The Cartel - Ashley Antoinette Snell [2]
Meanwhile, Polo had pulled out his 9 mm and began to return fire. He had managed to keep the Haitians off long enough for the rest of The Cartel to come and help.
As the two crews traded bullets, many people got caught in the crossfire. The scene was a total bloodbath, with dead bodies sprawled out across the steps of the courthouse.
Carter, totally disregarding his own safety, tried his best to cover his two favorite girls from the raining bullets.
The police officer who had escorted Carter out of the courtroom shot at the Haitians. “Come on! Follow me,” he yelled. He looked at Carter and waved his hand, signaling them to follow him.
Carter hated police, but at that moment he was happy to see one. He gathered up Taryn and Breeze and followed the officer back into the courthouse.
“I parked my police car in the back. Come on! They’ll be coming in here after you any second now,” the cop said as he closed the courthouse door.
“Let’s go, y’all,” Carter yelled in a panicked voice to his wife and daughter as they followed the policeman down the stairs and into the basement.
Carter thought about his sons outside, but he knew they could hold their own. His main concern was the women. They raced through the court halls and finally made it to the exit. Just as the cop said, he had his squad car parked in the back. Carter felt relieved. They all got in, and he frantically searched his wife’s and daughter’s body, making sure they were okay. “Are you hit? Are you guys okay?” he asked as he continued to search their bloodstained clothes. He realized that the blood was not from them, but from all the blood flying from the other people.
“No, I’m good, Poppa,” Breeze answered, tears flowing down her face, her hands shaking uncontrollably.
“I’m okay,” Taryn said.
Carter hugged and kissed them both and thanked God that they were okay. His concern now was for his sons. He looked up at the cop that sat in the front seat and said, “Thanks, bruh. Look, I need you to take them to safety while I go back and—”
Boom!
Before Carter could finish his sentence, the cop put a hollow-tip through his head, his blood and brains instantly splattering all over his wife’s and daughter’s face as he stared with dead eyes.
In total shock, both of the women yelled, “Noooo!”
The cop pulled off his hat, and his short dreadlocks fell loosely. He pointed the gun at Carter’s body and filled him with four more bullets, ensuring that the job was done. The screams of the women didn’t seem to bother him as he smiled through the whole process. The man wasn’t a cop at all, but a full-blooded Haitian that could pass for a regular joe, his light skin disguising his heritage.
He pointed his gun at Taryn, and she looked directly in his eyes, unafraid of death, while Breeze gripped her father and cried hysterically. The Haitian couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger and hopped out the car.
This was the beginning of a war.
Welcome to The Cartel . . . first of a trilogy
Chapter One
“Girl, females are going to hate, regardless. That’s how you know you’re that bitch.”
—Taryn Diamond
Seven Years Earlier
Carter sat at the head of the table with both of his hands folded into each other. He briefly stared at each of his ten head henchmen in the face as he looked around the table, then to his right-hand man Polo, who sat to his right. As he always did, Carter took his time before speaking. He always chose his words carefully and spoke very slowly with his deep baritone voice. He poured Dom into his oversized wine cup and took a sip.
“Family, today The Cartel has expanded. The days of hand-over-fist pay is over. It’s a new day, a new world, a new era. For the last ten years I have flooded the streets of Miami with the finest coke and built a monopoly. I love all of you as if you were my own blood. That’s why I’m giving you the opportunity to grow. You can’t hustle forever. I’ve recently acquired a real estate company, and this way we can turn all of this dirty money into clean money. I want all my niggas to eat with me.