Quadir’s wounds had closed, but they had not fully healed. His tissue began to pull apart from the inside, causing a searing pain throughout his body. He knew that he wasn’t going to last much longer, not going blow for blow with the monster he was battling. But, then again, he knew that he couldn’t lose. His life and Gena’s life were on the line. Not to mention that if he ended up at another crime scene, Amelia’s life too would be affected, and he didn’t want that. If his body were found, there would be some serious consequences behind it. Amelia would lose her license and probably even go to jail. Gena would lose her life, and that would definitely send her grandmother to an early grave. So many people depended on him at that moment. So many people were counting on him to be the man they always believed him to be. Was he truly gangsta? Was he really built to last? Were they all wrong for looking up to him, admiring him, wanting to be like him?
Quadir summoned every piece of strength that he had left in his body and swung at Terrell. The blow sounded as though it could be heard clear across the city. He followed it with another blow, and then another. He wanted to put this nigga to sleep. But Terrell had other plans.
Terrell growled and head-butted Quadir, opening a gash between Quadir’s eyes, just above his nose. Terrell knew that he was built to last. He wasn’t going out like no sucker. He wrapped his hands around Quadir’s throat.
Gena could hear Quadir gasping for air. She raced down the dark hallway searching for Terrell’s gun. Desperate, she dropped to her knees and scoured the floor until she found it. Quadir needed her. And despite what she had said before, she didn’t want him to die. She loved him. She wanted him to live. She needed him to live. No matter what happened between them, no matter what was going to happen between them in the future, she wanted him to live, even if that meant he’d be with someone else.
Gena raced back to where Quadir and Terrell were struggling and pointed the gun. She was scared to pull the trigger. Scared of hitting Quadir instead of Terrell. Scared of actually having to kill another human being.
Quadir’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and slowly he leaned forward. Terrell smiled, knowing that he was squeezing the life out of Quadir. There was nothing like killing a person with one’s bare hands. Quadir leaned forward until his and Terrell’s faces were nearly touching. And then he smiled. He was a built-to-last nigga.
Quadir opened his mouth and clamped down on Terrell’s nose with the ferocity of a hungry pit bull. He shifted his last bit of energy to his jaw muscles and bit until his teeth met. Blood ran down his chin as he rose and spat Terrell’s nose down the hallway. Terrell covered the bloody hole where his nose used to be and rolled around on the floor screaming in pain.
Quadir kicked Terrell in the head, then stomped his head down into the ground so that the back of it hit the concrete floor hard. He stomped again, and again, and then again. After the fourth stomp, blood oozed from the back of Terrell’s head, and he stopped moving completely. Quadir turned to Gena, who rushed into his arms.
Quadir was barely able to stand. His old wounds felt as though someone were sticking a red-hot poker into his flesh. He was out of breath, tired, and sore all at once. “Help me pick up all of the money,” he said weakly. “We got to get out of here.”
Dick Davis hung up his cell phone and turned to his partner. “Ratzinger said that this thing’s getting out of hand. He wants us to tighten things up.”
Ellington peered over at her partner. He looked pale.
“Dickie, what’s the matter?”
“He wants us to kill her,” Davis whispered. “He wants us to kill her and whoever’s with her. No witnesses.”
Ellington nodded. She had known what the deal was from the beginning. She knew that Gena’s death warrant had been signed the moment they all agreed to go after that money. Davis was green. “Dickie, are you okay on this?”
Davis nodded. He hadn’t bargained on having to kill anyone. He thought it would be just a matter of taking some drug money away from some undeserving little dope dealer’s wife and distributing it among police officers who truly deserved it. But murdering people over it, that was something else entirely. Would that make them worse than the drug dealers?
“What did Cleaver say?” Ellington asked.
“He said that there’s only one self-storage place along this highway that is open this late. That’s 4-U-Self Storage.”
“He give you an address?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, let’s go and get our fucking money,” Ellington said excitedly.
“Josh, it’s Steve over in technical,” Lavon Stokes said.
“Hi, Steve!” Josh shouted toward the receiver.
“Josh says hi, Steve.” Lavon told him. She turned back to Josh. “Steve says that they just intercepted a call from Ratzinger, giving the order to kill the girl.”
“Holy shit! They got it on tape again?”
Lavon nodded. “He says that he’s already played the tape for Galvani, who had it played for the district attorney and for one of the federal magistrates. The judge is heading into his office to sign the arrest warrants as we speak.”
“Yes!”
“The district attorney is going before the grand jury first thing in the morning with evidence,” Lavon told him.
Phil patted Josh on his shoulder. “Good work.”
“Ask Steve where those assholes are right now. I want to slap the cuffs on them as soon as the warrants are signed,” Josh said.
“Steve, you got a location on the suspects’ vehicles?” Lavon asked. She turned back to Josh. “Cleaver’s vehicle is headed this way. Ellington’s car is just up ahead. Ratzinger is still at the station.”
“Good work, Steve!” Josh shouted toward the handset. “Get rid of Steve, and call Tony, Mike, and Dan. Have Tony and Mike round up Ratzinger, and tell Dan to meet up with us as soon as we give him a location. We can take down Cleaver, Ellington, and Davis all at once. Get me some more agents out here. We’re going to get these sons of bitches tonight!”
The Getaway
Ellington pulled up about the time Cleaver arrived.
“Are you sure this is the place?” Cleaver asked. “I hope that I don’t look like an asshole.”
“What’s with the patrol cars?” Ellington whispered.
Cleaver shook his head. “I sent them. That little bitch isn’t giving us the slip this time. There’s a fire escape around the back of the building. I’m going to send the officers in through the front, while we are going to go and cover the back, which is probably how they intend to escape.”
Davis nodded. “Good thinking.”
“Ready to get paid?” Cleaver asked with a smile.
A gun went off inside the building, causing several of the gathered officers to duck and scatter for cover.
Several black Suburbans raced into the parking lot. Josh, Phil, and Lavon leaped out of the lead SUV and rushed up to Ellington, Davis, and Cleaver.
“Nice night for an arrest, isn’t it?” Cleaver smiled.
Josh smiled and shook his head. “You took the words right outta my mouth, you sack of shit.”
“Turn around and place your hands on your heads!” Lavon shouted.
“What?” Ellington asked.
“We’re fucking cops, you assholes!” Cleaver protested.
Phil and several other agents had their weapons drawn.