Provoked****Chapter Twenty-Nine

I decided not to disclose the fact that I knew any details pertaining to who shot Christy. I watched Veronica's chauffeur's car drive through the gate and turn left toward the expressway. She laid on the floor, her feet still out on the balcony holding me by my ankle, her grip let me know she had some fight left. The blood soaked the blouse, I tried to help her with one hand. I raised the blouse and saw the bullets in her lower back it looked like someone tried to shoot her in the ass. I panicked immediately and called 911, not knowing whether to leave her face down or not. "My baby," was all she kept saying. Ryella cried to to the top of her lungs, while I checked for exit wounds. I prayed a bullet wasn't in the baby, if not both of them.

I begged her to stay conscious, she'd lost a lot of blood. I was throwing up, the sight of the blood sickened me, it was all over my cast, hands, phone and clothes. I couldn't tend to my screaming daughter and tried to calm Christy as much as possible. Bystanders had come to assist, we were two helpless pregnant women and I was experiencing more stress, I begged her to just hold on. It's true, u live by the gun, u die by the gun it seemed. Her mother named her Karma for a reason.

If she made it or not, it was now war---Tobias loved her and would likely kill for her if he hadn't already. It was about to go down, he was passive but sneaky.

The paramedics arrived, I could tell she was losing consciousness, she'd said she couldn't feel her legs. I feared the worse, I hadn't known if the bullet was lodged in her spine. They rushed her to Methodist Hospital where she underwent surgery, one bullet barely missed her spine, and hit the bottom lobe of her left lung. The other was lodged in her placenta but it had not detached. It was a 50/50 chance for her unborn child, it depended on how much amniotic fluid she still had as well as whether or not they could successfully remove the bullet without causing further injury. I prayed and could not visit her. Twan was so pissed when he arrived shortly after the Paramedics and police left, "Why did u even call her?"

Was it my fucking fault? As we packed we argued, "I'm so tired of relocating," he said. So was I. The smell of her blood filled the room, it made me nauseous again, I continued to puke as he talked shit. The police had wanted me to come to the station, I contemplated. I'd told them once, I didn't see shit.

I'd remembered the gray Audi A8 from the day I met Christy in the hospital lobby, it was a piece of the puzzle she was missing. I needed to figure it all out. Had it not been Lamont, but Veronica's hitman? I kept Christy's phone. First Tobias called, then I went to Lamont's saved contact and dialed his number but didn't get an answer.

"What's up?" I texted. A few minutes passed, then her phone chimed. I could tell by the misspelled words he was sloppy drunk, I decided to facetime. He accepted, I hung up. I could see Christy's piano in the background. He was home hours away. Something wasn't adding up and I needed to figure it all out.

I'd sat at Veronica's house one night while Christy sneaked inside after watching Lamont leave. I was almost certain Veronica had nothing to do with the shooting, even though I could not find an obituary.

Where was she? Where was her body?

Veronica had been drunk, she would turn into someone else Christy had once said, someone Lamont had no clue about. She'd entered her room with the syringe in her hair, and Veronica opened her eyes in a drunken blur and reached for her and called out her name. She could tell she was naked through the canopy drapes. She seductively embraced her and they had sex before she injected her behind the ear. I was willing to bet her body was still in the home, and Lamont had known or Christy knew where it was. They both wanted her money and she had completely taken all Lamonts access away, he wasn't even on her will anymore and she only had one child...so I thought. Christy said Sabrina could pass for Veronica, we would empty her accounts, that was before she met Tobias. She had all of her personal effects such as Driver's License, Social Security Card etc. and was going to definitely clean her out. Christy was a calculating bitch and u can't rob a dead bitch, wouldn't the bank know if she was dead?

Almost three weeks passed, I hadn't heard from Christy, Tobias and Twan had stopped talking. He finally called Twan one day and said she was handcuffed, the bondsman had got off her bond, she'd missed court while in the Hospital and because she was in Texas she was a flight risk. She'd also lost the baby. Her bond amount had doubled. How had they even known to look for her in Texas? Had Twan told them, he would have had to know about the court date. Or was it Lamont? I needed to find out who drove that car. Lamont called nonstop after I hung up, he'd sent some disturbing texts about killing her parents if she didn't respond I hadn't known what to think of it all but they were coming at Christy from all angles. I didn't know if I could trust Sabrina or not still, it seemed she was more intimidated by Christy than she was me. She just hadn't known I would be the bitch to slice her fucking throat, it was me she should have been worried about, I didn't have any ill intent, I just hoped for a healthy pregnancy. I began to do my research. I needed to know how Veronica moved and if Sabrina reneged I would just have to clean her accounts myself. Christy had someone programmed in her phone as "ID Man". I found out the number belonged to Von's cousin, she had fucked him too. I text need identification. He texted back 500 dollars and some pussy.

I texted Sabrina and waited for a reply. After 30 minutes passed, I called. I could hear Redd in the background so I hesitated when she answered, and hung up. She knew what it meant and called back after about 5 minutes. Christy needed us, all I knew to do was call her lawyer. He said he had shown up at court on her behalf, had the bondsman known? The lawyer was who had liquidated her assets in order for her to bond out the first time, including her parents home. I wondered about them, Christy was their backbone, she'd married Lamont to take care of them. Things had taken a turn for the worse. I needed to visit her, but knew Twan would act a damn fool. I would go back to Keithville and meet Sabrina, we would pull off the scheme and I would return to Texas. From there we would go to Florida and live, Twan and I, and the kids. That was my plan. I didn't even know if I was doing it genuinely to help Christy, or help myself. Either way, I knew Lamont was in dire need of some millions just like we were.

Christy had no longer had access to Lamont's joint account with Veronica, a separate account with 3 million, how bad had he wanted the money I wondered. He didn't even have access to it anymore, his home would soon be foreclosed on, as the letter had stated. I knew Twan would be angry as fuck but I went back to the hotel, got in Christy's dirty ass car and drove to Keithville. I ignored every call, every text. I could not find her body but she was definitely in the home somewhere dead. Perhaps Christy had killed her and left her to be found, someone else had moved the body afterward. Where was her phone! I needed her phone. The bank needed to send a code to the number on file in order to give me a temporary password, I only needed the number and not the phone. I had enough of her information to get a device in her name. After not finding a bill, or being able to get into the computer I called Lamont. I knew I could seduce him, he would give it to me, or I would take his phone. Simple. I had expected him to be drunk and disheveled as he was. He was overly aggressive and wasn't for the chill for a bit gist. He hadn't even cared if I was pregnant, he was full of rage and wanted to hold me responsible for everything Christy had done. As soon as I entered the unkempt home he raped me, and continued until I killed him. But I then had her phone number.