The Reign of Rain Robinson

by Roy Glenn

  Something told him that with all that was going on, that it was a mistake to let Barbara stay at the reception and as it turned out, he was proven right. But at Pam’s urging, he gave in because like most father’s, it was hard to say no to his baby girl when she said, Please, daddy, in that sugary sweet voice and she gave Bobby that look. Although he was glad that RJ and Barbara were alright, he wanted this to end.

  “It all happened fast, Bobby,” Jackie began. “One minute everything was cool. Regulators were on stage and then I heard the shooting over the music.”

  “Next thing I know, guys with AR’s were blasting away at the stage,” Carter added.

  “How is Cristal?” Shy asked.

  “Once she regained consciousness her condition was downgraded to serious but stable,” Wanda said.

  “What does that mean, Wanda?” Bobby asked.

  “It means that she’s conscious and that her vital signs are stable and within normal limits.”

  “Is she gonna be all right?” Rain asked.

  “Indicators are favorable is what I got from the nurse when I asked that same question,” Wanda said and then she laughed a little. “Somebody already posted a video of P shooting while he was running off stage with Scarlet.”

  “But no video of Monte saving Cristal’s life,” Shy said and shook her head.

  “I talked to Scarlet this morning. She’s still at the hospital with her. She said that Cristal is awake, and despite being shot, she’s in a good mood. Talkin’ about it was either getting shot or going to jail, but she’s a Regulator for real now,” Black said, and everybody laughed, but it was nervous laughter.

  “So, who was it that hit the reception? Barnes, Mobley or El Decreto de Guerra?” Bobby asked looking at Carter.

  “I don’t think it was El Decreto de Guerra,” Jackie said, and Carter nodded in recognition of her having his back. “I been checkin’ with my police contacts and the shooters were black, so I’m gonna assume that it was Barnes or Mobley. But they’re keeping quiet about identification of the bodies.”

  “That’s just the cops trying to keep us from bustin’ back for as long as they can,” Rain said. “Stay on that for me, Jackie.”

  “Does anybody know if Nick and April made it safely to Spain?” Black asked.

  “He did,” Wanda said. “I talked to him this morning and he said that they arrived and didn’t have any problems traveling.”

  “You tell him what’s going on?”

  “I did.” Wanda laughed. “He said not to worry. He has enough weapons and ammo to take on the entire country twice.”

  There was a bit of laughter, but here again, it was nervous laughter because they each knew that it may actually come down to that and Nick was alone, in a foreign country with very little, if any support. He had taught April how to handle a weapon, and she was gun-ho to show her new husband what she had learned, but Nick would have preferred that April’s chance to show and prove would come in more controlled conditions and that he would have some support on her first time out.

  “But as much as I would have liked to under the circumstances, I couldn’t bring Monika along on the honeymoon. But for the time being, we’re safe,” Nick told Wanda when they talked.

  “Well at least that’s something good,” Black said and sat back in his chair. “Anybody got anything?”

  Black received silence and blank stares in response.

  “Anybody got any ideas we haven’t talked about already?” he asked and received the same silent response. “That’s it everybody.”

  Rain stood up. “Come on, y’all. We got shit to do,” she said and with that, Carter and Jackie stood and followed Rain out of the Black’s house.

  “You know who I blame for all this?” Bobby said.

  “Who?” Wanda asked, and Bobby pointed at Shy.

  “Me?” Shy asked, pointing to herself. “How am I to blame for all this?”

  “Me and Mike were retired and running a nice quiet program. And then you came along and that ended the peace,” Bobby said, and Wanda glanced at Black because she kind of agreed with Bobby.

  “I don’t know about that, Bobby,” Shy said.

  “Think about it, Shy.” Bobby leaned forward to reinforce his point. “The day the two of you met, somebody tried to kill you and it’s been on and poppin’ ever since.” He sat back and let out a little laugh. “Then you got yourself kidnapped and then you died, and poor Mike there has to spend the next couple of years killing everybody that he thought was involved,” Bobby said and by that time, Black had dropped his head and was laughing to himself.

  “He does have a point, Shy,” Wanda said jokingly.

  Shy pointed at her. “I used to like you, Wanda.”

  “And you will again,” she laughed.

  “You all need to leave my wife alone,” Black said as Chuck came in the room.

  “Excuse me, everybody,” Chuck said, and then he whispered in Black’s ear.”

  Black laughed a little. “I been wondering when he was gonna show up.”

  “Yeah, I asked what took him so long,” Chuck said, and he and Black laughed.

  “Guess you should show the man in,” he said, and Chuck left the room. Black looked at the curious looks on everybody’s faces. “We have a guest.”

  “Who?” Shy asked.

  “Kirk.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  When Kirk and Dawkins got to the precinct the night before, they went to speak with lieutenant McGraw and what he told them came as no surprise to them.

  “There was a shooting at Cuisine this afternoon,” the lieutenant informed. “Thirteen dead, twenty-seven were injured and had to be taken to the hospital.”

  “I heard,” Kirk said.

  “I figured you would. I hear that there was another shooting in The Family tonight.”

  “Who?”

  “Rephael Hickey.”

  “Who is that?” Dawkins asked.

  “Doc,” Kirk said. “Is he—”

  “Dead … that’s the word, but at this point it is all hearsay. If there was a shooting and he is dead, nobody called the police,” McGraw said.

  “And if he is dead that is not good. They hit Nick Simmons wedding and killed Doc in the same day.” Kirk shook his head. “They’re gonna be out for blood.”

  “I need you on this, Kirk,” McGraw said and then he held up his hand. “And before you say it, I know Sanchez has Bautista and Dickerson assigned to the case, but they’re not getting anywhere chasing down the drug dealers that are going after them.”

  But Kirk had worked with Bautista long enough and they were close enough for him to know without question that she wasn’t chasing the dealers.

  No, Bautista would definitely use this as an opportunity to go after Rain, Kirk thought.

  “I need you to talk to Black. I don’t care if you have to go to the damn islands to do it,” McGraw said.

  “He’s in the city. Nick got married yesterday, Black is here; I guarantee it,” Kirk assure the lieutenant.

  “There goes my free trip to The Bahamas,” Dawkins smiled. “Thanks, partner.”

  McGraw smiled and shook his head. “I need this war to stop, Kirk. Thirteen dead, twenty-seven wounded. I need this war to end.”

  “We’re on it, lieutenant,” Dawkins said excitedly because she been dying to get involved in the case.

  “Are we taking the case from Bautista and Dickerson?” Kirk asked.

  “No.”

  “You want us to work it with them?” Dawkins wanted to know.

  “No, I talked to Sanchez and you’ll be working it on parallel tracks, so a little cooperation between units would be nice. This is not a competition, I don’t care how it happens, but I need this war to end.”

  Kirk stood up. “We’re on it, lieutenant.”

  Now that the Detectives got exactly what they wanted; they went immediately to the gambling house to have a look around. Since there was no official police call, there was no official reason for
them to be there. But to their surprise, when they arrived at the gambling house, there was nobody there.

  “I think it’s safe to say that Doc is dead,” Dawkins said. “Unless you can think of another reason why nobody would be here.”

  “No reason.” Kirk paused. “Let’s have a look around,” he said, and they walked back to their vehicle to get flashlights and began checking the area. It didn’t take them long to find the shells that were in the street.

  “The result of a drive-by shooting no doubt,” Dawkins said, examining a shell before placing in an evidence bag.

  And it wasn’t long after that when Kirk’s flashlight hit the large blood stain on the concrete.

  “A lot of bullets and but other than this, there’s not a lot of blood,” Kirk reasoned.

  Dawkins shined her flashlight around the area. “I don’t see any blood trails leading away from here.”

  Now that they had found some evidence that a crime was actually committed there, Dawkins made the call and they got a team down there. While they were waiting, the Detectives continued to search the area.

  Dawkins was looking around a building across the street from the gambling house when her light hit something shiny. She stooped down to get a closer look and saw that it was an expended shell. Dawkins picked it up and moved to better light to examine it.

  “Come take a look at this, Detective,” she said.

  “What you got?”

  “Take a look at this,” she said and handed Kirk a shell that she had found. “That’s a .338 Lapua Magnum round. It’s used in the Remington SR-8. That’s a sniper’s weapon of choice. Pretty heavy stuff for a bunch of drug dealers, don’t you think?” Dawkins asked.

  “It is,” Kirk replied. “Where did you find it?”

  “Come on.” She led Kirk to where she found it. “My guess—” she looked up and pointed to the fire escape above. “Sniper fired the shot from up there.”

  Kirk looked up at the fire escape, across the street to the house and then he looked at Dawkins and started walking away from her. She quickly fell in behind him. and then Kirk stopped in the middle of the street.

  “They drive-by and open up, everybody hits the deck,” Kirk began and pointed to the house. “And at the same time,” he turned to the fire escape and pointed up. “Sniper fires and kills Doc with a single shot.”

  “Sounds like a good working theory,” Dawkins said as the crime scene technicians began arriving. “What we need now is a body to test our theory on.”

  “My guess is that they’ve already taken the body to The Young Family Funeral Home,” Kirk said.

  “We’re probably gonna need a warrant to get in there and have a look at the body.”

  “What are you gonna do; call Clarence again?” Kirk asked sarcastically.

  “Yes, I can call Judge Peterson, but there’s no point in bothering him in the middle of the night for this when this will keep until in the morning.”

  “You get on that first thing in the morning.” Kirk paused and smiled at Dawkins. “but I may have an easier way to get a look at the body.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m going to ask nicely.”

  When Kirk and Dawkins arrived at the Black’s home the following morning and were escorted into the living room, Kirk wasn’t at all surprised to see Wanda and Bobby sitting there along with Black and Shy.

  “We picked the perfect time to get here,” Kirk said as Black stood up to shake his hand.

  “How have you been, Detective? I hear you’re back in major case.”

  “I am, and this is my new partner—”

  “Detective Rachael Dawkins.”

  Black looked directly in her eyes and shook her hand. Jada had told him about Dawkins, what she did for her and about her contribution to The Family in regard to Jadonna Marin. “Pleasure to finally meet you.”

  “The honor is mine, Mr. Black,” Dawkins said.

  “My wife Cassandra.”

  “Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Black.”

  “And this is—”

  “Bobby Ray and Wanda Moore,” Dawkins said. “The honor is mine as well.”

  Kirk observed the interaction and his thoughts took two separate paths. Dawkins had told him when they first partnered up that she made a point of learning all she could about Mike Black and his organization, so her knowing who Bobby Ray and Wanda Moore were wasn’t at all surprising. The Detective being the Detective he is, it was the exchange between Black and Dawkins that intrigued him and it had nothing to do with what was said. It was his instincts that made him wonder not if, but how deeply was his partner compromised.

  “Have a seat, Detectives,” Black said as Shy started to move and he extended his hand to help her up.

  “Can I get you anything?” Shy asked.

  “No, thank you, Mrs. Black,” Dawkins said.

  “We’re fine,” Kirk said.

  “Then I will leave you all alone to discuss business,” Shy said and left the room because she never did like being around cops.

  “What can I do for you, Detective?”

  “There’s a rumor that Doc was murdered last night; true?”

  Black nodded his head.

  “I’m sorry,” Kirk said and paused. “I mean that.”

  “Thank you, Detective. I know you mean every word you say,” Black said.

  “I need to have a look at the body,” Kirk said and hoped that Black wouldn’t ask why. He didn’t want to mention the sniper.

  “I understand.” Black glanced at Wanda and she nodded. “Your case?”

  “Yes.” Kirk looked at Wanda. “The body … it at Young’s?”

  “I’ll make a call.” Wanda stood up and took out her phone. “This is Wanda Moore. Detectives Kirkland and Dawkins are coming there,” she said as she left the room.

  “Anything else?”

  “I need this war to stop, Black,” Kirk said.

  “You and me both, Detective,” Black said as Wanda came back in the room.

  “At the request of the family, I cannot allow you to take the body. However, I will permit you and a medical examiner to perform an autopsy on the premises. Is that acceptable, Detectives?” Wanda asked.

  “It’s a bit unorthodox, but I’ll make it work,” Kirk said.

  “Good. I’ll see to it that arrangements are made,” she said and turned to Black and Bobby. “I’m going to go now. Call me if you need me.”

  The Detectives stood up. “We’re gonna get outta here too,” Kirk said.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Dawkins said and followed Kirk and Wanda to the door.

  Once the door closed, Black looked at Bobby.

  “Why are we still doing this?” Black asked. “I mean it ain’t like we need the money. We’re fuckin’ millionaires.”

  “Honestly, Mike, I don’t know,” Bobby said.

  “I know you were only playin’ with her, but you were right. We were done when I met Cassandra. I’m not blaming her, but how did we get so far from there?”

  “I can tell you the answer to that.”

  “What?”

  “As long as we stay in it, it’s gonna keep happening. And it does. How many times have I said that every time we pull back from this shit something happens, and we are right back in the middle of the shit just like we are now.”

  “Yeah, but when does it stop?”

  “I guess it doesn’t.” Bobby chuckled. “It’s the natural order of things.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Anderson Montgomery, LLC was a full service minority-owned and operated investment banking and financial services company that provided corporate debt and equity underwriting, research, sales and trading and municipal finance. The company was formed by the merger of Anderson Investment Banking, the firm founded by Yovanna Anderson, and Anthony Montgomery Securities. With Yovanna serving as Managing Director and Anthony as Principal Director and Senior Vice President they began providing clients with a wider range of personalized and technolog
ically advanced investment management capabilities.

  Under Yovanna’s leadership, coupled with Anthony’s vast knowledge of the business, revenues generated from the investment banking division skyrocketed and continued to grow each year. Now, her goal was to expand the scope of their operation into the areas of consumer and community banking, commercial banking, as well as asset and wealth management. But that was when Vince began to get sick.

  He was diagnosed with Chronic rhinosinusitis, a condition in which the cavities around the nasal passages became inflamed and swollen and interfered with drainage, making breathing difficult. When the doctor said the Vince needed to use a humidifier to add moisture to the air, avoid cigarette smoke and polluted air, Yovanna knew that New York wasn’t where he needed to be. She and Vince moved to Arizona for the climate and got him seen by doctor’s at The Mayo Clinic. This put Yovanna’s active involvement in the expansion on hold, but not the expansion. That was now moving ahead with Vince and Yovanna’s daughter, London Caldwell driving the project. She was just as smart and equally driven as her mother.

  After graduating high school three days after her seventeenth birthday, London was enrolled in Stanford and by the time she was twenty-two, she had earned bachelor's degrees in mathematics and accounting. After completing master’s degree programs in finance and economics at twenty-five, London went to apply for an entry level job at her mother’s firm.

  Once Anthony Montgomery got finished laughing at her request and noticed that she wasn’t, London explained that she wanted to learn every aspect of the business and the only way to do that was to start at the bottom and do every job.

  “If that’s what my baby girl wants, give it to her,” Yovanna said when Anthony told her about it.

  “I’m not going to make it easy for her.”

  “She wouldn’t have it any other way. So you make her earn everything she gets,” were her mother’s orders.

  So London started out as an Analyst and worked her ass off to make Associate. She rose quickly on her team and was soon given the title team leader, before being promoted to Junior Vice President, which was the exact opposite path that Gavin took to his position as a Junior Vice President at Anderson Montgomery.