“So what now?” Charlie asked.
“What now? You just chill, keep a low profile, and let us handle it.”
“How?”
Mona shot a hard stare at Charlie. “You don’t need to worry about the how. Just know that things will be taken care of.”
Charlie wanted to believe her.
Mona already knew about the New Jersey case, but the New York rape case was news to her.
Mona went to her impromptu bar and poured Charlie a shot of tequila and told her to relax and have a drink. Charlie downed the tequila and wanted another shot.
“There’s nothing to fret over, Charlie. It’s fuckin’ New Jersey,” Mona said. “I’ll have some people look into the case and see what new developments there are.”
“I would appreciate that.”
Mona smiled. “Listen, we look out for our own. We won’t let you fall.”
Charlie smiled.
Mona started to roll up a blunt. She wanted Charlie to relax. However, Mona felt that Charlie was now becoming more of a liability than an asset. She needed to have a meeting with other members of the organization. They needed to make a decision.
***
Mona pulled up to the New Jersey warehouse at dusk and climbed out of her BMW. She had called a special meeting with the other eight members of the organization. She entered the warehouse and saw she was the last one to arrive. The other officers were there and waiting. Everyone took a seat at the round table to discuss Charlie’s future with them.
“She’s becoming a liability to us, and with everything that’s going on, can we afford the risk?” Mona asked them.
“What’s the alternative, Mona?” Captain Halstead asked her.
“The only alternative there is to this kind of situation,” Mona replied.
“So, you want us to have Charlie killed because of speculations against her right now?” Lieutenant Davis chimed.
“Can we afford to keep her around?” said Mona.
“She’s bringing in a lot of money,” Lieutenant Graham mentioned.
“More money than all the others combined, Mona. She’s profitable, smart, and she’s been loyal so far,” Sergeant Whyte added.
“But the investigation against her is heating up. She’s becoming nervous, maybe too nervous for my taste, and with nervousness always comes recklessness,” said Mona.
She continued to explain in detail what they were up against, especially if New Jersey decided to move forward with prosecuting Charlie.
“Are you sure it’s not paranoia on your end?” asked Sergeant Whyte.
“I’m just concerned,” she replied.
“As we should be,” replied Lieutenant Graham.
“Then we need to come to a vote,” Mona said.
Before Ahbou’s death, there were ten members. If their vote was tied 5-to-5, then it would be the call of the founding member who had vouched for that person. Now there were only nine of them, so there would be no ties.
The process started, and the count was eight against one. Mona was the only person who wanted Charlie dead. The others decided to give her a stay of execution.
Ironically, Mona, the only female and supposed friend of Charlie, voted to murder her—yet, the remaining eight men didn’t see it her way. Mona knew that if Charlie wasn’t so uniquely beautiful and profitable for them, then she would have been a dead bitch.