Carl Weber's Kingpins

by Raynesha Pittman

  “That feels so good,” Tyger screamed out as Temper switched positions. She went from lying across the couch as she sucked on Tyger’s clit to helping Tyger ride her face. Then she got on her knees as Tyger fucked her face to an imaginary rhythm only she could hear. Both girls were in triple X mode, and then Tyger said what Temper was hoping to hear.

  “I’ve been waiting for us to fuck around like this for years too. I can’t lie. If I had known you could fuck me this good, this pussy would have been yours.”

  “Then let me have it now. It’s not too late.”

  “I am,” Tyger moaned.

  “Naw, I’m talking about whenever and however I want it. I want you to be mine.”

  “I am yours. I’ve been yours, but what am I going to do about dick? I can’t go forever without it.”

  “Me either, so we’ll just have threesomes from time to time with a throwaway nigga.”

  “Okay, but no more outsiders. It’s just you and me from here on out. Fuck Isabel, Julio, and anybody else you’ve tried to put before me. Like that bitch Paula. I knew you were creeping to that ho’s house. Did you fuck her?”

  There was the truth Temper was looking for dished out in drunken lust.

  “No, and I promise you that after this shit is over with Julio, I won’t let anyone else into our lives. It’ll be just you and me forever.”

  “I like that.”

  “Me too, baby.”

  “My turn,” Tyger announced as she reached to the sides of Temper’s yoga pants to pull them off.

  “Do you know what you are doing?”

  “No, but I love you, and if it’s going to be just us, then I need to learn.”

  “You don’t have to,” Temper assured her, but Tyger did have to. She needed Temper to do everything she asked of her and to get all the information she could on Julio’s investigation. Everything Tyger had told Temper and anyone who asked about her relationship with her father was a lie. They were and always had been best friends. They had a rough patch, but the incident made them closer. Tyger would kill before she let Temper’s past send a tail after her father, but she needed to be sure that was the case. She didn’t want to fully alert her father until she gathered everything she could on her own. Involving her father could get Temper buried at the bottom of the ocean. Tyger had to be sure that she deserved that fate.

  “I want to, Temper. Let me please you, baby.”

  There it was. Tyger gave Temper the treatment that many men had given her before, but none ever sent her to the heights Tyger did. As she came back-to-back on Tyger’s tongue, she thought her plan to use sex to get Tyger’s help might backfire. Tyger was a pussy-eating natural.

  Chapter Eleven

  Tyger watched her. Julio watched her. Now that Kei’Lani’s death made the news as the buzz of Paula’s overdose became public information, the whole state of California’s eyes were on Temper. So were the undercover cops Isabel worked with in Las Vegas. It was like a western movie, or better yet, the untold story of a mobster’s daughter. Too bad Temper wasn’t affiliated with either. There was death, murder, suicide, imprisonment, assault, gangs, drugs, sex, disease, undercover cops, and to top it off, a thrown-away baby. There was too much orbiting around Temper’s name for Isabel’s partners not to take a closer look into things.

  Matthew, the undercover officer who drove the van the day of Temper’s Las Vegas arrest, never felt comfortable with the facts surrounding Isabel’s death. He was told that Isabel acted alone on a tip she received on the john she had been hunting. Whatever happened when Isabel arrived at the location given to her by this tip forced her to call for backup. By the time Matthew and his partner made it, Isabel was applying pressure over the hole that allowed blood to ooze from her neck. Ballistics couldn’t trace the gun to anyone, there were no fingerprints or DNA found on the scene, and Isabel’s call to dispatch was too calm to say she was in pursuit of a suspect. She didn’t even draw her weapon, but what bugged Matthew the most about the murder was that everything surrounding her murder was speculation. There was no proof that she received a tip on the case she had been working. The trace done on the last call she received was made from a burner cell phone and had only been used to make that call solely. The cell phone service provider tried to trace where the phone was sold, but that was a dead end. The trace tied the phone to a pharmacy chain with stores domestic and international.

  Even the last people to see her alive, those at the runaway shelter, were no help because all their stories were identical. They said her phone rang, she stepped away to answer it, and returned in different clothing saying that work had called. Matthew spent day and night doing his own investigation, and nothing added up. Why would she respond to a call alone? Who was the informant who gave her a tip? Most importantly, why would she decide to leave Temper, especially on her birthday, when she never placed anything else before her, not even a case?

  He wanted answers and would start his search for them by questioning Temper about any possible fallings-out they may have had, but she was too devastated by Isabel’s death at the time. He’d wait until after the funeral to ask, but Temper didn’t show up for it. From what Matthew gathered when he spoke with Isabel’s parents, Temper was too heartbroken to attend, and everyone felt that with all the hurt and pain the little girl had gone through in her life, it was best she didn’t attend.

  The cold case he labeled his partner’s death as never sat right in his heart, and then he received a call from the head of homicide in Los Angeles to prove his heart was right.

  “I know this comes as a surprise, Detective,” Julio whispered.

  “You can call me Matthew. The tone of your voice tells me this little investigation you’re running isn’t officially on the books, Detective . . .”

  “Torres, and you’re right, so you can call me Julio. There’s not enough solid evidence to officially open a case or for me to give you to reopen Isabel’s, but I have a gut feeling there will be.”

  “I’m in, anything I can do to help.”

  Matthew volunteered the information surrounding Isabel’s murder and told him everything he knew about the relationship she had with Temper.

  “One more thing I have to ask of you. Can you please scrape up all the information you can on Isabel’s life insurance policy, pension, and the total of her estate? It all goes to Temper in a little over a month, and I want to know everyone who knew Isabel named her as the beneficiary and the stipulations she placed on Temper’s inheritance. I don’t believe it’s coincidence that an attempt was made on her life on the eve of her becoming a millionaire,” Julio concluded.

  Matthew couldn’t speak. He’d never thought to question who would receive her pension and if she had a will in place, because she wasn’t married, nor had she birthed any children. He assumed her parents would receive it all after watching them get handed the American flag at her funeral. Knowing that it would go to Temper was enough to take to his sergeant to reopen the case.

  “Hello, are you still there?” Julio asked for the third time.

  “Yes, I’m here. Can you fax me the insurance company’s name and anything that might help me? I’ll look into everything else and get back to you as soon as I can.”

  “Sure, and you might want to talk with her parents and siblings, if she has any, to see what they knew about it. I hate to reopen their wounds, but it might be the only way to catch her killer finally.”

  “Gotcha. I’ll be in contact soon. Wait. Isabel was my partner for years, and I loved her. Why is her case so important to you?”

  “Because her case may help me solve the investigation around Temper.”

  “Personal,” Matthew mumbled.

  “Excuse me, I didn’t catch that.”

  “I said, ‘Personal.’ You called her by her first name instead of her last. In this case, your stake is personal, and that’s why it’s off the books. I’m glad to see that someone else loves Temper as much as Isabel once did. I’ll be in touch.”

&n
bsp; Being in touch took a back seat once Matthew received the okay to reopen Isabel’s murder case. Now that he had a contact in Los Angeles, he decided to work the case backward, starting with the newly involved first. Detective Julio Torres was first on his list, and he didn’t like the information he found. Julio grew up on the same street as Temper, and after cross-checking names and affiliations, he found visitation records linking him to the man Temper named as the drug dealer when they arrested her all those years ago.

  After digging a little deeper, he found out that the drug dealer struck out due to a rape case that produced a child birthed by Temper. It didn’t take more than a Google search of his name to pull up the articles involving the museum’s stabbing to protect the docent, Temper Chey, and three added names for him to investigate: Kei’Lani, now deceased, whose last known address belonged to the mother of the drug dealer serving life for raping Temper; Paula, the museum director who conveniently overdosed in the museum’s parking lot the day of the stabbing; and Tyger, the museum’s curator he’d questioned the night of Isabel’s murder. She was Temper’s best friend, whom Isabel had planned the surprise party with for Temper. Isabel told him she was unsure about her because the girls’ friendship was built behind juvenile hall’s walls, and Tyger’s bloodline linked her to well-known West Coast criminals. She was also the girl Temper skipped town with after Isabel’s murder.

  Not knowing who he could trust, he publicized the reopening of the murder investigation and had every newspaper and station announce new leads. The word spread quickly, and soon he found himself dodging phone calls from Julio by having his secretary tell him that he would call him back at his earliest convenience. Trusting Julio didn’t seem right, especially after finding the eviction notice he’d filed against Temper.

  He did take Julio’s advice to contact Isabel’s parents. They were a tremendous help when it came to being character witnesses for Temper, but ultimately it was the piece the local news station ran on Isabel that gave him the solid lead on the case he had waited to solve for years. He had a confession and a man in custody. It was time for him to have a face-to-face with Temper.

  * * *

  Armed guards packed the foyer. The invited media outlets took their places while those relevant enough to make the guest list mingled. Whether any of them cared for the lady of the hour or the event itself didn’t matter. The opportunity to network was too grand to miss it.

  The day had finally come when the museum’s board, along with the mayor and city council, honored Tyger for her courageous part in saving Temper’s life. She had saved the museum after Paula’s tragic overdosing, and it was also the day she accepted her role as the new director. Although the promotion had taken her years to reach, it happened two months after Paula’s death, which also happened to be the best two months of her life thanks to her and Temper’s secret relationship.

  “How do I look?” Tyger asked as she adjusted the hem on her slacks over the back of her heels for the umpteenth time.

  “Overdressed for what I have in mind,” Temper responded as she rubbed the curves of her hips.

  “Stop,” Tyger snapped. “We already talked about that, and you’re violating the rules. No public display of anything that anyone could take as affection. I keep telling your horny ass I’m not gay unless we’re home with your face in my pussy.” She looked over her shoulder at her office door to make sure it was closed and then cupped Temper’s face. “I love you, you little freaky, sex-crazed bitch.”

  “I love you too, you little freaky, straight-acting bitch.”

  The words rolled off Temper’s tongue as Tyger’s tongue replaced them in her mouth. They kissed while Temper rubbed on Tyger’s ass as if it would bring her good fortune. There was no way Julio would ruin it, so he silently closed the door and knocked.

  “It’s open. Come in,” Tyger announced as Temper made her way to the connecting restroom to wipe off the traces of their kiss that the lipstick left behind.

  “I just wanted to come by before the event and congratulate you on all of your accomplishments and tell you that it’s an honor to present you the award for bravery. This museum and the city of Los Angeles are lucky to have you.” He extended his hand for hers, and when she gave it to him, he kissed it slowly and softly. “You look amazing, as usual.”

  “Thank you,” Tyger said, unable to conceal the smile that grew on her face. “I’m honored that you are the one presenting it, and I hope everything that happened in the past—”

  “Is water under the bridge,” he confirmed, cutting her off. “My goal was to make sure that Temper was safe, and she is. I owe an apology to you for not trusting the bond that you and she have.”

  “Don’t be silly. We all make our share of mistakes.”

  “Yes, we do,” Temper said, stepping into the room. “Hello, Detective Torres. Long time no see. You look like life is still treating you well.”

  “You as well,” he said, extending his hand for hers and then repeating the kiss he’d planted on Tyger’s. “I just wanted to come by to congratulate your best friend before the event, but I’m glad you’re here, too. Now I can congratulate you on being promoted to curator. That’s a long journey. I mean, a long way from the old neighborhood. I’m sure it doesn’t matter to you, but I’m extremely proud of you.”

  It was hard for Temper not to want that man standing in front of her, but everything happened for a reason. Tyger had sent her to play nice with Julio, but he hadn’t been in the mood. Instead of meeting at the house as she’d planned, he switched the location. They’d met at a diner close to his home.

  “Am I no longer welcome at our house?” That was the first question she asked as she took her seat.

  “I assumed you no longer saw it as your home since you stopped coming to it. I wanted to make sure we met to talk where you felt comfortable.”

  “You assume everything and never seem to know anything. What’s this little meeting all about?”

  “Your protection.”

  After begging to interrogate her for her safety and being denied, he handed her the eviction notice.

  “What’s this?”

  “The official termination of us and everything we had.”

  She tore open the envelope, read the contents in their entirety, and slammed the order down on the table. “You are so weak it’s pathetic. Can’t get me to jump through your little loops like the dog you were hoping to train, so you took your little punk ass to the courthouse and lied on me?”

  “There goes that mouth everyone loved to fuck. Where’s the lie, Temper? You knew Kei’Lani was a criminal, and you refused to press charges on her. What illegal shit are you tied to that had you scared to snitch to save your ass?”

  “Fuck you, Julio. You’re the real criminal in all of this. Since you brought up Kei’Lani for the thousandth time, why don’t you tell me what happened between y’all behind your office door? You cocked back and almost hit me. What did you do to her? Did you ram her head into that wall? I’m just saying her whole life has been fucked up. Why would she wait for that moment alone with you to commit suicide?” she asked, flipping the interrogation.

  “I don’t know. Maybe she realized that I was the first man to love your stupid ass, and the shit she’s been pulling on you for years wasn’t going to work anymore.”

  “Or maybe you killed her to stop her from telling Khasema that you fell in love with the bitch who got him his third strike. Wouldn’t want to look bad to your boy, right?”

  “Not possible. We don’t love hoes. We get our nut and then pay them for services rendered.” He dug in his pocket and threw $200 at her. “That throat was good. Keep the change as a tip, bitch.”

  Those in the diner had turned their attention to Temper as Julio left her sitting there staring at the eviction notice. The grounds for eviction were suspected criminal activities. That alone was enough to make her never speak to or think of him again. When she’d made it home and shared her trip to the diner, Tyger was pissed
that she hadn’t played along, but Temper didn’t care. She no longer trusted anyone, including Tyger, but she knew if she showered her with love, Tyger would ensure that she stayed safe.

  “No, I can’t say that you being proud matters to me one bit, but I do thank you for the kind words. If you don’t mind, I need to get my best friend ready for the day. I’m trying hard to say this as nicely as I possibly can—get the fuck out.”

  “It doesn’t have to be like this, Temper,” Julio said, begging with his eyes as knocks rang on the door.

  “Come in. It’s open,” Tyger stated, starting to feel annoyed by the interruptions.

  Matthew walked in with two other men, all three wearing suits and holding badges. “I’m sorry to interrupt, especially on a day like today. Temper, I need to transport you back to Las Vegas for questioning related to the murder of Isabel. We wore suits to throw off the media. Nobody knows who we are nor why we are here. I thought the both of you would prefer it that way.” He nodded toward Tyger to acknowledge her day.

  “Am I under arrest, Matthew? If not, then I refuse to go. It’s my best friend’s special day, and I don’t understand why Isabel’s death is coming back up after all this time. You all said you didn’t have any evidence back then, but you act like you have a shitload of it now. What’s up with that, Matt? Did important evidence get overlooked?” Temper stood firm in her questioning.

  “There was nothing to overlook. We didn’t have any evidence back then, but we do now, and you, better than anyone, should know there’s no way I wouldn’t dedicate my life to solving this case. I don’t want to arrest you. It would be like arresting Isabel’s only child, but we do have a motive in the sum of $1.7 million, and the fact that you ran away after her death is suspicious. I want you to come in by your own free will and not by force. Answer a few questions, and let me clear you as a suspect, Temper. I’m sure Isabel is cursing me out from up there for bringing you in as it is, but she understands the job, and that’s all I’m trying to do. Are you walking out of here with me, or are these LAPD officers arresting you and then you spend a couple of nights in L.A. county jail until we can get you transported to Las Vegas?”