No More Tears In The End ambs-7

by Roy Glenn

  I thought about my own nightmares. I don’t have them as much as I used to, but every once and awhile I do. It always begins different, but it always ends the same way. I’ll be dreaming about being with Cassandra, and we’ll end up back at our house. No matter what I do to try and stop him, Kip Bartowski, the man who beat and murdered Cassandra, kills her again. Then I wake up in a cold sweat. It reminds me that everybody who was involved in her murder isn’t dead.

  But not tonight.

  Tonight my mind wasn’t on Cassandra. Tonight my mind was on CeCe.

  I got out of bed and walked toward the window. I thought about our last conversation. She said Cash knew Mylo by his real name. Cassandra had a friend named Juanita that worked for the DEA in Washington.

  I had her do a little digging and she found out that Clint Harris was a DEA agent and Kenneth DeFrancisco was his last supervisor. The way she got it was that after DeFrancisco went to jail, the agency lost track of agent Harris until they found him dead at his house in Philly. Fortunately for me, they had no idea what he was working on or I would probably be in jail for his murder.

  But that started me thinking about how long these bastards been on me, how deep they had infiltrated my house. It made me realize there was more to this than just DeFrancisco ordering Cassandra’s murder and me being framed for it; that’s just how it ended up. This was all part of Diego Estaban’s plan for me.

  Now maybe I’m paranoid, but I wondered just how deep this plan was? Killing Diego didn’t stop it. DeFrancisco going to jail didn’t stop it. He still had Cassandra killed. I thought killing DeFrancisco would put an end to it, but suppose it doesn’t? Pete Vinnelli was still alive and pulling the strings.

  The more I thought about it, the more the pieces fell into place. Mylo or Harris worked for DeFrancisco. DEA agent Masters worked for Vinnelli. Logically, he had to know about their plan to kill me and for Mylo to take over the Commissions drug markets. That meant that Vinnelli had his hand in it.

  I had to know.

  In spite of my promise to Angelo that I would let it go; I had to know. I had to know what their plans were, and try to get a feel for what else they may have in store for me. This was a crucial time for us, making the move to go legit. I didn’t need this shit coming from nowhere to bit us in the ass. I had to be ready. I had to be a step ahead of them. I had to kill Vinnelli.

  It was and still is the only way for Cassandra to rest in peace.

  The next morning me, Bobby and Wanda met with the real estate broker, and then she had a meeting scheduled at her office with Meka Brazil, the investment banker that we’ve been dealing with. The meeting was to discuss with us the financing ideas, equity and bond issues.

  At the meeting Meka recommended a very aggressive strategy for taking over some smaller companies, merging with others to form a larger company, and selling the company’s stock to the public. At this point, we had no plans to tell her how we made our money, but she’s smart, so if she hadn’t figured it out for herself, at some point she will.

  Then Meka started talking about us buying or investing in an insurance company that was looking to use derivatives to reduce risk in its investment portfolio. “I don’t mean to sound stupid, but what are derivatives?” I asked Meka. I could tell that both Wanda and Bobby were glad that I asked ’cause neither of them had a clue what she was talking about.

  “Derivatives are financial instruments whose value changes in response to the changes in underlying variables,” Meka answered without appearing to be annoyed by my question. “The main types of derivatives are futures, forwards, options, and swaps.”

  “In English, please.”

  “Derivatives can be based on different types of assets such as commodities, stocks, bonds, interest rates, exchange rates, or indexes. The main use of derivatives is to reduce risk for one party. The diverse range of potential underlying assets and pay-off alternatives leads to a huge range of derivative contracts available to be traded in the market. Their performance can determine both the amount and the timing of the pay-off.”

  “Thank you, for clearing that up for me,” I said even though I still had no clue what she was talking about.

  After the meeting was over, instead of rushing off to her next appointment, Meka came and sat down next to me.

  “Mind if I ask you a question?” Meka asked.

  “Not at all.” I thought she was about to ask where the money came from, but I was wrong.

  “Did you really understand my explanation of derivatives?”

  “To be honest with you, no, I didn’t. You might as well be speaking Latin.”

  “I didn’t think so. But if I’m going to continue working for you, I think it’s important that you understand what I’m doing on your behalf.”

  “I agree.”

  “That means that you have to understand what I’m talking about so you can make informed decisions about your company’s future. Not just going along with what Meka says because she sounds good saying it.”

  “I couldn’t agree with you more. The question is what are we going to do about that, Meka?”

  “If you like, and your schedule permits, we could spend some time together and I could explain some of the basics of business investing.”

  “That sounds like an excellent idea. Naturally, you can present a bill for your time,” I said, wanting to, as Wanda would say, at least give the appearance of professionalism.

  Meka looked at her watch. “Look at the time. I have less than an hour to make it to a lunch meeting.” Meka got up and gathered her papers. “But any time you want to get together and talk finance, just give me a call,” she said and handed me another one of her cards.

  “I’ll do that.”

  Chapter 20

  After Meka left, Wanda said she had a client coming and needed to prepare for it. Bobby, who had been talking to Wanda while I was talking to Meka, stood up to leave. “What you gonna do now, Mike?”

  “Why; what you got up?”

  “I was thinking about rollin’ by Cuisine for lunch and then going by Cynt’s.”

  “You go ahead, Bob. I got something I need to do.”

  “Does that something have anything to do with Meka Brazil?”

  “No. Just some loose ends I need to tie up.”

  I didn’t like keeping things from Bobby, but like Angelo, he thought leaving Vinnelli alone was the best thing for all of us. I didn’t need him knowing that killing Vinnelli was back on top of my list of things to do. So him ridin’ with me where I was going wasn’t about to happen.

  My next stop was the apartment of Monika Wynn. She used to work with Nick while they were in the army and for awhile after they got out and were playing private detective. She helped Jackie uncover what Mylo and Masters were up to.

  “You want me to go in with you, boss?” Kevon asked me when we arrived at her apartment.

  “You relax, Kevon. I got this one.”

  Kevon got out of the car and stood by the door while I went inside and rang the bell. It didn’t take Monika long to answer. “Well hello, Mr. Black. This really is a surprise.”

  “Hello Monika. I need to talk to you about something,” I said and wondered if I was interrupting her or if maybe she was expecting somebody else. She was wearing a Knicks throwback jersey, and as far as I could tell nothing else. Nick said his old partner Jett Bronson used to call her lips, tits, and hips.

  She was definitely all those things.

  Monika had a patch over her right eye. While they were investigating Chilly and that whole synthetic crack nonsense, she got shot five times; two shots in the chest, and two to the head. One hit her above the left ear. She caught the other one in her eye. They weren’t able to save her eye. The other one was in her hand.

  “Mind if I come in?”

  “Sure.” Monika stepped aside and let me in. “This must be important if you’re here yourself.”

  “It is. I want you to do something for me.”

  “What you nee
d, Black?”

  “Information and discretion.”

  “Two things I’m good at.” Monika came and sat down across from me. It gave me a chance to admire the way her nipples pressed against her throwback. “What’s up?”

  “Pete Vinnelli. I need to know everything there is to know about him. Everything. I wanna know where he lives, who his friends are, where they live and what they do. Who and where he hangs out.”

  “You still thinking about killing him?”

  “That’s where that word discretion comes in.”

  “I understand. But I’m way ahead of you,” Monika said and got up. I watched her walk.

  “You are?”

  When she sat back down she had her laptop and a disk with her. “When all this came down, Nick asked me to start diggin’ into Vinnelli. You know, looking for the best way to take him out.”

  “Really.” I had to remember to thank Nick. It confirmed for me that I had made the right choice in putting him in charge of the house.

  “I haven’t had much luck following the money. After DeFrancisco went to jail, he got careful and tried to clean up his shit. He left enough of a trail for me to follow, but so far, every time I think I’m on to something it hasn’t led anywhere.”

  “Stay on that for me. I need to know where the money is and how much there is.”

  “I put my observation about his patterns, both business and personal in this file. There’s pictures and a little bit of detail on his two girlfriends.” Monika handed me the pictures she had. “An Amanda White, divorced, mother of two, age: thirty-nine. And that one is Pamela Connote, she’s twenty-seven.”

  “They kinda look alike.”

  “To me, Pamela is just a younger version of Amanda. Both got blonde hair, blue eyes, big tits.”

  “Man knows what he likes.” I couldn’t say shit since I was with Maria because she looked like Cassandra.

  “Anyway, my report includes what I thought was the best way to kill him.” I looked on as Monika copied the file to a disk and handed it to me. “You look that over and let me know what else you need from me.”

  “I need you to stay on finding that money,” I said and got up thinking about what I could do with a woman like her. She was a munitions expert, trained in weapons and commando tactics.

  The perfect assassin.

  “Drop by Cuisine later tonight and I’ll have something for you.” I started to leave but then I stopped. “By the way, Nick doesn’t need to know anything about you giving me this.”

  “That’s where that word discretion comes in.”

  “I knew I could count on you.”

  “I’ll see you tonight,” Monika said and walked me to the door.

  “Thanks again for this,” I said and held up the disk she had given me.

  “Not a problem,” Monika said as I walked toward the door. “Drop by anytime,” she added in a voice that made me a little curious.

  “Is that an invitation?”

  “Yes. You can come by and see me anytime.”

  “What ’bout you and Nick?”

  “There is no me and Nick, Mr. Black. Me and Nick served together in the army. We were partners. Nick is like a brother to me.”

  “He’s like a brother to me too. I guess that makes us like brother and sister?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Monika shook her head and said.

  “Why is that?”

  “I tell you what, Mr. Black. If you really wanna know, you’ll come back when you got some time and I’ll explain to you exactly why you and I can’t be like brother and sister.” Monika opened the door and kissed me on the cheek.

  “I just might have to hear that.”

  “See that you do.”

  Chapter 21

  My next stop was to see Bruce Stark, who was once the head of a group of drug dealers that called themselves The Commission. It was formed as a buying co-op. When detective Kirkland first told me about them I thought it was funny. “What are they; a rap group or something?”

  He had confirmed from his sources that ‘Cash Money’ Blake, K Murder Murdock, Billy BB Banner and Bruce Stark, were all lieutenants of a player named Birdie. Thinking that Birdie and his partner Albert Web were involved in Cassandra’s murder, Nick and Freeze eliminated them while I was in jail. But Kirk told me that the sole purpose of the group was formed to protect themselves against me. The ability to buy at a cheaper price was nothing more than a byproduct.

  After I found out truth about Mylo, me and Stark made peace, and he was the one who told me where I could find Mylo after he shot Freeze. Since then, Stark and I have developed a kind of respect for one another.

  Kevon drove me to Stark’s apartment, which always amused him. You see, Stark was a very security-conscious man ever since two members of his Commission, Cash Money and K Murder, had been murdered by Mylo and Masters’ hit team. Maybe he thinks they’re still out there, I don’t know.

  “Here we go, boss,” Kevon said as we turned down Stark’s block. First, there’s a girl taking pictures of every car that comes down the street. When we parked the car and got out, four guys approached me.

  “Here comes the welcoming committee,” Kevon said. “All of them are pussies, yah know.”

  I laughed. “Be nice. They’re just doin’ their job.”

  “I know that, boss. But it take four of them?”

  “Strength in numbers, maybe.”

  “Pussies,” Kevon repeated and spit at the feet of the first one that got to us. “Mr. Black is here to see Mr. Stark.”

  They stopped askin’ us to give up our guns since it wasn’t gonna happen and they escorted us inside the building. There are two men in the lobby and another four in the hallway; two more at the elevator and one at each of the stairwells. The man takes his security seriously.

  “What’s up, Black?” Stark asked and shook my hand. He led me in the back so we could talk privately.

  “There’s something I need your help with.”

  “Me?” he actually seemed excited about the fact that I was coming to him for help. “What can I do to help you? Fuck that, as much shit as I come to you with, whatever it is, you just say it and it’s done.”

  “Nothin’ for you to do. I just need some information about Cash Money and Mylo.”

  “What about them?”

  “You know Mylo’s real name was Clint Harris and he was DEA?”

  “Yeah, it was on the news when they found his body.”

  “Did you know that Cash knew him by his real name?”

  Stark sat up straight. “No, I didn’t know that.” It took a second or two before the implications of that revelation hit him. “That means that Cash knew he was DEA.”

  “That’s what I wanted to ask you about. First off, did you know?”

  “No,” Stark said quickly and looked around the room. “I swear ’fore God, I didn’t know nothin’ ’bout that.”

  “I didn’t think you did, but I had to ask and see your face when you answered.”

  “Where did you hear that Cash knew who Mylo really was?”

  “I have my sources.”

  “Can’t be nobody but CeCe.” Stark looked at me for a second. “Mind if I ask you a personal question?”

  “You want to know if I trust her.”

  “Do you?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. Any reason you know of that I shouldn’t?”

  “No. Not really. I guess I’m just not a trustin’ muthafucka, that’s all. I’ll say one thing for her, when Cash got smoked she was smart enough to get Cash’s stash out of that apartment before the cops got there.”

  “I heard that too. You know who she sold it to?”

  “Me.”

  I already knew that, I just wanted to see if he would tell me. “That’s what I thought.” I stood up and walked to the window and looked out. “No, I haven’t decided whether I trust CeCe or not, but whether I do or not, I still need to know what the deal was with that and how it ties into some other shit
I got goin’.”

  “What’s that?”

  I didn’t answer him ’cause my business with Vinnelli was none of his fuckin’ business.

  “You know, now that I’m thinkin’ ’bout it, the first time Birdie introduced us to Mylo, Cash did say that he thought he knew him from somewhere.”

  “Yeah, Cash knew he was DEA.”

  “What you gonna do now?”

  “I don’t know,” I said ’cause I didn’t. “But if I need you to do something for me, I need to know if I can count on you.”

  “Whatever you need, Black.”

  I shook Stark’s hand and left the building with Kevon. Cash definitely knew who Mylo really was. That’s why Mylo hit Cash first. The logical thing would have been to takeout Stark first. That would have sent The Commission in disarray. As we drove away from there I thought about what I was gonna do next. I needed to talk to somebody who could tell me more about Vinnelli, and knew exactly who that was.

  Chapter 22

  Nick Simmons

  I woke up the next morning to the sound of my cell phone ringing. I didn’t know what time it was, but whatever it was, it was too damn early. When the phone stopped, the doorbell started, and then my cell started ringing again. “Okay, I get it; you’re at the door,” I said loud and to nobody. I rolled out of bed and grabbed the phone. “What?”

  “Come open the door.”

  It was Black. I looked at the clock. It was ten ’til ten. What the fuck was he doin’ up, first of all; and here so early? I opened the door for Black and Kevon.

  Black came inside wearing a suit and a tie. He hates ties. Kevon nodded his head, turned around, and folded his arms. I closed the door.

  When I got in the living room, Black was at the bar making a drink. Kind of early-but what the fuck.

  “Pour me one too.”

  I sat down and Black brought me my drink. He sat down and smiled. “Did I wake you up?”

  “Yeah, yeah you did,” I said and laughed a little.

  “I know it’s early, but shit, I’m up. You might as well be up too.”