“Oh GOD, Shai…” she gasped as she covered her mouth. “He’s going to kill me. I shouldn’t have left!” She was beginning to panic, and A’shai grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
“I’m going to get you out of here. Trust me, ma!” he stated aggressively, adrenaline pumping through his body.
She nodded her head and he disembarked the jet with her right behind him. When they got to the bottom of the steps they saw Samad’s Audi A8 pull up. Liberty froze like a deer in headlights as time-for her-stood still. A’shai pointed his gun at the car as Samad emerged from the vehicle.
“A’shai, my good friend. It seems we have the same tastes in women,” he commented as he got out and lit a cigar.
A’shai wasn’t looking for conversation. He was fully prepared to go out blazing on Liberty’s behalf and as he gave Samad the screw face he pointed his gun unwaveringly. A’shai didn’t hesitate. He fired, spraying bullets everywhere and killing the bodyguards that had stepped out of the car with Samad. What Samad didn’t know was that A’shai had a marksman’s aim and was a killer at heart. Samad reached for his waistline, but A’shai fired a shot so close to his head that it halted Samad instantly.
Samad’s hands shot into the air. “Calm down, A’shai. This… we can work this out.”
“Put your keys on the ground,” A’shai stated.
Samad did as he was told and then said, “You are going to ruin your father over one bitch?” he asked.
“Get on the ground,” A’shai said.
Samad smirked and then put both knees in the dirt. “It doesn’t matter where you take her. I’m going to find her… I’m going to find you both and when I do, you’ll wish that you never saw her pretty face,” Samad threatened. As A’shai walked up on Samad he wanted to put a bullet through his brain, but he thought of the backlash that he would get from Baron.
“You’re going to die for some pussy, A’shai,” Samad stated.
A’shai hit him forcefully with the gun, knocking him out cold and then grabbed the keys to the Audi. He opened the door for Liberty and instructed her to buckle up, then ran to his side of the car and drove away, leaving one of the West Coast’s biggest drug bosses bleeding in the dirt.
A’shai and Liberty drove to the nearest bus station and caught a long ride back to Detroit. As the bus pulled away from the station Liberty began to bawl silently, putting her face in her hands to muffle her cries. A’shai reached over and wiped away her tears as he leaned into her ear.
“I love you, Liberty. Nobody is ever going to harm you again. I promise you on my life. I will die before that happens,” A’shai stated.
“What did you do?!” Baron barked as he stood before A’shai. He had never raised his voice at his son before, and Willow looked on in shock but didn’t interrupt. “Do you know what this has done? What you have done? All over a girl.”
“She’s not just some girl,” A’shai responded calmly as he stood before his father.
“Do you know the danger you have put yourself in? She has to go back! You will not be affiliated with her,” Baron demanded. He was so furious with A’shai that he couldn’t control the tone of his voice. This was by far the stupidest thing that A’shai had ever done.
Willow tried to peer out of the windows of her home to view the young girl that had made her son act so uncharacteristically. She couldn’t make out the figure in A’shai’s car. It was too dark outside, and the night time concealed her identity.
“She cannot stay here!” Baron hollered. “You went into that man’s home, murdered his workers, stole his woman! Did you not expect him to retaliate?! This is interfering with business, A’shai. She goes back.”
“She’s not going back,” A’shai said maintaining his position. “I thought you would help her the way you helped me.”
“No, you didn’t think at all! I will not go to war over a whore,” Baron charged. “She is not welcome here.”
“Then I guess neither am I,” A’shai stated. “She’s not going back to him. She’s with me now.” His arrogance enraged Baron, and as A’shai walked away Willow tried to intervene.
“Baby, think about what you’re doing,” she reasoned.
A’shai stopped and kissed his mother on the cheek. “I have thought about it, ma. She was all I thought of since the day you brought me here. I love you,” he said.
His statement floored Willow and revealed the depth of his attachment to Liberty.
A’shai turned his back on his mother and walked out as Willow called after him.
“Let him go!” Baron bellowed. “But if you walk out of those doors with that girl… you’re cut off! You hear me, Shai?! He’s the connect and your actions were disrespectful! He could have killed you!”
A’shai turned and rubbed the scar on the side of his face. “He should have… because now I’m gonna murk him.”
FIFTEEN
A’SHAI REACHED OVER AND GRABBED LIBERTY’S HAND. His tires screeched against the stone driveway as he pulled off Baron’s property. He was torn and his disloyalty plagued him as he thought of how he was turning his back on the only family he knew. But as Liberty intertwined her fingers with his, he remembered that he was the only family she knew and he could never leave her out in the cold.
“I’m going to take you somewhere safe… we need to lay low for a few days until I can come up with a plan. I need some time to think,” A’shai said.
Liberty looked out of the window feeling truly free for the first time. She had not seen A’shai since they were kids, but being with him felt right. It was the only thing that had ever felt right in her entire life.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely as she turned towards him. “You don’t even know how you saved my life.”
A’shai pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it gently.
“I’m sorry for pulling you into this mess with me,” Liberty whispered. “It seems like your life turned out okay… like maybe MURDERVILLE benefited one of us. I can tell you getting on that ship was the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life. But you… you were lucky. Things got better for you.”
A’shai could hear the sadness in her voice as she spoke, and he couldn’t help but feel guilty for the way things had ended up. He hadn’t seen the type of struggle that she had and he silently wondered about the things that she had been through over the years. Liberty had gotten the short end of the stick and despite the fact that they were both kids when they were taken, A’shai felt as if everything that had happened to her was his fault.
“Don’t apologize for anything. I owe you this. I didn’t protect you. All of those years ago, I should have just admitted that I didn’t have a plan. I was running scared just like you. Instead I led you right into hell. That’s what that ship was Liberty… it was hell and I took you there,” A’shai admitted.
“It wasn’t hell until they took me away from you,” Liberty replied under her breath. She didn’t think that A’shai had heard her, but his ears intercepted every word. He tightened his hold on her hand as he eased his Range Rover onto the interstate.
“Get some rest, Liberty. We will be driving for a while,” he said.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“Up north. My family owns a winter home near Boyne Mountain. It’s secluded. You’ll be safe there,” he responded.
Liberty closed her eyes and the peace that settled over her was so foreign that she immediately popped them back open. She had never gone to sleep with a serene mind and heart. There was always a threat lingering in her life. She was used to being preyed upon by others who wanted to hurt her. With A’shai it was different. It was as if time had stood still for them because she still felt the same love for him that she had so many years ago. In his presence she felt safe. He noticed her hesitation and put his hand on her shoulder as he rubbed the tension out of her neck. “Relax. I got you,” he said. She closed her eyes and went to sleep without reservations.
The five-hour drive north gave A’shai time to clear his mind. He knew the risk that he was taking but felt that he didn’t have a choice. It was his obligation to protect Liberty… he had promised her and he had broken that promise once before… he couldn’t do it again. Baron had been calling his phone for hours, but he refused to
