Chapter 47
47
W e left our spot in the woods less than a mile from the mayor’s house and drove back to our apartment in silence, but I was sure Bo’s thoughts were just as noisy and active as mine.
The quiet continued once we were home. The implications of this new knowledge were great. Bo and I were criminals. Hell, I was technically a serial killer. My sister was a federal agent. What the fuck? And how the fuck? As in, how the fuck did I not know this?
“You were too busy watching your own back and trying not to get caught to see it,” Bo said, as if reading my mind. “And she’s good. Very good. I couldn’t see it, either.”
“Yeah…”
“Plus, y’all avoid her home like the plague.”
“And do! She knew we would. Me and Lil are too bougie. Hell…Daddy, too. Damn, she really is good. You think she knows?”
“About The Agency? Probably.”
“Yeah.”
“Baby—”
“I can’t kill my sister. I can’t let anything happen to her. I mean that. I don’t want a hair on her head harmed.”
He turned over in the bed to face me with a frown. “Don’t you think I know you well enough to know that? Besides, if she knows and hasn’t dimed us out or arrested us herself, that speaks volumes.”
“It does.” I sighed heavily. “I need to talk to her. Shit, we all do—me, you, Ray, Lilith. Fuck!”
“I agree, but not now. Not tonight. We rest tonight, and tomorrow, we talk to Umber about everything, including why the feds were at Shari’s house.”
“Shari, huh?”
“Baby, don’t start. Her pussy wasn’t even that good.”
“What you mean it wasn’t that good? It was good, though, huh?”
“You want me to eat your pussy or something? Would that help that damn attitude?”
“Yep.”
In response, he slid down my body and snatched my whole soul from me.
Asshole.
The family, sans Daddy and his wives, met at Ray’s and Lilith’s place under the guise of planning a family dinner. If I thought I was shocked, poor Lilith looked like she’d seen a whole convention of ghosts when Bo and I arrived early.
While our husbands huddled in the kitchen talking, I sat with Lilith on the living room sofa while Blaze and Katana played on the floor with their dolls.
“Should they be here for the meeting?” I asked her, my eyes on the cute little girls. Blaze’s mean ass was frowning, as per usual.
“Uh, yeah. I mean, no. Shit, let me take them to Valentina. My head is everywhere,” Lilith rambled before grasping both girls’ hands and leading them out of the room.
When she returned and plopped down beside me, I said, “Yall really lucked out with Valentina. The girls seem to love her.”
Lilith nodded, wringing her hands in her lap. “Yes, she’s a great nanny. Mem, are we going to have to kill Umber? I can’t take that.”
With a furrowed brow, I replied, “We? You make one kill, and you think you’re Colombiana or something?”
“Memphis!”
“No, girl! We are not killing our sister. I told Bo that was not happening.”
“Yeah, I told Ray the same thing, but what are we going to do? What if she arrests all of us? Shit, I can’t take that, either.”
“I feel you. She sure took the mayor down. Racketeering, money laundering, shit’s all over the news, although they didn’t show Umber.”
“Thank goodness they didn’t. Daddy would have a stroke. Hey, Mem…do you think everything will be okay?”
I sighed, not wanting to lie, while at the same time, not wanting to alarm her. “I?—”
“Umber’s here. Just let her in the gate,” Ray interrupted me.
Lilith grabbed my hand. “Shit.”
Umber was wearing a black pant suit, and that? That made my stomach plummet into the depths of my ass. The no-nonsense look on her face didn’t help, either. My only solace was that she was alone, but still…fuck!
We were all silent—me and Lilith still on the sofa, our men standing on either side of us, and all our eyes were on Umber perched on an accent chair.
“Well?” Umber finally said. “I take it the family dinner thing was a ruse. So…let’s get this over with.”
“Okay…when you start wearing pant suits?” I spoke up.
She smiled. “That is not what you want to ask.”
I sighed. “To be honest…I’m scared to ask what I really want to ask.”
“ You’re scared? Damn. Okay, I’ll make it easy for you,” Umber said, standing and reaching into her pants pocket to unearth an FBI badge and ID, placing both on the coffee table between us. “Now that that’s out of the way, I also know what you do for a living—all of you.”
“Oh, Lord!” Lilith whimpered.
Hell, I felt like putting on some sackcloth and gnashing my teeth because…damnit!
Ray and Bo groaned, “Shit,” almost simultaneously.
“When did this happen? You being an agent, I mean. Why didn’t you tell us?” I probed.
“I’ve been with the bureau in some capacity for thirteen years. I didn’t tell you all because I didn’t want you to worry,” she explained.
“Thirteen years?!” Lilith screeched.
Umber nodded.
“I…why would we be worried? I taught you how to fight. I know you can take care of yourself,” I said.
“I’m your baby sister. You telling me you wouldn’t have worried at all?” she inquired with a smirk.
I shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
“Mm-hmm, and once I got past that concern, I didn’t want you to worry about me arresting you,” she said all matter-of-factly.
My mouth dropped open. “W-what?”
“The bureau knows about The Agency, everything about it. We’re one of your clients.”