by Silk White
Detective Washington stepped outside the house, hopped back in his car, and pounded on the steering wheel. “Fuck!” he cursed loudly. After all the work he’d been doing, he still found himself empty handed and he still had no clue where Ashley could be. He didn’t even know if she was dead or alive. In his eyes, this was all his fault because he had Ashley in his custody and let her get away. Detective Washington knew that the clock was ticking. He knew the longer Ashley stayed out there, the bigger the risk it was of her getting killed. Detective Washington pulled off in search of a liquor store. At a time like this, what he needed was a strong drink. For some strange reason whenever he had a drink, it helped his mind think clearer. As Detective Washington cruised down the street looking for a liquor store, he spotted a quiet low budget looking motel. Something in his gut was telling him to go check the motel. “Fuck it,” Detective Washington thought as he stomped down on the brakes and hit a U-turn. Detective Washington pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine. He stepped out the car and entered the door to the front desk of the motel. Behind the desk sat a filthy looking man dressed in a dingy wife beater and a pair of blue jeans. He was sleeping with his feet propped up on the desk. The smell of alcohol filled the air. Detective Washington noticed the man’s face was rather dirty and it was covered in a rugged rough looking beard.
“Excuse me!” Detective Washington barked awaking the man who sat behind the desk out of his sleep.
“Yes how can I help you?” the man said wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand as he leaned to the side and enjoyed a good stretch.
“I’m looking for this woman. Have you seen her?” Detective Washington asked holding up a photo of Angela.
“It depends,” the man said rubbing his fingers together with a greedy look on his face.
Detective Washington reached down in his pocket like he was about to pull out some money, but instead he pulled out a gun and shoved it in the man’s face. “Last time I’m going to ask you! Have you seen this woman!?”
“Ye.., ye.., yes she’s in room 42 take it easy,” the man said raising his hands in surrender.
“You got a key?”
“Yes, here!” the man said and then handed Detective Washington the key to room 42. “Just don’t kill me.”
Detective Washington left the front desk and headed straight to room 42. As Detective Washington eased his way towards room 42, he could feel butterflies in his stomach. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and his palms began to sweat. The moment he had been waiting for was finally here. On a silent count of three, Detective Washington stuck his key in the lock, opened the door, and barged inside with his gun aimed forward. He stepped inside the room and to the naked eye the room appeared to be empty, but over pass the bed Detective Washington saw that the bathroom door was closed and he could see the light escaping from underneath the door. “Here we go,” he said to himself as he reached the bathroom door. Just as he got ready to enter the bathroom he felt the barrel of a gun being pressed into the back of his head. “Fuck!” he whispered.
“Drop your weapon,” Angela said in a stern voice.
“Listen to me! You don’t want to do this! Killing a cop is not what you want to do,” Detective Washington said standing frozen like a deer caught in the headlights. “Why don’t we talk about this?”
“Please don’t confuse me with a woman that likes to repeat herself.”
With that being said Detective Washington slowly placed his gun down on the floor. “You’re never going to get away with this.”
“Your back up gun, where is it?” Angela asked.
“I don’t have a backup,” Detective Washington said as Angela gave him a quick pat down. Angela picked up Detective Washington’s gun from off the floor. “So how did you find me?”
“A hunch.”
Angela chuckled as she sat down in a chair that was stationed near the door. “Yeah some hunch.”
“Where’s Ashley?”
“They took her,” Angela said as tears began to fall from her eyes. Deep down inside she had grown to love Ashley and she felt like she had let her down by letting her get captured. “You have to help me get her back.”
Detective Washington slowly turned around with his hands still in the air as he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. For some strange reason he felt safe and not like he was in the presence of a dangerous assassin. “How did you get involved in this? Did you kidnap that little girl?”
“No,” Angela said shaking her head. “I was out minding my business and she ran into me. All of these men were after her. They were trying to kill her and I was just simply trying to protect her.”
“I believe you,” Detective Washington said as he inched his way over towards Angela and embraced her. He gave her a tight hug and tenderly rubbed her back. “Thank you for trying to help the little girl out. She spoke very highly of you when I was questioning her.”
“I have to get her back,” Angela sobbed.
“We’ll figure something out,” Detective Washington said. He had no clue what he was going to do, but he knew he would have to do something and do it fast.
“I need to know everything on a man named Mr. Clarke.”
Detective Washington chuckled. “There’s probably a million Mr. Clarke’s out there. I’m going to need more information on this guy.”
“Look for the Mr. Clarke who has the most money because the Mr. Clarke that’s funding this has money out the ass,” Angela told him. She knew it had to cost a grip to produce man after man to come after a child and not to mention the two hired guns.
“I think I can do that,” Detective Washington smiled. “And what are you going to do once you have all of this information?”
“I’m going to put a bullet in his fucking head!”
“No,” Detective Washington snapped. “You can’t put a bullet in his head. I want to slap the cuffs on this Mr. Clarke guy!”
“Deal,” Angela said as the two shook on it. A loud commotion led Angela and Detective Washington over towards the window. Detective Washington peeked out the window and saw the filthy man who worked at the front desk leading a pack of police officers towards the room.
Angela immediately grabbed her twin .380’s and prepared to do battle.
“No let me handle this,” Detective Washington said as he pulled a business card out of his pocket and handed it Angela. “I’ll find out what I can about this Mr. Clarke guy and you stay out of trouble and keep in contact with me. I want to hear from you at least once a day.”
“You got it,” Angela replied as she watched Detective Washington disappear out the motel room door. Still not sure if she could trust him Angela kept her gun in her hand as she peeked through the blinds.
* * *
Detective Washington stepped out the room and flashed his badge. “Detective Washington,” he introduced himself. “What seems to be the problem?”
“Yeah that’s him right there! Arrest that man! He pulled a gun on me!” the filthy looking man said pointing at Detective Washington.
Detective Washington quickly pulled out the photo of Angela and explained to the officers that he was in search of the armed and dangerous woman that’s been on everyone’s TV. He then quickly led the officers away from room 42. He too wasn’t sure if he could trust Angela, but he knew it was the only way he’d be able to find the girl and the crazed killer that called himself Frank. Plus after finally seeing and speaking to Angela in person, he left the motel room with a good vibe. He could tell that she genuinely loved little Ashley and that she would risk her own life to protect the child. If Mr. Clarke was the piece that would connect all the missing links then he planned on getting started on him today.
* * *
Angela peeked through the blinds and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Detective Washington leading the other officers away from the room she stood in. She was prepared to kill each and every one of those officers if she had to. Angela walked over and flopped
down on the bed. She had to come up with a plan before it was too late. She knew the longer Ashley remained missing, the higher the chance of her being killed was. First things first, Angela knew she had to relocate to another motel just in case Detective Washington turned out to be a snake.
Chapter 18
WHAT NOW?
Ever since Scarface was released from jail, Shekia had noticed a change in him, not a bad change but a change for the better. He was now trying more, trying to do the little things that he used to ignore and Shekia loved it. It was as if he left a boy and had returned a man. Yes it may have only been a few weeks but none the less she was thankful. Shekia stood in the kitchen fixing breakfast wondering when would be a good time for her to tell Scarface that she was pregnant. While Scarface was away, the thought of getting rid of the baby crossed Shekia’s mind a few times. Not because she didn’t want the baby but because she didn’t want to raise a child without a father. But now things were different. Scarface was home and acting like a brand new man and doing everything in his power to not only make, but to keep Shekia happy. The only thing that bothered Shekia was the ‘what ifs’. What if Scarface wind up having to do time in the long run? What if he wind up going back to his old ways, and what if this new him was only a faze.
“Hey baby,” Scarface said. His voice startled Shekia causing her to jump. “My bad.”
“Hey sorry you scared me,” Shekia said holding her chest for extra emphasis. “You hungry?” she asked as her eyes went down to the butt of the gun that rested in Scarface’s waistband. “What’s the gun for?”
With that one question Scarface could see Shekia’s whole attitude shift in a negative direction. “What do you mean what’s the gun for? I’ve always carried a gun.”
“Yeah, but you told me you weren’t going to be living like that anymore.”
“Living like what? I’m in the house,” Scarface said with a confused look on his face. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that Bone was in town and it wasn’t no telling what would happen if or when the two crossed paths. One thing Scarface knew was that he wasn’t about to get caught slipping.
“Nevermind! Just forget it!” Shekia snapped as she started slamming things around in the kitchen.
“Just forget what?” Scarface asked confused.
“Just forget everything!”
“You don’t mean that?”
“Hmmp! Yes I do! Shit, for all I know you probably still fucking that whore Mya!” Shekia knew that was a low blow, but at the moment she could care less. The truth was she just couldn’t get over him dealing with Mya and going over to her house without her knowing about it.
“I thought we were past that,” Scarface said rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Well you thought wrong!”
“What are you so mad about,” Scarface asked. “I mean I just don’t get it. I’m trying to do everything the right way now and it’s like that’s still not good enough for you.”
“I think it’s best if I go,” Shekia said. She tried to walk pass Scarface but his arm shot out and grabbed her arm stopping her momentum.
“Fuck you mean it’s best if you go?” Scarface snapped. “So as soon as shit don’t go your way you just wanna leave right?”
“Scarface let’s not play these games. It is obvious that you care more about the streets than you do me. Your sister getting killed ain’t teach you nothing?” Shekia snapped and then walked off.
“What the fuck you just said!?” Scarface barked as he went after Shekia. He roughly grabbed her and spun her around so she could face him. He raised his hand to hit her when bullets came flying through the front door and windows. “Get down!” Scarface yelled as he tackled Shekia down to the floor and covered her body with his own. He pulled his pistol from his waist and clutched it tightly. As soon as the gunfire ended, Scarface hopped back up to his feet and ran out the front door hoping to find any of the gunmen, but instead all he saw was a minivan turn the corner in a hurry.
“Fuck!” he cursed loudly. He knew this had to be the work of Bone and his crew. He wondered how they got the scoop on where he rested his head especially since not many people knew where he lived to begin with. Scarface walked back inside the house and saw Shekia laying on the floor with a scared look on her face crying. “You alright baby?”
“I can’t live like this no more!” Shekia screamed and ran upstairs.
Scarface called Black and told him to come over as soon as he could with a few soldiers as he heard loud movement coming from upstairs. Scarface ran upstairs and saw Shekia crying piling clothes into a suitcase.
“So that’s it?” he asked plopping down on the bed.
“I can’t live like this no more Scarface!” Shekia yelled. “When are you going to grow up!?”
“You talking like I shot my own house up!” Scarface snapped. “I’ve tried to change my whole life around. This is my past coming back to haunt me.”
“Yeah well I’m not sticking around to get hit by a stray bullet. Fuck that! I have better things to do with my life.”
“Like what?” he asked. The longer Scarface stood in the room with Shekia the angrier he was becoming. Not wanting to make matters worse, he decided to go downstairs and just let Shekia leave. He knew there was no use sitting around fighting with her. If she wanted to leave then she must not have really loved him to begin with.
Scarface made it back downstairs just as Black and three other men dressed in dark color clothing entered the house.
“What happened?” Black asked showing that he was ready to put in work at the drop of a hat.
“Bone made the first move,” Scarface said pouring himself a drink. “I need y’all to find out where this motherfucker is hanging out at.” Bone had officially crossed the point of no return. First he killed Vicky and now he had shot Scarface’s house up. Enough was enough and it was time for Bone to die.
“I been pounding the streets to see what kind of info I could get on him and some stripper chick I used to mess with told me that him and his crew have been going to the club that she works at every other night.” Black paused. “It’s kind of like he wants us to be able to find him.”
“They say motherfuckers should be careful about what they ask for,” Scarface growled. Black got ready to reply, but paused when he saw Shekia dragging two suitcases down the stairs.
“You sure you don’t wanna talk about this baby?” Scarface called out. Shekia stuck up her middle finger and exited the house, never breaking her stride.
“Maybe you should go after her,” Black suggested.
Scarface waved him off. “Let that bitch go!” He was too through with Shekia and he was tired of her trying to leave every time something didn’t go her way. Right now he had bigger things to worry about and he didn’t have time to go running behind Shekia.
Scarface turned and faced Black. “You know where this strip club is?”
Black nodded his head with a devilish grin on his face. “Sho do!”
“Strap up. It’s time to show this clown how we do things out here in Miami,” Scarface said.
* * *
Three vans filled with killers holding automatic weapons pulled into the parking lot of the strip club. Each man in the van was ready to kill at Scarface’s command.
“What’s the plan?” Black asked.
“Simple, the bouncers not going to let us in the club with all these guns so we gon go in there and start an altercation and bring the party outside.” Scarface turned and faced Knuckles. Knuckles was a beast who had just gotten out of prison and he was ready to prove himself in any way necessary. His muscles were so big that it looked as if the thread in his black thermal shirt was going to rip at any given moment. “Can you handle that?”
Knuckles looked at Scarface like he had just insulted him. “Of course I can handle that!” Knuckles had spent most of his life in and out of jail and was all for being violent and using extreme force in even the smallest situations.
“A’igh
t good! I’m going to send Youngin in there with you,” Scarface told him. Youngin was a young knuckle head that always found himself in the middle of some drama. “I just got word that Bone and his team are in there. Y’all go in there and slap that nigga Bone around a little bit. All I need y’all to do is bring this clown outside and we’ll take it from there.”
“Say no more,” Knuckles said as him and Youngin hopped out the van. “This won’t even take five minutes,” Knuckles said cockily as him and Youngin disappeared inside the strip club.
“You think those two can handle this?” Black asked with a raised brow.
“We about to find out,” was Scarface’s only response.
Chapter 19
BOUT THAT LIFE
Bone sat on the couch as a thick chocolate stripper gyrated sexily on his lap. He sprinkled a few singles on her back as he took a deep swig from his bottle. Juicy J’s new song blasted through the speakers at a high level. The base from the speakers had the strippers losing their minds.
Bone sat back watching the stripper do her thing, and the only thing that was on his mind was how he was going to slide off with one of these sexy dancers. Bone and his crew had only been in Miami for a few weeks, but to him it felt like a few months. He had already set up his operation and flooded a few well known spots with dope. He also had a few strippers moving E pills as well as a few pain pills right out of the strip club. He planned on turning the city upside down with his shenanigans. Bone looked around and smiled as he watched his crew. It seemed like they were having the time of their lives and Bone was loving every minute of it.
“I get off in a few hours,” the stripper who resided on Bone’s lap purred. “You’d tryna play or what?”