Hard Win: Action Adventure Pulp Thriller Book #3 (Michelle Angelique Avenging Angel Series)

by Jason Stanley

  Chips, ranch dip, and a crudité filled the center of the coffee table.

  Michelle handed Miss Betty a tall glass of ice water and sat in her office chair.

  Miss Betty sipped her water. “Thanks. Now, what is it we are discussing?”

  Michelle filled her in on the details, going over old and new information. “That brings us up to the current situation. I, we, wanted to get your views and opinions.”

  “I think I can be more help strategically than tactically,” Miss Betty said. “Big John was pretty good at tactics, but he really enjoyed strategy. That was what we talked about most often.”

  “That’s what we were hoping for,” Michelle said.

  “I don’t want to sound simplistic, but sometimes it’s as simple as when the cat’s away the mice will play,” Miss Betty said.

  Michelle leaned forward and picked up a hand full of carrot sticks. “Ascia is our cat who is gone. And the mice are?”

  “Everybody, but the mouse you are interested in is Fast Eddy,” Miss Betty said. “Him, and his part of the organization are weaker with the big man gone. They’ve been in business a while, so are probably complacent. Pimps aren’t like drug dealers who have to remain sharp or get killed. Most of the time pimps push women and johns around. Sometimes they meet challenges from other pimps, but that is an in-your-face up close and personal situation. It takes brutality, not intelligence. I suggest you should strike at this Fast Eddy while you have this opportunity with Ascia and his muscle either gone or not paying attention.”

  “It sounds like it’s time to build a better mouse trap,” Michelle said. “What do you guys think?”

  Deja started singing, “Three blind mice, three blind mice . . .”

  “Catch me up, girlfriend,” Nikky said.

  “The farmer’s wife. She cut of their tails with a carving knife,” Deja said.

  Michelle stood up and kissed Deja on top of her head. “Never change. Now, let’s stroll down to Scott’s for lunch and show Miss Betty more of my town.”

  * * *

  Michelle and Nikky had arrived in Houston a few days early to prepare things for G-Baby and Jelena.

  G-Baby walked down the breezeway to where Michelle waited with Jelena standing by her side. G-Baby gave Michelle a quick hug and put out his hand to Jelena. “You must be Jelena.”

  “Da. I think maybe it was you on the plane. Good to meet you.”

  They didn’t have much to discuss on the ride to the apartment. It had all been gone over back in Anglewatts. However, a few details needed discussing when they arrived at the apartment.

  “Only one bedroom?” G-Baby asked as he walked into the stark, cheaply furnished apartment he and Jelena would share.

  “It’s what was available. Fortunately, our apartment is only two buildings down. We need to be close, but not in the same building where we’ll be too obvious. Getting places that rent by the month without any paper trail is not as easy as it would seem.” Michelle said.

  “Okay, no problem.” He turned to Jelena, who stood inside the door, “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  “You no try hanky-panky?” She asked.

  “As good as having you in my bed sounds, it’s a sure way to not have my fiancé in my bed when I go home. No hanky-panky,” G-baby said.

  “Good, now that’s settled, we can talk business while we eat,” Michelle said.

  Nikky had followed them in and unpacked the KFC she brought for a late lunch.

  Michelle held up a piece of chicken. “Get used to it. It’s all drive-thru fast food and TV dinners until this is over. No going inside to eat, and no pizza delivery. We do nothing that’ll cause us to be noticed or remembered.” She had to remember to repeat basic instructions to every member of her team. She didn’t doubt their loyalty or desire to do the job. But if she forgot for even a moment that all of them were amateurs, it could cost them their lives.

  The job they were there to do was important. It needed to be done. They couldn’t leave these women enslaved. No way. But still, she wondered, was killing Fast Eddie a rationalization because it was the easy way, or was it truly the only way? Her uncle’s voice snapped her back to the issue at hand.

  “I’m not here for the food,” G-Baby said.

  “And from what I heard earlier in, it’s not for the sex either,” Nikky quipped.

  “Story of my life, surrounded by women and can’t get no peace,” he said mugging a sad face.

  “Uncle G, you can have all the pieces you want.” Michelle handed him the bucket of chicken.

  * * *

  Michelle sat in the driver’s seat of a white Toyota parked at the edge of a small, run down strip mall. Through the telephoto lens of her camera, she watched the blond woman who was dressed in an in-between outfit. She could be a working girl, or a woman out for an evening in a sexy dress. She stepped up to a thin, leggy platinum blond, dressed in a halter top, orange stretch miniskirt and strap heels. The first woman held up a cigarette and said something.

  The platinum blond held up a lighter to the cigarette then quickly, furtively, looked around. A short conversation followed, and the first woman continued on her way. She looked over at where Michelle sat and nodded a slow deep nod.

  Michelle tapped G-Baby’s name on her phone. “You’re good to go.”

  A gray Malibu, with a Black man driving, pulled up to the curb next to the platinum blond. She bent over, looked through the open window and said something, then opened the door and hopped in.

  The first blond crossed the street and walked toward Michelle’s strip mall parking lot. When she reached the lot, she climbed into the passenger seat next to Michelle. “It is her, they will wait for us,” Jelena said.

  A few minutes later, in a quiet residential area, Michelle parked her Toyota across the street from G-Baby. She and Jelena walked over and slid in the back seat.

  “Oh my God. I heard you were dead. I thought I see a, what is word, ghost, yes I thought you are ghost. I am happy you are not ghost,” the blond woman said all in a single rush.

  “I am not ghost,” Jelena said. “Alana, this is Michelle. She is woman who got us away from Jack-Move. She is helping us with work. We are free to go if we want. Everyone is happy to stay and work for her. We are here for your help to rid of asshole Fast Eddie.”

  While the reunion went on between Alana and Jelena, G-Baby pulled away from the curb.

  “Uncle G, take the freeway.”

  Surrounded by hundreds of cars speeding down the freeway, it was as private as the middle of a forest.

  Michelle held out her hand. Alana shook the offered hand. “Hello, Michelle, it is good to meet you.”

  “Good to meet you too, Alana,” Michelle said. “You look tired. I see you don’t have tracks so you don’t do needles. Why are you so tired?”

  Alana turned to Jelena. “I can tell her? She can be trusted?”

  “Yes. Even if we were alone, I would tell you to trust her. She is honest woman,” Jelena said.

  Alana took a short, quick breath and nodded. “Fast Eddie has a temper since Jack-Move lost all of the womans he took to Los Angeles. He beat one of the girls. She is hurt bad. She should go to hospital but we cannot. I take care of her all day when I’m not working.”

  “Can she walk?” Michelle asked.

  “Today, for the first time, she can walk to the bathroom. It made her very tired.” Alana said.

  “How big is she?” Michelle asked.

  “She is 1.6 meters, um, that is five feet three inches tall. But not heavy. She has lost weight, so is not heavy.”

  “You got that G?” Michelle asked.

  “Yeah, I heard. I can carry her out to a car okay. So long as it ain’t too far,” he said.

  “Alana, this is important. I need you to understand we want to get you and the other women out. We have a safe place for you to go. If you and the others want to stay in the States, you can stay. If you want to go alone, you can go. But, if you go alone we can’t help you.
If anyone wants to go back to Russia —”

  “I’m from Ukraine, not Russia,” Alana interrupted.

  “Russia, Ukraine, it doesn’t matter. If any of you want to go home, I’ll send you. If any of you want a different life, you are welcome to it. All of that will come later, after you’re free from Fast Eddie. To do that, we have to kill him. How do you feel about that?” Michelle watched Alana’s reaction.

  “I will spit on his dead body and piss on his grave,” Alana said with her brows furrowed and made a spitting gesture.

  “How about the other women?” Michelle asked.

  “Not as much as me, but they all hate him. He is bastard,” Alana said.

  “All of them?” Michelle asked.

  “One does not hate him. She is China Doll.” Alana said.

  “Okay, good to know. We’ll have to deal with her special. Also, some of the other men will also be hurt, maybe killed . . .” Michelle said.

  “That is too bad. Most of them are not mean to us, but they help keep us here. Nobody cares if they are all shot dead,” she said.

  “We need to get Fast Eddie away from the apartments. When does he normally leave?” Michelle asked.

  “Sometimes he goes out to meet the girls at the end of the night. Or goes to meet with Mr. Ascia. But when Mr. Ascia is out of town, he does not go to the office. Mr. Ascia is out of town now,” Alana said.

  “How do you know Ascia is gone?” Michelle asked.

  “I was told not to send any girls to him. They are to work the streets,” Alana replied.

  “Do you know how long he will be gone?” Michelle asked.

  “No. Sometimes I hear things. This time I did not hear anything.”

  “When does Fast Eddie leave?” Michelle asked.

  “When he is in this mood, and with Ascia gone, he won’t leave at all. Nothing will make him go out of his apartment for many days.”

  “I’ve seen him do this thing,” Jelena said. “He stays in his apartment watching his big TV and has many womans come to him. Some for sex, some to massage him. Sometimes he is nice and sweet. Sometimes he beats a girl for no reason. He will always have at least two womans with him.”

  “I have been gone long enough. I should go back,” Alana said.

  “Not a problem, I’ll give you enough money to make up for the time. Tell your driver you snagged a talker who wanted you to hear his troubles. They always pay extra for longer time,” Michelle said.

  “Okay that is good. I must have money for them to believe me,” Alana said.

  “This is what we need. We need to know when is the time that the least amount of men, both security and drivers, are at the apartments. Who will probably still be there?” Michelle asked.

  The conversation lasted another half hour while Alana detailed all the common activities of the daily routines. What times the drivers showed up, who was most likely to be on duty and where they were located.

  G-Baby pulled up behind the white Toyota Michelle and Jelena came in.

  “Alana, if you want this to happen, you can’t tell any of the women. Nobody. If you tell anyone, they could act nervous and do the wrong thing like pack their stuff. A lot of the others could be hurt or killed if Fast Eddie figures out what is coming,” Michelle said.

  “Yes, Michelle. I understand. I know how to keep secret. Many times, I keep secret from police and from gangster at home. I make promise to you. No one, not even my sister, will know until you kill that asshole Fast Eddie. All of the womans will celebrate when they learn he is dead.”

  Michelle gave Alana two fifty dollar bills. “We will make this happen for you and your women.”

  Jelena reached up and shook Alana’s hand and said something in Russian. Michelle and Jelena got out and went to their car.

  Driving away, Michelle asked, “Can I trust her?”

  “Yes you can trust her to do this thing. After that I cannot say,” Jelena responded.

  “Why on this, and not on other things?” Michelle asked.

  “The woman who is badly beaten. The one Alana takes care of,” Jelena said.

  “Yeah?”

  “She is Zoya, Alana’s sister. She is younger by one year. Alana was beaten before when she tried to protect Zoya. This time it is little sister who is hurt. If we do nothing, sooner or later either Alana or Fast Eddie will be dead. Our being here only says which one dies. On this you can trust her with your life. She will not fail in her tasks.”

  Twenty-Six: Three Blind Mice

  THE PLANNING HAD gone on into the night and the next day. They had another freeway meeting with Alana the next night. Everyone and everything was in place.

  Jelena had assured everyone she knew how to handle and shoot a gun. There was no private place to test her shooting skills, so Michelle handed her a Glock 9mm and asked her to strip and reassemble it. Jelena field stripped it in swift, sure movements. The parts lay in a neat row on the cheap Formica table top. At Michelle’s nod, reassembly was equally as fast. The clincher was when she wiped her prints off of each part, then used the cleaning rag to hold all the pieces as she reassembled the gun.

  “You pass. You’ll take this one.” Michelle handed her the black silenced Smith & Wesson she had just field stripped and reassembled.

  Michelle lay awake with a hundred details running through her head. Normally she slept reasonably well at this stage on a job. Depression and raging emotions came after the job. At this point she usually had a handle on most of the variables and was able to find a calm center.

  This was different. This time the lives of others depended on her. Had she forgotten something? Something small she had possibly taken for granted? Did she miss any one of a thousand details the others probably wouldn’t see until it was too late? She hated being in this leadership position. She understood and accepted the fact that their success, or miserable failure, depended on her. Accept it, yes, like it, hell no!

  The next morning at 9:00 a.m. four empty, white cargo vans parked in the alley behind the six foot, wood privacy fence in the back of Fast Eddie’s dual apartment complex. Michelle, Nikky, and G-Baby all carried silenced Glock 19s. Jelena had the silenced Smith & Wesson 9mm.

  Michelle went through first to clear the way. Nobody was in sight. She signaled the others.

  Through the night, she’d set the plan. Everything hinged on information Alana texted that morning.

  Nikky would meet Alana inside her apartment where she had lured a lop-ass guard named Joey. At the same time Michelle and Jelena would take out the other guard, an asshole named Mondo. The only thing Alana had been able to tell them was she thought Mondo was in apartment four at the end of the row next to the back parking lot. It was the apartment where some of the women lived; he had no real reason to be in there.

  G-Baby would stand watch outside. If anyone noticed him, he would act like a potential customer that had somehow found their home.

  * * *

  Nikky swiftly walked to the left going behind the row of apartments. There was a comfortable five feet between the back of the apartments and the six foot fence. The fence might have helped with privacy if the apartment building next door wasn’t two stories. But since it was the back of the building, the chances were slim anyone might look out for the few seconds it took her to walk to the open window.

  Nikky found the window open and the screen on the ground. Alana had done her job. Nikky peeked into the bedroom. It was empty. She climbed in and stood behind the open door. Voices came from the front of the apartment. Alana’s voice was joined by a man’s voice and at least three other women.

  “Joey, you know you are the only man here who is nice to us. I appreciate how you help me with Zoya. I think the other men don’t appreciate how much we feel safe when you are here with us. I think it is time one of us show you how we appreciate you being a kind and decent man.”

  “I thought you hadn’t noticed. I do want to be a good guy to all of you girls.” Joey said.

  “The back room is empty, l
et’s take a few minutes,” Alana said. A chair scraped across a hard floor. Nikky guessed it was a kitchen chair at a table.

  Another chair scraped as a second person moved, and a few seconds later, Alana led Joey by the hand into the bedroom past the open door where Nikky stood. Alana stepped to the side of the bed still pulling him by the hand. When they reached the head of the bed, she turned around and pressed herself into him.

  The door softly closed.

  Alana pulled away from the embrace. She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back to arms-length. “Joey, I’m not going to fuck you today. But I think you are the one person in this shit hole who deserves to live.” She turned him around to face Nikky.

  Nikky wore a ski mask and had her Glock pointed at his face. “Hi, Joey, glad to meet you. Alana told you the truth. She asked us to let you live. What’s your opinion on the matter? You want to live, or should I kill you now?”

  “She’s right,” Joey stammered. “I’m the one good guy here. I don’t never try no stupid shit wit’ the girls like the others,” he blurted out.

  “Shut up, Joey,” Nikky said.

  He nodded several times.

  “Now, you didn’t answer my question. Do you want to live, or should I just kill you now?”

  “I want to live. Absolutely I wa —”

  “Joey, stop babbling. I’ve got it. You want to live. You strapped?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where is it?”

  “In a belt holster in the back of my pants.”

  “Lace your fingers behind your head like the po-po is arresting your dumb ass.”

  Joey did as she told him.

  “Who else is here?”

  “Me and Mondo. And Fast Eddie.”

  “Where are they?”

  “Fast Eddie is in his place. Mondo is in apartment four on the end by the alley.”

  “What’s Mondo doing here?”

  “He comes in sometimes for a little action. He’s probably making one of the girls suck his dick. I don’t never do that.”

  “Yeah, we know, you’re a fucking saint. Now shut the fuck up,” Nikky said. Keeping eye contact with Joey, she pulled her cell out of her shirt pocket. “Did you hear that?”