Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless by Noire, Kiki Swinson Page B

and your accountant are the only ones who can save him. We want three million in cash ... no later than tomorrow or he dies,” Eric growled through the voice modulator.
    I bolted upright in the chair. I looked at Eric like he was losing his fucking mind. That request wasn’t what we had discussed. I knew better.
    When Eric slammed the phone down I started in on him. “I thought we were asking for one million dollars! Three million is too much for them to get up in one day! My father doesn’t keep that much money on hand. That kind of money he would have tied up in assets and investments. His regular bank accounts total up to about one million. That is why I gave you that number, Eric!” I yelled at him. I knew he had already crossed the line. He had not even warned my mother about the police or anything. Eric was botching the whole plan, starting with the stupid murder he had committed for no reason! He wasn’t the smart street-savvy guy I took him to be. In fact, I was now convinced that he was just plain fucking stupid.
    “Too fuckin’ bad. Look around. You think I own a warehouse and voice machines? You don’t think I gotta hit these niggahs off with loot for snatching ya pops up? I need money to pay for all of this shit too, Megan! Niggahs are officially on the payroll for this bullshit ... this plan that you came up with. Ain’t no fuckin’ turning back now,” Eric boomed, waggling his finger in my face. It was no use. We were in too deep now. I flopped back down in the chair and just stared at the floor. I couldn’t even think straight.
     
    Ten hours had passed, and we had not gotten a call back from my mother or my father’s accountant. I had shot up twice and the drugs had worked to keep my mind off everything that was happening. Eric was on edge. He was barking orders at people and he kept pacing around. Eric kept me so high that I didn’t think much about the situation. But he was stressing out about it. I could tell he was worried that everything wouldn’t go down as planned. He had made some very powerful people in the streets a promise of a lot of cash for their help with the ransom plot and now he had to deliver or else he knew he would never be able to show his face on the streets again. Things got far worse when one of his cronies brought a small TV to the warehouse. He had contacted Eric and told him that he wanted Eric to see the news. We all huddled around the television. Apparently, the story was out, which didn’t do anything for the palpable tension around the warehouse and surely nothing for my nerves. I was biting my already eaten down fingernails as I listened to the reporter’s words.
    “The search for Virginia Beach businessman Gavin Rich continues. Police say Rich’s wife reportedly has not seen or heard from her husband since he left for work this morning. Police found Rich’s longtime administrative assistant, Yvette Everett, dead in Rich’s office with one gunshot wound to the head. Police do not speculate that Rich murdered his assistant, but they are not ruling out the possibility. Police tell us it is too early in the investigation to speculate about motive or whether the murder can be tied to Mr. Rich’s disappearance. The Rich family has not released a statement at this time. We will continue to follow this story.”
    None of us said anything for a minute. I couldn’t believe that they were even entertaining the idea that my father might’ve murdered Ms. Everett and disappeared. Why wouldn’t my mother tell the police that she had gotten a call? Did she want my father to look like he had committed a murder and run away? These were all of the thoughts running through my head when they were interrupted by Eric, of course.
    “Your mother ain’t so stupid after all, huh, rich girl? She obviously didn’t tell the police about our call.... That’s good. That means we should be getting some money today then, doesn’t it?” He asked his rhetorical question like I had