Diamond Lives, Platinum Lies

by Howard, Vonda

  “Sweetie, why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Tell you what? That I have known for years about your sick habit?”

  His eyes began to tear up as he realized the hurt he had imposed on his daughter. “You’re right. What can I do though? This guy will do whatever he has to do to get what he wants; even if it means killing both you and me.”

  “Well, you need to work with us to bring him down.”

  “Us? Who is us?”

  “Dick and me.”

  “Who is Dick?”

  “He’s the man I was assigned to. Darius put me on him to keep him off his trail; only thing is I fell in love with him for real. Now, he hates me because he found out about all of this.” Her eyes began to fill with tears.

  Congressman Frey tried to hug his fretting daughter only to be pushed off once again. “Honey, I am so sorry. I will make all of this up to you.”

  “You’re damn right you will! It’s because of you I’m mixed up in all of this! Now, we both could not only lose our jobs, but we could go to jail and I probably have already lost the man I love!”

  “Just tell me what to do Brenda and I’ll do it.”

  She wiped her eyes and grabbed his jacket off the coat stand near the door. “Let’s go.” She handed him his coat and she pulled him out the door.

  Detective Rice barreled through the police department and right into the Chief’s office.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” The Chief shouted.

  Detective Rice slammed down the paperwork they had gotten from Peaches on his desk.

  “What the hell is all this?”

  “This sir, is proof that D-Smooth is not only a murderer, but a drug trafficker.”

  The Chief picked up the paperwork and slowly fingered through it. “All circumstantial.”

  “Circumstantial my ass!” Detective Rice shouted.

  The Chief threw the papers back down on his desk. “Didn’t I tell you to let this shit go? You are really going to force me to suspend your ass!”

  “Oh, I don’t think you will.” Detective Rice laughed.

  “Oh, I won’t, will I?” The Chief stood up from behind his desk. “Who the hell do you think you are coming in here and challenging me?”

  “Somebody who has this.” Detective Rice held up a photo of the Chief with D-Smooth.

  “Okay, so I took a picture with him. That is supposed to stop me from suspending you?” The Chief laughed.

  “No, you’re right.” Detective Rice laughed along with him. “Oh, but what about this?” He held up a copy of a check that was written to the Chief from D-Smooth in the amount of fifty thousand dollars.”

  The Chief was silent for a moment. “Where did you get that?”

  “Oh, now that’s not important. The important thing is for you to know that I will take this to Internal Affairs. I think they would be very interested to know why the Chief of Police is taking money from someone being investigated by the DEA.”

  The Chief’s face turned beet red. “You motherf…”

  “Hey! No name calling. Although, I can name about thirty names of other police officers along with you that have been working in cahoots with D-Smooth to make sure he can easily transport his shit all over the city and he is even using cops as hit-men!”

  “You are so dead, you know that?”

  “I doubt it.” Brenda said as she and her father walked into the office.

  “What the hell is this?”

  “Think of it as an intervention.” Congressman Frey said as he walked in and sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

  The Chief glared at Congressman Frey with distain and pure hatred.

  “Look Chief, we can either do this the hard way or the harder way; your choice.” Detective Rice smiled.

  “What makes any of you think that I am giving up anything you want?”

  Congressman Frey stood up from the chair. “You are going to because there are a lot of criminals in jail that you put there. I really don’t think you want to share bunks with any of them. Do you? Or maybe you enjoy that type of thing, huh Chief?”

  “Shut up Frey! Isn’t this the pot calling the kettle black?”

  “Oh, trust me. I am expecting a whole mountain of crap to come down from this, but we can’t let this maniac continue to kill people.”

  Brenda pointed to the shelf of awards and metals on the wall. “You have been a cop for a long time Chief. What thirty years? Do you really want this to be your legacy?”

  The Chief turned and faced his shelf full of awards, citations, medals and pictures of his grandchildren and was racked with guilt. “What have I done?”

  “From here you can do the right thing, Chief.” Detective Rice walked over and put his hand on his shoulder. “We need you to tell us everything you know, so we can bring this guy down.”

  The Chief full of regret and shame agreed.

  Chapter 20

  One week later…The Grand Opening

  Simone and Neal arrived at the Grand Opening of the casino, which Darius named “Smooth”. Their limo pulled up in front of the red carpet laid out for all the VIP’s to arrive for this star studded event.

  “You ready?” Simone asked Neal as she adjusted the collar of his tuxedo.

  “Yep. I do admit I am a little nervous of how all this is going to turn out. This dude is crazy! How is he going to handle what we have planned?”

  “We can’t worry about that. We’ve all discussed this and planned it to a tee. Don’t worry okay?” She gave him a reassuring hug.

  Neal smiled as he and Simone stepped out of the limo and into the sea of flashing bulbs and screaming fans. Simone wrapped her arm around Neal’s and spoke through her smile. “Just stick to the plan and everything will be fine okay?”

  Simone did as she always does; posing for photos, signing autographs, and doing brief interviews, until eventually, she and Neal finally made it inside the casino.

  “Okay, this is it.” Neal smiled nervously as he kissed Simone on the cheek.

  “You’ll be fine.” Simone whispered with a smile. “Just do things just the way we planned okay?”

  Neal nodded as he smiled and walked off.

  Simone walked slowly through the casino looking around at all the flashing lights, speaking to old Hollywood friends. Her stomach was in knots, but she knew what she had to do. She couldn’t let him get away with taking her sister from her.

  “Simone!” She heard from somewhere in the crowd.

  She looked around for a moment, and saw through a break in the crowd that it was Darius calling her from across the room. She put on a convincing smile as she walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Hey baby, you look beautiful.” He looked her up and down smiling.

  She hated him so much, but she couldn’t let on. “Aww, thank you baby.”

  “Sweetie, I would like you to meet a friend and business partner of mine, Carmine Esposito.”

  Simone slowly turned her head and smiled as if she really didn’t know who he was. “Hello, Carmine is it?” She reached out to shake his hand.

  “It is truly my honor to meet you, Ms. Carmichael, from what I hear, soon to be Mrs. Barnes.”

  It took everything within her not to scream, but she held her composure. “Yes, that’s right.” She smiled and looked up at Darius. “Yes, I can’t wait.” She could feel the chunks rising in her throat.

  “I hope you realize what type of man you’re getting here.” Carmine smiled.

  Simone chuckled as she rubbed the side of Darius’s face. “Oh, trust me. I know exactly.”

  Darius grabbed her hand off his face and gently kissed it. She could feel her skin crawl as his lips touched her hand.

  “I’m about to go onstage and get things started, why don’t you guys come with me?”

  “Sure.” Carmine said with a smile as he put his drink down on a nearby table.

  Darius held Simone’s hand as she walked behind him up onto the stage.

&
nbsp; “Good evening everybody!” Darius spoke into the microphone and received peals of applause. “Thank you, thank you! I would like to welcome all of you to the grand opening of Smooth, DC’s newest and only top level casino and lounge!”

  Simone made sure to stand behind him in a position where she could see the back of the crowd looking for Neal. She started to get anxious when she didn’t see him and wondered what was taking him so long.

  “First, I would like to thank the city, all my sponsors and business partners for helping me to make this dream a reality. I would also like to thank someone very special to me; the love of my life and my future wife, Simone.” He reached behind him and gently pulled her up beside him. “Honey, I love you and I want to thank you for all your support and most of all, for loving me.” He smiled as he looked her in her eyes and pulled her close to him for a hug. The crowd gave a collective “Aww!”

  As Simone choked back the vomit from having to hug him, she noticed Neal in the back row and he gave her a single nod to know everything was set. She smiled from ear to ear.

  She looked him in his eyes and laid her hand on the side of his face. “Oh, sweetie, you deserve everything you get. You are truly one of a kind.”

  Darius smiled, kissed her hand and went to speak into the microphone, but was stopped by Simone. “Wait. I have surprise for you.”

  “For me?” He smiled and looked out at the audience whom applauded.

  Darius stepped back smiling as he let Simone take control of the microphone.

  “I don’t think the public has had the chance to really get to know the real Darius Barnes that I have seen. Being with you has truly been a life changing experience for me and I want to make sure I return the favor.”

  Darius stood beside her with a very self-assured smile on his face as he listened to her proudly.

  “So, I made a little something for you.” She signaled for the lights to dim and the movie screen to lower.

  ”When did you do all this?” Darius smiled.

  A smile curled on corner of Simone’s mouth. “Just watch.”

  Darius smiled as “Sunshine” by Babyface, which they had donned their song, played as photos of him as a child ran across the screen. Simone looked up at him watching the movie and smiled at the fact that he was about to get exactly what he deserved. The photos and song continued to play. There were also photos of him with Simone, and Peaches; a sight that nearly bought her to tears.

  The last round of photos scrolled across the screen as the song began to come to an end. The crowd gasped and Darius almost wet himself when a photo of he and Ganja sleeping naked in bed together.

  “What the hell?” He looked at Simone staring at him with a devious smile on her face. “What the hell are you doing? What is this about?” He grabbed her by her arm.

  “What’s wrong, sweetie? Not a good shot?”

  He released her arm and turned towards the microphone. “Ladies and gentleman, I do apologize for this.

  “Oh, don’t apologize.” Simone interrupted, “You should be happy! You’re out of the closet now, boo!”

  He angrily covered the microphone and turned to her. “Shut up you bitch!”

  “Oh by all means, I’d better listen or you’ll kill me like you did my sister!”

  The crowd gasped again.

  “This is so not the time for this.” He said through clinched teeth.

  “Oh, then when would be a good time to talk about you killing not only my sister, but Olivia Ackers and Trent?”

  Humiliated and angry, Darius turned slowly to face the shocked and disgusted faces of the crowd. “Again, ladies and gentleman, I apologize for all of this. She is obviously a very disturbed woman. These photos are obviously fakes and her accusations that I killed anyone are untrue.”

  Simone looked up at the camera where Brenda was watching from the control room and nodded.

  A recording began to play overhead…

  “Look, we can’t tell anyone about this.” Darius’s voice said on the recording.

  “You’re right.” Ganja responded.

  “No, I’m fucking serious! This shit can’t get out. I’d be ruined!” Darius yelled into the phone. “I rinsed my mouth out at least fifty times when I got home.”

  “Shit, you’re not the one with the sore ass!”

  “Man, what the hell was in that weed? I have never done any shit like this before!” Darius sounded like he was about to cry. “We just need to forget about this shit! You got it? It never happened!”

  “Man, why you talking to me like I want the fact that we slept together to get out!”

  Big J slowly walked over to Darius with a look of “say it ain’t so” on his face.

  Darius couldn’t even look him in his eyes, he just stared straight ahead. The crowds of people started to slowly make their exits.

  “This guy is a freaking ass pirate!” He didn’t even have it in him to respond to Carmine’s insult. He was so full of rage. He turned to Simone whom was standing a few steps away. “You bitch!”

  “Bitch!” She slapped him across the face. “You have the nerve to call me a bitch after you killed my sister and Trent. You are crazy, you know that? As far as I’m concerned you can burn in hell!”

  He grabbed her arm and got close up in her face. “I can personally guarantee you’ll be there with me. Till death do we part, right?”

  “You get your hands off her!” Neal yelled as he ran up on the stage.

  Darius released Simone’s arm and punched Neal just as he reached the two of them.

  “No!” Simone screamed as she attempted to run over to him but was stopped by Darius grabbing her by her hair.

  “You know.” Carmine said calmly. “I think it’s time for me to leave.”

  “No, I don’t think so.” Detective Rice, Brenda and a few DEA agents walked in just as Carmine was about to make his way down the stage stairs.

  “Well, well, if it isn’t Dick Rice! I should have known! You are just in time to see me deal with the backstabbing bitch!”

  Detective Rice and Brenda walked up to Darius. “Come on now D, you knew it was only a matter of time.”

  He laughed as he threw Simone down and stood standing with one hand in his pocket. “You don’t have a damn thing on me Rice. “

  Detective Rice smiled as he briefly looked down at the ground and stood so close to Darius he could feel his breath. “You don’t think so? You have been so smug and thought that you were untouchable. We’ll see.”

  The DEA agents put handcuffs on Carmine and bought him over behind Darius. Detective Rice stood in front of Darius looking slightly over Darius his shoulder to see Carmine was nearby. “Don’t worry though, pal.” Detective Rice whispered to Darius just loud enough for Carmine to hear. “We’ll stick to our deal and take it easy on you. We really appreciate all the info you gave us on the Esposito Family.”

  Carmine overheard and looked at Darius with pure hatred as he was pulled away.

  “What the hell are you talking about Rice? You have really lost your mind. I didn’t give you a damn thing.”

  Detective Rice smiled. “Oh no, trust me. For me, my partner and all the other people you’ve hurt, you’re about to give us all exactly what we want.”

  “Whatever.” Darius sneered as DEA agents handcuffed him and read him his rights.

  Outside the casino, Carmine was livid as he was escorted through the crowds of swarming media and placed inside one of the waiting DEA vans.

  “That motherf…” He mumbled angrily. “He is fucking dead!”

  “He got you too, huh?” Said another male prisoner in the back seat of the van.

  Carmine just sat in the front row staring out the front, fuming.

  “I can’t believe it man! He ratted out his whole staff! I can’t believe I got caught up in this shit! I got a family man! I heard D-Smooth is going to get a lighter sentence because he flipped on not only us, but the distributors too. Man, he sang like a damn bird!”

  C
armine just grew angrier and angrier as he listened. His anger became scalding fury as he looked out the tinted glass at Darius being escorted to another van.

  Brenda opened the doors of the van trying her best to shield Carmine from the flashing bulbs of the press.

  “Hey you in the back, Detective Rice has a few more questions for you. Let’s go.”