Smooth Operator Read Free Page B

spending on me. Besides, I got savings.” Jessi pulled out a wad
of bills and came around the counter.
    “Don’t worry about…” Charmaine shook her
head.
    Jessi grabbed Charmaine’s purse off the
coffee table and carefully stuffed the money into a pocket. She
snapped it shut. “Don’t flash that around.”
    “Jessi, I don’t need your money,” Charmaine
said.
    “Quit lyin’, Char. How’d you know so quick
about me being arrested anyway? I told Diamond not to call you.”
Jessi glanced at her friend.
    “Wasn’t me,” Diamond said quickly.
    “Never mind. Just be extra careful for the
next few days, okay?” Charmaine said. “You, too, Diamond.”
    Jessi gazed at Charmaine for several
seconds. “What’s going on?”
    Jessi had psychic ability like Charmaine.
She heard voices. It started when she was seven. Diagnosed as
schizophrenic, Jessi had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals
most of her childhood. Charmaine finally figured out that Jessi
could hear the dead. Those who were unsettled wanted to tell their
stories. One more reason Jessi started smoking pot and doing drugs
when she was thirteen, to make the voices go away. The sisters were
more than close. At times they could sense, see and hear one
another no matter the distance. But the connection wasn’t
consistent, more like a spotty cell phone signal. Silence stretched
between them.
    “ I’ll tell you later. I
promise. You don’t need to know right now,” Charmaine replied
finally.
     
    You be careful,” Jessi said and walked close
to Charmaine. Her voice shook as she crossed her arms tightly
against her slender body.
    “Scotty is helping me,” Charmaine said.
    Diamond got up and stood between them, her
arms on both their shoulders. The three women exchanged hugs.
     
    ****
     
    Five days later Keisha sat in the same chair
in Charmaine’s home office. But unlike the last time she wasn’t
alone. Lorenzo sat next to her. His gaze darted around every few
minutes to check his surroundings. Keisha had changed her look. The
bright red hair was now a more subdued auburn color. Her rust
colored designer sleeveless dress complimented her new hair color
and skin. Lorenzo wore a light gray knit cotton shirt tucked into a
pair of navy blue slacks. His well shined leather loafers had to be
worth at least two hundred dollars. Charmaine was wondering if
Keisha had paid for them when he cleared his throat as if to get
her attention. Charmaine had allowed Keisha to do most of the
talking for the last ten minutes.
    “So you’ve had a chance to check out what I
told you. Congrats on getting your sister out of jail. But she’ll
be back in if you don’t cooperate,” Keisha said in a crisp,
business-like tone.
    Charmaine smiled at Lorenzo, and he grinned
back. “I’m a little distracted, with everything going on you
understand.”
    “You’ve had a busy week,” Lorenzo murmured
with a smug expression.
    “Hmm, yes. Action packed,” Charmaine
replied.
    Keisha glanced at Lorenzo sharply and then
back to Charmaine. “Time to quit messing around. My husband likes
to play poker with his old pals at this seedy dump of a night club
once a week. Make it look like he got caught up in a drive-by, an
innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe a
street robbery. That’s it. He was mugged a couple of years ago and
he fought back. This time he’s going to lose that fight. Yeah, I
like that better. That’s going to be very believable.”
    “Clever plan. Except I’m not going to do
it,” Charmaine said.
    “You will,” Keisha shot back.
    Lorenzo sat forward and stared at Charmaine.
“Four years ago Diamond’s abusive boyfriend disappeared. He’d
broken her oldest kid’s arm, and beat him senseless. The kid is
still a cripple. The guy only got a couple of years in jail for it.
Diamond lost custody of the kid.”
    “We know where he is, and he ain’t
breathin’,” Keisha snapped. “And here’s something even more
interesting.