The Reign of Rain Robinson

by Roy Glenn

  Day Four

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Despite her promise to Jada, Carmen slipped out of the hotel like a thief in the night while Kamau was still asleep. When she got home, Carmen took a shower and then she had coffee and yogurt while she tried to figure out what to do next. Not only with the case, that was important, but about what happened between she and Kamau the night before.

  It wasn’t that Carmen had any regrets, she wanted it and it was so good, but that wasn’t the point. She was involved in a relationship with Marcus. An on again, off again, and back on again long distance relationship, but a relationship all the same.

  “I love Marcus,” Carmen said to herself and took a sip of her brew.

  You sure couldn’t tell it last night, her mind reminded her.

  So, once she was dressed, Carmen left the building. She looked around and was surprised that she didn’t see Kamau anywhere. I halfway expected him to be in the lobby waiting for me, she thought as a cab stopped for her. Carmen got in and headed for the office. When she got to the station, the first person she saw was Dan.

  “Kill anybody last night?”

  Carmen gave him the finger and then she kept going to her office.

  Throughout the day, one thing dominated her mind. Carmen thought about her life, or as it were, the lack of it. She had to consider, once again, where she was, and what she was involved in, and why?

  Why?

  Why am I even involved in this?

  Carmen was going to Paris with Jada to prove to her that she wasn’t an obsessed workaholic that refused to take a vacation. And what was she doing? Carmen was proving, not only to Jada, but also to herself, that she truly was an obsessed workaholic that refused to take a vacation.

  And the same question remained.

  Why?

  Why go through all this?

  For the story?

  Then there was the real question; the only one that really mattered. Is getting the story worth dying for?

  Even though that should have been a no-brainer, Carmen had to think for a second before she told herself; no, it’s not worth dying for.

  And if Carmen were to die over this story, what would her eulogy be?

  Here lies Carmen Taylor, former supermodel turned investigative reporter, who didn’t know when to let go.

  One that didn’t know how to stop chasing the story and start chasing life. That was the most accurate portrayal of Carmen Taylor’s life.

  She never wanted to be the woman that foregoes her career to get married and have children. That was her mother, Dominique. Dominique’s life was to be a wife to her husband, Carlton and mother to Carmen and her sister, Desireé.

  That’s part of my problem right there, Carmen laughed. I never wanted to be like Dominique.

  Carmen wanted for her life to be more, and she had accomplished that. She’d had a very successful modeling career and now she had made a success of her second career. She had nothing to prove to anybody.

  But Carmen would be lying if she said that she didn’t want to have a career and a man to hold her every night or listen to her thoughts over breakfast. And that brought her back to Marcus.

  He was that man.

  They had been engaged to be married, but instead of choosing to have a life with him, Carmen chose her career.

  And even though Kamau was a nice distraction … a very nice distraction, she thought her night with him was more about feeling alive than anything else. Almost being shot and killed put everything in perspective. Having someone to touch her and stroke her was a reminder of some of the great things about life outside of her career.

  And that had Carmen thinking about Marcus. So slowly and ever so surely, Carmen came to the conclusion that maybe it was time for her to stop risking her life and go home and try to be happy.

  It was then that Sheila came to Carmen’s office.

  “I think I have something,” Sheila said.

  “I hope it’s something good,” Carmen said.

  “I think it is.”

  “What you got?”

  “Well, we know that it all centers around those videos in some way,” Sheila began.

  “Right. And it’s gotta be more than just selling those videos online.”

  “And that code.”

  Carmen sat back. “What’s that all about?”

  “After running every kind of web search imaginable, I began searching the dark web and I found where the videos are posted.”

  “On the dark web?” Carmen questioned. “Any idea why?”

  Sheila nodded her head. “It’s a slavery ring, Carmen.”

  “What?”

  “Those women are for sale.”

  Sheila explained that the buyers, “Usually foreign men in places where there are no black women, use the code to identify and bid on the women. I believe that Castor Technology made the videos and posted them to the dark web. Truckload Freight Transportation was used to take the women from wherever they’re kept and then they are transported to the port where Ingram International shipped them overseas to the buyer.”

  Carmen stood up and grabbed her purse.

  “Where are you going?” Sheila asked.

  “I think I know where those women are being kept,” Carmen said and rushed out the door.

  When she got outside the station, Carmen looked around for Kamau, but she didn’t see him anywhere. I know he’s around here somewhere. In an attempt to get his attention, Carmen began waving her arms in the air.

  “Are you okay,” a female passerby asked.

  “I’m fine,” Carmen said realizing how stupid she looked.

  Confident that he was around somewhere and would most definitely be following her, Carmen hailed a cab and got in.

  “Where to?”

  “Enzo’s Palace,” she said and then Carmen thought about it and told the driver to take her back to her apartment. When they arrived at her building, Carmen told the driver to, “Wait here,” and she went inside.

  Once Carmen was in her apartment, she went straight to her closet and opened the lockbox that contained her gun.

  When the shooting starts, I won’t be the only one without a gun this time, Carmen thought as she loaded the nine millimeter pistol, and put it in her purse.

  When Carmen left the building, she got back in the cab.

  “Enzo’s Palace.”

  During the ride there, Carmen kept looking out the back window to see if she could see if Kamau was following, but she didn’t. Although she was still confident that he was somewhere close by, it only made sense to call Detective Harmon and tell him what she had learned and more importantly, where she was on her way to.

  After she explained, Harmon urged Carmen to wait for the police and let them handle it as he had done several times before. And as with each of the previous times, it went in one of Carmen’s ears and out the other.

  When Carmen arrived at Enzo’s Palace, she paid the driver and exited the cab. She stood there for a while, thinking about what she was going to do when she went inside. If the women were there, how would she find them? It wasn’t like she could just walk in and ask. She’d tried that once and almost died for it.

  There was also a part of her that was kinda waiting to see if Kamau was going to show up. And then, almost on cue, Carmen saw Kamau get out of his car and began walking toward her.

  “I was starting to think you had quit on me,” Carmen said playfully.

  “No, can’t get rid of me that easy. No matter how hard you try.” Kamau laughed and Carmen just assumed that he was talking about this morning’s disappearing act. And since she wasn’t ready to talk about it, she let the statement pass without commenting and hoped that he would do the same.

  “So, what are we doing here?”

  As they walked slowly toward Enzo’s, Carmen told Kamau what she had learned from Sheila.

  “So, Castor Technology made the videos and posted them to the dark web where the buyers use the code to identify and bid on t
he women. Once they’re sold, Ingram International ships them to the buyer.”

  “Right.”

  “How do you plan to prove that?”

  “We’ve already got the proof back at the station,” Carmen said and Kamau stopped just as she was about to grab the door handle and go in.

  “If you already have the proof, what are we doing here?”

  “To find the women.” Carmen grabbed the handle and opened the door, but Kamau didn’t move.

  “Don’t you think you should call the police and let them handle this?”

  “They’re on their way.”

  “Don’t you think that you should wait for them to get here before you go inside?”

  Carmen turned and faced Kamau. “I’m just gonna go in and take a quick look around. Maybe ask a question or two,” Carmen said and thought back to a couple of hours ago, when she promised herself that she was done taking unnecessary risks. Unnecessary because the police were on their way.

  “The last two times you went in there,” Kamau pointed. “You almost got yourself killed.”

  “I know. And I promise, this is the last time that I will ever do anything like this. But I gotta see this through to the end.”

  “I understand,” Kamau said and held the door open for Carmen and she walked in. “Just a quick look around.”

  The second Carmen walked in, the first person that she saw was Walter Bonner. He saw Carmen too, reached for his gun and opened fire.

  When he did, two men rose from behind the bar and took aim at Carmen. Kamau raised his weapon and shot one of the shooters as Carmen ran for cover.

  As the dancers ran toward the back of Enzo’s and the people in the bar hit the floor, Carmen took cover under a table and got her gun from her purse. She looked around for Kamau. He had taken cover and was taken fire from the two men at either side of the bar.

  Once she took the safety off, Carmen turned over the table to provide better cover and opened fire. The two men at the bar began firing at Carmen. The brief exchange gave Kamau a chance to get to better cover.

  Bonner and the two men stood in the open and sprayed the bar with bullets. Carmen kept her head down and watched as Kamau crawled along the floor, trying to make it to a spot where he could get a clear shot at the shooters.

  When one stopped firing to reload his weapon, Kamau stood up and hit him with two shots to the chest. The man went down and Kamau took cover as Bonner and the other shooter began firing at him. With their attention diverted, Carmen stood up and fired and hit the other shooter and then she started running toward the back of Enzo’s.

  As the gunfire blazed around her, Carmen made it to the back of the club. Two men with Ak47s came from the other side of the club firing and that forced Kamau to take cover.

  One of the shooters circled around to the side of Kamau and was in position to fire.

  “Look out!” Carmen yelled.

  Kamau turned in time to hit the one sneaking up on him with three shots to the chest before he could get a shot off. It was then that Detective Harmon arrived with ten officers.

  “Police! Weapons down!”

  The two remaining shooters quickly put their weapons down and surrendered to the police. When Carmen saw the cops taking control of the scene, she started to go through the door the led to the back of Enzo’s. When Bonner saw Carmen going toward the back he raised his weapon.

  “Don’t do it,” Detective Harmon said with a gun at the back of his head and Bonner froze.

  “Now, nice and slow, hand me the weapon,” he said as more officers surrounded them.

  Knowing that it would be safer for him in the long run, because Milton and DP would surely kill him, Bonner quickly surrendered his weapon. And then confirmed for the detective everything that Carmen said about the operation. Once Bonner confessed to everything, he led Carmen and Detective Harmon into the back of Enzo’s, up the stairs and then he led them down a long hall. The walls were lined with booths, and in each booth was a woman, a couch and a video camera with a live feed to the Internet.

  Some of the women were talking to their client, while others were masturbating for their entertainment and enjoyment. At the end of the hall was a door that led to the basement, where four women that had already been sold, were heavily sedated and locked in rooms while they waited to be shipped overseas to their new owner.

  “Walter Bonner, you’re under arrest,” the detective said in disgust and took him out of Enzo’s Palace in handcuffs.

  Chapter Thirty

  Since she wasn’t actually expecting her to stay, Jada wasn’t surprised when she called Carmen’s room that morning and found that she had checked out. All Jada could do now is to hope that Carmen would be alright. And besides, she had important business to handle herself. Jada was going to talk to Rain. After speaking with Agent McCullough at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel the night before, she had Caprice call Yarissa and arrangements were made to take Jada to Wanda’s safe house.

  With the exception of the Fred Leighton hexagonal link diamond bracelet around her wrist, Jada was dressed in all black; Elie Saab ruffle, cold-shoulder choker dress, Gianvito Rossi button-strap peep toe pumps and a Givenchy clutch when she came into the room.

  Nesmith stood up. “Would you like me to accompany you, Ms. West?”

  Jada came and stood in front of Nesmith, then she looked up at him. “What I would like for you to do is rest and get better. That’s what I need from you today. You have to be well rested and ready to go to Paris.”

  “Yes, Ms. West,” Nesmith said, and Jada turned to leave.

  “Don’t worry, big boy, I got this,” Victor said and followed Jada to the door.

  “Victor.” Nesmith called.

  When Victor stopped and turned, so did Jada.

  “See that you do,” Nesmith said.

  Jada smiled and winked at Nesmith, as Victor opened the door for her, and they left the suite. When they reached the lobby, Victor went to make sure it was safe before he brought Jada out.

  Yarissa had sent Alwan and two of his men to The Peninsula Hotel with instructions to pick up Jada West.

  “Ain’t nobody said nothing about anybody else ridin’ with her,” Alwan said, and Victor just looked at him like he was crazy.

  “Fuck is you talkin’ ’bout?” Victor had to know.

  “I’m just following orders,” Alwan said.

  “Whose orders?”

  Since he got the order from Yarissa and she carried zero power, Alwan stuck with, “I’m just following orders, man.”

  “I don’t give a fuck who told you some dumb shit like that, but Jada West ain’t going nowhere without me.”

  “What is going on here?” Jada asked as she came up behind them.

  “Good morning, Ms. West,” Alwan turned quickly and said to her.

  “Good morning, Mr. Perkins.”

  “I was just explaining to Victor that I was told to bring you to see Rain, but they didn’t say anything about anybody coming with you,” Alwan said and Jada wanted to laugh.

  “Nonsense. Open the door, Victor,” Jada said, and then she turned back to Alwan and patted him on the cheek. “I’m sure it will be all right,” she said and got in the car. Victor closed the door and went around to the other side.

  “You coming?” he asked and got in.

  Once Alwan nodded his head, the other men returned to their vehicles and they left for Wanda’s safe house. While Victor was asked to wait, Jada was escorted in to see Rain, who was lying in the bed being a good patient and resting.

  “Good morning, Rain,” Jada said and then she saw Wanda. “And Wanda. Good morning to you as well.”

  “Hello, Jada.”

  “What’s up?” Rain asked.

  “I don’t want to take up a lot of your time; however, I spoke with Agent McCullough last night. She made me aware of an FBI operation involving El Decreto de Guerra.”

  “Not these fuckin’ bastards again.” Rain shook her head. The mere mention of The Decree of
War made her blood boil. “What now?”

  “The agent was able to find out that El Decreto de Guerra has put together a deal to sell weapons and the buyer may or may not have ties to somebody within The Family.”

  “But she don’t know who it is?” Rain asked.

  “No.”

  “And she can’t even say for sure if they’re with us or not?” Wanda asked.

  “I’m afraid not,” Jada replied.

  “Still, with all this other shit goin’ on and Bautista’s annoying ass coming at me, we can’t take any chances.”

  “That was my thinking as well,” Jada said.

  Rain shook her head. “Fuck!” she shouted and then she closed her eyes and focused herself. “I need you to stay on top of this for me, Jada.”

  “Of course. Whatever you need.”

  “Do whatever you have to do to shut that shit down for real.” Rain looked at Wanda. “That’s all we fuckin’ need is the damn FBI on our ass,” Rain said and wished that she could go back to being bored and horny, but she couldn’t.

  Like everybody had been telling her for years, she was the boss of this family now, and she had to handle it.

  “Do you trust her?” Wanda asked once Jada was gone.

  “If you had asked me that two days ago, I woulda told you no.”

  “What happened two days ago?”

  “I told her that I didn’t trust her.”

  “What did she say to that?” Wanda asked, anxious to hear what Jada had to say.

  “She gave me that fake ass smile, you know how she carries it, and she said, that’s understandable.”

  Wanda imitated Jada’s fake smile and then she laughed.

  “And then she drops the smile, leans forward like she’s about to come across the desk and kick my ass and says, I trust you because Mr. Black says that I can trust you.”

  Wanda stopped laughing. “Oh.”

  “Then she said some shit about her respect and loyalty were absolute and unquestioned.” Rain laughed. “And then the bitch broke out that fake-ass smile again.”

  “That fake-ass smile never fooled me. Jada West is one sneaky bitch.”