Most Wanted by Nikki Turner, Kiki Swinson Page A

together,” Warren replied before he put me out of his car.
    Sidney’s first call came forty-five minutes after I did the deed with Warren. I had been dropped back to my car before the call came in. I picked up my cell phone with shaky hands. I closed my eyes and asked God to forgive me for everything I was doing.
    “Hello? Hey, baby,” I said with a phony voice. I could hear the nerves in my own words, but I don’t think Sidney did. I had to pull the phone away from my ear because Sidney was yelling so loud. A cold feeling came over me like I had been pushed into an icy river. My bottom lip trembled. I knew I was going to hell for this.
    “Gigi! Gigi!” he was screaming. I closed my eyes. I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath. I felt fucking awful inside.
    “Gigi . . . I need you to go into my safe at home!” Sidney sounded frantic and like he was crying. This shit was real, but I still pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t having a nightmare.
    “Sidney . . . why are you yelling? What is going on?” I asked, acting stupid.
    “Gigi!” Sidney cried out again. “Listen to me!!”
    “What?! Tell me what is going on! Stop calling my name and tell me what’s going on!” I yelled back. I needed to let my fear and frustration out, so this was the perfect cover.
    “Somebody has Arianna! Somebody snatched her! They said if I don’t give them four million dollars, she dies! They said if I go to the police, they will send me her body in a suitcase,” Sidney sobbed. He was coming completely undone. I felt my stomach drop. I closed my eyes and for just that minute, although I hated his kids, I felt kind of bad that this was all my doing. All to save my own ass from Warren.
    “Oh, my God, Sidney! I think we should go to the police!” I yelped real phony-like. I only said that because I knew that would be the logical thing to say if I weren’t down with the kidnapping. Any normal stepmother would say call the cops.
    “No! Absolutely not! I will give them every dime I have to save my daughter’s life!” Sidney screamed at me. That kind of made me feel bad. He really was a good person.
    “Okay. Okay. Whatever you think is best,” I quickly agreed, relieved that he wasn’t going to mess up the plan by involving the police. I knew he was smarter than that.
    “Calm down and tell me the safe combination,” I told him. Sidney had never trusted me enough before now to give me the combination to the safe that held his money. I was thinking good for his ass for not trusting me, but I kept my smart remarks to myself. Who knew this would be the circumstances it took to get into that damn big money safe. I had often wondered just how much money Sidney kept inside of the safe. I guess I was about to find out. Sidney rattled off the numbers and I punched them in on the safe’s digital lock pad. It didn’t work the first time.
    “Are you sure you gave me the right numbers?” I asked. I heard Sidney breathe hard into the phone. “Honey, calm down and think first,” I told him. He rattled off another number combination. I punched those in and the little red light finally turned green on the safe. I turned the heavy metal knob and heard the lock give with a click. It was finally open. I pulled back the door to reveal the contents. My eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas when I pulled back that door and saw all of the cash Sidney had inside. I felt flush being exposed to that money. Money was the root of all evil, and trust me, all kinds of evil thoughts were running through my head at that moment.
    “This muthafucka is truly fucking rich,” I mouthed silently. I grabbed a few of the stacks of cash out of the safe, held them up to my nose, and inhaled deeply. The smell of the money was intoxicating to say the least. It was the smell of freedom. I was in a stupor. I felt nostalgic holding that money. It was like old times again when I had my own money. I forgot I was even on the phone with Sidney, that’s how