by Kyle West
As McKenna changes the station on the radio a figure, calmly and slowly walking down the sidewalk, comes up on the passenger side window of the stolen Audi. From behind, in a blink of a second, someone shoots McKenna twice behind the right ear! McKenna immediately slumps in the passenger seat and is shot three more times by the mysterious assailant!
Starr, still in the pawnshop, hears the shots and quickly runs to the pawnshop door. Paul quickly reaches for his shotgun, runs past Starr and outside towards Starr’s stolen Audi to see what the commotion is all about! Starr dashes back into the pawnshop and quickly grabs the pistol and bullets from the counter. He leaves the cash on the counter, sticks the pistol in his waistband, puts a box of rounds in his jacket pocket, and rushes outside. Starr looks around and sees Paul in the middle of the sidewalk, shotgun in hand, yelling, "Which way did the guy go! Move! Move!" Starr, feeling something probably happened to McKenna, casually walks over to the Audi to see McKenna in the car, with his head and face covered in blood. Starr knows his good friend, his life brother, work partner, is dead.
Starr says, “Rest easy brother.” As a man rushes out of a liquor store, which the car is parked right in front of, and shouts, "He went down that way! Down there!" As he points west. There is no sign of the assailant, but Paul runs west, down Magazine St. with shotgun in tow. Amongst the chaos, Starr inexplicably stands peacefully as he ponders everything about the scene.
3:43pm
Keith is pulling up to Vivian's condo in his rental car. He is still in pain from the beating he took from McKenna and Starr earlier this morning. Keith grimaces as he gets out of the car. Keith believes that McKenna and Starr have probably already been through the house earlier today, found the money, and are probably long gone. He nonchalantly walks up to the newly replaced condo front door and uses Vivian's keys to enter.
Keith casually looks around the still disheveled house. In the kitchen…he looks in the cabinets, the pantry, and under the sink. Keith doesn't find much of anything. The cabinets and refrigerator are practically empty. Keith does find a lot of Ortho Plant Food and Top Soil in the breakfast nook, near the large, sun window. Keith looks around the condo but doesn't see any evidence that plants, flowers, or even flowerpots for that matter were ever in the condo. As Keith walks into the living room, there is a knock on the open front door. Keith walks to the door and sees and hears an older lady calling out for Vivian. The lady is Vivian's next door neighbor, Mrs. Liles.
Mrs. Liles and Keith introduce themselves to each other. Mrs. Liles says, "I thought you might be Vivian comin' back home. Who are you?"
Keith tells Mrs. Liles that he is with New Orleans Police.
Mrs. Liles responds, "Oh. I been living next door to Vivian since she moved here with her husband about a year ago. She is so, so sweet. I love her like my own daughter. It was so sad to hear about Jesse. So young. So sad." Mrs. Liles adds, "Did you find who killed him yet?"
Keith tells her no.
Mrs. Liles continues, "He wasn't always around but he was sweet, too. He'd always speak in the mornings and always put a smile on your face, y'know. Jesse would come over anytime if my grandson needed help fixing his car or anything like that."
Mrs. Liles continues, " He was so good to Vivian. I was looking forward to them having kids soon. Fifi was like her baby though. She left Fifi with me."
Keith asks, "Fifi? Who's Fifi?" "Fifi is her Siamese cat! More like her baby. She asked me to take care of her."
Keith interrupts, "So you saw Vivian on Wednesday? Thursday?"
Mrs. Lilies responds, "No, I haven't seen Vivian since last week. I wasn't able to get to Jesse's funeral. I came down with the flu and just couldn't get out of bed I tell ya’. I haven't spoken to Vivian since she brought Fifi over. That was uh, two Mondays ago."
Keith firmly asks, "Two? Two Mondays ago? Are you sure Ma'am?"
Mrs. Liles answers, "Yes, that was the big Monday night against the Falcons. The twenty-fifth ? Vivian was going to join Jesse on his business trip. Vivian didn't really know when they was comin' back. So yes, definitely before Jesse passed."
Keith then questions, "Ma'am have they done any work to the house like in the last few weeks?"
Mrs. Liles responds, "No. No, I would've heard it. These walls are paper-thin y'know. Some guys broke in and went through this place something awful last week! Just tore it apart! But Vivian and Jesse put the house on the market last week I think. Mr. Guidry was upset all week because now he has to really fix the place up to sell it, after they ripped the place apart I tell ya."
Keith then desperately asks, "Ma'am did you hear anybody in here today? Anybody?"
Mrs. Liles answers, "Nobody's been in here since Friday. Now after the guys tore up the house, somebody came and bashed up Jesse's beautiful car out back and beat up Mr. Guidry. Bullets flyin' around out back and all! It was crazy! But Friday just the police and some secret agent guy came by, that's it. "
Keith looks at his watch and tells Mrs. Liles that he has to leave now and adds, "Thank you ma'am for your cooperation." Keith locks Vivian's front door.
Mrs. Liles says, "You guys make sure you catch who killed Jessie and let Vivian know that Fifi and I love and miss her! Oh, thank her for the beautiful plants!" Keith again thanks Mrs. Liles for sharing information with him, then rushes to his car. He gets in and makes a call on his cell phone.
Keith says over the phone, "Vivian Baylor's been dicking me around this whole time, man!"
The voice on the other end of the phone snaps, "You got the money or not?! Save the damn excuses!"
Keith doesn't respond.
The mysterious voice continues, "You said five days, this is two weeks! No more bullshit!"
Keith pulls off from in front of Vivian's house and continues his mysterious phone conversation, "She was in this the whole way, right from jump! Vivian Baylor was leaving town to meet up with her husband as far back as two weeks ago, with no return date! She knows exactly where that money is!"
Nicholas, the mysterious voice interrupts Keith and says, "She knows where that money is. Make her take you to it! I swear, if!"
Keith inexplicably drops his cell phone in his lap. Completely perplexed as he spots a large mobile billboard in the lane next to him, also waiting at the light, says softly to himself, "Oh Shit! …. no way." The mobile billboard is an advertisement for Telebank National Systems, also known as T.N.B. T.N.B. specializes in electronic banking. Foreign and domestic, featuring among other services, direct deposit, payroll, square credit card reader, hard drive and flash-drive storage of payroll, structuring of independent banking systems for large and small businesses.
Keith slaps himself on the forehead and again says to himself, "No way. You gotta be shitting me." He forces his way across Florida Ave, across several lanes of traffic to get to the left turn lane.
With one car already in the lane waiting for the light to change, Keith drives over the median, through the light causing oncoming traffic to dangerously stop! With car horns blowing, Keith turns onto Louisa Ave. Keith is recklessly speeding down the street, dangerously changing lanes, when he loses control of the rental car, and gets into another accident! Keith hits two cars, and veers into the Exxon gas station, next to the Taco Bell. A crowd assembles on the street as Keith climbs out of the wreckage. Keith tells the crowd that he is with New Orleans Police, then makes sure no one is hurt.
Keith shouts, "Anybody need assistance? Help is on the way!" Keith sees a cab stopped, watching the commotion. Keith points and yells to the cab driver, "You! I'm
Police! Take me downtown!"
Chapter 18
4:08 pm
Detective Huntley is at McKenna's murder scene on Magazine St. He is on his cell phone talking to Det. Roussel, who is back at the New Orleans District 7 station house. There is police activity going on as Det. Huntley tells Det. Roussel, "We got our cop killer. This is the guy. He's dead."
Det. Roussel replies, "I hope this shooting is a good one. What happened
? Everything looks good on our side detective? You know this one's gonna get a lot of attention."
Det. Huntley states, "Actually somebody iced this guy before we even got here. And guess who our 'vic' is? Scott Tomlin, the guy we been looking for from the Hyatt Regency two nights ago."
Det. Roussel questions, "Tomlin is our cop killer?! This just keeps getting crazier every day."
Det. Huntley responds, "Yeah, we got him. The Mayor is on his way down here now. You coming down detective? We didn't get the other guy, but we're canvassing the entire area. No sign of him yet. A witness said he took off on foot heading west. I got another ‘vic’ with no ID. Now I got a cop killer with a platinum Amex card, a Plum card, a twenty thousand dollar Rolex on. Three 'vics' staying at the same hotel? What do we have going on here detective?”
Det. Roussel tells Det. Huntley, "First thing, go over to the Hyatt Regency and see if Tomlin was paying for anybody else over there, before we have another body to tag over there. I’ll be down there as soon as I can." Det. Roussel hangs up on Det. Huntley and whispers to himself, "Watch how it'll all come back to Vivian Baylor.”
4:47 pm
Vivian is still at Riverwalk Marketplace walking through the mall, waiting for Ronelle to call her. She is on edge, so she decides to buy a daiquiri at Fat Tuesdays while she waits. As soon as Vivian pays for her drink, Ronelle calls and says to meet her at the Marketplace entrance in five minutes. Vivian throws her Electric Lemonade in the garbage can, and goes outside to meet Ronelle. Vivian sees Ronelle pull up in the valet area and honks her horn. Vivian quickly walks over and gets in Ronelle's car. Ronelle excitedly, but quietly whispers to her, "Vivian, there is three hundred million dollars in my fuckin’ bag right now! Do you understand what I’m sayin’ girl! Three hundred mil!”
Vivian tells Ronelle to pull off, then puts her hands over her face in shock. Ronelle puts the car in gear and quickly pulls off.
5:31 pm
Det. Roussel is at his desk talking to Officers Dees and Wheeler, when Det. Favours walks in with a file folder in his hands and says, "Lab ran the prints on Tomlin for you detective. I have no idea what this is, maybe you can make something out of this."
The file reads…’CLASSIFIED. NO ACCESS’, with bold red letter stamped across it, exactly like Barone’s and Rome’s fingerprint results.
Det. Roussel closes the file, puts it down on his desk and dismisses everyone away from his desk. As the policemen walk away, Det. Roussel opens the file again and says to himself, "Who the hell are these guys?"
Chapter 19
Keith returns to the Westin New Orleans Hotel in a cab. He jumps out and rushes into the hotel, straight to the elevators. Keith is impatient and jittery as he rides up to the fifth floor to his room.
Keith knows there is something important to the CD's and flash-drives that are in Jesse's blue travel bag. He gets off the elevator and rushes down the hallway to the room to find the door ajar. Slowly entering the room, he finds Starr casually sitting on the sofa. Starr's legs are crossed, with Jesse's travel bag and its contents spread out on the coffee table in front of him. There are no CDs or flash-drives on the coffee table.
Starr looks up at Keith and casually tells him, "Job well done, bruh. I gotta give it to you. We would not have guessed your ass was 'a grunt'. You 'G' men don't fuck around. How long were you guys on us? Keeping it real, we knew you were only one step behind us."
Keith, with minor cuts on his face and bits of broken car windshield glass on his jacket from his latest car accident, does not respond to Starr's statements.
Starr continues, "Looks like my boy Greg went quick and easy. Was that your work, or did Intelligence put the whole damn Agency out on us?"
Keith is more focused on where Vivian is at the moment. He doesn't respond to Starr's comments, as he casually walks around the hotel room to make sure Vivian isn't in there hurt or in danger. A strangely relaxed Starr kicks his feet up on the coffee table. "Well here I am! The last one left! Don't worry, I ain't goin' nowhere. Nowhere for me to run now, huh. Oh yeah, when you see Major Applewhite tell him to kiss my ass!"
Keith doesn’t speak, and he continues looking around the hotel room for clues to Vivian's whereabouts. Starr continues, "So Keith. Shit, is Keith even your real name? You really here for money or you just here to do the 'hits'? You on the clock now man? Well I'm goin' out like a proud soldier! Goin' out for the cause, for my country! I took an oath and betrayed it, I deserve to pay, head held high! So here I am!"
Keith finally stands still and matter-of-factly asks Starr, "Where's Vivian?"
Starr sarcastically interrupts, "You see her anywhere in here, man?! She's gone. Long gone!"
Keith walks over to the coffee table and picks up Jesse's empty blue travel bag.
Starr says to him, "Yeah, they're gone too. Gone! She gave all four of them to the kid when they left. Remember? Brilliant!"
Keith is completely speechless as he remembers Vivian giving the CDs and flash-drives to Alex that morning. Starr adds, "You know when you iced my boy, I was watching this dude shuffle all his money biz, paper biz, collecting the same info back and forth! Then put it all in his pocket! Shuffle it between servers, all that shit! Here all this time we was looking for a check or some shit! And that's when it came to me man, just like that!" As he snaps his fingers.
Starr continues, "I thought and then I remembered those drives and CDs in the fuckin' bag. Big and small ones, hard drives!
Keith again looks in the empty travel bag, and around the coffee table, for the anything that might have been left behind.
Starr adds, "Dude, they ain't invisible flash-drives you dumb motherfucka, they’re gone! It was smuggled right under your nose! The little boy walked out of here with your shit! How stupid do you feel now?!" Starr laughs. "So how it go down Keith? Did she promise you a cut if you had me and boys whacked? Did she promise you some ass?! Both?! C'mon man, you can tell me! It don't even matter now, shit! She put you on her payroll didn't she?! Yeah, I wondered why you took all those hellafied beat downs for her and guess what Keith? All you get out of all of this is a commendation from Applewhite and the Agency assholes and a hard dick!" Starr again breaks into laughter. Keith has a dangerous scowl on his face as he stares at Starr.
Keith's cell phone rings. He answers and in a despondent voice, "Can't talk now. Where are you? I'll call you back in twenty minutes." In deep thought, he anxiously walks to the window to look out and see the sun starting to go down on New Orleans. Keith has no weapon in his hand, so Starr doesn't feel as if his life is in danger at the moment, but he hides his nervousness.
Starr asks, "So who was that? What, I got twenty minutes before you and the crew put my ass down? Look, just make it quick and easy. Can you do that for me man? Or was that Jesse's wife on the phone? Calling from West Bubble Fuck, to see if your dumbass finished the job yet! I know she ain't downstairs waiting for you in the car! Right Keith?! So she’s checking to see if the last piece of the puzzle got iced and let me guess, you don't get paid until the last one of us is dead?"
Keith continues glaring at Starr, and does not respond.
Starr hysterically laughs and continues, "No. You can't be that fucking stupid! So far she's been a fuckin' genius about everything dude! If I was her, I wouldn't share a dime with the dumb motherfucka that killed a few people this week either. Would you?!" He laughs again at Keith. Starr adds, "Crime don't pay brotha! Oh, and I sure hope the Agency finds out what your grimy, crooked ass was doin', trying to get some of that money for yourself. Me and my boys all five of us, no six of us, will pay for our greed with our lives…I pray to God that you do too!" Starr is laughing harder as he continues, "You wanna know where Vivian is right now chief? She's at the airport cashing in her frequent flyer miles right now! Take a bow you dumb fuck! You did a great job!”
The ominously looking Keith slowly turns and walks to the room door to leave. Starr shouts, “Where you going Keith?! Finish the job! I'm just a regular ol' government
issue hit, motherfucka! Get back here and do your duty!" Keith opens the door and slowly leaves the room as Starr is still laughing at him.
4:52 pm
Ronelle and Vivian are driving up Poydras Ave.as they talk about the discovered money, "Vivian, the money was in that blue bag the whole time."
Vivian responds, "Jesse's bag? Where is it?”
Ronelle coolly responds, "Its right there in my purse."
A confused Vivian slowly responds, "I see nothin' in here but twenty-four dollars and your cheap five-dollar make-up."
Ronelle interrupts, "The flash-drives and the CDs girl! The ones you gave Alex this morning! That flash-drive there, the one with nothing on it. Take it out my bag! Girl, you got three hundred million dollars in your hand!" Vivian has a confused look on her face as she looks back and forth at Ronelle and the flash-drive.
Ronelle explains, "When I was goin' to get my hair done, I thought that flash drive was one of Jesse’s R&B playlists or DJ mixes he always doin’. I tried to play it in my car, it didn’t play! It didn’t show nothing on my screen, I thought it was my radio! But I just got this shit over the summer so I know it wasn’t broke! But somethin' clicked and I took it down, and put it in my computer down at work! Girl everything opened up! Bank accounts girl! The CDs were the passcodes for the accounts! Viv! I couldn't believe it! I pissed in my pants, Tina and them up at the office thought I had my silver bullet vibrator with me or something!" Ronelle continues, "Anyway, I opened up one of the accounts. There’s four of them and the one had sixty-three million in it girl! I didn’t even open the other ones yet. I just got the fuck out of there and came to get you!”
