The Heist Read Online Free PDF Page B

had to squint. However, his dark shadow felt as comforting as Satan’s wing pulling her in close. He was much scarier now that the balance of power had shifted between them. Who was she kidding? She never had the power to begin with.
    “ Chocolat has your message and she’s very upset.”
    “Don’t hurt my sister! Don’t hurt her!”
    “She has three days to come up with a plan to get my gemstones. I suggest that during your stay, you be careful who you share our agreement with. Not many people would take kindly to a woman who purposely sets up her own sister.”
    “I didn’t mean for it to go down like this. I meant…I just wanted your attention. Not for her to go after it alone. You have to help her. Protect her. This isn’t her fault.”
    “She’ll deliver. When she does, you better be ready to answer her questions. She doesn’t strike me as being the kind of woman who likes to be played with.”
    Sasha’s bottom lip trembled, and her eyes pooled with tears as he walked away. “Lee?”
    Lee stopped; though she couldn’t see him she sensed him. The light was in her face again. “Lee, can you please untie me? I can’t stand being chained down. For God’s sake, just untie me. Where could I go?”
    “Take care of it,” he told someone and the light clipped off. The men all left.
    “Lee!” She yelled after him as the door closed, shutting her in darkness. Sasha dropped her head and screamed until her vocal cords strained. “Leeeeeee!” She wept until she slumped over and fell back into a painfully uncomfortable sleep.
     
    ***
     
    Michelle forced the door open. The turnkey always jammed the locks. Pops’ room, rented the last year of his life for $150 a month, was as he left it. She paid the tab faithfully. Sasha’s and her own grief after his death had shocked her. Keeping his room was something they both agreed upon. It was the only piece of him they could hang onto.
    She entered the darkness, not bothering with the light. A heavy cloud of sadness descended upon her shoulders and weighted her steps. She paid for the room, yes, but she hadn’t returned since the funeral. With Sasha gone, and her life in Lee’s hands, Michelle couldn’t think of any other place to go.
     
    ***
     
    “ You want to talk about it?” Pops asked.
    “No,” Michelle said, making the next turn. She couldn’t ever talk about it. Her heart and her pride suffered a tremendous blow. How could she share that with her Pops?
    “Lee told me.”
    Michelle swerved from her lane to the next until the car veered off the road into the dirt path. The vehicle pitched and then screeched to a halt in a cloud of dust. Pops didn’t seem the least moved by her reaction. She gripped the steering wheel tightly, all the suppressed emotion lodged in her throat preventing speech. The words were hard to form but she spoke them through clenched teeth. “What did he tell you?”
    “That he found you in his bed, naked.” Pops looked over at her with concern. “Why, Chocolat? Why would you go to him?”
    “Why? Did you just ask me why? What do I know of men and love? Huh, Pops? All I know is this. All I know is men like him. You swear that he’s the best in the business, and the most faithful friend. Why wouldn’t I give him a roll?”
    Pops’ backhanded slap knocked her head back into the headrest. Her vision blurred and her nose dripped blood. Michelle touched her face in horror. Her father had never struck her. Never. He'd never even raised his voice to her or Sasha. She trembled at the anger and disappointment in his eyes. What right did he have to be upset?
    “You listen to me.” He put a finger in her face. “You listen, because I’m only going to say this once, girl. You are no man’s whore. I didn’t raise you to be some skank like your mother. Or drunk like me. I gave you a hustle, a game of your own, to make you a survivor. You better than Leith Sullivan. You better than me. Do you understand?”
    Michelle blinked back