Not Forgiven: A Thriller and Suspense Novel: Ungoverned Series

by Shawn Raiford

  Rogelio paused before speaking. "What are you telling me? That this will come back to us? To me?"

  He exhaled. "Yes."

  "What do we do? I can't go to jail, Felix!"

  "First, we need to make the guy we hired to do the hit happy."

  "Why? He's the one who screwed this up!"

  "Yeah, he won't see it that way, Rogelio. Look, there was a woman there at the scene. She had two guns and knew how to use them. She killed some of his men. He will be pissed off! He might need to send whoever survived to Mexico for a while. This guy could cause us a lot of pain. We make him happy first, then we figure out what to do."

  "How do we do that?"

  "With money of course! How much do you have?"

  He scoffed. "Shit, Felix, I already gave you a shit load. Why do I need to pay?"

  This was the second man he wanted to choke today. "You are the asshole who killed that girl and let someone see you dumping her body! That's why you pay, Rogelio!"

  "Calm down! Don't worry, I have some money in the safe."

  Felix pinched the bridge of his nose. "How much do you have?"

  "A little over a hundred grand."

  That much money gave Felix another idea. "Cool, I'll be by there later to pick up the money and I'll give it to him. That amount should be enough."

  "I'll just be here waiting for you then."

  "Rogelio."

  "What?"

  "Do not go anywhere. We will get out of this predicament, and then our business will continue and we will keep on making money!" He lied, yet Felix didn't care because lying to his friend didn't seem as bad as being a child murderer. God, he wanted something stronger than beer.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Up Close And Personal

  Stacked trunks sat on the floor.

  A duffle bag sat on the trunk on the left. I moved the sleeping bag to the floor, and opened up both trunks. First, I found a GH Armor Systems - lite Level 2 bulletproof vest.

  I put it on.

  Although I didn't plan on using it, I grabbed a Mossberg 930 Tactical 8 shot, autoloader shotgun. Most of my kills were up close and personal with a knife or pistol, nevertheless having a shotgun did not hurt.

  The two HKs that I used to shoot up the drive-by car and kill three of the four shooters were no longer in my possession. Took them apart and threw the pieces out the window along the road.

  Then, I grabbed an HK VP9 nine-millimeter handgun, released the magazine and checked the innards. The magazine was full. I stuffed ten more full mags in a black duffle bag, along with the Mossberg. Threw two boxes of shotgun shells in the duffle bag too.

  Inspecting the contents of the desk drawer, I found a couple of burners, and threw them in the duffle bag along with phone chargers.

  Went to the wall and opened up a small trunk. I loved knives and had a bunch of them. I chose an old school butterfly knife and two military knives: one SOG Fatcat and one Gerber Paraframe.

  The butterfly knife went in my back pocket, the SOG Fatcat went into a secret compartment on my left pant leg, and the Gerber folded up and fit nicely in my front pocket.

  I left the storage unit and went to my flower shop, the place where I got my roses.

  Yancy Barker, the gay guy that ran my flower shop, greeted me. "Hey Melanie, how are you?"

  "Hey, Yancy. I'm good, thanks!" Most people knew me as Melanie Rose. The name was a legitimate identity that I used instead of my birth name, Chloe Creed.

  My flower shop carried over a dozen types of roses. I grabbed a dozen Black Jade and wrapped them in paper, placing them into a plastic bag.

  I left without telling Yancy bye.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chain Through The Holes

  They parked on the street, next to the curb.

  He and Spider got out of the car, and the cold attacked his face. Tony found cold weather intolerable. This city only experienced real cold weather a few days out of the year, and that was too much for him.

  Beto and Santiago stood next to a car in the driveway. Happy got out. Tony and Spider walked over to join Happy, but when they reached him, Spider kept going.

  Tony watched Happy's breath leaving his mouth as water vapor. As a child seeing breath leaving people's mouths in the winter fascinated him, but now he barely notices it.

  Wearing a dark jacket now, Happy had his hands in his pockets. "There is a big problem."

  "What is it?" Earlier, before leaving with Spider, Tony was tired of wearing the glasses, so he ran to his car, or Rogelio's, and put them in the glove compartment.

  "There was some gringa there who shot at us right after we killed the woman you wanted dead."

  Tony didn't like this guy talking so freely, but didn't say anything to him.

  Happy said, "Frogger called me and told me that he was the only one that made it!"

  Spider headed down the driveway, and Tony gawked as a bloodied figure popped out from the back of the house, walking out onto the driveway. It was Frogger. "Shit!"

  Tony and Happy joined Frogger, who looked like shit. He was only wearing a bloodied white T-shirt. He stood like the cold didn't bother him.

  Happy did not ask Frogger anything, pointing to the garage doors. "Let's open it up and see the damage!"

  Frogger gave a key to Spider, and he unlocked the chain that held two doors closed. He pulled the chain through the holes where doorknobs would go and opened the doors.

  Happy scoffed.

  There the car sat, the Mercedes. Bullet holes riddled the windshield. No holes in the front grill or hood. Whoever shot up this car was good.

  Spider and Santiago entered the garage, and then Happy followed. Tony reluctantly entered too. He did not like this. Felix might be right.

  He walked up to the driver's side window. A body, doubled over, face first in the passenger seat. He couldn't tell which of his men it was. Through the same window, two bodies occupied the back seat.

  Frogger stood stoically near the garage entrance. His left arm dangled from a bloodied shoulder.

  Thanks to Felix, Tony already knew what had happened. Some woman, most likely a cop, shot back.

  Not good.

  He figured Felix wanted Frogger dead, and Tony had no problem putting one into the back of his head.

  With hands in his pockets, he observed Santiago entering the front seat, and pushing the body up. Tony grimaced. The man's face appeared to have had a fight with a sledgehammer and lost. Most of it was missing.

  He stopped directly in front of Tony, hands on his hips. "What happened, guey?" Happy demanded, his eyes beaming into the car.

  Felix might have been onto something when he told Tony to get out of there. The tension was thick inside the garage.

  Frogger stepped forward. "We shot the white lady, and then some white bitch shot back at us. She shot Diablo first in the face. Since he was driving, the car swerved and hit some parked cars. I don't remember when I got shot or when that bitch killed Ghost and Smiley."

  "Yo, vato, this shit ain't cool!" Happy glowered at everyone in the garage.

  Tony shook his head, feigning empathy, not wanting to be in the crosshairs of Happy's psychotic anger. "Who's this white bitch?"

  He made a face and shrugged. "Never saw that bitch in my life! I just know that bitch don't play. She had no fear. Stone cold! She's a bad ass bitch."

  The words stuck in his craw. "She killed your homies and you admire her?" Tony asked, staring a hole through Frogger. If he emphasized Frogger's obvious infatuation of the killer white chick, then he might steer any tension away from himself.

  His face crinkled, using his working arm to point at him. "Hey, vato, you don't know what you're talking about! I'm just saying you know. That bitch was cold blooded. Straight up killer, yo."

  Happy stepped towards Frogger. "Maybe you'll get a chance to ask for her digits and you can take her out for a date pendejo! And she'll suck your dick?"

  Frogger turned away and said nothing.

&nbs
p; "Make sure you don't forget to take condoms!" Happy said.

  Tony stared at the Mercedes. "Yo Happy, man this car and those bodies got to disappear right now!"

  Spider's eyes arched. "Hey, vato, be careful with what you say. Those bodies got names!"

  It was getting colder. Tony stuck his hands in his pockets to warm them. "What do we do now?"

  "You owe me the next half of the payment!"

  Those words did not sit well with Tony. "Uh, I have to see about that. Your guys screwed up!"

  Frogger's face crinkled. "Yo, hold up! We blasted that bitch! She's gone! Contract completed!"

  Tony was not scared of this piece of shit. "Yeah, you did kill her, but you killed other people too. The story is on the local news and I'm sure the story is about to go nationwide! The FBI might even be called in if HPD asks for help."

  Frogger said nothing.

  Happy glanced at the mess in the car. "You might have a point but you didn't tell us about the crazy gringa! Who is she?"

  Tony took a step back, not liking Happy's tone. "I don't know! This is Texas! There are more guns than Texans, yo!"

  Happy glared at him.

  "I can pay the next half. I can go get it now," Tony said.

  He made a gun with his fingers. "You aren't going anywhere, pendejo!"

  Spider, Beto, and Santiago all pulled their weapons and aimed at Tony.

  "Spider, put your gun away and take out your knife."

  He put the pistol away and took out his knife.

  Happy continued. "You or the other guy you work with knew about this white bitch that killed my men. My guys kill your target and your white lady kills my guys, and Frogger got away."

  "No way, man! Besides your men didn't do what they were supposed to! They were supposed to take her purse and then kill her, make it look like a robbery. Then take another purse or two, then drive away!"

  Happy's head tilted. "I don't see it that way, Mr. Tony. You wanted her dead, and she's dead!"

  He was not sure what to say.

  Happy started walking towards the car, stopping and turning around. "Put him in the car, we'll take him back to the shop."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Her Room Was Open

  Juan Morales was born to a drug-addicted, street-walking prostitute.

  A couple of months after his birth she took him to live with her parents in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. His abuelo died two years later, and his abuela had heart problems so his mama had to come back for him.

  Her name was Ofelia Irma Morales. Some of her friends called her Ofi. Ofelia kept Juan fed and safe.

  Juan was named after his biological father, a regular customer who had smooth-talked Ofelia into letting him have unprotected sex with her.

  She never mistreated him, but his mama was not a good mother. He loved her, though.

  Mama took care of him until the day a man murdered her three days after his ninth birthday. Mama had several men over that day. Juan watched TV, alone, in the living room, while she took the men into her room.

  He was not allowed to go into her bedroom when she had a man in there. When the men left Juan could join her.

  Skipping school that day, he liked afternoon cartoons. A man came out of her room. After she emerged, Juan did not ask her about the limp because she would only lie to him.

  Mama sat on the couch next to him. She circled an arm around him, and he could tell she was sober.

  "You hungry, mijo?"

  He nodded.

  She smiled at him. He thought she had the best smile ever although her teeth were a little crooked and stained yellow from smoking and drinking too much coffee.

  Mama picked up the phone. "Want me to order a pizza?"

  "Si mama!"

  She dialed the pizza joint and ordered a pizza with pepperoni and extra cheese.

  They lived in an apartment complex and there was a Coke machine in the on-premises laundry room.

  Mama fished out some coins and told him to buy two sodas. He took the change and ran to the Coke machine.

  A couple of boys, who lived in the apartments, were in the laundry room. Juan talked to them for a few minutes about baseball and girls from school.

  He bought Mama a Sprite, a Mr. Pibb for him, and left, telling the boys bye. When Juan got back to their apartment, the door was open. He didn't leave the door open, and Mama never did. Juan always made sure to close the door.

  He walked inside, closing the door behind him, and didn't see Mama. The door to her room was open. He placed the sodas on the coffee table.

  Then Mama burst out of the room.

  "No! Please!"

  "Come here bitch!" said a man.

  The man was white, with long, dark hair, and was the biggest person Juan had ever seen. His face reminded Juan of a bear's. The bear grabbed mama by the hair and she stopped moving forward.

  Juan moved quickly under the table.

  "Stop squirming, bitch!" the bear ordered. Then he punched mama in the face, hard.

  Struck with fear, Juan sat there watching.

  She fell to the floor like him.

  Juan wanted to help her but the man frightened him. The man was as big as a giant.

  "I gave you more than enough time to pay me!"

  Mama brought up a hand. "Please, I'll pay you what I owe you. Let's go to my bedroom and I'll make you happy!"

  A knife appeared in his hand. The man didn't say anything to her, stabbing her in the belly.

  Juan sat quietly, peeing his pants.

  The man lowered his face. "Now, I'm happy." Then the man stood and left the apartment.

  Juan got up and ran to the coffee table and picked up the phone.

  He dialed 911. His mama taught him how to contact the police in emergencies.

  After he told the woman on the phone about the big man, he turned to his mama. Tried talking to her, but she didn't say anything.

  A lot of blood came out of her tummy. Juan tried to stop the bleeding with his shirt, yet blood kept coming out.

  He cried, holding her hand until the ambulance arrived.

  His mama didn't survive.

  Happy never cried after that and always tried to be a happy person. However, at the moment anger filled every fiber of his being. His hand and head were freezing, but anger helped him fight against the cold.

  The Mercedes was shot up, and worthless. Plus, three of his men were dead. The money Tony paid for the hit would not cover his losses.

  After examining the windshield, Happy was surprised that Frogger survived. More surprising, was his explanation of how this all happened. "A woman did this?" Not believing he asked the question aloud, his mind trying to wrap around his current problem.

  Frogger, a tough son of a bitch who had been with Happy for a long time, appeared to be in a lot of pain. "Happy, I'm telling you, it was a woman. A white woman. She had two guns, shooting at us like she was playing cops and robbers, yo!"

  Happy did not comment.

  "She's a badass!"

  Happy's face flushed. His head tilted until his neck cracked. "If that's true Frogger, why are you still breathing?"

  Raising his arm, palm out. "Man, I don't know. We all started blasting away at the target, sitting at a table eating or something. Then this other gringa comes out of nowhere and started shooting at us!"

  His eyes narrowed. "I don't understand, did she run out of bullets?"

  "I don't know! Yo, Ghost and Diablo were dead. I pushed Diablo out the way when Smiley said that we could still get out of there. But she came up on us fast and shot Smiley point blank."

  Down the driveway Happy caught a glimpse of Bull and Beto sitting in the car with Tony. His mouth moved, and Beto punched him. He would have to make that fool talk. "And then what happened?"

  "I don't know! I was expecting to be blasted right there! But she just tells me..."

  Happy's eyes bulged. "What did she say?"

  "She said, 'I'll see you later.' Then I drove off. Happy, I swear to you
that's what happened."

  Happy did not understand. Frogger was telling him the truth, he had always been a loyal soldier. Besides, he was not dumb enough to lie to him. Unfortunately, Tony was dumb enough. Glancing back at the car, Tony's mouth was bleeding now. Happy had to waste time making an example of this pendejo.

  "Who's this gringa?" Happy held up a hand when he suspected Frogger wanted to complain. "Don't worry about that right now."

  Wincing, Frogger sat on the ground in the back yard.

  "Hey, your vieja, she's a nurse right? She could fix you up?"

  His eyes lit up, as if he hadn't thought of it, nodding. "She could. I don't have to go to the hospital."

  "Even if your woman wasn't a nurse, you wouldn't be going to the hospital, unless you wanted to go to prison." If Frogger went to the hospital, HPD would arrest him because doctors are bound by law to report gunshot wounds. Happy did not like this situation. He glared at Tony. Too uppity, and a lying sack of dogshit. He waved Fonzo over. "Fonzo, you take Frogger to Lola's house."

  Fonzo nodded in compliance. "You got it, jefe!"

  The gringa said that she would see Frogger later. Pfft! How would she ever find him? Big talk, for a little woman. Probably just some cop.

  "Put on a clean shirt first," he told Frogger.

  He went inside the house with Spider to find one.

  "Spider, Santiago, Javi, and Marcos stay here, protect this car."

  Marcos stepped forward. "Patron, I need to stay with you."

  Happy put an arm around his bodyguard's thick shoulder. "Marcos, you fucked up bringing Tony."

  "I'm sorry, Patron. Like I told you, I met him at …"

  "Yes, I understand that, but I have to deal with this problem. You and I are cool, don't worry. I just need you here because I need someone here watching over our dead homies, okay?"

  "Si Patron!" Marcos walked off and talked to Spider and Santi.

  Happy stared at his trusted man and thought if it were anyone else, they would face the same thing Tony was about to face.

  He glanced at the Mercedes, and figured if someone from the neighborhood noticed the windshield and called 911, the cops would have been here already.