The Demise Read Free

they were always under a microscope. The elevator descended to a stop at the fifth floor, and Monroe clenched his jaw. I just want to get out of this mu’fucka, he thought, anxiety filling him. When the doors opened, his back stiffened as he stared into the eyes of two men. He knew right away they were Baraka-affiliated. It wasn’t their black hair or their olive skin that gave them away. It wasn’t even the traditional Middle Eastern cloaks they wore, but the look of vengeance in their eyes.
    â€œMoney, this is our floor,” Carter said weakly, instantly recognizing the threat as well.
    â€œNot quite, we’re almost there,” Monroe stated, refusing to get off the elevator. He knew the men couldn’t pop off with the two officers around. The safest place to be was wherever those officers were … or so he thought. The Arab men stepped inside, stone-faced, and as soon as the doors closed …
    PSST! PSST!
    Two silenced shots floored the officers before Monroe even had a chance to draw his pistol. Moments of life flashed before Monroe’s eyes as he stared down the dark barrels of the gun. This was it. After reigning over Miami, transitioning to Vegas, prison, evading the law, surviving a coma … this was how it was going to end. The day of reckoning had arrived. He placed a firm hand on Carter’s shoulder, who sat stoically. They weren’t the type of men to beg … to fear.… They had lived their lives a certain way … followed the rules to a gangster’s code. Now they had to die according to it, and even in the face of the devil, gangsters didn’t fold. Monroe could feel his heart beating rapidly as he anticipated the final bullet.
    â€œSee you on the other side, brother,” Carter said.
    Suddenly the doors to the elevator slid open.
    BOOM! BOOM!
    Aries stood, gun smoking, still aimed as she breathed heavily from the adrenaline pumping through her veins. The hospital erupted into a frenzy. She hadn’t hesitated. There had been no time to silence her weapon. If she had thought twice, Monroe and Carter would be dead. “You gon’ get your asses out of the elevator or you gon’ stand there looking crazy?” Aries asked urgently as she looked around. “Baraka’s goons are everywhere. We’ve got an ambulance waiting in emergency. We have to go … NOW!”
    Monroe had never been so happy to see Aries’s murderous face in his life. “I could kiss you right now,” he muttered as he followed her down the hall.
    â€œPlease don’t,” she shot back with a smirk.
    She rounded the corner only to halt at the sight of Baraka’s men entering the building. There was nothing incognito about them. They came in, guns drawn, as if they made the laws themselves. “This way,” she said, turning around and running in the opposite direction. The lights suddenly went out, and chaos erupted. Gunfire exploded, and bullets flew their way. The Arabs were reckless in their assault. It didn’t matter that they were in public, or that there were innocent bystanders all around. They had declared war on The Cartel. Aries ran as Monroe tried to maneuver Carter through the hospital while people ran for cover.
    Monroe suddenly stopped running. “Fuck it. If it’s gonna happen, I won’t get clipped with a bullet to the back. Get him out of here. I’ll cover you,” he stated.
    â€œMoney, no,” Carter whispered weakly as his head hung low, his chin touching his chest.
    Aries knew if she had to make a choice, she would have to save Carter. Miamor would never forgive her if she let him die.
    â€œAin’t no time for thinking. Go!” Money stated. He reached down and grabbed the gun out of Carter’s lap and then quickly unholstered his own. With a pistol in each hand he rounded the corner and popped off, firing bullets as he diverted the Arabs’ attention. Monroe went