FREDDY PRINCE | CH. 17
Chapter Seventeen
“Who was that?”
Skylar and Kalani were on the edge of their seats when Freddy got back to the table. His breathing was heavier, and his eyes showed signs of fury. He was pissed and wanted to hunt Shonnie down and make her pay for the damage she caused, and he was tired of playing it safe.
“Shonnie,” he said. “She called about Mom’s diary.”
Skylar looked at him with a million questions in her eyes. She didn’t know what her grandmother had stored in her diary, but knew it must have been important if someone else wanted it.
“Freddy, you need to meet with her,” Kalani said. “When your friend from the FBI gets here, let him take her in. Until then, you can meet with her and get her on record incriminating herself.”
“Yeah, and what about the deal I made with your father?”
Kalani went silent. She forgot all about the deal he made but wondered if the deal alone was enough to hold against him.
“This is all fucked up,” he sighed. “Either way it goes, my name will get dragged through the mud. My center won’t ever happen with this shit hanging over my head. I might as well get back on the block and start slanging.”
“No. We’ll figure this out,” Kalani said. “There has to be a way to clear your name.”
After dinner, Skylar went up to her room to be alone while Freddy and Kalani waited to hear from Lance again. Thoughts of putting a hit on Shonnie crossed his mind, but he feared it would’ve interfered with getting justice for his mom and sister. Naomi too.
It would’ve been easy for him to take Shonnie out. Her blood on his hands would’ve been the end of everything for him, though. He knew Kalani would’ve immediately known it was him, and he wasn’t sure if she would keep the secret, so he had no choice but to wait.
On the other side of the city, Shonnie, Mack, and Mayor Montgomery got together to get their plan in order. Montgomery knew once the cat got out of the bag, he would have a fight on his hands with Freddy. And he expected nothing less.
“Maybe you should come clean to him about being his dad,” he told Mack. “That might buy us some time or give him a change of heart about going to the police.”
“Wait,” Shonnie cut in. “What the fuck? You’re Freddy’s father?”
Mack lowered his head. He was ashamed of himself for holding that secret for so long and even more so for not being active in Freddy’s life.
“Well, I'll be damned,” she smirked. “There are too many secrets for me to keep up with.”
Mack gave her a chilling look. He’d always told Montgomery there would be a time when they needed to get rid of Shonnie and her trifling ways, and to him, that time seemed to have gotten closer even before Elm’s diary was found.
“If he has the diary, I’m sure he already knows everything,” Mack said.
“Yeah, you're right.” Shonnie agreed. “If Kalani’s with him, I'm sure she made sure he read it. Even if she isn’t, I’m sure he still read it.”
They sat silently in Montgomery’s office trying to think their way out of the mess they made. The more Montgomery thought about how his life turned to shit after he started his affair with Shonnie, the more he wanted her gone. She was the reason his wife was dead, and she was the reason his hands were dirty because of it. He blamed her for everything. Even Elm’s death.
“So, the diary’s pointless,” she said. “Now what?”
“You need to go talk to him.”
Mack spoke to Shonnie, but his eyes stayed on Montgomery; a tactic formed between them while they were on active duty. It was a way to let each other know there was a plan being cooked up without the third party knowing.
“He more than likely trusts you more than he does us,” he said, looking at Shonnie. “I say you get him to meet you for the diary, but let him do all the talking. I’m sure he has questions about all of this. You get him comfortable asking questions, and that’ll give me and Corbin time to make our move.”
“And what move is that?” Shonnie asked.
“It’s no secret Freddy has to be silenced for good,” Montgomery said, but looked at Mack. “It doesn't need to be spelled out.”
Shonnie grinned at the idea of Freddy being the next to go, but she wanted Kalani gone as well. She figured if she had to lose out on something, so did Montgomery.
“And what about Kalani?” she asked.
“What about her?” Montgomery jumped to his feet and nearly lost his cool.
“She’s just as much of a problem as he is,” she said. “If he’s gone, don’t you think she’ll talk?”
Mack stood up and patted Montgomery’s shoulder to calm him down. In his mind, he knew the plan was to kill Shonnie instead, so her request to kill Kalani was null and void.
“She’s right.”
With only his eyes, Mack assured Montgomery that Kalani would be fine.
“They’re both a liability. It’s clear to see Kalani has feelings for him, so she’ll likely go to the police with what she knows once Freddy’s dead.”
Montgomery stared at Mack for a moment, wondering what else he had up his sleeve. He knew they could’ve killed Shonnie right there in his office and no one would’ve ever heard a word about it. Then again, he thought about what Shonnie might’ve had up her own sleeve. They also had to get rid of the diary before anyone else read it, so Mack’s plan seemed legit.
“Fine,” Montgomery said, still reluctant. “Make the call then.”
When he stormed out of his office, Mack handed Shonnie a phone with Kalani’s number already dialed, then followed Montgomery out the door. They had their plan set for Shonnie, but the time had come for Mack to make a call of his own.
He spent years being a loyal comrade to Montgomery, and it cost him everything he loved. So, it was time for him to pay it forward.
***
Lance showed up at Freddy’s doorstep the following morning ready to get straight down to business. He had all of his reports and research in hand and wanted to see if everything in Elm’s diary matched up. It did.
Every conspiracy he thought of, her diary confirmed. Every illegal activity he thought Montgomery was involved in and had help to cover up got confirmed. The only thing left for him to do was get Montgomery on tape admitting it all.
“You want me to wear a wire?” Freddy chuckled. “What kind of nigga you think I am? Do you know how much damage that could do to my credibility with the community? You know what kind of work I do, come on, Lance. The streets won’t trust me no more if I do that shit.”
“You care more about the streets or getting justice for your family?”
Lance’s question sounded harsh, but it was the way he had to move to get Freddy to understand there was no middle ground. Unless he wanted to take care of Montgomery and his duo on his own.
“Freddy,” Kalani said, “he’s right. There’s no room to worry about your street cred right now. Do what’s right for your mother and your sister. Not only do they deserve justice, but Skylar does too. What’ll happen to her if you don’t take care of this now?”
Freddy paced the floor of his living room, weighing his options. He thought about handing out street justice, but then he thought about Mack and Montgomery being trained killers and factored in the risk of going after them.
If they killed him instead of the other way around, that would’ve left Skylar alone with her father. Something Freddy didn’t want to happen at all.
“Fuck.” He cursed. “I don’t even wanna see this bitch. I might strangle her ass as soon as she opens her mouth.”
Lance chuckled and made him take a seat on the couch. He was the first person to tell Freddy that Shonnie was no good. She got to where she was by sleeping with men and playing them out of their marriages. That was her MO for years; he warned Freddy.
“Beat her at her own game, my friend,” Lance said. “She'll be expecting you to retaliate with violence. It’s time to do something different now. Make her lie awake in the bed she made.”
Kalani’s phone rang in the middle of their conversation. It surprised her to see Mack’s name on her screen. She figured he called on behalf of her father, but was even more surprised to hear Shonnie’s voice on the line.
“Where's Freddy?”
“Well, hello to you too, Shonnie.”
Lance and Freddy’s eyes shot in her direction.
“Skip the small talk. I called to talk to Freddy.”
Without another word, Kalani handed her phone off and waited to see what ensued. She was sure Shonnie had gotten lured into a plan by her father and Mack but was too stupid to realize it.
When Freddy took the phone, it was hard for him to contain himself. But for the sake of getting justice for his family, he bit the bullet.
“Yeah?”
“We need to meet,” Shonnie said. “I won’t sit here and try to play nice or act like nothing happened, but I need the diary. Montgomery’s willing to shred the NDA and assure you of immunity if you hand over the diary.”
“You think I'm stupid?” Freddy laughed. “How do I know you’re not trying to get me somewhere and have me killed?”
“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead already.”
It was a stretch, but Shonnie said whatever she had to do to get the deed done.
“Let’s not drag this out any longer than it needs to be,” she said. “You have something we want, and we have something you want. Besides, you being dead would ring a lot of bells that we don't need to ring in Virginia.”
She was right. The community ties Freddy had were unwavering. He knew the minute he went ghost, there would be an outrage no one could escape from. That was the only reason he agreed to meet her.
“Where do we meet?”
“The old boathouse we used to go to. You know where it is. I’ll be there by midnight.”
When she hung up, Freddy felt disgusted. He thought about all the times he met her there for sex and wished he could erase it from his memory. It was all good at the time, but after Shonnie showed him the fangs she would sink into just about anyone to get ahead, it made him sick.
“Good,” Lance said. “Wherever that boathouse is, I’ll follow you there with a team. As soon as we hear what we need to hear, we’ll make a move and bring her in. Hopefully, Mack and Montgomery aren’t too far behind so we can bring them in too.”
“I’m sure they will be,” Kalani said. “I’ll stay here with Skylar in case anything happens.”
Freddy had never worn a wire before, nor did he ever think he would have to. The entire ride to the boathouse, he told himself wearing the wire was for a good cause. The same way he told himself to stay quiet about the night Naomi’s body got dumped.
He shamed himself again, however. When he told himself not speaking out was for a good cause, more and more people ended up dead. He thought that if he had said something instead of taking Montgomery’s money, he wouldn’t have been in the mess he was in. His mom would’ve still been alive, and so would Fantasia.
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