by Roy Glenn
Geno opened his eyes and looked at Valencia. He exhaled, shook his head, and wondered what the fuck was he doing? He was on his way to Freeport to talk to Napoleon about some shit that wasn’t his business, for a woman who left him for another man, and was responsible for Shy being questioned by the police for murder. And the question that he had to ask himself was why? His answer was as complicated as it was simple; you loved her once and she needs your help. Complicated, simple, and just a bit stupid.
Geno Crocker was a member of The Family, Mike Black’s family, and in that family, there are rules, one of which was no drugs. The Comodoro Cartel wanted to move their product coming into the country through Freeport, which, by definition meant that he should have no part in it. But there he was descending through the clouds to land at Grand Bahama International Airport.
I need to call Carter, Geno thought. He was in deep, and his captain needed to know where he was, what he was doing, and who he was with.
When they got off the plane in Freeport, Valencia turned on her phone and got Shy’s message.
Good afternoon, Valencia. This is Cassandra Black speaking. It is extremely important that you call me as soon as you get this message.
Instead of calling Shy back and without telling Geno that she called, Valencia silenced her phone and put it back in her purse. After making it through customs, Geno excused himself and went to make his call.
“You’re where, with who?” Carter asked, walking quickly away from Rain.
“I’m in Freeport with Valencia DeVerão.”
“What the fuck, Geno. You know Rain got the whole damn family out hunting her?”
“No, but I’m not surprised.”
“What the fuck are you doing there?”
“I’m going to Palais De Plaisir to see Napoleon.”
“Why?”
“I’d rather not say over the phone.”
“Does this have anything to do with Shy and this Ferreira guy’s murder?”
“It does and it doesn’t. I’ll be back tonight, and I’ll explain everything and hopefully it will take care of Mrs. Black’s issue too.”
“Okay, Geno. Do what you gotta do, but I gotta tell Rain what’s up.”
“I understand,” Geno said, and he ended the call.
Once he found Valencia, they left the airport and caught a taxicab to Palais De Plaisir; the house that Jada built. Upon arrival, Geno and Valencia were escorted to the infinity pool by Ahanti Ahmed, and she served them cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. They were on their second drink when Kishana arrived, and she escorted Geno to Napoleon’s office.
“Geno, my man!” Napoleon shouted when Kishana showed him into the office.
“What’s up, Napoleon,” he said, shaking hands with him. “How you been?”
“I have been very well, my friend. And what about you, how are you and more importantly, what brings you to Freeport?”
“I’m doing great.”
“This is your first time here, right?”
“It is.”
“Come, let me show you around and you can tell me why you’re here,” Napoleon said, and they left the office. As they walked around the magnificent three-acre estate, Geno told Napoleon about Valencia and the reason for their visit to Palais de Plaisir.
“I see,” was all that Napoleon offered as they walked out on the covered terrace that overlooked the ocean. “and you are involved in this because?”
Geno pointed to her from the terrace. “Her name is Valencia DeVerão.”
“And you are in love with this woman?”
“I was once. A long time ago.”
“And now?” Napoleon asked as they entered the spacious grand room, with its stunning view of the ocean and the infinity pool.
“Honestly, Napoleon, I don’t know how or what I feel for her. All I can tell you is that she’s a friend who’s in trouble and she needs my help.”
“Does the boss know what you are doing? And when I say boss, yes, I do mean Purple Rain?”
“She lets you call her that?” Geno asked, having seen Rain shove her gun in somebody’s mouth and threatening to kill them for calling her that.
“She doesn’t like it, and she threatens to kill me each time I say it, but I am still alive,” Napoleon laughed. “So you can draw your own conclusions from that.”
Geno laughed. “Yeah, don’t call her that shit. And no, I haven’t told Rain, but Carter does know where I am and who I’m with. He said that he would tell her.”
“Good. At least you are on solid ground,” Napoleon said as they walked outside. Geno paused for a second to admire the stunning view of the ocean and the infinity pool. Valencia waved when she saw them standing there.
“Yes, my friend. I see what you like. She’s a very beautiful woman.”
“She is that.”
“The kind of beauty that causes men to make bad choices. Choices that are not good for him or his Family. Whether or not that is the case here remains to be seen. But with that said, I am not the one who she needs to be speaking with. I may run this island, but I serve at the pleasure of Jada West. It is she who you must speak with.”
“I see. I’ve heard a lot about her.”
“Yes, I am sure that you have. Ms. West is a formidable presence to be sure.”
“Do you think that she’ll see us?” Geno asked as the men approached Valencia.
“I will take you there personally,” Napoleon said as Valencia stood up. “Yes, my friend, I certainly see what you like.” He shook his head. “That’s the kind of woman that makes a man do stupid shit,” he said softly.
“Valencia DeVerão, I’d like you to meet my friend and associate, Napoleon Wade.”
“Nice to meet you Napoleon.”
He bowed at the waist and kissed her hand. “My dear, the pleasure is all mine.”
“I explained your situation to Napoleon, and he said that we need to go to Nassau.”
“Nassau?” Valencia asked.
“Come, my dear,” Napoleon extended his hand to her. “We leave now.”
On the way to Grand Bahama International Airport, Geno explained why they were going to Nassau and who Jada West was. When they arrived, Valencia had a question.
“What time is our flight to Nassau?”
“Now,” Napoleon said, as the car pulled into a hanger where a crew prepared a Phenom 300 for takeoff.
“You have your own jet?” Geno asked.
“The boss and Ms. West own a fleet of them, so I have one at my disposal,” Napoleon said as the car stopped and one of his men opened the door for Valencia.
“So, yeah, you got your own jet,” Geno said.
“Yeah,” Napoleon said, and he got out of the car.
When they arrived at Paraíso, Geno and Valencia were escorted to the bar and told to wait there. It wasn’t long before Napoleon rejoined them in the bar.
“What’s up?” Geno asked.
“I have spoken with Caprice to let her know that we are here. And she will come fetch us when Ms. West is available to speak with us. Until then, we wait.”
The wait wasn’t long, once again, Valencia was told to wait while Caprice escorted Napoleon and Geno to Jada’s office. When they got there, Caprice told Geno to have a seat outside the office while Napoleon went in to talk to Jada alone.
After making Napoleon a cocktail, Jada sat behind her desk and listened intently as he explained why he had come to see her.
“Does Mr. Black have any knowledge of this?” was Jada’s first question.
“Seeing that the boss is retired, Mr. Crocker thought it best not to involve him and came directly to me.”
“I see,” Jada paused. “I am aware of Mr. Simmonds, The Comodoro Cartel, and their interest in Freeport. Mr. Simmonds approached Johnny several months ago, and he brought the matter to me. I told him that I have no interest in meeting Mr. Simmonds for any purpose and believed, incorrectly it seems, that the matter was closed.”
“Apparently they felt the n
eed to go directly to the boss.”
“I have no need to speak with Mr. Crocker or Ms. DeVerão, because it is a closed matter.”
Napoleon stood up. “Understood, Ms. West.” He bowed at the waist. “And thank you so much for taking the time to see me.”
“Get out, Napoleon,” Jada giggled and stood up to escort him out.
Napoleon finished his drink. “Do I need to mention this to the boss?”
Jada looped her arm in his and escorted him to the door. “No, I will speak with Mr. Black about this matter personally. As much as I hate to admit it, I have a feeling that this is going to require his attention to resolve the matter. Especially since it involves Mrs. Black.”
Chapter Twenty
While a dejected Valencia boarded Jada’s personal Phenom 300 for the flight back to New York, Jake was landing Black’s Cessna at Westchester County airport after a successful business trip in Port Saint Lucie.
Now that the acquisition team had completed their title searches, appraisal maps, and legal descriptions for the properties, the board of directors gave their approval to go with the Port Saint Lucie project, instead of the property that they were looking at in Naples. This trip marked the close of the negotiations with the property owners. The deal was done, and it was time for the acquisition team to celebrate.
But not Black. As soon as the meeting was over, he rushed to the airport for Jake to fly him back to New York. When the plane taxied into the hanger, Black saw that Shy was there waiting for him. As soon as the door was opened, he rushed quickly into her arms and kissed her.
“I'm glad that you’re home,” Shy said as he held her.
“I’m glad to be here.” He kissed her on the forehead, and then he turned to Chuck. “How are you, Chuck.”
“I’m good, boss,” he said, and opened the door for Shy to get in.
“Take me to Carla,” Black said as he got in.
“On our way,” he said and closed the door.
“How was the meeting?” she asked quickly before he was able to dive into her issue. She felt that it was important to be supportive of him and what he was doing with the business, because she was instrumental in him making that decision.
“Everything went fine. We are now the proud owners of nine point six eight acres of land off Melaleuca Boulevard.”
Shy kissed him on the cheek. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“I know how much this project means to you and how much work you put into it,” she kissed him again, on the lips this time. “So, I’m happy for you. I know that Deanna and Jaila are excited.”
“They are. They worked just as hard, if not harder than I did. It was their first big project too.”
“How much longer will they be down there?”
“Another week or so, I guess.”
“Are you going back down there?”
“No need now. The deal is done. And you, once again, have my undivided attention.”
“Me, and whatever it is that Martin has going on,” Shy said, and Black dropped his head.
“You know I forgot about that, right? I’ve got so much going on with you and the business that I completely forgot about it.”
“Well Martin’s people haven’t. Since you won’t take their calls, they’ve called me twice this week to ask if you would be back in time. So, what’s so important that you have to be there?”
“Because this is not just another cancer awareness fundraiser.”
“It’s not.”
“No. Martin plans to announce that he’s running for the U.S. Senate. Or to be more specific, he’s forming an exploratory committee.”
The term allowed him to begin raising and spending money on limited campaign activities like polling and outreach. The other advantage was that exploratory committees aren’t immediately required to file reports with the Federal Election Commission. Once Martin began to engage in any campaign-type activities, he became an official candidate and must register with the FEC and begin filing regular financial reports on what was raised and spent while his campaign was testing the waters for the run.
“He’s running?” Shy laughed.
“Right. That whole exploratory thing is just so he can save face if either the money doesn’t roll in—”
“Which I believe is part of your job.”
“It is.”
And he was working hard at that too. Over lunch with Valencia, she had mentioned to Shy that Black had been cultivating business and personal relationships with members of the Association of Black Businesses. At this point, he could guarantee their endorsement of Martin’s candidacy and their financial support.
“—Or he’s not doing well in the polls.”
They had driven in silence for a mile or two before Shy asked, “Were you able to find out anything else about my case?”
“Yes.” He took her hand in his. “Wanda reached out to our friend at One Penn.”
Their friend at One Penn was Deputy Inspector Cavanaugh. He worked out of the police commissioner’s office and oversaw the management of several precincts. He had also been in Black’s pocket since the old Vicious Black days, when he took over André’s extortion and gambling operations.
“And?”
“He’s says that the police got video of you going in Ferreira’s office, but the video is blank during the time that you left his office and left the building.”
“You’re kidding me?”
Black shook his head sadly. “No, I’m not. Their theory is that after you went in, somebody—probably you, Chuck, disabled the cameras. So, they’ll probably get around to questioning you too.”
“That’s why the detective kept asking me about the time that I left the office, and what I did after I left there.” Shy paused. “But that doesn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t I disable the cameras before I went in Ferreira’s office? That way there wouldn’t be any evidence that I was there at all.”
“That’s why they didn’t charge you. They are looking for a motive, something that ties us to The Ferreira’s and The Comodoro Cartel.”
“And that’s why the DEA was trying to push the association with a known drug dealer angle down my throat.”
“You are the last person who was known to be with him, so at this point, you are their only suspect.”
“That is not a comforting thought,” Shy said, as they arrived at the office to see Carla. She was there with Monika and Xavier.
“I need you to find out everything that you can about Valencia DeVerão, Andrade Ferreira, and The Comodoro Cartel,” Black barked as soon as he came through the door.
“Hey, Black; hey, Shy,” Monika said, without looking away from her screen.
“Hey, Mike; hey, Shy,” Carla said.
“Hey,” Shy said.
“I am way ahead of you.”
“As I knew you would be, Carla,” he said, as he and Shy sat down next to Carla.
“Tell him why,” Monika said without looking away from her screen, and Xavier dropped his head.
Carla looked at Shy. “Your girl, Valencia … chick got a lot going on with her.”
“What do you mean?” Shy asked.
“Well, for starters, at least two people that we know of were blackmailing her,” Carla said, and went on to explain what she had learned from Geno. “Two of them are dead, and she is a suspect in one of those murders.”
“What about the other one?” Shy said.
“Edwina took care of that.”
“Where is she now?” Shy asked.
“I don’t know. Her phone has been off since we took care of the second blackmailer.”
“And we’re involved in this why?” Black asked.
“Tell him why we’re involved in this, X,” Monika said, still without looking.
“Apparently she’s a friend of Geno’s.”
“Geno? Who’s Geno?” Shy asked.
“He’s one of Carter’s men,” Black informed her.
“They me
t when you invited her to Ryder’s party,” Xavier said, as anger and frustration washed across Shy’s face.
“Tell me what you got on The Comodoro Cartel?” Black asked.
“The Comodoro Cartel was founded by Juan Esteban Ferreira and Sebastián Esteban Ferreira, and Garza Cabrero. They used to work for Barrera ‘El Loco’ Iñíguez before they broke away and formed their own cartel.”
“No shit.”
“I knew you’d find that interesting. The Cartel leadership is comprised of the Esteban Ferreira brothers, Garza Cabrero and Valentino Hidalgo, and Camilo Patiño,” Carla said, and continued telling them all that she had found out.
“Thank you, Carla. I know I don’t have to tell you to stay on this,” he said, and he and Shy stood up.
“No, you don’t. I’m on this hard for you.”
“Thank you, Carla,” Shy said. “I really appreciate it.”
When they left the office, not knowing that she was on a flight back from Nassau, Black wanted to go looking for Valencia. Carla had provided them with her home and office addresses. Shy knew her husband, knew what he’d want to do, and normally, Shy would be down. She had even brought along her big purse just in case Black wanted to go hunting. But instead of saying, Yeah, let’s go get that bitch, she glanced at her watch.
“But we should go home first.”
“You’re right,” Black nodded in agreement, thinking about their children. “No point disrupting their schedule any more than this already has.”
“Take us home, Chuck,” Shy said.
The second that the car had parked in front of the house, the front door swung open and Michelle came running out. She breezed by Shy, “Hi, Mommy,” ran up to Black and threw her arms around him. “Hi, Daddy,” she said, burying her head in his chest.
“Hi, baby girl. How you doing?”
“I missed you.”
“Really?” he kissed her on the forehead, and then they started for the house. “I missed you too. Maybe next time I’ll take you with me.”