The Reign of Rain Robinson

by Roy Glenn

  “How you gonna find out where he is?”

  Carmen looked at Max. “Does Carolina ever tell you that you ask too many questions?” Carmen asked, and walked off.

  “No. She’s too busy asking me questions for me to get a question of my own in,” Max said.

  Carmen approached the desk of Sheila Grant, who had done what Lacara called ‘the leg work’, which everyone knew meant all the work.

  “Hey, Carmen,” Sheila said, somewhat startled by Carmen’s appearance in her space.

  “I just want to say thank you for putting that information together for me.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “And so fast.” Carmen paused and leaned forward. “But then I remembered you mentioning something about you and some friends hacking the NSA database one weekend on a dare.”

  Sheila’s eyes bugged open. “I told you that?”

  They had been covering a big, breaking news story, everybody went out for drinks and Sheila was talking and trying to drink with Carmen. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

  “I need a favor.”

  “What you need, Carmen?” said a slightly embarrassed Sheila.

  “I need to know where I can find Milton Petty. I need to talk to him.” Carmen said.

  “I have access to both his business and social calendars. Which one would you like to see?”

  “E-mail them both to me and copy Louis, Dan and Lacara.” Carmen stood up. “And, don’t worry, Sheila, your secret is safe with me.”

  When Carmen returned to her office and opened the email, she saw that Milton was scheduled to attend a party that evening.

  “That’s perfect.” was Carmen’s first thought.

  The relaxed atmosphere and looser security would be enough for her to walk right up to Petty she thought when she saw that the party was for a Marietta Dynamics executive.

  “Not perfect.”

  Carmen had recently done a story on Marietta Dynamics, which forced them to have to pay nearly six million in criminal penalties and forfeitures for illegally receiving forty million dollars in government contracts, so she was on their shit list.

  “There is no way I’m getting invited. But I may know somebody who can get me in there.”

  Carmen took out her phone and called Jada. Once she explained what she needed, Jada promised to call back. Carmen started to get on Jada about Kamau being her bodyguard that night, but knew it would keep until a more appropriate time.

  It was an hour later when Jada called back to let Carmen know that she was on the guest list.

  “Thank you, Jada. How did you manage that?”

  “Simple. You’ll be my unnamed guest.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  The sun was setting over the New York City skyline when Rain, along with Carter, Jackie and Baby Chris arrived at Truckload Freight Transportation. After seeing the truck driven by their attackers with the company logo on it, they had to come check it out.

  Carter told Rain that he and Jackie could handle it, but Rain insisted that she was going. She had the day to rest and Rain told them that she felt a lot better. But the truth was something different. Her leg was still hurting; there were times when her arm felt like it weighed a ton when she tried to move it and her chest hurt from the cracked rib she had. But Rain felt that she had to be there.

  “Somebody is fuckin’ with me. Tryin’ to kill me, kill all of us. You didn’t really think I was gonna sit up in bed and wait for you to come back, did you?” she asked Carter.

  “Not really, but I was hoping,” he said, wishing that Glenda had been able to talk Rain out of this. The best Glenda could do was give Rain something for the pain and beg her please to try and take it easy.

  When Baby Chris parked, Rain got out with everybody else and started toward the building slowly. Carter glanced over his shoulder and stopped.

  “Why don’t you go check it out, Chris,” Carter said, and looked at Rain.

  “Jackie, you go with him,” Rain said, and they started toward the gate.

  When they were far enough away, Rain turned to Carter.

  “I know what you're trying to do, and I appreciate it. But I’m fine,” Rain insisted.

  Carter shook his head and got in her face. “No, Rain. You’re not fine. You got shot two days ago. You need to trust me to get this handled for you so you can get better.”

  “This is where I’m supposed to be, standing right here,” she pointed at the ground. “And I do trust you, Carter. That’s why you’re standing here with me,” she said as Jackie and Baby Chris went through the gate.

  Rain was about to say something about where would Mike Black and Bobby Ray be at a time like this, when the shooting started.

  Both Jackie and Baby Chris took out their guns and ran toward the closest truck, firing shots as they ran until they got to cover.

  “Think that was meant for us?” Baby Chris asked while he reloaded his weapon.

  “That was a joke, right?” Jackie said as she reloaded. “I mean, seriously.”

  Rain looked at Carter. “Get in.”

  She got in the driver seat. Carter got in, taking that as an indication that she at least planned to stay in the Tahoe. She started the vehicle and drove it through the gate to where Jackie and Baby Chris were pinned down.

  Once they were back in the Tahoe, Jackie passed out MP7A1s, as Rain drove toward the building with bullets careening off the hood and the windshield.

  “How long will the glass hold?” Carter wanted to know.

  “Long enough for us to get there. But I’d stay low anyway,” she said as she cut the wheel hard to the left in front of the building.

  “Let’s go,” Jackie said, then got out, went to the hood, and opened fire. Baby Chris got out behind her and went to the back of the Tahoe and he began firing.

  Rain got out of the Tahoe; Carter followed behind her. She looked at him and extended her hand toward the building. “You wanna handle it, handle it. I’ll be right here.”

  Carter shook his head and laughed a little. “Bullshit!” he said, and went toward the building as Rain opened fire to cover him. Once Carter reached the building, she took cover and reloaded her weapon.

  With his back against the wall, Carter signaled for Jackie. When she got there, Carter grabbed the handle and Jackie nodded. When he opened the door, Jackie stuck her gun out and fired blindly before she stepped inside. Baby Chris rushed in the garage behind her and took cover behind a truck, but the shooting had stopped.

  Carter came inside and stood next to Jackie. He looked around the garage. It seemed like the shooters were gone, but he knew better than that. “They want to draw us in. Make us come in there after them,” Carter said.

  “Spread us out so they can pick us off one by one in between these trucks,” Jackie said. “No, thank you.”

  “So we stay together,” Carter said.

  In an attempt to force their hand, two men opened fire from the top of the trucks, driving them to seek cover as they fired back. And then just as quickly as it started, the shooting stopped again.

  “As long as they have the high ground on those trucks, we’re fucked. But if one of us could make it up there to that catwalk,” Baby Chris said and pointed toward it. “We’d have the advantage.”

  Jackie looked at Carter. “Go,” she ordered and then she and Carter opened fire to cover him.

  The two men on top of the trucks continued firing at Carter and Jackie. They returned fire and started backing their way to deeper cover. They continued to fire away and didn’t notice that Baby Chris had made it to the catwalk.

  When Baby Chris began firing shots from two MP7A1s, it gave Carter and Jackie a chance to make it to the door that led to the offices. The men on top of the trucks turned and fired at Baby Chris, but with him having the high ground, it didn’t take long for them to jump down from the trucks and run.

  Baby Chris ran down the catwalk firing to prevent them from reaching the door and getting away. As he was reaching the end o
f the catwalk, Baby Chris took careful aim and fired. He hit one of the men with a shot in his back, and then Baby Chris stopped and fired at the last man.

  “Fuck!” Baby Chris yelled when he missed, and the man reached the door.

  But before the door closed, he heard a shot and then watched as a body came flying back through the door.

  Rain appeared in the doorway, with a pump shotgun in her hand and an MP7A1 hanging from each shoulder. She waited and watched as Baby Chris came down from the catwalk and then came to meet her at the door.

  “Where’s Carter and Jackie?” Rain asked.

  Baby Chris pointed toward the doors that led to the hallway. “They went in there.”

  “Go after them. I’m right behind you,” Rain said, and Baby Chris ran toward the door thinking about loyalty.

  She took seven shots a coupla days ago, but here she is, on the front line and she’s got my back.

  When he got to the door, he looked back at the boss of the family and knew that he would die for her.

  ’Cause she would die for me.

  When Carter and Jackie got to the offices, they were immediately confronted with gunfire. Jackie hit the floor and fired at the men. She shot one in the back as he turned to run for cover; Carter hit the other with two shots to the chest to clear the hallway.

  Jackie got up and started walking down the hall. Just then, another man stuck his head out of an office and began firing. Carter grabbed Jackie and rammed his shoulder into the door of another office to take cover inside.

  While one man covered, Kwame Coleman and Barry Hamilton came running out of the office and ran down the hall. Carter reloaded his weapon and was about to start down the hall after the men, when Jackie shot a man as she passed by the office. But she didn’t see that another man came out the door and prepared to fire.

  “Behind you, Jackie!” Carter yelled and took aim. She turned in time to see Carter drop him with a shot to the head before going after the two that got away.

  As Carter ran behind them, firing shots the entire way, Coleman and Hamilton continued down the hallway toward another door that led back to the garage. Hamilton reloaded his weapon on the run.

  “Told y’all it was a stupid idea to go up against these niggas,” he said as he and Coleman reached the door.

  “Can’t tell them niggas shit!” Coleman fired a shot, grabbed the handle and he ran into the garage.

  With his gun now loaded, Hamilton fired a few shots down the hall. Carter, Jackie and Baby Chris were coming fast and firing at him. He fired once more, quickly opened the door and ran into the garage.

  Inside the garage, Rain had reached the doors that led to the offices just in time to see Coleman come running into the garage. She fired at him with the MP7A1 as he stayed low and made it safely to the door. Barry Hamilton wasn’t that lucky.

  When he came through the door, Rain lit him up.

  Carter, Jackie and Baby Chris reached the garage in time to see Rain, with the pump pointed, slowly closing on Hamilton’s body.

  “Either of you ever seen him before,” Carter asked Jackie and Baby Chris as Rain reached them.

  “Never seen him before.” Jackie looked at Baby Chris.

  He looked down at the body. “I never seen him either.”

  Rain looked at Jackie; then she turned to leave with Carter walking next to her.

  Jackie stepped closer to Baby Chris. “Find out who these mutha fuckas are and do it fast.”

  “I’m on it.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  While actively avoiding anyone that might have her escorted out before she could really get started, she looked around for Milton Petty. She knew if she was seen there in the Lotus Ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, even dressed elegantly in a sleeveless V-back embellished gown by Rachel Gilbert, she would be promptly escorted out.

  Also in attendance at the party were FBI Agents Matthews and McCullough. They were investigating Marietta Dynamics in relation to stolen EMP schematics. They knew that Carmen had been investigating the company for a long time.

  “I think we should talk to her,” Matthews said.

  McCullough laughed. “You just wanna talk to Carmen Taylor,” she said. “But, it wouldn’t hurt to see if what she’s working has any bearing on our case,” McCullough agreed and the agents approached Carmen, socially of course, or as socially as they could be when they had to introduce themselves as the FBI.

  “Ms. Taylor.”

  “Yes,” Carmen answered tentatively, thinking she was about to get thrown out.

  “I’m Agent McCullough and this is my partner, Agent Matthews.” They discreetly showed Carmen their ID.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “We wanted to talk to you about what you’re working on.”

  Carmen leaned closer to the agents. “I’m investigating a murder.”

  “Somebody at Marietta Dynamics?” Matthews asked.

  “No,” Carmen said, and told the agents enough to get rid of them. Since her murder had nothing to do with Marietta Dynamics, the agents moved on.

  As she walked away, McCullough had another problem and a decision to make. She knew of Carmen and her association to The Family, and thought about approaching her with the information she had, but thought better of it. And that was when she saw the answer to her problem.

  Across the room, dressed in a sophisticated Monique Lhuillier sleeveless illusion gown, Jada stood at the bar, gracefully sipping a cocktail.

  “Good evening, Ms. West,” came a deep voice in her ear.

  Jada turned to find a very handsome and tall gentlemen standing next to her.

  “Good evening.”

  He sipped his drink. “Are you enjoying your evening?”

  “I am. But you must forgive me.” Jada put down her glass. “You have me at a disadvantage. I don’t seem to remember your name, and that rarely happens.”

  “My name is Clayton Edmonds. I’m Martin Marshall’s chief of staff. We met on one of the congressman’s visits to Paraíso.”

  “I hope that we took care of all of your needs and you enjoyed your visit.”

  “It was more of a business trip for me. But there were so many beautiful ladies; there was no way that I couldn’t enjoy my visit.”

  “If you see one that you like next time you visit, please let me know.”

  “Actually, there was one.”

  “Let me know which one and I will make her available for you,” Jada said.

  Clayton laughed. “That’s very gracious of you. But I won’t hold you to that.”

  “Oh, really. And why is that?”

  “You were the only one I saw that I was interested in.”

  Jada said nothing at first, and then smiled at Clayton.

  “I’m generally not in the habit of making myself available to just any man.”

  “I’m not just any man.”

  “I see.” Jada paused, and looked him over again.

  She saw Clayton Edmonds as a man with access to power, and the ability to get things done for her. And Jada considered him to be a very handsome man. “You keep talking and we’ll see just what kind of man you are.”

  Agent McCullough excused herself from her partner and approached Jada. She’d been trying to get in touch with Rain for days, but hadn’t been able to. McCullough felt a little funny approaching Jada since she was the one who ran Jada out of the city.

  “I like you, Mrs. Black, so I’m going to do you a favor,” McCullough told Shy the night she met her.

  It was the agent that went to Lieutenant Gineconna with a fictitious story about the FBI needing access to Jada’s client list and then McCullough helped set up the sting. And to top it off, she was the one who sent the audit letter from the IRS to Jada’s new address days after she moved there.

  Bright side is, if I didn’t run her out of New York, Black wouldn’t have made her boss in Nassau, McCullough thought as she approached.

  “Excuse me, Ms. West.”

 
; Jada smiled when she saw Agent McCullough, and then turned to Clayton. “Would you excuse me for a moment, Mr. Edmonds?”

  “Certainly, Ms. West.” Jada extended her hand and Clayton bowed at the waist to kiss it. “Until the next time I have the honor of your company.”

  “What can I do you for you, Agent McCullough?”

  “I’ve been trying to get in touch with Rain, but I haven’t been able to contact her through any of our usual channels.”

  “Rain is indisposed. However, I would be glad to give her a message.”

  “As part of our investigation into the matter Mr. and Mrs. Black found themselves involved in while they were in Italy, we been investigating El Decreto de Guerra’s ties to Marietta Dynamics. But since there was no apparent connection to the theft, our team moved on from them and passed it on to another unit. Because of their recent run in with The Family, I kept my hand in and I know they’ve got a sting planned soon.”

  “I see. Is there anything else you can tell me about that?”

  “All I’ve been able to find out is that they have a deal to sell guns to a buyer that may or may not have ties to somebody in her house. Make sure Rain knows that.”

  “I’ll make sure that she knows,” Jada said, and then the agent excused herself and went back to her partner.

  It was right about that time when Carmen saw Milton Petty standing alone at the other end of the bar. She finished her Bacardi and headed toward him.

  “Mr. Petty?”

  “Yes.” When Milton turned around and saw it was Carmen, his eyes narrowed.

  “My name is Carmen Taylor with Channel Four News.”

  “What can I do for you, Ms. Taylor?” Milton asked calmly, but on the inside, he was furious. The nerve of her to come here.

  “Do you mind if I ask you a couple of quick questions?”

  And she has the audacity to question me. “What would you like to know?”

  “What can you tell me about the murders of Katana Jackson and Richard Castor?”

  “Honestly Ms. Taylor, I’ve never heard of either of them.”

  “Would it surprise you to know that they both worked for you?”