FREDDY PRINCE | CH. 18
Chapter Eighteen
Lance and his team stayed a mile away from the boathouse. He didn’t want to draw any attention, in case Montgomery and Mack trailed behind Shonnie looking for anything suspicious.
Freddy was nervous when he got there. He didn’t know why because he’d been in far more dangerous situations, but Shonnie was sneaky. She had some powerful people on her side too.
“When you get in there, just act normal. Don’t let on to the wire and try to speak clearly so we can hear everything.”
Lance gave Freddy a call before he got out of his car to go inside. He made sure to let him know there was no one on their way there, but to hurry the confession along just in case, because he didn’t trust Shonnie. Not even a little. They had their run-ins in the past, and from then on, he always kept his eyes open around her.
“Alright,” Freddy said. “I’m heading in now. If you see anything, give me a heads up so I can get the fuck out of here. I gotta stay alive for my niece.”
“No worries. I got you. Once you’re in, we’ll move closer so we can keep an eye on you.”
The clock started ticking the minute Freddy stepped from his car. Shonnie met him at the door to let him in, and when she did, she felt an instant feeling of regret.
“You here alone?” she asked.
“Do you see anyone else?”
His tone was very condescending, and his patience with her was very thin. It took everything he had not to kill her right then and there. It would've been easy to take her out; he didn’t see anyone else with her, nor did she have a weapon drawn. The kill would’ve been a piece of cake.
She looked him up and down before letting him all the way in. For some reason, she felt a chill in the air coming from everywhere but Freddy. Something in her gut said the moment wasn’t right; there was something else going on. Something far more sinister than her just getting the diary from him and going on about her life.
“It’s been a long time since I've been here,” Freddy said. “This shit getting more run-down by the minute. What made you choose here?”
“I don’t know,” she sighed and stepped aside. “It’s peaceful out here.”
“Peaceful?” he scoffed. “You’re the last person who should be talking about peace.”
“You’re no prince charming either, my dear.”
Shonnie’s clap-back was honest. Freddy was far from innocent, but he wasn’t as scandalous as Shonnie and the mayor. His dirty hands came from selling drugs and outing illegal activity in politics, not killing innocent women who were only trying to make a difference.
“You know,” Shonnie said. “I never wanted to hurt anyone. It’s like, once you climb to a certain degree, life takes a weird turn. You find yourself doing things you said you’d never do. Rubbing elbows with people you said you never would.”
“You had a chance to rub elbows with the right people. You chose this life, so save the bullshit for someone who gives a fuck. Tell me what’s up with Montgomery and this NDA? How do I get my name cleared and move on from this shit? And make no mistake, the only reason you’re not dead right now is because I have to be here for my niece.”
Shonnie chuckled a little and lowered her head. She felt bad for Skylar. She felt bad for a lot of the things she did, but there was no turning back for her. The love she had for her man turned her cold and ruthless.
“We could have avoided all of this, Freddy. Why didn’t you just go public about what you saw?”
“Even if I did, my mama knew about this shit. Y'all killed her before I even had a chance to say anything. Shit, y’all killed Naomi for what?”
“That was all Shonnie’s doing.”
Mayor Montgomery’s voice was heard loud and clear, approaching from the rear of the boathouse. Shonnie didn’t even know he was there. The plan between him and Mack was to get Shonnie to the boathouse, let her get the diary, and then kill her so she wouldn’t be able to cause any more problems. It was a genius plan she didn’t see coming.
“What the fuck?”
Freddy reached for his gun, but Montgomery was quick and already had his finger on his trigger.
“Easy, son. I’m not here for you.”
“Corbin.” Shonnie looked terrified. “What the fuck is this? What are you doing here?”
“This is it, Shonnie. You’ve caused enough trouble for me in my life. You blackmailed me and killed my wife, the only woman I've ever truly loved. You got too reckless, and now it’s time to put this to bed.”
Tears brewed in her eyes as she pleaded for Montgomery to spare her. She looked around for Mack, hoping he would be there to talk some sense into him, but Mack was nowhere in sight. At least, not for her sake.
“Corbin, please. You don’t have to do this. What about all the plans we made? Everything we talked about? Please, we can fix this.”
“No,” he shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”
Before Freddy blinked his eyes again, Montgomery fired a round that landed straight between Shonnie’s eyes. Her body went limp and fell backwards onto the floor, and Montgomery turned his pistol on Freddy.
“Hand over that book, young man.”
Freddy stood in silence. He was in shock, staring at Shonnie’s lifeless body. It hurt him to know they had a relationship at one point; they were friends and colleagues. She’d met his family and even had dinner with them. But in the end, she was just another meaningless soul who had met her maker.
“Young man,” Montgomery said again, holding out his free hand. “The diary.”
“You gonna kill me too?” Freddy asked.
“If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead already. Now, where is it? I don’t have all day.”
Slowly, Freddy went into his waistband to retrieve the diary. As he did so, Mack finally entered from the shadows of the boathouse. Montgomery didn’t know, but Mack had a plan of his own. He put his brotherhood with Montgomery on ice and decided it was time to right his wrongs. He owed it to Elm. But most of all, he owed it to his son.
“Corbin, drop the gun.”
Both Freddy and Montgomery's eyes shot toward Mack’s voice. He was walking calmly toward them with a pistol pointed directly at his friend. His heart pounded with anticipation because he knew how sharp Montgomery was with a firearm, but he was ready.
“Mack?” Montgomery looked confused. “What’s this?”
“This is the end of the road, brother. I need you to put down the gun.”
The two men stared at each other, both with their guns aimed. Mack continued walking forward, while Montgomery stood in place, lost about what was happening.
“Things have gone too far, Corbin. Things went too far with Naomi and way too far with Elm. I’ve had your back all this time, but I’ve never forgiven you for what you took from me.”
“Elm?” Montgomery frowned. “You made that choice on your own. I didn’t hold a gun to your head.”
“I made that choice to save you!” Mack shouted. “Stupid me! I gave up everything I loved for you. My family. The love of my life. She was gonna go to the cops about Shonnie killing your wife and me helping you hide the body, and I killed her to save you.”
Freddy felt lost and confused for a moment but realized what Mack was doing. He was confessing. Not only for his crimes but also to his son for not being present in his life. He wanted Freddy to know where he stood as a father and why he wasn’t involved in his life. It was a cop-out in Freddy’s eyes. One he didn’t respect or care to hear.
“Mack,” Montgomery said. “Put the gun down, brother. We can talk about this. How come you never told me how you were feeling? When you told me about Elm, I knew that would be hard on you. I knew how much you loved her. You could’ve made your own choice with that.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Mack shouted again and aimed his gun higher. “Don’t speak her name. You don’t deserve to.”
“Mack, alright. Just calm down. Let’s talk about this. We've been brothers for years.”
Anger and rage burned in Mack’s eyes. He didn’t want to kill his brother but knew it was his only way to freedom. Freedom from the agony and guilt he felt for turning his back on his family. Freedom from all the murders and cover-ups he’d done. He made peace with it all moments before he entered the boathouse, and after he pulled the trigger on Montgomery, he turned the gun on himself.
“Freddy!” Lance shouted as he burst through the doors of the boathouse. “Freddy! Where you at!?”
He and his team cleared the boathouse with their guns drawn and lights flashing. When he finally laid eyes on Freddy, he was standing near three dead bodies, trying to make sense of it all. None of it made sense to Lance through the wire, but when he saw it live and in the flesh, everything pulled itself together.
“You alright?” he asked Freddy. “What the fuck happened in here?”
Freddy shook his head. It was hard to say what happened, even though he was front and center for it all. Things felt too surreal to explain.
“You alright?” Lance asked again while he checked Freddy for any signs of injury. “Look at me, you good?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. This shit is just crazy. They kind of killed each other. Shonnie was the first to go.”
“We got it all on tape.”
Lance pulled Freddy away from the crowd to talk in private. He wanted to get a clear standing on what Freddy had to say when it came time to give his statement, so that his name wouldn’t be mixed up in anything.
As his friend, he took care of the NDA he signed with Montgomery. There were no traces of any copies found or anything stored on Montgomery’s computers. He made sure of it when he paid a few knuckleheads to ramshackle Montgomery’s office and his home.
“If anybody asks, you don’t know shit about what you saw that night. I took care of everything. Your girl even gave me access to her dad’s house. Your name won’t come up on shit, alright?”
Freddy looked at Lance through compassionate eyes. He didn’t know how Lance did it, but he didn’t question him. Being rewarded with a clean slate only added to the justice he got from the demise of the Montgomery clan.
“Thank you,” Freddy nodded. “Thank you.”
“No doubt. Now let’s get you back to your niece so we can clean this shit up. You got a legacy to continue.”
Leaving the boathouse felt like an accomplishment for Freddy. His mother’s legacy was one he planned to continue and take even further than it already was. It felt great to know his reputation was safe from slander, and that he had a great friend in his corner. A great woman too.
Though he and Kalani hadn’t established an official relationship, she had his back more than any woman he ever gave the time of day. That meant a lot to him. More than she knew.
She was waiting for him when he made it home that evening. She and Skylar. When she laid eyes on him and saw that he made it back in one piece, she rushed to him and pulled him in for a long hug and a loving kiss.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m good.”
He held onto her, savoring the feeling of her touch and the comfort of her words. For a long time, Freddy thought he would never come across a woman who made him feel the way Kalani did. A woman who had his back the way she did. But, most of all, a woman who cared for his family the same way he did.
Kalani was someone special in his life, and he was someone special in hers. Together, they changed a lot of lives and upheld their mother’s legacy.
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