Angelina Davis.

She was here.

The one person I had been dying to speak with.

When she motioned to sit down next to me on the bench, I nodded.

Now that I had her within my sights, I was at a loss for words. It wasn’t like we had the best history. And we certainly were not friends. She had been nothing but a bitch to me from the moment I first met her. But there were some questions I needed to ask.

When I brushed my bangs to the side, I could still hear her original warnings to not get attached to Kelly. Angel cautioned me early on that Kelly would leave me after the first time we slept together, just as he did all the women who’d come before me.

Except that never happened. Kelly and I were only growing stronger by the day. And it wasn’t something only I could feel. Kelly reminded me with his actions, too, and I could only think that Angel’s notices were her desperate attempt at finding a way to get Kelly to look in her direction.

Glancing down at her thighs, I feared when she would strike next.

An uncomfortable silence settled between us and I wondered how she’d found me. Especially since my visit to the park to call Mom was a spontaneous stop before I got on with fulfilling Madam’s request.

Clearing my throat, I was intimidated by her beauty. She was dazzling. Her leather jacket and tight tank top did little to distract me from her perfectly proportioned face framed in sparkling, expensive jewelry. And even though she towered over me when standing, I felt like sitting here, side-by-side, somehow leveled the playing field and made us equals.

Turning my neck, I watched a couple of young children chasing each other around the slide. I admired their innocence, going about their day without a care to the world.

The silence settling between us only deepened as I struggled to come up with ways to break the ice.

There was so much I wanted to ask her. I wanted to speak to her as if we were friends. Had she heard about Tonya? Did she know how Tonya got hooked up with Timothy Parker? And would she also know who might have reason to want Tonya dead? My mind wrestled with these many questions and, instead of being open, communicative, and without worry of saying the wrong thing, in the end all I could say was, “I’m sorry.”

Angling her head toward me, her gaze landed on Madam’s package as she nodded.

Picking up my head, a tinted-windowed sedan slowed to a stop and parked on the opposite side of the playground. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, fearing that suddenly we were being watched.

“You two looked amazing at the party,” I whispered, wondering if Angel knew that Tonya was Madam’s girl.

My foot bounced as I twisted Kelly’s promise ring around my finger. I wanted to tell her what I’d seen. How Timothy could be behind Tonya’s death. But every time I opened my mouth, the words would get stuck in my throat. A part of me knew to be vigilant. Angel hadn’t earned my trust but I was eager to know what she knew.

Glancing back to the vehicle parked across the way, I noticed a window had been cracked open. A shadowy figure sat behind the dark window, the sun’s glare making it impossible to see who it was. Just when I was about to ask Angel if she knew who was watching us, she said, “Look, Kendra I’m here because you need to know about this.”

I followed her finger subtly pointing to the package resting against my thigh between us. Pulling it away I hugged it to my chest, not wanting her to get too close.

Her eyes landed on me for the first time since arriving. “Do you even know what’s inside?”

I knew. But I lied anyway. “No.”

She clucked her tongue. “It’s money. Lots of money.”

I cast my gaze down and sized up the package as if I didn’t already know.

Without taking her gaze off of me she said, “Madam is having you launder it.”

My brows pinched as my entire body froze. I couldn’t look her in the eye. Didn’t have anything to say. I opened my ears and waited to see what else she was willing to dish out before responding.

“Any guesses as to why?”

Feeling trapped with nowhere to go, I distracted myself by glancing at my cell phone. Filled with hope that my ride would be arriving soon, I wanted nothing more than to have Angel keep quiet about what I was unknowingly doing for Madam. With my heart hammering in my chest, I was stunned that Angel knew any of this.

I rolled my eyes to her and quickly looked away when they landed on hers.

The less I knew the better. Glancing to my phone, I prayed Kelly would call. I needed to be reassured that I was imagining things. That everything was going to be all right. Standing, I said, “I’m sorry but I have to go.”

“Do you think Madam gave Kelly to you without receiving something in return?”

Angel’s words stopped me in my tracks. Slowly, I lifted my head, coming to the realization that Angel wasn’t the escort. Tonya was. I’d had it all wrong when I asked Angel who she worked for at Lemon’s party, and now I wondered what else I’d gotten wrong.

Slowly, I turned to face her. “You knew Tonya was working for Madam?”

Her brows flickered. “Kendra, get out while you still can.”

Turning to look over my shoulder, the car I thought was watching us was still there. “Why are you telling me any of this?”

Standing, Angel stuffed her hands inside her jacket pocket and came to stand next to me. “I don’t want to see you get caught up in something that doesn’t concern you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I looked away, hiding my damp eyes, and sighed.

“And, if you’re curious,” her words floated over my shoulder and into my ear, “trust me when I say that Madam won’t get what she is after.”

I didn’t even know what Madam was after. Nor did I care to know. “All I ever wanted was to have my chance with Kelly.”

“At what cost?”

My head snapped up to look at her.

“Even your time with Kelly is ticking away. What will you do when you can’t have him?” She glanced to the package still tightly clutched to my chest.

My brows furrowed as I scrambled to understand. “How do you even know—”

“About your contract?” She chortled. “The same way I knew you were the one to be assisting Madam with her money laundering.”

My vision blurred and I withdrew into my head.

“Your relationship with Kelly won’t last past that agreement. Even if Madam okayed it, which she won’t, Kelly Black is too broken to have a relationship. And trust me when I say, girl, you don’t need the extra baggage he comes with.”

Now I knew she was here to throw me off course. This wasn’t about Tonya. Or a warning for me to keep vigilant. Like all the times before, her tracking me down today was to make me doubt my relationship with Kelly.

My feet started moving, but I couldn’t take my eyes away from her.

“Things are happening around you and you don’t even seem worried,” Angel called after me.

I turned toward the vehicle I thought was spying on us just as it was driving away.

“You should be.”

Tonya was dead. So was Maria. Girls with ties to people I knew and associates I was working with. Of course I was worried. Frightened I could be next. But what could I do? There was nothing. Not without a solid plan going forward, and without Kelly’s assistance, I was stuck in the crosshairs. The same place I’d always been.

Suddenly my phone vibrated with a message. My insides jumped and I knew my ride had arrived. “I have to go.”

“This isn’t a game, Kendra.” Angel raised her voice as I hurried away. “You think those deliveries are innocent, but you don’t know the half of it. I’m serious, Kendra. If you’re not careful, I have little doubt you’ll end up just like Tonya.”

My pulse raced as I ran away with thoughts that any day could be my last.