by Kyle West
Earlier, at 9:15 am - Starr and McKenna are speeding past the shops on Magazine, in his rented black Mustang they’re heading to Vivian's house. On the radio they hear a news report about the police officer they gunned down last night. The radio reports that the police have a description of two men, riding in a blue Chevy truck. Starr and McKenna pay no attention to the radio report and share no conversation with each other. McKenna sees a Home Depot store on the service road, on I-10 Bullard. He tells Starr to pull into the parking lot, he says, "We're gonna need a few things."
9:40 am
McKenna and Starr are coming out of Home Depot with shovels and a sledgehammer, as they briskly walk towards Starr's car. Up ahead they see two police officers routinely looking through the windows of the car. There are also two other patrol cars circling the car. McKenna and Starr stop in their tracks and duck in between the parked cars in the parking lot. McKenna and Starr shove the construction tools they just bought, and their guns under a parked car. They swiftly sneak through the parking lot, weaving between the parked cars, avoiding the patrolling police and parking lot security vehicles that are cruising around them. The two men sneak out of the Home Depot parking lot as they jump over a fence, into the Studio 6 Hotel parking lot. McKenna and Starr successfully escape out of view of the police presence.
12:00 noon
Vivian is relaxing, sitting on a Riverwalk bench, sipping a Starbuck's iced mocha coffee. She is on her cell phone, about fifty feet from the dock of the casino.
Across town, Insp. Clark is driving in his car when his cell phone rings. He answers his phone, he is talking with Vivian. He says, "Mrs. Baylor, are you okay?! How is your friend?" "I think he killed one of Jesse's soldier friends last night. I'm so scared. Police came to the hotel early this morning and told me about it. I know my friend went to meet with that guy last night."
“Vivian we didn’t apprehend Jesse’s buddies yet! They are still at large! Please be careful! Which guy did they say was dead?"
"I don't know their names. The skinny, loud guy, with the thin moustache who always wears the White Hat."
Insp. Clark responds, "Ok, that was Jerome Dixon. What is your friend's name?"
Vivian tells him, "Keith. I don't know his last name. Just Keith."
Insp. Clark says, "Keith. Ok. Where are you now?"
Vivian tells him that she is at the Riverwalk.
The Inspector questions, "Where is Keith? He can’t get too far he wasn’t in good shape earlier this morning. Did the ambulance check both of you out?”
Vivian doesn't answer. Clark takes Vivian's silence as a no. He tells her to go to the hospital to make sure she is not hurt and to call Det. Roussel, to tell him all that she knows about Keith's involvement in Rome's death.
He adds, "You have to Mrs. Baylor. It’s an open murder investigation. I’d have to report any crimes I have information about."
Vivian tells Insp. Clark that she will go see Det. Roussel if he comes with her. She adds, "They think I'm involved in all of this! I will be in jail if I go see Det. Roussel by myself. Those two cops that came by the hotel this morning told me they will have a warrant for my arrest the next time they see me! No! You have to come with me Mr. Clark!" Vivian then sees N.O.P.D. officers walking towards her, staring and pointing at her. She nervously gets up from the bench, and starts walking away from the officers, as one of them calls out to her. Vivian is scared stiff, she stops and turns to the officers.
The two officers approach and inform her, "Ma'am the Riverboat is leaving, they’re waiting for you." Vivian turns to the Lady Victoria Riverboat manager and waves for him to leave. She shouts to him, "Go ahead! Thank You!" The Riverboat manager waves back, then pulls the dock ramp aboard the boat, getting the floating casino ready to depart. The two officers proceed down the Riverwalk.
Vivian has this look of relief and paranoia on her face as she walks away, heading towards The Riverwalk Marketplace for some Rocky Road fudge from the Fudgery. She remembers that she was on the phone with Insp. Clark. Vivian immediately calls him back, but the call goes directly to his voice mail. Vivian leaves a message for Clark to pick her up at the Riverwalk whenever he can so they can go to up to District 7 to talk to Det. Roussel.
1:08 pm
Ronelle is heading back to the city to Ringletts Hair Salon in Gentilly for her 12:30 wash and set appointment. She is driving down St. Bernard listening to her favorite Faith Evans playlist. After the song is finished, Ronelle takes the flash drive out of the USB slot on her car radio. She sees the CD's and flash drives that Alex left on the front passenger seat, the ones that Vivian gave him this morning at the hotel. Ronelle looks through the four CDs, two of which have music industry artwork, the other two have no label or artwork. There are also two flash-drives, one has ‘rap playlist’ written on it in black magic marker, the other has nothing written on it. Ronelle isn’t in the mood to listen to rap, so she puts the unmarked flash-drive in the USB port. No music plays. on her car entertainment screen, no playlist shows. Ronelle gets angry and snatches the flash-drive from the USB port. She grabs one of the CDs on the car seat, an Usher CD and inserts it in her car radio. Ronelle continues her ride to her hair appointment, dancing in her car seat to the song ‘Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop’!
1:22 pm
Ronelle pulls up in front of Ringletts Salon on Paris Ave. Before she gets out of her car she adjusts her scarf on her busted hairdo, and puts on her sunglasses. Ronelle opens the car door, steps one leg out of her car, then suddenly stops. She takes a minute, then slowly turns around and grabs the unmarked flash-drive that she had tossed back onto the passenger seat in her car. She looks at it closely, inspects it for a few seconds, before putting it inside her purse. In pensive thought…Ronelle slowly steps back into her car, and gets ready to pull off, when Ronelle’s stylist Demeshia, steps out of the salon and yells, "Heifer, where you goin'?! You already an hour late and I got people behind you!" Ronelle yells back, "Hold my spot Meme’, I'll be right back!" Demeshia shakes he head and shouts back, "Girl, just call when you on your way!"
1:53 pm
Ronelle storms into the lobby at Hanan & Hanan Insurance, where she works. Amy the receptionist, is surprised to see her and says, "Hi Ronelle! What you doing here? We thought you were still on vacation? Is Vivian okay?!" Ronelle rushing to her cubicle, "Hey girl? Let me get at you in a minute." Ronelle briskly walks past co-workers in the hall. They ask if she's back from vacation. Ronelle turns into her cubicle and crashes down on her chair at her desk. She throws her heavy, fake Burberry purse on her desk and removes the unmarked flash-drive that caught her attention in her car. Co-workers have gathered around Ronelle's cubicle to ask about her unexpected return and to inquire about Vivian.
Ronelle stands up and in her loud, boisterous style says, "Vivian is fine! I'm fine!
Damn! I love y’all, but can y’all just gimme five seconds so I can get my tampons from my desk?" Her co-workers laugh with Ronelle and give her some privacy. In a very secretive way, Ronelle looks around to make sure no one is watching her. She carefully inserts the flash-drive into the USB port on her computer. She feverishly types, and follows the computer prompts, and various pop up commands. Ronelle looks around to make sure none of her co-workers are looking over her shoulder. She hits and follows the final pop up command, and a PDF spreadsheet of various banks and bank accounts show on the screen. Ronelle lets out a loud gasp! A co-worker from the next cubicle asks if she is okay. Ronelle says yes and continues sorting through the commands in the margin on this PDF file. The SWIFT (Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) codes direct her to ‘Insert CD’. Ronelle quickly goes into her purse again and pulls out the four CDs that Alex took from the hotel. She inserts the second CD, which has no label on it. The CD icon suddenly appears on her screen. Ronelle takes a deep breath and opens up the icon on her computer desktop. It shows four passcodes, nothing else. Ronelle minimizes the passcodes window and goes back to the PDF spreadsheet. On the bottom
it reads the name of four banks…Barclays Bank of London, Credit Suisse Bank of Switzerland, Banca d’Italia, and Yorkshire Bank. Each has an accompanying web link. Ronelle opens the third link and to her amazement, it asks for a password.
She enters the second password from the CD and the Banca d’Italia account appears. It shows a balance sixty-three million dollars! Ronelle has found the money! The other three bank accounts contain the remaining two hundred thirty-seven million dollars! Ronelle screams and jumps up from her chair! Two co-workers rush over to her to see what is wrong. Co-worker Yolanda humorously asks, “Ronelle are you watching porn over there again?!” A few co-workers laugh as Ronelle responds, "Nah, I see the Pelicans won again last night!" Ronelle quickly turns off the computer screen, and shuts down the computer. She then snatches the flash-drive and CD from the computer tower and shoves them in her purse. She then sits back down in her chair and puts her head down in her hands, rocking back and forth from excitement. She then quickly picks up her desk phone, then just as quickly, hangs up the phone.
Ronelle again makes sure her computer is turned off, then pulls the plug of her computer tower and monitor out of the power strip. Ronelle stands up from her desk and tells her co-workers that she is fine and that she has to go. Her supervisor Stan, follows her into the lobby, constantly asking if she needs his help with anything.
Ronelle is steadily pushing the button for the elevator as if she is pushing the button through the wall! She tells Stan, "Can't talk now boss! Ooh, I love that tie! Bye Stan!”
Ronelle rushes into the elevator, blowing Stan a kiss as the elevator door closes.
Earlier, at 10:35 am - McKenna and Starr are ducking and diving through the Studio 6 Hotel parking lot, looking for a car to steal. The police are investigating Starr's rented Mustang, a parking lot away at Home Depot. Starr comes upon a 2011 Audi with its doors unlocked. Starr motions to McKenna to be on the lookout while he enters the white Audi. Starr takes a long screwdriver out of his jacket pocket and inserts it into the ignition of the car. He vigorously pulls on the screwdriver until the ignition is popped out.
McKenna knocks on the window to tell Starr to hurry. Starr gets the car started, opens the passenger side door for McKenna and the men speed out of the hotel parking lot, passing the numerous police cars in the Home Depot parking lot.
Chapter 17
2:35 pm
Vivian is walking through the Riverwalk Marketplace. She is waiting for Inspector Clark to return her phone call and decide where to meet so they can go meet with Det. Roussel up at District 7. Vivian walks through Neiman Marcus to pass the time and lands up in the cosmetic department smelling fragrances and trying various lotions samples. Roberta and Angie, two saleswomen come from around the counter and say to Vivian, "Oh, you have such beautiful skin. You don't need anything too heavy on your face. I have something here that's perfect for you. What is your name ma’am?"
Before Vivian can tell the woman her name…Roberta and Angie are giving her a make- over. Roberta and Angie are hard-working, persistent ladies trying to make a big sale.
Vivian cannot get a word in edge-wise of what she likes and dislikes, as the women apply mascara, rouge, blush and lipstick. As Vivian is getting her impromptu make over, she gets a call…its Ronelle. Vivian isn't able to answer the call as Roberta and Angie work on her at a deafening pace. Vivian lets Ronelle's call go to voice mail. Seconds later, Vivian immediately gets a text from Ronelle telling her to call her as soon as possible. Vivian tells Roberta and Angie to stop applying the makeup. Vivian tries her best to get out the makeup chair as the two women continue their make-over and sales pitch. Vivian has to slip and slide out of their clutches to get out of the make-up chair.
Vivian, with half a face of fresh makeup, runs out of the makeup department so she can call Ronelle back with privacy.
Ronelle answers as Vivian says, "Sorry, I didn't call earlier. This morning, those maniacs…I really don't want to talk about it. Ro, I think Keith killed the guy with the White Hat last night. Things were crazy after you left." Ronelle, still parked in front of Hanan & Hanan, is excited and nervous as she looks around to see if anyone is watching her interrupts, "Viv, I got it! I got the money! I found the money!" She takes a breath and adds, "I'm coming to get you."
Vivian simply responds, "What did you say?"
Ronelle slowly and softly tells her, "I got the motherfuckin’ money that all of y’all been looking for?”
Vivian is speechless, then in a whisper responds, "Oh my God."
Ronelle again asks where Vivian is and is told Neiman Marcus.
Ronelle says, "Stay right where you are. I'm on my way."
Vivian, with a sense of sorrow in her voice responds, "Ro, I swear I didn't want you involved in all of this. I'm so sorry."
Ronelle cuts in, "Shhh! I'm on my way.”
1:44 pm
Starr is driving down Toledano St. as McKenna sees police activity up ahead attending to a traffic accident. A tense McKenna tells Starr, "Turn here." Starr makes a right turn onto Magazine St., and pulls over to the curb. McKenna says, "Let's just sit here for a minute. Let all of that mess calm down. We don’t know what the hell we are driving into. Does this car have GPS?" Starr shrugs, that he doesn’t know. McKenna continues, "Alright. Just sit here." Both men slouch down in their car seats. Starr sees a pawnshop a few doors down and decides to go buy a pistol since the men are now unarmed. Starr gets out of the stolen Audi.
A perplexed McKenna asks, "Dude? Where are you going?"
Starr tells him, "I'll be right back. I'm right here."
McKenna waits in the car. Starr enters Magazine Pawnshop and engages in a friendly conversation with the pawnshop owner Paul. Starr asks Paul if he has a dependable pistol he can buy today. Paul tells Starr that there is paperwork that needs to be filled out and a background check.
Starr responds, "Ah, c'mon Paul. I need this today pal. I had a break in at my house last week and I need something for my wife to protect herself with when I'm not home y'know. I don't need a cannon or anything like that, just that nice piece right there. How much is it? Three seventy-five, I got what…eight hundred dollars right here. C'mon Paul let’s do this man."
Paul isn't comfortable with doing under-the-table business, but Starr gives him an offer that's hard for him to refuse. Paul takes a moment to think the situation out. "You got eight hundred right there?" "Yeah, I really need that today Paul. Right now man and I need some rounds. Paul. Eight hundred wait, eight hundred thirty-two dollars and I'm out the door buddy." As Starr finds more cash in his jacket pocket.
Paul takes a moment, trying to convince himself not to proceed with the sale. He asks, "You live in the area?” Starr answers yes. Paul continues, “I don’t sell ammo, but these rounds should do you good. You didn’t get them here though, right?”
Starr sticks his hand out to shake Paul’s hand and says, "You are the best. Thank you my friend."
In the pawnshop, the TV is on the afternoon news. WWLTV is reporting about the police officer that McKenna and Starr killed last night.
Paul reacts, "That is just so sad. This world today I tell ya. We're all goin' to hell. This guy had four kids! I hope they gut the bastards that did it and fry 'em!"
Starr slyly responds, "Yeah, real sad." Starr focuses on getting his pistol.
Paul says to Starr, "My wife is usually here. She's shopping for my granddaughter's birthday party this weekend. You're lucky! If she was here she wouldn't let me do this for you!"
Starr thanks him again as Paul says, "Just one more minute and we’re done, I gotta put this on paper. You see, everything that goes through the register goes straight to the State Capitol. I'd have to punch in all of your information for this transaction to go through. Do you at least have a permit?"
Starr responds, "Uh, no, not yet. I'm working on that as we speak. Again, everything happened this week ya’ know."
Starr continues watching Paul work on his MacBook Air. Paul inserts and extracts a
flash-drive and a CD in his computer, typing in information and data. Paul explains, "Again, all of this goes right to the State. The serial number, your name, address, driver's license number, mother's maiden name, everything, goes right to the State. So I'll have to do some adjusting over here for you. I'm putting my ass on the line for you buddy, but I know you have to make sure the little lady is safe at home."
Starr responds, "Paul you are the best man."
Paul takes out and inserts another flash-drive on his computer and continues, "I took care of everything, you’re good to go. Don’t tell anybody about this ok. We’d both be up shit’s creek if they find out.” Paul can see Starr is fixed on the process of the computer transaction. He tells Starr, “Yea this makes things really easy nowadays. I do more online business than over the counter now, which makes it much easier to my keep my records in order. Hell, I’m sure it’s easier for the feds and state to keep track of things now too! Because us vendors do all the goddamn work!"
Starr's eyes light up as if a bolt of lightning went through his body! He stares into oblivion as his mind is in its own universe at the moment.
Outside the pawnshop, McKenna is still waiting in the car. He is still slouching down in his seat, so not to be seen by the cruising police vehicles in the area. As he waits, he is listening to radio country music station 101.1 WNOE. The song, ‘Burnin’ It Down’, by Jason Aldean is playing. McKenna whispers to himself, "Oh, I hate this fucking song.” His impatience grows as he adds, “C'mon Marlon what the fuck?! He antique shopping in there or some shit?!"
