Cheaper to Keep Her Part 3 (14 page)

“
Help me!” I began to cry out to Sean. I knew what Torch was capable of. And it was nothing good. I witnessed him, along with Bishop and Monty, kill those people back in Virginia. So I refused to be his next victim.

Thank God, Sean felt my sentiments. Because immediately after Torch dragged me outside of the apartment, he was stopped in his tracks. “Put the gun down before we blow your fucking head off!” I heard a man’s voice yell.

I couldn't see what was going on behind me, but when I noticed Torch taking the gun from my head I knew everything was about to be all right.

“
Get the gun from him,” Sean instructed.

After Torch had been disarmed and handcuffed, the two FBI agents identified themselves, notified him he was under arrest, escorted him back into the apartment and sat him down on the living room sofa.

I tried to avoid eye contact with Torch. No one liked a snitch. But that didn't stop him from staring me down. I sat in one of the chairs in the kitchen, but I was still within eyesight of Torch. As I sat there, I witnessed him gritting at me through my peripheral vision. His facial expression spoke volumes to me. I could tell he had feelings in his heart of hatred towards me. I could only imagine what he was saying in his mind.

Meanwhile, Sean and one of the white agents excused themselves into the bathroom, so they could talk in private, while the other agent stood guard over Torch.

“
All I need to know is how in the hell did he get pass everyone on the surveillance team?” I heard Sean ask Agent Morris.

“
I can't answer that. But I'll find out,” Morris replied.

“
Yes, please do, because we could've had a fatality tonight. And our whole investigation would've gone up in smoke,” Sean continued.

During the next several minutes, I heard them talk about a couple other issues about how they had to get Torch out of the apartment before Bishop decided to come back. They also discussed what charges they were going to impose on Torch and how they planned to keep him from contacting Bishop or anyone else in his crew if he decided not to cooperate and help them with their investigation. While Sean and Morris tried to line things up, Torch had a few words he had to say as well.

“
Bitch, you ain’t gotta look at me, but I see you!” he yelled. “And as soon as Bishop finds out about your snitching ass, you’re gonna wish that you were dead!”

Even though I heard him, I did my best to ignore him by looking in the opposite direction. The agent standing guard over him tried to intercept Torch’s loud outburst. “Shut the fuck up before I shove this gun down your throat,” he threatened.

“
You think I'm scared of your fucking gun? Do it! I dare you, you fucking punk!” Torch snapped.

Sean and Morris rushed out of the bathroom when they heard the commotion between Torch and the other agent. “I see you got your buddies running here to help you,” Torch continued.

I wanted to get away from all of the chaos, so I sat up from my chair and went into my bedroom. But that didn't stop Torch from hurling derogatory comments at me. “Bitch, you can run and hide, but I can smell a rat anywhere.”

The tone and irritation in his voice made it painfully clear that he would eat me alive if given the chance. For the first time in my life, I could honestly say I was glad the Feds were here to intervene. Sean and the other agents saved my life. Then again, I thought, if Sean hadn’t come to the door, this shit wouldn’t be happening. Damn, what kind of double-edge sword was this?

A few minutes passed and Sean was finally successful at calming Torch down, which enabled him to throw a couple of question his way. “Torch, I know you're probably not too fond of law enforcement, but right now we're the only ones who could help you get out of this situation you're in.”

“
Man, I don't need your help!” Torch interjected.

“
Can you just listen to what I have to say first?” Sean tried to reason with him.

“
Listen, dawg, you might as well take me to jail, because I ain't about to sit here and have a conversation with you like we're cool. I ain't got shit to say to you and nobody else.”

“
So you are telling me that you aren't willing to help yourself get out of this trouble?”

“
Yeah, nigga, that's exactly what I'm saying.”

“
Well, do you realize that we can charge you with possession of a loaded firearm, brandishing a firearm, kidnapping, threatening a government witness and threatening a federal agent?”

“
I don't give a fuck about that shit! Take these handcuffs off me and I'll give you a reason to charge me with murder,” Torch replied sarcastically.

“
Well, if you wanna get fifteen to twenty years in federal prison, that's fine with me,” Sean said. “Get this trash out of my face.” Then I heard Sean instruct Agent Morris to take Torch to their central station and stick him inside a holding cell without a telephone.”

“
You can keep me from using the phone all you want, but that ain't gonna stop the word from getting out that that bitch back there is a snitch! So tell her to watch her back,” Torch blurted out.

A few minutes later, the entire apartment had become quiet. That was my queue that the agents had taken Torch away.

Let the games begin!

Cheaper to Keep Her part 3 Unique

It’s Do Or Die – Chapter Fifteen

Sean walked into my bedroom after Torch was escorted out of the apartment. I was sitting on the edge of my bed looking spaced out. “Are you okay?” he asked me.

I turned my attention towards Sean. He was standing only two feet away from me. “I’m so fucked up in the head right now.” I began to say.

“I can only imagine.”

“I don’t think you can. I mean, do you realize that I could’ve gotten killed a few minutes ago? If those other agents wouldn’t have come when they did, he would’ve shot both of us.”

Sean took another step towards me. “Let’s not dwell on what could’ve happened. Right now we need to focus on getting that wire back on you so we can gather more intell and begin to put Bishop and his other boys behind bars.”

“You have got to be joking, right?” I replied sarcastically. “One of Bishop’s right hand men just stuck a gun up to my head and almost dragged me out of this apartment and you still want me to wear that wire?”

“It’s the only way. We can’t turn back now.”

“Well, I don’t care what you say. I’m not putting that wire back on me. That’ll be a sure way to get a one-way trip to hell after Bishop gets word that I’m working with the FEDS.”

“How will he find out? My men won’t let Torch get his first phone call for another 72 hours.”

I laughed. “And you think by not letting Torch use the phone is going to keep Bishop from finding out what's going on? Torch is from Newark. And everyone around here knows him and knows that he works for Bishop. So, all Torch needs is for someone to see him in handcuffs and Bishop will be notified immediately.”

“No one will see him. The agents are transporting him in one of our trucks. And if this will make you feel better, we're taking him to our headquarters; not the city jail.”

“Well, don't you think that if Bishop doesn't hear from Torch, he's going to think something is wrong?”

“That's where you come in.” Sean said.

“And what does that mean?”

“It means that you're gonna cover for him. Tell Bishop he came by and before he left, he got a phone call from a woman and told you that he's going to pay her a visit.”

I shook my head. I was becoming more and more aggravated with Sean's plans by the minute. He didn't know Bishop like I knew him. Bishop was a very smart street cat. He saw bullshit from miles away. So, I knew that if I'd tell him that bogus ass story, he'd look at me all crazy. Torch never talked to me about his private affairs with women, so why would he start now?

“Listen Sean, you're gonna have to come up with something better than that. I replied and then I stood up to my feet. Bishop will see right through that bullshit!” I continued.

I wasn't about to wait for Agent Sean to come up with a better plan. I left him standing in my bedroom and headed back into the living room area. The light inside of his head must’ve come on, letting him know that I wasn’t coming back, so a few seconds later he decided to join me.

I was getting a bottle of water from the refrigerator when Agent Sean finally joined me. I opened the bottle of water the same time he looked at his watch. “We don't have much time, so I need to know where you put the wire.”

I took a sip of my water and then I walked out of the kitchen and headed into the bathroom. Agent Sean followed me again. But before he attempted to enter into the bathroom, I came back out with the wiretap in hand. “Here it is.” I said to him.

After he took the wire device from my hand I asked him to excuse me and then I headed back into the direction of the kitchen. Agent Sean followed me back down the hallway for the third time. “Are you ready to put this thing back on?”

I had my back turned to him while I was checking to make sure the front door was locked. Didn't want Bishop to pop up like Torch did. At least with the door locked, I figured it would give Agent Sean enough time to climb out of one of the windows in the bedroom or the bathroom before Bishop got in the house good enough.

“Look,” I said immediately after I turn around to face him, “I told you back when I was in the bedroom that I am not wearing that. Now I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but I believe we can come up with a better solution, like hiding a wiretap inside of this apartment. Because this mess here isn't going to work.” I pointed out.

“We don’t have time for that. It'll take a couple of our security analysts at least a few hours to get those bugs in place. And besides, we're trying to wrap this case up and serve our indictments in the next 2 to 3 days.”

“Sean I know you know what you're doing, but I'm telling you right now that if Bishop is trying to contact Torch and isn't having any success, then he's going to get really paranoid, especially since he now knows that his sister Bria was a snitch and Manuel’s spot just got shut down. So by me being the last person to see him, and he might look at me weird. And I can't take any chances and wear that wire. It's a bad idea and it’s a suicide mission on my part.”

“Who says that Torch it made here to see you? If Bishop asks you if you seen him, then all you have to do is tell him no.”

“I don't know.” I said shaking my head. I didn't agree with anything Agent Sean had to say. So I took a seat on the edge of the living room sofa. He stood across the room from me holding the wire device in his hand.

Meanwhile, Sean's cell phone started ringing. He immediately took his phone out of the holster that was attached to his belt and answered it. “Agent Sean,” I heard him say.

“How far away is he from the apartment?” He asked the caller.

“Will I have time to leave out of here before he gets here?” His questions continued.

“Okay. I'll handle it from here. And don't call back. I'll call you.” He instructed the caller and then he disconnected the call. When he looked at me, I saw fear in his eyes. He didn’t look spooked, but it felt like he was trying to warn me. So, I sat there and waited for the inevitable.

“Bishop is on his way to the apartment. So you've got to find a place for me to hide.” he finally told me.

Panic engulfed my entire body. I didn't know whether to stay put or get up and run. I knew the same situation that happened to Torch wouldn't happen to Bishop. Bishop was too clever and sharp. He possessed this type of wit that only street cats could get. And his level of treachery was beyond humane. When Bishop saw that he had an enemy in his midst, he didn’t waste any time eliminating the problem. The thought of it just made me want to die right now. I swear if Agent Sean would take his government issued pistol and shoot me right now, I'd be better off. But unfortunately, he had another plan. So while Bishop was unlocking the front door with his key, Agent Sean yanked me up from the sofa and literally forced me to show him a safe place to hide.

The apartment only had four rooms that included the living room, the kitchen, my bedroom and that small room we use for storage, so finding somewhere to hide was nearly impossible. My heart felt like it was about to leak from my chest cavity.

But thank God for a clear mind. I was a nervous wreck, but Sean was focused enough to find a small spot in the back of my walk-in closet. He had to literally stoop down with his back against the wall and remain perfectly still to prevent Bishop from ever finding out that he was there.

By the time I closed the closet door, Bishop had made it in the apartment and closed the front door behind himself. I was nervous as hell, but I calmed myself down and met him in the hallway before he was able to come into the bedroom.

“I thought you had somewhere to be?” I questioned him.

“I do. But I decided to get Torch to ride out with me so he could watch my back. So, I told him to meet me here.” Bishop explained. And then he headed down the hall towards the bedroom.

“Where are you going?” I asked him. My nerves were shot. I swear if it weren’t for Agent Sean having his pistol cocked and ready to fire, I would’ve turned around and left that apartment faster than anyone could’ve imagine.

“What kind of question is that? I’m going in the bedroom.” he told me.

I tried to swallow the imaginary pill that was enlarged in my throat but for some odd reason it wouldn’t go down. It was evident that he was going into my bedroom, so I rushed down the hallway to try to deter him from going into the closet. But before I could get into the doorway of the bedroom, he said, “I need some privacy, so go back into the living room until I’m finished. As a matter of fact, let me know when Torch gets here.”