by Glenn, Roy
“Don’t wake him up.”
Jap laughed. “I don’t think I could even if I wanted to. That nigga is out cold. So what you gonna do?”
Rain took a deep breath. “I’ma do what needs to be done.” Rain ended the call. “Chris Toney, you stay here and watch. If Grant comes out you call me. Donavan, you’re with me.”
She walked down to the store on the corner and bought four forty ounce bottles of beer and some dishtowels then went back to the Suburban. Rain took a bottle out of the bag, unscrewed the top and began to pour out the contents.
“What you doin’?” Donavan asked.
Rain smiled. “What, you want some?”
“Ain’t no point wastin’ good brew,” Chris Toney said.
“Grab a bottle, but I need them empty.”
“That’s no problem,” Donavan said and turned up the bottle.
“I don’t need you niggas drunk either,” Rain said and with that said Chris Toney and Donavan drunk some and poured out the rest. When Memphis and Brandon returned with the gas, they filled the bottles with gas. “What now?” Brandon asked.
“Now we wait,” Rain said and made herself comfortable.
“You still want me to call Cashmere?”
“No. But when you see her come out, grab her.”
When people started leaving Grant’s, Rain knew that the dancers would be out soon and then she would make her move.
“There she goes,” Chris Toney said and got out. He bought her back to Rain.
“How many men Grant got in there?”
Cashmere looked at Rain and knew what was about to happen. Grant had slapped her around pretty good for some shit she knew nothing about. He deserved whatever he got as far as she was concerned. “Grant’s in there with four of his men.”
“Where are they?” Rain demanded.
Cashmere told Rain where each man was when she left the building and then Rain told her to go. “And you need to forget that this conversation even happened, understand?” Rain said and counted off five hundred-dollar bills.
“What conversation?” Cashmere said and took the money.
Once she was gone, Rain got out of the Suburban and got the pump shotgun out of the back. “What’s the plan?” Chris Toney asked.
“Four of them, four of y’all. It ain’t rocket science. But leave Grant to me.”
Rain approached the door and shot the lock. Then she threw in the flash grenades. Grant and his men were disoriented by the bright light and loud noise from the grenades and were easily picked off one by one.
Grant grabbed his gun and shot back until his gun was empty. Once that happened, he tried to run, but Memphis and Donavan caught him. Rain sat down at a table and they sat Grant at a table with her. “Did Wanda order you to kill Nick?” Rain asked.
“Wait a minute. You think I had something to do with that?”
“The van they used is sittin’ outside.”
“That don’t mean nothing. Somebody is settin’ me up, Rain, I ain’t have nothing to do with it!” Grant yelled proclaiming his innocence. “I know we had our differences, but I swear on my mama’s grave, I ain’t have shit to do with what happened to Nick.”
“Then tell me who did?”
“I don’t know nothing about it!”
“You’re a fuckin’ liar,” Rain said and stood up. She aimed the pump at Grant’s head. “And I hate a fuckin’ liar,” she said and pulled the trigger. “Go get the gas can.”
When Memphis returned with the gas, Rain had him pour half of it around the room and over the bodies. Then took what was left and poured it out around the outside of the building. She returned to the Suburban and got the bottles she’d filled with gas and stuck a dishtowel soaked with gas in each one. Rain lit the towel and threw it inside and watched as the room caught fire before she walked outside and threw the three other bottles at the building.
Rain walked slowly back to the Suburban and got her blonde wig out of her bag. She put it on and turned to her men as a crowd began to form to watch the fire. “Y’all get outta here. I’ll be all right.”
Chris Toney started to argue with her but he knew it would do no good. They got in their vehicles and left Rain standing there. Once they were gone, Rain blended into the crowd and watched as the firemen arrived and put out the fire. After the fire was extinguished, the firemen went in and eventually came out with five body bags.
Rain had hoped Wanda would show up there so she could put one in her head, but she never did. It didn’t matter.
“It’s your move now, bitch,” Rain said and walked away.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Nassau, Bahamas
Four days had passed since Harry sent word that he was willing to accept their offer and he still hadn’t heard from either Black or Jamaica. It had been quiet and during that time, business had picked up a bit. Harry and Deidra were in their office talking about how strange they thought it was that they hadn’t been contacted. “Just don’t make no sense. None of Jamaica’s men have come tell me nothing,” Harry said.
“I know. And that’s odd ’cause before they killed Dexter they were in here causing trouble every night. Now we get nothing,” Deidra added.
“I would have, at the very least, expected them to send somebody to carry me to this Mike Black.”
“Yeah, so did I.” Deidra was confused and she looked away. At least that’s what she was told.
“What you think we should do, Deidra?”
Deidra looked back at Harry like he was crazy. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Absolutely nothing. We are going to act like none of this ever happened until somebody tells us different.”
“I think I should go round to see him at The Grill.”
“No, Harry, that’s exactly the wrong thing to do. What? Now all of a sudden you in a rush to give them our money? ’Cause I damn sure ain’t in no hurry.”
“It’s not right to make a man wait,” Harry said. He had sacrificed his pride just to make the deal. He thought making him wait was just to further humiliate him.
“Right or wrong, that’s just what were gonna do. We’re gonna sit right here and wait. When they’re ready to get this money they’ll be around. Besides, now that Jamaica’s men ain’t out harassing them, last couple of days, girls been bringin’ in more money. Not like they was, but its better.” She got up and put her arms around Harry. “It’s gonna be all right.”
“I hope so, Deidra. I hope so.”
It would have done Harry no good to go to The Grill looking for Black. He was spending the evening in the company of Jada West at Paraíso. That was the name of the place Black bought for Jada to operate out of. When Jada arrived on the island with eight beautiful women ready to apply their trade, Black knew that he had to get Jada a place that was worthy of both the talent she brought with her and the clientele he knew he could attract.
The day after she got there, Black and Jada were out looking at properties. “You look very nice today, Ms. West,” Black said as he helped Jada in the car.
“Why thank you, Mr. Black.” Jada was wearing a Carolina Herrera Italian Silk Faille off-the-shoulder boat neckline dress with three-quarter sleeves and wide pleated ruffles with Jimmy Choo marble suede and mesh stiletto sandals. They’d been at it for a couple of days and had seen some that they thought were promising and with a little work, would meet their needs. That’s when Jada met Jason Carroll, a local agent. He took them to a five-acre water front estate in the heart of Cable Beach. The minute they saw it, they looked at each other and knew they had found what they were looking for.
“This stunning property has a three-bedroom main house, a two-bedroom beach cottage, a three-bedroom gate house and a two-bedroom garden cottage,” Jason told them as they drove toward the main house and parked. Black got out and went around to open Jada’s door. She held out her hand and Black helped her out.
Jada looked around. “This is beautiful.”
“It is, isn’t i
t. I told you that you wouldn’t be disappointed. Come on, let’s go inside,” Jason said and led the way to the front door. Once they were inside, he let them look around the first level for a minute or two before he went into his pitch. “The main house is beautifully tiled throughout the main living area. The master suite areas and the two guest bedrooms are built around this open-air courtyard and occupy the second floor.” Jason pointed as he walked. “The master bedroom has two full bathroom-changing suites along with a private study, an enclosed patio overlooking the courtyard and a covered balcony overlooking the ocean.”
“My office,” Jada whispered and smiled.
“Anything you want, Ms. West,” Black said.
“The two guest bedrooms have en suite baths and open onto the interior courtyard. There is a private bar, a formal living area and a library overlooking the beach. There is also a courtyard dining area which also opens onto the pool deck, a formal dining room and an informal dining area extending off of the kitchen. The maid’s quarters has two rooms, two powder rooms, and a large professional kitchen with an adjacent prep and storage area. The southern exposure of the house looks over the large pool deck, which overlooks the five-acres of landscaped property.
As Black walked through the house, his mind was on how he could maximize the space to accommodate the women and gambling as he planned. Both the formal and informal dining areas would be converted for gambling. The ladies could entertain in the formal living area, private bar and library. Now he thought he’d definitely have to make use of the large professional kitchen. First thing he would do was have a twelve foot high wall built around the property.
“There is a beach cottage with two bedrooms and one bath and a screened in patio and the gate house has two bedrooms and one bath quarters upstairs,” Jason said as he continued the tour. Hearing that, Black knew he would have to add another bathroom to each. “Additionally it has a bed and one bath fully furnished apartment downstairs, and a cottage which is currently being utilized as an office but can be converted back into a two bedroom guest cottage.”
“We’ll be turning those back into two bedrooms, Jason,” Jada said. “What do you think Mr. Black?”
“What ever you think is going to meet your needs, Ms West,” Black said and thought that he could turn the downstairs apartment into a private gambling suite.
Jason led them outside. “This extensive property comes with a five-car garage, two back up generators, a well, a water maker and a sprinkler system for irrigation. Six hundred feet of beachfront and a stunning view across beautiful Goodman’s Bay. You got easy access to all Cable Beach amenities and downtown, this property is not to be missed. The discerning buyer will appreciate all that this estate has to offer. Down the road there is an eighteen-hole golf course and a half-mile away is a casino and resort. And downtown Nassau is a two-mile drive.”
“This is paradise,” Jada said on the way to the car.
“Paraíso,” Jason said with his best Spanish accent.
“What did you say?” Jada asked as Black opened the door for her.
“Paraíso. It’s Spanish for paradise.”
Jada leaned close to Black. “That’s what we’ll call it. Paraíso.”
“Sounds classy enough,” Black said and got in.
Two weeks later, Black made a low ball offer and to his surprise, the owner accepted. Construction began one week later to build the wall, make the changes he wanted and add five more bedrooms. When it was ready, Jada furnished Paraíso with items they had shipped in from Miami. During her many trips to the mainland she did some recruiting. They’d been open for business for three months with twelve women and business was good. Some came for the gambling, others came just for the women, but whatever their reason, they came and spent big money.
Jada was dressed in a Roberto Cavalli one-shoulder deep-V back with a flowing drape silk gown and Glenys cage platform sandals with Stephen Webster black mother-of-pearl and sterling silver earrings. On that particular evening, Black and Jada were talking about how much money they were making and somehow the subject of sex came up. “I imagine in her condition, sex isn’t on the top of her list,” Jada said. She took a sip of her drink and looked over the rim of her glass, wondering if Black was going to answer her.
Black glanced at Jada. “To be honest with you, Ms. West, we haven’t had sex in months.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“And here you are having all the sex you want. But I guess that’s just business, right?”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret, Mr. Black.”
“What’s that?”
“I haven’t been with a client in three years,” Jada said. “Which, by the way, is the last time I had sex.”
“You’re kiddin’?” Black asked in disbelief.
“No, I’m quite serious. Sex became a business to me some time ago, Mr. Black. Not something I did for pleasure.”
“Whatever you say, Ms. West.”
Jada put down her drink and turned to Black. “Well there is this one man that I wouldn’t mind getting with. But he treats me like a porcelain doll that will break if he touches me.”
“Maybe you should tell him,” Black said without looking at her.
“I just did.”
Black looked at Jada. “Me?”
“Yes you. So now that you know, you need to stop treating me like I’ll break if you touch me and start treating me like a woman that you find attractive.”
Black put down his drink and stood up. “Let’s go, because I have always found you to be a very attractive woman.”
“Not now,” Jada said and smiled. “Come on, sit down and relax.” Black sat down and picked up his drink. “I will call you tomorrow and if you’re not busy. I’ll let you know where to find me.”
“Is that how I treat you? Like a porcelain doll?”
“Yes, Mr. Black, you do.”
“I respect you. Respect what you do and how you carry yourself. And you are so beautiful, I thought I was treating you like a lady.”
“Is that how you treat your woman?”
“Yes. She’s a lady and I treat her that way.”
“But you fuck her and that’s the difference.”
Black looked strangely at Jada.
“What?” Jada asked and giggled that giggle of hers that Black enjoyed hearing so much. It was part of her appeal to him.
“Nothing. I just never heard you curse before, that’s all. You’re always so lady like.”
“See, like a porcelain doll.”
“Okay, Ms West, I get it.”
“I used to curse all the time. If you hadn’t disappeared so quickly that night we met at Ecstasy, you probably would have heard some choice ones coming out of this mouth,” Jada said and Black eyes were drawn to her lips. “No, Mr. Black the me you see today, I owe to a woman named Sasha Deverox.”
“Who’s that?”
“She was my madam when I worked the trade. She taught me everything I know.”
The next morning around eleven, Black received a call from Jada. “Good morning, Mr. Black.”
“Good morning, Ms West. How are you today?”
“Wonderful,” Jada said sweetly. “Are you busy?”
“No, as a matter of fact I wasn’t doing anything.”
“Good. I was hoping that you would join me for lunch.”
“Just let me know where and what time?”
“Provence. Say, in two hours?”
“That’s fine.”
“Good. I’ll see you in two hours then,” Jada said and hung up the phone. Since she refused to live at Paraíso, Jada maintained a residence at The Suites at Sandyport. Black thought that she would just call and invite him over there. But Jada had her own way of doing things.
Provence, a restaurant located in Olde Towne in Sandyport, served elegant French Mediterranean cuisine. Jada had reserved at table for them on the open balcony, which featured an excellent view across the marina. She arrived for lunch with Black
wearing an Akris Tulle inset shoulder appliqué dress and David Yurman black onyx and sterling silver earrings. Christian Louboutin Venus Orlato Suede ankle boots and Dolce & Gabbana Miss Coquette flap bag.
Jada began with Salade Niçoise, a South of France specialty served with tomatoes, cucumbers, Kalamata olives, tuna, eggs and balsamic olive oil vinaigrette. She had Dungeness Crab Cakes with Mediterranean Salsa Aioli. For dessert she selected the Apple pie, tatin style and espresso. Black, who didn’t want to eat anything too heavy, had the Riviera Salad, with sauteed shrimp, feta cheese, cucumbers and asparagus served with balsamic vinaigrette. His entrée was Fritto Misto, an array of tenderized conch, calamari and golden shrimp served with garlic aioli. He decided to pass on dessert.
Lunch was excellent and as always the conversation between Jada and Black was an engaging mix of business and personal topics and lasted well after their plates were taken away. Then they just stopped talking and looked at one another. Jada smiled. “I have a suite reserved at the British Colonial Hilton. Why don’t you meet me there in half an hour.”
“Okay,” Black said and wondered why. Since they weren’t far from her place, why go to the Hilton? But he knew Jada had her own way of doing things, so he didn’t question it.
Jada started to gather her things. “I want you to understand something, Mr. Black.”
“What’s that, Ms. West?”
“I am by no means trying to or even thinking about coming between you and your woman. I don’t want to break up your family or anything like that. You do understand that, don’t you?”
“If I didn’t I do now,” Black said and signed for the check.
“I’ve just wanted to have sex with you from the first time I saw you that night at Ecstasy and I may be wrong but I think that you’ve thought about me in that way too.”
“Believe me, I have.”
“This can in no way affect our business relationship.” Then she pointed at him and shook her finger. “I don’t care how good you are in bed, you are far more valuable to me as a business partner.”
