The Take Down

by Mark Anthony

  My heart immediately fell to my feet. I smiled nervously and I immediately broke the rules I had been taught in the academy about lying.

  “Taping you? What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Angela, do not play me for a fucking fool! You know exactly what I’m talking about! You better explain to me what the fuck is going on, Jessie,” Angela demanded to know.

  I didn’t know what to say so I just brushed past Angela and made it into my room.

  “Jessica, don’t ignore me! What the hell is up with this fucking tape recorder?” Angela screamed, holding the tape recorder in her hands.

  I knew I was busted and my heart was racing. I didn’t know what to do. I simply continued to ignore Angela and proceeded to get dressed. I took off my towel and was butt naked as I rummaged through my closet for something to wear.

  I then began mumbling so that Angela could hear me but also in a way where I tried to show that I was pissed off.

  “Here we fucking go again!” I said under my breath as I threw on a pair of jeans with no underwear. I then reached for a shirt and put that on. I didn’t have time to put on a bra as I had to quickly get dressed. There was only one way out of the jam that I was in and I realized that.

  “Jessica, I am not playing with you! Stop getting dressed and turn your ass around and tell me what the fuck is going on!” Angela demanded.

  I ignored her and slipped on a pair of sneakers. I reached down into my closet and reached for a box that was purposely hidden underneath a huge pile of clothes. I opened the box, reached in, and grabbed what was inside.

  Before pulling my head out of the closet, I said, “Okay, you wanna know what the tape was about?” I stood up, turned around, and quickly faced Angela. I pointed my gun at her head and held my badge into the air.

  “FBI! Angela, get your hands up in the air! I gotta place you under arrest!” I shouted.

  That was my only out. I had to come clean at that point. Angela wasn’t a dummy. She knew why I had the tape recorder. And had I left that house with her and given her some flimsy excuse, there was no doubt in my mind that the investigation would have been blown. And a lot of lives would have been seriously at risk, including my own. But by coming clean and arresting her, I would be preserving the life of the investigation. With Angela under arrest we would have to quickly arrest the rest of those involved before they were alerted to the fact that Angela had been arrested and try to flee.

  “What the fuck are you doing with that gun and badge?” Angela asked as she sort of smirked at me. “You’re not an agent!”

  “Angela, I don’t have time for games!” I said as I placed my badge in my pocket. I made sure to keep the gun aimed at Angela as I reached for my cell phone and pressed the speed-dial key for Andrew.

  “Angela, if you move, I will blow your fucking head off! Don’t test me on this!” I barked.

  Andrew picked up.

  “Yeah, this is Jessica. I’m at the house. Get someone here as soon as possible. I’m placing Angela under arrest…”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  I held the gun on Angela for about ten minutes. Not once did I lower the gun. And for the entire ten minutes Angela called me every curse word in the English language, as well as every curse word in Italian.

  She finally relented from the cursing as she stated, “So I guess this means that I’m not getting the fifty thousand.”

  I didn’t respond.

  The room was eerily silent.

  “Jessica, you are so fucking dead! I swear on my uncle’s grave! You are fucking dead!” she barked.

  I didn’t respond. Angela’s eyes were locked on me. The doorbell rang and it sort of startled me. I was distracted for no more than two seconds. That two seconds was all that Angela needed as she charged me and caught me off guard.

  Angela rammed into me as if she was playing linebacker for the New York Giants. “Ahhhhh!” she screamed as she knocked the wind out of me and simultaneously caused me to drop the gun that I had been holding. I knew that I had to get my hands on that gun or else I would surely lose my life.

  “You fucking rat bastard bitch!’ Angela screamed as she proceeded to throw a fury of punches at me. “I’ll kill you!” she threatened as she continued to punch me.

  I was not fighting back, as my only concern was getting my hands on the gun. Angela paused for a second as she must have realized that I was reaching for something. She turned and saw the gun on the floor and we both lunged for it at the same time like two basketball players diving for a loose ball.

  * * *

  I let out a loud karate type of scream as I realized that Angela had managed to reach the gun before me. I grabbed her wrist and tried to twist it so that she would drop the gun. I had never realized how strong Angela actually was as she held onto the gun with one hand and threw a series of elbows at me with her free arm. It definitely felt like she had broken a rib or two of mine.

  At that point I heard a lot of commotion downstairs in the house.

  “FBI! Is anyone in here?” someone yelled from downstairs.

  “Upstairs!” I yelled back. With the wind knocked out of me that was all I could yell as Angela managed to get to her feet with my gun in hand.

  “I told you that you was going to die! You bitch!” Angela screamed as she aimed the handgun at my forehead. I closed my eyes and hoped for the best as my heart pounded away in fear and anticipation of being shot.

  “FBI, drop the gun!” one of the agents shouted at Angela.

  Angela did not listen to the agent’s command.

  “I said drop the fucking gun!” he ordered once more.

  I was frozen in fear but I wanted the agent to shoot Angela. I had been around criminals long enough to know when a criminal meant business or when they were just bluffing. I could sense that Angela, with that gun in her hands, meant business.

  Shoot her! I urged on the inside.

  “Jessica, you are such a fucking cunt!” Angela yelled.

  At that point the agent must have heard my inner urgings as he wasted no more time and pulled the trigger. The one round from his 9mm handgun had managed to drop Angela to the floor and caused her to lose her grip on the gun.

  I quickly grabbed my gun from the floor. I gasped and gulped in air almost as if I was hyperventilating.

  “We need a bus!” one of the other agents yelled into his cell phone as the agent that had shot Angela continued to hold his gun on her.

  “Jessica, are you okay?” The agent asked as Angela groaned in pain on the floor in a pool full of blood.

  “Yeah I’m good,” I replied.

  “Okay, the ambulance is on its way,” the agent informed as he went to attend to Angela’s gunshot wound.

  As I sat on the ground in shock, I hoped like hell that Angela would not die and I also hoped like hell that the media would not get wind of the shooting, at least not until we rounded up all of the players that needed to get arrested.

  “Hughh!” Angela grunted in both pain and frustration.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Thirty-six hours had passed since Angela had been shot. Fortunately she had survived the single gunshot wound to her chest. Both she and the baby that she was carrying would be okay.

  During those thirty-six hours I literally had not slept. The entire investigation had been riding on those thirty-six hours and it was crucial that no mistakes be made. I was involved in rushed and frantic meetings with the top brass of both the FBI and the NYPD as we coordinated major points of concern. Those points included successfully rounding up and arresting all of the major players from the Gun Clap camp as well as all of the major players from the Calvino crime family. In addition, we had to get the roundup done before the media got wind of Angela Calvinos FBI-inflicted gunshot wound.

  While Supreme and the other Gun Clap cronies were about to be raided and arrested I had made it to the hospital to visit Horse with another agent. Horse was still recovering from his wounds and was not allowed to have mor
e than one visitor at a time. The nurse at the desk told us that someone was already in the room visiting Horse. Normally she wasn’t supposed to let us go up and see him but considering who we were she made an exception. This hospital visit was crucial and I had to make sure that I said all of the right things so that the Bureau and I could get out of Horse what we wanted without him becoming hostile toward us.

  “Hey baby,” I said as I walked into Horse’s room and kissed him on the forehead. I looked around the room and I didn’t see anyone else and I figured that either the nurse had been lying and playing the role of gatekeeper for Horse, or his visitor had left the room before we’d arrived.

  Horse looked as if he had seen a ghost when he saw me. He also looked really hard at the black female agent who had accompanied me.

  “I came by to see you. I know I should have called or something instead of just popping in but—”

  Horse cut me off. “Jessica, what the fuck! I don’t want nobody seeing me like this!” Horse barked. “And who the hell is this? Don’t be bringing people up in here unannounced!”

  Horse looked as if he was very weak. But his spirit was still vibrant enough to talk in his trademark cocky, arrogant, and abrasive tone.

  “Horse, this is my friend, one of the models, Sherry. She just came with me real quick to check on you,” I stated.

  “Jessica, no disrespect but I’m really not trying to see nobody right now. I just need time to sort shit out and think. I mean goddamn! I can’t even walk. Yo, you don’t know what I’m dealing with right now!” Horse said.

  “Sherry, can you give us a few minutes?” I asked.

  Sherry took my cue and made her way out of the room.

  “I’ll be outside,” she replied.

  I was now all alone with Horse. Since we had actually come to the hospital with the intention of placing Horse under arrest, being alone with him wasn’t what I had wanted but it would later prove for my sake to have been somewhat of a blessing in disguise.

  “Horse, just give me five minutes. You know I’ll love you regardless of how you look or if you can walk or not. You mean a lot to me, Horse,” I said with real sincerity.

  Horse didn’t respond. He simply looked at the television that was suspended from the ceiling.

  I reached for the remote control and promptly turned off the TV.

  “Horse, I need you to look at me and just listen to me.”

  Horse reluctantly gave me his attention.

  “Now first of all you are gonna snap out of this little funk that you’re in! That’s the first thing. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you know that you are way too talented and bright to be thinking the worst of your situation,” I said.

  “Jessica, I don’t need no pep talk and all of that bullshit. I know you—”

  I cut Horse off. “This ain’t no pep talk, Horse, this is serious what I’m about to tell you. I need you to listen to me and I need you to trust me. And if you do, when you get out of here you’re gonna have that chance to spend that time with your son like you were talking about doing.”

  Horse looked at me and didn’t say anything.

  “Horse, it’s time to end this whole war nonsense that Gun Clap has with the Mafia. And to be honest, it’s time for you to just shut down the whole Gun Clap company.”

  Horse still just looked at me. We both were silent for a moment.

  “So that’s what you had to tell me?” Horse asked.

  “No, Horse, here’s the deal. I know the whole code-of-the-streets bullshit about not being a rat and not talking to the cops and the feds and all of that. But here’s the deal. Horse, you’ve been talking to the feds for a while and you didn’t even know it,” I said.

  The room was eerily quiet as Horse looked at me.

  “What the fuck are you talking about, Jessica?” he asked.

  At that point I reached into my pocket and pulled out my badge. I held it out for Horse to see.

  “Horse, I am an FBI agent and I’ve been investigating you for some time now,” I informed him.

  The room was again silent. I moved closer to Horse so that he could get a real close look at my credentials. He reached out his hand and calmly took the badge from me along with my ID. He examined them closely.

  An oh shit I’m busted smirk came across Horse’s face as he said, “So your real name is Paula?”

  I slowly nodded my head up and down.

  “And y’all were able to get up in here to see me because y’all are fucking feds, right?” he asked.

  Again I slowly nodded my head. Horse looked at me and the smirk of busted disbelief reappeared across his face as he shook his head two times from side to side.

  “Horse, we came here to place you under arrest. And before I leave here today I will but there are some things I need to talk to you about first,” I said.

  Horse’s mind was not focused on what I was saying as he said, “So if you’re a fed how was you fucking niggas and smoking weed and doing all of that shit?”

  It was statements like that that made me glad Sherry had left the room. See, that was a major element of the investigation that I could not let out or else I would risk serious consequences as well as possibly blow the entire investigation.

  I played things real cool as I said, “Horse listen, right now it’s not about that, obviously I know what the hell I’m doing and I know what I can do and what I cannot do. And I’m going to shoot straight with you because I like you and I respect you and although I was investigating you I’m still human and I really do care about you.”

  Horse looked at me and smirked.

  “Horse, what I’m saying is this, you need to forget about all of the code-of-the-streets bullshit and cooperate with us on this investigation,” I said.

  “Who the fuck is us?” Horse arrogantly asked. “The government?”

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “Jessica … Paula, or whatever your name is, there ain’t no way. I mean if I’m going down, then I’m going down. It’s as simple as that. But I ain’t ratting on my niggas,” Horse confidently stated. “And if y’all got shit on us then y’all got it, what do you need me to rat on my people for?”

  “Horse, stop with the street shit! For once just let it go!” I yelled. I knew that I had to be beyond convincing with the lies that I was getting ready to tell.

  “Your people, your boys, your niggas, Horse, come on!” I said as I ran my hand down my face. “Here you are laying here and you can’t even get out of bed on your own and walk across the room to the goddamn bathroom and take a piss! And you know why, Horse? Let me tell you why, it’s because your people, your boys, your niggas weren’t as live and as real as you thought they were. They didn’t want this war with the Calvinos as bad as you did. They wanted to end the shit and they resented that you wanted to keep it going. So you know what? Your people, your boys, your niggas, they rolled over on you and that’s why you are laying in this condition right now, paralyzed for life and having a pity party!”

  Horse stared at me in order to read me and my body language.

  “Look at me, Horse. Look at me all you want and try to see if I’m bullshitting you, but I’m not. And deep down inside you know I’m not. Horse, do you really think that it was a coincidence that Supreme and I were not sitting down near the lane that you were bowling in when the shots rang out? Horse, look at it for what it is and call a spade a spade. But Supreme was nowhere near that lane when the shots rang out because he knew that the shots were about to be fired because he had set you up!” I said very convincingly.

  Horse didn’t respond.

  “With Horse out of the picture, the war with the Calvinos is over, you would be dead—or that’s at least how it was supposed to go down—and Supreme would get another hungry business-minded producer to come in and replace you. Gun Clap would continue to flourish and make all kinds of money,” I said as I lied and continued to sound very believable.

  “Horse, if you don’t cooperate then you’re going down
and the people responsible for your paralyzed condition will get far less time than you’re gonna get. They’ll never be held accountable for initially breaking the code of the street. They broke the rules first, Horse, not you.”

  Horse nodded his head. I seemed to be getting through to him.

  Then I added, “Horse, listen to me, all that you have ever strived for will be snatched away from you in a heartbeat by the government, including your son. Horse, you know firsthand what it’s like growing up in a group home and being abandoned by your mother and the people who were supposed to be caring for you and looking out for you. Is that what you want for your son? Do you want him handed over to the state while you do your bid in prison? I know it’s not what you want because of what you were telling me the other day. But Horse, I can tell you this: if you and I can’t come to an agreement within the next couple of minutes, then I can promise I will be on to the next investigation and probably shipped out of New York and placed in another city to fight crime. But the thing is, my career and my life will go on, and I’ll eventually have to testify against you and send you away probably for twenty-five years. And pretty much everyone’s life will go on relatively the same, everyone except for you, Horse.”

  Horse finally spoke. “So if I cooperate, what type of guarantees do I have? Put it in writing, get my lawyer involved, and if the guarantees are there then I can roll with it. But I can tell you this right now, I don’t want no jail time, and I wanna keep some of the things that I worked for, like my house and my cars.”

  “Well Horse, if you cooperate, then you would go into the witness protection program and while we’ll work to get you the best deal, your life can pretty much be the same, only it will be in a different state and you’ll have to assume a whole new name and identity, and social security number and all of that. But Horse, it will be what you had wanted. It will give you that opportunity to leave all of the nonsense and drama alone, and just raise your son and spend time with him and be there for him,” I stated.