Not Forgiven: A Thriller and Suspense Novel: Ungoverned Series

by Shawn Raiford

  To his left, the woman knelt down, glancing at the mess on the floor. "Eww! So gross."

  "Screw you, bitch! Happy's going to kill you and kill your family! You can't do this to us!" Santi shouted, spittle flying, saliva hung from his chin.

  She stood and grabbed Javi's severed head from the dead body's lap and placed it in Santi's lap, dead eyes staring upward.

  Spider wanted to throw up again.

  The bitch pointed at the head. "Here you go. This should be your proof that I am doing it."

  Santi began bawling.

  The bitch placed a gentle hand on Santi's head. "What's wrong? You big boys want to be gangsters? This is what happens to guys who kill women and children and then get caught!"

  Spider said nothing.

  She grabbed a handgun from the coffee table. That weapon had belonged to Javi, a gift from Bull last year when Javi got out of jail.

  The bitch sat down on the coffee table, facing him and Santi. Staring at him like a cat staring at a fat, juicy canary.

  Ever since joining Triple H, he assumed he would go out in a blaze of glory, now Spider wondered if he would die in horrible pain.

  "How old are you?"

  Snot snaked out of Santi's nose, hanging from his chin. "Why? I just turned eighteen last week."

  "Too bad."

  "Why?"

  "Society says you're a man, so you are accountable for your actions and words." She grabbed a pillow from a spot on the couch between him and Spider, raising it up to Santi's head.

  Time slowed as Spider watched intently, his breathing was shallow. The woman staring at Spider, no smile, her eyes piercing his as she raised the handgun.

  Santi's head shook side to side. "NO!"

  He shouted, "Be strong, San..."

  BANG! A muffled shot.

  The pillow fell to the floor. Santi's body fell sideways, almost touching Spider, stopping in mid fall because of the rope. The hole in Santi's forehead made him cringe.

  His body trembled. The fight in him had been replaced with fear.

  The white lady reached inside her jacket and pulled out a rose. "Spider you ready to talk to me?"

  He nodded.

  "Who hired the guys who did the drive-by?"

  She would kill him after he told her. "I want to live."

  "Nope, not going to happen. The way I see it, you helped kill my friend and those kids, including her son, Timmy. I loved that boy. You are going to die, Spider, but a quick or unimaginably painful death is up to you."

  "No, I had nothing to do with that. You can let me go. I have relatives in North Carolina! I'll give up the gang life, I'll leave and will never come back to Texas, I swear to you!"

  She didn't respond, reached over and grabbed his other ear, and ripped it off.

  Spider screamed.

  After tossing the detached ear next to the other one, she left only to come back with a bottle of whisky. She unscrewed the top and took a swig. She didn't swallow, leaned over, and spit the whiskey onto the spot of the missing ear.

  The pain intensified twofold.

  "Now, you ready to talk?"

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Needed Her Dead

  The thug winced.

  I wanted to kill him and move on, but I needed a name first.

  Spider sighed, staring at the mess he made when he threw up. "I'll talk but tell me, who are you?"

  Gripping the handgun, I found on the coffee table, I said. "I am a hitter."

  He frowned. "You kill people for money?"

  "Yes, I do."

  His head tilted, he looked up at me. "So, you're rich?"

  I shrugged. "I have plenty of money but does that mean I'm rich? Cowards like your buddies still are able to kill my friend and her little son like dogs in the street. How does money help me when they're cold on a slab in the morgue?"

  He said nothing.

  I used the SOG on his left knee. Knees tended to be sensitive to knife blades.

  Spider's body tensed, and he screamed like a victim in a horror movie. "STOP! Please! No more!"

  "Who you affiliated with?"

  "Triple H."

  Finally, some information. I remembered a little about that gang, but I could not remember the leader's name. "Who run's it?"

  "Happy."

  Oh yeah! I knew of him. Very ruthless. A drive-by in broad daylight was idiotic. "Tell me about the hit and who ordered it."

  Spider did not hesitate this time. "Some pendejo walks into Happy's shop this morning. Said his name was Tony. He had a picture of the lady he wanted wasted. Gave Happy her name and the location. Said he needed her dead before lunchtime. He gave Happy twenty grand in cash."

  "So, Tony wanted Sarah dead before lunch?"

  "Yes, I heard him. And later, after shit went down, Frogger called Happy telling him what happened. Happy told us to come here with him. Tony rode with me."

  "Why did he want that woman dead?"

  "He didn't say why he wanted her dead, but Tony talked to a guy named Felix on the phone. Sounded like Tony worked for him."

  Two new names: Tony and Felix.

  "Any other names? Or did you hear anything about a body being dumped this morning?"

  Spider shrugged. "He didn't say anything about a body dump, just wanted that woman killed."

  "Why did they do a drive-by? Did Tony order that?"

  Spider shook his head. "That's what I don't understand, yo! Frogger, Diablo, Smiley, and Ghost were all there, front row when Tony said how he wanted it done."

  "How?"

  "He wanted someone to take her purse and then kill her. Then take another purse or two and shoot those ladies. You know, to make it look random. The only thing they had to do, was walk up to her and do the hit clean. I'm not sure why they did it that way."

  Regardless of their reasoning, nothing they said matter; Triple H, had to die.

  "I need the guy who survived. Where is he?"

  His face crinkled. "What do you mean?"

  I pointed in the direction of the garage. "The asshole who drove that car here."

  His eyebrows elevated. "Oh, that's Frogger."

  "I need Frogger's location because I'm going to pay him a visit."

  Spider stared at his vomit on the floor. "I don't know where he's at."

  Caressing his face, I smiled and batted my eyes. "What's your real name?"

  "Julian Gonzalez."

  "Julian, you happy that you're with Triple H?"

  His eyes veered to the left. "No. I need to be doing other things. Find a job and a woman. Go to church like my mom wants."

  Wow, did he really expect me to believe this load of shit? "Oh, because you think I'm going to let you go?"

  "I understand what you're going to do to me, and maybe I deserve it. I mean Triple H killed your friend and her son, and …"

  I removed my hands from his face. "And other people, other children."

  "Yes, and that shit ain't right. I'd be killing them too if they killed my wife or kid, but I had nothing to do any of that." He looked up at me with puppy dog eyes.

  "Julian, what do you want to do for a career, if you walked out of here today?"

  He shrugged. "My uncle is a welder. Think I want to be a welder."

  "Anything you liked in school?"

  "I liked biology."

  I knelt down, my eyes meeting his.

  "If I let you go, you have to go to school. Study biology, become a scientist or hell you could be a nurse, helping doctors save lives."

  His forehead wrinkled. "Yeah, I can do that."

  "I let you go and you go back to banging, I erase your genetics, you understand?"

  He swallowed. "Yes, you'll kill me."

  I needed to make him believe. "No. Your genetics are in your mother and your father. Your grandparents. Your uncles and aunts. Your brothers and sisters. If you have any children, they are dead too. I kill them all, and I let you live, but I'll castrate you. Now, do you understand?"

  Spider s
wallowed. "Yes, I understand."

  "Where is Frogger?"

  "At Lola's house. He was shot." Then his attention turned to me. "You shot him, I guess."

  "Yeah, I did shoot him."

  His eyes diverted to the side for a moment. "Lola is a nurse."

  "Who is she?"

  "His woman, she's gonna have his baby."

  That was good. I could use Lola to my advantage. "Give me an address."

  He did not have the address, but explained how to drive there. "Thanks. I'll let you loose now." I walked around behind him and the couch, shooting him in the back of the head.

  Brains and blood spewed out onto the floor, mixing with the vomit.

  "Nope, you don't deserve to live."

  Unplugging the Playstation, I put the rose in an empty glass on the kitchen counter. Then I left to go have fun with Frogger.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Got Things Rolling

  Images of the dead bodies on the sidewalk still lingered in Henry's mind. He did not envy the other inspectors that had the drive-by massacre case.

  Eyewitnesses talked to the media, telling the public about a vigilante woman who returned fire at the drive-by car.

  They called her a hero, yet the press, as usual, dubbed her the Vigilante Vixen. Various descriptions of the woman floated about the area. Brown hair, and blonde hair, and one eyewitness even said she had dreadlocks.

  Henry wanted to talk to his sister, but she was not answering her phone. She would be trying to find those responsible for Sarah and Timmy's murders, because Sarah was her friend.

  He never once judged his sister for any of her choices. Chloe was the one out of a million to even survive the life she had. He got lucky when he was adopted by great foster parents after the Parnells. Chloe was not as fortunate.

  Henry would not be the man he was today, if it was not for his foster parents, but mostly his sister. Chloe was, by far, the strongest person he had ever known.

  Mitch touched his arm. "You here, partner?"

  "Yeah, sorry. I'm good."

  A Hispanic man walked up to them. "Hello, I'm Hector Inez, the manager. How can I help you?"

  Mitch had his badge out, showing Hector. "We are Inspectors Mason and Creed, and we are investigating a murder."

  "Oh wow!" Hector exclaimed.

  Henry pulled out his phone and input the security code. He brought up the crime scene photos and found it. "Here we go. Do you recognize her?" He showed the manager.

  The manager's face wrinkled and he closed his eyes. "Okay, wish I didn't see that."

  "Sorry, Mr. Inez, we did not find her ID. We need help finding out who she is. We found a book of matches from this restaurant in her purse."

  The manager shook it off and inspected the picture again, taking the phone from Henry. His eyes widened. "She looks familiar! She might've been here last night."

  "You remember her name?" Mitch asked while pulling out his notepad and pen.

  Hector handed Henry his phone back. "Hang on," he said, turning to the bar. "Hey, Mario!"

  A chubby, balding Hispanic popped up from behind the bar. "Que onda, jefe?"

  Hector waved him over and Mario came.

  "These are police and they are investigating a murder."

  Mario blanched. "Ay dios!"

  Henry leaned in, showing Mario the picture.

  Mario did not recoil upon seeing the dead woman. "Yes, she was here at the bar last night."

  "Good, what's her name?" Mitch asked while reading his pad and pen.

  He held up a finger and went over to the cash register and he searched through a pile of receipts. He found one and came back over to them. "Her name is Candice Zelman. She was here last night."

  Mitch wrote in his note pad.

  Henry wrote her name in his notepad too. "Was she alone?"

  Mario gazed at Hector, hiked his shoulders and said, "Yes, she came in alone. Had a drink then she started talking to Mr. Marquez."

  "Who's Mr. Marquez?"

  Inez let Mario answer. "He is the owner of Aldo's."

  "What's his first name?"

  Inez answered. "Rogelio, with a g."

  "Thank you sir. Do you expect Mr. Marquez in any time soon?"

  Hector shrugged. "No, not until later."

  "Did Mr. Marquez and Candice have drinks together?" Mitch asked.

  "Mr. Marquez was already drinking but yes, Candice joined him. He started buying her drinks."

  Sounded interesting but having drinks at his own bar with her didn't mean much by itself. Very likely the owner drank with many patrons. "So, he's a drinker?"

  Inez shook his head. "Yeah, a few nights a week he's here drinking, but after he works helping the kitchen."

  "Did Rogelio and Candice leave together?" Mitch asked.

  Hector scoffed.

  "What is it Mr. Inez?"

  "Look, I get you are investigating her murder but you got it wrong if you think Rogelio did it."

  Mitch scratched his nose. "Oh yeah? Why's that Hector?"

  "Rogelio is a lover not a fighter. He's in his fifties but he still has lead in the pencil, if you know what I mean."

  Mitch grinned. "Yeah, I think I do. Do you think Rogelio gave Candice his pencil last night?"

  "I don't know. It is possible I guess, but I'm telling you he didn't kill this woman. He doesn't even like to argue. When you talk to him, you'll see what I mean."

  Once Mario left, Hector gave them Rogelio's address and told them that he was married with two kids.

  "He did it," Mitch claimed. "Rogelio did it."

  Henry thought Mr. Marquez looked good for the crime; nevertheless it was still early in the investigation. She could've talked to ten different men after she left Aldo's, especially if she worked as a prostitute.

  Just before they reached the car Henry heard, "Psst!"

  Henry and Mitch both turned. Mario stood at the corner of the restaurant. He waved them over.

  Mitch patted him on the shoulder. "This is it, partner."

  They met Mario around back.

  "What's up Mario? Got something else for us that you couldn't say in front of your boss?"

  "Yes."

  "What is it?"

  "I overheard the pretty lady and Mr. Marquez."

  Henry and Mitch stared at him.

  "I overheard Candice offer him some pills."

  Mitch scratched his chin. "What kind of pills?"

  "No, sorry but Rogelio only drinks. I never seen or hear him take or say he like to do drugs."

  Mitch smiled. "Anything else?"

  Mario pulled his wallet from his back pocket. "A few months ago, Mr. Marquez called me here at the restaurant and told me to take him some food and not to tell Mr. Inez. He felt sick and couldn't drive." He fished a piece of paper from his wallet. "And here is where I took the food."

  Mitch grabbed it and showed Henry.

  "What's at this address?" Mitch asked.

  "I've been to his home a few times, where Mr. Marquez lives with his wife, and the house I took the food to wasn't where Mrs. Marquez lived. This house was pretty but I don't think she lived there."

  Henry shifted his weight to his right foot. "Why do you say that, Mario?"

  "No fancy furniture and it was a little messy. Not like the other house."

  Sounded like what Mitch would call a pussy pad. A secret house or apartment that men rented or bought to keep their mistresses.

  Mitch winked at Henry.

  "You think he took women there?"

  Mario shrugged. "I don't know. I did not see anybody there, but maybe."

  "Anything else?" Mitch asked.

  "No, I hope it helps you."

  Mitch shook his hand. "Thanks Mario, this does help us."

  They walked back to their unmarked car and got in.

  "It's his pussy pad! He killed her. Wanted drugs and her bent over, but she didn't want sex. Something like that."

  Henry agreed, started the car, and then his phone vibrate
d. He checked the screen, and the side of his mouth twitched. "It's Chloe."

  Mitch's head rotated. "Oh shit. Didn't expect to hear from her this fast."

  Henry agreed, checking his phone. "It's a text message."

  It read: "I found out who killed Sarah and who put the hit out."

  Henry texted back: "Who?"

  Chloe texted, "Don't worry about the hitters but Tony and Felix. Might be more. No last names were used. These two are the ones who got things rolling. Tony went to Triple H (street gang) and put hit out on Sarah. Hit went wrong, guy told me that they were supposed to take her purse then shoot her, and take other purses to make it look like a string of robberies. Not a drive-by."

  Henry's brow furrowed. His sister worked hastily.

  He texted, "Thanks, we have a lead on other guy: not Tony or Felix though. About to check it out."

  Chloe texted, "Let you know if I find out more info. Te amo, hermanito!"

  Henry texted, "I love you too! Be safe, please!"

  Chloe replied, "Always!"

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Afternoon Delight

  Amber was a screamer.

  Inside her, he thrust hard, rearing back, slapping her ass.

  "Yes, Daddy!" she shouted, turning to try to see his face.

  When she called him Daddy, it turned him on. Sex was fun again, post-divorce, especially with Amber. She even let him put it in her butt a couple of times.

  At the end of their marriage Terri either laid in bed or bent over and waited until he finished. She had seemed bored and had sex with him as if performing another chore, like brushing her teeth or taking out the trash.

  Felix had met Amber a year ago at a bar in Rice Village.

  Amber was there with a girlfriend and he offered to buy her a drink after introducing himself.

  "Okay, Felix."

  "What are you drinking?"

  "Diet Coke. Alcohol is too fattening!"

  He told the bartender to get her another diet Coke.

  Clearly she was in her mid to late twenties and he in his mid-thirties. He didn't want to be married ever again, merely wanted to have fun.

  Their glasses clinked, and they drank.

  "So, what do you do, Felix?"