by Ice-T
Webster dropped him off outside his apartment. Casey got out of the cab, strolled into the diner next door, and ordered some coffee.
I wonder what Miami’s like this time of year, he thought.
EPILOGUE
Casey opened the door of the restaurant and felt the cold, brisk air on his face. The streets were empty except for a well-dressed man down the block having his nicotine fix under a streetlamp.
It was ten blocks back to his place, and Casey looked forward to walking off his meal, even though it was a workout at his age. Thirty years later, his leg still bothered him a bit, but not enough to stop him from this journey. His two sons and wife had opted to drive home because of the chill. He loved his family, but he couldn’t deny that he also enjoyed the solitude of being alone. The boys were off in college now, which meant that he and Carla had a lot more time on their hands.
As he walked down the street, he got a call from Shin. “Happy seventieth, Case!”
“Thanks, boss man,” Casey said.
“I wanted to be there tonight, but Carla said she was keeping it to just you and the boys.”
“Yeah, well, she thinks I’ve had enough excitement in my life. Who knows—maybe she’s right.”
“I respect that. Look, I was just thinking ’bout things, and I wanted to let you know that I appreciate everything that you and Champa—rest in peace—did for me.”
“Absolutely, man. You deserved it. The two smartest things I did was putting you in the cut those many years ago, then steppin’ away and lettin’ you handle things. You’ve taken it to levels I couldn’t even have imagined.”
“Thanks, Crush—you know, you’re the closest thing I ever had to a pop. You always gave me respect and I don’t think there was a day that went by that you didn’t drop a jewel on me that I took with me for the rest of my life. That all said, what do you want for your B-day gift, brotha? You name it, it’s yours, and I mean anything!”
Casey chuckled at his protégé. In the ten years since he’d passed the mantle, Shinzo had increased income twentyfold, and showed no signs of stopping. The Consortium had its hands in everything, from white-collar crime to political maneuvering—everything but drugs. Shinzo had kept that as his first rule, and it was still enforced to this day.
“I’m past the point of wanting things, Shin. I already got everything I’d ever need. But thank you.”
“Well … okay, triple OG, I’ma still think of sumthin’, though.”
“All right, Shin, you do that.” Casey hung up the phone and smiled. He may have been seventy, but he didn’t feel it in the least. What’d his wife say the other day, “Seventy is the new sixty”? He thought about Champa and how it had been six years since he died. Like so many, he’d died of cancer. His passing was quick, a blessing in a way.
As Casey drew closer to the smoking man, he smelled the faint odor of the tobacco and could tell the man was wearing a tailored suit. He had an air of success and sophistication about him. His father would no doubt be proud—
The impact and sensation was not foreign to Casey in the least. He’d felt it two times before: the first when he was seventeen and the second when he was twenty-four. But this time it was different, not because of his age, but because he instinctively knew it was fatal.
The force of it knocked him to the ground. The last time he’d lain on the ground and looked up at the trees was when he was a boy, at the park with his father more than sixty years ago. The pain crept in quickly, and his breathing became labored. He felt his shirt dampen as it absorbed the blood welling from his chest.
The man walked closer and stared down at Casey, smoke curling from the silenced pistol held in a gloved hand at his side. His face was handsome and unmistakable, framed by curly, jet-black hair. Casey dimly noticed he was losing the feeling in his feet and legs. He didn’t have to think of what to say, because he’d always known what the words would be.
“You did … what you had to do … and should have done. Have no regrets … Ara.”
The weight of his actions some thirty years earlier had always troubled Casey. He had created an orphan to save history repeating itself. And every day afterwards, he’d known that eventually that debt would need to be repaid.
Petrossian’s son’s expressionless face watched Casey for another moment. He said nothing, then walked away.
Casey saw the air crystallize his breath above him and felt his mind start to shut down, as if detaching from his dying body.
I’m sorry, Antonio.… The wind gently blew across his face as he exhaled his last breath.
BOOKS BY ICE-T
The Ice Opinion
Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption—from South Central to Hollywood (with Douglas Century)
Kings of Vice* (with Mal Radcliff)
Mirror Image* (with Jorge Hinojosa)
*A Forge Book
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ice-T was born in Newark, New Jersey, and moved to Los Angeles, California. After graduating from high school, he served in the United States Army for four years. Ice-T began his career as a rapper in the 1980s and was signed to Sire Records in 1987. He’s sold more than ten million records. Ice-T formally began his acting career in the film New Jack City. He has played Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 2000. Ice-T currently resides in North Bergen, New Jersey, with his wife, Nicole “Coco” Marrow.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.
MIRROR IMAGE
Copyright © 2013 by Ice Touring Inc.
All rights reserved.
Management: Jorge Hinojosa
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Ice-T (Musician).
Mirror image / Ice-T and Jorge Hinojosa.—1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-2514-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-7653-3219-6 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-1-4299-4487-8 (e-book)
1. Organized crime—New York (State)—New York—Fiction. 2. Street life—New York (State)—New York—Fiction. I. Hinojosa, Jorge. II. Title.
PS3609.C4 M57 2013
813'.6—dc23
2012043279
e-ISBN 9781429944878
First Edition: May 2013