by K'wan
“Well, this is a welcome surprise.” Christian smiled like the cat who had just swallowed the canary. His dark eyes drank Knowledge in.
“Thanks for agreeing to see me. I know these ain’t your normal business hours,” Knowledge told him.
Christian waved him off. “How could I refuse an emissary of Big Stone? Besides, I was curious as to why you asked for this meeting. You don’t do drugs, aside from weed, and you don’t buy pussy. So what business could we possibly have?”
“I’m in need of some information.”
Christian looked disappointed. “And here I thought you had come to hand-deliver an invitation to that big party your boss is throwing tonight, because I sure didn’t get one in the mail,” he said sarcastically.
“You know that wasn’t my call. I had no say over who got invited. I’m just a hired gun,” Knowledge said, downplaying his position.
Christian sat on the edge of the table in front of Knowledge. “Come on, you don’t have to play coy with me. Everyone knows you’re the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Stone. But that’s a conversation for another time. What kind of information is it that you need and what are you willing to pay for it? You know nothing in Hades is free.”
“Of course not.” Knowledge pulled out the envelope. “A few months back you had an incident with one of your girls. A john cut her face up pretty bad.”
“Cassie.” Christian nodded, remembering the pretty little white girl who had made him so much money. “That girl needed four surgeries on her face after what he did. She’ll never be the same again,” he said angrily. “He’s lucky the police got to him before I did. I’ve spread a few dollars around throughout the prisons, but so far haven’t been able to turn up shit on him.”
“That’s because he ain’t locked up. He snitched on some dudes he was getting money with so the police cut him a deal. They gave him a new name and a new address, both of which are in this envelope.” Christian reached for it, but Knowledge held it just outside his reach. “Information first, address after.”
“Fair enough,” Christian agreed. “What do you need to know?”
“I need some information on a chick. Slim broad, kinda cute, and known to play a trumpet. She’s probably working with a crew of dudes, likely out-of-towners.”
Christian tapped one of his gold-painted nails on his chin while he thought about it. “I’m sorry, but it doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Come on, Christian. You got your fingers in the pussies and this one don’t sound familiar?” Knowledge pressed.
Christian laughed. “Trust me, if I did have a line on her, she’d be working in one of my spots. A pretty girl who is musically gifted could fetch me a nice piece of change. You’d be surprised at the fetishes some of my clients have. Why are you looking for her anyway? She trying to pin a baby on you or something?”
“Nah, nothing like that. I think she may be connected to all these bodies that have been dropping lately.”
“Yes, I’ve been hearing about that. Nasty thing; the cocaine business, that is. That’s why I keep it to pills and pussy. Happy people are less likely to wanna blow your head off over some bullshit,” Christian said.
“You’re right about that,” Knowledge agreed. “Well, if you hear anything, let me know.” He handed him the envelope and stood to leave.
“You still gonna give me this even though I couldn’t help you find this girl?” Christian was surprised.
Knowledge shrugged. “Think of it as a down payment on the next favor I may have to come in here to ask. Thanks for your time.” He was about to walk out when Christian stopped him.
“You said this girl is likely working with a crew from out of town?”
“Yeah, why? You know something?” Knowledge asked hopefully.
“Maybe, but I’m not too sure if the two are connected. A few nights ago we had to toss some country nigga out on his ass. He was all in his feelings over one of our girls, Mercedes. She was on the clock with another trick and it didn’t seem to sit too well with him.”
“What happened to this dude after y’all tossed him?” Knowledge asked.
“The police took his uncouth ass to jail. I was going to send Frankie and Boogie down there to let him know how much I didn’t appreciate him causing trouble in my spot, but he had already been released. Apparently, he was plugged in with a local dick-head detective in the department so the charges magically disappeared.” Christian twinkled his fingers like he was casting a spell.
“Would you happen to know this detective’s name?”
“Knowledge, baby, that’s a tree I don’t think you wanna climb. This dude is more gangster than police,” Christian warned.
“This detective may be the best chance I got at tracking this crew down and stopping them.”
“Frankly, that ain’t my problem. I’m sorry for the losses you guys are taking, but me and mine are on go all day, every day. Anybody come trying to take a piece of this sweet ass is going to have a problem I seriously doubt they want,” Christian boasted.
“I’m sure that’s the same thing Pana Suarez said before they cut his heart out and murdered his entire crew.”
This seemed to get Christian’s attention. He and Pana weren’t friends, but Pana’s crew had done a few jobs for him. Christian knew how the man rolled, so when heard that he had gotten hit, he knew whoever had done it was about their business. Pana’s crew was strong, but Christian knew if the bandits were able to take down Pana, he himself didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell if they ever turned their attention to his business.
“Knowledge, if I give you this name you didn’t hear it from me. The last thing I want is that crazy-ass cop sniffing around my shit. Are we clear on that?”
“That goes without saying. I just wanna have a chat with him,” Knowledge assured him.
“Well, you do so at your own peril. His name is Detective James Wolf, but they call him the Lone Wolf because of the high mortality rate of every partner he’s ever had. You can ask any knucklehead on the streets about him because at one time or another he’s either had his hand in their pockets or his foot in their asses.”
Knowledge had heard the name on the streets. Wolf was like the boogeyman to dope boys throughout Harlem. His attachment to suspect cases was only preceded by his attachment to unsavory characters throughout the underworld. Wolf was as dirty as shit-kickers boots, but no one had been able to successfully pin anything on him. Likely because most witnesses to his dirt never lived to take the stand against him. Knowledge had once dropped an envelope off to the detective on behalf of Big Stone, so he was familiar with the watering hole he hung around. Wolf shouldn’t prove too hard to track down, but finding the detective was one thing, getting him to talk was something else.
“Thanks, Christian.”
“My pleasure, handsome.” Christian stubbed his joint out in the ashtray. “Why don’t you drop in one of these nights and party at Hades. Let me and some of my girls show you how the other half lives.”
“Thanks, but I’ve already seen that movie and I’m not a fan. Later, Christian.”
* * *
“So how was your chat with el príncipe de la noche?” Power asked when Knowledge was back in the car. It translated to Prince of the Night, which is what some called Christian.
“Enlightening,” Knowledge said, starting the car.
“So, where to now?”
Knowledge looked at his watch. “I’ve got a little bit of time to kill before I have to go home and get ready for tonight. I got one more tree to shake. Let’s go see a man about a dog.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
After getting out of Buda’s car, Vita took a taxi farther south to get hers. She had left it near the diner on Broadway where they had all met up before the hit on Oscar.
She was still pissed about the way Buda had come at her, but she didn’t know why she was surprised. Buda had always been envious of Diamonds and probably couldn’t wait until he was out of the way so he could he
lp himself to everything Diamonds had once laid claim to, including Vita. And to think she had almost bought that corny-ass story about him secretly being sweet on her. She wouldn’t let him into her pants if his was the last dick on earth.
Thinking of dick turned her attention to Domo. He’d seemed troubled about something when last she’d seen him. It’s possible that he was still sore over Buda pulling a gun on him, but she doubted it. Domo was too tough to let something like that crawl under his skin. If she had to bet she’d say it was the exchange they’d had that morning. Domo had accused her of forcing him to compete with a ghost, and though she had denied it at the time she knew he was right. Vita would always love Diamonds, that would never change, but the more time she spent with Domo the easier it was becoming to let go of what she’d had with Diamonds. What was troubling Vita was his abrupt departure. It didn’t feel right, like she was overlooking something. Which is what now brought her to his apartment building.
In the other cities they had laid siege to, the crew had always bunked under the same roof, but that had changed when they arrived in New York. Diamonds was renting a nice three-bedroom apartment in an upscale Manhattan neighborhood that overlooked Central Park. He’d gotten into the building through a crooked member of the management. They allowed him to make a no-questions-asked cash payment so long as he took out a five-year lease and greased their palms for the hookup.
Vita pulled into the underground garage and began trying to retrace Diamonds’ steps. If she could get into his head then she might be able to get a better idea of what had happened to him. Much to her surprise his SUV was in its normal parking spot. This told her that he had at least made it home. She tried the doors, but they were locked. She peered through the window and spotted a purse on the floor in the back. It was a high-end-looking bag, out of the price range of the hood rats Diamonds chose to cat around with, but it did look like something his new friend Pearl would carry. Knowing Pearl had been the last one to see Diamonds made Vita wonder if there was something to Buda’s theory about Pearl’s father being involved in the disappearance. It made her sick to see him fawning over her at the baby shower, but she held her tongue to keep the peace.
She walked through the dimly lit garage, blowing bubbles with the gum she was chewing, eyes scanning for additional clues. Her path led her to the elevator to the lobby and the apartments above. The doors slid open and she startled an unsuspecting elderly white couple who were getting off. The husband clutched his wife tightly as they slid past Vita. She lowered her head, trying to hide the smirk that had broken out across her face. It was then that something caught her eye. She stopped the door from closing and peered through the small crack at the base of the elevator. It was dark and the shaft was littered with trash, but she thought she saw what looked like a cell phone.
Vita got down on one knee and tried to slide her fingers in the crack, but it was too narrow. This would require a bit of resourcefulness on her part. She removed the necklace she was wearing and placed her gum on the end of it. It would be a long shot, but short of trying to get the building maintenance staff to shut the elevator down it was the only play she had. It took her five attempts before she was finally able to get the gum to hold firm enough to move the cell phone. Vita focused with the steadiness of a bomb specialist while pulling the cell phone up. If she dropped it she seriously doubted she’d get the gum to stick a second time. After holding her breath for what seemed like an eternity, she managed to retrieve the cell phone. She had been right, it was Diamonds’! It was completely dead from sitting for so long, but it was the first solid lead she’d had since his disappearance. She would take it up to his apartment to charge it and prayed to God it yielded something to go on rather than another dead end.
* * *
Vita let herself into Diamonds’ apartment with the spare key he had given her. Goldie and Vita were the only ones he’d trusted enough to have one. When she entered the apartment she immediately felt a chill run over her shoulders. A quick examination of the doorframe revealed etchings in the paint so faint you’d likely never notice them unless someone told you to look. They were the same markings Diamonds used over the entrance of every place they had ever laid their heads. He told them it was to keep the evil out. She had never put much stock in Diamonds’ superstitious practices, more from not wanting to believe them than actually not believing. She had been around Diamonds long enough to know that he was involved in things that couldn’t be explained by modern science.
The first thing she did was go to the kitchen, where she knew Diamonds always kept his phone charger plugged over the microwave. She waited on pins and needles while the phone absorbed enough juice to power on and then began her search. He’d had several missed calls, mostly from her and Goldie, and even a few from Hank. The rest of the numbers she didn’t recognize, but what she did notice was that Buda’s number was absent from the call log. This just confirmed what she had already suspected, that he was the least concerned about Diamonds’ disappearance.
While going through Diamonds’ texts she finally broke luck. Don’t go home until we talk, the message read. It was from someone listed as the Howling, which she knew was a fake name for his contact in the police department, Detective Wolf. She had met with him several times with Diamonds. Why didn’t the detective want Diamonds to go home and how did it tie into his disappearance? She planned to ask the detective in person the minute she left the apartment.
Finding nothing else of note, Vita moved to the bedroom. As messy as Diamonds could be with the hearts of women, the same couldn’t be said about his treatment of his bedroom. All his clothes were on hangers and the shoes stacked in neat boxes. His bed was still perfectly made, with the corners of the blanket tucked in military-style so she knew it hadn’t been slept in. At least Pearl hadn’t made it that far. Vita sat on the edge of the bed and ran her hand over the surface of the blanket. At one time she had known every inch of it intimately, but now it felt alien. She picked up one of his pillows and inhaled deeply. It still smelled of Diamonds, but there was something else too … burning sage. She sniffed the air and realized it wasn’t coming from the pillow, but somewhere else in the apartment. She wasn’t alone.
Pistol in hand, Vita crept through the apartment looking for the source of the scent. It was strongest outside the spare room that Diamonds sometimes used as an office. The door was partially open and she could hear what sounded like someone speaking in a hushed tone. Whoever had violated her former lover’s safe haven would pay for the offense in blood. Using the barrel of the gun she pushed the door wider and was surprised to find Goldie inside.
Diamonds’ baby brother was hunched over a card table, rocking back and forth and speaking in tongues. His fist was balled and held above the table, moving in a counterclockwise circle. Sage burned in a bowl, and next to it sat a bloody knife.
“Goldie?” Vita called out softly. If he knew she was standing there he showed no signs of it. “Goldie, baby, what you doing?” She moved in closer. It was then that she noticed the blood dripping from his hand onto the table. “Oh my goodness!” She rushed to his side. When she touched him, she noticed his skin was on fire. “Goldie, Goldie!” She called his name over and over while shaking him. When he was still unresponsive she slapped him across the face to break him out of his trance.
“D’fuck!” Goldie recoiled. He blinked twice as if he was trying to figure out who Vita was. For a minute it looked like he was about to reach for the bloodied knife that lay on the table beside him.
“Goldie, it’s me!” she announced herself.
“Vita?” The fog began to roll back from his brain.
“Boy, what in the hell are you in here doing to yourself?” Vita picked up his bloody hand to examine it. Thankfully it was only a flesh wound.
“This!” Goldie slammed his fist onto the table, smearing blood over what appeared to be a map of New York. “I watched Auntie and Diamonds work this trick at least a half dozen times, but it ain’t work
ing for me. I probably need to offer more blood.” He reached for the knife, but Vita snatched it away.
“The last thing you need is to bleed any more. You know better than to be in here trafficking in them black things,” Vita scolded him while looking over the bloody map. “What are you doing anyway?”
“Long time ago, when we was kids still living out in the bayou, Auntie taught us about the blood tether,” Goldie began. “She say that me and my brother tethered by blood and spirit. If ever we should get separated then the blood would call to blood. It’s how we were able to find him when he was caught up in that foolishness with the old witch Bleu. The blood led us right to the shack where they were holding my brother.”
“So why isn’t it working now?” Vita asked.
“I got no idea.” Goldie shrugged. “I been in here trying to get it right, but it keeps taking me to this spot.” He tapped an area on the map marked Upper Bay. “So either my brother sprouted gills and turned into a fish, or this spell is busted.”
“We can figure it out later. Right now I need to get you cleaned up so we can follow up on a lead I found in Diamonds’ cell phone.”
“Where’d you find my brother’s jack?”
“I’ll explain later. Now go wash that blood off you.” Vita shooed him. While Goldie was in the bathroom washing up, Vita took a second look at the map. He had made a mess of it by bleeding all over the thing. She followed the trickle; just as Goldie had pointed out it seemed to stop in the middle of a body of water marked Upper Bay, between Red Hook in Brooklyn and Bayonne, New Jersey. As she looked closer she noticed something obscured by one of the drops. Using her thumb she wiped the blood away and uncovered a speck of land. “Liberty Island,” she read aloud. That’s where the Statue of Liberty was located. She knew this because it was one of the first places she had Diamonds take her to visit when they had first arrived in New York. She had been fascinated with it since she had first read about it in school. They spent the day exploring as much of the place as they could, even managing to sneak into a section at the northern end that was closed to the public due to renovations that were under way. It had been fairly simple to do; it was isolated and the only part of the island that wasn’t teeming with security.
