The Nightmare on Trap Street

by C.N. Phillips

Genres: African American Urban

Synopsis

Sometimes death births new life, and that is fact for sisters Rhonnie and Ahli Malone. After facing the wrath of
Madame, the young women take on the job of being security detail for none other than Sadie Thomas, the head of
The Last Kings. With a new drug, Vita E Morte doing numbers under her belt, it is apparent that Sadie has plans to
distribute it all over the United States. However, after seeing the deadly side effects of the drug, Sadie agrees to get rid
of the formula and take it off the market for good. Only … somebody doesn’t want her to. In fact, they’ll do anything
to get the formula for themselves, including taking out the leader of The Last Kings.
With a phantom gunning for her head and her own camp’s loyalty being tested, Rhonnie and Ahli are the only
ones that Sadie can trust with the location of the formula—Trap Street. It’s a place only spoken of in hood myth.
Legend is that not only is Trap Street a neutral ground for the most elite hustlers, but it is a fortress for their secrets.
Once there, the only objective is to destroy the formula for Vita E Morte so no one can ever sell or take it again, but
not even Sadie is prepared for the gory nightmare that awaits her.

Release date: August 25, 2020

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

“Pull over there, by that tunnel, and let me out.”

The deep and demanding voice belonged to Cam Lewis, one of Detroit’s big-time hustlers. He sat in the back seat of his Maybach and took notice of a black Mercedes already parked. He wasn’t surprised, being as he was there to meet someone. However, that didn’t mean he was happy to see the vehicle. Cam grabbed a duffle bag that was on the seat next to him and placed it on his lap. He unzipped it, and his eyes were instantly met with the green contents inside—$250,000, a payment that he owed and wasn’t happy to be parting with. The vein protruding from his right temple showed that. Before blessing the ground with the Ferragamo loafers on his feet, he pulled a flip phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

“Hello?” Cam’s young soldier Dwayne answered with a gruff voice.

“I’m here,” Cam said.

“We see you.”

“Everybody in position?”

“Yup. Whoever is in that tunnel won’t be making it out of here alive, boss.”

“Be sure of it,” Cam instructed icily. “If everything goes as planned, you won’t just be leaving here with some extra money in your pocket, but you’ll have a new Mercedes, too.”

He flipped the phone closed and cleared his throat. He looked up at Felix, his driver for the past five years, and nodded before putting the duffle bag strap on his shoulder. Felix got out and went around to open Cam’s door. He stepped out and smoothed the jacket of his gray suit.

“I’ll wait here,” the older man said and tipped his hat.

“I shouldn’t be long,” Cam told him and started walking toward the tunnel’s entrance.

They were in a construction zone. However, it had rained that summer day, and all of the workers had gone home, leaving behind all of the machinery and half-dug holes. Although it was midday, the sun was battling against the clouds to peek through.

The meeting for payment had been in motion for a few days, but the location was switched last minute. However, that didn’t put an end to Cam’s plan to not have to pay a dime. See, not only was he tired of having to go through a middleman to get his product, but he was tired of having his title on the streets capped at “lieutenant.” He wasn’t anyone’s lieutenant. He was the boss, and it was time that Detroit knew that. Everyone knew that The Last Kings ruled over Detroit, but every reign came to an end sometime.

Some years back—when Khiron, a cat from Atlanta, had overthrown The Last Kings and taken over business in Detroit—Cam was much happier. He was given control over three territories and was eating good. However, when Khiron was killed and The Last Kings regained power over the streets, business went back to how it was before Khiron took over. Cam went back to his one territory. And that meant less money. The goal was for everybody to have a way to eat, but Cam couldn’t be worried about the next mouth when his plate wasn’t filled up. Growing up as the block’s “brown-skinned pretty boy,” Cam had grown accustomed to getting what he wanted. All he had to do was flash his perfectly straight teeth and follow that with some smooth talking. Now things were different. He had to take what he wanted.

Cam cleared his throat when he stepped into the shadows inside the tunnel. It was dim, but he could still clearly make out everything around him, like the woman in a form-fitting pantsuit and Christian Louboutin heels leaning against the cement wall, filing her nails.

“You’re late,” she said without looking up from what she was doing.

“My apologies, Sadie,” Cam said, addressing the head of The Last Kings. “The change of location threw me off.”

“Don’t worry about it. Do you have my money?”

“Right here,” he said and tossed the bag to her feet. “No need to count it. It’s all there.”

Sadie finished with her nails and placed the file inside of her Birkin crossbody bag. She glanced briskly down at the bag of money and didn’t bother to check it. Instead, she stepped around it and walked toward Cam. He couldn’t read the expression on her beautiful face, but still he held his ground.

“Unlike you to travel alone,” Cam said when she was directly in front of him.

“I didn’t think I needed an army to collect a payment,” Sadie said, and the corners of her lips twitched. “Carry the bag to my car.”

Sadie stepped around him after her instruction and started toward the tunnel entrance. The click-clack of her heels echoed against the walls, and Cam clenched his jaw and fists. Knowing that was her last order to him, he kept his emotions in check and picked up the bag of money. He walked behind her, but not too closely. He stared at the back of her head and waited for the first bullet to strike her body. He held his breath as her right foot hit the sunlight, and then her left. In seconds her body would be riddled with bullets, and her designer suit would be bloody . . . but when she was completely unshielded by the tunnel, nothing happened. Confused, Cam too stepped out of the tunnel and glanced around the construction site. His men had distinct instructions to fire upon sight, but it was quieter than when he had come. In fact . . .

Cam glanced to where he’d left Felix standing next to the running car, but he was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t even in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, and the car had been turned off. Cam’s brow furrowed. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialed Dwayne’s number. The phone rang and rang until the automated voicemail picked up. Where was he? And why hadn’t he followed instructions? Cam looked up to see Sadie facing him with a smirk on her lips. As she stared, he saw a glimmer of pleasure flash across her face.

“You might as well put that phone away. There’s no point,” she said. “I was supposed to walk out here and boom, off with my head, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cam told her with a straight face.

“You don’t? Then let me enlighten you,” she said. “Do you think that I would ever let you run any business or push any of my work without you being watched? Especially after you worked for Khiron when he slid into my city?”

“So, you never trusted me then.”

“Correction: I presented you with an opportunity to redeem yourself... and you’ve failed.”

The two of them stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, his filled with thirst and hatred, and hers filled with amusement. In a swift motion, he reached for the Glock on his hip, but she didn’t budge. It wasn’t until he heard the clicking of a gun cocking behind his head that he understood why.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a woman’s menacing voice warned. “Not unless you want to join your friends and driver. Hands up.”

Cam did as he was told, glaring at Sadie the entire time. It had been a setup. The meeting, the change of location. If what she said was true, he had no idea who the rat was in his camp. She could have known about his plan for weeks.

“I brought you something,” the voice behind him said.

She dropped something on his designer shoe, and when he looked down to see what it was, he almost threw up everything in his stomach. It was a severed head, but not just any severed head. Dwayne. His eyes were still open, staring blankly up at Cam.

“What the fuck!” he exclaimed and kicked it feverishly away. “You killed Dwayne!”

“And everybody else you brought with you, including your driver. He seemed like a sweet man. Sorry he had to work for a snake like you,” the woman behind him said as she nudged the back of his head roughly with her gun.

“Enough, Rhonnie,” Sadie instructed.

Cam’s blood instantly ran cold. He recognized the name as one of Sadie’s two security guards. At first, it was laughable that she trusted two women to protect her with their lives, but after seeing what they were capable of, those same laughs were muffled. Rhonnie and her sister, Ahli, weren’t just goons. They were savages. Dwayne’s severed head was proof of that.

“I thought you said you didn’t bring an army.”

“I didn’t, but you should know I always keep a few shooters with me,” Sadie said, turning her attention back to Cam. “You remind me a lot of Khiron, do you know that? So thirsty for power that you would do anything to get it. I pity you for that.”

“Easy for you to say when you have all the power,” Cam spat.

“But do you know why I have power? Because I never wanted it. The difference between you and me is that I would have been content working under my cousin, Ray, and breaking bread with my people. People I could trust, because when you have a loyal team, you can eat forever. However, fate dealt a different hand for me. I didn’t have to take my throne. It was granted to me.”

“All of this to say what?” he spat.

“If you were meant to rule the streets, it would be me with a bullet in my head, and not you.”

Cam was in the middle of inhaling one last breath when the trigger was pulled behind his head. He didn’t stand a chance with a bullet entering his skull at that close range. Blood and brains exploded everywhere, and his body dropped like a heavy weight next to his soldier’s head.

Sadie didn’t blink, but she did she turn her nose up in disgust. She glanced down at her suit to make sure not even a droplet of blood had gotten on it and was happy to see that none had. When she glanced back to Rhonnie, she gave her a look and shook her head.

“What?” Rhonnie asked with her hands up. “I thought you wanted me to shoot this nigga.”

“I did. That’s not what the look is for. I’m talking about that,” Sadie said and pointed to the head. “Sadistic much?”

“I thought it would be a nice touch. Something to send the message to anyone out there who is even thinking about crossing The Last Kings.” Rhonnie grinned and tucked her gun under the black hoodie she had on.

“If you say so. Were there any survivors?” Sadie asked and opened the front door of her Mercedes.

“No. The four of them didn’t even see me coming from where they were hiding behind the equipment. Do you want me to call someone to clean the mess up?”

Sadie stared at Cam’s dead body and watched him bleed out for a few moments before shaking her head. “Leave them all here,” she said after pondering it. “Let the construction crew find their bodies in the morning. Like you said, this will send a message. As merciful as I’ve been these past years, I don’t need anyone thinking I’ve lost my touch. The Last Kings isn’t going anywhere ever again.

“Let’s go. We have an important meeting tomorrow, and I need both you and your sister to be sharp. I allowed you to cover for Ahli today, and luckily you pulled the job off. But tomorrow, I need the two of you by my side. I don’t trust anyone else.”

“What’s so special about tomorrow?” Rhonnie inquired, walking to the passenger’s door.

Sadie didn’t say anything until the two of them were both inside with the doors shut. She could feel Rhonnie’s eyes burning a hole in the side of her cheek, waiting for an answer. Sadie turned to face Rhonnie with a mischievous shimmer in her eyes.

“Vita E Morte is ready to be put on the market.”

It wasn’t the sound of the television, the birds chirping outside the window, or even the housekeeper who kept knocking on the hotel room door that woke Ahli Malone up. No, her eyes didn’t open until her hand reached to the right side of the bed and was met with nothing but air. The white oversized comforter was soft and warm around Ahli’s body as she sat up and stretched her arms in the air. Glancing around the hotel suite, she searched for the person responsible for making the night before so exceptional. However, her boyfriend, Brayland, was nowhere to be found. When she looked down to where he had fallen asleep beside her, she saw a folded piece of paper on his pillow. It was a note. She grabbed and unfolded it, trying to fight the smile creeping to her lips.

A giggle slipped through her lips, and she kissed the note before letting it fall on the bed. She was a little upset that they wouldn’t be able to grab breakfast together, but duty called. Ahli knew what that meant. The day before was the first day off either one of them had in six months, and just like that, it was over. Since Brayland had driven and was now gone, she figured she would just call a driver to take her back to the mansion.

Ahli got out of bed and went to the desk her phone was charging on to check for any missed messages or calls. There was nothing on the screen when she looked, but still she decided to shower and get dressed. In her realm of work, it was better to be ready instead of having to get ready when someone summoned her. She unsnapped her bra, letting it and her lace panties fall to the ground as she walked to the large bathroom. She turned the water in the glass-enclosed shower to the hottest that she could stand and got in.

Placing her hands on the wall in front of her, she allowed the water to run from her hair to her toes. Her eyes were closed, and the events from the past three years passed on the backs of her lids. If someone else were to tell her story, Ahli wasn’t alive in it. She and her sister, Rhonnie, supposedly died three years ago at the Opulent Inn in the clutches of Madame, the woman originally in search of Vita E Morte. Ahli’s mother and father had hidden the formula, but Madame never stopped searching. In fact, the risk their parents took cost their father his life. So when Sadie Thomas, a leader of one of the biggest drug cartels in the United States, saved them and killed Madame, it wasn’t hard to say goodbye to their lives from before. They were able to fall completely off the grid, although both refused to get new names. Technically, on paper, they didn’t exist anymore, but Ahli was all right with that.

After the untimely death of her father, Quinton, and the horrific events that followed, Ahli didn’t know what her purpose was anymore. Her mother had died years before that, and Rhonnie was all she had. Ahli was a thief trained in combat with nobody to rob and nobody calling the shots. It wasn’t until Sadie rescued them that she found a new purpose, and that was protecting the head of The Last Kings at any cost. Sadie hired both Ahli and Rhonnie to be her personal security detail after seeing what they were capable of, and she gave them a second chance to live.

Ahli stood up straight and finished washing herself before turning off the water. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped one of the white towels around her body. Her long, wet hair hung loosely around her face when she exited the bathroom. She almost jumped out of her body when she saw a woman sitting with her back to her on the hotel bed.

“What the fuck,” Ahli breathed when the woman turned her head to face her. “Sadie, you scared the hell out of me.”

“We thought to call, but then we figured the element of surprise would be better,” Rhonnie’s voice sounded, and she rounded the corner from the small kitchen in the suite. “So, surprise!”

Rhonnie held her hands up and wiggled her fingers. She was dressed in a nice tan suit with a blazer and red heels. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail broadcasting her cheekbones and chin definition. She looked so ridiculous moving her fingers around that Ahli almost laughed, but she was too busy trying to figure out how they’d gotten in her room. Actually, she wanted to know how they even found her.

“Your credit card is attached to my account, remember?” Sadie said, seeing the look of confusion on Ahli’s face.

The smile on Sadie’s face was kind, and Ahli shook her head sheepishly. For the most part, Sadie gave both women their privacy. So much so that Ahli had forgotten that their entire existence was attached to hers.

“I didn’t think you would need us until later today,” Ahli said, pulling a black suit and some lotion from her overnight bag, “but Brayland said you called him into work.”

“About that.” The smile on Sadie’s face turned into a serious line. “I sent him on a few runs, just as extra muscle. But honestly, I just needed him out of the way.”

“Out of the way for what?”

“I called a meeting for later, and I only want the two of you to attend it with me,” Sadie answered. “I want to make sure everything goes smoothly. Nothing like what happened yesterday.”

Sadie shot Rhonnie a look that made Ahli look at her too. Rhonnie shrugged her shoulders, but Ahli could tell by the malevolent smirk on her face that she’d done something ridiculous.

“Do I even want to know, NaNa?” Ahli asked with a raised brow, calling her sister by the nickname she’d given her when they were younger.

“I didn’t even do too much this time. I just used a machete on one of the dudes rolling with Cam, that’s all.”

“So you’re Madame now?” Ahli asked, making a face as she reflected on Madame’s killing methods. “I would have thought that after what happened, you wouldn’t want to play with knives.”

“Maybe if Sadie hadn’t paid for my complete facial and body reconstructive surgery, but now I’m good as new!” Rhonnie ran her hand down the side of her face.

Just by looking at the two of them, a person would never be able to tell that their bodies had once been covered in several cuts and gashes. They had to undergo a few surgeries, but in the end, there wasn’t even a blemish that stood out. Ahli just rolled her eyes at her sister and let the towel drop to the ground, not caring that she was standing there naked.

“It sounds like this is an important meeting,” she pondered aloud as she applied lotion to her body. “And if it’s so important, why are Rhonnie and I the only security detail you want to have? Usually you roll a few trucks deep to important things.”

“This is so important that I only want the two I trust the most with me,” Sadie said while she and Rhonnie exchanged a look.

“And why is that?”

“Vita E Morte is ready to be placed on the market,” Rhonnie answered.

Ahli stopped rubbing lotion on her leg mid-stroke. “W . . . what?” Ahli’s eyes were wide as she looked from Rhonnie to Sadie. “I didn’t think it would be ready so soon.”

“So soon?” Sadie asked, furrowing her brow. “My scientists in the lab in Azua have been working day and night for the past three years to perfect the drug. It’s finally ready. I’ll be presenting it to potential buyers today.”

“Are you sure it’s the right time?” Ahli asked, getting dressed into her form-fitting suit. “I mean, I thought business has been doing well.”

“If there’s one thing you should know about me by now, it’s that th. . .