CHAPTER 43: ONE SHOT


~ BACK IN FLORIDA ~

Tatum rushed through the doors of the hotel, a few minutes ago, she’d only just gotten off the flight. She’d rung Matt and told him the news, and within a few hours they were on the next flight, which landed in Florida only a few minutes ago.

They wandered down the halls, of the 5th floor and made their way to Alika’s room. As Tatum opened the door, a haunting “Beep, beep” of the monitor was all that could be heard. Matt walked in behind Tatum, closing the door softly.

“Lee?” Tatum whispered as she approached the bed
Matt looked from the end of the bed. His hand rubbing against the loaded gun stuck behind his jacket.
Alika coughed quietly as her hand stirred. A tear of joy slid from Tatum’s eye as her cousin, finally began to look alive.
“I'm here Alika” she smiled as she held her hand
“Watch, watch” Alika sputtered, unable to form any sentence
“Watch? Watch what?” Tatum pressed

~ AT THE SAME TIME ~

Howie pulled off his sunglasses as he walked through the main entrance of the hospital, Tatum had called him from the airplane, announcing ecstatically that Alika was awake. He’d promised, he come in and see her, so there he was.

“Yo, D” Kevin called as he grabbed a coffee from a vending machine.
“Tatum rung you too huh?” Howie laughed
“Yeah, I think she rung everyone” Kevin chuckled
“Do you know what floor she’s on?”
“Uh, the fifth I think” Kevin shrugged

~ AT THE SAME TIME ~

“Maybe she wants to know what time it is” Matt suggested, desperate for Tatum to leave, he needed to silence Alika.
“Um, it’s nearly lunch time” Tatum smiled, looking down at her watch
Alika gathered her strength and shook her head.
“He” she stuttered
“Don’t try and talk Lee, just rest” Tatum announced patting her arm softly
“No, him, watch”
Her voice was scratchy and barely audible, but she was trying none the same.

“How about you get a nurse?” Matt smiled cunningly
“Yeah, I think maybe I should, I’ll be right back Lee” Tatum smiled as she walked towards the door
Alika struggled to scream, but she didn’t have the energy, she tried to shake her head, but she could barely move.

Tatum walked out of the door and down to the nurses station.

“Trying to let Tatum know our little secret huh?” Matt grinned, walking around to the side of the bed
“Go, Go” Alika stammered
“Go? Sorry dear, but I can’t let you ruin anything. Don’t think I never loved you” he smiled as he pulled a syringe from his bag. He removed the cover and tapped the top.
“It’s got a nice mixture of water and finely ground cyanide, shouldn’t take you long to die” he explained, grinning from one ear to the other.

“What the hell are you doing?” Tatum spoke up from behind him
He spun around to see her standing shocked in the doorway.
“Shit” he cursed as she turned to run he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room, slamming the door behind him. He dropped the needle and pulled out a gun. Tatum whimpered in shock.
“What are you doing?” she coughed again, the barrel of the gun pointed directly at her
“Well it wasn’t supposed to happen like this” he murmured. “I needed you to suffer a bit more, and if Alika here didn’t get too nosey then the plan would still be working” he grunted
“You, you’re the one sending the letters”
“Bravo” he laughed clapping his hands together
“But why?”
“Because the man you shot dead in the ally was my cousin Tatum, I was very close to him and you took him away from me. Isn’t it ironic, because now” he began picking the needle up “I'm about to take away you’re cousin”
Alika tried to struggle but she was no match, the needle went deep into her arm and with force he pushed down the top, sending the milky fluid into her veins.
“Alika” Tatum went to scream but Matt grabbed her around the neck, pushing the gun fiercely against her neck.
“Now, I'm gonna take you for a walk” he laughed
She tried to break free from his grip, but he was incredibly strong.
“Come on” he gnarled pulling her to the door.
“Scream and I’ll just shoot you right here, then I’ll go after the others” he laughed “Who will it be Chastity, Bianca, or maybe Arora. They should be almost home by now”
“Leave them alone” she hissed
“Maybe” he shrugged “if you behave”
He opened the door and the walked out. He had his arm around her the gun hidden from view but digging into her back.

~ AT THE SAME TIME ~

Kevin looked down at his phone as the familiar ring echoed through the halls.
“Damn, you go on ahead Howie, I gotta take this call” he announced moving to one of the side passages and answering his phone.
Howie shrugged as he continued on his way, holding the bunch of flowers tightly in his hands.

He waited patiently for the elevator to come down, as he casually tapped his foot against the perfectly scrubbed floor.

~ AT THE SAME TIME ~

“In” Matt hissed under his breath as the elevator doors opened.
“You’re just going to walk through the main entrance?” Tatum gaped as the doors closed
“Exactly” he smiled pushing the ground floor button.

~ 5 MINUTES LATER ~

Howie heard the sound of the elevator stop, and without much delay the doors opened to reveal Tatum and a guy he’d met before, he couldn’t remember his name, but he was Alika’s boyfriend, or something.
“Oh hey Tatum, I was just coming up to see you” he smiled
She looked at him worriedly. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t risk it, could she?
“We really have to be going” Matt announced jolting Tatum
“Where you off to? How’s Alika?” Howie questioned, semi alarmed at Tatum quietness
“We’re getting some lunch, she’s fine” Mat hurriedly replied
It wouldn’t be long before alarm bells started going off in Alika’s room, he had to get out of there, and fast.
“Everything okay Tatum?”
The gun dug deeper. She nodded slowly.
“Okay well I see you back up there” he smiled as Matt pulled her away

As they walked away Tatum gently flicked the back of his jacket up revealing the hidden shiny object. It caught Howie’s eye and in an instant he knew what it was.
“Hey” he called running after them.
Tatum spun around falling away from Matt’s grip as he looked behind at Howie. The gun then became blatantly obvious. He moved to where Tatum had fallen hard against the floor and aim.
“NO!” Howie screamed jumping in front of her

The bullet hit him hard sending him flying backwards just to the side of Tatum. Staff and Security now alerted by the sound rushed to see what happened. Matt ran for the doors, as Kevin came around from the corner. The two careened into each other, sending the gun flying from Matt’s hands, and giving security enough time to rush him. Quickly they snapped on the handcuffs and they slammed him face down into the ground.

“Howie?” Tatum stuttered as she looked at the pile of blood surrounding him
There was no response and nurses came from all directions, it took only a matter of second before they were wheeling him away. One nurse stood behind holding Tatum tightly.
“My cousin, Alika, he put something into her” she sobbed as the nurse guided her towards a chair.
“It’s okay, everything will be alright” the nurse comforted as Kevin rushed to her side. He sat down beside her and she feel welcomingly into his strong arms.



Chapter 44
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