Three The Hard Way Read online

  THREE

  THE HARD WAY

  BY

  ROY GLENN

  Escapism

  Entertainment

  Discover other titles by Roy Glenn:

  Killing Them Softly; An Erotic Tale of Murder

  The Cost of Vengeance

  Commit To Violence

  Three The Hard Way

  Private Deceptions

  The Mike Black Saga, Book One

  The Mike Black Saga: MOB

  Beneath The Surface

  Coming Soon . . .

  An Urban Drama

  The Playa Chronicles

  All About The Money

  Out of Control

  Going Down; An Erotic Tale of Murder

  The Mike Black Saga Book Two

  Escapism Entertainment

  1038-5 Dunn Avenue

  # 30

  Jacksonville, FL 32218

  Copyright © 2010 by Roy Glenn

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-982-73160-4

  ISBN-10: 0-982-73160-4

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locals are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.

  Bury Me Deep

  In Your Arms

  The Wrong Man

  Bury Me Deep

  By Roy Glenn

  Copyright © 2009 Roy Glenn

  Chapter One

  Mike Black

  For Monika Wynn it was starting to feel like old times as she climbed over the wall and dropped down. She had been a part of an army special operations unit along with her partners, the late James "Jett" Bronson and Nick Simmons. Those days, Monika’s specialty was munitions, but she excelled in weapons, commando tactics, electronic surveillance, and computer operations. Now, she did jobs that required her skills and paid very well. This job fit that description.

  On the ground waited Travis Burns; the feeling was the same for him. There was a time when Travis planned, and he and his old partners, Jackie Washington and the late Ronnie Grier, executed high-tech robberies. They robbed banks, grocery stores, jewelry stores, and anything else they could hit quick and come away with a large return for their investment of time. His team was organized, prepared, and over all else, disciplined. The third member of the team was me.

  My business is gambling, number running, extortion and prostitution. But now, thanks to Wanda, we are making the move to become legitimate. Our legit businesses include interests in finance, real estate, restaurants, funeral services, and small businesses—too numerous to name.

  Monika and Travis work for me; and I like to keep up with what they’re doing to give my approval and to ensure that I get my cut.

  Because of her unique set of skills, Monika had become my secret weapon—my own personal assassin—handling all the little things that Freeze used to do and so much more. Freeze was murdered by Mylo; a rogue DEA agent whose real name was Clint Harris. Before his death, Freeze ran the day-to-day operation. In a move that surprised everybody, including Nick, and angered a few, I reached out to Nick Simmons to take over. Even though everybody knows I still called the shots, there are some who don’t think Nick is up to the job, and some of those believed that Nick was responsible for Freeze’s death. But I trust Nick. And for that reason alone, it made Nick the only man for the job.

  I had to have somebody I could trust in that spot while I focused my attention on legitimate business and my political connections, courtesy of new US Congressman Martin Marshall. But lately, I’ve gotten restless and bored. So when Monika came to me with this job that she was hired for, it peaked my interest. "What you got?" I asked Monika the day her and Travis came to tell me about the job.

  "It’s a hit," Monika began. "Money’s right, and as a bonus we’ll get access to a bunch of Swiss bank account codes."

  "I’m listening."

  "We’ll go in, eliminate any opposition we run into, locate the objective, terminate him and then Travis will go after the account codes."

  "How much opposition do you think you’ll run in to?" I asked. There are times when Monika has a tendency to think she can take on the world.

  "No way to be sure. My intel says that it may be as few as three or as many as ten."

  "You plannin’ on just the two of you taking out ten guys?"

  "We’ll recruit somebody to go in with us," Travis told me.

  "Who? Jackie?" I asked and looked at Travis. He looked at Monika. It seems they had already had that discussion.

  "We might use her in the operations phase, monitoring movement in and out of the house. But Jackie’s a driver, not a shooter," Monika said, knowing that Jackie had major issues the last time she had to kill a man. "We’ll find somebody good. Trust me. I know some people I can go to for this type of job."

  "Alarms; cameras?"

  "I already got a copy of the architect’s original floor plan and appraised any electronic surveillance or security systems they have in place. So that won’t create a problem," Travis advised.

  "Like I said, we go in, eliminate, get the codes, and we out. Clean and easy," Monika said confidently.

  "What do you think, Black?" Travis asked, looking for my approval.

  "You covered all the bases. Sounds like fun," I said.

  "Why don’t you come along?" Monika asked me that day. "I know you tired of playin’ legit businessman."

  "I might just do that."

  So it was set.

  On the day of the job, Travis hacked into the objectives security system remotely and shutdown all the alarm systems before we went in. He then programmed a five-second repeating loop of all the designated areas, so all the monitors displayed the same five seconds. That way, anyone looking at the monitor wouldn’t see us coming or moving through the house.

  Jackie’s assignment was to remain in the van to watch with a satellite generated three-dimensional, thermal image of the house and monitor our communications. She could hear what was going on with the use of a parabolic microphone that magnifies distant sounds. That device allowed Jackie to locate the source of a sound and suppress background noises. It was capable of amplifying signals up to seventy-five times that of a normal omni-directional microphone. From that position, she could monitor movement inside the structure. The red lines on her monitor represent walls so Jackie would be able to see each room in the house. The red dots represent everybody in the house.

  "How will I be able to tell you from them?" Jackie asked Monika.

  "We’ll have special tags that will change our thermal signatures so you can tell us apart. Once we get inside, you’ll see three moving indicators that will look like this," Monika said and activated her tag. "One will be me, one will be Travis, and the other will be Black. I’m Alpha, Travis is Beta, Black is Gamma, and you’ll be Omega."

  "So we ready to do this?" I asked.

  "Give us a sound check, Jackie," Monika barked.

  "Alpha?"

  "Check one, check two," Monika replied.

  "Acknowledged; Beta?"

  "Sound check, one, two," Travis said.

  "Acknowledged; Gamma?" Jackie said and winked at me. Lately our relationship had gone beyond just her running a gambling spot for me. At this point me, Jackie, and her girlfriend Vonda had gotten intensely physical.

  "Check," I said and put one in the chamber.

  "Let’s do it," Monika said and went over the wall.

  From her position in the van Jackie was able to identify that th
ere were eight people inside the house. There was one man at the gate and one walking the property. With her night-vision goggles on, Monika spotted the one walking the property. She took aim with her rifle, equipped with a silencer, and dropped him with one shot. While she looked out, me and Travis moved his body out of the way and then we approached the house.

  "Alpha to Omega," Monika said.

  "Go ahead," Jackie responded.

  "Where are they?"

  "Two of them are in a large room, and three more are in a smaller room next to it." Jackie looked at the floor plan. "According to this floor plan, the large room is the living room and the smaller room is the kitchen. Three are upstairs—two in a bedroom and one in the hallway outside the door."

  "Acknowledged."

  "Recommend that you enter through the window on the back side of the structure and make your approach down the hall to the opposition," Jackie advised.

  "Acknowledged."

  "Good," Travis said. "If I’m right that’s where the computer and the codes are."

  "Okay. Once we’re in, you get to work on gettin’ those codes, and me and Black will handle the rest."

  "Acknowledged," Travis said.

  The three of us made our way to the window and went in. As he expected, the computer was there, and Travis went to work on it. Monika went to the door and peeked out into the hallway. She turned to me. "Hallway is clear. You ready for this?"

  "Right behind you," I said.

  "I’ll take the three men in the kitchen. The two guys in the living room are yours."

  "Got it," I said and followed Monika into the hallway. We made our way down the hall to the unsuspecting opposition.

  When we reached the open area, Monika tossed a flash grenade in the living room and then she moved toward the kitchen while I went in the living room. The sudden flash of light and loud noise distracted the two men in the living room and before they could react, I fired two shots to their chests and then one apiece to the head.

  Hearing the commotion, the three men in the kitchen began to move toward the living room, but Monika was there waiting. She hit the first two that came out of the kitchen and then she went in after the third man. Monika fired two more shots as she passed the fallen opposition.

  "Upstairs sentry on the move, headed in your direction," Jackie announced.

  "I got him, Omega," I said and moved toward the steps.

  Monika went in the kitchen and didn’t see anybody. "Where is he, Omega?"

  "Dining room; to the left of the doorway. If you go around to the other side of the living room, you may be able to get a cleaner shot at him."

  "Acknowledged," Monika said and came out of the kitchen. She made her way around as Jackie recommended. He never saw her coming. Monika entered the room, fired two shots, and he was down.

  "First floor secure," she reported.

  "Acknowledged, Alpha," Jackie said.

  I waited in a doorway for the upstairs sentry to come down. Once he reached the first level and passed me, I moved out and caught him with two to the back of his head. "Sentry is down. I’m goin’ up."

  "Negative, Gamma. Hold your position until I get there," Monika barked.

  "Right," I said and waited for her.

  "Report, Omega," Monika said.

  "Objective’s position remains unchanged."

  "Acknowledged," Monika said and joined me at the bottom of the steps.

  "After you," I said and extended my hand graciously.

  Monika smiled and moved up the steps quickly, and I gladly followed right behind her. Monika has one of the prettiest asses I’ve ever seen. Once we reached the door, Monika stepped aside and extended her hand graciously. "After you."

  I centered myself and kicked in the door. Monika went through the door quickly and found a very surprised couple in the bed. She shot both of them, and then approached the bed to make sure she had eliminated the objective. "That’s him. Clean and easy. Let’s see how Travis is doing." Monika fired two more shots at the objective before turning to me.

  "After you—big ass," I said, and Monika walked past me.

  "Maybe someday you’ll do something with it."

  "Be careful what you ask for. You just might get it," I said and followed Monika down the stairs.

  "Promises, promises," she said. And we went back in the room where Travis was working. "Status?"

  "Almost there. Once I’m in, I’ll transmit the account codes to Omega."

  "Make it quick," Monika said and turned to me. "Come with me. You can watch my back. I know how much you enjoy that," she said quietly as she passed me.

  While Travis completed his part of the job, Monika planted explosive devices in strategic locations around the house. It wasn’t too much longer before Travis had broken the encryption and transmitted the codes to Jackie. We left the house, returned to the truck, and Jackie drove off. Once we were out of range, Monika activated the explosives and blew up the house. The fire could be seen from miles away.

  Chapter Two

  Jackie dropped me and Monika off at Cuisine, the supper club I own and operate my businesses from. When she drove off, me and Monika started walking toward the club. "You weren’t bad tonight," she said. "I might use you again."

  "As long as the money is right, maybe you could use me again."

  "Shit, you the one making all the money on this job. I gotta give you your taste, plus pay you for the job."

  "Yeah," I said. As we got close to the building we were startled by a voice in the shadows.

  "Black! Mike Black! Time to settle our business!"

  The man moved into the light and I could see that it was Crazy Joe Delfino. Back in the day, Joe used to do jobs with Angelo Colette. Me, Angelo, and Joe were supposed to hijack a load of cigarettes from a truck at the Molly Pitcher service area on the New Jersey Turnpike. Me and Angelo got there late, so Crazy Joe did the job alone. He was arrested by Newark police at the tollbooth when he got off the turnpike.

  Crazy Joe found out later that me and Angelo were late because we stopped to rob a jewelry store to settle an argument on the way to the job.

  "I ain’t scared of shit, Mikey. You fuckin’ know that shit," Angelo boasted as we drove to New Jersey to meet Joe.

  "All I’m sayin’ is I like to plan a job before I do it. That don’t make me scared; that makes me careful," I told Angelo that day.

  "You won’t do it ’cause you’re scared, Mikey. Scared ’cause you don’t know what you’re walkin’ into. Me, I don’t give a fuck. I’m ready for whatever they got in there."

  "Fuck you, Angee. And fuck that dumb shit you talkin’. We just passed a jewelry store ’bout a block ago. If you such a bad mutha fucka, turn this car around and go rob the mutha fucka."

  "Never challenge me, Mikey. You know better. You know I will turn this heap around and do that shit, but we gotta meet Crazy Joe."

  "What’s that I smell? Is it pussy in here I smell? ’Cause it sounds to me like somebody’s scared," I taunted.

  "I ain’t scared of shit, Mikey; and I ain’t no fuckin’ pussy," Angelo said and made a U-turn. Angelo double-parked the car in front of the store. "You comin’ with me, chicken shit?"

  "Let’s go," I said and got out of the car.

  The robbery went off without any problems, but we got stuck in traffic coming across the George Washington Bridge. When we got to the service area, we found Joe’s car, but no Joe. Angelo found out the next day that Joe was arrested. At his trial he was sentenced to ten years. Crazy Joe blamed me for him getting arrested and vowed to kill me because I knew I shouldn’t have challenged Angelo.

  When Crazy Joe began moving toward me, Monika reached for her gun. "Stay outta this, Monika," I said and handed her my gun. I started walking toward Crazy Joe with my arms extended. "You gonna shot me, Joe? Go ahead. I ain’t got no gun."

  "Bullshit, Black! You always packin’."

  "Not tonight, Joe. Just got through takin’ care of some business, and I had to ditch mine." I
held open my coat. "Look; no guns."

  "Doesn’t matter. We gonna settle this tonight."

  "Come on with it then. But you don’t wanna shoot me, Joe. You wanna kick my ass and wrap your hands around my throat and choke the shit outta me."

  Crazy Joe dropped his gun and began running toward me. He tackled me; and the two of us fell to the ground. We rolled around in the street for a while before I got on top and hit Joe several times in the face.

  Monika took out her gun and watched us fight it out; and I knew that she was ready to shoot Joe if things got out of hand.

  Crazy Joe was a big mutha fucka and strong as hell. He pushed me off him, got to his feet, and rushed me again. I stepped aside, grabbed Joe, and rammed him into a car. Crazy Joe wasn’t fazed. He came at me again, fists flying. We traded blows until Joe went down. Joe got up and came after me again.

  Joe picked up a garbage can and threw it. I ducked and it missed me, but it gave Joe a chance to get on top of me. Again, the two of us exchanged blows until this time it was me that went down. Crazy Joe stood over me and kicked me a few times. But then I punched Joe in the groin and got up.

  With Joe dazed, I hit him with lefts and rights to his face, and then threw a shot to the stomach that took the wind outta Joe. But Joe rushed at me again and we both went to the ground. I pushed Joe off and got to my feet. "Come on!" I yelled.

  Joe got up and rushed at me like a raging bull. I stepped to the side and caught Joe with another hard shot to the gut. Joe doubled over and grabbed his stomach. I delivered a knee lift to Joe’s face. Crazy Joe went down hard.

  I stood over him, tired and breathing hard. "Get up, Joe. Let’s finish this!"

  But instead of getting up Crazy Joe started laughing. "I’m too fuckin’ tired to get up."