My mother was perfect for the job. I would’ve been, once upon a time when I was pretty, with my perfectly straight white teeth and my blemish-free skin tone with its beautiful glow. I was quietly upset that I might never look the same again after everything I’d suffered through.

  “I need a shower and sleep,” I huffed, kicking off my sneakers and unzipping my hoodie. All of the bending, ducking, and running in the past twenty-four hours had me aching all over.

  “Yeah, I feel you. You can go to sleep. I’ll be up. I want to watch the news and see if they’re saying anything about you,” Sandra said.

  “You know we can’t stay here long, right? A few winks and we gotta go,” my mother chimed in.

  “Yeah, I know,” I grumbled. I couldn’t stop thinking of my promises to Lisa and to Lena and the girls. It was so hard to let that go. I felt like I had to do something more.

  “Don’t sound like that, Misty, we have to do what we have to do,” my mother said.

  I didn’t respond. I just shook my head and walked into the bathroom. I saw Sandra pick up the television remote and she clicked it on.

  “Damn, I knew this shit would be all over the news,” I heard her say.

  I rushed back out of the bathroom and stood at the threshold, watching the television. My heart sank as I listened.

  “Police and correction officials report that a convicted murderer, Misty Heiress, escaped from a maximum-security prison in Virginia today. In the brazen escape, it is suspected Heiress had inside help. Staff members at the facility are all being interviewed so officials can determine who inside assisted. Officials report that at least one prison staff member was found dead. Investigators say they cannot confirm or deny whether the staff member’s death was caused by Heiress or another staff member, at this time,” the journalist reported. “Police are scouring the area for Heiress. For now, the facility is locked down and the FBI has been called in to the prison to launch an investigation.”

  I listened to the reporter’s words and waves of nausea rolled through my stomach. I didn’t know if it was the excitement of knowing I had actually pulled off an escape or if it was the fact that killing the CO had exacted at least some revenge so far. My mother would’ve never approved of me killing anyone, even if it was to get away.

  I was so transfixed with the news that I didn’t even see the look I was getting from my mother.

  “Did you kill someone to get out of that prison, Misty?” she asked, her face folded into a confused frown. “I would hope not. We all have to answer to God one day.”

  “Look! Don’t ask me no questions about that. I had to do what I had to do. Would you rather I be dead and you never see me again? Sometimes things are inevitable, so don’t blame me,” I snapped as the knot of anger and anxiety in my chest finally unraveled. I hung my head as a quick pang of guilt came over me like a dark hood.

  “Blaming you? It’s not about blaming you. It’s about what’s morally right,” my mother fired back.

  I sighed loudly and shook my head. I looked over at Sandra and she just raised her eyebrows to let me know she wanted to stay out of it. I quickly shook off the feeling of dread and guilt that had trampled on my mood.

  Fuck it. What’s done is done, I thought.

  But then, I could hear my grandmother’s voice in my head: “You have a mission down there, Misty. There is something you have to do, so you need to go back and find out what it is.”

  She was right. The guilt of leaving Lisa and the girls behind was still gnawing at me. I know I needed to be careful, but I couldn’t help feeling like I had more to do.

  I lay awake in the hotel bed in silence and hardly able to sleep, although I should’ve been extremely exhausted. When the digital clock on the hotel nightstand finally read 4:00, I sat up in the bed like I’d been jolted with a shock of electricity.

  “Sandra, you asleep?” I whispered.

  “Mmmm,” Sandra moaned, and then sucked her teeth and turned over.

  I don’t know how Sandra and my mother slept so soundly, when I couldn’t get one minute of sleep. Worry, fear, anxiety—you name it, I was experiencing it.

  I got up from the bed and stretched the kinks out of my still-aching limbs. I wanted to make sure my mother and Sandra were sound asleep before I left the room. I knew it was a risky undertaking, and probably crazy as hell in a sane person’s eyes, but I couldn’t shake it.

  I had to do it, just like Lisa and I had planned. With me gone now, and no one to expose Dr. Clemons, or get the other girls out of there, all hope would be lost if I didn’t do something. Plus, I still felt like I had scores to settle back at the prison. It had taken months to put all of this in place and we did it, but there was still a huge void inside me.

  “I’m going to keep my promise,” I whispered under my breath with feeling.

  I still had everything in my head, just like we planned it. Once I could see Lisa’s face on the outside, it would go down how we wanted it. I had my head back in the game.

  I didn’t really want to part ways with my mother again, but I knew this time would be different. I smiled as I looked at her sleeping peacefully. She was going to be mad when she awoke and I wasn’t there, but that was okay. In the end, she would be proud of me when I did what I needed to do, which was to save a bunch of women from being used and abused.

  “I will be back, and I will make you proud,” I told her even though I knew I was playing Russian roulette. With all the things I’d done wrong in my life, I wanted to do something right. Something that could balance out my Karma.

  Then, as quietly as I could, I stepped out of the hotel room. I sucked in my breath because my nerves lit up as soon as the air hit my face. I surveyed the surroundings and then gave myself a quick pep talk.

  “Stick with the plan and this shit will all be over soon,” I told myself out loud.

  I was being crazy, I know, but I had a mission on my mind, and, honestly, nothing else mattered. I needed to make things right within myself and for those girls. The old selfish Misty had been replaced by a new person—a person who was going to end up as a hero. A person who was not going to let people like Dr. Clemons get away with murder . . . literally.

  20

  CARRYING OUT THE PLAN

  I cranked up the engine of Sandra’s car and I pulled out. I started toward where Lisa told me to rendezvous. I knew this was probably a bad idea, but after all of the risks I had already taken, it was just one more. Deep down inside, I was feeling like, What did I have to lose now?

  I looked over at the gun I had taken from Sandra and took comfort that I had the weapon at least. I wasn’t afraid to use it. What did I have to lose? The entire nation had already pegged me as a murderer, anyway. So, why not run with the myth? All that mattered was that I knew who I was and what I represented.

  I followed the road, making sure I played it safe. Shortly after I left the hotel, I pulled onto the highway, but I was paranoid. I could’ve sworn someone was following me. I had to make a quick, calculated decision and I did. I detoured because something inside me told me I was being trailed. I drove for a while and did a few jumps on and jumps off of exits, so that if someone was following me, they’d lose me. A few times, I really had to maneuver the car to make sure I was not seen. It was crazy. My nerves were frazzled as hell as I weaved in and out of traffic.

  Finally I exited the highway. I really had to keep letting other cars get in front of me to stay inconspicuous. I made it to the road Lisa had told me to get to. It appeared to be a private road. I had to actually stop and look around to make sure I wasn’t in the wrong place. The little private road led the way up to a house. The house was huge and it was nice from what I could see of the outside.

  I pulled onto a small road at the side of the property. I pulled close enough to see if Lisa was there, like she said she would be. I pulled over and stayed out of sight for a few minutes. A car stopped and I saw someone getting out, but I couldn’t tell if it was Lisa or not. I kept on watching. She tapped on the window. I jumped so hard, I hit my hand on the steering wheel. I got so scared, it made me sick to my stomach. When the door to the car opened, Lisa jumped inside.

  “Oh my God, you almost gave me a heart attack,” I huffed.

  “You did so good, Misty. I was so happy when you called me from Sandra’s cell phone to say you’d made it. Things at the prison are crazy right now,” she said. She was back to nice Lisa, which was good. While I was inside, sometimes I didn’t know what to expect from her.

  “What is this place?” I asked.

  “Dr. Clemons’s house,” she said stoically.

  “What?” I asked, sucking in my breath.

  “Yes, and you’ll see why I brought you here in a minute. I needed you to see what he’s doing now,” she said.

  Within a few minutes, I looked up and almost swallowed my tongue at what I was seeing. There was a line of girls being brought out of the house. They were all chained together so there was no way they could get out. They looked like animals being taken for slaughter. Some of them were staggering from the drugs they had probably been given, and the ones that were sober were being forced to keep the other girls on their feet.

  “Are you serious? He sneaks them out to his house?” I asked incredulously.

  “No, the prison sells them to him! He takes the ones he wants and does this, and others he does what he did to you,” she relayed.

  I was so fucking mad; I bit down on my lip until I drew my own blood. Dr. Clemons was a sick bastard, even on a level I had no idea about. He deserved to die, for sure.

  With my hands shaking, I immediately turned to Lisa and asked her a serious question. “Did you bring what you were supposed to bring?” My anger was coming across in my words.

  “Yes, I did, but we will be risking other lives if we do this,” she said, sounding concerned.

  “We knew this, though. We knew in order to get rid of him, someone would be at risk,” I said. As I was saying that, I saw a van pull up. I looked on with my eyes wide as the girls were loaded into the van. I could only imagine where they were taking them, but at least that meant those innocent girls would be out of the house when we exacted our plan on Dr. Clemons.

  “I’m glad he took them out. We have to hurry and then we have to get as far away from here as possible. It could all go bad. We just need to be swift setting things up,” Lisa said.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked. “I’m staying right here until I see it all go down, Lisa. Call me crazy or whatever you want. You can leave and go get help for the girls at the prison, but I have to see him die,” I said with feeling.

  “I think the feds are down with Dr. Clemons, so I don’t know how I’m going to get help,” she said.

  Her words hit me like a ton of bricks and my stomach immediately began cramping up.

  “These crooked-ass feds are the ones who sold me out and got me into all of this bullshit in the first place,” I muttered.

  “Listen to me. We will get this done and we can handle that part afterward. We have to do this, or there will be no other opportunity,” Lisa continued.

  “But I thought you said we had to wait for a certain time or something?” I asked. I couldn’t even think straight. All I could think about was my promise to Lena and Dana. That was going to be a thing of the past now. They would think I betrayed them if I didn’t send authorities to the prison. But what choice did I have? I couldn’t trust it. State agents had already turned on me once. I wasn’t letting that happen to me again.

  * * *

  “Misty, are you ready?” Lisa whispered, elbowing me in the ribs. “Wake up. Wake up.”

  I blinked rapidly and shook my head a little bit. I couldn’t even believe I had fallen asleep waiting. I touched my face.

  “I feel out of it,” I said. I whipped my head around to remind myself I was no longer trapped inside the prison. “But I’m up now,” I whispered back, getting my bearings. “This guy is taking mad long to come out, though. I’m sick of waiting, for real.”

  “I know, my nerves are on edge,” Lisa confessed.

  “Well, we are here now, so don’t get nervous about shit, and we will wait for days if we have to,” I said.

  Lisa nodded in agreement.

  The sun had come up in Dr. Clemons’s neighborhood and the area was alive with people. Lisa and I were getting nervous that someone would spot us parked in the shrubbery between Dr. Clemons’s house and his neighbor’s. The expansive backyards of the estates gave us some cover, but we knew if we got spotted, it would be all over for us. It was bad enough we looked like two burglars dressed in all black; all it would take is one nosy neighbor and our cover would be blown.

  Another hour passed before I saw any movement in front of Dr. Clemons’s house. I was the first one to notice.

  “Look,” I whispered, urging Lisa to pay attention. “Do you see what I’m seeing?”

  “Yes, that’s him,” Lisa said, like it was so obvious.

  “Yeah, but look,” I said, my words breaking off.

  Lisa’s jaw dropped slightly and her brows furrowed. My body stiffened and my breath caught in my throat. I swallowed hard and Lisa’s eyes went as round as saucers. For a few seconds, neither of us said anything. We just stared at what was unfolding in front of us.

  “He’s not by himself,” Lisa said, panic stringing through her words.

  “I can fucking see that,” I snapped, my lips turning white while my heart hammered against my chest bone. “I thought you said he didn’t have a wife or a family,” I spat.

  “I didn’t think he did. What are we going to do?” Lisa said, her voice forceful but shaky. “We can’t go through with it. Not now. Not like this. Could we?”

  “Argh! We gonna need to call this off. But I’m gonna get this bastard, just not like this!”

  Lisa glared at me. “It’s too late now. We can’t run out there and say, ‘Hi, Dr. Clemons, don’t get in your car because we rigged that shit with dynamite!’ ” Looking unsure, Lisa continued, “But the trap is laid. We can’t turn back or else everything we’ve been planning for is over. Our lives will be fucking over. It’s either us or him.”

  “You’re wrong, Lisa. We just gotta find a way to make sure he’s by himself when the car blows. We can’t let an innocent person just die like this,” I whispered back harshly, putting my hand on the door handle, preparing to open it.

  She grabbed my arm and pulled me back from opening the door. Pissed that Lisa had turned on me, I wasted no time getting in her face.

  “Lisa, you can’t be that fucking weak. We can’t go back on the plan now. We just gotta find a way to get that kid away from the car before it blows. No matter what, we are all in. You helped me and I could’ve kept it moving, but I came back and risked it all for this reason, and this reason only. You have to be smarter than this. You think this shit is just that easy? Just as hard as it was to plan, it’s even harder to stop it now. We didn’t just plan to blow some random nigga up. This is the fucking Devil. This the nigga who did unthinkable shit to me that we talking about here. What the hell? You act like you can’t fucking remember. Think about all the shit he did and then went home at night like he ain’t do nothing. Think about the sick acts you watched him perform on us, with no pain medication or anesthesia, how you watched girls bleed to death, pigs,” I gritted. My head swirled from a rush of adrenaline.

  “You can’t feel sorry for a piece of shit like him, Lisa. He didn’t give a fuck about you or me or them girls and still don’t,” I preached.

  “I know all of that, okay! But . . . ,” Lisa said, a hot stream of tears suddenly falling from her eyes.

  I sighed and shook my head. “I feel the same way, but I’m not gonna let this chance get away from us. Instead of worrying, let’s just hurry up and figure out a distraction so only Clemons is in the car.” I hated that she was wavering and showing any weakness, because it reminded me of just how cold I had become inside.

  “I know Clemons deserves to die, but I ain’t never deliberately killed no one before. It’s a sin and the karma will come back on us,” Lisa continued to press.

  I sucked my teeth. “I know. But I’m not leaving here until he’s dead,” I said flatly. I had told myself to take the emotion out of these actions. “I’m not going to let you fuck this up. This shit is going down. If you can’t stomach it, then don’t watch,” I said, turning my face away from Lisa.

  Lisa slumped in the car and turned her face away so she couldn’t see the front of Dr. Clemons’s house any longer. She put her hands over her ears in an attempt to drown out the sounds. I knew that what was about to happen was suddenly tearing Lisa up inside, but I also knew we had no choice now.

  “Lisa, it’s his fault this shit had to happen,” I said softly. “He did some unforgivable shit to us. We didn’t know someone else would be here, but if we go back on it now, I will end up locked up again and then he will do some cruel, animalistic shit to me again,” I reminded Lisa.

  She nodded her head in agreement, but she still didn’t turn back around to watch. I turned my attention back to watching Dr. Clemons, and tried to figure out how I could make sure he was in the car alone. The nervousness I had felt when I first saw him had faded into a burning vengeful hatred. Family or no family, Dr. Clemons had to die for everything that he’d done.

  Suddenly Shanta’s face flashed through my mind and my anxiousness to get the deed done increased. My chest heaved up and down now.

  Find a distraction. Don’t let the kid and wife get in the car, I chanted in my head; my fists were clenched tightly. I was so close to exacting revenge that I could feel every nerve in my body coming alive. But my revenge wouldn’t be right with a kid dying.

  I watched Dr. Clemons through squinted eyes as he threw his head back and laughed out loud. Even from a distance, his laugh sent chills down my spine.

  What man who is a father would do the things he did to us? I thought. A sick bastard like him don’t deserve a child or a wife or any family, for that matter.

  The little boy seemed happier than I could ever remember being in my life. The small kid ran around, baiting Dr. Clemons to catch him. The woman looked on at them, smiling.