Being afraid is something you don't want to feel that often, if ever. Fearing for your life is something altogether different because you never want to feel the feeling that your life will come to an abrupt end. Knowing this, Janelle thought she would be able to get around his hired muscle and save herself. But as with every plan she had so far in her very short life, she was mistaken. She thought that listening to him was the right thing to do. Now she realizes that it was probably the biggest mistake of her life and in all likelihood, this was going to get her killed. She thought it would be easy money, and who could ever turn that down? She was already hooked on the fentanyl that he sold her as a user but if she could deal it on the street she'd get her fix for free. He practically gave her the green light to sell for him knowing that she'd make a boatload of money for him. But she didn't listen to those who gave her sound advice. She never really considered the source. They weren't really her friends, they were just like her, people who used drugs and became mules to transport and sell his product. His product! It makes it sound like he is a retail store and what she sold was legal. What it is was strictly fentanyl and she decided to add a little bit of something to give it a kick before she sold it on the street. And that something was cocaine. But the problem was she was also in need of cocaine as well as his fentanyl. She was no pharmacist but how hard was it to add just a touch of cocaine to what she was selling for him and make her that much more money? She was hooked on both drugs and she found that she was robbing Peter to pay Paul just to stay ahead of the game and stay in his good graces. The problem was that it was becoming harder to get the cocaine she needed. When it would finally catch up with her, in the end, it would cost her her life. It would not matter if her father was the mayor of the largest city in the country. Her death would simply become the death of just another drug dealer.
Vales knew what she was doing. He'd seen it often and since he never tolerated the practice, he gave her just enough rope to hang herself with. He had his bodyguards looking for discrepancies in their collection from the street dealers. When he was told that all the money had been picked up and delivered directly to the counters, he became suspicious of one of his bodyguards, Jaleel.
He had a feeling that Jaleel was covering for the princess as he had started to call her. He knew that there were discrepancies with the cash flow from the street sales from her section and since this was his livelihood he would extract his pound of flesh from the both of them.
He decided to lay a small trap to confirm his suspicions. He had decided to add a little twist of his own to her weekly delivery. Xylazine is a little-known non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human use. It has been linked to an increasing number of overdose deaths nationwide in the evolving drug addiction and overdose crisis. People exposed to his xylazine laced fentanyl would end up dying faster than when they used her cocaine-laced fentanyl. He would just cut in a gram or two and not say a word to her and then let her add her touch of cocaine. He wouldn't have to worry about people dying from his combination and hers (he knew that they would) because there is always a long line of people needing drugs. They always come back and if they don't because they died from an overdose, new customers are lining up right behind the dead ones.
His plan worked exactly how he thought it would. The usual customers who picked up drugs from her started dropping off within the first week. There was an increase in deaths in and around the area where she deals. Now that his suspicions have been confirmed he decides to have a one-on-one chat with Jaleel.
"So Jaleel, tell me something. Why are you stealing from me?" Cesar asks him.
"What are you talkin about Mr. Vales?"
"Oh come on now Jaleel, you can't believe that I would have never found out. I know you've been covering for her and what I suspect is that you are pulling the cash flow from other sections to add to hers to keep her on my good side. But we both know that with the number of people she has lost in the past week she hasn't had time to regroup and find new buyers."
"I swear Mr. Vales I don't know what you're talkin about. All I do is go out and collect the money and bring it back to the counters. That's it." Jaleel admits.
"Jaleel I have given you just about everything you've ever asked for. I took care of your brother when he was in the hospital and had no other way to pay for his procedure, and your mother who has been in the nursing home almost ready to be kicked out on her ass because she couldn't afford it, I helped you with those issues. Then you turn around and stab me in the back like this. This is why I don't trust many people within my organization. There are only two people that I really would trust with my life and you're not one of them. But there's something I want to show you."
Vales presses the play button on his remote control. The screen comes to life in front of both of them with a video that confirms what he has just said.
"Tell me you don't see what I'm seeing in this video? If you don't I'll explain it to you."
At Jaleel's dumbfounded look Vales continues.
"What I see here is you talking to the princess. I'll bet the two of you were trying to come up with some idea to cover her losses. But what she doesn't know is that I already knew what she was doing. So not only did this prove to me that you were totally unfaithful to my organization it shows that you will go to any extreme to cover her losses and screw me in the process. Do you love her? Is that why you're covering up for her?"
Jaleel struggled with how to answer his questions. It would be a damned if he does or damned if he doesn't situation. He did think what he felt could be love but he would have to explore it further with Janelle rather than tell Vales what he was feeling toward her. The only thing he could do was try to explain why he did what he did.
The second that Jaleel turned from the screen to give him an answer, he was facing Vales with a silenced Sig Sauer P226 ZEV pointed at him. The bullet entered his head directly between his eyes and left through the back of his skull with a rather large exit wound. He was dead before he even hit the floor. Cesar would give explicit directions to his bodyguards on what to do next. After the mess of what was left of Jaleel was cleaned up he requested that three of his bodyguards remove his carcass from his office. When they arrived he ordered them to take out the princess after they had secured Jaleel in the trunk of their car. No one steals from him.
Janelle wished she had eyes in the back of her head. If she had, she would have seen them coming before it was too late. She had gone down to the corner bodega to pick up something to eat for dinner. It was going to be a quick in-and-out purchase and she would head back to her apartment where she felt the safest. Before she had the chance to pay for what she was buying she saw that three of Vale's bodyguards had entered the bodega trying to corner her. She knew that her time was coming to an end and faced this fact when she saw the people that Vale's sent closing in on her. She knew Jaleel wasn't with them. So something must have gone terribly wrong if he wasn't with the people she saw coming towards her. He would do anything to protect her. Basic flight or fight instincts kicked in and she took off running. She had one advantage over the bodyguards the fact that she was eighteen and had very long legs and could run like the wind. What she didn't count on was them circumventing her and cutting her off. They tried to block the doorway of the bodega and prevent her from leaving but she simply lowered her head and shoulders and rammed into two of them knocking them both away. The second she hit the street she was all about running away. She was always taught to never look behind her when someone is chasing you because it gets you more frightened and you worry about where they are behind you. This slows you down considerably. She never did that. She just flat-out ran for her life.
The bodyguards knew exactly what was going to happen so in a way they let it happen. When she ran past them and rammed into two of them they made it look like they fell over and were surprised by her move. Before she hit the sidewalk the two bodyguards were up before she made the street corner and exited the bodega and the chase was on. The third bodyguard ran for the car and was in it before she made it a two-block distance from the bodega. He started the car and took off down toward Halsey Street. He finally caught up with her in the car as she passed Weirfield Street and she was almost in the middle of the block, man this chick could run! He looks to his left and sees the church that takes up the entire block. He knows he has to act fast if he's going to catch her. He pushed down on the accelerator and the car responded. He sees her turning right onto Hancock Street and his partners are quickly coming up behind her on foot. He knows that the area she is in is mostly residential and the businesses are on Knickerbocker. He cuts the wheel hard to the right and again mashes the gas pedal. He sees an opportunity up ahead and it's then when he acts. On the sidewalk, he notices a house with a gated front yard. If he can pull it off he can wedge the car between the gate and the huge oak tree that is close to the street stopping her path directly. He guns the car one last time and turns the steering wheel hard to the right stopping just short of the iron gate in front of the property using the tree and the car as a way to stop her. He knows that with her forward momentum she won't be able to stop without going over the hood of the car. And by that time you'll be out and next to her.
Janelle has nowhere to run because the car that came out of nowhere is now blocking her from going forward. She turns to look behind her and is instantly met with the fist of one of the bodyguards. He cold-cocked her and knocks her out with one punch. The driver of the car pops the trunk release and the trunk lid springs open. One bodyguard picks her up from under her arms the other picks her up by her feet and they quickly toss her in the trunk. The two bodyguards jump into the car and the driver backs off the sidewalk.
When Janelle comes to, she wakes to darkness. She can tell that she's moving most likely she's in the trunk of a car. She isn't bound and she can move around freely so trying to get out of the trunk would be easy but at the speed they're moving she fears becoming a target of being run over by a car that is moving behind them is a possibility, so she stays in the trunk pushing that idea out of her mind. Soon the car comes to a stop. She hears nothing but silence. It's unnerving because she expects to be released from the trunk quickly but so she knows that they're planning on how to kill her. Her wait isn't long and she hears the trunk release being activated. When the trunk lid does open it's just as dark outside as it is inside the trunk. She is roughly pulled out of the trunk without any concern for injuries she might get by being dragged from the trunk of the car. Her hands are bound behind her back with duct tape and she is moved over to what looks like the rear entrance of a Chinese food restaurant. Next to the back door of the restaurant, there is a green dumpster. The bodyguards stand her up next to the dumpster and head back towards the car that is parked in the alleyway. Once they're in position, the three of them draw silenced handguns, extend their arms and proceed to open fire. It's all over in less than five seconds. Janelle is lying on the ground of the alley, her face in a small puddle of water trying to suck air into her lungs. One of the bodyguards hears this and walks over to her. He raises his handgun, rests it against her temple, and pulls the trigger. The other two bodyguards come over quickly and pick up her body, then throw her into the rear of the dumpster so it won't be seen by anybody.
The driver of the three picks up his cell phone and makes a call.
"It's done."
"Good. Make sure she's found with no identification on her." Vales tells him.
"Okay." The driver ends the call, slips his phone back into his pocket, and when the bodyguards return back to the car and leave the alley.
Vales doesn't realize just who he had ordered to be killed. To say that revenge is a dish best served cold is an understatement and it will come back to haunt him in spades. He sits at his desk contemplating what to do next. He takes a sip from his single malt scotch and plans out his next move. He knows that there is an opening for the location the princess just vacated but he is reluctant about putting someone in the same spot she was in so soon. She had a nice piece of prime real estate within his organization. Knowing that her location outsold many other locations during the course of a week he decides to hold off for a while letting things cool down. He doesn't want to give up the income that she generated to someone who will do the same thing that she did. It's so hard to find honest drug dealers these days. His thinking is interrupted by the arrival of the three bodyguards who he sent to take out Janelle.
"Did you take all the identification off of her body?" He asks.
"We did. She can only be identified by fingerprints or dental records. It'll take them some time before they figure out who she is." One bodyguard replies as he throws her purse onto his desk.
"Good. And you left her within the jurisdiction of the 12th Precinct?"
"We did. Just inside of it. The 9th precinct butts up right to the 12th so they're not going to realize who gets to investigate her murder. It'll be a bit of a turf war you could say. But overall the 12th will rule out and take the case."
"Excellent work. I need the three of you to take care of something else for me." Vales goes on to explain what he wants them to take care of next and they leave to complete the task. He takes another sip of his scotch and thinks with any luck her body won't be found for a couple of days.
The three bodyguards drive the old beat-up Plymouth Fury to Amsterdam Avenue. They parked on the shoulder near the off-ramp from the George Washington Bridge where it seems that many cars before have been parked and abandoned here over time. Once they get out they pull the license plates off of it wipe it down for fingerprints, dump bleach all over the interior and then splash four gallons of gasoline all over it and in the interior and throw a lit match onto the driver's seat. In less than a minute, it's fully engulfed in flames. By the time they get into their switch car that's parked on 181st street the body that's in the trunk is probably burning to a crisp by now. When they find Jaleel, he will just be another John Doe.
A/N: This idea was from dkcfan. Without her constant sounding board abilities, none of this would have ever been possible. This story will be about 20 chapters in total and the first 12 are already written. I wish everyone who celebrates their particular celebration all the best. After today's initial chapter updates will be at 7 EST on Sundays. Reviews are welcome!