Beneath The Surface

by Glenn, Roy

  If she hadn’t been doing this business for Leon, she would have never had to reach out to the people he used to do business with, to set it up. Meka was sure that one of them had told Cerrone where to find her. If she only knew which one it was.

  Truth was, she could have told Leon no. But because of her financial situation, Meka made a decision. This was the consequence of that decision.

  Her second choice was to skim the money off the few accounts that she did have. That included Leon’s money. But then she remembered that it was her skimming Cerrone’s accounts that got her into this situation. The last thing she needed was to get Cerrone off her neck, only to have the same problem with Leon. Not to mention, what that would do to her business with Black.

  “Black,” Meka said flipping through her rolodex. She thought that if she could explain things to Black that he would understand and take Cerrone off her back. She found the number she was looking for, and dialed it.

  “Hello.”

  “Mike Black, please.”

  “Who is this?”

  “Meka Brazil.

  “Mr. Black isn’t available. This is Victor. Mr. Black mentioned you. I don’t know when I’m gonna see him, but I’ll tell him you called.”

  “Please do, Victor. Tell him that it’s very important that I talk to him as soon as possible,” Meka said, and felt a sense of relief. She would talk to Black and he would help her.

  Since Meka knew that it would come around to her eventually, she started to call Wanda. After dialing the number, Meka hung up the phone. Meka just didn’t feel like going into it with Wanda. Better if Black just told her to do it.

  Meka got her things together and got ready to go home for the evening. On her way out, Meka thought that if things didn’t work out with Black, and she was pretty sure that they would, she would still have her third option. When Cerrone got to her apartment the next day, she would be ready for him. Her gun wouldn’t be in a shoebox in the closet, and she would kill him.

  But that was a worry for another day. That night, she would relax and try to forget about what had taken place the night before. Meka had never been so scared in her life. She was sure that Cerrone was going to kill her. Although she hated every second of it, Meka was glad that she gave in to him when he forced himself on her. It may have been what saved her life.

  On her way home, Meka decided that she needed a drink so she stopped at the ESPN Zone. The Marlins were in town playing the Mets. Meka would have a couple of drinks, watch a couple of innings, and then call it a night.

  When Meka got to her apartment, she turned on the lights and looked at the mess. She shook her head and decided that she would get around to cleaning up after all this was over. She went in the kitchen, poured herself a glass of wine, and headed for the bedroom.

  Meka turned on the light in the bedroom and was surprised to see Cerrone lying naked on her bed. “Hello, Meka,” he said, and Meka’s eyes cut immediately to the gun lying next to him.

  “What are you doing here?” Meka said, putting down her glass.

  “What you think I’m doin’ here? I came for my money. You got it?”

  “You said I had two days to get it.” Meka started moving toward the closet.

  “You givin’ me somethin’.”

  “I don’t have it yet, but I’ll have it tomorrow,” Meka promised, hoping that he would leave.

  “I guess I have to settle for some more of that pussy. ’Cause that pussy, and everything else you got, is mine until I get my fuckin’ money. Now come up outta them clothes and come here.”

  Meka took a deep breath and began moving slowly toward the bed. She was startled by the sound of her cell phone ringing. Meka took out her phone and looked at the display. It was Black calling. “I need to take this call.”

  “No, you don’t.” Cerrone picked up his gun and pointed it at Meka. “Now I told you to take off that fuckin’ dress and bring the pussy here.” He began stroking himself. “Come here and suck this dick.”

  Meka walked to the bedroom and started to sit down.

  “Get down on your knees and suck this dick.”

  Meka got down on her knees, closed her eyes, and did what she was told; what she had to do to stay alive. If only Black had called her just a little earlier, maybe she wouldn’t be on her knees.

  Cerrone grabbed her hair and put the barrel to her temple. “Stop fuckin’ around and suck this dick, before I put one in that pretty head.”

  It disgusted her, but Meka did her work. Cerrone moved the gun away from her head and let go of her hair. Meka got up and started to get undressed. She let her dress drop to the floor, and then she started walking toward the closet.

  “Where you think you goin’? I ain’t done with you,” Cerrone said and pointed the gun at Meka.

  “I’m going to put on something special for you,” Meka said and kept walking toward the closet. “You don’t need that gun. I told you, it ain’t got to be like that.”

  “Hurry up,” Cerrone said. He put the gun down and leaned back as Meka disappeared into the closet. She shut the door and leaned against it. She felt her stomach turn and fought the urge to throw up. She pulled herself off the door and went for her shoebox. She got the box down from the shelf and took the shoes out.

  “What’s takin’ you so fuckin’ long!” Cerrone yelled.

  “I’m coming, right now!” Meka yelled back. She put the gun in her thong behind her. She put on the first teddy she got her hands on and headed out the door.

  “’Bout fuckin’ time. I was ’bout to come in there and get that ass,” Cerrone said when heard the door open. Then he looked at Meka as she walked slowly toward him. “That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout. You is one fine-ass mutha fucka, you know that, Meka?” he said and began stroking himself again.

  Meka didn’t say anything. She just kept walking toward him with her eyes focused on his gun. Meka reached the bed, took the gun from behind her back, and pointed it at Cerrone.

  “What you doin’?” Cerrone said and reached for his gun.

  Meka closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.

  Chapter Fifty

  When Meka opened her eyes, she had fired three times: two to his chest, and one in his groin. She stood there for a while holding the gun and looking at Cerrone’s body. She was startled when she heard her cell phone ringing. Meka turned away from his body and went to get her phone. “Hello.”

  “Hey, Meka, it’s Mike.”

  Meka didn’t say anything.

  “Meka,” Black said. “Meka, you all right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Victor said you needed to talk to me.”

  “Yes,” Meka said slowly, and looked over at the bed. “Yes, I need to talk to you.”

  “Are you all right, Meka? Do you need me to come over there?”

  “No,” Meka said quickly. “No. I need to get outta here.”

  “I’m at the Famous Oyster Bar.”

  “I know where that is.”

  “Why don’t you meet me here and we can talk,” Black suggested.

  “Good. That’s good. I’ll put some clothes on and meet you there,” Meka said and ended the called.

  A half an hour later, Meka walked into the Famous Oyster Bar and looked around for Black. She saw him at a table in the back and went to him. When Victor saw her coming, he got up and sat down at the bar.

  Black could tell the second that Meka sat down, that something was wrong with her. He signaled for a waitress. “Can I get you a drink? You look like you could use one.”

  “Tanqueray and tonic. Make it a double.”

  “So wrong’s, Meka?” Black said as the waitress left the table.

  Meka leaned forward. “I killed somebody tonight,” she said softly.

  “How’d you kill them?”

  “I shot him.”

  “Where’s the gun?”

  “In my apartment.”

  “That where the body is?”

  “Yes.”

  Bl
ack motioned for Victor. When Victor came, he told him where Meka lived, and who to call to clean up. “Okay, Meka. Who’d you kill?”

  “Cerrone Merkerson.”

  “The guy you used to work for in Miami?”

  “You know about that?”

  “I make it my business to know who I’m in business with. You sure he’s dead?”

  “I didn’t check for a pulse, if that’s what you mean. But I’m pretty sure he’s dead.”

  “Go back to your apartment. Two men are coming. Let them in and leave. Go stay with a friend tonight.”

  “Okay. I know somebody I could stay with.”

  “Tomorrow morning you go to the airport, to Delta. There’ll be a ticket waiting for you to Nassau. When you get there, go to Atlantis, there’ll be a suite waiting for you.”

  “What then?”

  “Relax and have some fun. Do some shopping. Hit the spa. Charge it to the room. You got any money?”

  “No.”

  Black reached in his pocket and took out some money. He counted off ten bills and handed them to Meka. “That’s a grand. It should cover anything you can’t charge to the room.”

  Meka took the money.

  “Like I said: Relax, have some fun. I’ll be there in a couple of days and we’ll talk about this then. Right now, there’s somebody I need to see.”

  Chapter Fifty-one

  Carmen told Dan, her managing editor, about what she knew and could prove about Terrance Redding, and about the suicide of Geoffrey Canfield. He told her that she couldn’t report anything that Canfield told her about their alleged involvement with Tangela House or her alleged blackmail scheme, because it could not be corroborated. “You can report on the suicide, and Redding’s arrest on the bribery charges, but that’s it,” Dan informed her.

  “He was counting on that,” Carmen said, but she was glad that he was going to allow her to do the story.

  Dan got up and started to leave, and then he turned and looked at Carmen. “Good work, Carmen. Damn good piece of reporting,” he said as he walked out of the room shaking his head.

  That night at six and 11, Carmen’s investigative report ran. After which, Carmen still was left to wonder how, if at all, she could prove that Redding was involved in, if not responsible for, the death of Tangela House.

  After her segment ran at 11 o’clock, Carmen returned to the studio with Max to review the footage that he shot at the event. “What do you think you’re gonna find?” Max asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe the real killer will just jump out at me and scream, ‘Hey, I killed her.’ Because I’ll be honest with you, Max, I don’t know what else to do.”

  “Well, pretty lady, I’m gonna call it a night.”

  “What’s your hurry?”

  “The wife promised me that she would be nice to me when I got home tonight; if you know what I mean,” Max said and winked at Carmen.

  “By all means, don’t let me stop you.”

  “Good night, Carmen. I will see you in the morning,” Max said and started to walk out of the studio, then he stopped. “You did good on this one. Real good. I’m proud of you, investigative reporter.”

  “Thanks, Max.” Carmen got up and kissed him on the cheek. Max started to leave again. “Hey, Max,” she said and smiled. “When it gets real good, holler my name.”

  Max laughed. “No.”

  Carmen watched Max walk down the hall and thought about the fact that it had been a minute since she had gotten any. She thought about Black and wished things were different. Then she thought about Marcus. It had been awhile since he’d called her. She wondered if he had heard about her and Black? Or maybe he just moved on. And if that was the case, she was fine with it.

  Now that Max was gone, Carmen returned to the console and continued reviewing the footage of the event. She was just about to give up and go home, when she thought that she saw a familiar face. Carmen immediately ran the tape back and paused it. This time she saw Josh Fillmore, Congressman Redding’s aide, at the function. “What are you doing here, Mr. Fillmore?”

  She resumed the footage and hoped she would see him moving toward the area of the gallery that led to the offices, but he didn’t. In fact, he was moving away from the area and appeared to be moving toward the exit. Carmen looked at the time stamp. “If he’s leaving, it was too early to have committed the murder.”

  Still, it was the best and only lead that she had. She called Anesiha Perry and hoped that she would still be at the gallery. “Anesiha Perry,” she answered on the second ring.

  “Miss Perry, this is Carmen Taylor.”

  “What do you want,” Anesiha said with an attitude.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but I need your help,” Carmen said.

  “I can’t help you.”

  “Even if it helped me prove that your friend, Mrs. Winters and her husband, didn’t kill Tangela House?”

  There was silence on the line for a second. Carmen wondered if she had hung up the phone. “What do you want, Ms. Taylor?”

  “I need you to check the guest list from that night and tell me if either Josh Fillmore or Terrance Redding, are on the list?”

  “Terrence Redding? The Congressman? What does he have to do with this?”

  “Maybe nothing—maybe everything.”

  “I can tell you that the congressman and Mr. Fillmore have been to the gallery on several occasions in the past,” Aneisha said as she reviewed the guest list. “But neither was on the list for that night.”

  “Thanks,” Carmen said quickly.

  “I hope that helps.”

  “I know it will.” Carmen hung up and called Detective Mitchell, and told her that Josh Fillmore was at the gallery the night Tangela House was murdered.

  “Slow down, Carmen. Who is Josh Fillmore?”

  Carmen told Mitchell the tale of sex and blackmail she had discussed with Geoffrey Canfield, the night before he committed suicide. But when she confronted Terrence Redding about it, he denied everything, just before he was arrested on bribery charges. “If what Canfield said about the blackmail is true, then Fillmore could have been there to pay her off, but he killed her.”

  “Okay, Carmen. I’m not that far from you. Wait there for me and we’ll take a look at what you got,” Mitchell told her.

  Carmen made a copy of that section of the footage, and then she left the studio and went back to her office to wait for the detective. When she opened the door and turned on the lights, Carmen was surprised to see Josh Fillmore sitting behind her desk. “Josh, what are you doing here?” Carmen put her bag down then turned on her recorder.

  “Hello, Carmen.” Josh picked up a gun and pointed it at Carmen. “You know exactly what I’m doing here: Your little chat with Canfield. I’m just here to cleanup loose ends.”

  “So, it’s true. She was blackmailing Redding and Canfield. You killed her. Didn’t you? That’s what Redding meant when he told Canfield that he would handle it.”

  “It’s what I do, Carmen. I take care of loose ends,” Josh said and got up.

  “Tangela House thought she was there to get paid off.”

  “Who knew the greedy bitch would bring her freak clients with her. I gotta say it was some really disgusting shit to watch. After the old freaks left, I strangled her.”

  Carmen started to inch toward the door. “Redding is in jail, Josh; you don’t have to do this.”

  “Entrapment. He’ll beat that, no sweat,” Josh said and stepped close to Carmen. “Now we’re going to walk out of here.” He turned Carmen around and shoved the gun in her back. “You try to run, scream for help, if you even look at somebody funny, I’ll kill you on the spot. Understand?”

  “I understand.”

  “Good, now let’s go,” Josh said and pushed Carmen out of the office. Josh stayed close to Carmen and made sure that his face wouldn’t be seen by any of the many surveillance cameras.

  As they approached the security station at the front entrance, the guard stood up to
unlock the door. “Be a good girl and save his life,” Josh said and pushed the gun a little deeper into Carmen’s back.

  “Good night, Ms. Taylor,” the guard said.

  “Good night, Pete. See you tomorrow,” Carmen said as she passed the guard, and her and Josh left out of the building. Josh led Carmen at gunpoint, away from the building and right past Black. When he realized what was going on, he pulled out his gun and pointed it at Josh. “Let her go!” Black shouted.

  Josh put the gun to Carmen’s head. “I’ll kill her!”

  Black took a step closer. “You all right, Carmen?”

  She nodded her head. Black kept coming closer.

  “Don’t come any closer or I’ll kill her!” Josh yelled.

  “And then what? Huh? Then what? You shoot her and then I’ll shoot you.” Black took another step closer. “Let her go now and I won’t kill you. ’Cause if there’s even a scratch on her, I will hunt you down and kill you slowly. I’ll get so medieval on you that you’ll beg me to kill you,” he said and kept moving closer to Josh.

  Just then, Detective Mitchell drove up. She slammed on her brakes and jumped out of the car. Mitchell pulled her weapon and drew down on the hood of a car. “Police! Freeze!”

  Josh pushed Carmen into Black’s arms and tried to run. As he held on to Carmen, Black raised his weapon and started to shoot Josh, but thought better of it.

  Josh fired two shots at Mitchell as he ran. She took aim and fired her weapon. She hit him with three shots in the back. With her weapon pointed and her eye on Black, Mitchell approached the body and checked for a pulse. Josh Fillmore was dead. Mitchell returned to her car to call it in.

  “You okay?” Black asked.

  “I’m okay,” Carmen said as tears drifted down her cheek. “Thank you,” she said and hugged Black. He held on to Carmen, but his eyes were on Detective Mitchell as she walked toward him.

  “Do you have a permit for that firearm?” Mitchell asked.

  “Yes, detective, I do,” Black replied.