The Mike Black Saga; Payback Read online

  "Then what’s up?"

  "Mike, I just can’t resist her."

  "You got it bad, son."

  "It was cool at first. Like I said, we would just hang out, talk shit, have a good time. We weren’t even fuckin’ then," Bobby said passionately as he drove. "But that night when I picked her up from Cynt’s, we stopped at a couple of places, had some drinks on the way down to pick up the keys, so we were both kinda drunk. So, I’m drivin’, and she says, ‘You gonna give me some of that dick, nigga.’ And I laughed at her and said ‘No, I’m not.’ She said, ‘Yeah, you gonna finish what you started,’ and she reaches over and starts pullin’ down my zipper."

  Mike started to laugh.

  "I’m tryin’ to drive and fight her off at the same time, but she gets it out anyway. Mike."

  "What?"

  "Mike."

  "What?" Mike asked again, laughing.

  "She sucked my dick all the way down the FDR Drive," Bobby said as he pulled in front of Cityscape.

  When Mike and Bobby got out of the car, Mike saw Freeze’s truck parked in front of the club. As they walked toward the club, Mike’s thoughts drifted to Shy. He thought about Rio and what a good time they had there. He also remembered that was the first time Cassandra mentioned that she wanted to come back to New York to face her charges. Mike didn’t want to think about that right now.

  While they sat in the Cityscape and looked around for Sal Terrico, Bobby, Nick and Freeze enjoyed themselves with the ladies. Mike sat with them, watching, but it was obvious that his mind was someplace else. As the music pounded, Mike was taken back to Rio and their club-hopping nights. They didn’t have to go far from their hotel to reach the clubs. In Copacabana, there were different parties every night. In Ipanema, they hit Baronetti, Nova Lounge and Spazio; Melt, in Leblon; and Sky Lounge in Lagoa.

  When they returned to their room in the early hours of the morning, Mike and Shy were playfully drunk. Shy came into the room and plopped down on the first piece of furniture she got to. Mike laughed as he fumbled for the light switch without success.

  "Never mind, baby. I’ll just light a candle. It will be more romantic," Shy said as she fumbled for the matches. Once the candle was lit, it illuminated the room. "That’s better."

  Mike sat down next to her and Shy stood up. "Un-zip me, please."

  "Why did you wait until I sat down to ask me that?"

  "Stop being so lazy." Shy laughed as Mike struggled to his feet. Mike took a step toward Shy and she turned around. He zipped down her dress and it fell to the floor to reveal her red lace bra and matching panties.

  "Thank you," Shy said as Mike paused to admire her beauty. In his eyes, Shy was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. Shy kissed him on the cheek and started to walk toward the bathroom.

  Mike grabbed her hand. "Come here," he said and pulled Shy into his arms. He kissed her lips and Shy began to unbutton Mike’s shirt while he kissed her. Shy slid his shirt slowly off his shoulders and threw it to the floor. She ran her hands across his chest.

  "I love you so much."

  "I love you too," he said and unhooked her bra, kissed her lips and then her neck. Shy moaned as he slid her panties off. Shy stood naked in front of Mike, and he pulled her closer and kissed her on the lips as Shy helped him out of his pants. Once they were both naked, Shy gently pushed Mike away and walked out on the balcony. Naturally, Mike followed her.

  They were in one of the penthouse suites, so neither was too worried about being seen. Mike walked up behind Shy and wrapped his arms around her. He ran his hands over her stomach. Shy spread her legs a little and Mike eased one finger between her legs and massaged her clit.

  "Bend over and grab your ankles," Mike said as he ran his hands over her ass and then up and down her back.

  "I’m too drunk to grab my ankles," Shy said as she held the rail. Mike knelt down and kissed her legs then stood slid his entire length inside of her, moving in and out slowly. Mike held on tightly as Shy bucked her hips wildly. Sweat dripped from their bodies as they made love with a spectacular view in front of them. Their bodies pounded into each other in fluid motion until she was about to cum. Then Mike suddenly stopped.

  "What the fuck are you doing?"

  "Come with me," Mike said and led Shy into the bedroom.

  Shy lay down on the bed and Mike lay next to her. Shy’s breasts seemed to glisten and her nipples grew harder as Mike ran his tongue across them. Shy got up on her knees and started kissing his chest, his stomach and finally his manhood. She stroked it, kissed it, ran her tongue along the length of it before easing it into her mouth. Shy opened her mouth wider and began to suck his manhood. Mike gently grabbed her head and began moving it slowly up and down until his length disappeared inside her.

  They looked in each other’s eyes. Mike reached for her face and pulled her toward him. Their tongues became entangled in passion. Mike kissed his way down to her body, lingering at the nipples. He slid his tongue inside her and moved it in and out slowly and gently. Mike spread her lips and tongued her clit. Shy grabbed his head and held it in place. Shy screamed in ecstasy.

  "Black!" Nick yelled to him over the music, but Mike didn’t seem to hear him. He was still lost in thoughts of Shy. "Black!"

  "Huh?"

  "You all right, man?"

  "I’m good, Nick. Just thinkin’."

  "I understand. You got a lot on your mind. We haven’t seen Terrico in here yet, but we’re in the right place, ’cause all of the dancers seem to know him. When he’s here, he throws around a lot of money, so all the dancers love him. He’s got one that’s his favorite. Her name is Jalyn, but she didn’t come in tonight."

  "That’s probably the chick that was with him at Dirty Red’s tonight."

  "Could be," Nick said.

  Mike looked around the club. "Where’s Bobby?"

  "He said that he needed some air and went outside."

  Mike nodded, figuring that Bobby was outside on the phone, talking to either Pam or Cat or both. "So, what’s up with your girl? She all right?"

  "Yeah. I just wanted to make sure that she was gonna be safe after what Sally Fitz told me tonight."

  "What did he have to say?" Mike asked, and Nick told him about the papers that the information broker, Paris, was killed over.

  "I think that those papers give a detailed account of what we were doin’ in South America. Before Freeze killed him, Felix said that there were stories in Washington about a drug eradication effort, and if those stories ever made their way to Capital Hill, there would be hell to pay. Sally Fitz said those papers are still in the open and the buyer is still looking for them, so I thought it was a good idea that I move Monika to a safer location."

  "Who’s the buyer?" Mike asked.

  "I think its Diego, ’cause it was the General who was brokering the deal."

  "Fuckin’ Diego. You think that’s what this shit is all about, these fuckin’ papers?"

  "I think so. If those papers surface and I get subpoenaed to testify, it could blow up a lot of people’s shit. He killed Jett over that information and tried to kill me and Monika."

  "But I hear you’re hard to kill, Nick."

  Chapter Fifteen

  Even though she knew she had business in the morning, it had been another sleepless night for Jackie Washington. Not that sleepless nights were anything new to her. She had stayed up many a night playing poker, but this was something else entirely. She had been in bed for hours, but she couldn’t make her mind shut down to allow her to rest. So, she thought about it.

  She had killed somebody.

  Looked him in the eye, and killed him.

  Jackie had never even fired her guns before that night, much less killed anybody, and it bothered her. Truth was, it was eating her alive from the inside out.

  Jackie could see the whole thing happening. It plays like a movie, Jackie thought. She could see herself walking through it each time she closed her eyes.

  I need you to watch m
y back, she could hear Freeze say, You armed? Jackie could see herself unbuttoning her jacket and opening both sides to reveal a 9-millimeter in each holster. Always armed and extremely dangerous. She could see herself walking behind Freeze until he saw Cynt coming toward him. Jackie couldn’t hear what they said, but she could see Cynt pointing and Freeze moving quickly in that direction. It wasn’t until she saw Freeze take his gun out that Jackie realized what was going on. That’s where it all began to happen so fast. She didn’t remember pulling her gun or Freeze grabbing the bottle, Hey, muthafucka! and Freeze smashing the bottle into the guy’s face. She remembered thinking, Damn, that shit musta hurt. Then, Freeze! Look out! she could hear herself yelling and firing two shots. She couldn’t remember anything after that except Travis taking the gun out of her hand and saying, Don’t worry, Jackie. You did what you had to do.

  It was so easy when she, Travis and Ronnie started out and hit their first spot. It was a jewelry store. Travis and Ronnie came through the door with guns drawn. Everybody down, Ronnie jumped the counter, grabbed the loot, and they were out. All Jackie did was drive the car. Easy.

  After Freeze took his taste, they came away with $48,000. When Travis handed her $16,000 she was hooked. Sixteen thousand dollars just to drive a car, something she loved doing anyway, Shit! This is it! Who knew that money would lead her here? She had killed somebody, and Ronnie was dead.

  Ronnie, Jackie thought. It was only now that she understood where Ronnie’s head was after he shot that armored truck driver. But what else could I do?

  That was the question she continued to ask herself. If she hadn’t shot the man, Freeze would be dead. Then either she or Travis would’ve killed him anyway or been killed in the gunfight that would follow. She did the right thing, the only thing that she could do in those circumstances. But it was still the wrong thing. She never was overly religious, but she believed in God. She’d been taught the Ten Commandments in Sunday school. Thou shall not kill—or was it thou shall not murder? She wasn’t sure, so she spent hours at her computer, researching the Commandments.

  She found two versions of the Ten Commandments given in the Bible, the first in Exodus 20, and the second in Deuteronomy 5. It appeared that the preferred use was the version in Exodus. It was in Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia she found online that Jackie found the actual translation: "You shall not murder." It was there that she found that the Hebrew Bible makes a distinction between murdering and killing, and explicitly notes that murder is always a heinous sin, while killing is sometimes necessary, and in some cases, just in the eyes of God. Jackie thought that somehow she had found absolution for her crime at this Web site, and tried to get some much-needed sleep.

  Jackie rolled over in bed, closer to Travis. They had been sleeping together since the night Ronnie was killed. Neither one of them wanted to be alone, and each needed the other’s support. Eventually, they began having sex, and eventually, Jackie began to invite her old playmates home to play.

  She looked over at the woman lying on the other side of Travis. Her name was Vonda, and she had become their playmate of choice. She was drop dead gorgeous, had a body that was to die for and her sexual skills were extraordinary. Jackie first met her at Cynt’s. Vonda was there with a guy who was boring her to tears. He had brought her there as a showpiece, a good luck charm, if you will, while he played poker. While she stood behind him looking distracted and ready to go, Jackie couldn’t take her eyes off this red-bone brick house. She was just that damn fine.

  Vonda was five feet eleven inches tall and weighed 150 pounds, with pretty brown eyes and curly hair that hung down the middle of her back. When the guy sent her to the bar to get him a drink, Jackie cashed herself out of the game and went after her. Jackie gave Vonda her cell number, and eventually they hooked up for drinks. Jackie seduced her that same night.

  It wasn’t too long after that, that Jackie introduced Vonda to Travis. He didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he was enjoying it. He commented once that they should have been doing this all along. At first, it was a way to keep his mind off Me’shelle, the woman he loved. Travis missed Me’shelle. Even though he felt that she had used him to get what she wanted and let him go, he still believed that on some level Me’shelle still loved him too.

  As for Jackie, she was willing to go along with part of that—the part about Me’shelle using Travis and dumping him. "But, Travis, if she really loved you, she wouldn’t do you the way she did," Jackie told him. "The bitch just foul, and that’s all there is to it."

  She had considered having Me’shelle killed. Even went as far as to ask Freeze to do it, but he told her that she needed to get over it. After that, she thought about doing it herself. I could walk right up on that bitch and blow her brains out.

  But that was then. Now Jackie knew that she was no killer. She was a chemist, and a damn good one. That life seemed far away now too. Right now, she was a part-time gambler, part-time robber with a job to run in a couple of hours.

  It would be Vonda’s first time doing a job with Travis and Jackie. They were going to hit a jewelry store. Vonda would hit the display cases while Travis forced the manager to open the safe. This would be Jackie’s first time calling the job, which meant that she was responsible for the safety and security of the team. It was a position that she lobbied Travis long and hard for. Now Jackie wondered if she was up to the challenge. But in her heart, she knew that when the time came, she would do her job.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Detectives Kirkland and Richards arrived in the briefing room for their assignment with the DEA.

  "Gentlemen, this is Detectives Kirkland and Richards. They are on loan to us from the NYPD homicide division." Once Agent DeFrancisco introduced them to the agents involved in the operation, he turned things over to the agent in charge, Pete Vinnelli, who started the briefing.

  "All right, gentlemen, settle down and let’s get to business. Our objective is Mike Black. We have information that he is a major player in the drug traffic in this city, and has been for years." Detective Kirkland immediately raised his hand. "Detective?" agent Vinnelli said.

  "Can you share the source of that information?"

  "Oh, agent DeFrancisco failed to mention that the detective has been investigating Mr. Black for years and doesn’t believe that Mr. Black has any involvement in drug traffic. He thinks we’re wasting our time here," agent Vinnelli said, not hiding his contempt for Kirk and his involvement in this operation. The other agents looked at Kirk, and the grumbles began.

  "Settle down, gentlemen. I’m sure that despite his personal opinion about the objective, the detective will give us one hundred percent. Besides, I think that his involvement will give this operation a certain objectivity, as I’m sure the detective will be quite vocal if anything we do doesn’t pass the sniff test. And I want this operation run by the book. Are we all clear on this? That means no shortcuts, no slip-ups. I don’t want this asshole to wiggle out of this because we fucked up," Vinnelli said to everyone before turning his attention back to Kirk.

  "Now, to answer your question, detective, no, I can’t share the source of the information. What I can tell you is that a meeting was held at a club in the Bahamas yesterday. That meeting was between a couple of middlemen from a Peruvian drug cartel and DEA agent Roman Patterson. The meeting was held at a club called Black’s Paradise, and it is owned, as the name indicates, by Mike Black."

  "Was Black present at this meeting?" Kirk asked.

  "No, but his wife, Cassandra Black, a.k.a. Cassandra Sims, a.k.a. Shy was present at the meeting. At that meeting, agent Patterson was murdered, along with one of the middlemen that Patterson was able to kill before he was murdered. Now, your job here, detective, is to detail for us everything you know about him and his operation. Where he does business and who he does it with. And I wanna know right here, right now, if we can count on you, detective."

  "You got something you’re tryin’ to say to me, agent Vinnelli?"

  "My office, detec
tive."

  Kirk got up and followed Vinnelli to the door. Richards got up too. "Where are you goin’?"

  "He’s my partner. You got something to say, you say it to both of us," Richards said defiantly.

  Vinnelli took a deep breath and opened the door to the briefing room. "By all means, detective. Why don’t you join us." Kirk and Richards walked out of the briefing room and Vinnelli followed them out, slamming the door behind him. He led them across the hall to his office and slammed that door as well.

  Vinnelli stood face to face with Kirk. "I’m gonna lay it on the line for you, detective. I don’t want you here. I believe your presence here compromises the success of this operation."

  "And why is that, agent Vinnelli?"

  "You’ve been investigating this asshole for drug-related murder after drug-related murder for years, and you’ve never made a case, never even arrested him. Why is that, detective?"

  Kirk stepped to Vinnelli’s chest. "What are you trying to say?"

  "I’m not trying to say anything, detective. I already said what I have to say."

  "Fair enough. Now, let me tell you something. I’m gonna do my job, agent Vinnelli. And if it turns out that Black is involved in drug trafficking, I wanna be the one to put the cuffs on him." Kirk started to walk away, but turned around quickly. "And if you ever call me out again, I’ll kick your fuckin’ ass."

  "Fair enough."

  "Glad we understand each other," Kirk said and walked out of the office, followed closely by Richards and Vinnelli.

  The three men returned to the room, and Vinnelli continued his briefing. Then Vinnelli turned the briefing over to Detective Kirkland, who broke down in more detail than anyone on the team was prepared for, everything he knew about Mike Black.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Melinda Brown woke up early that morning and rolled out of bed. Still naked, she walked to the window and cracked the drapes. She was twenty-eight years old, the youngest of four beautiful girls. Melinda was tall and fine. Her hair was cut short, oval-shaped eyes, high cheekbones, full lips, and her skin was light brown. Each of her sisters had her first child before turning sixteen. Melinda knew that wasn’t the life for her.