After Hours by Rochelle Alers Read Free Book Online

projects, but his criminal network stretched far beyond its boundaries.
    â€œSpeak.” The single word was a whisper.
    Her eyebrows lifted when hearing the unorthodox greeting. “You wanted me to call you.”
    â€œI want to talk to you.”
    â€œIsn’t that why you gave me your number?” Adina countered.
    â€œBitch, you know I don’t like phones.”
    A wave of fire burned its way into her face. “Call me a bitch again and I’m going to hang up.” She still hadn’t heard from Karla King and her mood swings vacillated from hope to rage, and when she’d gotten up earlier that morning it was to a haze of rage—that had made it difficult for her to draw a normal breath.
    â€œYou hang up on me and I’ll do more than fuck up your grandmother’s place.”
    â€œFuck with my grandmother and I swear I’ll dime your ass out.” She hadn’t lied to Payne. Fear and concern for Dora made her reckless and vindictive enough to give Payne up to the police, but only if she’d be able to cut a deal.
    Payne laughed softly. “You know what they say about snitches.”
    â€œYeah, I know. Snitches get stitches,” Adina drawled recklessly. “I ain’t scared of you, Payne.”
    â€œI know you ain’t, because you know too much about my business. We need a face-to-face. I want you to meet me in Jersey.” His tone had softened considerably.
    Her heart leaped in her chest. Did he know where she was? Had someone seen her and reported back to him? “When and where in New Jersey?” she asked, praying it wasn’t Atlantic City.
    â€œSunday. Twelve noon. Meet me near the grandstand at the Old Bridge Township Raceway in Englishtown. Do you know how to get there by yourself?”
    â€œI’ll find it.” She had gone there once with one of her marks to attend a car show.
    Those were the last words she said, because Payne hung up on her. She didn’t know why he wanted to see her but knew that if she didn’t meet him, he would have his people hurt or kill her grandmother.
    Adina understood Payne Jefferson better than anyone in the projects, with the possible exception of his mother. At thirty-seven, he stood five-three and weighed about one-twenty, and as a boy he’d been taunted relentlessly by the neighborhood children, who’d called him Tiny, Pee-Wee, Spud and Half-Pint. The taunting stopped after he’d hit a much larger boy with a baseball bat, opening his head like an overripe melon.
    Although sixteen, he was tried as an adult and sentenced to five years in a minimum-security prison. After he was paroled, he came back to the projects, went into semi-seclusion and devised a master plan to exact revenge on every criminal who reminded him of the inmates who’d abused and shamed him to assuage their sexual perversions.
    Although Adina had heard the rumors about Payne’s celebrated temper, she’d found herself drawn to him because he was an older man. He liked her because, at five-two and one hundred three pounds, she complemented him physically. They were never seen together publicly because he always arranged for them to meet outside their Brooklyn neighborhood. Their relationship was advantageous to both because Payne got what he wanted and she got what she wanted without having to sleep with him.
    She’d agreed to meet him at the raceway because it was a public place. There wasn’t much he could do to her in front of hundreds of witnesses.

CHAPTER 11
    A dina arrived at the Old Bridge Township Raceway forty-five minutes before she was scheduled to meet Payne. She ignored the curious and admiring stares from men as she made her way to the grandstand area.
    It was mid-May, early-morning temperatures were already in the seventies and it’d taken hours for her to travel from Irvington to Englishtown on public transportation. If she’d continued to work for Payne, she