This has been one incredibly unforgettable ride! Time to see how this season ends!
PRESENT DAY
“ARE YOU READY TO GO?”
Caris rushed into the house looking for Carol. He found her in their bedroom, her head in a pillow.
“We’re done, Caris. We’re done! They could come for us any day now.”
“We have to go, Carol. Pack whatever you need.”
“What’s the point? Even if we leave now, we can never come back. If Tembo’s confessed, I’m finished in this country.”
Caris pulled her up and looked her in the eye. “Listen to me, Carol. We’ve worked these last ten years to build towards this moment. Ninety-five percent of what we own is hidden from any search or investigation. Even if they seize what’s public, it won’t put a dent in our accounts. But if you sit here and throw your hands up, everything will crumble! Now, get yourself together, and let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“How, Caris? Our plans are not complete.”
“I called Karla on my way here. The jet will be ready in an hour. She has a hideout waiting for us. We’ll be out of here before anyone knows it.”
She slapped him on the shoulder. “Goddammit, Caris! Why didn’t you lead with that!”
“Oh you’ll pay for that once we’re in the air.”
“Best believe I intend to, baby.” She’d gone from worried to predatory in the snap of a finger. “Listen, love, I know it’s a tight situation and all, but the nympho in me is going to need a release for all this built-up frustration once we’re in the air.”
Caris shook his head. He slid his hand down her back and into her skirt and grabbed her butt. “You’ll get all the release you want once we’re in the air. Right now, focus.”
“Okay, then let’s go.”
“Won’t you pack anything?”
“No need.”
“Carol, seriously-“
“I have stuff in every house we own.”
“Carol, better not need anything while we’re in the hideout or the safe house.“
“I bet Karla’s got supplies there for a rainy day. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure, Carol?”
“Caris, I used to work for Kane Glazer. Flexibility was a key part of the job; you never knew the day nor the hour you’d get called. I’m ready. Let’s go.”
*****
“Clear! All rooms have been searched. They’re not here, sir.”
“Goddammit! We were late! Set up a perimeter, have the airport security on the lookout. We cannot lose them. Call whoever you have to. Find them!”
Inspector Kpodo was extra frustrated. Someone must’ve leaked their plans to Carol. They’d just gotten Tembo’s confession barely an hour ago, yet the Bentons had already fled.
He couldn’t ask Tembo where they could possibly be, because the fucker collapsed and died shortly after he confessed. Medical wouldn’t know anything for a few hours, but he suspected poisoning. The man was dying of cancer and chose to speed up the process.
As Kpodo made his way out of the house, one of the men yelled from outside the gate. He rushed outside, and right in front of the gate lay Seth Goosman, his hands and legs bound and his mouth covered with tape.
One of the officers walked up to Kpodo. “A car drove by. Someone dumped him out and sped away.”
As the officer stood with him, Kpodo got a text message.
“He’s yours, she’s mine.”
*****
TEN YEARS AGO
“Motherfucker!” Kane had just learned of Tembo’s plan to have him killed, and he wanted a skull to crack. “After all I did for that ingrate, this is how he thanks me? Huh, Stella? This is how he thanks me?”
Stella wanted to give him the glass of water on the table, but she knew better. If that glass so much as got into his eye-line, its next location would be the floor, broken into pieces on account of being thrown at the 85-inch TV on the wall. “Malcolm, you need to calm down. Yes, it’s a betrayal of the highest order, but you can’t get revenge with a hot head. Settle down.”
“Don’t tell me to settle down, Stella! That man is practically my brother! We started from the bottom together, built the agency from the ground up, and this is what he does to me?”
“Do you want a session of anger to clear your head?”
“Fuck a session! Get me a drink and call Poncho. This fucker gets his due tonight!”
Stella served him a tray with a bottle of Blue Label and a glass of ice. He took the bottle and downed half of it on the spot. He had reason to be mad, but she’d never seen him this agitated. The bath salt drugs she’d been lacing his food with for the past week had certainly gone into overdrive. He’d made it easy by ordering so much spicy food.
There really was a benefit to dealing drugs but never using them; Kane had no idea how they tasted. He couldn’t even tell the difference in the food. And now, the drugs had made him highly irritable and unusually rash. Carol’s nursing degree had finally found proper use. She’d celebrate with her once their plan worked.
“Have you called Poncho already, Stella?”
“Yes, he’s an hour away on the Congo matter.”
“Oh. Right. That’s this week. Let me know when he gets here.”
Now he was forgetting op dates. The man was truly under the influence. Now, all she had to do was wait. Thank God she didn’t have to force the whiskey on him. The water was a decoy, but it was laced with a sedative, as was the drink. Kane was not leaving this room awake.
“Tembo doesn’t know that you know of his plans. How about you invite him over and just deal with him? Panda and Kwashee are right around the corner from us. They could be here in a jiffy if you just gave the word.”
Under normal circumstances, that would be a horrible idea. Panda and Kwashee were known for being lightweights. Tembo was a 280-pound human; these were not the guys for this op. But Kane wanted hasty justice. “Those lightweights better bring their goddamn muscle! I’m paying them too much to be this feckless.”
Stella pretended to step out of the living room, but then she stood at the door, waiting. When she heard a loud thud on the ground, she knew her’s and Carol’s part was over.
She took her phone and texted, “The hawk is down. Come now.”
*****
PRESENT DAY
Caris was almost done with the food. He’d woken up early to make his lover breakfast.
It had been a month since they’d fled the country, and their timing had been perfect. The police swarmed their house minutes after they left, and they barely managed to get out of the country unscathed. They’d released much of their tension on the plane, in Karla’s safe house, and finally in their own house.
However, Carol was still reeling from the madness of it all. So, he figured he’d make her one of the two things he knew how to make: Tea and Bread with Egg.
He turned on the news while cooking and saw the headlines about Tembo’s confession. He flipped the channel to sports.
He was just about to go serve her when someone knocked at the door.
He opened it, and the last thing he saw was a foot coming a little too close to his face.
*****
TEN YEARS AGO
“Push him, dammit! He’s almost in!”
Tembo had underestimated just how heavy this fucker was. He’d arrived with Goosman, and they had managed to move Kane’s body to the truck. It took them more than forty minutes because Goosman was halfway drunk kept stumbling. This man was meant to be a stone-cold killer, but he could only kill with the help of liquor!
They ended up having to put Kane on a carpet and dragging him to the truck, and Goosman was meant to pull his legs in while Tembo pushed his upper body. Tembo ended up having to do the lion’s share of the work, with Goosman only being able to arrange the legs properly.
“Goose, are you sure you got this?”
“Yeah, I’m good to go.”
“Nah, for real, Goose. You can’t even move a body with me, and it’s going to be just you out there. Are you sure you can do this?”
“The liquid courage usually kicks in with the adrenaline rush. Don’t worry, I have this under control.”
*****
PRESENT DAY
When Caris finally came to, he found himself tied to Carol, who was still in her morning robe. He saw the men watching over them and tried to ask what was going on, but no one said a word.
After what seemed like an eternity, someone walked in. Caris and Carol saw her face. Caris had no idea who she was, but Carol knew that something had gone terribly wrong.
Standing before them, in an outfit that would make any dominatrix proud, was Stella.
Time had been extremely kind to her, because somehow she managed to look even more ravishing than she did ten years ago. But the look on her face wasn’t welcoming, it was menacing.
She squatted down on her heels and licked Carol’s cheek slowly. She licked Carol’s lips as well, all while Caris looked totally lost.
“Hello, baby. It’s been a while.”
*****
TEN YEARS AGO
Stella lay naked and breathless in the bed of her lover, a little sad at what they’d done. She genuinely cared for Malcolm; none of this would be necessary if he hadn’t banished the love of her life. She would give anything to reverse the action, but the deed was done.
Her lover sensed her mood. ”Getting cold feet, babe?”
“Not really. I just wish none of this needed to happen.”
Her lover kissed her forehead. “Well, I’m thankful that was quick. His complete trust in you coupled with the lack of security at the house, this couldn’t have gone any better.”
“Karla, that’s your brother we’re talking about here.”
“Yeah, my brother who made me a drug addict and took my worth away. Or have you forgotten how you and I met?”
“I remember, and I truly hate that I was part of it.”
Karla sat up and pulled Stella up with her. “Listen, you entered a world where it was kill or be killed, and you could never have known what you were getting yourself into. Marcus is the only human I’ve ever known who was a perfect blend of sugar and spice. He reels you in with what you need, and takes his due only when it’s too late for you. I don’t blame you for any of it. I may never have met you otherwise. So never blame yourself again in my presence, you hear me?”
Stella smiled. “I’ve missed you so much, Karla. I can’t believe we couldn’t see each other for five whole years.”
“Five years. And hopefully many more.”
Stella got a text: The hawk‘s in hell.
She showed it to Karla, who kissed her. “We’re free, Stella!”
“We’re free! Come here, baby!”
They kissed each other some more, and then Stella pulled back.
“Babe, what are we going to do about Carol?”
“For now, nothing. Let her enjoy life. You gave her the codes and all the stuff she’ll need, right?”
“Yeah. But why would you go through all this only to leave everything to her?”
“Honey, I hate juggling. Do you know how much shit we owned? If she can manage it for even ten years, I’ll be surprised. Greed is what turned Marcus into the monster you knew. I have no interest in becoming that. Besides, I like the passive income that comes with owning my oil company and not having to do too much work. Gives us time to catch up.”
“I like Carol, but that’s a lot to give away, baby.”
“Don’t worry, love. I kept the best for myself.” The look that Karla gave Stella would warm even the coldest heart. Stella leaned in, took Karla’s face, and passionately plunged her lips in.
*****
“It’s done, Carol. Supplying Stella with a sedative was genius. Your plan worked better than mine ever would.”
“Well, your plan was to walk in, shoot him, and have a big mess to clean. This was cleaner.”
“I know. He was supposed to be my brother, and he set me up as a pedophile. I was out for blood.”
“Well, you got better than blood. You got the agency and the drugs, so you should be set up for life. Just try not to break anything or get caught.”
“I know the code, Carol. You will never go down for any of this.”
She hung up and looked at Caris. They were in the backseat of her car in the parking lot at Ziba’s Lounge. She turned to him and said, “It is done, my love. We are free.”
He kissed her passionately and was only interrupted by the loud honk from the horn when they accidentally hit it. Both burst out laughing.
Once they’d calmed down, Caris said, “I can never go back home again.”
“Why? Cos of me?”
“Well, my father’s sure you’re a devil sent from hell to take me away from my destiny as a preacher.”
“I must be one hell of a devil then, cos I created a sexual monster!”
“Oh really? Well, I unlocked the wildest part of you, so who created who?”
“It’s amusing that you think you’ve seen the wildest part of me.”
“Oh, is that a challenge?”
“Take it however you want, boy.”
“Yeah, you better run from that statement.” They both laughed at the exchange.
They sat in silence, taking in all that was to come. This was the first day of the rest of their lives. She was finally out of the business, and he didn’t have to pretend to be holy any longer. From what he’d seen from the will she’d shown him, they would never need to work a day in their lives ever again. They didn’t just have money, they had fuck-you money. Nothing in the world was off-limits to them, and they planned on making the most of it all.
Carol turned to him again, the look in her eye signaling her intent.
“Uh oh. How fast do I need to drive?”
“Faster than lightning.”
“Huh, I’d rather not get us killed before we can enjoy any of your wealth.”
“Our wealth, Caris. What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine. You know that.”
“Our wealth. That has a nice ring to it. Actually, I have an idea. Have you ever had an audience before?”
“No. You want to make voyeurs out of whoever happens to hear us? We could get arrested for shit like that.”
“Not with the tinted windows, not in this backseat.”
Carol smiled. “This is why I can’t love any other but you.”
*****
PRESENT DAY
Carol could not understand for the life of her why on earth Stella had done this. Stella was why they were able to pull any of this off, and she had refused to share in the loot. What on God’s green earth could she have done wrong? She hadn’t even seen the bitch since they got rid of Kane!
Stella walked slowly around them with a whip in her hand. “You motherfuckers had everything in the world, and you still chose to steal from me.”
Caris was still processing all of this and Carol was befuddled. “What are you talking about, Stella? We never did anything to you! I haven’t even seen you in ten years!”
Carol immediately received the crack of Stella’s whip as punishment for that outburst. She shrieked in pain.
“You two fools took my wife from me.”
Caris was now the stunned one. He and Carol exchanged very confused glances. “Your wife? Who the fuck is your wife?”
“I genuinely cared for you. I set you up to succeed, and this is how you thanked me. And you did it with him. My wife had been sober for almost a decade. She had just 6 months more. She was going to retire on the ten year mark, and we were going to spend the rest of our lives traveling and partying and fucking anyone we chose. Boys, girls, didn’t matter. Then one day she comes home, blind drunk and insanely high, and all of that’s gone. She’d sold half the company to some couple who’d taken advantage of her sexual addiction. Imagine my surprise when I learned that it was Carol Swanson, the woman I had helped to steal a fortune ten years ago.”
If the Bentons had harbored any hopes of getting out of this alive, they knew now that that was not about to happen. “Stella, we had no idea. You know I would never do anything to hurt you on purpose.”
“No one who loves another plans to hurt the other. But you did. Even with Kane’s whole empire, with estates all over the world and secret bank accounts and ownership stakes in damn near every profitable country, you still wanted more! You owned half the goddamn country, and you still wanted half of someone else’s bread! Did you not have enough already?”
Caris and Carol understood their exact predicament now. This wasn’t about the money or the assets, this was about a woman scorned. They knew their exact transgression, but Stella nailed the coffin anyway.
“My wife is Karla Beest, and you ruined her life! This is payback. Game! Set! Match!”
Caris and Carol still had one ace up their sleeves. They knew it was their only chance. Caris looked at Carol and nodded. When he tried to reach for her hand, one of the armed men smacked his head.
Carol summoned every last ounce of courage and spoke. “Stella, you have every right to want us dead. But if you kill us, you’ll have a major problem on your hands which you will need us to help you with.”
Stella leaned into her face and looked her dead in the eye, almost seductively. “What could I possibly need you two sex bandits for?”
Carol tried to get past the pain as she pressed on. “Goosman never killed Kane.”
Stella laughed and cracked her arm with the whip. “Motherfucker, I have you right where I want you, and this is your way of trying to get out? Pathetic!”
“Tembo literally told me this after Kane’s body was found.”
“Bullshit!”
“Not bullshit. Goosman lost the body.”
“Fuck!”
Stella was now in a pickle. Regardless of what she chose to do to these two, the prospect of Kane still being alive all these years did not bode well for her, and especially not for Karla. She could either kill them and hope Kane stayed gone, or kill them and face his wrath with Karla. She could just as well kill them, take over the assets, and face Kane. But Karla wouldn’t be able to take that. She’d lost Karla once because Kane refused to allow them to be together, and he turned her into a drug addict when she defied him. If Kane did return and found them married, both their days would be significantly shortened.
Goddamn. Carol was right after all; she was going to need them for sure. But did she want them? Would it be easier to just enlist Kane’s old enemies to make sure he stayed gone? What would be their price? Was it even worth the try? Fuck!
Goodness! What a fix they find themselves in! What’s gonna happen to the ‘power couple’? Is Stella gonna go ahead and kill them? Or will her need for them supersede that? And more importantly, is Kane still alive? And if he is, what’s gonna happen if he shows up?
Honestly, Season 2 of this series is gonna be nothing short of incredible!!
