AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did they…”
“No.” My head shook adamantly as I sniffled. “Before they could, Daddy and Nathan kicked the door in. Daddy shot all of them but he’s letting Nathan take the charges. He made me agree to saying Nathan was the trigger man.”
“And because you agreed, he’s blackmailing me into marrying you?”
I nodded, clenching my jaw to avoid letting more tears fall. “Yes,” I whispered. “I always told him that I blamed him for us breaking up, but the truth is, I chose to follow his lead blindly. I could have loved you and myself more and said no, but I didn’t. All this time I’ve refused to take accountability for my actions and placed all the responsibility on him, but this is my fuck up, and I have to fix it.”
He sat up in his seat. “What did you have in mind?”
“Telling the truth. I have to get Nathan out of prison and… I can’t let him force you to marry me, Tyreek. I’ve hurt you once; I can’t do it again.”
“Do you really think your father’s gonna go down that easily?”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Not at all, but I have to do the right thing for once, even if I have to do the time myself.”
“That might not be necessary. Now that I know the details, I might be able to help you out… but I need something from you in return.”
“Name it.”
“The pictures and gun your father has for my brother. I need that. If you can get it, I’ll help you get Nathan out of prison.”
Tyreek stood and walked over to me, extending his hand for me to shake. I looked at it for a few seconds before I stood and placed my hand inside of his. I didn’t know what he had in mind, but at this point, I was willing to try just about anything…
CHAPTER27
Tyreek
I said I wouldn’t reach out to Janae until I had good news, so as hard as it was to keep distance after we’d made such progress, I stayed away. Once I got the details from Piper about the situation, it all made sense. It shouldn’t have surprised me that Ahmad was pulling out his ace to avoid having to go to jail. Whatdidsurprise me was Piper deciding not to go along with it. I guess people could change. I was proud of her. It seemed like she was finally growing up.
We’d told Ahmad that we had filed the marriage license just to buy some time. I had Hosea to reach out to the Black Mayhem Mafia for a favor. Rameek specifically. He wasn’t the district attorney anymore, but he still had pull, plus he was a private investigator.
With his help, Piper and I were able to find out what other evidence the police had, which was nothing. It was going to be fairly easy to get them to drop the charges against Nathan once we had proof that it was Ahmad. Rameek was able to find out the guests that were staying on that floor that night and go talk to them.
A woman was afraid to come forward, but she admitted to hearing the whole thing and even looking out of her door. She said she saw Piper and Nathan leaving before more shots rang out, then an older man followed. We got her to give the police a statement and do a lineup, naming Ahmad as the shooter and their new suspect.
We told Piper that she didn’t have to admit to stealing from Thurston, especially since she’d left all of his belongings at the suite, but she’d done so anyway. I admired her for finally taking accountability for her actions even if it meant going to prison. They decided not to charge her, though, which she was glad about, but who knew if that would remain the case.
They might not be charging her with theft, but there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t try and charge her with facilitation. Without her involvement, Ahmad wouldn’t have committed the murders. We would have to see how that played out, though. Right now, she was free. I was waiting for her to call or text me to let me know that Nathan had been released and that her father was picked up as well. He wasn’t going to see it coming.
She’d finessed his attorney into giving her everything Ahmad had given him in exchange for her keeping him on her payroll when Ahmad went to prison. I thought after this Piper wouldn’t want anything else to do with that street shit, but it was in her blood. She planned to run her father’s organization with Nathan as soon as Ahmad was arrested. I wished her well but made it clear I was still retired and wanted nothing to do with it.
Sitting outside of Kahlil and Honey’s home, I looked down at the gun and printed pictures of him doing something we swore we’d never do again. With this, I prayed that part of our lives was officially over. Piper assured me that she had the codes to her father’s safes, safety deposit boxes, phones, and computers. She guaranteed me that if there were more copies, she’d find and delete them all. So far, her plan was to sweep the house when he was arrested, and I could only hope that was enough.
I must have thought her up because she called me, and I answered with, “Hey, you good?”
“Yes. I’m headed to go pick Nathan up now. Hopefully he gets in the car with me.”
She chuckled, but I knew she was nervous. We talked about her relationship with Nathan and how he was the best thing she had going. It was like second nature for Piper to choose her father over anyone, so for her to be doing this to help Nathan, he must have really meant a lot to her. Their friendship was strong when we were dating, but it must have gotten even stronger over the years. Or maybe it was truly Piper having a change of heart. Whatever it was, I was just glad she’d decided to do the right thing.
“I’m sure he will. Even with you temporarily choosing your father, you did right in the end. That’s all that matters.”
She sighed. “I’m just glad Rameek was able to use his resources to find that woman. If I would have tried to do this myself, they probably wouldn’t have believed me.”
“How easy do you think it’s going to be to find your father?”
She didn’t reply right away. “Honestly, I don’t think we’re going to find him at all, Tyreek.”
Now that confused the hell out of me.
