by Roy Glenn
But Wanda didn’t need to know about all that.
I’ve been making a real effort to keep her away from that side of things. I’ve been thinking that it’s not a good idea for her to be the managing partner of our legitimate businesses and be advising a criminal organization. Better she stick to business.
What surprised me is how Bobby has gotten into the whole legit thing. Bobby always has looked at things a little differently from the rest of us. So he asks Meka a lot of questions … makes her explain shit. I don’t think she likes Bobby. But he gets me to see things in ways that I hadn’t considered.
“How’d you leave it with him?” Wanda asked.
“I told him that I’d think about starting a record company.”
Wanda looked at me without speaking while she considered the possibilities. “That could work for us.”
“See what it’s gonna take to make that happen and get back to me,” I told Wanda. Then I looked up and saw something that I never thought I’d see.
There in the foyer stood Angelo Collette and two of his men. Angelo was giving my manager Lexi a hard time and pointing at me. She’s probably telling him that she don’t care who he says he knows; he’s not getting in without a reservation.
I looked at Kevon, he was looking at me. I nodded my head; Kevon went to take care of it. That’s another reason why I chose him to be my bodyguard, Kevon never misses anything. He’s always aware of his environment and he’s always looking around, so he sees everything.
“Isn’t that Angelo at the door?” Wanda said when she noticed the commotion.
“Yeah.” I watched as Kevon settled Lexi down and then let Angelo pass. He escorted Angelo’s men to the bar.
“What’s he doing here?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to get Angee to come here for years. He wants something. Something major or he wouldn’t be here.” Probably some Crazy Joe shit. Out of respect, I stood up to greet him. Wanda did too.
“Mikey, Wanda,” Angelo said and shook my hand. “How’s everybody doing tonight?” Angelo hugged Wanda and kissed her on the cheek.
“I’m fine, Angelo.”
“How long has it been since I saw you, Wanda?” Angelo asked and took a seat.
“It’s been at least eight years.”
“Well, you’re as beautiful as I remember.”
I sat down without speaking and listened while Wanda and Angee made small talk like two old friends that hadn’t seen each other in years. While they talked, I couldn’t help but wonder what would make Angee come up here. It’s rare when he leaves his little area in Yonkers.
“Wanda, I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to talk to this guy.”
Wanda stood up, so did Angelo. “I didn’t think you came here just to tell me how pretty I was. It was good seeing you.”
“Great seeing you, too.”
“We should talk more when you have some time,” Wanda said and looked at me. She wanted to explore, as she called it, legitimate business opportunities with Angee, but she knows I’m against it. Angee has his own problems with the law. This is not the time to be in business with him. But Wanda can be hardheaded sometimes. She turned to me.
“I’ll be in the office, Mike.”
Wanda said goodnight to Angee and headed for the office. As soon as she walked off, Angelo leaned toward me and whispered. “Can we talk in here?”
“I have the place swept for bugs every day. But we can talk outside if it makes you more comfortable.”
I stood up and led Angee out the back door. Kevon and Angee’s men followed behind us.
Once we had gotten a little ways down the street, Angee got to the purpose of his visit. “I wanted to ask you about Stark.”
I wasn’t expecting that. “What about him?”
“I hear he’s a serious man, who’s deserving of respect.”
Now I knew what Angee wanted. He hasn’t been a player in this game since Cassandra got out. She had a dual degree in management and marketing, she saw drug dealing as a business, and ran her program that way.
I learned a lot about business from her. One more reason to miss her. With the direction we’re taking now, Cassandra’s advice and involvement would have been invaluable to me.
When she left the country with me, Chilly sucked up what was left of her operation. With the rest of his Commission dead or in the wind, Stark controlled a big chunk of the drug market and Angee wanted back in.
“You want to meet him?”
“I was hoping for something a little more than just an introduction from you, Mikey.”
“Like what?”
“I was thinking that maybe you would take more of an active role. You could be kind of a stabilizing influence. You know, keep problems down.”
“What makes you think I got that kind of influence with Stark?”
“Come on, Mikey. You’re a legend around here. Stark probably grew up hearing stories about you. I hear this kid respects you; idolizes you. And I also hear that you like him.”
“You hear a lot of things.”
“I do.”
Definitely wasn’t expecting this.
“I know I’m asking a lot of you. I know you’re trying to move in a different direction. But with Stark out front you wouldn’t have to get your hands dirty. Naturally, you could charge a fee for your influence.” Then he hit me with it. “I would consider it a personal favor.”
Definitely wasn’t expecting this.
“You are asking a lot.” I stopped walking and looked Angee in the eye. “I’ll tell you what I will do. I’ll set up a meeting with you and Stark. I have to think about what you just asked me, for personal reasons.”
“I understand completely, Mikey. All I can ask is that you think about it.”
Chapter 25
“What him want, boss?” Kevon wanted to know as we watched Angee drive off.
“Something I don’t wanna do,” I said and started walking toward the club.
I definitely wasn’t expecting Angee to come outta nowhere with that shit. I should have told him no. I should have said, flat out, no. What you ask, I cannot do. I should have said that I can’t do it for personal reasons that he is well aware of, and that I was insulted that he would ask.
But I didn’t.
I’ve been going to Angee with my problems for years, and he never, not once, has asked anything in return … until now. As Kevon drove, I thought about what my refusing Angee might cost me.
On the way to Marshall’s fundraiser with Wanda, I didn’t have much to say. She asked me what Angee wanted, but I gave her the same answer I gave Kevon. When she pushed it, I told her that Angee wanted to talk about Crazy Joe and to my surprise, she left it alone.
Crazy Joe Delfino used to do jobs with Angelo back in the day. Me, him and Angelo were supposed to hijack a load of cigarettes. But me and Angee 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.
Joe found out later that we were late because on the way to the job, we stopped to rob a jewelry store to settle an argument.
The robbery went off without any problems, but we got stuck in traffic coming across the George Washington Bridge. When we got there, we found Crazy Joe’s car, but no Joe. Angelo found out the next day that Joe was arrested.
Since then he’s been talking about killin’ me. He says it was my fault that he got arrested. It ain’t my fault that he went and did the shit by himself. He should have waited for us. That shit didn’t make no fuckin’ sense. But they don’t call him Crazy Joe for nothing.
We arrived at the fundraiser in time to catch the speeches. Marshall spoke last. Martin Marshall was a state senator who I’d done business with a few times. But he was such a greedy fuck that I had to cut him loose years ago. Since we had no business ties, when Glynnis told me he was involved in Cassandra’s murder, I wanted to kill him. But I knew that he would be more useful alive. Without Martin’s help, DeFrancisco mi
ght still be alive.
Now he was running for congress, and if you can believe the polls, he’s probably gonna win. It was good business for me to re-establish our association.
After his speech, Martin made his way around the room, shaking hands and nodding his head as people told him their problems or asked him for favors. When Martin first saw me, I could tell that he was surprised to see me standing there, maybe a little scared. But he very quickly separated himself from the people he was talking to and made his way to me.
“Good evening, Mr. Black,” Martin said and shook my hand. “I am more than surprised to see you here.” he turned to Wanda. “How are you, Wanda?” She was no stranger to these events. “How did you ever get this guy out to a stuffy event like this?”
“All it took was the mention of your name,” Wanda said because it was true. Martin’s involvement with DeFrancisco made him my best source of information about Pete Vinnelli. That and the fact that if he is elected, having Martin tucked away in my pocket just made sense.
“Is that a fact?” Martin said and leaned close to me. “There’s a place we can talk upstairs,” he said and walked off.
“I’ll be back,” I said to Wanda and followed Martin to the elevator. Neither of us spoke in the elevator or in the hallway as Martin led me to a room. Once inside, Martin took a small device out of his pocket and sat it on the desk.
“What’s that?”
“Everybody’s listening these days. This puts out just enough of a signal to make whatever they do pick up too distorted to be admissible in court.
“I should get one of those.”
“Yes. Now tell me what I can do for you? Actually, I’m not all that surprised to see you. I heard you were making a move to the other side of the street.”
“You heard that, huh?”
“If that’s true, we could be very valuable to one another.”
“Yes, we could. But I don’t know that I could trust you, Martin.”
“Yes. That unfortunate business about your wife.”
If I had my gun, it would be at the base of his skull right now. Martin always was an arrogant fuck, but he wasn’t stupid. “I thought we’d settled that between us.”
“That was just a down payment.”
“Tell me how we call it even.”
“Pete Vinnelli. I want him. And you’re gonna give him to me.”
I looked at Martin and wondered why he was smiling.
“He’s yours.”
“What are you smiling about?” I demanded to know. Damn he’s annoying.
“I’ve been expecting you.”
“Really?” Now I’m predictable.
“The last time we talked; you remember, you and Bobby forced your way into my house and held guns on me?"
“I remember, Martin.”
“I wasn’t expecting you. I didn’t see any way that you could possibly connect me with DeFrancisco and Estaban. I underestimated you. It’s a mistake I will never make again. But there you were, with every reason in the world to kill me, but you wanted DeFrancisco, and I gave him to you. To make a long story short, I knew you’d be back one day, and you would want Vinnelli.”
“You’re right. But I’m not the only one that wants him, am I? Vinnelli can link you to DeFrancisco. You want him … no, that’s not strong enough. You need Vinnelli dealt with.”
“Something you want for something I need. That makes us partners.”
“I think that’s taking it a little far.”
“Then we’ll call it two mutually interested parties.”
“However you want to look at it, the problem is how do you kill a DEA agent without attracting attention.”
Martin looked at me. “I’ll just say some people have been very lucky in that regard and leave it at that.”
“Some people have all the luck.” From that, I knew he knew that I was responsible for the recent deaths of agents Masters and Harris.
Martin moved a little closer to me and spoke a little lower. “Here’s what I can give you. For some time now, you’ve had a very talented hacker digging around in Vinnelli’s finances, but there is one piece that continues to elude them.”
“How do you know that, Martin?”
“Believe me, Mr. Black; I know a great deal about a great many things. Like I said, I’ve been expecting you, so I know what I need to know.”
“What’s that?”
“Eileen McManus.”
“Who is that?”
“She is everything you need, Mr. Black,” Martin said. “That should make us even,” he said and extended his hand. I accepted his hand. “When you’re finished with this matter we’ll talk again about what we can do for each other in the future.”
As I rode the elevator down with Martin, one thing hit me. This wasn’t the same Martin Marshall I’d dealt with years ago. I realized then that I was about to start playing in a whole new world. In that world, Martin Marshall was already a player. I would have to be very careful in my dealings with him.
The fact that he was expecting me and knew exactly what I wanted didn’t bother me. He needs Vinnelli out of the way, but he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty with an election coming, so he serves him up to me. That’s fine. I was willing to be used if it got me Vinnelli. But what does bother me is what happens after that.
I’ve been expecting you.
That meant Martin had plans for me.
Chapter 26
Nick Simmons
I looked back at Miles and Lakeda and then followed Rain to the gambling room. She entered the combination to the door, and we went down a long flight of stairs. “He’s with me,” she told the two men standing by the door. One got up to open it for her.
“You are so sweet.” Rain touched his face as she passed.
I followed her into a large room with four tables in each corner of the room; one for poker and one for blackjack. There was one table where a lively crap game was going on, and people held their breath for each turn of the roulette wheel. There in the middle of it all was Jeff Ritchie sitting in what I’m sure used to be J.R.’s spot.
If J.R. was involved in this and I had to kill him, Jeff Ritchie would have to die first. I looked around the room and tried to get a feel for what kind of muscle he had. My eyes met his and he glared at me. I could tell that he didn’t like me hanging around there. I’m sure he knows what I represent. I nodded my head to acknowledge him and smiled.
Yeah, mutha fucka, I’m gonna kill you and take over this spot, I said to myself and waved to him as Rain slid in next to me and handed me another drink.
“What you think?”
“Impressive.”
“Wait here and I’ll see if I can’t get you a seat at the table,” Rain said and left me alone.
I wandered around the room looking over Jeff Ritchie’s men, wondering if one of them was Nice N. Slow or if it was Miles. He is married and the only computer in the building is in his office, so it does make him the logical choice. There was the possibility that somebody else, Jeff Ritchie maybe, could have a key to Miles’ office.
I stood and watched as Rain went straight to Jeff Ritchie to get me in the game. I knew from that that Rain carried no weight down here.
I walked around, stood by the poker table, and thought back to Miles’ expression when I showed them Zakiya’s picture. He glanced at the picture quickly like he was trying not to look at it.
What was more interesting was when I looked back and saw the expression on Lakeda’s face. The way she was looking at Miles made me believe that he was Nice N. Slow, and she knew, or at least suspected, he was cheating on her. I needed to get a picture of Miles and show it to Tasheka and Shameka at Paradise. And even if it is Miles, that didn’t mean that he killed her.
“We can buy in on the next hand,” Rain said, suddenly appearing next to me.
“We? You play?”
“I hold my own.”
After we played a few hands of poker, we left the gambling room and went
back upstairs.
“Well, what you think?”
“Like I said, I’m impressed. Looks like y’all run a smooth little operation here.”
“But it’s nothing compared to y’all’s, right?”
“I don’t know. What else you got?”
“What you mean?”
“I mean is this all you got?”
“No, we got a few other spots that do pretty good for us.”
“But nothing like this, right? This is y’all’s big spot.”
Rain put her hands on her hips. “So what you saying? That this ain’t shit?”
“I ain’t saying shit. You the one trying to make the comparison.”
“Come on, nigga. Let me show you how we roll,” Rain said and grabbed me by the hand.
Thank you, I thought as we fought our way through the crowded club. I was starting to think she wasn’t gonna take the bait.
Rain led me to her car, and we drove off. She took me around to four of their spots and bragged about having five more. “But they too far and I don’t feel like riding out there,” Rain told me and took me back to J.R.’s. I really was impressed with what I saw.
The reception Rain got at the spots we went to was different than it was at J.R.’s. Everywhere we went, it was obvious that she was the queen, and everybody bowed down to her. More importantly, every place we went was making money.
When we got back to J.R.’s, Rain led me back to the offices. “This is Pops’ office.”
“Where’s yours?”
“I don’t have one. Don’t need one.”
J.R. wasn’t there that night, but she had a key to his office. We went in the office and Rain picked up the remote for the flat screen. “Pops is rarely here at night these days, so when he’s not here this is my spot.” She dropped the remote and headed for the bar. “Johnnie Black, right?”
“Right,” I said and looked at the flat screen. Porn star Lola Lane appeared on the screen, riding some guy’s dick, talking about, ‘Yeah, Lola likes that. Fuck Lola’s pussy.’
I looked at Rain, she looked at me. “Ooops,” she said and pushed a button on the bar and the image on the screen changed. Now the screen displayed images from around the club. “Sorry about that.”
