Sins of a Siren (24 page)

Trenda cut him off. “No…no…I always pay my debts. No matter how long it takes. It's just how I am. All I ask is that I can keep this room for the next two weeks since it's already paid for. By then, I will find somewhere else to stay, even if I have to live out of my car. I've done it before and can do it again if necessary.”

Lollie relaxed and leaned back onto Walter. “You won't have to live in a car as long as you know me. I can show you how to work the hotel where you can always find room if you need one. Hell, you can even stay with me for a while if need be. And since we are ‘keepin it real,'” she looked into Walter's grinning face, “I
am
feelin' Mr. Secrease and do intend on keeping him around for a while.” Her gaze found Trenda. “I'm even good with the idea that you two have fucked. Actually, it's kind of sexy to me. I don't think I am nearly as wild as you, girl, but I do likes to get my freak on, too.”

Walter cleared his throat. “Uhhh, ladies. Do I get to have a say in all this?”

They both looked at him. Trenda shook her head, stood and began putting on her clothes. “No…and if you want to keep that dick satisfied, you would be wise to keep your mouth closed. It's not every day you wake up with two fine bitches and the chance to keep one of them as your personal ‘dick emptier.'”

Both Lollie and Walter laughed aloud. Lollie shook her head. “Girl, you are a damn fool!”

“I
t's about goddamn time,” Darius said once he spotted Piper pulling out of the hotel's parking garage. He checked the blinking light on his BlackBerry and started his car. “C'mon, Piper. Lead me to that half-slick bitch.”

Fifteen minutes later, Piper pulled into the parking lot of a Manuel's Cutlery Shop on Broadway. “That is one of our finest carving knives, ma'am,” the gray-haired cashier said after ringing up Piper's purchase of a ten-inch, extremely sharp serrated knife. “You could slice up a reindeer with it!” he said with a huge smile.

One short bitch is all I need it to cut up,
she thought as she paid for her purchase. “Thank you, sir.” On her way to the Hotel Oakland, she smiled with glee at the thought of using the knife to pop both of Trenda's green eyes out.
Yes…the last thing she is going to see is the smile on my face…

“What the hell is she doing here?” Darius said after following Piper into the cutlery shop's parking lot. His patience with Piper leading him to Trenda was growing thin. Each moment Trenda walked around free, was another moment closer to his ruin.
Captain Kelly would cut her any kind of deal he could to get her to snitch me out
, Darius thought while watching Piper enter the store.

He switched the BlackBerry from his tracking software to his phone's call log.
That's another issue; I haven't heard from Tyrone yet. I need to find out if he heard anything new about our case from Terrence. And I also need to make sure he doesn't buckle from the captain's pressure. He's my boy, but he can fold up like a card table if you press him too hard.

Ten minutes later, to his pleasure, Piper exited the store. While discreetly following her, he mentally worked on his exit strategy once Trenda was dealt with.

Piper tapped the carving knife against her leg as she drove to the Hotel Oakland. “It's time to pay the Piper, bitch,” she said as she pulled into the Hotel Oakland's parking garage. “Oh shit!” She slammed on her brakes after passing up a silver BMW backing out of a parking stall. “Is that the car?” She quickly sorted through the pictures on her front seat she had gotten from Hank. She whipped a quick U-turn as she held the picture of a silver BMW. “Fuck yes! That's' it! I can't tell for sure with that tinted back window, but it looks like he had a passenger.”

Weaving in and out of traffic, trying to catch up with the BMW, Piper almost caused a heap of accidents. An “Out to Lunch” sign hung on the logical part of her brain. Never once did she let go of the carving knife as she maniacally maneuvered her rental car down the streets of Oakland. The BMW was two blocks ahead of her. “C'mon, fuck!” Piper yelled at the slow traffic in front of her. After running her second consecutive red light, she caught up with the BMW and pulled alongside it at a four-way stop sign. She then turned her wheels toward the car just in case she had to ram it if he tried to get away.

“This nutty broad is gonna kill somebody with her crazy-drivin' ass,” Darius said as he did his best to keep up with Piper and yet remain unnoticed by her. “Trenda must be inside that car.” He used one hand to pick up his bag containing the pistol and put it on the passenger seat.

“Do you know this woman?” Lollie asked as she turned her attention away from the large woman in the car next to them. “She sure is staring hard at your car.”

Walter leaned forward, looked past Lollie into the face of the staring woman. “No, I don't know who she is.” He lowered the passenger window. “Can I help you?”

The woman continued to glare at them, eyes searching for something. She glared at Lollie. “Is Trenda in there with you?”

Lollie hunched her shoulders. “Who?”

Is this bitch deaf?
Piper thought as she gripped the carving knife handle tighter. “I said, is Trenda in the backseat?”

Walter shook his head. “I can't hear you and don't really have time to chat. The cars behind us are getting pissed off. Goodbye.”

Before throwing her car into park, and jumping out, Piper caught movement in her rearview mirror. “This is your lucky day, asshole,” she said as a motorcycle cop made his way toward them between the line of drivers waiting behind them. She slammed the blade of the knife six inches deep into the passenger seat,
turned on her blinker and made a right turn just as the cop reached her rear bumper.

After giving Walter a chirp with his siren, the cop waved at him to move. Walter and Lollie looked at each other as he took off. He shook his head. “What the hell was her problem? Have you ever seen her before?”

Lollie shook her head in return. “Hell no. I don't know who that big woman is. And who was she looking for? Some body named Kendra or Brenda?”

“I don't know, but I tell you what; I sure as hell am glad she isn't looking for me! She looks like she's a few eggs short of a full dozen.”

“What are they talking about?” Darius asked, three cars behind the BMW. “Whatever it is, it must be damned important for them to ignore all these horns blowing behind them.”

His police officer mentality took over. As soon as the motorcycle cop passed him, Darius followed the BMW until he was able to make a note of the license plate. “If he was important enough for Piper to stop traffic for, I need to find out who he is.”

T
he Sunday morning sunshine gave Trenda a warm caress as she exited the hotel. Her freshly cleaned, pink velour sweat suit was a perfect outfit for that spring morning. The chime of nearby church bells informed her it was eleven o'clock. A low rumble in her belly informed her it was time to eat. She made a U-turn en route to her car. “It's not that far. I think I'll walk.”