Episode 4: Dirty Money Dirty Deeds, Book 4

by Nico Jackson

  Jay put his coffee down. “Hey, I’m right here.”

  Maxine winked at her. “What’ll you have?”

  Kendra took his hand. “I’ll have the Kitchen Sink special.”

  “Grits or hash browns?”

  “Grits with cheese.”

  “Thank you. There’s something just wrong about putting sugar in grits. Toast, muffin, or pancakes?”

  “Pancakes.”

  “And what about you, heart breaker?”

  Jay laughed. “I’ll have the same.”

  “I figured. It’ll be up soon. I’ll check on you in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks, Miss Maxine.”

  She grunted and rolled her eyes at Jay and went to the kitchen.

  Kendra laughed. “She’s a character.”

  “I’ve been coming in here since I was a youngster. Sam would buy me breakfast.”

  She opened a cup of cream and splashed about half into her coffee. She stirred it and looked at Jay. “He’s a regular?”

  “He and Maxine were partners. She worked here, and the owner died. She couldn’t get a loan from the bank, so Sam lent the money to her interest-free. No strings attached. She bought him out. She owns it free and clear.”

  “That was nice.”

  “He’s a nice guy, if you’re on his good side.”

  “You said you’ve known him since you were little.”

  “I guess I was about ten. He ran a tab here for us. We could come in here and eat whenever we wanted. My mother did the best she could, but sometimes Maxine’s breakfast was the biggest meal I had that day.”

  “We ate a lot of beans and rice and spaghetti, but we never went hungry. My mother worked her ass off.”

  “Yeah, mine too. I was glad when she married Willie. He was a great dude. He treated her like a queen. By the way, she’s coming for a visit. I want us to spend some time together.”

  “When?”

  “I haven’t made her plane reservations yet. I’ll let you know.”

  “Okay.”

  “What are you doing later?”

  “I was going to put on some comfortable clothes and binge some tv. What do you have in mind?”

  He put his hand on hers. “You made me a promise last night. You need to pay up.”

  “I don’t remember that. What did I say?”

  He leaned in and whispered to her.

  “I said that?”

  “I wouldn’t lie to you, baby.”

  Kendra blushed and studied the placemat. She drank some coffee to give herself a chance to think. She put the cup down and put her hands around it. “Can we talk about what happened?”

  “Yup. You want to go first?”

  “I was angry because you did exactly what I didn’t want you to do. I had my reasons for not pushing Isaac to sign.”

  “I understand that now.”

  “Do you? We said we would be honest with each other.”

  “I do. And while we’re being honest, I’ll tell you what I told your Uncle Dell. Promise me you won’t say anything to him.” She nodded, and he took a deep breath. “He asked me what my intentions are. I told him I want to marry you. I wasn’t trying to impress him, I meant it. I see my future with you. I’m not looking for an answer now, because I know you’re still dealing with your situation. Just know I love you and I’ll be here. I won’t talk to Isaac again, and I’m not gonna pressure you. Are we good?”

  “We’re good. By the way, my divorce is final.”

  “Were you going to tell me?”

  “I’m telling you now.”

  “What about the papers you tore up?”

  “Isaac had already signed a revised settlement. I had filed it when I shredded the settlement you had him sign. Thanks for the tip on Beekman Place.”

  “So you shredded it just for show?”

  “I got your attention, didn’t I? I need you to trust me.”

  “I do. I always have. Remember when you drilled me on free throws?”

  She laughed. “You were as bad as Shaq.”

  “You made me practice until I could barely lift my arms. I hated you for it. But I came back the next day and did it again. And again. You stuck with me when you could have been doing something else.”

  “You taught me the double crossover. I’d call it even.”

  “Yeah, you broke some ankles back in the day. I loved to watch you play. You got better at it than I was.”

  “That was a long time ago.”

  “I have a hoop in my backyard.”

  “Is that a challenge, Mr. Sinclair?”

  “Are you accepting, Ms. Mason?”

  “I am. When it gets warmer, we’ll see what we can do.”

  He leaned toward her. “So let’s eat breakfast and then you can do what you promised.”

  Her cheeks went red. “About that...”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

  She licked her lower lip. “I am a woman of my word. Do you think you can handle it?”

  “I’ll die trying.”

  She frowned.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She pulled her phone out of her purse and looked at it. “Bobby. I thought I had blocked him.” She pressed the talk button. “What do you want?”

  “Kenny, you have to help me.”

  “Actually, I don’t. Why are you calling?”

  “I’ve been arrested.”

  “Not a surprise. What did you do?”

  “You know damn well what I did!”

  Kendra looked at Jay. He was trying not to smile. “If I knew, why would I ask you?”

  “You own the yard! You sent me there!”

  “Bobby, you’re not making sense. When’s the last time we talked? What yard?”

  “The trailer!”

  “Didn’t I tell you I never want to see you again? That means I don’t want to talk to you, either. What part of that did you not understand? I don’t know what kind of nonsense you’ve gotten into, but it doesn’t have anything to do with me. Don’t call me again.” She ended the call.

  He raised his cup to her. “You were right.”

  “Some people are predictable.”

  “You’re scaring me a little. What happened to that sweet girl I knew in high school?”

  “She was disappointed too many times.”

  7

  Sergeant Richard Rogers went into the interrogation room. He put a can of Coca Cola on the table.

  Bobby Mason lifted his head. “I said I wanted a Pepsi.”

  “This is what was in the machine. Take it or leave it, I don’t care. Let’s try this again.” Rogers sat and put his forearms on the table.” I’m still confused. You decided to steal this trailer because it belonged to Sam Bishop?”

  “Yeah. I heard some dudes talking about it, and I figured I could get in good with Big Sam. I figured you’d like that.”

  “So you did it for me?”

  “Yeah.”

  Rogers settled back in his chair. “So explain to me again what your sister had to do with this. I don’t understand”

  “The shipping company belongs to Jay and Kendra. They were gonna steal the trailer.”

  “So you decided to steal it instead.”

  “We weren’t stealing it.”

  “Who authorized you to move it?”

  Bobby thought for a minute. This wasn’t going the way he had planned. “I had the trailer number.”

  “How’d you get it?”

  Bobby hesitated. “Kendra gave it to me.”

  “How?”

  “She texted it.”

  “So she gave you the number of the trailer you stole from her?” Rogers put his head in his hands. “This doesn’t make any sense. You’re lying to me.”

  “I’m not lying.”

  “Why did your father show a fake license?”

  “We didn’t want her to know who took it.”

  “So you went to pick up a trailer. You just knew that your sister owns the shipping company. She to
ld you to pick it up, but you didn’t want her to know you got it.”

  “When you say it like that, it doesn’t sound good. I didn’t know what was in that trailer. You can’t charge us for that. It had to be Big Sam’s dope.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Sam has never dealt heroin. What was the last time you talked to your sister?”

  “It’s been a while. But you know she set me up.”

  “I believe you when you said you haven’t talked to her. We’ve been tapping your phone. And we know she wasn’t anywhere near the yard. Neither was Sam. Neither was Jay. They were all downtown at a ball last night. Can you prove that she’s the one that put you up to it?”

  Bobby stared at Rogers. None of this was going the way he had planned. It was supposed to be a simple job, in and out. His father had assured him Big Sam would welcome them with open arms, and Kendra and Jay would go down for their carelessness. He never imagined there was heroin hidden in the boxes.

  “I didn’t think so. We’ve been tracking Sam. They were all in one place. So how could they have engineered this trailer movement?”

  “I don’t know, man. All I know is she wanted me to get the trailer.”

  “You’re in a lot of trouble. Kendra wasn’t anywhere near the yard, and she never talked to you.”

  Bobby slammed his free hand. “Don’t you understand? That’s exactly what she wants you to think!”

  “Kendra Mason is a smart woman. But you act like she’s some kind of voodoo queen. She can make you do things without even talking to you.” Rogers stood. “I’m not Vasquez. I don’t believe your bullshit.”

  “You don’t understand!”

  “You’re going down for this. I can’t protect you.”

  “What about Vasquez?”

  “He’s about five minutes away from being fired and going to prison. He’s not a name you want to lean on.”

  “I want a lawyer.”

  Rogers stood. “Okay.” He walked to the door and looked back at Bobby. “Good luck.”

  Rogers went into the squad room. Avery was waiting for him. “We got the ownership of the shipping yard.”

  “Kendra? Sinclair? Sam?”

  Avery shook his head. “None of the above. It’s a Michigan LLC. Isaac Hammond the third is the only member.”

  “Kendra’s husband.”

  “Ex. The divorce is final.” Avery sighed. “Pick him up. He’s got some explaining to do.”

  * * *

  Isaac read the papers, then threw them down. “You are being ridiculous.”

  “This isn’t your signature?”

  “Of course it is. I sign all the contracts. I am not a drug dealer.” Isaac scoffed. “You should bring in my ex.”

  Rogers rested his chin on his hand. “Why do you say that?”

  “She’s the one with the hoodlum boyfriend.”

  “Jaylen Sinclair? He’s got nothing to do with this.”

  “What about the delivery address? And the buyer?”

  “They don’t exist.”

  “My wife set up all the companies.”

  “Her name isn’t on the paperwork. She never signed any checks.”

  Isaac started to sweat. He had signed anything Kendra put in front of him, no questions asked. “She was involved in all the business. The tax returns!”

  “You filed separately. Any income and expenses from this company are on your return.”

  “She prepared the tax returns.”

  “The only signature on them is yours.”

  Isaac looked at the ceiling. “Dear God. She set me up. I want a lawyer.”

  Avery was looking at the board. Rogers didn’t say anything. He took Kendra’s picture and moved it right under Big Sam’s.

  Avery folded his arms. “You’re sure?”

  “They’ve been seen together. She and Sinclair had dinner with him a few weeks ago. Then they all went to a formal dinner dance last night. He was a guest at Kendra’s table. She told us she had never met Big Sam. I believed her.”

  “So she lied?”

  “She didn’t know him? And now they’re all cozy? It’s convenient, don’t you think?”

  Avery looked at the board. “Has she been to his office?”

  “No. We just have her at the dinner and the dance. They’ve talked on the phone, but it’s about wedding plans. His daughter is getting married, and she’s helping with the reception.”

  “No privileged conversations?”

  Rogers shook his head. “They don’t talk about business. Sam probably suspects he’s wired. Her brother and the ex have the same story. She framed them.”

  “Now you sound like Vasquez.”

  Rogers tapped Kendra’s picture with his finger and moved it to the side of the board. “Her father and brother are low-level criminals. They’re not good at it. She’s been a straight arrow all her life. Now she’s hanging out with one of the biggest names in the drug game. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “If I live to be a hundred, women will never make sense to me. She gets to be thirty, with nothing more than a parking ticket, and now she’s pushing drugs? The only thing we can prove is the company she keeps. We don’t have any evidence she or Sinclair are dealing. The numbers guys say everything lines up. All we have is a woman who knows Sam Bishop through her boyfriend. And we’re lucky she didn’t sue us for the stunt Vasquez pulled. Let it go, Rogers. Don’t be as stupid as your ex-partner.”

  Rogers nodded. But something wasn’t right. Too many felonies were happening around Kendra Mason for her not to be involved.

  Maybe Vasquez wasn’t crazy, after all.