here a few months ago and hired me as his Realtor. Now he’s throwing some business my way.”

  Raquel’s lips were pursed and her eyes low, an automatic sign that her dealings with her nephew went beyond their family name. Carmen smiled, her m
other’s careful choice of words entertaining the conversation. There was more to the story. There was no way she’d deal with her sister’s son out of the goodness of her heart.

  “What are you covering up?” Carmen asked, getting straight to the point rather than lurking around.

  “Stay in your lane, little girl,” her mother warned. She aimed her pointer finger Carmen’s way while the remainder of her fingers held on to the glass. She placed the glass on the bar. Raquel fought to pull her eyes from her daughter, annoyed that she even had the gall to question her. “We have reservations at Royalties. Get ready, because I’m hungry, and I will not be here all day waiting for you,” she snapped.

  Raquel hopped off the barstool and headed to the restroom, mumbling on the way. Twenty-five years Carmen’s senior, Raquel was an attractive, business-savvy woman who took the easy way out in life and was far from being green in achieving fast money. Gone were the days of settling as someone’s mistress. Her new hustle paid much more.

  Shaking off her mother’s attitude, Carmen began to walk out of the room until her mother’s phone pinged. The alert led Carmen over to the barstool Raquel had vacated. It had apparently slipped out of her mother’s back pocket.

  You’re gonna tell me what you’re up to, whether you want to or not. Carmen grabbed the phone and searched its contacts. The various tag-names logged into the cell phone belonging to a woman over the age of 40 raised red flags. Yes, it could have been business, but Carmen now realized things were never so simple when they pertained to her mother. Carmen took screenshots of all the contacts’ information with tag-names and sent them to herself.

  When she heard her mother heading down the hall and back in her direction, she deleted the history of every text she’d just forwarded to herself. Raquel’s footsteps grew closer. They were so close there was no time to put the phone back on the cushion of the seat. Without hesitation, Carmen met Raquel at the living room’s entrance and handed it to her.

  “Here you go, Ms. Secretive. You left this.” Carmen placed the device in her mother’s hand and didn’t bother to delay her trip to her bedroom.

  “Damn right! And next time, stay out of my business until you’re ready to tell me yours.”

  Carmen paid no mind to her mother. It was not what Carmen wanted to hear.

  Chapter 3

  Down in the basement of Dane’s favorite abandoned Jersey home, she sat in a corner on top of dirt and small pieces of wood. Her back was hunched over, and her face was drained of color and emotion. With one leg outstretched and the other bent, her elbow rested on her knee as she finger-combed her hair. Her shades were trapped in her free hand, far from the red, puffy eyes they were meant to conceal.

  “I’m not going to tell you where he is.”

  His voice cracked with every word. Short of breath, Fergus struggled to speak. Blood mixed with sweat coated his swollen face while the throbbing pain racing through his body forced his head to hang low. The inability to move due to being chained to a chair in a straitjacket sent him deeper into a place of discomfort.

  Dane pushed her hair back and, for a few seconds, held on to a handful of strands before responding. “I know, but that’s not why I’m keeping you around.” Fergus’s eyebrows rose, perspiration dripping from his hairline and landing on his legs. Dane had never seen Fergus so weak and would have never pictured her being the reason for his current state. She loved him and his deranged twin as much as she would have loved a child she birthed. She groomed them into the killers they were meant to be and took pride in their accomplishments. However, lies and betrayals could never be tolerated, never given a blind eye.

  “I don’t need you to tell me where your brother is. I’ll find him. What I need to know is why you hid the fact that Jared is alive? Why have us all believe you cleaned him up?”

  Fergus grinned, his eyes simultaneously opening and closing. He’d been tortured for days, beaten, and deprived of food, yet he refused to crack.

  “Because you don’t put the one you love in danger,” crawled out.

  Dane’s leg dropped to the floor, a cloud of dust rising into the air. Her head flung backward, and a burst of laughter escaped from her mouth. The intensity of it resulted in her dropping her shades.

  “And I always thought you were the smart one,” she retorted.

  Dane would have bet her last dime that if either of the twins had interrupted her business, it would have been Calloway, considering his ill temper and obscenely violent ways. But Fergus had blindsided her. She stood up and held on to the back of the chair Fergus was chained to. She bent down and spoke directly into his ear.

  “There’s no love in your future. It doesn’t matter what team you bat for. That will always be one wish that will never come true.”

  Fergus was no Calloway. His heart was not completely black, and a small piece of normalcy still dwelled deep within his bloodstream. With a tensed face and blurred vision, Fergus tried to move. Her statement sent a type of discomfort that outweighed the chains and jacket. There were many things his dark soul could handle, including being ridiculed because of his homosexuality, but being told that love was not and could never be in his deck of cards was infuriating. With a tilt of the head, Fergus gave Dane his undivided attention.

  “If a monster like you can find love, then anything is possible,” he sneered.

  Looking at one another, the two fell silent. Monster, echoed in each of their minds. It was statements like that that revealed the difference between Fergus and Calloway. Fergus looked down on Dane and called her a monster like it was a bad thing, but Calloway would have sung that word with joy to describe her.

  “Now that’s the problem. That one pinch of normal lodged in your soul still gives you hope that everything will one day be okay. I’m no bigger a monster than you. You’ve just fooled yourself into believing that I am.”

  “I would have had a chance at life if it weren’t for you.” Tears appeared in the corners of Fergus’s eyes, and for the first time in life, he did nothing to stop them from falling.

  Dane giggled. “Was that before or after you two killed your pervert uncle? Take responsibility for your choices. You’re a killer. Your life was over way before I came into the picture.”

  This conversation between Dane and Fergus was long overdue. Although he never said a word regarding his thoughts about her, Dane always knew he took his childhood hurt and frustration out on her, the only person who understood them and used their skills instead of rejecting them. Fergus believed Dane had only pulled him deeper into Dante’s Inferno. It didn’t matter if he took pleasure in his decision to kill. In his mind, he saw no fault in him and Calloway killing their abuser and everyone else they had murdered.

  “I kill because I have to,” he coolly confessed.

  “You kill because you want to,” Dane challenged.

  The anger in Dane’s voice was undeniable. Fergus sickened her to the core, and it wasn’t until that very second that she picked up on the common sense he lacked.

  “You and your gay-boy motherfuckin’ blues. Is Jared even gay?” Part of Dane hoped he was, because at least all of this would make sense. When Fergus focused on the wall in front of him and didn’t utter a word, Dane’s last bit of hope dissolved with every second of silence. Straight dick will get you killed, skipped through her mind.

  After minutes of Dane staring holes into the side of his face, Fergus finally spoke up. “Don’t kill him. Let this end with me.”

  “As much as your betrayal for love inspires me, I could give two shits about what you have to say.”

  Dane rested her hands on his shoulders. Never had she imagined the twins would deceive her, but after coming to terms with the fact that Renee’s loyalty was questionable, the brothers’ deception was no longer surprising.

  “Calloway . . . Please don’t kill him.” His voice jumped an octave. His selfish decision to save Jared called for his brother’s life.

  “I wish I didn’t have to,” Dane mumbled.


  Closing his eyes, Fergus inhaled his last breath, filling his lungs with stale air. He prepared for its escape when his neck snapped and his introduction to death began. Crackling bones awakened the ghost of victims past and welcomed him to life after death. Life seeped out of Fergus’s pores, and calmness engulfed the room as his body came to a standstill.

  “Sleep well,” Dane whispered, her hand rubbing his dirty brown hair. His pale white skin was clammy.

  A sea of memories flashed before Dane’s eyes. Balling her free hand into a fist, Dane fought to go back in time to when she first met Fergus and Calloway. They were bloody, starved, and determined to rid the earth of their uncle’s body. They were in need of her assistance, and she helped them dispose of the corpse and later took them under her wing. The memories were remarkable, but no matter how much she wished that she could go back in time and warn them of their future errors, she couldn’t.

  Devastation overcame her. She shoved Fergus’s body, causing his chair to topple over. The instant he met the floor, so did she. All of her soldiers were crumbling, and her new reality became too much to bear. After days of holding in sobs, she finally let them escape. Her screams were loud enough to crack mirrors, and her aggression was strong enough to move mountains. Her vision became blurry, and all self-control was thrown out the window. What saved her psyche from going over the edge was the sound of a text hitting Fergus’s phone. With makeup dripping and adrenaline pumping, she moved toward Fergus and retrieved the phone. The sight of Calloway’s name pulled her back into a world of sanity.

  Fergus, we need to meet up. How much longer will Dane be needing you, and why haven’t I been recruited?

  While she wiped tears from her face, cosmetics stained her fingers, and a wicked smile appeared. Because I want you to die alone, Dane replied. She immediately followed up with another text.

  You crossed me. Now deal with the consequences.