The Last Chance Read online

  After retrieving all their luggage, they walked over to the rental-car stations, rented a car, and then headed out to Malachi’s house. On the way, Keilah called Sabrinia and Keytone to let them know she was back in town.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Across town, Xavier and his crew pulled into the railyard and slowly made their way up to a run-down warehouse. Baby Dee exited the vehicle first and unlocked a large door. After sliding it open, Romeo slowly drove the Escalade inside the warehouse. Baby Dee closed the door behind them as Romeo and X exited the vehicle.

  “Baby Dee, watch the door. If anything looks suspicious give me a holler.”

  Baby climbed behind the wheel of the Escalade. “Will do, X.”

  Xavier and Romeo made their way to a back room and up the elevator. When they reached the end of the hallway, they came upon a door with a padlock on it. Xavier pulled out some keys and unlocked the door. Romeo pulled out his 9 mm and slowly pushed open the door. The pair walked through the door and found Luke, Roman, Malachi, and Genesis inside a caged area. The brothers immediately started cursing at Xavier and Romeo.

  “Guys ... guys. Hold it down in here. I see that P.K. took care of your accommodations and got you here safe and sound.”

  “Go to hell, X,” Luke yelled. “If you don’t let us out of here, so help me God, I’ll make sure you and P.K. never take another breath.”

  Xavier laughed and sat down in a nearby chair. “Threats will get you nowhere. Besides, we have some business to conduct. So the way I see it, you don’t have a choice but to listen and do whatever the hell I tell you to.”

  “What do you want from us?” Roman asked.

  Xavier flicked a piece of lint off the leg of his pants. “Well, let’s see. For starters, I want the Lucky Chance.”

  “You’re not getting our casino, so you can forget that,” Luke replied angrily.

  “I hate to hear that, Luke, because like I said earlier, I have no problem sending Baby Dee over to your house to get real acquainted with your lovely wife.”

  Luke was gripping the wire on the cage so hard it cut into his skin. He gritted his teeth and said, “And like I said before, if you go anywhere near my wife or any of our family members, you’re dead. Do you understand me?”

  Xavier laughed and looked at Romeo. “You’re not in a position to do anything about it, now are you?” At that point, Malachi ran as fast as he could and threw his body against the cage in a fit of rage. It was futile, because all he did was hurt his shoulder. Roman and Genesis helped Malachi off the floor. Roman stepped forward and said, “X, this is not the way to do business. I don’t know how you got P.K. involved, but I would love to find out how much you’re paying him and how long he’s been in on it.”

  Xavier laughed and said, “P.K. is a genius, and for the right price you can buy almost anybody.”

  Malachi mumbled, “When we get out of here, I want to be the one to put a bullet in P.K.’s brain.”

  “Count me in on that one, Malachi,” Genesis responded.

  “Now that we’re all together, why don’t we get down to business?” X announced.

  Genesis stepped forward and pointed at Xavier. “It all makes sense now. I should’ve known it was you. You’re the one who had Keilah attacked at the hotel and your thugs here are the ones who did it.”

  X put his hands up in defense. “Now, now, now. I’m not going to admit to anything that might incriminate me.”

  Luke hit the cage with his fist. “X, I swear if I ever get out of this cage, I am going to kill you.”

  “Ah, come on, Luke. You and I both know that you’re not in a position to make threats. Now, let’s get down to business. I gave you guys an offer, and you declined, which forced me to go to Plan B and as you see, Plan B is not so pleasant.”

  Genesis shook his head in disbelief.

  “All I want is the Lucky Chance. Like I told Luke, it’s just as much mine as it is yours. Joe Chance was a con man, and I’m going to make it right.”

  “That’s some bullshit, X, and you know it,” Roman yelled.

  X jumped out of the chair. “The hell it is. I know the truth, and I’m going to make things right for my pops if it kills me.”

  Just then, Baby Dee called Xavier’s cell phone. X put the phone up to his mouth and said, “Send him up.”

  A few minutes later they were face to face again with P.K. Sloan. When he walked in he had a smirk on his face. Malachi yelled, “P.K. you’re a dead man.”

  “I don’t think so, Malachi, but what I’m about to be is coowner of the Lucky Chance and the Special K casinos.”

  “It’ll never happen,” Malachi yelled.

  P.K. chuckled again. “I disagree. It’s a partnership made in heaven, and as soon as I get your sister to sign one more document, we’ll be the sole owners of the casinos.”

  “What do you mean?” Luke asked.

  P.K. sat down next to X. “Remember the day Keilah signed the papers for the Special K?”

  Luke yelled, “What about it?”

  “Most of the paperwork I had you guys sign was legit, but I accidentally left the most important one out of the stack,” he revealed. “Now all we have to do is get her signature and my work is done.”

  Genesis closed his eyes in disbelief. Luke lowered his head and then whispered, “We trusted you. How could you do something like this?”

  “Actually, it was easy. You guys were so excited that day, no one took the time to read the fine print. Once I got signatures from all of you, I was home free.”

  X laughed and said, “It don’t feel too good to be left out in the cold, does it? The way I see it, we’ll have Keilah’s signature in little or no time.”

  P.K. smiled and said, “Don’t be so hard on yourselves. I’ve enjoyed doing business with you guys over the years. I’m ready to retire and it’ll be so much easier doing it with lucrative businesses like the Special K and the Lucky Chance under my belt. I’m sure someone has contacted her, since none of you made it home last night or called. I have no doubt that Keilah is going to do whatever she can to find you guys, and you know what? I made it easy for her. I’m going to lead her right here, so we can get her signature and then our business will be over.”

  “She’ll never sign the papers,” Malachi yelled.

  X laughed. “If she doesn’t, you guys will get to witness your little sister in various compromising positions, and I don’t think you want to push me that far.”

  If looks could kill, X and P.K. would be six feet under, because the brothers had lethal glares.

  X looked at his watch. “I’m sorry, but we have to run. I’m going to have one of my girls come by and bring you guys a fish sandwich or something. If my estimates are correct, Keilah should be getting my message any time now, so sit tight and I’ll see you guys a little later.”

  P.K. and X laughed as they made their way back down to their vehicles, leaving the brothers to wonder what kind of hell they would go through next.

  Ramsey and Keilah made it to Malachi’s house and took their bags inside. While Keilah fed and walked Bonnie and Clyde, Ramsey looked around the house. When she came back in, he asked, “Does anything look out of place?”

  She scanned the room and said, “No, everything looks fine.”

  “I’m starving, Keilah. Can we see what’s in the fridge?”

  “You go ahead. I’m going upstairs to check his answering machine first,” she said before jogging up the stairs.

  Upstairs in Malachi’s bedroom, she noticed the blinking light. She picked up the pen lying next to the notepad and pushed the button to listen to his messages. There were several, including ones from her and Sabrinia. By the time she got to the last message, Ramsey had devoured two ham and cheese sandwiches and made one for Keilah. When he walked in the door, he froze when he saw the expression on her face. “What’s wrong? Did you find out something?”

  She put her hands over her face. “A guy named Xavier has them.” Ramsey sat the sandwich down
on the dresser. “What do you mean?”

  “Just what I said, Ramsey. Listen.”

  Keilah rewound the message and played it for Ramsey. By the look on her face, he knew that whatever he was about to hear, wasn’t good.

  “Yo! Keilah, this is Xavier. I know we haven’t been formally introduced, but that’s cool. We’ll see each other soon enough. Anyway, I’m sure by now you’re probably looking for your brothers, but you don’t have to worry because I want you to know I’m taking real good care of them. Now, you and I have some business to discuss, so if you ever want to see them again in one piece, you need to come to the Dennison rail-yard at Zinc Street, warehouse number three. I don’t have to tell you to come alone, and if you don’t, you’re going to regret it. Send a text to all four of your brother’s phones so I’ll know you got this message. I can’t wait to see you again. We’re waiting. Peace!”

  “Damn, Keilah. Who is Xavier?” Ramsey asked.

  She stood up and said, “I really don’t know that much about him. I think they call him X. Luke pointed him out to me at the grand opening and said he was some guy in the area who’s trying to make a name for himself on the streets.”

  “What kind of business could he want to discuss with you?”

  “I don’t know, but it has to be something about the casinos. Come on. We’re going down there to find out and get my brothers,” she said as she hurried out the door.

  Ramsey grabbed her arm. “Hold on a second, Keilah. You know we can’t go charging into a place we don’t anything about. This is not the Wild, Wild West anymore. We need to sit down and find out a little more about this guy first.”

  She angrily pointed at the answering machine. “Was I the only one who heard that message, Ramsey? If we don’t hurry up and do something, there’s no telling what he’ll do to them. For all we know they’re already dead.”

  Ramsey put his arm around her shoulders. “No way. This guy wants something from you, and its obvious he can’t get it unless you’re involved. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have even left you this message.”

  “Dammit,” she yelled.

  Ramsey hugged her tightly. “Don’t worry, baby, we’ll get your brothers back. I promise. Why don’t you give Keytone a call, so we can map out a plan of action?”

  Keilah wiped a lone tear off her cheek and picked up the phone.

  Within forty-five minutes, Keytone was at the door with Li’l Mike and T.Money. She hugged Keytone and stepped back so they could enter the house. “Hey, Keytone. Thanks for coming over.”

  T. Money and Li’l Mike made their way over to the sofa. Ramsey walked into the room with three glasses of cranberry juice. He sat them on the table. “Hey, Keytone. It’s good seeing you again. I just wish it was under more pleasant circumstances, though.”

  Keytone shook Ramsey’s hand. “No doubt.”

  Keytone introduced Ramsey to his crew, after which Ramsey reentered the kitchen to retrieve drinks for the others. Once he returned to the room they all sat down and Keilah asked, “Are you guys ready to get down to business?”

  “Yeah, fill me in,” Keytone replied.

  Keilah played the message X left on Malachi’s answering machine for Keytone. After he finished listening to it, he shook his head and said, “I don’t know what he’s up to, but I don’t put anything past him. That kid has finally lost his damn mind. He’s gone too far this time.”

  Ramsey sat up. “Do you know your way around that rail-yard?”

  “Yeah. I’ve actually done some business down there myself. Most of it is abandoned, which makes it the perfect setting for things you want to keep private, if you know what I mean,” Keytone answered.

  “OK, we need some firearms,” Ramsey pointed out.

  Keilah said, “You don’t have to worry about that, Ramsey. Malachi has somewhat of an arsenal, and it’s fully stocked. Plus I know Keytone does too.”

  Keytone rubbed his hands together. “You know me, don’t you, sis?”

  Ramsey asked, “What does Malachi have?”

  “You name it, he has it,” she answered. “He can pretty much supply a small army.”

  Ramsey chuckled. “That’s scary.”

  “You got that right, Ramsey,” Keytone added.

  Keytone stood up and said, “So, fellows, when are we going to do this? The longer we wait, the harder it’s going to be.”

  Ramsey looked over at Keilah. “What do you think?”

  She sat quietly for a second and then she spoke. “I’ve been thinking. I’m not meeting Xavier at any warehouse and neither are you. If he has business to discuss with me, it’s going to be on my terms or there won’t be a meeting.”

  Keytone frowned. “Where is that coming from?”

  “It’s coming from here,” she stated as she pointed to her head. “I know my brothers are in danger, and I know they expect me to do the right thing. They wouldn’t want me to put myself in danger over them. They would want me to use my head and not my heart.”

  Ramsey looked at her and saw the anger in her. “Keilah, are you sure about this?”

  She looked over at him and smiled. “I’m sure.”

  Keytone got up and walked over to the window. “So, how do you want to do this?”

  She laid back in her seat. “We’re getting ready to shut this city down.”

  Ramsey and Keytone looked at Keilah and then at each other. They had no idea what she planned to do, but whatever it was, they had no doubt it was going to cause some damage.

  “I’m going to have X meet me at the Lucky Chance. Xavier’s in for a big surprise, and he’s not going to like it.”

  “How are you going to close the casino on short notice?” Keytone asked.

  She pulled out her cell phone. “With one phone call. I’ll have them put on the marquee CLOSED FOR RENOVATION. If anyone wants to gamble they can go over to the Special K.”

  Keytone held out his fist so Ramsey could dap his. “That’s my sister. She don’t play. It’s on now.”

  Ramsey laughed. “I’d have to agree with you, Keytone. Keilah is a dangerous woman in more ways than one.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  All four of the Chance brothers’ phones received a text message just like X instructed, but when he read them, his smile quickly turned into a frown. “What’s wrong, X?” Romeo asked.

  “I underestimated her,” he replied.

  “Who? Keilah Chance?”

  “Yes. She’s no ordinary woman for sure. She’s not coming to the warehouse tonight. She want me to meet her at the Lucky Chance, and she wants me to bring her brothers or there’s no meeting.”

  “Why?” Romeo asked.

  Xavier looked over at Romeo. “I’m sure she’s more comfortable meeting in a public place. Nah, she’s smooth. Her brothers raised her to be like them, and they did a damn good job.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Romeo asked.

  Frustrated he yelled, “What do you expect? I need her signature, and if I don’t get it, all of this is in vain.”

  “Now what?” Romeo asked.

  He hit the dashboard with his fist. “Take me back to the warehouse so I can have a little chat with the Chance brothers.”

  Romeo made a U-turn in the middle of the street and sped down the boulevard. “Are you going to let them go once you get Keilah’s signature?”

  X laughed. “I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with them yet. Maybe I should take them out to Runyon Canyon and put a bullet in their heads.”

  Romeo laughed out loud and gave Xavier a high five. “X, I have to give it to you. You and P.K. played this just right. They didn’t know what hit them. I think they’re still in shock.”

  Xavier lit a cigar and blew circles of smoke out of his mouth. He couldn’t help but smile to himself. “I’m not worried about meeting Keilah at the casino. It only seems right for things to end where it all started. Victory is just around the corner for us, and we’re going to be richer than our wildest dreams. I know my pops is l
ooking down on me, proud as hell. I had to do something to regain his honor. That Chance family has been a thorn in my side for years.”

  Romeo pulled down a dark street. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. I can’t wait for us to have boxing matches there. The money is going to roll in even faster.”

  “This is just the beginning, Romeo, just the beginning.”

  The Escalade came to a stop outside the warehouse. Romeo called Baby Dee on his cell and seconds later the warehouse door slid open. Romeo slowly drove the truck into the warehouse and parked. Xavier climbed out of the truck and looked at his watch.

  “OK, guys. Keilah has altered our plans a little and changed the location of our meeting over to the Lucky Chance. That gives us about five hours to get things ready. I need to call P.K. and let him know there’s been a change in plans. If I know Keilah like I think I do, she’s not going to come alone. No matter what, do not take her out until I get her to sign on the dotted line. After that, I don’t care what happens.”

  Baby Dee folded his arms and asked, “Can I have her?”

  Xavier started up the stairs but looked back and laughed. “What do you want her for?”

  Baby Dee followed close behind him. He smiled. “Have you looked at her? That chick is hot.”

  “I think you’re in love, Baby Dee,” Romeo added.

  “Maybe I am,” he joked along with them.

  The trio finally reached the third floor where the Chance brothers were being held. Xavier walked in and clapped his hands together. “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that this whole thing will be over shortly. The bad thing for you is that your beautiful sister has agreed to join our little party.”

  Luke looked at him angrily. “X, now you listen to me, and I want you to listen good. It’s obvious you and P.K. have done whatever it took to steal our casinos from us, but if you put even one finger on my sister, I will kill you.”

  X, Baby Dee, and Romeo all burst out laughing. X walked over to the caged area and said, “I’m sorry, Luke, but Baby Dee already has dibs on her. I wish I could help you out, but I can’t.”