“Z, your hands are amazing. I’ve never been with someone like you before. Who taught you how to do that?” she moaned through my touch.
“You’ll be amazed at what I can do, Simone.” I pushed her to the top of the bed.
On top of her, I nibbled her ear and kissed her neck. Made my way down to her breasts and slightly brushed over her nipples. It caused them to throb harder; she arched her back and thrust her pelvis up. I knew what she wanted, but it wasn’t time to give it to her. Gently spread her legs and exposed her pink flower. It glistened, pulsated, and begged to be touched. The look she gave told me I could have all of her. Simone rolled her eyes back and closed them. My thumb rubbed her clitoris in slow circles; she moaned and ground her pussy on my hand. Her orgasm was building. I opened the secret compartment of my bracelet and removed two capsules.
“Relax, baby, you are going to love this. Take a deep breath,” I whispered.
She inhaled deeply. In a swift motion, I plunged the capsules in her pussy with three fingers to the knuckles. She gasped and moaned in pleasure. Her body writhed in pleasure.
“Oh my God, Z. Yes!” she moaned as I fingered her deeply.
I pushed them as far and as quickly as I could before the capsules dissolved. Simone’s juices would do the rest. After three good pushes, I didn’t feel them anymore. I tweaked her nipples and simultaneously let my thumb take her where she wanted to go. She shook, moaned, and screamed for more. Simone gripped the sheets and tore them off the corner of the bed as she rolled around and had a wave of multiple orgasms. While she basked in her orgasms, I slipped to the bathroom and washed my hands, and brushed my teeth. On the side of the bed, I stood and admired my handy work.
“Z, come lay down with me.” She reached her hand out to me.
It was about 1:30 AM, and Ernie would be at the spot to pick me up soon. Simone curled up in the fetal position and slightly rocked as the poison took effect. Her eyes became panicked when she couldn’t move her limbs. I knelt beside the bed face to face with her.
“Simone, don’t panic. Stay calm and listen to me. Aht, aht, don’t try to scream. Save your strength.” I moved her ringlets out of her face.
She tried anyway, and nothing came out. I pulled the covers up over her naked body.
“You must be cold by now. Andre won’t be coming to save you tonight. It must be pretty bad... they only call me for special projects.”
Her breath began to get shallow, her eyes pleaded with me for help. She kept them on me.
“You probably just had one of the best orgasms in your life. I’ll say this: I have never met a puma like you before. The negligee was a very nice touch. Relax. It’ll be over soon,” I caressed her cheek and chin.
The light and life drained out of her eyes. She died with her eyes open and looking out the window. I left them open. Pulled out my phone, took pictures of her and Andre, and sent them to Broker II. Within five minutes, a message that the cleaning crew would be there within ten minutes popped up. I grabbed my bag out of the bathroom and put my jewelry away. I washed the makeup off my face, combed my hair into a ponytail, and put on my black beanie. I made sure I got everything that I came with. The cleaners would make sure everything else was taken care of.
The hallway was empty when I poked my head out. I walked quickly to the side exit and slipped down the side of the building. It was 2:15. As I crossed the street, two black vans pulled up to the same exit door. They unpacked a few crates and went into the building. Five minutes after they had been inside, the rest of my fee was deposited. I headed towards the dock in the upper harbor. Right on time, Ernie was there. Even though my adrenaline raced, I was ready to go.
“Let’s fly, Dollface,” he took off out of the harbor.
I buckled up and sat back. Again, the buzz of the engine lulled me, but this time to sleep. I was safe with Ernie.
Chapter 5
Jewels and Money
-Cian-
“Don’t walk away from me,” I called after the man walking down the block.
“Ci! What are you doing out here this time of day?” He stopped walking.
“Any time of day is my time of day. Step into my office, Blue.”
I patted his shoulders, pushed Blue into the alley, and shoved him into the dumpster.
“Ci, you don’t have to do this.” Blue smoothed out his clothes.
“You seem to think you can do whatever the fuck you want. Is that right, Blue?” I backed him into the dumpster.
“No. That’s not the case. I need more time. I just….” He stumbled over his words.
“Time is not on your side. I trusted you to make the biggest move of your life, and you come back to me with your dick in your hands.”
I slid my silver Beretta out and slapped him across the face. I choked him by the collar and dragged him behind the dumpster.
“Wait, wait. Ci, don’t kill me, please!” he begged for his life.
I slammed him into the brick wall and pointed the gun in between his eyes.
“I want my shit. Don’t fuck me over; none of you will live to tell the story.”
I cracked him in the face one more time and left him moaning in agony behind the dumpster. Used my handkerchief to wipe his blood off my hand and gun and tossed it on his face. Got in my truck and headed to the industrial yard. I had a meeting with Zu. He was right where I needed him to be, mindset-wise. His brothers did think he was not worthy of being in the family business. To be honest, I should be in his place. I would run this division better than he ever could. He was too arrogant to see it. It was alright with me and to my advantage. He spouted he was going to come down on the street levels hard. Rohand was precisely correct. Zu would send me to crack skulls. That woman was a casualty that was unforeseeable. She was in the wrong car at the wrong time. I could keep a lid on what was going on around here. The police were trying to let this one be buried. No one wanted to come up against the Tanzanite family, not even the police. I hopped off the freeway and turned down a gravel road towards the warehouse.
“Zu, tell me you are not drinking this morning again, my brother?” I walked into his office.
“Not this morning. I need my mind to be crystal clear. I keep hitting brick walls with the men.” He put his head in his hands.
“No one knows anything? Not one branch chief has a clue?”
“I have my suspicions but nothing concrete to lean on. Damn it. I know one of them is hiding something but who?” He pounded his fist on the desk.
“Shit will come together. I can not tell you not to worry. It is five... ya know.” I chuckled nervously.
“Ci, listen, I need you to put some more pressure on the soldier in the streets.” Defeat invaded his face.
“You know I got your back, Zu. We will figure this thing out together. I promise. Now think about it; whoever is new around here may have something to prove.” I patted him on his shoulders.
“We don’t have many new people. Some new people on the floor, but that is rock business. It would have to be someone on the street.”
“I know a few new guys I am not so sure about. I will talk to them personally. In the meantime, how are things with your brothers?”
“They still want my head on a platter and a silver jewel-encrusted one, no doubt. Between you and my mother are my only friends.”
“We will always be friends, Zu. You are the brother I never had. We have gotten out of jams before, and we will get out of this one. But you need a woman in your life that is not your mother.”
“I met a woman on the beach. She said she lived in the Opal, but I haven’t seen her around. She was the most beautiful ebony creature I have ever seen in my life. Ci, she was like a dream.” His eyes were far gone.
“Did you manage to even get her name, Mr. Dreamy Eyes?” I snapped my fingers in his face.
“Seraphim. You know, like the angel or some shit?” He waved his hand.
“Are you sure she lives at the Opal? Well, it isn’t hard to hide the
re if you wanted to.”
“I do not have time to focus on a woman right now. I need to figure this shit out and get my brothers off my back,” he said thoughtfully.
“I have my eye on a few people, and we will make some money in the process.”
I could feel my chest tighten up and relax. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“On the other hand, you are my lieutenant, and you should handle the streets. You make it clear that anybody not cooperating can meet the desert,” a meanness was in his eyes.
He was buying into this shit. Despite the shit that was happening around him, he still thought he was above everything. Zu thought no one could touch him. If there was one person he was afraid of, it was Femi. The only other person that had more power was Akinyi, his mother. She is one old lady I hoped not to cross personally.
“They will know it is life or death. You have to be ready for the bodies to drop. These types of things do involve a bit of a mess sometimes.” I eyed him hard to make sure he understood.
“You do what you have to do to get my money back,” He sighed and dropped his head in his hands again.
“Say no more,” I reassured him.
“I need some time to think and make a few phone calls.” He picked up his phone.
I had other plans. I had to go get this money, and this time I would cut him in. He did not need to know how but he was going to love it. He would think I collected street tax on this five mil. That’s all he needed to know. Jumped in my truck and headed to Pa’s house.
“Pa, let Joseph and Lucas know to be ready to go. We have work to do,” I said on the phone.
“I’ll tell ’em. You boys need to be careful out there tonight. The moon is too close to being full.” He hung up on me.
Blue knew I was gunning for him, and he better come up with my shit. I should not have trusted him with something this big, but what’s done was done. To keep Zu focused on one thing while I handled business elsewhere was the plan. When I pulled up to Pa’s house, Lucas and Joseph waited outside. They jumped in, and we peeled out. We headed to the outskirts of the city. I knew exactly who would get hit first.
“I hope you boys are ready to work? We have a long few days ahead of us.”
“We are always ready to work, Ci.” Lucas patted his duffel bag at his feet.
“Good to hear. Three spots in the next three days. Nice and easy money as long as you do not fuck up.”
“Easy money is a motivator to not fuck up. You have been dealing with these Americans too long,” Joseph piped up from the back seat.
“You never underestimate your opponent and keep them close,” I replied.
“So, what is the plan? Three places in three days? You are about to make the city hot?” Joseph asked.
“I heard that they have a lot of money on hand in each place. So we hit everybody. Three different gangs and we set it up to make them think the other did it. The war is between them, not us.” I kept driving.
“Are you serious, Ci? That is the craziest shit I have ever heard of! It might be crazy enough to work,” Joseph laughed.
“It is crazy enough to work. We hit them in order and work our way back into the city. We take their drugs and plant them in the next stash spot. It is going to work, and we go home and count our money. Simple as that,” I laughed with him.
“Lucas, why are you so quiet, brother?” Joseph leaned forward and asked him.
“Nothing, it sounds like a good plan and good money. Like Ci said, we got to do it right, and it will be like falling dominos.” He sounded like he was not all there.
“Right, right. I need a big score like this too. My wife is pregnant with baby number five. I got my boy, finally.” Joseph sat back with an excited look on his face.
“Congrats on the son! I can not bring kids into this world,” I said.
“A son is what I have been praying for, and God finally answered.” He made the sign of the cross over his chest.
“You believe in God, Joe?” Lucas asked.
“You have to be some kind of crazy not to. Somebody has to watch out for us knuckleheads out here,” he chuckled.
“He has done nothing for me. I got everything on my own. If he is so great, why did this shit happen to me?” he said in anger.
Joseph and I stayed silent. Lucas had lost his whole family to war back home. The guerilla soldiers burned down his town while he was away on a fishing expedition. When the men came home, they found the town burned to the ground and smoldering. His family, like many others, never had a chance to make it out of the house. Since that day, he has never been the same. No one could blame him. He didn’t give a fuck about anything anymore. He was ready to die and take some people with him if necessary. Joseph was a family man, and he only did this to feed his family. He was a good man who always got the job done well. He was always determined to make it home to his wife and children. Two different types of men and they both were needed on the team.
“The place is about half a mile up this road. We walk from here.” I pulled off behind a patch of trees.
We got out and grabbed our masks and guns. Joseph had the bags for the money. There wasn’t anyone around as far as the eye could see. It was bold to rob them in the middle of the day, but that was what made it perfect. No one would expect to be robbed in broad daylight. The first house we would hit belonged to the Wolf Fangs; The Fangs. They dealt in cocaine and meth out in the county. There was a safe there full of money. They had the sheriff in their back pockets; they were not worried about a raid.
We walked through the woods at the edge, in the middle of a clearing, stood an old country house. We silenced our weapons and put masks on. There were two trucks in the driveway and a couple of other broken-down cars around the yard. I expected a dog, but there was none. The barn about 200 yards away from the house was the lab.
“Lucas, you take the back door; me and Joseph will take the front. We will hit hard and fast. We leave no witnesses.” I pulled my mask straight, so I could breathe.
“What if there are children inside, Ci?” Joseph asked.
“This is a stash house, no children here. Who is crazy enough to keep them here?”
“You are right.”
Lucas went left and headed to the back. When Lucas was in position, we casually walked up to the front door. I counted to three and kicked the door three times hard and fast. The door gave way and flew open. We rushed in; two guys were sitting on the couch. We shot them in the chest before they had a chance to reach for a gun. Lucas broke the back door, and I heard two muffled shots. To the right, the dining room table was covered in coke and bags for packaging. We checked the rest of the house and found the fourth man hiding in a closet. He happened to be in the same closet as the safe that was already opened. Lucas shot the man right between the eyes. Joseph and I loaded the money in our bags. Lucas went into the dining room and loaded the coke and meth that was already pre-wrapped. The crunch of tires coming up the driveway caught our attention.
“Hey, the back door. Come on, let’s go. Someone is coming up the driveway,” Lucas shouted from the dining room.
We scrambled to the back door. Lucas peeped out and ran towards the line of trees. We followed. When we got to the line of trees, we turned to see who was coming up the driveway. It was the Sheriff. We didn’t stick around to see them get to the top of the driveway. We ran through the woods back to my truck and jumped in. My heartbeat was loud in my ears. I threw the truck into reverse and backed out quickly as I could without throwing dirt.
“Whoo, Ci, I swear you know how to let a man live on the edge,” Lucas laughed as he slapped me on the back.
“The Sheriff was the bonus. I wonder what he is thinking now? He was not expecting that at his pick-up.”
I steered to the back road and stayed off the highway.
“I know he was not expecting that scene. I can promise you that! It was a close call, though. I do not shoot cops,” Joseph said.
“Man, no one
said anything about shooting cops. We made it out, didn’t we? So don’t worry. Everything will go as planned,” I turned back towards the city.
“If he got in my way, I would shoot a cop. I do not give a damn,” Lucas said in a growl.
“Lucas, you would shoot a preacher if he got in your way,” Joseph shot back.
“A man is a man. I do not give a damn about what he is. He gets in my way, and he can die just the same,” he said with a gruff.
“Everybody needs to fucking relax! It was a close call, but we made it.” I pulled into a warehouse and killed the engine.
We got out and went inside. I flipped the switch and turned the lights on. We walked into what used to be the office. No one used this place anymore. It used to be a stone and pottery mill. The one thing that still worked was the furnace and the electricity. I found this place years ago and convinced Zuberi that it would be an excellent front place. He soon forgot about it. I used it for whatever I wanted. It was my business, and only Lucas, Joseph, and I came here. Zu preferred to stay out at the old fish docks.
“When was the last time you cleaned this place up?” Joseph blew the dust off a shelf.
“You can ask your wife to come down and straighten up the place a little bit for us. You know, make it homey like,” Lucas said, laughing as he tossed his bag on the desk in the middle of the room.
“My wife will not clean up after none of you bums.” He tossed his bag on the desk too.
Joseph and I spent the next hour counting cash on the machines while Lucas separated and weighed out the coke and meth. We counted a million in cash, four kilos of coke, and four of meth. They are going to be hurt and out for blood over this loss. We had to stick to the plan.
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