(NOTE: Contains explicit language and adult themes suitable for ages 16+)
© K.L. Hall and www.authorklhall.com, 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to K.L. Hall and www.authorklhall.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
*UNEDITED*
CHAPTER ONE
Savannah
The worst part about falling in love with someone is knowing that there’s going to come a day when one person is going to hurt the other.
“You have the right to remain silent...”
All I could hear was the dull beat of my heart as I stared into Pharaoh’s fire-burning eyes. The way he looked at me broke my heart into a million pieces.
“Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…”
The police sirens whirred loudly in the background as the helicopter blades twirled rapidly in the air. Pharaoh’s gun cocked as he looked back at his cousin. “Run,” he told him.
“What, nigga?”
“Get the fuck out of here!”
Frenchie looked at Pharaoh with a confused look on his face, and then focused his eyes on me. “Fuckin’ bitch,” he grumbled and ran out the back of the warehouse.
“Pharaoh—put the gun down, please,” I said calmly.
“If you gon’ arrest me, then you gon’ arrest me for killin’ this mothafucka,” he said as he drew his gun out of Shep’s mouth and shot him three times at close range.
My lips parted as an ear-curdling scream blew out from deep within my lungs. I ran over to him as Pharaoh darted out of my sight. My knees hit the dusty pavement and I pulled my phone out to call the ambulance. Within minutes, I could feel Shep’s body losing heat. I wrapped my hands around the sides of his face. “I need to get you warm. Listen to me, keep your eyes open, okay? The ambulance is on its way. Just stay with me!”
Tears filled the corners of my eyes as I rocked him from side to side and continued to talk to him until the paramedics rushed in. Shep was rushed to the hospital with life threatening injuries. I knew if he died, Pharaoh would have another charge over his head. As soon as I walked out of the warehouse alongside Shep on the stretcher, I saw Pharaoh being hauled into the back of a police car with cuffs around his wrists. My heart sunk to the floor and my eyes soon followed. Pharaoh Blackwell was the trifecta: handsome, wealthy and downright dangerous.
“Good work, McKinney,” the chief said as he walked up beside me and patted my shoulder.
“T-thank you, sir.” I nodded.
“I’m going to follow the car in to make sure that son of a bitch makes it down to the station. I’ll see you there.”
I stood back and watched the police car speed off with Pharaoh in tow. I had no idea where Frenchie was, but it seemed as if he’d dodged a bullet by evading the police.
MY TIME AT the downtown Chicago police station was a blur. Their phones were ringing off the hook, while officers brought in more black and brown people than the precinct had space enough to hold. I passed by a few officers discussing cases behind the glass as I made my way into the break room to grab a cup of coffee. My lips brushed against the coffee cup, tasting the bitter, old coffee. I shuddered and lowered the cup when I saw the chief standing in the doorway.
“Everything alright, McKinney?”
“Yes sir. Any word on Shep?”
“No, not yet.”
“Did Blackwell get here safe and sound?” I asked.
“Sure did.”
“Where’s he being held?”
“The interview room at the end of the hallway. Why?”
“He shot my co-lead on this operation. I have some things I need to say to his ass.”
He nodded. “Okay, try not to go too hard on him.”
“I’ll try to remember that.”
My hand gripped the coffee cup tightly while the other rested on the cold, steel door knob. On the other side of the door was Pharaoh, who was slouched at the table with his wrists handcuffed in front of him. I walked in and closed the door behind me. My lungs drew in a deep breath as I watched my coffee steam in the cold air of the room.
“I’m sorry,” I breathed out.
He cut his eyes at me. Although I had trouble meeting his eyes with my own, I couldn’t help but notice his broad shoulders were spread wide and his hulking chest heaving in and out with anger.
“Stay the fuck away from me.”
“Just hear me out.”
“Why should I?”
“Just let me explain, please. And don’t worry, no one is watching us. You can speak freely.”
“I ain’t got shit to fuckin’ say to you, and even if I did, you think I’d even trust a word that came out of your mouth?”
Guilt flooded over me. He had every right to feel the rage and embarrassment that burned through him. “I regret everything. All of it, okay? I never meant to hurt you.”
“Get the fuck out of here, Savannah. For real.”
“Everything I told you about me was real. I’m real. The only thing that’s different about me is my occupation.”
He frowned. “And that’s one hell of a difference,” he scoffed.
“You’re right, you shouldn’t trust me, not after what I did.”
“Cut the bullshit, Savannah. You knew exactly what you were doin’ from the start. I fucked up and let you in. That’s on me, but it’s fuck you from here on out.”
His tone was detached. Emotionless, even. I could barely take the ice cold demeanor he was dishing my way.
“Don’t do this, please…”
“It’s already been done.”
“You think it didn’t hurt me, too?”
“Do I look like I give a fuck if it hurt you? Look where the fuck I’m sitting and then look at where you are.”
“Just give me a chance to try and fix this, Pharaoh,” I said, stepping closer to him.
He held up his calloused hand to stop me. “Stay the fuck over there.”
I sighed. “Look, I might never get another chance to say this, but my heart beats literally only for you right now. I don’t care about anything else.”
His eyes bore into mine. Stifling silence hung in the room like rain clouds. All I could hear was the ticking of the clock to the same cadence as my fingertip against the side of my coffee cup. Minutes went by before I heard a response.
“Anything else you wanna get off your chest?” he asked.
“Pharaoh—”
“What the fuck do you want me to say, huh?” he growled.
“Say anything.”
“How can I trust you when I don’t even know who the fuck you are? Just be honest and tell me you were pretending this entire time. You ain’t really fuck with a nigga. But let your boss know he got a real one. All that shit you was talkin’ about celibacy and shit and even knowing who I was you still bust that pussy open for me. They tell you to do that shit, too? Or was that all you?”
“Fuck you, Pharaoh.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, aight.” His voice was rugged and cold. “I’m a monster, right? Ain’t that what they sayin’ about me?”
My head shook from left to right. “I don’t think that about you at all.”
“Everybody actin' like they know me, because they know what I do, how I get my money, how I feed my family and my niggas, but they don’t know shit about me. You was the closet person to me outside of Frenchie and you said fuck all that for a fuckin’ salary that I can make in a day. How the fuck you think that’s supposed to make me feel?”
“Pharaoh, I’m so sorry. I-I never meant for it to go down this way. If I could take it all back I would!”
His face burned with humiliation. “This is real life! Ain’t no reset button on this shit. You make a mistake, you live with that shit. We just both gotta face the fact that you’re not who the fuck I thought you were.”
“Please just—”
“My client doesn’t have to say another word to you,” Pharaoh’s lawyer said as soon as he burst through the door.
My sad eyes flashed up towards his and then back at Pharaoh. Pharaoh wasn’t an ex. He was a mixture between the past, present and hopefully my future. He was something that started and hadn’t stopped for me. At first I was afraid to fall for him, then I found myself afraid that I would never be able to forget him.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to be alone with my client,” he barked.
My teeth sunk into my bottom lip. “No problem,” I mumbled as I removed myself from the room.
MY FEET SHUFFLED into the debriefing room where Agent Adams, the chief and other members of the Chicago PD were gathered. The first thing that stood out to me was Pharaoh’s name written in large capital letters on the dry erase board and his photos on the bulletin board.
“Agent McKinney, just the person I wanted to see.”
“Chief?”
“You remember Agent Adams, right?”
“Yes…I see you got here fast,” I said to her.
“What can I say? Good news travels fast.”
I nodded quietly and shifted my eyes to the boxes of files on the front table.
“So, how do you feel?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“About catching the bad guy, McKinney.”
“Oh,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “I-I don’t know. I guess it just doesn’t feel real.”
“Well, it’s real. Come take a seat beside me. The chief is just about to start.”
I followed her to the round table and plopped into the seat to her right. I didn’t want to be there, let alone hear anything more about the success of Operation November and the capturing of Pharaoh Blackwell like he was some sort of rabid animal. As soon as the chief opened his mouth, I sunk further down into my seat.
“I want to thank everyone for convening here so quickly. Thanks to the undercover FBI agents with Operation November, I am proud to announce that Pharaoh Blackwell has been apprehended and placed in custody. We are now making arrangements to have him shipped off to a federal institution as he awaits sentencing. Now, Agent Adams, would you like to say a few words?”
She stood to her feet and nodded. “Of course. Just like he just said, thanks to the FBI agents from both the D.C. and Atlanta regions who took the initiative to help us bring down Blackwell. A special thanks to Agent Savannah McKinney for dropping a pin and calling it in. Because of that, we were able to apprehend Mr. Blackwell and will proceed in charging him with a laundry list of charges, including drug trafficking, gang affiliated-related killings, and money laundering. We are now in the process of freezing all of his assets, and as the chief said, getting him into federal custody as soon as possible.”
Applause spread through the room like wildfire.
“Thank you to Chief Sanders for lending us a few of your men. Unfortunately, Agent Michael Shepard was shot while in his undercover role. He is now in the hospital with life-threatening injuries, but the doctors say he is expected to make a full recovery. Again, thank you all for your help in making America a better and safer place for us all.”