Suave was flat on his stomach. He carefully lifted his head, peering through the bushes. Instantly, the blood rushed to his head, and Suave became dizzy and nauseated at the sight before him.
“As I said before, no one was supposed to get killed.” Queen Bee took a puff on the lit cigarette in her hand. “Especially Cobra.”
“It’s that trigger-happy Danny.” King Kong held Queen Bee’s gaze, trying to look sincere. “I told those fools that we were only going to rob Suave for that stint in Spain Town, but Saddam just couldn’t let the death of his grandfather go. I didn’t want to kill Cobra,” King Kong lied. “That’s why I came to you for help in the first place.”
“And I agreed to help you,” Queen Bee snapped. “We were going to set up Suave, Cobra, and Daddy Lizard, make sure they go to prison for life, and then you and I would take everything Suave has. That was the plan!”
King Kong held up both hands as if he surrendered. “I know, and I’m sorry. But that’s still the plan. Now we only need to get Suave and Daddy Lizard out of the race and take over the place,” he sang.
“No, now we need to lie low for a while. You know you are their number one suspect. Plus, do you think Suave and Daddy Lizard are going to let Cobra’s death go unavenged?”
“I’m not scared of those fools.” King Kong’s ugly face screwed up with distaste. “If they come at me, then I just might have to take them out too.”
“Just don’t call my name,” Queen Bee warned. “I’ll stay close to Suave as usual and will let you know when we’ll make a move again. That’s if any of you are still alive.”
King Kong threw his head back and rumbled off a deep belly laugh that sounded just like the big gorilla.
While in the bushes, Suave’s eyes were closed tight against the torture of Queen Bee’s betrayal as he tried to control the tremor that took over his body. Even that little sissy, Pat, had betrayed him. I’m sure he knows what King Kong and his sister had planned, but he never said a word.
“I’ll catch you later, Queen.” King Kong strolled off the veranda with a big Kool-Aid grin on his face.
“Under no circumstances should you contact me. I’ll call you.”
King Kong paused right by the bushes where Suave hid. He turned around to face Queen Bee.
Suave held his breath. If he made even the slightest sound, King Kong would see or hear him.
“I’ll wait for you to be in contact, Queen.” The smile didn’t reach the gorilla’s rat eyes. “Then I’ll kill you after getting rid of those two idiots,” he muttered under his breath, loud enough for Suave to hear. Without another word, King Kong turned around and strolled out the gate to an old beat-up Nissan Sunny parked on the street.
Relieved, Suave watched until Queen Bee reentered the house, closing the door behind her. With his pounding head resting against the shrub, it took a few minutes before Suave dragged himself out of the bushes, still stooping low.
He crept away from the house back to his truck. Tonight changed everything. It was now a whole new game.
Chapter Thirty-five
“Get up, stand up: stand up for your right!” encouraged Bob Marley. Danny’s head bobbed back and forth as the lyrics of the loud song wrapped itself around him in the parked car in his garage. “I know that’s right, Bob.” Danny took a big gulp from the bottle of vodka he held in his hand. “You killed my sister, fool.” He sucked on the spliff and began to cough loudly. Soon, the coughing turned into sobs as the guilt ate away at him.
Tomorrow was the funeral of Bubbles, and Danny was dreading the whole thing. His alcoholic mother and scandalous sisters weren’t talking to him after they found out he was involved with her death. His wife was nagging him to move to the country until everything died down. King Kong was acting even shadier than ever, pretending like they hadn’t planned for Saddam to kill Cobra, and Danny just beat him to it.
“And for what?” Danny tucked the half-empty bottle of vodka between his legs. He leaned over on his side to dig into his pants pocket for his handkerchief to wipe his face. “They forgot that I was kidnapped and beaten.” He blew his nose loudly into the handkerchief. “They forgot about this?” His index finger outlined the long, ugly scar on his face.
“Don’t give up the fight!” Danny pounded his hand on the steering wheel. “I won’t do that, Bob. Trust me. I’m not going down without a fight.”
“Glad to hear that,” said a coarse voice in Danny’s right ear from the backseat of the car, drowning out Bob’s conscious lyrics.
“Hey, who the—” A large, black-gloved hand clasped over Danny’s mouth, pulling his head back against the car seat. The other hand was wrapped tightly around his throat, pressing hard against his trachea. Danny’s eyes opened wide in fright.
“You talk too much, Danny boy.” The tobacco breath fanned Danny’s face. “Relax yourself!” the voice ordered when Danny began to struggle, flinging his hands wildly and aimlessly over his head to loosen himself from the hold on him.
Danny’s screams were muffled. A sharp pain ran up his leg when his kicking foot connected with the car’s dashboard. But Danny kept on kicking, twisting this way, and turning that way.
“You are really not going down without a fight, huh?” The hand around Danny’s throat tightened, cutting into his neck, blocking the air from entering his starved lungs.
Little blue, yellow, and red lights danced before Danny’s bulging eyes as he struggled against unconsciousness. Good God almighty, I’m being strangled to death. The deadly thought gave Danny a surge of
