“Bullshit. The bitch ain’t no contractor. She’s a pimp and kicked your ass. Ain't no contractor gonna put that kind of word on the street. You’re so full of shit.”
“No I’m telling ya, Mr. Ascia himself told me. He’s hired her personal.”
“Yeah, right, the boss always confides his business with douchebags like you.”
“Well, riddle me this, ape-man, why do I know this and you don’t?” Jack-Move said.
“There’s no riddle, you fucking moron. You don’t know shit. What I know is you’re up here acting like you got something and I ain’t impressed.”
“Fine, all your bullshit aside, you know Mr. Ascia wants this broad Michelle dead.”
“Yeah, and that concerns me how?” Freddy asked.
“Goddammit Freddy, think about it. If Nikky is here, they’re both here. It’s not just me they’re after. They know Mr. Ascia sent me to LA. They’re here for both of us, me and Mr. Ascia. If that ain’t good enough for your dumb ass, who do you think did Fast Eddie? It’s gotta be them.”
“Yeah, okay. But I ain’t waking up the boss on your say-so. Let’s see what Tim has to say.”
“Call him, he’ll tell you.” Jack-Move said.
“Hey, Tim,” Freddy said. “Jack-Move is here with a broad he says is number two to some other broad name of Michelle Angelique. Supposed to be high on the bosse’s list, possibly a shooter. Sure. Yeah, he’s got her here all taped up like a mummy. I’ll tell him.”
“Well, what’d he say?” Jack-Move asked.
“He said sit your ass down and wait; he’s on his way over. So this little girl handed your ass to you? I thought you were supposed to take care of them. Not have them take care of you.”
“Fuck you, Freddy. You’re nothing but a house cat hanging around here living easy. You wouldn’t last one lousy day in my world.”
Michelle pounded the table with both fists. “Damn!” Jaw clenched she closed her eyes, pursed her lips, and jerked her fists low in front of her.
Stop, think, who?
Michelle started making a mental list of who to call. She would figure out how this happened later. Right now, it was time to get help and get it fast.
Not four minutes later Michelle recognized Ascia’s voice on the receiver. “Who is this?”
Michelle froze, her heart pounded, and a sick weakness spread through her limbs. She stared at the speaker.
“She’s Michelle’s number two,” Jack-Move said. “Her name is Nikky. If she’s here, Michelle’s here. That means these bitches are who did Fast Eddie.”
“How did you find her? And, how did you manage to bring her here without fucking that up like you fucked up Anglewatts?” Ascia asked.
“I couldn’t believe it. I stopped for cigarettes and she pulled in for gas. It was like fucking Santa Claus dropped her right in front of me. It was slick as can be. I walked her to the side of the station out of sight. She never got out of my grip. I brought her straight here to you.”
“Why does she look like this?” Ascia asked.
“She tried to escape and kept fighting. I duct taped her up real good like a mummy, sort of a special giftwrap. Taped up like that she ain’t running nowhere. Hell, I even had to carry her in.”
“Out in the open? No cameras?” Ascia asked.
“No, not where we was. They got cameras on the pumps and inside but nobody seen us.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, sure. Nobody came out asking questions. Even if they were watching all they would’ve seen was us walking away from her car together. It’s all okay. Really,” Jack-Move said.
There was a slight pause then Ascia said, “This is good. We can use her against Michelle. Has she said anything?”
“Not a word,” Jack-Move said. “I slapped her around a little, but she wouldn’t talk.”
“Oh, she’ll talk,” Ascia said. “We’ll do more than just bust her lip. Do you have her car?”
“Yeah, Slim is bringing it up now. He said it was empty. Nothing in the trunk.”
Michelle closed her eyes and gave herself a mental shake.
Think, goddammit. Who can help?
She reached for her phone in her jeans pocket and was surprised to realize she sat on the floor. She didn’t remember sinking down.
“Sup?” Trevon answered his phone.
“Trevon, this is Michelle.” Without any hesitation she went straight to the bottom line. “You owe me. I need to cash in the big chip.” Michelle explained the situation to Trevon. Brandon volunteered. She thought he would.
Tuan and Deja were also on their way. She tried to call G-Baby, but he was still in the air. She left him a text and followed that up with a call to Baby-Sister. She could trust Baby-Sister to blow up the phone calling until he answered. G-Baby was sure to get the message. That made five, plus herself.
She needed more hardware. She had two rifles, both good for sniper work, neither one any good for close fast action. Even with the guns she took off of Fast Eddie and Motka, she was way short. Both Trevon and Brandon would use two, Tuan would use a rifle, but would need a pistol. She stopped counting and decided the total was more than she could possibly buy in one evening on the streets of a strange city. She needed to contact the leader of the Ancestor’s Honor, Mr. Tu.
Breath, center, focus. Do this right. Michelle took a last deep breath, blew it out and dialed.
“Hello, Ahn Tu, thank you for breaking into your busy evening to talk with me. I trust your family is healthy and prosperous?” Michelle gave Tu the appropriate honor by asking about his family.
“Thank you Miss Michelle. They are well. How may I help you?” he asked.
“I believe we can be of mutual benefit,” she answered.
“The Ancestors do not require assistance at this time.”
“Most assuredly you do not require assistance, or future promises. However, I did not say assistance. I said we can be of mutual benefit.”
“What benefit can you provide me in a city where I already have everything I need?”
“You have everything you need, except control of the whole city. I can provide the opportunity for you to control the major parts of the city outside of the Vietnamese community.”
“You are speaking of the control held by Mr. Ascia?”
“Yes.”
“You can deliver that control to me?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Ascia will strenuously object.”
“Yes.”
“If you fail, it cannot come back to me.”
“Yes.”
There was a long pause in the conversation. Michelle gave Tu time to think and evaluate.
“I can provide equipment. I will not provide men.”
“I ask only for the equipment. I do not ask to involve the men of the Ancestors.”
“Very well. I agree.”
Michelle realized she had been pacing in circles while talking to Ahn Tu.
Focus and think.
With her stomach in knots, she forced herself to sit down and write out a list of the guns and equipment she would need.
Thirty-One: Hard Decisions
DEJA MISSED NIKKY AND MICHELLE. She had been holding down the fort mostly on her own and it was tiring. Deja pulled PJ off the streets and had her quietly pick up the slack on the lower profile tasks that Deja and Nikky normally took care of.
Cruising the streets earlier in the evening, Deja spotted Spider’s gold LTD parked around the corner from Latoya’s spot. His car being near where Latoya worked wasn’t too strange, but he was sitting in the car. Deja circled back by an hour later and he was still sitting in the same place.
Those two bring out the worst in me. They have me feeling suspicious. It could be nothing. No way. It’s not nothing. There’s something here and I’m checking it out.
She switched cars and came back in her old Nissan that nobody would recognize or even notice. She parked across the intersection where she had a view of Spider’s car. She also had
a view of Latoya’s turf.
Shortly after Deja settled in, Jazzy hopped out of a late model minivan on the corner almost in front of Deja’s car. She blew the driver a kiss and he drove off. Jazzy tipped on her stilettos across the street to Spider’s car. The window came down and Jazzy handed him something.
A while later, Latoya came up the street and talked to one of the girls. Wendy. Wendy shook her head and stepped off. Latoya reached out to grab Wendy’s arm and Wendy spun, and jabbed a finger in Latoya’s face while words were exchanged. It was clear they had a difference of opinion about something.
“What the fuck is going on over there,” Deja wondered out loud.
Latoya walked past her normal spot. She went to Spider’s car and handed him some money.
“I’ll be damned. They’re paying his ass with our money. I’ll kill that bitch,” Deja said, squirming around in her seat. “Breathe girl, breathe, calm down, breathe. Watch and see what else happens,” she told herself. “Fuck that, I’m going. No. Calm down. See what happens. Breathe, Breathe.”
After a full minute of deep breathing, she called Nikky’s cell. The plan was she would always contact Nikky because Michelle would often be out where she couldn’t answer. Deja was supposed to treat this like any time Michelle was on a special contract assignment. Nikky’s phone went straight to voice like it had all evening. They must be out where they can’t have phones ringing. “Oh man, they’ll shit when I tell them what I just saw.” She leaned back in her seat settling in to see what else might happen.
Deja watched for another hour. In that time both Latoya and Jazzy left with johns and came back. The second time Jazzy returned, she briefly talked to Latoya and went back up the street toward the area she worked. Latoya went over to Spider’s car and gave him something. This time Deja couldn’t see what it was. It didn’t matter. She’d seen enough.
Deja pulled up to the curb and rolled down the window when Jazzy came over. “Oh hi, Deja, I didn’t see it was you.”
“Get in.”
“Where we going?” Jazzy asked.
“Just get in,” Deja said.
“Sure, alright.” She slid into the car.
“What’s up?” Jazzy asked.
Deja didn’t say anything as she drove up one block. She pulled over in front of Latoya. “Get out.”
“Um, yeah, alright. What’s up?” Jazzy asked again.
“You, me, and Latoya got some business to take care of, that’s what,” Deja came around the front of her car.
“Sup, Deja?” Latoya said as Deja crossed the sidewalk.
“Bitch! I saw what you two are up to,” Deja said.
“What? What did you see?”
“You and Jazzy giving our money to your dipshit asswipe boyfriend Spider parked around the corner.”
“It ain’t like that,” Jazzy said.
“Then what the fuck is it like?” Deja challenged.
“This is personal. It ain’t got nothing to do wit’ bidness. We don’t gotta tell you what we do that’s personal,” Latoya said.
Before Deja could reply, Michelle’s ring-tone chimed in her purse. In this situation it was the only ring she would answer. “Sup?” Deja listened for a few seconds then stepped away from the confrontation with Latoya. “I’m on my way.”
Latoya turned to Jazzy. “See, I told you they ain’t gonna do shit but make threats.”
Deja swiped T-Dog’s number.
“Yo Deja, Sup?” T-Dog answered her phone.
“Another problem with Latoya, the one they call Honey. I need you here with me right now.”
“Not a problem. I’m already out on the move. Where are you? Do you see any of my crew?”
“Yeah; two of them are here. They are up the block and not involved.” Deja described the two women.
“That’s Laquisha and Jackie.” T-Dog said. “I know where you are. I’m right up the street, not even two blocks away.”
Still talking to T-Dog on her cell, Deja walked back to the two women. Staring Latoya in the eye Deja said, “Honey, and her sidekick Jazzy are out. They’re off the street. Come take these bitches off my street. They don’t ever come back. Never. You see either of them anywhere in the hood working the street anytime, let me know.” Deja hung up and stuffed her phone in her pocket.
Jazzy’s voice rose a notch, “Wait. What do you mean we’re out? We wasn’t quitting, we was —”
“You’re out. You backed this bitch’s play. You’re fucking out. Get the fuck off my street before you get hurt.” Deja took two backward steps away from them. “Both of you are out. Period. Don’t even think about working my streets. You do, and that punk-ass Spider is fucking dead, and you’ll be hurt — hurt bad. Count on it.”
Turning to the street, Deja saw T-Dog’s Explorer pull up.
Deja went to her car. She stood by the driver’s door and waited for T-Dog to come over. Talking quietly, urgently, “I have to be gone for a few days. I need you to keep all of your girls on the streets while I’m gone. You’re in charge of anything dealing with security and protection.”
A veteran of the streets, T-Dog nodded, “How long?”
“Three, possibly four days. PJ will be in direct touch with me and will act in my place on all non-security issues.”
Deja pointed across the hood of her car. She made two pointing jabs, saying, “Her, her. They’re out. Permanent. Get them off my street.”
Thirty-Two: Calvary
“SORRY!” DEJA SAID at the driver who laid on his horn as she ran a red light, causing him to slam on his brakes. It was the eighth or tenth “sorry” of the trip.
“Shit, shit, shit. Nikky is hurt. I should’ve been there all along.” Deja pounded her steering wheel. “Will T-Dog move that bitch Latoya off the street? Fuck!” She honked her horn a long wailing blast as she went around the right side of several cars lined up at a red light, then blew through the intersection. Talking to herself Deja said, “Call PJ, bring her up to speed. Call Miss Betty —” She slammed the horn. “Move you bastard!” She made it to LAX airport in record time.
A few minutes later, after checking in and worrying her way through security, she spotted Trevon and Brandon, and headed toward them. “Hey, Brandon, Trevon. Did Michelle call you?” Deja asked as she walked up to the two men seated in Terminal 8, the United Terminal, at LAX.
Both men gave her a hug and sat back down.
“Yeah,” Brandon said. “She called Trevon. He let me know, and there is no way I’m staying out of this one.”
“I sure am glad to see you guys here. I’ve been going crazy.”
“I can see that. You better sit down and try to calm down. That kind of crazy will wear you out before you need to be ready,” Trevon said.
With a big breath, Deja sat in the empty seat between Trevon and Brandon. “What do you know about the situation?”
“Just that Nikky was taken,” Trevon replied. “That was almost an hour ago. How about you?”
“The same. Michelle’s phone has been off since she called me,” Deja said.
“That doesn’t mean anything. There’s a hundred things she can be doing where she won’t want to answer her phone. Hell, there’s a hundred more reasons she wouldn’t want one to ring. Really, it doesn’t mean anything,” Trevon said.
Deja looked at Brandon, then turned to face Trevon. “Like I said, I feel so much better with you here. But, why are you here? This isn’t your fight. You didn’t get involved before.”
“Michelle called, said it was more than important. The way she talked I really didn’t have much of a choice.” Trevon leaned back in his chair, reached over behind Deja and tapped Brandon. “How about you? Why are you here?”
Deja looked at Trevon and tilted her head. She had just been handed a line of nothing. Not quite bullshit, but it wasn’t an answer either. It didn’t matter. What mattered was he and Brandon were here and they would be huge in tipping the scales in their favor.
“I’m here for the sex.” Brandon
winked at Deja.
“Umm, yeah and I’m Martin Luther King’s love child. In case you forgot, you’re gay. You do remember that, right?”
“Well, if there was a woman for me, it’d be you.”
“Whatever, I don’t care, just as long as you’re here. Thanks so much.” Deja’s phone rang at the same time the counter attendant announced: “We’ll now begin pre-boarding for Flight One, Zero, Nine, Six at gate Eighty-one.” “Hey, G-Baby. Sup?”
“Are you headed to Houston?” he asked.
“Yeah. Did Michelle call you?” Deja asked.
“She sent a text while I was in the air coming in from Houston.”
“So you know about Nikky?”
“Yeah, I just got off the plane and I’m doing a turnaround. I’m in the line at security. What flight are you on?”
“Were at gate Eighty-three, umm United flight Ten, Ninety-six. They’ve called pre-boarding.”
“Shit, that’s my flight. How far is gate eighty-three?” he asked.
“It’s close to the front. The second gate inside the terminal.”
“I’m almost to the x-ray so have to hang up. Don’t let them leave without me,” G-Baby said and hung up.
“Trevon, you know Michelle’s uncle, G-Baby. How, about you Brandon? You ever meet him?” Deja asked.
“Yeah, a couple times. Is he coming?” Brandon asked.
“Apparently he came off a flight from Houston and is headed back with us. He’s at security now. Be here in a minute.”
“How is he in this kind of fight?” Trevon asked.
“I don’t know,” Deja said. “He’s been around a long time, OG from back in the day. But he’s been out of the life for as long as I can remember. He was involved in the action that went down yesterday. I wasn’t there so don’t know the details; Michelle said he did real good.”
“It’s a sure thing we’ll find out soon enough,” Trevon said.
“Honestly, guys, you should be more worried about me. I’m up for a fight, you know, growing up in the hood, I’ve had my share of scraps. Not with guns though. I’ve never done much more than barely play around with them and haven’t actually ever shot one.”
Hard Win (Michelle Angelique Avenging Angel Series 3) Page 18
