12 Day's In December

by Roy Glenn

  “He’s here somewhere,” Bobby said. “Hiding behind one of these cars.”

  “You go that way,” I said, reloaded our weapons and we separated.

  We both stayed low and moved slowly through the parking lot. When Bobby got to the edge of the lot, Gun stood up and shot at him. Bobby ducked behind a car and fired. I ran toward Gun firing, and he turned to fire at me and then he took cover.

  When Gun stepped out to fire again, Bobby fired and hit Gun with a shot in the shoulder that took him off his feet. I watched as the Gunner’s body fell to the ground and bounced. Me and Bobby walked up on him and stood over Gun’s body. He was still alive, trying to reach for his gun. I kicked it out of the way.

  “Merry Christmas, mutha fucka,” Bobby said and shot Gun twice in the head.

  I looked at Bobby. “Merry Christmas, mutha fucka?” I shook my head, put away my guns and walked away.

  “Come on now. That was some Clint Eastwood shit right there.” Bobby laughed. “You know like, you’re done, end of story.”

  “I get it. But Nick Nolte said that in 48 Hours.” I laughed. “But I get your point.”

  We left Atlantic City and Bobby drove us back to the city and to The Late Night where Wanda was waiting to find out what happened. When we got there, the four of us were on our way to the office, when Bobby stopped and turned to Nick and Freeze.

  “I need the two of you to find what’s left of Smitty’s crew and end them. Use as many people as you need.” Bobby paused. “Start with Niles, and do it quick,” he said and then Bobby continued to the office and closed the door.

  “How’d it go?” Wanda asked.

  “It went the way it needed to.” I sat down on the couch and paused. “Have they swept for bugs today?”

  “An hour ago,” Wanda assured.

  “The Gunner is dealt with. He was down there with Duval and Kasim, they’re done too.”

  “Any problems?”

  “No,” Bobby said.

  “We didn’t have any problems, but there was something that bothered me.”

  “What was that?” Bobby asked.

  “Barrett said he was down there with Duval and Kasim. You send Nick and Freeze down there and it’s just the three of them. But as soon as we get ready to make our move, all of a sudden two more guys show up blasting with semis,” I said, and we told Wanda what happened.

  “When they were reloading, we raised up and shot them both,” Bobby said.

  She laughed. “They didn’t bother to take cover to reload?”

  “Nope they just stood there,” Bobby said.

  “You know semis make you think you’re invincible.”

  “Yeah, until you get shot for being too stupid to take cover in a gun fight,” Wanda laughed.

  “You think Barrett set us up?” Bobby asked.

  “That was my first thought.”

  “There is the possibility that them showing up right then could have been a coincidence,” Wanda offered.

  “True,” Bobby said. “Gun could have called some more people down there.”

  “And they were getting ready to leave, and that would explain them showing up right then.”

  “It does. So what you wanna do?” Bobby asked.

  “My understanding with Barrett was that he’d keep Gun’s crew in line. If that doesn’t happen, if he doesn’t take steps to do that, then we know we have an enemy in Barrett and we should treat him that way.”

  “Wait and see it is,” Bobby said.

  “Oh, one more thing,” I said to Wanda. “A few of Smitty’s people slow rolled by my building today.”

  “Slow rolled and did what?” Wanda asked.

  “They rolled by and pointed,” Bobby laughed.

  Wanda chuckled. “That’s Niles sending a message.”

  “And we sent one back.”

  “Nick and Freeze are putting that in motion right now,” Bobby said and stood up. “I got some things to do, so I’ll get with y’all later,” he said and left the office.

  “I got some things I need to do too. You need me for anything?” Wanda asked and stood up.

  “No.” I stood up too.

  “You outta here too?”

  “Yeah, I’m tired, so I’m going home to relax.”

  “Wanna ride?” Wanda asked as we walked out of the office and headed toward the door.

  “No, I’ll walk.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah,” I said as we got outside, and I turned up the collar on my coat. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Merry Christmas, Mike,” Wanda said, and she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

  “Merry Christmas, Wanda.”

  Mike Black will return in:

  The Reign of Rain Robinson continues:

  Please enjoy an excerpt from Days Of Summer

  Days Of Summer

  By Roy Glenn

  Escapism Entertainment

  © Copyright 2018 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.

  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.

  Chapter One

  Summer

  Change.

  My father told me that the only thing in life that we can depend on is that everything changes. Sometimes for the better, sometimes change affects you in ways that you don’t want it to. We get comfortable, we like where we are, what we’re doing and who we’re doing it with and don’t want change. But then he said that I should always welcome change, embrace it and you’ll find that most times, but not all, but most times, the change is for your good.

  Well, daddy, I hope that’s true because in the last year and a half everything in my world has changed and I am waiting for that good you always spoke to me about to come. So far, it hasn’t, and each new thing, each new thing that’s happened has made me question whether it will or not.

  I have to say that I am one of those people that my father spoke of. I was comfortable. I liked where I was, what I was doing and who I was doing it with and I didn’t want to change. But I had to.

  So I found myself at a cross roads in my life. I had experienced a lot of loss and pain and had learned so much about myself and my family in the last year and a half. During that time I had lost both of my parents, learned my father’s secret and most recently, I lost my relationship and then my law practice because my relationship was with my partner in the practice.

  As I stared out the window, I thought about the night that it all began to fall apart. “Hello, Summer,” Dillon said when I swung opened the door.

  “Oh, so you do know me. I was beginning to think that you had put me out of your mind,” I said with an attitude because he had been ignoring my texts and sending my calls to voicemail all day.

  “What makes you say that?” I could tell he wanted to avoid this discussion and would play stupid but he should know better with me. When I want answers, I get them. It made me a great lawyer.

  “Oh, well, let me see. It probably has something to do with the fact that you were supposed to come see me this morning and you didn’t. I haven’t got a call or even a text saying that you weren’t coming. In fact, I haven’t heard from you at all today, and when I call you I get voicemail and no return call. Yeah, I think that sums it up nicely.”

  “Can I come in?”

  “Sure,” I said and moved aside to let Dillon in. But the minute he closed and locked the door, I began unbuckling his belt and pulling down the zipper.

  “Slow down, Summer. I have something I need to tell you.”

  “Tell me later.”

  “It’s important,” he said and made a weak attempt at pushing me off, but I kissed his soft lips.

  “It will s
till be important later.”

  I had been anticipating that moment since I woke up that morning and I got caught up in the way Dillon was kissing me. His touch was rough, and he kissed me hard like he was excited to be in my arms. Like he had been waiting all day to have me and I couldn’t wait a second longer to have him.

  I grabbed his hand. “Come on,” I said, taking off my clothes as I led him to the bedroom.

  After we made love, we laid there for a while, breathing hard and holding each other without speaking. I was staring into his eyes, he was staring into mine. My entire body felt wonderful and I felt peace looking into the eyes of the man I loved. But once his breathing returned to normal, Dillon sat up on the edge of the bed. “I can’t do this anymore, Summer.” Something in the tone of his voice alarmed me but I tried to dampen that.

  “I know.” I sat up in bed next to him. “I’m exhausted too.”

  “That wasn’t what I meant.” Without bothering to explain what it did mean, Dillon dropped his head and then he stood up, picked up his clothes, and walked toward the bathroom.

  While he was showering, I got out of bed, picked up the clothes I’d tossed on my way to pleasure and when Dillon came out of the bathroom dressed and ready to go, I was sitting on the bed wearing my favorite green and gold kimono. He came and sat down on the bed next to me.

  “Now, what was so important that you had to tell me?”

  “That this isn’t fair to you,” Dillon said and turned to face me while moving away at the same time.

  “What are you talking about? What isn’t fair, Dillon?”

  “You and me; us, this … it isn’t fair to either of us.”

  I looked at him as my stomach bottomed out. “So what are you saying? You’re ending things with me? Is that what’s happening here?”

  “Yes, Summer, I am. I think it best if we don’t see each other like this anymore.” My heart clenched. I was confused, hurt, shocked. All of it. I couldn’t be hearing him right.

  “Like this? Like this? Why, Dillon?” To think I could be so wrapped up into someone and he just drop me within an instant. Like we never meant anything, it was unimaginable. “Why after you come over here and screw me do you now think that its best that we don’t see each other anymore?”

  “Because I can’t always be around to give you what you want when you want it. So I think that it’s best for everybody if we end things now before it gets complicated.”

  “Complicated? It’s already complicated, Dillon! We’re partners, and I love you!” I shouted and grabbed his hand.

  “I’m sorry Summer; I never meant to hurt you.”

  He pulled his hand back gently and I felt as if he was gently taking everything from me. “No, I’m sure you didn’t.” I felt the tears begin to fall down my cheeks and it was like my whole body ached from the inside. All at once my stomach felt like it was tied in a knot. “I was just supposed to be fun, right? I was just something to do, wasn’t I?”

  Without bothering to answer me, Dillon stood up, reached in his pocket, took out my key and handed it to me. “I think I should go.”

  “No!” I bounced up from the bed. “We need to talk about this.”

  “No, Summer. I need to go.”

  “No!” I screamed. “Why can’t you talk to me, Dillon?”

  “Because there isn’t anything to talk about,” he said calmly.

  “We plenty to talk about!”

  “Don’t you understand that I cannot do this with you anymore?”

  “Why?” I shouted. “Why can’t you be man enough to tell me why you can’t do this?”

  I stood there looking at him, frozen. Desperate to understand why this was happening, because in that second I couldn’t think straight.

  But he said nothing.

  “Okay, I guess an explanation would be too much to ask for.” Now I was mad. “So what am I supposed to do now? Am I just supposed to show up at the office on Monday morning and act like none of this ever happened because you can’t do this anymore?”

  “I’m sorry, Summer. This isn’t going to be easy for either of us. But I think it’s for the best.”

  “Best for who?” I pointed to myself. “Certainly not me. May be best for your wife.” The thought made me madder. “That’s it, isn’t it? She putting pressure on you?”

  He stood there, not saying anything and looking pitiful and in that second he disgusted me. “Just get out of here, Dillon.” I said through my tears and without another word he did as I asked. He didn’t even look back, he just walked away from me like it all meant nothing to him, like I meant nothing.

  I loved him with everything that I had, and it was so easy for him just to walk away from me like I was nothing and he was done with me. I sat there crying for the rest of the night and all-day Sunday. I tried to move, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to and only did so when I had to. I thought that he loved me and despite the fact that he was married that we had something and that it meant something to him. That I meant something to him.

  The realization that all I was to him was sex came slowly. Knowing that I loved him and all I meant to him was sex was hard for me to swallow, but I had to, and it hurt.

  And Monday morning when my alarm went off, I heard my mother’s voice telling me to get up. That this is what separates the women from the girls.

  I miss my mother, she was my best friend. Sure, I was a spoiled rotten army brat, daddy’s girl, and my brother Phillip was such a mama’s boy, but as we got older and became teenagers, my mother became my best friend. Losing her was the hardest thing that I’d had to deal with in my life. But I got through it. Mommy was gone, so I had to be strong for my father and my brother. So, I did what was expected of me and I kept it together.

  “Summer is so strong, just like her mother,” I heard over and over again, but there were days when I felt dead inside. Like there was a huge hole in me. Mommy's dead kept running in my head over and over, my eyes would start to burn and all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry.

  If I could deal with that, I could get out of this bed and be the woman that my mother expected me to be.

  I went to work ready to move on. But the truth was, I just simply refused to accept it. Dillon really did love me and all I needed to do was show him how much I loved him, and he’d come back to me, but I never got the chance. He never gave me the chance.

  The first few days were easy. Dillon was in court most of the week and I was deep into discovery. It wasn’t until we were both in the office at the same time that it became hard for me. Dillon on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any problem at all. He spoke to me like he always had when there were people around and of course he spoke when he needed me for something concerning the practice, but for the most part, he avoided any contact with me and communicated with me via email.

  Not being able to do the things that we used to do together left a huge void in my day, in my life. I kept up a good front at the office and did my best to conduct myself in the same manner that Dillon was conducting himself, but when I got home I felt like I was stuck in a bubble and the world was moving on without me. I felt empty and hopeless; I felt isolated and alone.

  After two months of that, I decided that I was one of the girls. “Sorry, Mommy.”

  It was too hard for me to work in the same space with the man that I was in love with and him ignore me like I wasn’t there. Like I was invisible! That he could ignore me like what we shared outside of the office was just fun for him and I was a fool to fall for him.

  I called my lawyer and we went into negotiations to dissolve our legal partnership. Now I’ve never been married, and I’m a criminal defense attorney, so I’ve never been involved in divorce proceedings, but I can only imagine that it looks a lot like what I dealt with for months in dissolving the partnership. The one good thing that came of that was that it allowed me to see Dillon for who he really was and that made it much easier to get over him.

  I got so sick of fighting over every
minor detail that one day I had had enough, and I let the hot Latina temper that I inherited from my mother get the better of me and I told my lawyer that he could have it all. All of the assets and all of the clients; I named my ridiculously rock-bottom cash buyout price and told him to take it or leave it. Well of course he took it. He got everything he wanted, the assets, the clients and more importantly, me gone. But don’t feel too bad for me, my ridiculously rock-bottom cash buyout price was well over seven figures.

  Now, it was time to put all of that behind me and transition to the next chapter of my life. A life that, for the first time in mine, I wasn’t sure of. Up until recently, I had my entire life planned out, now everything had changed, and I was searching for a new direction.

  There were a lot of things that I thought I might want to do with the rest of my life now that I had a new opportunity to decided what that life could look like, and there was something important that I had to do before I could move any further. Both of them were going to require some thought, so I decided to do something that I hadn’t done in years.

  Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Antigua’s V C Bird International Airport where the local time is four forty-five. The outside temperature is eighty-nine degrees Fahrenheit, thirty-one Celsius. For your comfort and safety please remain with your seatbelt fastened until the aircraft comes to a complete stop and the seatbelt sign has been switched off.

  I was going to take a vacation and contemplate the future. It was fourth of July weekend and I was about to spend five relaxing days at Galley Bay Resort. After passing through customs and claiming my luggage, I was taken by the limousine that Jacinita, my travel agent arranged for me.

  Now, while I was checking in, I just happened to be standing behind a man that moved me. He was tall, six-two if I had to guess. He was wearing a white collared sport shirt with dress pants and a jacket draped over his arm. His broad shoulders and those biceps bulging told me that he worked out and I allowed myself to believe that his big hands and feet meant what it was supposed to mean. But that wasn’t what moved me. It was his scent that had me going. It had been months since Dillon walked out of my apartment and took my sex life with him, so the idea of maybe getting some had crossed my mind.