Podbit · The Hidden Third
A rival crew tracked Nikki to use her as leverage for a robbery. A machete on the table. A secret cell phone call from the bathroom. A locked door. Two women, exhausted and armed, waiting to see if the crew came back. They didn't.
Where this was said
At 35:10 · chapter starts 35:00
The phone call came from someone who walked the line between the drug world and law enforcement — enough to know that federal agents had arrived specifically for Nikki. The only path was off the island, but even that would have meant a life on the run. Her first move was practical: she found a club kid who cut and dyed her hair, changing her appearance entirely. Then she made her way to Roxy's, staying low, knowing it couldn't last. Other people reached out claiming they could help; she felt sketchy about most of them. One, she decided, was worth the risk. She walked into the meeting knowing, she says, that it was probably a setup. When the handcuffs went on, she wasn't even surprised. 'Of course,' was her internal response. The person who set her up owed a favor and needed a ticket out of their own trouble. Nikki holds no lasting anger. 'Everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to,' she says, and she means it.
When federal agents landed to arrest her, Nikki dyed her hair, changed her clothes, and hid. But she was on an island — there was nowhere to go. When someone offered help, she walked into the meeting knowing it was a setup. She wasn't even surprised when the handcuffs went on.
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