Chapter 50
Carlos
“How about tomorrow? Okay, that works. Yes, I can’t wait. No, you know how he—”
I snatched Maddie’s phone from her and held it to my ear. “Ma, she has to go. She has more important shit to be doing than to be on the phone with you all day.”
“Los, give me my phone.” Maddie jumped off the sofa and tried to grab it back from me, but I turned my back to her.
“I love you, Ma, but she’ll call you back another time.” I ended the call, turned Maddie’s phone off, and slipped it into my pocket with her giving me a death stare. I really didn’t give a fuck though.
The two of them had been on the phone for damn near the past hour, all buddy-buddy, and I didn’t need that. Ever since we all had dinner together, the two of them had been inseparable and it was getting on my damn nerves.
Maddie talked to my mother these days more than she talked to Sophie. That was exactly why I didn’t want the two of them to meet.
“Why did you do that?” Maddie followed me as I headed to my bedroom.
I sat on the foot of the bed and lay back. She climbed on top of me, straddling my waist while trying to slip her hand into my pocket to get her phone, but I caught her wrist.
“Ay, you gon’ fuck around and touch something that’s gon’ have your ass on your hands and knees in a minute, Maddie. Stay out my damn pocket, baby girl.”
She laughed and folded her arms across her chest, but I noticed she was smart enough to stay out of my pocket.
“Are you jealous?”
I lifted my head and looked at her. “The fuck would I be jealous about?”
“Jealous because your mom and I are close now. Which means everything is not about you.”
I smirked and grabbed her waist before I slid my hands up her stomach under her shirt.
“I’m not jealous, trust me. I just don’t think y’all need to be talking twenty-four-seven. That’s not anything but problems.”
“Problems for me or problems for you? Because she and I are getting along just fine.”
“Which is why it’s a problem. The reason my relationship with my mother works is because she minds her business and only knows what I tell her. Now she has you on her line every day and she’s all in my shit about everything. I don’t need that.”
“So you don’t want me talking to your mother because you don't want her knowing things about your life?”
“Yep.”
“First of all, we hardly ever talk about you, and it’s really arrogant of you to assume that we do. Secondly, she loves you, so why wouldn’t she be concerned about you and your life?”
A sly grin crept across my face before I slipped my hand behind Maddie, forcing her into me. She pressed her palms on the bed, one of each side of my head, before I lifted it to kiss her.
“I know you talk about me because I’m on your mind all the gotdamn time, so I’m not being arrogant.
I’m just stating facts. And I know she cares about me, but right now she has a hidden agenda that involves something permanent with you.
I’m not saying that’s not up for discussion later down the line, but she’s trying to push it sooner, so for now, I’m limiting the time you spend with and talking to her. ”
“Seriously?” Maddie laughed like I was joking, but I wasn’t in the slightest.
“Hell yeah, seriously. I mean it too. Try me and see.”
I lifted my head to kiss her again, but she turned hers and pulled away. I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her into one.
“What I tell you about that, Madeline? Don’t turn away from me when I’m trying to kiss you.”
She smiled and kissed me again just before my phone vibrated in my pocket. I almost didn’t answer it because I figured it was my mother calling to curse my ass out for hanging up on her, but she also knew me. Hell, I was her son, she’d raised me, which meant she played a role in how I acted.
When I glanced at my screen, I realized it was Trooper.
“Yo, what up, Troop?”
“You free?”
“I can be, what you need?”
“I want to swing by and try to get some information from Willis.”
“Aight, I can do that. When?”
“Now, if you can. I been watching her for a few days, so I kinda know her schedule. She’ll be at the gym for the next hour. I want to catch her after she leaves.”
“Aight, you want me to come to you?”
“Nah, I’ll pick you up. I’ll call you when I’m heading your way.”
“Cool, do that.”
I ended the call and tossed my phone over my head. Maddie just stared at me. “You're leaving?”
“Yeah. I need to handle something with Trooper.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“Not sure, why?”
She shrugged. “Just asking.”
“You don’t want me to go?” I asked, pulling her down to me before I delivered a series of kisses to her neck.
“No, I was just thinking maybe I’d go see Sophie since you were going to be with Trooper.”
She looked down at me, biting her lip, which made me laugh.
“Lying ass, but that’s cool. You can keep her company until we get done. Now get up so I can change.”
She climbed off me, and as soon as I was on my feet, she tried to slip her hand in my pocket again.
“Ay, ain't shit changed about that. You get him started, I’m bending your ass over. Trooper will just have to wait.”
“I need my phone. You can’t take it with you.” She pouted and I left her ass standing right there while I walked toward the closet.
“You will have it before I go, but don’t call my mother. I mean it.”
“Asshole,” she mumbled and I smirked.
I was glad she and my moms were cool, but I meant what I said. I needed both of them to slow down a little. Things were cool with Maddie and I needed us to stay at our pace. Her being tight with my mother would complicate that.
“Ay, that’s her?” I asked, nodding toward a car making its way down the street.
Trooper checked it out and lifted his gun from under his seat, which was my answer. Federal Agent Carmyn Willis lived in a nice ass neighborhood which was empty and quiet, but we could never be too careful, so I prayed nobody saw us run up on her.
“So what’s the plan?”
Trooper looked at me vaguely before he pulled the door handle to get out. “I don’t have one. We just gon’ roll with it.”
“Ah, shit, here we go,” I mumbled.
Trooper chuckled but got out. I did the same and we hurried across the street to her driveway just as she got out of her car. Trooper was on one side while I was on the other and scared the shit out of her.
“What the fuck?” she released a little louder than I appreciated.
My eyes moved around us, then up and down the street. It appeared we were still alone.
“Damn, how the fuck you a fed but didn’t see us coming? You need to rethink your career choice, real shit, baby girl.”
“Fuck you. Why are you here? And you do realize pulling a gun on a federal agent will get you federal time?”
I smirked and looked her right in the eyes before pushing my gun further into her side. “See, the thing with that is you have to live long enough to tell someone. Who’s to say you will?”
“Are you threatening me?” she questioned, looking from me to Trooper.
The sad thing was that as hard as she was trying to be, she was scared as shit.
“Depends. Now let’s take this inside,” Trooper responded, glancing at me.
He snatched her keys from her hand and shoved her in the back so she would move.
Once inside her place, we headed straight for the living room where Trooper pushed her into the sofa while he and I stood facing her.
“So what’s the deal with Chavez?” Trooper asked with his arms folded while he held his gun in one hand.
“Why do you think I would tell you that?” Willis glared at him then looked at me.
“I don’t think, I know. See, what I learned a long time ago is that everyone is self-motivated. Their needs always take precedence over what’s right, and right now your need to live takes precedence over whatever bullshit case you are trying to build.”
Trooper appeared amused, which was funny as shit because he was slipping back into his old ways. He would never go back to selling dope, but this side of him would always be there.
She opened her mouth to respond, then closed it before looking at us again. “I don’t have all the details,” she said, looking defeated.
“Just tell us what the fuck you know,” I said, feeling annoyed.
She cut her eyes at me, then focused on Trooper again. This bitch was crazy. She was sitting here in heat, lusting after ole boy when she clearly needed to be more concerned about whether he was about to put a bullet in her head.
“It’s about Harold Prescott. That’s all I know.
Apparently, someone provided information that connects him to Chavez.
Well… more like his father. Whoever this person is gave a lot of important evidence, but it’s Harold Prescott, so they want to make sure they have all of their ducks in a row.
He’s beat the system for years. Nobody can touch him, or at least they haven’t been able to in the past. It’s like he owns everyone, and the entire legal system in New York has hard ons at the thought of finally taking him down.
Even with what they have, they’re still worried he can get out of it, so they want a backup plan.
That’s the two of you. If you can go on record with information about the Chavez family and their dealings with Prescott, it helps build their case. ”
I glanced at Trooper and could tell we were thinking the same thing. It didn’t make sense. I’d dealt with Chavez and his father before. Trooper did too, but never Prescott. We didn't know shit about him other than what we heard on the streets. The only connection was Sophie.
“We don’t know shit about Prescott,” Trooper said, scowling at her.
She smirked and looked right at his dick. What the fuck?
“Maybe not Harold, but William Prescott is a different story,” she said, licking her lips.
“We don’t know shit about him either,” I interjected.
“You sure about that? Seems to me like he knows a lot about the Prescott family. Isn’t Sophie a Prescott? You can’t be in bed with that family without knowing their secrets.”