CHAPTER 12
The Daughter Karen Gave Away
“Because Karen Carter is my mother too.”
The words followed me through the tunnel.
I held the phone against my ear as I ran after the others.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means exactly what I said.”
“Camille is your mother.”
“She raised me.”
“And Terrence Carter is your father.”
“He gave me his name.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Dymond went silent.
Another explosion shook the tunnel.
“Keyshia, you need to keep moving.”
“I need you to explain why you have my children and why you’re claiming my mother.”
“Those children are the only reason I’m talking to you instead of letting you learn the truth the hard way.”
“You better watch how you speak about my kids.”
“I’m trying to keep them alive.”
“Everybody says that right before they lie to me.”
Dymond sighed.
“You really are Karen’s daughter.”
“Stop calling her that.”
“What?”
“Karen. Like y’all are old friends.”
“We’re more than friends.”
“What are you?”
“Survivors.”
The call ended.
“Dymond!”
I tried calling back.
No answer.
By the time I reached the river exit, my father was carrying Nesha toward a black SUV. A white van waited beside it with the back doors open.
A man wearing blue scrubs jumped out.
“Put her inside.”
My father laid Nesha on a stretcher.
The doctor cut through her shirt and examined the wound.
“How long ago was she shot?”
“Maybe an hour,” I said.
“She’s lost a lot of blood.”
“Can you save her?”
“If you let me work.”
He pushed the stretcher into the van.
I climbed in behind him.
“You need to stay outside,” he said.
“I’m not leaving her.”
“I need room.”
“I said I’m not leaving her.”
My mother appeared behind me.
“Keyshia, come out.”
I turned on her.
“Did you give Dymond away?”
Her face answered before she did.
The doctor closed the van doors between us.
My mother and I stood beside the river beneath the darkness of the overpass.
My father remained near the SUV, holding the black duffel bag.
“You told me Camille was Dymond’s mother,” I said.
“She was.”
“Dymond says you’re her mother.”
“I am.”
“You got about five seconds to make that make sense.”
My mother stared toward the river.
“Dymond was born before you and Tasha.”
“How long before?”
“Four years before you.”
“You had a whole child before us?”
“Yes.”
“Who was her father?”
She didn’t answer.
I grabbed her arm.
“Who was he?”
“That’s the one secret I can’t give you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You don’t have any secrets left.”
“We all have secrets left.”
“Not after tonight.”
“You don’t understand what her father is capable of.”
“Is he the man Lawson works for?”
My mother looked at me.
That was enough.
“He is.”
“No.”
“He knows Dymond is his daughter?”
“He knows I had a child. He never knew where I sent her.”
“You gave her to Camille and Terrence?”
“They were the only people I trusted.”
“Why?”
“Because Camille was my best friend, and Terrence owed me his life.”
My father laughed from beside the SUV.
“Terrence never did anything unless it benefited him.”
My mother turned toward him.
“That’s why I gave Camille control of the money.”
“What money?” I asked.
“A trust for Dymond.”
“The account Daddy emptied?”
My mother nodded.
My father lifted both hands.
“I borrowed from it.”
“You stole twenty million dollars from your daughter’s sister,” I said.
“That sentence got too many branches in it.”
“That’s because you planted your ass all over the family tree.”
Even my mother almost smiled.
“I was going to put it back,” he said.
“When?”
“When I accessed the empire accounts.”
“The accounts you said were empty?”
He looked away.
I shook my head.
“You couldn’t tell the truth if somebody paid you.”
“People have paid me to lie.”
“That wasn’t something to be proud of.”
“It wasn’t pride. It was survival.”
“No. Momma disappeared for survival. You disappeared because you didn’t want to pay anybody back.”
His expression hardened.
“Watch how you talk to me.”
“You missed nineteen years. You don’t get to come back giving orders.”
The doctor opened the van door.
“She needs a transfusion immediately.”
“What blood type?” my mother asked.
“O-negative.”
“I’m O-negative,” I said.
“So am I,” my mother replied.
The doctor looked between us.
“I can take one unit from each of you, but we need to move.”
“Take mine first,” I said.
My mother stepped toward the van.
“No. Take mine.”
“You already gave away one daughter. You don’t get to play hero with this one.”
Pain filled her eyes.
“Keyshia, I know you hate me.”
“I don’t know you well enough to hate you.”
“But Nesha needs both of us.”
The doctor motioned toward the van.
“Argue inside.”
???
The vehicle started moving as the doctor placed a needle in my arm.
Nesha lay unconscious on the stretcher between me and my mother.
Her skin looked gray beneath the harsh overhead light.
I held her hand.
“You better not die.”
She didn’t respond.
“You still owe me five years of explanations.”
My mother watched us.
“She loved you before she knew you were sisters.”
I looked up.
“How do you know?”
“She refused to help me at first.”
“Help you do what?”
“Watch you.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“She said she wasn’t going to spy on her best friend.”
“But she did.”
“She watched the people around you. Not you.”
“Same difference.”
“No. It isn’t.”
“Why didn’t Nesha tell Tasha?”
“She was afraid Tasha would ask for a DNA test.”
“Why would that matter?”
“Because Nesha isn’t only connected to your father.”
I stared at her.
“What now?”
My mother looked down at Nesha.
“Valerie was my cousin.”
I closed my eyes.
“So Nesha is my sister and my cousin?”
“Half-sister through your father. Second cousin through me.”
“This family needs a chart.”
My mother smiled faintly.
“You sound like Kendrick.”
“Is he really dead?”
“Yes.”
“You expect me to believe that after you came back from the dead?”
“I watched Lawson shoot him.”
“You watched?”
“I was inside the car.”
“Why didn’t Lawson kill you?”
“He needed me alive.”
“For the accounts?”
“For Dymond.”
I released Nesha’s hand.
“You said he didn’t know where she was.”
“He didn’t. But he knew I did.”
“Lawson works for Dymond’s father.”
“Yes.”
“And Dymond’s father wants her back?”
“No. He wants her dead.”
The words settled heavily inside the van.
“Why?”
“Because Dymond is proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That he was part of the Carter Empire before he became powerful.”
“How powerful?”
My mother looked toward the doctor.
He kept working as though he couldn’t hear us.
“How powerful?” I repeated.
“Powerful enough to control judges. Police commissioners. Federal prosecutors.”
“Is he a politician?”
“He controls politicians.”
“Then what is he?”
“The head of an organization called the Circle.”
My father had mentioned an organization.
The people who really controlled the city.
“The Circle is after the accounts?”
“The accounts contain proof of every payment they received from us.”
“Then why not destroy the money?”
“Because they don’t want to destroy it. They want to own it.”
“Half a billion dollars.”
“That’s only what your father knows about.”
I stared at her.
“How much is really there?”
“Closer to eight hundred million.”
My head started spinning.
“That kind of money doesn’t exist without somebody noticing.”
“It’s spread across shell companies, real estate, cryptocurrency, foreign banks, and legitimate businesses.”
“Including my beauty supply store?”
She hesitated.
“What?”
“I used your store to move money.”
“You did what?”
“It was never enough to draw attention.”
“Lawson has been watching me for two years!”
“Not because of the store.”
“Then why?”
“Because you look like Dymond.”
I thought about the photograph from the folder.
The woman in the emerald suit.
Her face had been partly hidden.
“Do we look that much alike?”
“You have the same eyes.”
“What does that mean?”
“Dymond’s father saw a photograph of you and thought you were her.”
“He mistook me for his own daughter?”
“He hadn’t seen Dymond since she was a baby.”
“Then why didn’t you tell him the truth?”
“Because once Lawson began watching you, he stopped looking for her.”
The needle in my arm suddenly felt colder.
“You used me as a decoy.”
“I used the confusion.”
“You let a corrupt detective follow me to protect the daughter you gave away.”
“I had people watching you.”
“Like that makes it okay?”
“No.”
“Did you know Lawson would take Jayce?”
“Never.”
“But you knew he might come after my family.”
“Yes.”
I tried to stand, but the doctor pushed me back.
“You’re giving blood. Sit down.”
I pointed at my mother.
“If Nesha wasn’t lying here, I swear—”
“I know.”
The doctor checked the monitor.
“Her pressure is rising.”
“Is that good?” I asked.
“It’s better.”
Nesha’s eyes fluttered.
“Key?”
I leaned closer.
“I’m here.”
“Did we get out?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s the package?”
“Daddy has it.”
Her eyes opened wider.
“That’s bad.”
“I know.”
“No, Key. You don’t.”
She tried to lift herself.
The doctor held her down.
“You need to stay still.”
Nesha grabbed my hand.
“The key he gave you is fake.”
My mother stood.
“What?”
“I switched it.”
I looked at the gold object inside my palm.
“This isn’t the real key?”
“No.”
“Where is it?”
Nesha swallowed.
“I gave it to Tasha.”
“When?”
“At the beauty supply store.”
My mind returned to the alley.
Nesha had been holding her purse and the store deposit bag.
“What did you give her?”
“The deposit bag.”
My mother’s face went pale.
“The key was inside?”
Nesha nodded.
“She thought it was money.”
The doctor cursed beneath his breath as Nesha’s heart rate increased.
“You need to stop talking.”
I grabbed my phone and called Tasha again.
Straight to voicemail.
“Dymond has Tasha,” I said.
My mother shook her head.
“If Dymond has the real key and the lock—”
“She can open the accounts,” I finished.
Nesha tightened her grip around my hand.
“That’s why she came.”
“She said she came to save the children.”
“She did,” Nesha whispered. “But that wasn’t the only reason.”
I called Dymond.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
On the third try, she picked up.
“You’re persistent,” she said.
“You have the real key.”
Silence.
“Nesha gave it to Tasha.”
“Did she?”
“Don’t play with me.”
“I’m not the person lying to you.”
“You said the key chose me.”
“The one you touched took your blood. That part was true.”
“But it won’t open the accounts.”
“No.”
“You already knew it was fake.”
“Yes.”
I looked at my mother.
She could hear every word.
“Where is the real one?”
“You just answered your own question.”
“Put Tasha on the phone.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because she left.”
“Left where?”
“With the key.”
I stood so quickly that the needle tore from my arm.
Blood ran down my skin.
The doctor shouted, but I didn’t care.
“You let her leave?”
“I didn’t know she had it.”
“Where are my children?”
“With me.”
“Put them on.”
“They’re asleep.”
“Wake them up.”
“No.”
“Dymond—”
“They have been kidnapped, shot at, chased, and dragged between houses all night. Let them sleep.”
She wasn’t wrong, but I hated hearing it from her.
“Where did Tasha go?”
“She received a phone call. Then she said she had to protect you.”
“From who?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
A message appeared on my phone while Dymond was speaking.
It came from Tasha.
A photograph showed the black deposit bag open on the passenger seat of her car.
The real gold key rested inside.
Beneath it, she had typed:
I’M SORRY, KEY. MOMMA LIED TO BOTH OF US. I HAVE TO FINISH WHAT SHE STARTED.
I called her immediately.
The call went to voicemail.
My father opened the divider from the front of the medical van.
“We have a problem.”
“You think?”
He held up his phone.
A live news report filled the screen.
A photograph of my face appeared beside Dre’s.
The headline read:
ESCAPED MURDER SUSPECT KEYSHIA CARTER WANTED IN MULTI-AGENCY MANHUNT
The reporter stood outside the River Road warehouse.
“Police now believe Carter may be traveling with multiple armed suspects,” she said. “Authorities warn that she should be considered dangerous.”
My father muted the report.
“That isn’t the problem.”
“What could be worse?”
He switched to another screen.
It showed a map.
A blinking dot moved across the city.
“What is that?”
“The real key.”
“You can track it?”
“It activates whenever it moves.”
“Where is Tasha going?”
He enlarged the map.
The dot stopped over one location.
My mother looked at the screen.
“No.”
“What’s there?” I asked.
“The First Carter Bank,” she whispered.
I laughed.
“There’s a Carter bank?”
“Not anymore. It’s been abandoned for twenty years.”
“Why would Tasha go there?”
My mother stared at the blinking dot.
“Because that’s where the empire was born.”
My phone vibrated.
Another message from Tasha appeared.
DON’T COME LOOKING FOR ME.
Then a second message followed.
LAWSON ISN’T THE REAL ENEMY.
A third arrived.
It was a photograph taken inside the abandoned bank.
Tasha stood in front of an enormous steel vault.
Beside her was Detective Lawson.
He wasn’t pointing a gun at her.
They were shaking hands.
And standing behind them was the one person I never expected to see.
Uncle Kendrick.
Alive.