Chapter 19
“I called everybody here today for a reason,” Sanaa said, walking into her office where Sleepy, Royce, and Joi were waiting.
She had a few very important things to talk about with everyone and establish the direction she was heading in for the future. She sat at the desk looking around at her family, hoping that she was making the right decision. The love for them was incomparable to any love she had for anything or anyone, and that, along with their safety and well-being, had brought her to this point.
“Look, this weekend is going to be our last weekend with the club,” she began. “I think that it’s time we cut our losses, make some money, and get the hell up out dis city,” she said leaning back in the chair. “I made a deal with Boo. He’s gonna give me ten million in counterfeit money for two and a half million in real money.”
“How in the hell are we supposed to move that kind of money in two days?” Sleepy asked, knowing that it was impossible.
A short moment of silence took over the room. Everyone was waiting for an answer. Sanaa took in a deep breath then exhaled. This might have been the hardest thing she ever had to do in her life.
“We’re not gonna move the money in the club. It’s more like a parting gift from me to you,” she told them.
“Fuck is that supposed to mean?” Royce shot back, not at all enthused by what she said.
“What I’m saying is that I’m done with this life. It’s time I grew up. Hell it’s time we all grew up. Look at you, Royce. You got a woman who loves you unconditionally. You got a baby girl who needs you. You really got to start thinking about your family,” she told Royce. “Sleepy, you got to start thinking about your future as well,” she said turning to him. “You’re better than this, and you got the potential to do whatever you want. And, Joi, well you’re already grown. I just want you to stay around for a while. I really do need you in my life.”
Sanaa’s words put a lot of things in perspective for everybody in the room and nobody was in disagreement. The only sad part about the whole thing was that Sanaa made the decision that everyone should take their money and go their separate ways. That part of the plan didn’t sit well with anyone.
“This shit right here ain’t a good look. We should keep it tight and stay together,” Sleepy said pacing back and forward. It was to no avail; Sanaa had already made up her mind.
“So what about the beef we got?” Joi asked, thinking about Kemo, Bread, and, most importantly, Ariana.
“Simple. Find them and kill them all,” Sanaa ordered, leaving nothing else up for discussion.
Sleepy was going with everything until that point when Sanaa ordered the hit on Ariana. That was one order he wasn’t going to stand on. Joi was going to die first, and that too wasn’t up for discussion with him. He just had to do it at the right time and right place so that it couldn’t fall back on him or Ariana. That would be the only way he and Ariana had a chance of being together without Sanaa killing her.
Detectives Thomas and Boyd sat across the street from Sanaa’s club on the roof of a pet store, waiting with a camera. They’d been there for a while now, but had only gotten some bad pictures of Sanaa when she and Joi entered the club. They knew they could get better pictures of them coming out of the club and decided to wait. Detective Thomas was beginning to get frustrated; he started to go down there and just ask her for a picture. Just when he was about to get down off the roof, Sanaa and Joi stepped out of the club. Thomas snapped picture after picture, but he still couldn’t get a good shot with the large Carrera shades Sanaa had on, covering most of her face.
“I can’t get a good damn shot,” Thomas said, rolling back over on the roof. “The sun is about to start going down, and I know we won’t be able to get a picture tonight,” he added.
“Don’t worry, if we don’t get it today, we’ll get it done tomorrow,” Detective Boyd encouraged him.
Thomas was impatient. He didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to get the picture to Agent Razor. He got off the roof and headed around to the front of the building. Boyd was in his ear the whole way, telling him he might blow the case if he tried it and failed. Detective Boyd, the more experienced of the two, had seen cases where suspects disappeared after finding out the law was investigating them. They would just vanish into thin air, and the detectives couldn’t figure out where they went wrong. That’s the path Thomas was now heading down.
As they bent the corner of the front of the building, Sanaa and Joi were nowhere to be found. No one was standing in front of the club, and the car Sanaa and Joi pulled up in was gone. Detective Thomas and Detective Boyd just stared at each other before turning around and heading back to their car.
Chapter 20
People poured into the club by the dozen, and it seemed like everyone that was at the hotel party had shown back up, despite the shootings. As usual, the food was free, the drinks were cheap, and the strippers on the second floor were working hard for their money. The club was jam packed within an hour, and there were so many people that a small party popped off outside the club, as people waited to get in. This was by far the biggest party Sanaa had ever thrown at the club.
Downstairs in the casino, Sanaa stood in the pit station watching as large amounts of money exchanged hands. The casino was just as packed as upstairs, leaving only standing room for those waiting to gamble. Tonight, Sanaa ran the largest poker tournament ever. It consisted of eight tables, twelve players, and a $25,000 sit-in fee. Winner takes all. The tournament drew a large crowd, but so did the blackjack tables. Sanaa set the decks of cards to where the table dealt more winning hands.
Joi, instead of working the club area, had decided to take up security, knowing there was a strong possibility that anything could go down tonight. There was drama coming from all directions. She kept somebody armed at just about every station in the building, even by the bathrooms. Before the party even started, everyone was briefed to be on lookout for Ariana. Joi had kept pictures of Ariana for sentimental reasons, but had used them to show her staff what she looked like. With no pictures of Kemo, she had to just rely on herself, and that’s why she stayed close to the door, watching everybody who came in and out of the club.
“So, this is where you work at,” a voice yelled out over the music at Joi from behind.
When she turned to see who it was, she was kind of shocked, but also impressed to see how Officer Waters looked outside of his uniform. He looked like the average dope boy in the hood who was getting money. He had on a pair on Missoni Chuck Taylors, seersucker shorts, and a Polo pocket T-shirt. His Braves fitted hat complemented his outfit, along with the diamond chain that matched his iced-out watch.
“I’m starting to think that you’re a stalker,” Joi joked, keeping her eyes on the people coming through the door.
They shared a quick laugh. Waters, on the other hand, couldn’t get enough of how sexy Joi looked in the tight hip-hugger jeans she was rocking along with a gray tank top that showed off her A-size breasts and flat stomach.
“Why didn’t you call?” he yelled, tapping her on the waist.
She turned back around to face him. Damn, he looks good. She pulled her cell phone from out of her back pocket and went straight to her call list. “I’ve been busy, but as soon as I get free, I’ll call you,” she said as she held the phone up so that he could see his name and number locked into her phone.
He said nothing else and just backed off of her and headed toward the bar. It only took that small conversation for Joi to be unaware of Detective Boyd walking right past her. Detective Thomas was right behind him, and the two were now headed for the bar. Detective Thomas was determined to get Sanaa’s picture to the FBI in Philadelphia. Something in the club was going to give him what he needed and he knew it.
He walked up to the bar and ordered a dry martini with seltzer water on the side, passing the bartender a one hundred dollar bill. In moments, the drink and his change was returned to him when Thomas walked off and headed for the bat
hroom. He couldn’t help but notice a man standing guard in front of a red door toward the back of the club. It struck his curiosity because none of the club goers were even trying to go inside the door.
“Did you see that?” Detective Boyd asked Thomas, closing and locking the bathroom door behind them once they got inside.
“Yeah, I wonder what’s back there,” Thomas replied, pulling the bills out that he got from the bartender.
He held it over the sink and poured the seltzer water over it. The ink immediately ran off the bills and into the sink. He quickly bagged it as evidence, then gave Boyd another one hundred dollar bill so that he could repeat the process just to be sure it wasn’t a onetime thing. Leaving out of the bathroom, both detectives could see that the man was still standing guard at the door. For kicks, Thomas walked over to the door and tried to enter it. He was denied, and damn near assaulted in the process. Detective Thomas walked away with more information than he had before. That guy was standing in front of the door for a reason. He was protecting something, and nine times out of ten in situations like this, it was something illegal.
“Let’s just get our evidence and get the hell out of here,” Detective Boyd said.
Bread sat outside in a stolen car waiting on his cue. His cell phone going off got his attention as he sat across the street from club.
“Let’s get it,” Kemo said, giving Bread the green light.
Bread drove the car into the alleyway and smack into the back door, pinning it shut so no one would be able to exit from it. The casino was so loud, Sanaa, nor anyone else, even heard the lightweight crash. As the detectives were heading out the front door, Danielle, her friend, Destiny, and three other guys were entering the club. Destiny being the last one in walked up behind Joi, pulled the .40-cal from her waist and jammed it into her back.
“Do what I say or I’ll blow ya fuckin’ back into ya stomach,” she threatened, grabbing the gun Joi had in her back waist.
Danielle and her three goons all fanned out into the club, pulling their firearms but keeping them down by their sides.
“Lock the door and don’t let nobody else in,” she ordered Joi. “And tell ya doorman to go help out at the bar.”
Joi, feeling the barrel of the gun jammed in her back, did exactly as she was told. Destiny was so cool, calm, and collected, nobody even noticed what she was doing.
“Y’all know you won’t be leaving the club alive,” Joi shouted over the music, looking at Destiny through the mirror in front of her.
“Yeah, well we’ll see about that,” Destiny told her, doing a little two-step number behind Joi to make it look like she was just dancing.
Gee, one of Kemo’s men, went up to the second floor where he took a seat right next to Yellow in a booth. He stuck the gun to his side, and gave him strict instructions not to move. He disarmed Yellow before Yellow could even think about making a move.
Danielle went straight to the back of the club were E-Money was holding up the door. He let the Jimmy Choo heels, Bridge shorts, and a white crop top fool him, not to mention that she was a bad-ass white girl. She brought the Highpoint 9 mm from the back of her thigh and slammed it into his gut.
“You move, you die,” she told E-Money, stripping him of his weapon. “Open the door,” she demanded, pressing the gun a little deeper into his stomach.
He turned around and opened the door before being forced down the steps by the back of his collar. Master and Boogie, the other two men, followed right behind Danielle, closing and locking the door behind them. The loud volume in the casino covered the sound of the gunmen coming down the staircase. Master and Boogie spread out across the floor while Danielle decided to wake everybody up.
Danielle fired three shots into the ceiling, causing everybody to get low to the ground. Sanaa drew her weapon, cupping it with both hands and aiming it right at Danielle, who was using E-Money as a shield. Mel, Sanaa’s other guard, also drew his weapon and aimed it in Master’s direction. Mel wasn’t even aware of Boogie walking up behind him until he felt the barrel of a gun pressing against the back of his skull.
“You shoot me, I shoot him,” Mel said, holding Master at gunpoint.
A crowd of people ran for the back door but couldn’t get it open. The only other way out was through the front door of the club, which nobody dared try to use with Danielle blocking their way.
“This is what you call a robbery,” Danielle announced to everybody with a smile on her face.
“Like hell it is,” Sanaa said, gripping her gun a little tighter.
There was silence in the once loud casino, and for a moment, everyone who had a gun held stares with each other. What broke the silence and possibly shattered Sanaa’s ability to hold the robbers back was the sound of a safety being taken off a gun, and that same gun being pressed against the back of Sanaa’s head.
“Don’t make me do this, Sanaa,” a woman’s voice spoke from behind. “Just put the gun down, please,” the woman pled.
It was a voice Sanaa was familiar with, but couldn’t believe it was her. As Sanaa slowly lowered her weapon, she was struck in the back of her head with the butt of the gun. Sanaa’s gun dropped and she hit the floor, only to look up at Kia, her very own cashier. Kia was in charge of cashing out money, but Kia was also Master’s little sister and Kemo’s goddaughter. She was the one who gave up all the intel on the operations of the club and casino.
Mel followed suit and decided to lower his weapon, seeing that he was outnumbered. After all the threats were secured, Master went to work. He walked over to Sanaa, snatched the single key from around her neck, and started popping open the cash boxes on the dealers’ side of all the tables. He emptied out every box, and then went for the cashier’s booth that Kia had left open for him. He took everything out of the booth and put it in a separate bag away from the real money.
“Damn, Kia, I treated you good,” Sanaa said looking up at her. “Dis how you gonna do me?”
“I’m sorry,” Kia whispered in response.
Sanaa was in her feelings, but she had to get some control of herself so that she could make the best out of an opportunity that hit her when she looked up at the Glock strapped to the bottom of the pit boss’s table. She couldn’t reach for it without spooking Kia to the point where she’d pull the trigger. Sanaa couldn’t afford that, because Kia’s gun was pointed directly in her face.
“Can you at least get the gun out of my face, Kia?” Sanaa begged. “You’re scared and you might shoot me by accident.”
Kia agreed. She was scared as hell. She moved the gun slightly to the side, but enough where it wasn’t in Sanaa’s face. The Glock under the table was about five feet away, reaching distance for Sanaa if she moved fast.
Master was already done clearing out the casino when Bread got the phone call for him to move the car away from the door so they could exit the building. Bread placed the car in drive and allowed it to creep up just enough to clear the door. He jumped out of the vehicle and waited. Once Boogie opened the door from the inside, Bread ran in while Danielle, Master, and Boogie were coming out. His only mission was to kill Sanaa, and as he desperately looked around the casino, Kia called out to him as she slowly backed off Sanaa.
“She’s over here,” Kia yelled, while backing up and walking away toward the back door.
Sanaa could see Bread from the ground, making his way over to her with a gun in his hand. She leaned up and reached for the Glock under the table, rolling over and taking cover behind a wooden podium. She jumped up and started firing in Bread’s direction. He dropped to the floor and returned fire as he crawled backward toward the door. Sanaa just kept firing, hitting the tables right next to Bread’s head.
Kia was at the door when one of Sanaa’s bullets knocked a patch out the side of her head. She dropped to the ground right in the doorway.
Bread fired again, forcing Sanaa to take cover behind a wall. That was enough time for him to get to his feet and run out the back door, stepping over Kia’s
body.
Upstairs, Destiny and Gee were making their exit out of the club as well. Gee came down from the second floor and left out first.
“Well, baby girl, this is where we depart. It was a pleasure,” Destiny told Joi before leaving out of the front door.
Joi scrambled through the club and went into Sanaa’s office where Sleepy was counting the money from the bar and strippers. He had no idea what had gone on in the last ten minutes.
“I think they just hit the casino,” she said, opening the closet door and grabbing two guns before running back out of the office.
Sleepy grabbed a gun too and followed Joi. They both raced through the club and down the steps of the casino. When they got down there, everybody was still in shock. Some were trying to push the back door open, but couldn’t because Bread had slammed the car back up against it and left it there before leaving the scene.
“You good, you good,” Sleepy and Joi yelled, running up to Sanaa who was looking at Kia’s body.
The crowd of people saw that it was safe to leave out the other way, and they did, like a herd of buffalo. The large amount of people poured out onto the dance floor and ran out the club in panic. The people on the top two floors were unaware of everything that had just happened. Between the loud music, the naked girls, and the large amount of alcohol being consumed, no one was paying much attention to their surroundings. But now seeing people running to the exits, the rest of the crowd just followed suit.
“We got to get out of here,” Sleepy said, grabbing Sanaa’s arm and leading her upstairs.
Joi followed, bringing up the rear. As they walked through the club Joi looked over and could see Officer Waters sitting at the bar watching her and two other armed men escorting Sanaa out of the building. Waters sipped the whisky; he did nothing to help stop the panic. He was feeling a light buzz, and was in no rush to perform his civic duty to restore order. They seemed to be finding the exits without issue. He looked at Joi, who shook her head for him to stay where he was; she didn’t want to involve him any further in the issues at hand. He turned his eye to the crowd, and watched as people continued to hurry out of the exit. Within minutes the panic dissipated; he took a swing of his drink, and headed for one of the exits. He got up from his stool in an effort to lend his help, but Joi shook her head no, not wanting to involve him. He just waited for everybody else in the club to leave before he got up and left himself.
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