Jesse watched her, glancing down to the floor. He saw that the fireplace looked like it was never used, but there was a little soot on the hearth. He walked to it, got on his knees, and looked up the chimney. Jesse took his head out of the chimney and turned to the others, who were now looking at him curiously.
“Jackpot,” he said.
10
Tune-up
Florence watched the van from her bathroom. They'd been sitting on her all night. They obviously didn't want to harm her, or they would have tried something already. Still, she hadn't slept much last night.
The blue van was parked halfway up her street on Ardmore. Florence hoped that they couldn't see her watching them. She had the curtain closed and was peeking through a crack in it.
She had to do something. She guessed that they wanted her to go back to Jesse. They would follow her and then probably kill them all. But she was not going near Jesse until these guys were on ice.
Florence was nervous, but she was also excited. She was a real cop again, and it felt good. She'd been riding a desk, doing bullshit case interviews, for too long. She suddenly realized that she hadn't had a drink in a long time. Her blood was filled with something better now.
Florence left the bathroom, put on her clothes, and drove downtown on the Lodge Freeway. She saw the van behind her every so often. She even lost them once, but they picked her back up by Grand Boulevard. They were good but not great.
Florence got off the Lodge Freeway at the Jefferson exit. She rode past downtown to the IHOP. She went inside and had a leisurely breakfast. Since Jesse was gone, her cases had been reassigned. No one came to her for work, and she was not about to ask for any. The blue van rolled by.
She couldn't play this game much longer. Sooner or later they'd figure out she was on to them, or they'd get frustrated, grab her, and beat out what they wanted. She needed to make the next move, catch them before they could think.
Florence left the restaurant and went into the parking lot. She heard one of those annoyingly loud car alarms squelch next to her car. Suddenly an idea struck her. Florence got in her car and left. She waited until she saw the van behind her, then drove to a gas station. She parked by a public phone. She didn't see where the van went, but she knew they were watching.
Florence got out of the car and went to the phone. She dialed a number.
The killers watched Florence on the pay phone with great interest. She seemed to be having an intense conversation. Her face was red, and she gestured wildly.
North gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles popped. She was up to something, he thought. Why else would she use a pay phone?
They watched for five more minutes as Florence ranted. She got back into her car and drove away. They waited, then followed her. Florence went to 1300 and left her car in the garage. The killers were not suspicious. A lot of cops got free car service from the city.
Florence walked from 1300 over to Frank Murphy and went inside.
They waited for her. Whatever she was up to, it seemed urgent. They had to stick to her. She might be setting up a meeting with King. If she was, they would take them out and end this troublesome case.
It would be easier now that the cops were no longer following Florence. Shows how much they knew about anything. But the killers knew. Florence was the key, and something had happened in that phone conversation.
They waited all day for Florence. Something was about to jump off. And when it did, they would be ready.
11
Girlfriend
Cane and Tico pulled up to the money house on Littlefield. The big steel door was closed, and the house looked peaceful.
“Stupid-ass niggas,” said Tico. “Shootin' at a cop. When they get out, I say we smoke all of 'em.”
“We got Minnesota to deal with first,” said Cane. “Once we get the goods, all business will be settled.”
“Well, when we do, just let me handle it,” said Tico. “I hate this kind of shit. “
They got out of the Lincoln and walked to the house. The street was quiet. All the cars that once lined the curb were gone, their owners at work.
Cane and Tico climbed the stairs. Tico took out a big ring of keys and picked through them. They had so many places it was getting hard to keep them straight.
Tico pulled out a big red key and opened the steel door. They walked into the wreckage of the place. Chairs were broken, furniture on its side, and glass was everywhere.
Cane surveyed the damage and thought that Tico's suggestion to kill the rollers guarding the money was not so bad after all.
Cane stepped on broken glass, and it crunched loudly beneath his shoes. He had wanted to come as soon as he heard, but he didn't want to take a chance the cops were here.
“Grab the bag,” said Cane. “I'll watch the door.”
He had to get his money out to a safe place. Minnesota was corning with his future. He couldn't take care of LoLo before then, but he wouldn't tell Minnesota that. Cane's plan was to make the buy, flood the streets with his product, then deal with LoLo.
Tico walked over to the chimney and looked up. He stuck his hand up and pulled down a big garbage bag. There was a note stuck to it.
“What the fu--?” Tico said. He pulled off the note and handed it to Cane.
Cane read the little piece of paper.
Dear One-Eye,
I got your money. If you want it back, be at the pay phone
at the gas station on Jefferson and Jos Campau at seven o'clock.
Bring that black briefcase you stole from me and that motherfucker,
Little Jack.
Your Girlfriend
Cane threw down the letter and screamed. Tico picked up the letter, read it, then opened the garbage bag. Inside were old clothes, rocks, and junk.
“Cane, what are we gonna do?” asked Tico. “Minnesota's corning tomorrow.”
Cane said nothing. He walked to a window and looked at the bright sun. He held up a fist. Tico started to walk toward him but stopped. When Cane got into his sun thing, it was not wise to mess with him.
Cane stood in the window, looking at God. Now it was really a war. If he didn't make the buy with Minnesota, they would surely kill him. This was a cheap shot, he whispered to the sun. Cheap and just like Him.
Cane stood there for a moment, cursing under his breath. Then he turned and walked over to Tico. Cane's head was framed by the sunlight behind it, and for a second it looked like he had no face. Tico shifted backward, frightened of his boss.
“Come on,” Cane said. “We have to find Little Jack. “
They were holed up in another of LoLo's hideouts, a two-family flat near the graveyard where Davison and Six Mile intersected. A woman named Carter lived in the ground floor with a brood of children. LoLo gave her money now and then, and the woman let LoLo use the upstairs.
They'd been there all day, planning how to take Cane and his men. Jesse watched in awe as the women passed a big joint, and Ramona intricately laid out the plan. She had obviously been the brains of the outfit back in her day. Jesse was strangely proud of her attention to detail and command over the others in these moments.
LoLo held a mean-looking black gun with a red seal on its stock as she took a drag on a joint, then passed it. The weapon was brought by a white gun dealer named Pierre, who called it a Stiletto. Jesse had never heard of such a weapon, but it looked like it could mow down an army.
LoLo paid for the weapon with Cane's money. She also used some of it to bail out two young black girls they called the twins. Seems they were in prison for assault with a deadly weapon. They were shocked to see Jesse and made the normal jokes about him being a wanted man. LoLo seemed happy. She had her army to do battle with Cane.
LoLo was having fun spending Cane's money. In fact Ramona, Yolanda, and the twins seemed happy about their advantage over Cane.
But Jesse was worried. LoLo was a dangerous woman. H
e'd seen enough criminals over the years to tell she was the real deal, a stone killer. She was mean, short-tempered and had that look, that disregard for life in her eyes that could stop your heart. She was like a demon, and she definitely didn't care about dying. Yolanda was just as bad, big, strong, and not too bright.
Jesse was also concerned that LoLo didn't care about the black case. She only wanted to kill this man named Cane. And if Cane was the man he'd heard about, he knew this and would try to kill them first. Any way Jesse sliced it, being in business with these women was a losing proposition.
“Don't hog the blunt, bitch,” said one of the twins to Yolanda.
“DeSheeah,” said LoLo, indicating the twin with the blond braids, “you and DeShawna take Little Jack and whoever else Cane brings.” DeShawna looked just like her sister; only she had short, spiky dreadlocks. “Mr. Cane belongs to me,” said LoLo. She lifted the Stiletto. “I'm gonna cut his ass down to nothing but that dead eye.”
“What about the black case?” Jesse interjected. The room fell silent. He was uneasy. He felt they would slice him up and devour him at any moment. It was every man's nightmare to live in a world dominated by women. He could now tell other men that the reality was far worse than the dream.
“That's your damn problem,” said LoLo. “I got other things to worry about.”
“I'll keep my eye on the case,” said Ramona.
“I just don't want anything to happen to it,” said Jesse. “I think we need a plan.”
“Mona said she got it covered,” said LoLo forcefully. “Mona, your man worries too much.”
“I'll give him something to worry about,” said DeSheeah. She flicked her tongue out.
“I'll give him something to eat,” said DeShawna. She slapped five with her sister. “Mona, let me borrow him for an hour.”
“You better go break off a broom handle, bitch,” said Ramona. The other women roared with laughter. Even Yolanda smiled.
Now Jesse knew how women felt when men disrespected them. It was not nice. He noticed vaguely how they called each other bitch as a term of affection, the way black men called each other nigger. He wondered if Ramona was putting on for her friends, or had she really gone all the way back to what she was? Their journey had made them both digress, but he realized she didn't have as far to go as he did, which meant she didn't have as much resolve.
Ramona got up from her seat and came to him. She was wearing a new pair of jeans that hugged her legs and ass nicely. She wore no bra, and her T-shirt left little to the imagination. Her braids cascaded over her shoulders.
“I need to talk to you in the back,” she whispered to him. She looked upset. His intrusion into their conversation had obviously embarrassed her again.
Ramona walked to the little room off the kitchen. Jesse followed her. Inside there was an old TV, a bed, and little else.
The moment he stepped in, she grabbed him and kissed him hard. She pushed him into the door, closing it, and began to undress him.
“Wha--?” he asked. He was cut off by another kiss.
“Get those pants off,” said Ramona. She smiled at him.
“Ramona, we don't have time--”
She pulled off her T-shirt and kissed him again. Then she placed his hands on her breasts.
“I need this,” she said. Jesse pulled his hands back and moved away from her.
“What are you doing?” he said, upset with her.
“I'm just-- I'm nervous about all this. I need you, okay?”
Jesse didn't answer. He'd always thought of himself as reasonable when it came to women. But he was not. He was like all other men. He had a place for women, and it was beneath all men. And when he met women who wouldn't stay there, he got mad. He moved closer to Ramona, who was still topless.
“I'm sorry,” Jesse said. “I just feel out of place here.”
“I know,” she said. “It's all over your face. If it's any consolation, I think LoLo likes you, and she don't like many men.”
“Thanks, I needed to know that,” he said sarcastically. “I'm just worried that our mission is getting lost in all of this. All I want is that case, so we can go on with our lives.”
Ramona kissed him. “I like the way you say our lives. Makes me want to take those pants off you.” She reached for Jesse's zipper, but he stopped her.
“I have to say something first,” Jesse said. He stopped, taking a moment. He was filled with emotion and didn't know where to begin. “I don't know how this will turn out, you know, but I've been--” He hugged her instead, stroking her hair and rubbing her back.
“I love you too,” Ramona said softly into his ear.
He pulled her head from his shoulder and kissed her. She started humming her little song as she took his pants off. Soon they were both naked and on the little bed, twisted around each other. Jesse laughed a little as Ramona held up a condom.
He rolled on his back, and soon Ramona was on top of him, moving and humming blissfully. He looked up at her. Her eyes were closed, and she had a heavenly smile on her face. She leaned over and kissed him, her hair falling into his face. She kissed his cheek, then moved her lips to his ear.
“Tell me,” she said.
He knew what she wanted. He'd walked up to his admission but was unable to speak it. He understood that saying it meant more pressure and misery for them both.
Jesse pulled her face in front of his, pushing her hair aside. He saw his own face in her dark eyes.
“I love you,” he said.
12
Cathedral
St. Martin's Church looked haunted as they approached it on the shadowy street. Jesse and Ramona sat in the back of the car as LoLo drove and Yolanda rode shotgun. The twins had broken off from them in their own car earlier.
The church was on the east side just outside Hamtramck. It was an old Catholic church whose time had run out. Normally, when the archdiocese abandoned a church in the inner city, a black congregation would buy the building and move in. But in this case the city had other plans for the land. New homes would be built on this formerly sacred land.
The area was deserted. All the homes had been bought and vacated. There was not a person or a store for blocks. On a patch of land in front of the church a green and white sign read: new city project.
Jesse stared up at the dark November sky. The church's pointed rooftops and hulking gargoyles seemed to stare back. The church took up a city block. There was only one street leading to the church and so only one way to get out.
It was seven o'clock. LoLo stopped the car in front of the church. The twins' car was up the street. They were going to wait there and close Cane in when he showed. If anyone was with him, they would take them out.
LoLo and Yolanda got out of the car. LoLo pulled out a mobile phone, and dialed. She looked annoyed as she did. Jesse
remembered that she didn't like to do business on the airwaves. LoLo listened on the phone a moment, then handed it to Yolanda.
“Nine o'clock, St. Martin's on our side,” she said, then hung up.
LoLo took the phone back and put it away. She leaned into the car and looked at Ramona and Jesse. “Two hours and the shit is on.”
Florence pulled up to the building. The construction crew was gone, and the new store was abandoned. It was almost complete, so she'd be able to move around inside. She had picked this place on Grand River because it was close to the freeway, and there were many ways to get in and out of the area.
She got out of her car and walked to the building. It was hard to see in the dark, but she assumed the van was not far away.
Florence walked into the half-finished structure. She waited, then went to an open window and looked down the street. Sure enough, two big men got out of a van and moved her way. They walked together down the dark street.
Florence surveyed the area. There was a second floor, but it was not finished. Beyond the building in' the rear, machinery and supplies were piled up. That mi
ght be a safe retreat, she thought. She could hide behind the wood and bricks out there if she had to. Florence took a step and kicked something that made a loud clang. On the floor were red gas canisters. Stupid construction men, she thought. Kids could find this stuff. She carefully moved the canisters out of her way.
She looked back at the two advancing men. They were on her block now. She could almost make them out. One was black; the other white. The white one was the bigger of the pair. Seeing the black guy reach inside his coat, she checked her own gun. She'd brought extra clips just for them. All she had was the element of surprise, and she had to make the most of it. If not, no one would hear from her again.
Florence noticed that to access the rear, you had to run across an area filled with debris. There were nails and jagged metal all around. She took one last look at the killers, then cleared a path for herself with her foot. She swept as much of it away as she could.
When she returned to the window, there was only one man coming her way.
The black one had disappeared.
Jesse and Ramona stood in the big doorway of the church. LoLo and Yolanda were still by the car, watching the street. Their plan was to trap Cane after he got to the church. The twins would drive up behind him, and LoLo and Yolanda would take them out. Plain and simple. No prisoners. They had not even brought the money. LoLo had no intention of ever giving it back. Jesse had argued, but this time he lost.
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