"You wouldn’t
"No. I didn’t want to know nothing about what he was doing," she said and shed a tear.
"Did you ever hear your brother or these other two mention somebody named PR?"
"He said PR was gonna put him on top."
"Nothing else? Who he is; where we can find him?"
"Nope. Just that they was makin’ stupid money at their spot."
"I can’t listen to this," Mrs. Evans jumped up and said. She went very quickly back to her room and slammed the door.
"She in denial for real about Drew. Since his daddy left she been doing the best she can, but with her being gone all night workin’ for years, she didn’t know what he turned into."
Kirk got up from the table. He gave Seline a card. "If you have anything else, or need anything, please let me know." Kirk and Richards left the apartment and went back to looking for PR.
Then they got a call about another possible robbery/execution. "That’s all we need," Richards said. "Another case we got no leads on."
"It’s strange that not even the usual more talkative people have the slightest idea what we’re talking about. Maybe our assumption that our mystery player is Puerto Rican or even Hispanic, is wrong."
"But it was at least worth a shot. I mean it was so obvious," Richards said.
"And maybe that was by design. Whoever it is wants to keep their name off the street."
"A baller who doesn’t want street cred?"
"If that’s true, where does that leave us, Pat?"
"Walking through this thing blind as bats."
"As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. So let’s look at what we got."
"Okay. We got bodies. All tied up, all shot in the head—executed. Those are the hard facts. Beyond that, what we got is that we assume they were executed during a drug robbery. We got a crack head who gave us the name PR. That was confirmed by the Evans girl. But so far, finding him hasn’t turned out to be shit."
"You’re right. Other than the bodies, all we got are a bunch of assumptions," Kirk said.
"So what we got is zip," Richards added.
When they got to the apartment they found detectives Goodson and Harris standing in the hallway. "Not these two assholes," Kirk said to Richards.
"Hey, what was that you told Black; they’re good cops."
"I was lying. Bobby was right, they couldn’t find pussy in a ho house."
Richards laughed. "Be nice."
"I am," Kirk said.
It wasn’t that they were bad cops; they were just more than willing to take the shortest, easiest route to closing a case. And if that meant dumping a tough case on some other detective, they wouldn’t hesitate.
First thing Kirk noticed as they approached the door was that it appeared to be kicked in. In each of the cases there were no signs of forced entry, which suggested that the shooters were allowed to enter. Either because they knew them, or they were expecting to do business.
Kirk pointed the door out to Richards. Harris started trying to push the case off on them as soon as they were close enough to hear. "I know you guys been workin’ these drug-related robbery murders. I think this might be another one."
"Tech’s been here yet?" Kirk asked.
"Not yet; busy day. Reyes and his team are on their way," Goodson said.
"Pat."
Richards went in the apartment while Kirk stayed in the hallway with Goodson and Harris. Not that he thought they would leave, but there was no point running the risk. Besides, since the CSI team hadn’t been there, he didn’t want to take the chance of inadvertently disturbing what might be evidence. The fewer people entering the crime scene, the better.
Five minutes later, Richards came out. "What you got, Pat?"
"Two black males; both shot in the head."
"Just like your other cases, right?" Harris said.
"Wrong." Richards turned to Kirk. "Other than the fact that they were shot in the head, the similarity ends there."
"What makes you say that?" Goodson asked.
"The victims were shot while sitting on the couch. Not on their knees like the others. Their hands weren’t tied behind their backs. Oh yeah, there’s at least an eighth of coke on the floor, probably from the coffee table that was turned over next to it. Near as I can tell, those guys were playing video games and getting zooted when somebody kicked in the door, turned over the table and shot them in the head."
"Sounds like there is no connection to our case at all," Kirk said and started walking down the hall.
"Sorry. Guess you’ll have to put in some work on this one," Richards said and followed Kirk down the hall.
"Got anything on the Lucas case yet?" Kirk asked as he walked.
"Nothing but dead ends," Harris shouted back.
"Yeah, but we’re on top of it," Goodson said and laughed as he entered the apartment.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Black received a call on Bobby’s phone from Eddie Domingas, letting him know that Cruz Villanueva was having dinner at La Caridad Restaurant on West Kingsbridge Road. When the call came Black, along with Bobby and Wanda were at a meeting with their financial advisor, Meka Brazil. She was discussing offshore investment possibilities for the group to consider.
"There’s a company that makes multimedia switching gear for cable companies that recently received certification for its Safari C3 product line in Russia, through the Ministry of Communications."
"That sounds promising," Wanda said.
"It has the potential to be. Especially when you consider Eastern Europe has a ways to go in terms of communications infrastructure to catch up with the rest of the world, any long-term investment represents a significant opportunity," Meka said. "Then there’s wind."
"Wind?" Bobby asked.
"The United States, Russia and Canada have the greatest capacity for wind power. In the Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk region. The problem is that a lot of the area available for wind power in Russia is far from major cities. As the business capability in the region improves and construction of new transmission lines moves forward, those companies can begin servicing some of the major cities. "
"It’s something for us to think about," Black said. That’s when Eddie called and Black and Bobby left.
When they got to La Caridad they spotted Cruz seated at a table with another man and two women, having dinner.
"That’s him. Come on," Black said, and he and Bobby started for Cruz. As they got closer a man stepped out to block their path. "Where you think you’re going?"
"Over there," Black said and pointed at Cruz.
The man put his hand on Black’s chest to stop him. "Nobody goes back there," he said.
"Okay." Black grabbed the man’s arm then twisted it behind his back. Black tightened his grip. "You tell Cruz that Mike Black and Bobby Ray would like a few minutes of his time," Black said and let go of the man’s arm and pushed him toward Cruz.
The man walked away shaking his arm as he went. He went to Cruz’s table and whispered in his ear. When he pointed in their direction, Cruz looked up and saw Black and Bobby standing there.
"Shit," Cruz said and leaned close to his partner Jorge. "What the fuck they doin’ here?"
"I don’t know," Jorge said.
"Let them come," Cruz said, and the man went to get Black and Bobby. When he got close to them he signaled for them to follow him.
Cruz saw them coming. "Stay close," he said to Jorge, and he and the women got up from the table.
"Hello, ladies," Bobby said to them as they passed. Both ladies smiled and kept walking.
Black and Bobby got to the table just as the busboy came to clear it. Black and Cruz looked at one another. No one moved or said a word as the busboy did his work. When he was finished and left the table, Black and Bobby sat down. Jorge stood next to the table.
"Mike Black and Bobby Ray, huh? My Uncle Hector used to talk about you guys all the time," Cruz said.
"How is Uncle Hector?" Bobby asked.
"He’s doin’ good. My uncle is a great man."
"How’s your Aunt Nina?" Black asked.
Cruz looked at Black. "She’s good, too."
"You tell her I asked for her," Black said and thought about the last time he saw Nina. It was right after Shy was kidnapped in the Bahamas. The kidnappers left the island by boat and headed for Miami.
When Black, along with Bobby and Nick, got to Miami, he stopped at La Covacha to ask Hector if he knew anything about the kidnapping. They checked inside and then went out on the patio, but Hector wasn’t out there so they went back inside. That’s when Black saw Nina coming out of the VIP room and make her way to the bar. Black walked up behind her.
"Hello, Nina."
Nina closed her eyes and her head drifted back at the sound of his voice. "Hello, Black," she said without looking at him. "What are you doing here?"
"I’m looking for Hector."
"I was hoping you’d say something noble like you came here looking for me; that you couldn’t live another minute without seeing me."
"It is good to see you, Nina, even if you won’t look at me." Nina took a deep breath and turned around slowly. "You look good, Nina."
"So do you. Very good."
"Where’s Hector?" Black asked quickly before he took the conversation in another direction.
"He’s in the VIP room. But if you stand here and talk to me long enough, he’ll be out here soon. I’m sure somebody will run and tell him that I’m out here talking to this big, fine black man," Nina said and put her hand on Black’s chest.
"I wanna
talk
to him, Nina," Black said and very slowly removed her hand from his chest. "Not have to kill him over you."
Nina looked at the ring on Black’s finger. "You’re married?"
"Happily."
"Now that we’re both married, maybe you’ll come down here to see me."
"I still don’t mess with married women."
"Is that why you never came looking for me?"
"It’s the only reason I didn’t come and get you, Nina. If you weren’t married to Hector," Black paused and looked around the club. "Who knows?"
"I do." Nina smiled a satisfied smile and turned around to motion for a waitress. When one responded Nina talked to her for a minute, then she returned her attention to Black. "Tell her what you want."
Black reached in his pocket and handed the woman a hundred dollar bill. "Tell Mr. Villanueva that Mike Black sends his respect and asks that Mr. Villanueva give him a minute of his time. Tell him exactly what I said. I’ll be right here waiting for his answer."
The waitress was about to go deliver the message, but Nina stopped her. "Wait until ten minutes after I’m back in the VIP room before you come in there." Once the waitress was gone, Nina turned to Black. "Goodbye, Black. I want to kiss you. I want you to hold me in your arms and kiss me. Not just a goodbye kiss or a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I want you to kiss me the way that you used to." Nina took a step closer and ran her hand up Black’s crotch. Then Nina whispered in his ear, "What I’d really like to do is suck that big dick and then ride you until I feel it swell up and explode inside me." And then Nina stepped away. "But then somebody would die tonight. Goodbye, Mike Black. I hope this won’t be the last time I see you."
"You never know, Nina. Anything is possible."
"We’ll see," Nina said and walked toward the VIP room. It was a half-hour later when Black looked up and saw two men escorting Nina out of the VIP room and out of the club.
Hector didn’t know anything about Shy’s kidnapping so Black left the club. He really didn’t think that Hector knew anything about it but, "You never know when we might need an ally down here. Let’s get back to New York. And besides," Black paused as Bobby drove off. "I really came here to see Nina."
Cruz looked angrily at Black. He had heard the whisperings at family gatherings about his favorite Aunt Nina and Mike Black, and the reason Hector sent her to Miami a year before he actually made his move down there himself.
Even though Hector spoke of Black with respect now, and told Cruz not to fuck with Black, he was anxious to take him on. He thought that it was disrespectful for Black to even mention Nina’s name in front of him. It just made Cruz more determined to prove something to his uncle and prove it against Black.
"Can I get you a drink?"
"I’m particular about who I drink with," Bobby said and smiled at Cruz.
Cruz looked up at Jorge. "What can I do for you, Black?" he asked.
Black leaned forward. "I hear a lot of things but I don’t pay very much attention to them."
"Why is that?" Cruz asked.
"’Cause a lot of men talk, but it’s what they do that impresses me."
"What you heard?"
"Like I said, it doesn’t matter. ’Cause until that talk becomes action, it’s all just talk. But what I do wanna ask you about is Kenny Lucas."
"I heard he got popped," Cruz said and laughed a little. Bobby started to reach for his gun, but Black grabbed his hand.
"What were you and Kenny beefin’ about that night at the club?"
"You got it all wrong. Me and Kenny wasn’t beefin’ ’bout nothin’."
"Then what was his gun doin’ in your face?" Bobby asked.
"What you tryin’ to say? You tryin’ to say that I killed him?" Cruz shouted.
"The thought occurred to me," Black said.
Cruz sprung to his feet. "If I killed him, I ain’t got no problem sayin’ I did it. ’Cause I represent mine."
As Cruz’s men began to move closer around the table, Black looked at Bobby and then back to Cruz. Bobby turned over the table and Black stood up with both of his guns drawn.
Cruz fell over his chair.
Black stepped up quickly and stood over him. "And I ain’t got no problem with killin’ you right now," Black said.
Cruz put up his hands. "I got no problem with you, Black. And I ain’t kill your boy."
"That’s all I wanted to know," Black said, and he and Bobby backed out of La Caridad. Jorge stepped to the table and tried to help Cruz get up. "You okay?" he asked with his hand out.
Cruz slapped his hand away and got to his feet. He watched Black and Bobby leave. "I’m gonna kill that mutha fucka."
"But your uncle said to leave Black alone," Jorge reminded Cruz.
Cruz got in Jorge’s face. "I don’t give a fuck what my uncle says. That bitch is gonna die. And I’m gonna be the one to kill him."
After leaving La Caridad, Black went to Cynt’s to pick up his car. He had an appointment to meet Jada West at her apartment in midtown. On the way there, Bobby asked, "Do you believe him?"
"I don’t know, Bobby. He might’ve had him killed. He might know about it. Either way, we gonna have to deal with it."
"Any time we get too comfortable, somebody always comes along to try us."
"And we’ll kill them, too," Black said and thought about the natural order of things as they arrived at Cynt’s.
"So where you say you had to go?" Bobby asked.
"I’m going to meet Jada West. She said she had something important to talk to me about. You should ride. You might need her services."
"I got something that I need to take care of. And besides, her ho’s charge too fuckin’ much; a thousand dollars for some pussy? No fuckin’ thank you. But with all this shit goin’ on, I’d feel better if you took somebody with you," Bobby said.
"I’ll be fine," Black said, but he knew Bobby was right. He looked around the room. "I’ll take Victor."
Black walked up to Victor, who was being entertained by two dancers. "You doin’ anything right now?" Black asked.
"No."
Black threw Victor the keys to his car. "Now you are. Come on."