Cheaper to Keep Her Part 3 (12 page)

“That's what I want you to do,” he replied as he continued to rub his hand on my thigh.

“Don't start something you can't finish,” I threatened jokingly. But quiet as it was kept, the wire I had was hidden right below the button of my shorts. If Bishop would've gotten wind of that, I'd be for certain a dead bitch. God knows there's nothing I'd be able to do to stop him from killing me.

During most of the drive back to Jersey, I had to wrestle Bishop's hands from touching me in the wrong places. Luckily for me, his cell phone rang. It was like music to my ears. From the moment he answered, I knew it was a business call. He tried to speak in codes, but being a chick from the streets, I was able to read between the lines. I was sure if Sean or the other agents were listening, then they knew what time it was too, assuming they could speak street.

“You will not believe what I got my hands on,” he said to the caller. “It's ripe and ready to go.”

I couldn't hear anything the caller was saying in return, but I heard him laughing, so I figured he was happy with the news Bishop had just given him.

Before Bishop hung up the phone, he instructed the caller to call all of his people and tell them to get ready because they were about to get some money.

After Bishop got the caller pumped up, I heard him shouting on the other end with pure excitement. For a minute there, I wanted to get excited for them. But when I looked casually through the passenger side-view mirror and noticed the two white FBI agents following us down the New Jersey Turnpike, I lost all sense of excitement. They reminded me that there wasn't a thing about my situation to be excited about. Just that thought snapped me back to reality.

To my surprise, that reality wasn’t as jaw dropping as the one I was about to get. Not long after Bishop hung up the phone, he started acting really weird. When he pressed down on the accelerator and began to look through his rearview mirror every other second, I knew he suspected that we were being followed.

I tried to act as normal as I possibly could, but his actions made me uncomfortable. I couldn't pretend that I hadn't noticed how he was acting.

“What's wrong with you?” I asked. I said it in a tone that made him realize that I was really concerned.

“I'm cool,” he said. But his body language said something differently.

“Well, if you're cool, then what are you trying to see in your rearview mirror? You've looked through it at least a dozen times since you got off the phone.”

“Look, don't draw any attention to us. If you wanna see who I'm talking about, then look through your side mirror. They’re four cars behind us.”

I leaned forward just a little bit and acted as if I was trying to get a glimpse of the two white men Bishop had become leery of.

“Can you see them?” he asked.

“Yeah. I see them. But why would they be following us?” I asked, trying to play the dumb role. I did this to see if he would come clean with the real reason why we went to New York. But he didn't fall for my tactic.

“I don’t know,” he answered as he continued to look over his shoulder and through the rearview mirror.

I could count the number of times using all of my fingers and toes that he looked back at the Feds while they followed us. I tried to make him relax a little, but all of my attempts fell. Thank God they decided to make a detour after tailing us for over twenty-five miles. I believe if they would’ve stay with us for at least ten more miles, Bishop would have caused a major accident on this very busy highway, leaving a lot of innocent people hurt or worse, dead.

I let out a sigh of relief after they were gone. Although I knew I’d see them in the near future, the thought of getting back to the apartment in one piece was good enough for me.

Thank God for blessings!

Cheaper to Keep Her part 3 Unique

Back At the Crib – Chapter Thirteen

I noticed Sean's vehicle wasn't parked in its designated spot when Bishop and I arrived back at the apartment. I couldn't help but wonder where he was and what he was up to. He was the head investigative agent assigned to investigate Bishop and his crew. Was he also following us? Sometimes the cops and Feds used multiple cars when tailing a suspect. So I figured wherever he was and whatever he was doing was probably in effort to wrap this case up.

Inside of the apartment, Bishop sat the bag down on the kitchen table and then he went into the bathroom. Immediately after I heard his piss hitting the toilet water, I quickly turned my attention to the bag on the table. The wheels in my mind were spinning like crazy. Curiosity was eating away at me like an energized Ms. Pacman ate her enemies. I wanted to look inside that bag so bad. The only thing that stopped me from doing so was the fact that Bishop had bionic ears and he would hear the bag rattle as soon as I touched it.

So once again I found myself leaving well enough alone. Hell, I already knew there were drugs inside of it. I couldn't tell you which kind, but I knew there was a lot of it. Whoever Bishop was talking to while we were on our way back from New York had already been forewarned that they were about to get paid.

Bishop's cell phone started ringing the exact same time he was coming out of the bathroom. “What's good?” he asked the caller.

I was sitting on the living room sofa. When he came back into the living room, his whole mood changed. I couldn't hear what the caller was saying to him. But I could tell that Bishop was spooked. He stood there in the middle of the floor and looked at me as if he could see directly through me. My heart rate picked up instantly and I could feel my entire body began to perspire.

I wanted to ask him what was wrong. But my lips wouldn’t move. Then I thought about how I was going to get out of that apartment alive if that call was pertaining to me.

I knew I wouldn't be able to get away from him on feet because he could run faster than me. But maybe if I was able to knock him out with something that'll put him out of commission for at least a couple of minutes, if not longer, I'd be able to do a homestretch.

While my mind was going haywire and I was contemplating my escape, Bishop finally opened his mouth and said, “I can't believe that that shit just happened. Me and Lynise just left that spot a couple of hours ago. And you mean to tell me that them crackers ran up in there that quick? Yo, I swear, somebody around us is either talking their asses off or those crackers were on to them long before we started throwing business their way.”

After Bishop gave his spiel, he fell silent and listened to the caller. Once again, I couldn't hear what the other caller was saying. When Bishop turned away from me and walked back into the kitchen, he made it almost impossible for me to get the scope of things surrounding the conversation.

The upside to this whole situation was that I had no prior knowledge about that dropout I made to that guy, Manuel, until we were in route to the location. If Bishop wanted to point fingers and find someone to blame, then it wouldn't be me.

What a joy that was to me? The thought of that was like music to my ears. Now I could exhale and relax, knowing that I was okay for the moment.

During his conversation, Bishop made it crystal clear how angry he was and then he swore he would find out who was behind Manuel's spot getting ransacked by the police.

“
Man, I swear to God, I am going to find out who snitched them niggas out like that,” Bishop began. “Because that shit looks really bad on my part. It wouldn't shock me if them niggas think I did. And I can't have that shit over my head. Niggas around here would lose respect for me if they thought I had something to do with them niggas getting arrested. And check it, we can't blame this shit on baby girl because she's out of the picture. So whoever did this, knew about the drop right after Manuel gave us the green light.”

After listening to the caller on the other end, Bishop said, “I understand all of that, but we have nothing to worry about. Even though the truck is in her name, they can't link it back to us because she's not here. Now take a load off and fire up one of those expensive ass cigars you got and call it a night. Oh yeah, don’t forget to change your number. The way Manuel’s spot got shut down, we could never be too careful. Who knows, the FEDS could put so much pressure on that nigga, that he’ll bitch up and rat all our asses out. And with everything we got going on, we can’t have that.”

The caller finished off his conversation with a few more words and after Bishop told him that he planned to change his cell phone number as well, they ended their call.

Immediately after Bishop pressed the END button on his keypad, he grabbed the bag from the kitchen table and walked back into the living room, where I was pretending to watch TV. He knew I heard bits and pieces of his conversation, so he stopped in the middle of the floor with a blank look on his face and asked me if I remembered leaving anything inside of that Jeep Cherokee truck before I got out of it?

I thought for a second before I answered him. And when I realized that I hadn't, I told him no.

“
Are you sure?” he pressed the issue.

“
Yeah. I'm positive. Why?”

Bishop hesitated for a moment as if he wasn't sure he wanted to tell me what was going on. So I gave him this look of reassurance, as if to say, whatever you tell me will not leave this room and that I had his back when he needed it most.

“
I just found out from my homeboy that the Feds ran up in Manuel's spot about an our after we left.”

“
Really?” I replied.

“
Yeah. And I just heard they had the rental truck towed away.”

“
Oh, my God! Is that why you asked me if I had left something in the truck?”

“
Yeah. I would hate for you to get pulled into some shit you ain't got nothing to do with. The police up north are different from the police down south. If they had the slightest idea that a nigga is making some serious money, they will run up on you like they're about to rob you and split your motherfucking head right open in the process.”

“
They are all the same to me,” I commented.

Bishop tucked the folded bag underneath his armpit and said, “Not to me. The fucking crackers up here are so grimy that they go after family members and began to turn everyone against each other to create division. And then the next thing you know, you’re left with the choice to either kill your loved one or let them live. And I don't like that shit! I was raised on the principles that family is all you got. And when that's gone, you ain't got nothing else. So, it's down hill from there.”

Chills ran through my body after Bishop's indirect confession about his sister Bria. But what was even more chilling was the fact that he didn't blink when he opened up how he felt about his family. I could say that I saw a genuine spark in his eyes that declared his feelings concerning his family versus his freedom on the streets.

“
And do you wanna know what's really crazy?” he pressed the issue.

“
What?”

“
Remember when I noticed that those two crackers were following us from New York?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Yo, I will bet you every dollar I got in my pocket that those motherfuckers was following us because of that bust they had at Manuel's spot. I mean, it couldn’t be a coincidence that Manuel's spot got shutdown and then an hour later we’re being followed. Shit just doesn't happen like that Lynise.”

“
Well, in my experience, I’ve never seen the police follow somebody and then leave them alone and then go into another direction. Usually, if they follow you, it means they want to make you nervous enough to make a traffic violation to give them grounds to stop you. And then from there they got probable cause to do what the hell they want. And those white guys you said was following us didn’t do any of that. So I think you’re reading too much into that whole Turnpike situation.”

“
Look, I’m not saying you ain’t right, but something on the inside of me is telling me that the heat is on. So I’m gonna have to be extra careful because it could’ve been anybody that set Manuel up. And I swear on everything I love that if I find out who it is, they’re gonna end up in a cold and dark place. And they will never see the light of day again.”

Oh, my God. The death I saw in Bishop’s eyes was extremely scary. And not only that, I couldn't believe how fast Bishop was starting to put two and two together. I knew he was quick on his feet, but I had no idea he would associate one thing with the other. I just hoped that since our conversation was being recorded by Sean and his other agents, maybe they would step back a little bit before this whole thing blew up in all of our faces prematurely.

Watching Bishop felt as if I was living in the twilight zone. “I'm going to need you to hold the fort down until I come back,” he told me.

“
How long are you going to be gone?”

“
I can't say right now. I've got too much shit on my mind and too much shit to do with little time to do it. So I'll call you once I get a minute.”

“
Alright,” I said to him and then he left.

Today had been one fucking rollercoaster ride for me. And to know that because of my wiretap, niggas were getting locked up left and right. Shit! Who knew Sean would go out and secure arrest warrants and bag up Manuel and his boys? I mean, I kind of knew, but I didn’t know for sure if that makes any sense.