CHAPTER SEVEN

"Hmmm no... Best way in would actually be here." Lamika said thoughtfully, circling a spot on her little map. "You got the house right here, which is where He stays from what I gathered, along with some of his boys." She sighed, studying the map. "It's sort of like a giant camp when you think about it. All these properties are abandoned and the cops know better then to head down that way. Off to the side is the pens, where they keep people they're going to toy with. And this lovely little place is where I was held. Kinda like a glorified shed."

She hesitated before pointing to the spot she'd indicated as the best entrance. "You'd have to somehow get around the place first on the outside without being seen to do it though. But this spot shouldn't be guarded to much, not given how hard it'd be to get by. Plus it's right behind a few propane tanks… providing you want to blow something up."

"Perfect. Then that's what we'll do. Thanks, Lamika." David really meant that and actually pulled her to him for a brief hug, kissing the top of her head. He walked away from her, getting out his cell phone and called people left and right, nodding and sighing for a good two hours before finally hanging up. "We have around twenty-five people, or rather, I do, unless you want some revenge on these clowns?"

Lamika had smoked one pack of cigarettes already and was working on the other when he got off the phone. She actually choked mid inhale. "Are you nuts? Didn't you hear ANYTHING I said? I'd be shot on sight." She stood up. "Good luck… I still don't know your name." She smiled almost sadly. "Guess it don't matter now though huh?"

Standing up from his spot on the bed, David walked over to pull her back to the bed with him, wrapping an arm around her waist as they sat down. "David, my name is David." He said softly, running a finger down her cheek. "Lamika, nothing is going to happen if you come with us. I'll watch out for you. You have my word on that."

Lamika sighed, cocking her head to the side before finally nodding. "Aight, I'm in. If I'm going to die, I might as well take some of those bastards with me right?" She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "How long till it all goes down?"

"Two weeks. In the meantime, you can go back to your… home. Or you can come with me on the road, I have to tie up some loose strings with my company before taking a leave of absence. I called my boss and informed him of my 'accident'." He gestured to his calf and smiled when she winced. "Don't worry about it, I had it coming."

Lamika sighed, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Mind if I use the phone? Is it untraceable?" When he nodded to both she dialed a number, smoking another cig and reclined against the headboard. "Kara? Hey chica, it's Mike."

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? YOU'RE SO SMOKED WHEN I FIND YOU, YOU DOUBLE-CROSSING LITTLE BITCH!" Kara shouted, quite audible to David. "YOU WERE SEEN WITH SOME BOYS NOT FROM ANY OF OUR SETS!"

"Calm down and let me-"

"Your ass is going back to THEM now! I already sold you, you skank! Kiss your ass good-bye ho! Teach you to fuck with me!"

Lamika hung up, frowning. She took a long drag off of the cigarette. "Great, just great."

"Do I dare ask what that was about?" David asked, raising an eyebrow at her and crossed an arm over his chest while waving the smoke out of his face. "Or am I safely assuming you're coming with me?"

"Sorry." Lamika went to run the cig under the faucet before throwing it away. "When I didn't go back to report the job finished she assumed I sold out. Apparently whoever you had pick my ass up was seen so… You do the math." She groaned. "Now what I hell am I going to do? I can't go with you… we'll kill each other."

"No, we'll just have to come to an understanding. We can do it if we try hard enough. Just no more violence and we need to start calling each other by our names instead of that cum bucket and bitch shit. Deal?"

Lamika studied the hand he held out warily before taking it. "Fine… David. But could you call me Mike or Mika? Lamika drives me nuts." She pulled her hand away from him and frowned. "I don't have any money for anything… My stuff is back at the crib and knowing Kara, it's been destroyed." She never carried identification when she was out on a so when she'd been caught she'd been without her wallet.*

"Don't worry about that. I have plenty of money and you won't need to pay me back. You can think of it as me having a heart for someone who was in the same boat as my sister but managed to get out." He stood up, beginning to pace the floor. "If you want to leave, you can at anytime. I'm not going to force you to stay with me any longer. I'm sorry for putting you through Hell Mika."

"Been through worse." Lamika grinned awkwardly. "If I stay here in D.C. I'm going to be biting a bullet or wind up getting shanked. I really don't have a whole lotta choice right now David. Of offense but you're my best bet for keeping my ass alive. Worthless as it might be, I like my skin."

"Then welcome aboard." He replied with a grin and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "We'll get you a new identity, some clothes, things of that sort. Sound good Mika?"

"Hmm sounds fine." She looked down at the clothes she'd lifted and wrinkled her nose. "Erm, do you have a shirt I could borrow? As much as I like lace bras, I don't think it's appropriate for me to be flashing you all the time."

David chuckled, nodding and rifled around in his duffel bag, handing her a shirt. "Here you go, it'll look like a night gown on you compared to me though." He winked at her, grinning when she blushed and dropped back down on the bed, shifting through the pictures of Samantha.

Lamika frowned from her place at the foot of the bed, watching him leaf through the photos. Finally she walked over to stand before him and gently took them away. "You can' keep staring at these." She said softly, leaning over to set them on the nightstand, not taking her eyes off of him. "You have some time before payback… hold off on all the anger and sadness until then and then use it. Don't bury yourself in it now."

"I can't help it." He tried to hide the tears that were filling his brown eyes, lowering his head. "I should've been there for her. I should've been there to protect her. I'm her big brother and I couldn't even play that part right." David masked his eyes with a hand. "I just can't believe she's gone… My baby sister, Sammy." He finally couldn't take it anymore and wrapped his arms around her, just needing comfort from someone, anyone, at the moment.

Lamika at first didn't know what to do. She was in the line of handing out despair and pain, not trying to ease it. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around him, stroking his back, mildly disturbed to see a grown man cry though it was breaking her heart at the same time. "There wasn't anything you could have done David. "She whispered. "You couldn't have known what those bastards would do…"

"They'll pay. They're all going to pay." David promised darkly, his eyes taking on a murderous look and let her go, wiping away the tears. "Sorry, I haven't cried since I found out about her death. It was bound to happen… Hope I didn't scare you."

"Erm no, it didn't scare me." Lamika quickly moved away from him, looking uncomfortable. It wasn't the tears, it was the whole thing. Him crying, her making some feeble ass attempts to soothe him. She turned her back on him and sighed, raking a hand through her hair. "Your sister was very lucky." She said softly. "To have someone who loved and cared for her as much as you did."

David stood up, knowing he had freaked her out. "You remind me a lot of her, but you have your own personality. You're a hard ass, she wasn't. But you both resemble each other, kinda like you're her evil twin." He laughed softly, turning Lamika around and ran a finger down her cheek. "Thank you Mika."

"Uh sure, no problem." She stared up at him, blinking. "Evil twin? I ain't that damn bad… am I?" Lamika chewed on her lower lip nervously. "Actually don't answer that. I DID try to et you on fire, twice."

Patting her shoulder reassuringly, David chuckled again. "Don't worry about it. I had it coming. I knocked you out a few times, kidnapped you and poured whiskey on you. I guess I can't blame you."

Shrugging, Lamika stepped away as David started going through his bag again, picking up the near empty bottle of Jack and took a fortifying swig, then another, finishing it. She watched him, tilting her head to the side, just now realizing he was still wearing just that damn towel and she was fairly certain it was going to slide off of him.