Beneath The Surface

by Glenn, Roy

  Marcus and Wanda were good together.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  After trying in vain to get back into Finch Studios, Black and Carmen caught a cab back to the station. Carmen got out of the cab, and looked back in at Black. “What are you doing later tonight?”

  “Call me, and we’ll do anything you want,” Black said as Carmen shut the door, and the cab sped away.

  Carmen went inside and got ready to record some promos and do the 6 o’clock news. When she finished her work for the evening and was on her way to her dressing room, one of the interns told her that she had a call holding.

  “Carmen Taylor,” she answered in a sing-songy voice, thinking about spending the evening with Black.

  “Miss Taylor?”

  “Yes.”

  “I was at the gallery with Tangela House,” the woman said quietly.

  Carmen grabbed a pen, a piece of paper, and began taking notes. “Can you tell me your name?”

  “I’d rather not.”

  “Okay; what can you tell me about what happened? Do you know who killed her?”

  “I don’t know who killed her. She was alive last time we saw her,” the woman said in almost a whisper, and Carmen wrote down and underlined we. Who is we?

  “Can you tell me anything about her?”

  “Tish was a call girl who worked for a madam named Jada West. Oh—I gotta go,” the woman whispered and hung up quickly.

  “No, wait,” Carmen said. But it was too late; the woman was gone.

  Carmen assumed that the woman had to be somebody that was on the guest list. She remembered the look on the gallery director’s, face when she got to a certain name on the list. This may take some time, and I don’t want to keep you. Why don’t you leave me your card, and I’ll give you a call if I find something, Aneisha told her that night, and then she rushed Carmen out of her office.

  Carmen thought for a minute about what to do and then she picked up the phone. She called Black at Cuisine to see if he knew where she could find Jada West.

  Black laughed. “What do you think, I know everybody?”

  “You know— she’s a criminal, you’re a criminal, I was just thinking, you could at least help me find her.”

  “Well you’re right this time. Her, I do know. I need to talk to Ms. West about some things anyway,” Black looked at his watch. “And I know where to find her. Come get me.”

  When Carmen arrived at Cuisine, Black took her to the Pen-Top Bar & Terrace inside the Peninsula Hotel. “How do you know she’ll be here?”

  “Ms. West likes to meet potential clients here.”

  When they got there, as expected, they found Jada West seated at her usual table talking to an older gentleman. Black and Carmen took a seat at the bar and ordered. “Rémy XO, straight up, and Bacardi on the rocks for the lady,” Black said, and the bartender left to make their drinks.

  “Shouldn’t we try to catch her before she gets ready to leave?” Carmen asked.

  Black looked at Carmen. “Ms. West is not leaving with him.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Trust me, Carmen, when he leaves Ms. West is not going to move from that spot.”

  Just then, Jada West did a double-take when she saw Black sitting at the bar. She gave him a big, pretty smile and waved, before returning her attention to her potential client.

  Carmen rolled her eyes. “Looks like she’s very glad to see you. You one of her clients?”

  “No, I’m not one of her clients, Carmen. Ms. West is a business associate of mine,” Black said and took a sip of his drink.

  “What kind of business?”

  Black put down his drink and looked at Carmen. “I see you still have that jealous streak.”

  Carmen dropped her head a bit and looked up at Black innocently. “Maybe just a little,” she said, as the man Jada was meeting with got up and left the bar. Jada waved Black and Carmen over to her table.

  “Jada West, Carmen Taylor,” Black said as he sat down. Neither woman said a word. “Carmen needs to ask you some questions.”

  “Questions? What kind of questions?”

  Carmen took out a picture and handed it to Jada.

  “Do you know this woman, Ms. West?” Black asked.

  Jada looked at the picture closely. “It looks like Tangela House. She used to work for me.”

  “Used to?”

  “Yes, used to. That means she worked for me in the past; but now she doesn’t,” Jada said with attitude.

  Carmen’s eyes narrowed, but she kept her cool. “But she used to.”

  “Yes. But that was a while ago. Would you mind telling me why you’re asking me these questions?”

  “Did I forget to mention that Carmen is a reporter for channel four?” Black asked.

  “Yes,” Jada said and gave him a look.

  “You don’t have to worry; your name will never come up in any of this,” Black assured Jada.

  “Tangela was found murdered a few nights ago. Somebody told me that she worked for you.”

  “Like I said: Tish used to work for me until her habits made her unreliable, and we had to part ways.”

  “Do you remember a woman who calls herself Wild Cherry?” Black asked.

  “Wild Cherry? I used to work with a woman that called herself Cherry. She used to dance at Ecstasy. But again, that was years ago.”

  “Same chick,” Black said. “Then you know Crème too?”

  Jada shook her head. “Yes, Mr. Black. I know Crème too. In fact, that was how Tish came to work for me. Diane, one of my better girls at the time, had been pushing me to bring Crème on because we all used to dance at Ecstasy together. But Crème liked to powder her nose too much, so I couldn’t use her.”

  “Use her?” Carmen added, and both Black and Jada looked at her like she was interrupting grown-folk talking.

  “As I was saying: it wasn’t too long after that when Diane came to me with Tish. She said she and Crème were friends, and I put her on. But I should have known better.”

  “Why is that?” Black asked.

  “Because if she was a friend of Crème’s, she had the same habits; so I had to let her go.”

  “Maybe that’s how the killer got with her,” Black said, and both Jada and Carmen looked confused.

  “Carmen, you said that Tangela House was straggled either after, or while she was having sex,” Black turned to Jada. “You got any clients into that type of action?”

  “Not that I can say,” Jada said. “But as I said, that was some time ago. I’ll talk to the ladies and see if anybody remembers a client who was into that type of thing.”

  “If you find out anything, let me know,” Black said.

  “Thank you,” Carmen said and got up, but Black didn’t.

  “Would you excuse us for a minute, Carmen?”

  “Excuse me?” Carmen said with a bit of an attitude.

  “Would you mind waiting for me at the bar,” Black said and pointed at the bar.

  Jada smiled at Carmen and she sucked her teeth. “Okay.”

  Black and Jada watched as Carmen went and sat at the bar. She signed for the bartender and ordered another drink.

  Once Carmen was seated, Jada turned to Black. “You know she’s in love with you.”

  “Just an old friend that I haven’t seen in seventeen years, Ms. West,” Black said and glanced over at Carmen. But the truth was he knew Jada was right.

  “Maybe just an old friend to you, but I know a woman in love when I see one,” Jada said and laughed a little. “Come on, Mr. Black, I know you see the daggers coming out of her eyes. She is ready to take off her earrings, kickoff those pumps, and try to fight me.”

  “Carmen always was the jealous type. But you don’t have to worry.”

  “I’m not worried, because I wouldn’t fight her. I’d just shoot her.”

  Black smiled.

  “You should do that more often,” Jada said.

  “What’s that?”

  �
�Smile.”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  “I meant smile at me.” Jada looked at Black. She wasn’t in love with him, at least she didn’t think so, but she was definitely willing to go with him any time or place, and do anything he said. “So, what did you want to talk to me about? Or did you just want to make her jealous?”

  “No, Ms. West. There is something I want you to consider doing for me,” Black said, leaning forward. Since the first time he saw her dance that night at Ecstasy, he could feel the energy between them. She was beautiful, but it was more than that. Black liked her style. Jada West had class and he found that very appealing. But for the time being, he would keep their relationship on a business level.

  “I’ve got an operation in Nassau.”

  “What type of operation?”

  “Gambling. It’s attracting an international tourist clientele.”

  “Sounds lucrative.”

  “It is; very. But what’s missing is women. That clientele isn’t interested in paying for the caliber of women that currently work the trade in Nassau.”

  “I see. What did you have in mind?”

  “You have a talent for recruiting and training women to be high-price escorts. The caliber of women my international clientele would be willing to pay top dollar for.”

  “What would be my end?”

  “You could name your price, call all the shots, or put somebody in place to run it for you; unless of course, you want to move to Nassau.”

  “I just might. I hear you spend a lot of time in Nassau.”

  “I have a house there.” Black finished his drink. “I don’t want you to give me an answer now. Give it some thought, and we’ll talk some more about it.”

  “Tell me something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Is this what I owe you for taking Oleg Mushnikov off my neck?”

  “Only if you want it to be.”

  “Do you remember what I said, or more to the point, what I did that night?”

  “It’s hard to forget,” Black said glancing over at Carmen, who was staring at them. “Your lips are very soft.”

  “Good.”

  Black stood up and so did Jada. She looked at Carmen and kissed Black on the cheek. “What was that for?”

  “So you’ll come alone next time we talk. I’ll let you get back to your girlfriend.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Rain Robinson opened her eyes and sat up in bed. She called out for Nick, but he wasn’t there. She didn’t like being left alone. She could have stayed in the hospital and been alone. But Rain knew that it was for the best. Staying there in bed had given her a chance to heal, especially after the night she had. But the people that stabbed her brother Miles in jail had to be dealt with.

  With nothing else to do, Rain laid back down and turned on the TV. She surfed channels for a while and finally settled on the judge shows. Her favorite was “Divorce Court.” She liked Lynn Toler, but thought that Mabeline was better. Halfway through the show, Nick walked in. “How you feelin’?” he asked, and sat down on the bed next to her.

  “I’m a’ight.”

  “Good. Get dressed, we’re up,” Nick said and got up.

  Rain reached for the gun that she had under her pillow and got out of bed. “Where we goin’?”

  “We’re goin’ to kill Ralph Watson.”

  “That one of the nigga’s that robbed us?” Rain asked while getting dressed.

  “Yeah. And hurry up before we miss him,” Nick said and walked out of the room.

  “You a’ight?”

  “Yeah,” he said, but Rain knew that something was wrong; and she had a pretty good idea what it was.

  Nick went into the living room and sat down in a chair. He stared out the window and thought about Wanda. Losing her had sucked all the life out of him. Nick had been quietly in love with Wanda for as long as he could remember; and now she was gone. And the reason was his relationship with Rain Robinson.

  Wanda’s last words to him that night floated around in his mind, and ate away at him piece by piece. “I really did love you, Nick, even though I never said it before now. I really did love you.” Then Wanda walked out of his life and closed the door.

  He should have known that Wanda would find out about it. And knowing that she would, he should have tried a little harder to keep it a secret.

  But he didn’t.

  Rain went everywhere with him. They were seen at places and by people that would be sure to tell Wanda; and they did. Naturally, Rain did everything she could to make her presence known. She would tell anybody who’d listen that Nick was her man, and that that bitch Wanda can’t do shit to stop it.

  And then she started getting robbed, and he had to do something about it. Nick knew that he couldn’t tell Wanda the truth about why he had to handle it; because it would lead back to the arrangement Black had made with Angelo, and that wasn’t what Black wanted. He had a choice to make: remain silent and run the risk of losing Wanda, or betray Black’s confidence. The choice was easy for him, but now he was suffering the consequences.

  Once Rain was dressed, she walked out of the bedroom with a gun in each hand. She had on tight jeans, black boots with three-inch heels, and a top that clung to her chest and displayed her ample cleavage.

  “I’m ready,” Rain said, and Nick stood up. “You sure you’re all right?”

  Nick stepped up to Rain and kissed her. The fact of the matter was that he loved Wanda, but he found Rain to be irresistible. Every time he looked at Rain, he wanted to rip the clothes from her body and fuck the shit out of her; and he usually did. That day was no exception, but they had business to tend to.

  While Rain was resting, Nick had gone to see Rose to see if she recognized any of the pictures that he had gotten from Detective Harmon. She picked out three of them. Willie Dyson, who Millie had told them was the one that her late husband Blue had gone to, to put the job together, Alexander Walker and Ralph Watson. Then Nick watched the video of the robbery again. Two of the robbers wore ski masks, while the three that Rose picked out, did not. He paid close attention to the two masked men as they executed the robbery. Noting the way they moved. Nick could tell that this wasn’t their first time executing a precision operation. It was obvious that the big man in the mask was running this crew, and not Willie Dyson. Blue might have gone to Dyson to set it up, but this was the big man’s show. All Nick had to do now was find them.

  Nick assigned that task to his best collector, Jap. His specialty was finding people that didn’t want to be found. When somebody went underground owing big money, it was Jap that you called. Through his sources, Jap was able to find out that Ralph Watson was hold up in an apartment in Brooklyn, and enjoying the company of several working girls.

  “You sure he’s still there?” Rain asked.

  “I got one of my people watching the building,” Nick said as he drove.

  Rain smiled at him. “You could have got him without me.”

  “I could have, but I knew you wanted to be there when his life ended.”

  “No. I want to be the one who ends this nigga’s life.”

  “Yeah, I know. But we’re not gonna kill him right away, unless we have to.”

  “Why?”

  “’Cause I haven’t been able to run down the rest of the crew, and there are two others that were involved that Rose couldn’t identify. We need him to tell us who they are and where they are. So don’t kill him. Understand?”

  “I got you.”

  “Good,” Nick said as his cell phone rang. “This is Nick.”

  “It’s Jap.”

  “What’s up, Jap?”

  “He’s got another one just went in,” Jap advised.

  “That means he’ll be in place for a minute. You call me if she leaves before we get there,” Nick said and ended the call.

  When they got to Brooklyn, Nick and Rain checked with Jap before they went inside the building. “He’s still in there,” Jap told th
em as Rain put silencers on her guns. “You want me to go with you?” he asked.

  “No,” Rain said quickly.

  Nick looked at Rain and then turned to Jap. “You stay here. In the unlikely event that he comes out, he’s yours,” he said, and Rain followed him in the building.

  Once they reached the apartment, Nick started to pick the lock.

  “One day you gonna have to teach me how to do that,” Rain whispered.

  “One day,” Nick said and opened the door.

  There was music playing as they made their way through the apartment, until they got to the bedroom.

  “Yeah, bitch. I’m fuckin’ the hell outta this pussy,” they heard Watson say.

  “Yes, daddy,” the working girl replied without emotion, like she was running a program that she’d run thousands of times.

  “You lovin’ this dick, ain’t you, bitch? Say it. You lovin’ this dick,” Watson demanded, and Rain giggled as Nick opened the door.

  “Yes, daddy, I’m lovin’ this dick,” she responded on demand as Nick and Rain approached the bed.

  “Tell me how big it is.”

  There were a few seconds of silence, and then, “Oh daddy, it’s so big.”

  “If you gotta tell her to say it, it probably ain’t,” Rain said, and Nick put the barrel of his gun to Watson’s head.

  He froze.

  “Now rolled off of that pussy and don’t try anything stupid.” Very slowly, Watson did as he was told. Rain looked at him. “I was right, a little dick. Did you even feel that, honey?”

  “Hey. Whatever y’all want, I ain’t got shit to do with it. I don’t even know this nigga. I’m just workin’.”

  Rain laughed. “Yeah, I know. Little dick nigga like this couldn’t get a bad bitch like you without money.” Rain punched Watson in the face. “My fuckin’ money!” she yelled and hit him again.

  “Get up and get outta here,” Nick said to the woman. Rain was right, she was a bad bitch, and Nick watched as she got out of the bed and grabbed her clothes. Rain saw Nick looking at her, but she didn’t care. Rain appreciated the female body. She was addicted to watching porno flicks and she had been involved in her share of threesomes. On those occasions, she had kissed women and sucked a nipple or two in the heat of the moment. But Rain drew the line at eating pussy, but didn’t mind a woman sucking her clit. She had thought about getting one of her dancer girlfriends and having a threesome with Nick, but she wasn’t about to share that dick with anybody ever again.