The two goons were silent as they watched in amazement like spectators as she put her game down like it was a sport. Harlo respected it and found it extremely sexy, but Jordan, on the other hand, feared Aries because he knew that he had gotten in over his head.
“Macy Sigel, you're going to tell me what I want to know, or we can do this all day,” she threatened.
Macy couldn't believe how callous the woman before him was. Blood dripped from his hand as he bit down on his inner jaw to keep from crying out in pain.
The two of them locked eyesâa war of the worlds, of egos, of reputations. Aries had done her homework, and she knew that Macy was a wolf in sheep's clothing. The fancy suits didn't fool her. He was just like her. They were from the same world, and she knew what he was capable of. The shoe could have easily been on the other foot under different circumstances. Macy's power knew no limits on the streets or with the law, and Aries knew that she would have to be careful with this job. As long as she kept the upper hand, things would go smoothly.
“Where's the money?” Aries asked.
“Money?” he replied as he scoffed in exasperation. He shook his head from side to side. “That's what this is all about. I have plenty money, sweetheart. I run this city. I'm a very wealthy man. This can be solved before this gets out of hand. Why don't you untie me and let's handle this in a more civilized way.” Macy's voice was calm and convincing, despite the blinding pain that shot through his hand and arm.
Had Aries been anyone else, the words that Macy spoke would have been appealing, but he only angered her. “Don't patronize me, Mr. Mayor,” she said as she jammed the tip of her gun into the hole in his hand, causing his wound to bleed profusely.
He bit down into his lip as his nostrils flared. “Aghh!” he shouted.
“You can't get in my head, but I know a million and one ways to get inside of yours,” Aries said as she whispered in his ear.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked. “I told you I can get you some paper. Who are you working for?” Macy asked, breathing hard.
Aries smirked as she pulled up a chair and sat across from Macy. She crossed her legs and said, “Men like you are so funny. Look at you. You're tied to a chair, bleeding, sitting in front of someone who can end your life at any minute, and the first thing you want to know is who sent me? You've crossed that many people that you don't even know who your enemies are.” She pulled out her cell phone and placed a call.
Case answered on the first ring. He had been waiting anxiously to hear from her, but before he could say too much over the phone, she spoke.
“I've got him,” she stated and then hung up.
Macy was silent, but he listened closely as she spoke. He knew that in his situation, talking would get him dead fast. The less information he gave up, the more time he bought himself.
Aries was more gangster than most men he knew. It was obvious that this wasn't her first rodeo. The fact that she was so comfortable pulling a trigger told Macy that he was in trouble. Under any other circumstance he would have recruited her to work for him, because he knew that it was wise to keep people like her close to avoid being a target of hers later.
He racked his brain trying to figure out who was behind this little fiasco, but he came up with nothing. Macy ran Aries' face through his mental Rolodex, desperate to place her face with a name, but he knew that he didn't know her. Not many people would forget a face like hers.
Macy didn't give a damn what she did. He realized that things were beyond repair now. There was no way that he would make it out of this situation alive. He wasn't for the head games. He was too stubborn to allow Aries to manipulate him into telling her anything. If she thought that he was going to make it easy on her, she was mistaken.
Aries left the basement and hours passed as day turned to night. He could no longer feel his arm. Time betrayed him as every minute felt like torture. He heard the basement door open and watched as Aries descended the stairs. A tall figure came down behind her, and when Macy laid eyes on Case, he gritted his teeth in anger. As soon as he saw Case's face, everything became so clear. He should have known that there was only one man in the city who had enough gumption to go after the mayor. Case didn't live by anyone's rules except his own, and he didn't fear the repercussions that came along with snatching Macy. If the kidnapping got out, then every badge in the city would be looking for him, but Case didn't care. He didn't fear Macy or the law.
“Long time no see,” Case stated calmly as he sat down in the chair across from Macy and puffed the Cuban cigar that he held in his hand.
Everything made sense to Macy now, and reality hit him like a ton of bricks. Case had always held animosity toward Macy. He should have known that eventually things would go sour between them. They had made good money together back in the day, but their mutual love for the same woman had torn their business relationship apart. As Macy stared at Case with malice, the tension could be felt throughout the room.
“I should have known,” Macy stated. “It's just like you to have a bitch do your dirty work for you.”
Case smugly blew cigar smoke in Macy's face before putting it out directly on Macy's cheek.
“Hmmm! Hmmm!” Macy screamed through clenched jaws as the cigar seared his skin.
“I think you have something that belongs to me,” Case said.
Macy chuckled as he shook his head from side to side. “Still the same old Case. You've always been a lazy-ass nigga looking for a handout. I don't owe you shit.”
“No?” Case asked. He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and removed a tiny black book. Inside were handwritten records, a ledger that could put Macy behind bars if it ever got into the wrong hands. Any time a money transaction had gone down between the old friends, Case had kept track. “You sitting up high on that mayor's throne, but you forgot who helped you get there. Before this city even knew your name I was backing you. You built your entire campaign off of dirty money and then you turned your back on me ... on the streets that raised you.”
“I grew up; I didn't forget shit. The community that I came up in is the same one that I'm putting state dollars back into,” Macy defended.
“Nah, I'm not talking about no programs, Macy. I'm talking about looking out for the li'l niggas you had posted on the block hustling up your campaign dollars. I'm talking about all of the endorsements, all of the cash payments I put up to have other public officials stand behind you. You didn't have shit but a degree. I put up so much money that I should have been your running mate.
“You was supposed to keep the streets clear for me. Pull the police off of my ass when things got hot. But what do you do? You become the city's savior and change your entire platform as soon as you're elected. This save-the-streets bullshit you created is making me lose money, and I don't take L's. You broke our agreement, and now I've come to collect my paper.” Case dangled the ledger in front of Macy's face arrogantly.
“According to this, you owe me seven hundred and twenty thousand dollars.”
Macy frowned when he heard the amount. “Fuck is wrong with you? You doing all of this for chump change? All you had to do was come to me like a man and we could have settled this.”
Case scoffed at Macy's cockiness. “Nah, I don't want that bank money. I want what I gave to you. It's too easy for you to pull that mayor money out of an account. I want the same dirty money that you built your career off of, and you've got forty-eight hours to come up with it or Fatima is going to be a widow.”
Case's demands made no sense to Macy, but he wasn't in a position to ask questions. He knew exactly what money Macy was talking about. All of the street money that Macy had stacked had been put up for a rainy day. Getting Case the type of money he wanted wouldn't be easy.
Irony mocked Macy because the money that he had killed Boomer over was the same money that Case was going to kill him over. Macy knew that there was no way to get Case the type of money that he wanted. After Boomer's fiasco, all Macy had were legitimate funds. In addition to having a nice-sized bank account, he had access to countless funds through the city's treasury. He could easily take a little bit from each of the city's expense accounts, but that wasn't what Case wanted. He wanted dirty money, and it was the one thing that Macy could not get. His block-hugging and illegal en-terpriseârunning days were over. Macy had too much to lose to even allow the allure of the streets to call him back, but Case was forcing his hand. If he didn't come up with the money, Case was going to make good on his threat.
Case kept a stone face but smiled inside as he watched the wheels turning in Macy's head. He had known him long enough to notice the stress lines appear in his forehead. Their friendship had never truly been genuine, even from the beginning. It was more like a competition, and Macy had been winning for too long. Case had just turned the tables and tipped the odds in his favor.
“I want my money,” Case stated as he pulled out a burnout cell phone that he had purchased from a random store. “I think you need to make a couple phone calls. You keep this shit out of the press. If it gets out, you're dead.”
He nodded at Harlo. “Untie one of the nigga hands,” Case instructed.
He then looked at Macy seriously. “You try anything cute and I'm going to blow your muthafuckin' brains out,” he said.
Macy reluctantly snatched the phone and put in a call to Big E. Macy nervously counted the rings as he thought that the voice mail was going to pick up. Finally he heard his right-hand man answer the line.
“Hello?”
“Edris, it's me,” Macy stated.
“Where you been, fam? Shit's been on the news about you playing hooky all day. I've been blowing you upâ”
“Listen, E, and listen close. It's important,” Macy stated, cutting his man off. “I need you to find that paper that Boomer lost. It's important.”
“Is everything a'ight, fam? You don't sound too good,” Edris stated suspiciously.
“I'm in a sticky situation, fam. I'm not going to lie to you. I need that dough. If you don't come through on that, things are going to go real bad for me. You understand?” Macy asked.
The line went silent as Edris interpreted Macy's words. “What's going on?” he asked, feeling that something wasn't right.
“I just need that, Big E. In forty-eight hours I need you to have that paper for me. I need seven hundred twenty thousand in two days. It can't come from the bank. I'm going to be tied up until you get that for me,” Macy stated, hoping that Edris was catching the subtle clues that Macy was giving him. “Do not let the press get wind of anything negative, and find Tima. Let her know that I love her and that I never meant to hurt her, E.”
“Sounds like you're giving me your last words to your wife,” Edris stated, finally realizing what was happening. “You can tell her that yourself once I come up with this dough. I got you, fam.”
“Call me back at this number when you get it together, and when you come to deliver it, don't come alone,” Macy said.
Case snatched the phone and hung it up abruptly; then in one swift movement, he pulled a pistol and struck Macy across the face with it. His head snapped violently to the right as his lip busted on impact. Macy took the blow and slowly pulled his head upright as he calmly spit the blood from his mouth.
“I told you not to get cute,” Case stated. He was showing Macy no mercy. “You've got two days to get me my money, and don't worry about your wife. I'll let Fatima know you love her,” Case stated slyly. “I'll whisper it in her ear when I slide my dick up in her tonight.”
Hearing those words set Macy off as he lunged for Case, injured and all. The chair toppled over, and Case laughed loudly and obnoxiously.
Case walked over to Macy and kicked him in the stomach then gathered himself, dusting the wrinkles out of his designer suit. He exhaled loudly as he turned to Aries.
“Don't let this nigga out of your sight. I want somebody on him at all times,” Case stated. “I'll let you know when it's time to put in that work.”
Aries had been sitting back watching the entire thing. “Once this is over, you and I are even. I won't owe you a damn thing. Are we clear?” she stated with authority.
Case stepped closer to Aries, completely attracted by her femininity and intrigued by her gangster all at the same time. “If you had the right man in your life, you wouldn't even be in this position right now,” he said, throwing out bait to see where her head was.
She scoffed and raised an arched eyebrow. “Don't even. You'll just embarrass yourself,” she advised. Aries hated Case, and under any other circumstances she would have loved to make him her target, but he had her between a rock and a hard place. She was indebted to him; therefore, he had the upper hand, and that fact was common knowledge between them.