Her horror and trepidation turned into an inferno of anger.
“Let me ask you something. Why would Axel do this and not tell me, though? We keep no secrets! Who was in that car? I don’t know that man. None of this makes sense!”
“You mind putting that away?”
English had no idea she’d been waving her gun around the entire time she was speaking to the woman. She quickly slipped it into her bag.
“Sorry.”
“Look, I know it’s a lot at once, okay? It’s coming at you fast. I want to commend you though for doing what you needed to do. I’ve been tailing you for several days now, and you pay attention to what’s going on around you. That’s a good thing.”
“Obviously not good enough,” English rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, “because I never noticed you.” She bent down and picked up her spewed belongings.
“I don’t count. I’m trained to not be noticed if it suits me or the assignment. I wear the mask so that I’m harder for my targets to identify. I wasn’t supposed to encroach your personal space. I only activate if I see something suspicious. I’ve spent the majority of my adult life tryna blend in. I was in a male dominated profession when I was a drug dealer, and I’m still in a male dominated profession, workin’ security—only now, I don’t give a shit about what anyone thinks of me. As far as your boyfriend, maybe he didn’t tell you because he knew you wouldn’t understand, or try to fight him about it. His mind was made up. He wanted you safe, and if you were mad about it afterwards, that was the risk he was willing to take.”
English allowed the words to marinate within her. “On one hand, I appreciate his concerns, but on the other, he still should have said something. Regardless, thank you for intervening in what could have been a disastrous situation. A kidnapping. Murder. Who knows what was planned for me?” She exhaled a ragged breath.
“Come on, let’s walk you to your car.”
They walked side by side to the vehicle.
“Unlock it for me.”
English waited while the woman checked various areas of her Lexus, including the trunk, and underneath it. When she was finished, she dusted herself off.
“This is completely insane.”
“Look, I don’t know Axel. Legend has told me about him over the years, though. They’re like brothers. Better than brothers. They bump heads, they fight, but they love one another. Legend didn’t have time to trail you, or I’m sure he would have done it himself. The other problem with that is, eventually you’ll see Legend because he and Axel are hangin’ out again. Working together, too.” English nodded in understanding. “So, they didn’t want to take that chance of you spotting him. I say all of this to say that this was done out of love and concern for you. Legend doesn’t know you, but he asked me to do this because he loves Axel. Period. So, the next steps are that you will need to fill out a police report.”
The woman’s phone buzzed. She took it out of her pocket and checked the screen.
“Give me a second, English. I have to call Legend and let him know what just happened.”
“Should I call Axel?”
“Not yet.”
Channey made the phone call, while English stood there with her blood boiling, threatening eruption. Her anger towards Axel was fleeting. It came and went. Now, her ire was directed to the main culprit: Master.
I should have killed him when I had the chance!
One night, he’d smacked her clear across the room after accusing her of flirting with a minister from another group. Her lip had split, and her right eye was practically swollen shut. It had all been a figment of his twisted imagination. Later that evening, he’d fallen asleep as if nothing had happened, his gun on the nightstand beside him. She’d stood there for a long time, in her white nightgown splattered with blood, wishing she’d had the strength to grab it and blow his brains out. The next morning, he’d told her over breakfast, her mouth swollen to three times its normal size, that she was an idiot. “Shira, next time you think I’m asleep and you want to stand over me and think about killing me, make sure the gun has bullets. You must think I’m stupid. Like you…”
She overheard Channey mentioning a license plate number, and describing Master sitting in the back seat of a car. In all of the hoopla, English hadn’t seen his face; however, she knew some other man had been driving.
This isn’t the end. It is only the beginning.
A chill ran down her spine.
“I want him gone!” The woman shot her a glance, her phone still to her ear. “I know it won’t change anything, but I need to feel safe. I don’t feel safe. The police aren’t going to help me, Channey. I can write down all the reasons why they should, show them a mountain of evidence, but they will still brush me off. I have him on tape, submitted it, and they said they’d look into it. Look into it?! People have gotten killed while we waited around for the police to look into shit!”