Beneath The Surface

by Glenn, Roy

  As he enjoyed being out on the water, Black thought about the call he got from Wanda the night before. She told Black that Rain slapped her.

  Black shook his head.

  He had made a decision to stay out of their relationship from the time Nick first told him about it. Knowing both of them for as long as he had, Black had a feeling that things weren’t gonna go well, and that he should stay out of it. Taking sides meant losing a friend; and he had lost too many friends in his life.

  “You’re right, Wanda. Rain had no business puttin’ her hands on you. But maybe you shouldn’t have called her a low-life bitch loud enough for her to hear it.”

  “Good night, Mike,” Wanda said.

  “Good night, Wanda.”

  “And maybe if she wasn’t such as low-life bitch, I wouldn’t have had to have called her one,” Wanda said and slammed down the phone.

  That was exactly why he didn’t want to get involved.

  Black poured himself another glass of Bahama Mama, and tried not to think about Carmen. But the harder he tried not to, the more he thought about her. Each time his mind would drift to thoughts of Carmen, he would look at CeCe, and that was enough to refocus him for a while.

  The comparisons began.

  Carmen was prettier than CeCe; but not by much, because CeCe was a beautiful woman too. And if he wanted to be honest about it, Cassandra had them both beat in so many ways. Which is why I married her.

  While Carmen had maintained the classic model’s body that highlighted her beauty, CeCe was a statuesque beauty with raw sexuality and a body to match, that made him want to spend hours making love to her. But here again, Cassandra ruled in that category as well.

  And what about Jada West? You just want to fuck her.

  He finally asked himself the question.

  Who do you love?

  Just then, Michelle came running up to him, jumped in his lap, kissed him on the cheek three times, and jumped down. “I love you, Daddy,” Michelle said as she ran back to where she and CeCe were fishing. “I guess that answers that question,” Black said as he enjoyed watching his daughter having a good time.

  After a day at sea, the trio returned to their house. CeCe cooked dinner: grilled steak and chicken strips with zucchini, squash, and mushrooms. As soon as dinner was over, CeCe announced that she was going to give Michelle a bath and put her to bed.

  “What’s your hurry?” Black asked.

  CeCe leaned close to him. “I saw the way you were looking at me all day,” she whispered and kissed him on the cheek.

  When Michelle’s bath was over, CeCe went into their bathroom and got in the shower. Black read Michelle’s favorite story, Cat in the Hat to her, and then he said good night.

  He very quietly went in the bathroom and got undressed. After a long shower, he went in their bedroom where CeCe was lying across the bed with her eyes closed. He approached the bed slowly; devouring every inch of her body with his eyes. He stopped in front of the bed and watched her. CeCe was lying on her stomach and he admired the curve of her back, her beautiful ass down her long and luscious legs, to her feet.

  Black got down on his knees and began to massage her feet and kiss her ankles. Slowly, CeCe began to squirm. He looked up from what he was doing. Watching her movement, hearing the rustle of the sheets beneath her, excited him. Her legs pressed together and then opened slowly, as he crawled up on the bed and ran his tongue along her calves.

  Slowly her head turned and CeCe opened her eyes. “Hi,” she said softly, but got no answer. Black’s eyes were focused between her legs. CeCe spread her legs a little wider and her lips seemed to open, calling him. He eased two fingers in his mouth and then slid them inside her. While Black slid his fingers in and out of her, he ran his hand over her ass. CeCe closed her eyes and her fingers gripped the sheets.

  Black leaned forward, kissed her cheek, massaged her clit and continued to crawl his way up her body. He loved the feeling of CeCe’s soft skin against his. He removed his fingers and CeCe rolled on her back. Black eased his fingers inside her again. The deeper he got, the more CeCe would squirm. He brushed her thin patch of hair with his hand. Black spread and then sucked her lips gently. He glided his tongue slowly along her lips while he massaged her clit with his index finger.

  CeCe’s back arched as Black stuck his tongue inside her, moving in and out slowly and gently. She moaned and rotated her hips. He spread her lips with two fingers and sucked her clit, and then he flickered the tip of his tongue across it. CeCe began to moan as Black sucked harder. As her clit got harder, her moans got louder.

  CeCe reached out and held his head in place as she arched her back, thrusting her pelvis into him. Her body began to tremble, her eyes and mouth sprang open, and she screamed the screams of passion.

  CeCe forced his head from between her thighs and pulled him toward her. She pushed her breasts together and Black began sucking her nipples. First one then the other; back and forth as he continued to slide his finger in and out of her while rubbing her clit with his thumb, until she came and couldn’t take anymore.

  “Come here. I want to feel you inside me.”

  CeCe was so wet that Black was able to push his entire length inside her. CeCe’s fingers dug into his back and she lifted her legs. Black grabbed her ankles and continued to plunge deep inside. Then suddenly, he pulled completely out of her. He held CeCe’s ankles together with one hand and reached for a pillow with the other. Black lifted her up and placed the pillow under her hips.

  Once again, he spread her legs and entered her. Black watched as CeCe alternated between squeezing her nipples and playing with her clit. He long-dicked her for a while sliding in and out of her slowly, pulling almost completely out of her, then slowly back inside, as deep as he could get it. Black let go of her ankles and CeCe wrapped her legs around his waist. They got into a slow grind until he felt her body trembling. Black pulled out of her when he felt her juices flow.

  He stood up and walked around to the side of the bed. CeCe caught her breath and rolled to the edge of the bed, and she got on her hands and knees. Black reached out and grabbed CeCe by the shoulder with one hand, and her waist with the other. Black pulled her to him and entered her as hard as she could stand it. He felt himself begin to swell inside her, so he pulled out of her. CeCe turned around quickly and took him into her mouth. Black stood watching as his length disappeared and reappeared, as it went deeper and deeper in and out of her mouth. CeCe moaned and fingered her clit while she took him in. “I love sucking your dick.”

  “I know. I love when you do it.”

  CeCe grabbed his hand and pulled him down on the bed. Black sat on the edge of the bed and CeCe stood up. Then she turned around and straddled his legs. With her left hand, she spread her cheek, reached for him with the other, and guided him inside her. CeCe leaned forward, put her hands on his knees, and began to grind her hips into him, and then up and down on it. Black spanked her cheeks with both hands and grabbed her by the hips and slammed her down on his lap.

  CeCe turned around and got right back on. She placed her hands on his chest and slid down gently on him. Black grabbed her hips and began moving her slowly up and down.

  They looked in each other’s eyes as Black held on tightly to her hips. CeCe ground her hips slowly into him; Black arched his back and pushed himself deeper inside her. CeCe leaned back and swayed side to side, rubbing her nipples. She moaned and sat up straight, and ran her fingers through her hair as they each pumped harder, faster. CeCe screamed and rode Black until she came hard. CeCe rolled off of him and stretched out on the bed. After she caught her breath, Black laid down between her legs and lifted them as high as he could, then eased two fingers of one hand inside her, and gently massaged her clit until CeCe began to squirm. He flicked the tip of his tongue across her clit, and ran his tongue up and down her moist lips, then back to her clit.

  Once again, he spread her legs and entered her. CeCe held onto him tightly and matched his movements. By n
ow, her pussy was dripping wet, and he liked it like that. Black began to move faster and CeCe picked up her pace. CeCe could feel him expanding inside her, and she rocked her hips as hard as she could. “Give it to me!” she yelled.

  “Take it from me,” he yelled back.

  Black’s eyes opened wide, his body became rigid, and CeCe began rocking her hips harder. And she took it all from him. Black rolled off her and lay flat on his back; and it wasn’t long before they were both fast asleep.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  The following morning, Carmen was at the station preparing to do her segment on the noon broadcast, when she was told that she had a visitor. Carmen was more than surprised when she got to the lobby and found that Mrs. Thaddeus Jones was waiting to see her.

  “Hello Mrs. Jones. How are you today?” Carmen asked and gave the woman a hung.

  “I’m fine, Carmen.” Mrs. Jones reached in her purse and handed Carmen a DVD. “What you’re looking for is in the bonus features,” she said and started to walk away.

  “What’s on here?” Carmen asked and held up the DVD.

  “You’ll understand when you see it,” Mrs. Jones said without stopping or turning to face Carmen. Once she was out the door, Carmen went and found Max and Dan. After she explained to them who Mrs. Jones was, and her connection to Peter Finch, the three of them went into a studio to watch the bonus feature as Mrs. Jones suggested.

  The video began. “Go to the bonus feature, Max,” Dan encouraged.

  The bonus feature began with a shot of some rope on the ground. Then a man in a hockey mask pushed Crème in front of the camera. They watched as the masked man told Crème to get down on her knees. They chose to fast-forward through the footage of him tying Crème up with the rope that was on the floor. The man tied the rope around her wrists and secured them to the wall. Then he tied rope around her breasts, around her back, down to and around her thighs. Then he stood in front of her and took off his pants.

  “Suck it!” he yelled and hit Crème with a leather whip across her back.

  “Fast forward, Max. I don’t really want to see this,” Carmen said, and both Max and Dan looked a little disappointed, but Max did as he was asked. He kept forwarding the footage through the masked man untying Crème and having missionary sex with her.

  When he told Crème to stand up and wrapped the whip around her neck, Max resumed normal speed. The masked man dragged Crème by the whip around her neck to a table. He entered her again and began pulling the whip tighter.

  They watched in horror as Crème struggled in vain until she stopped moving. “He strangled her,” Dan said.

  “Is she really dead?” Max asked, but he already knew the answer.

  “Since the police found her body, and the cause of death was strangulation, I think it’s safe to say that she’s dead,” Carmen said as she took out her cell to call Detective Mitchell and tell her what she had just seen.

  Before she could get it out, the detective told Carmen that Jack Winters had returned from his business trip, and the couple had been brought in for questioning. When Carmen told her about the video, the detective told her to bring it to the station.

  After Carmen gave the DVD to the police, and detectives Mitchell and Harmon watched it, they gave the order to bring Finch in for questioning. When he was brought in later that day, the police walked him right past Victor. He had been watching Carmen as Black had requested. He immediately called Black in Nassau and told him that the police had Finch.

  For the next several hours, Mitchell and Harmon questioned Finch; trying to make a connection between the two murders and Tangela House, but Finch had an alibi for the time of her murder. For hours Finch sat there without a lawyer, denying having any involvement in the three murders.

  What Finch didn’t tell the police was that he was shooting the video with Vallie in it; but when he started to strangle her, Vallie fought him off and ran off the set. He went after her and calmed her down by saying that he wasn’t really trying to kill her; that he was just acting and didn’t tell her because it made it more authentic.

  Then Finch gave her some heroin to shoot to calm her nerves and get her back on the set, but Vallie refused. That’s when Crème got there. Finch let her shoot-up first, so she wouldn’t give him any problems like Vallie had done. After he finished the scene with Crème, Finch gave Vallie some more heroin to shoot up, and put her in a cab. He told the driver to put her out anywhere. It was just coincidence that she got hit by a car.

  After hours of questioning, the detectives were forced to release Finch, because they didn’t have enough evidence to hold him for the murders of Valerie Hudson and Celica Cunningham.

  When Finch walked out of the police station, Victor was waiting for him. “Mr. Finch?” Victor asked.

  “Yeah. What do you want?”

  Victor stuck a gun in his side. “You,” he said and quickly walked Finch to an old black Impala, where Black was waiting in the backseat.

  Victor pushed him in the car and drove off.

  “Remember me?” Black asked and put on his gloves on.

  “What’s this about?”

  “It’s time to pay the check.” Black said and wrapped a fishing line around his neck to strangle him. Finch grabbed for his neck, trying desperately to get free, but Black’s grip was too strong. “You like to strangle women.” Black pulled harder. “This is what it feels like.”

  Finch began kicking and gasping for air. Then he let go of his neck, and his arms dropped to his side. His body jerked a few times and then slowly stopped moving.

  “The parlor?” Victor asked and smiled.

  “No doubt.” Black replied, and Victor headed in that direction.

  Victor had never actually been to the parlor with a body; he’d just heard the stories, so he was excited. It was a funeral parlor with a cremation furnace. It was a very efficient way to dispose of bodies without a trace. Black realized very early on that, dead men do tell tales when you leave the bodies laying around for the cops to find.

  When they got to the parlor, Black and Victor took Finch out of the car, put the body in a box, and placed it in the retort; it’s lined with special bricks to help retain the heat. The body is incinerated at a temperature of 1400 to 2100 degrees. All that remains after cremation are bone fragments and the ashes of the cardboard box. The entire process usually takes about two hours. “It comes in handy for occasions like this,” Black said on their way back to the car. “Now get the car to Clay’s. I can still catch the last flight to Nassau. I promised Michelle I’d take her fishing in the morning.”

  Later that evening, the police arrested the Winters’s for Tangela House’s murder. Carmen reported the story live on the 11 o’clock news. “There’s been an arrest in the art gallery murder. I’m Carmen Taylor; and I’ll have all the details coming up.” But even as she said the words, Carmen wasn’t convinced that they did it.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Alexander Walker ran out of the bar with Nick and Rain right on his ass. He took out his gun, stopped, turned around quickly, and fired a couple of shots at them as they exited through the door. The shots ricocheted off the door. Nick and Rain took cover behind some cars and returned fire. Walker kept running.

  Rain jumped up first and immediately took off behind him. Nick got up and ran behind her. It didn’t take him long to catch up to her. “I told you he was gonna run,” Rain said as she ran.

  “I got him. Don’t bust your stitches. Go get the car,” Nick said and kept going. Rain turned around and went for the car.

  Walker looked over his shoulder and could see that Nick was catching up to him. He turned around quickly and fired. Nick ducked behind a car. He was pinned down while Walker kept firing, until he emptied the clip. He threw the gun in Nick’s direction and started running again. Nick got up and quickly got off a couple of shots at Walker but missed him.

  Walker made it down the street and went around the corner. Nick ran faster. When he came around the corne
r, Walker hit Nick in the face with a garbage can. The impact knocked him on his back. Walker stepped up quickly and kicked Nick twice in the face. Then he dropped the garbage can on him before running off. Nick was dazed and tried to shake it off.

  By the time Rain made it to the car her chest was hurting. She looked at her the dressing on her wound to make sure there was no blood on it. Rain started the car and went to find Nick.

  “Where are you, baby,” Rain said driving slowly. She rounded the corner in time to see Walker run up to a car that was stopped at a red light. He opened the car, pulled the driver out and got in. Walker drove away fast. Not seeing Nick anywhere, Rain stepped on the paddle and went after him.

  Walker rounded the corner and looked in the rearview mirror. He didn’t see anybody behind him, so he slowed down a little. That gave Rain enough time to catch up to him.

  She kept her distance and drove slowly behind Walker.

  While she drove, Rain thought back to a night a few years earlier. Rain was seventeen and had stepped-up to her first kilo. One night Rain met a small-time dealer named Alphonso that she’d heard a lot about. He was ten years older than Rain, but she didn’t care. He was fine and she wanted him. He had heard about Rain, too, and figured her for easy prey.

  It didn’t take long for the two to hook up, and for him to start living the good life on Rain’s money. It was a couple of months later when Alphonso came to her and said that he had run-up on hard times. He owed some dangerous people a lot of money. He asked Rain to front him some product. “Just ’til I get my shit back together,” Alphonso promised. “I flip this, give you your money back first, then I get them niggas off my ass.”

  Things were fine for a couple of days after that; then his phone was cut off. Rain went by his apartment and found that he had moved. She went to all the spots she knew he hung out at and nobody had seen him.