by Roy Glenn
“As the economy improves and the financial sector gets stronger, now may be a good time for deep value investing,” she giggled. “How can I help?”
“A bank supervisor named Desmond Pennybrook. My sources tell me that he is the one that is blocking the sale.” Wanda paused. “I see you’re smiling. Do you know Mr. Pennybrook?”
“I do.”
“Is he a client?”
Jada smiled. “A VIP client.”
Wanda smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that,” she said as there was a knock at the door and Keisha came in.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Bobby is here, and he says it can’t wait,” Keisha said.
“Show him in,” she said as Bobby pushed his way past Keisha.
“Sorry to bust in on you like this, but somebody tried to …” he began and then he saw Jada. “Jada?”
“Hi, Bobby.”
“This is a surprise,” he said, because Jada was the last person that he expected to see in Wanda’s office. “How are you?”
“I’m fine,” Jada giggled because of the look on his face. “Now … you were very excited to tell Wanda something.”
“Somebody tried to kidnap Barbara today.”
“Oh my God,” Jada exclaimed and sat down.
“Is she alright?” Wanda asked.
“Mike said she’s fine.”
“What happened?” Wanda asked.
“I don’t know. Mike is on his way here now,” Bobby said, and he sat down as Keisha knocked and announced that Black and Shy were there.
Once they got past their initial surprise at seeing Jada in Wanda’s office, Black told Bobby what he had gotten from Tahanee and as expected, he did not take it well.
“We need to stop fuckin’ around, hunt these mutha fuckas down and kill them all!” Bobby shouted as he paced back and forth. “My baby girl had to kill somebody today! Barbara’s got nothing to do with this. There was a time when mutha fuckas respected family.”
“Those days are gone, Bob. It’s a new day. Things like respect and honor are meaningless,” Black said.
“Where is Barbara now?” Wanda asked.
“Tahanee is taking her home,” Black said.
“I’m out,” Bobby said, and Black stood up.
“Cassandra and I are going to go by there and then we’re going to the airport.”
“Yes,” Wanda said and looked at Shy. “It’s time to get you out of here. I’ve got somethings that I need to wrap up here, and then I will be at the house, Bobby.” She looked at Jada. “I think you and I are done, Jada.”
“I will look into the matter and get back with you shortly,” Jada said, and she stood up. “I am flying back to Freeport this afternoon, Shy. You are more than welcome to join me.”
“No,” Black said as they walked out. “I think it’s best that from this point forward, Jake and the jet stay with you. Just in case there are any problems and you need to get to the mainland.”
“You’re right. But what about you?” Shy asked.
“I’m not going anywhere until this is behind us. If I do need to go somewhere, thanks to Ms. West, we got a charter service. I’ll be all right for a minute.” When they got on the elevator, Black turned to Jada. “Business in Freeport?” Black asked.
“Yes. And then a quick stop at Paraíso,” Jada said thinking of what she needed to set in motion for Wanda to take care of her banking supervisor problem. “And then I am right back here.”
When the elevator arrived at the ground floor, they got off and left the building. As soon as Chuck saw them come out, he opened the back door for Shy and she got in. When she did, Chuck went around to the driver side, got in and started the Escalade. Black was about to get in, but he saw the way Jada was looking around.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t see Victor,” Jada said as a van came speeding up. “That is not him,” she said as the van came to a screeching stop. When the panel door opened, five men jumped out and they opened fire.
Black tossed Bobby a gun and then he pushed Jada in the Escalade with Shy.
“Drive!” Black yelled, and he and Bobby returned their attackers fire.
Chapter Twenty-five
As the attackers spread out and advanced on them firing and they moved to better cover, Black saw another van race past them and went after the Escalade with Shy and Jada. Black gripped his weapon, took aim at the tire and fired at the van.
The shot hit harmlessly against the bumper.
“Shit!” Black shouted as he turned his fire on the advancing attackers.
Bobby stood up, fired and one man went down. As he took cover to reload, Black raised the forty-five, fired twice and each shot hit another in the chest. As he fell to the ground, the other three attackers continued their advance. It was then that a jet-black Acura TLX came speeding down the street.
Bobby fired on and hit another of the approaching attackers, as Victor jumped out of the Acura, came up behind the attackers, fired and hit one of them in the back of his head.
With his attention diverted, the remaining attacker was easy prey for Black. He stood up quickly, raised his weapon and shot the last of the attackers.
“Everybody all right?” Victor rushed up to ask.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Black said as he and Bobby moved toward the Acura. “But come on, we gotta go after Shy and Jada.”
Black got in the Acura with Victor and went after them as Bobby went for his car.
It was at that time that Chuck saw the van in his rearview mirror, and they were closing fast.
“I got a van coming up on us fast,” Chuck said.
“Get us outta here, Chuck,” Shy said and took her Beretta and the plr22 from her purse.
Jada giggled. “Do you carry that everywhere you go?” she asked reaching in her clutch for her gun.
“Whenever I’m in New York, yes,” Shy said and smiled as the attackers began shooting at the car. “Mike Black is my husband; I am always heavily armed here.”
Shy checked the Beretta to be sure that there was one in the chamber. “What are you carrying these days?”
“Glock 19. My three eighty was too big for this clutch,” Jada said of the Jimmy Choo Chandra metallic leather clutch she was carrying. “But they tell me this has a bit more stopping power.”
“Let’s hope we don’t have to find out,” Shy said and then she put a magazine in the plr22.
Jada checked her gun. “Let’s hope, because unlike you, I don’t have a bag full of extra clips. All I have is one.”
“Don’t worry, ladies, I’ll get us out of this,” Chuck promised as he weaved the Escalade between cars as their attackers continued firing at the vehicle.
The van pulled up alongside them and opened fire but did little damage to the bullet resistant Escalade. The next move was to ram them, but that had little effect as well. The attackers continued firing with semi-automatic weapons and after a while, the bullet resistant glass began to give way from the onslaught.
Then the van dropped back, but it was only to get a better angle on the tires. One man leaned out the window and fired with an AK. Most of his shots hit the rear of the Escalade, but all it took was one shot to find its mark.
Despite one tire being flat, Chuck kept driving as the van rammed into the back of the Escalade. The van dropped back again, and the shooter opened fire again and those rounds took out the other tire. When the van sped up alongside the Escalade, the driver cut his wheel sharply and slammed into the Escalade, driving it into the cars that were parked on the street. But Chuck kept driving. The driver slammed into the rear-end and that sent the Escalade into a spin. Inside the vehicle, Chuck cut the wheel into the spin as Shy and Jada held on until it crashed head on into a car on the street and the airbags deployed.
As their four attackers exited the van and opened fire, a still dazed Chuck got out and opened fire with two forty-fives. Shy and Jada got out and they began firing. One of the attacker’s shots hit Chuck in the back as he tr
ied to make it around the Escalade for better cover and he went down.
When Shy opened up with the plr22, their attackers dropped back for cover and then they returned fire. She killed one before she emptied the magazine and went to her Beretta.
Jada leaned over the hood of the Escalade and began firing. She killed one of their attackers and kept firing until she emptied her clip and then dropped down to reload her Glock with her last remaining clip.
Shy kept firing the Beretta until she had emptied that clip and then went to put a fresh clip in the plr22 while Jada covered. One of the attackers had worked his way around to the side and once he had a clear shot at Jada, he fired. When she turned to return fire, Jada was shot in the stomach.
Shy watched Jada’s body hit the ground, she slammed the magazine in, stood and lit up the man that shot Jada with multiple shots as he moved toward her. Then Shy turned and continued firing at the last shooter. When the plr22 was empty, the last shooter stood up and smiled at Shy before raising his weapon. But before he could fire and kill Shy, Chuck walked up behind him and shot him in the back of the head before he fell out again.
When Victor arrived at the scene and stopped the Acura, Black jumped out to find Chuck on the ground unconscious, Jada holding her stomach gasping for air and Shy holding her. Victor went to check on Chuck.
“Stay with me, Jada,” Shy said and looked up at Black.
He took a breath. “Get in the car, Cassandra.”
“We can’t just leave her.”
“Get in the car, Cassandra,” Black said and held out his hand for her.
“He’s right,” Jada managed. “You need to go.”
Shy accepted Black’s hand and got up.
“How’s Chuck?” Black asked Victor.
“He’s alive,” Victor said as Bobby arrived at the scene.
“Take Cassandra to Bobby’s car.” Black crouched down next to Jada.
“You need to leave too, Mr. Black.”
“I’m not gonna leave you here, Jada,” Black said as Bobby joined them. “Help me get her to her car.”
Black and Bobby lifted Jada up and carried her gingerly to the Acura and laid her across the back seat. As Bobby went to get Chuck, Black leaned in.
“I need to look at that.”
“Okay,” Jada said and slowly moved her hands.
“Sorry about this,” Black said and ripped the Elie Saab beaded sequin dress enough to get a look at the wound and then he felt for an exit wound. Black tore off the sleeves from his shirt, tore it again and covered the wound. He put the other piece under Jada and then tied it off as gently, but securely as he could.
“Try to keep as much pressure on that as you can.”
Bobby and Victor put Chuck in the front seat as the sounds of police sirens began filling the air.
“You need to leave, Mr. Black,” Jada said softly.
“Take them to the nearest hospital, make sure they get help and then you get out of there; understand?”
“Understood,” Victor said and got in. When he drove off, Bobby drove Shy to the airport and once she was safely aboard, he and Black went to see about Barbara.
Chapter Twenty-six
When Barbara got home with Tahanee, she was unusually calm for somebody that had experienced what she had that afternoon. It was evident when Pam hugged and tried to comfort her. Barbara could feel her mother’s arms around her, and could hear her talking, but it might as well have been Charlie Brown talk because the words just weren’t registering.
“You just need rest, baby,” Pam said, and it made her think back to the night that she killed Cat and Melinda and the issues that she had dealing with what she had done. Pam struggled with that for years and she didn’t want that for her daughter.
When Barbara started to go up to her room, Tahanee said that she was leaving. “No,” Barbara said quickly. “Could you stay with me for a while?”
“Sure,” Tahanee said and followed Barbara up to her room. When they got to the room, Barbara stretched out across her bed and Tahanee sat down in the chair across from her. Barbara didn’t talk and Tahanee didn’t force it. She understood that Barbara had just gone through a major traumatic event and her presence may make Barbara feel secure.
As Barbara laid across her bed, the events of the day replayed in her mind like a movie, but she was unable to change the channel. At first there was her shock and then the fear when the men grabbed her. Barbara felt the sting and pain of Ram’s betrayal and then revulsion when he turned his back on her and walked away. Then came the feelings of being scared and helpless while she was being assaulted. That fueled her anger and it was that anger welling up inside her that allowed Barbara to kill a man when it became necessary.
She felt stupid and naïve for trusting Ram. It caused her to question whether he was really ever interested in her at all or was his interest all just a game so he could set her up to be kidnapped. She didn’t know.
There were a lot of things that Barbara didn’t know, but she was learning fast. She would have to. Now Barbara was left to wonder if this was what her life would be like from this point forward. Then she thought about how this would likely not be the last time something like this would happen. And if that were to be the case, Barbara knew that she needed to know how to protect herself.
The fact was that someone had tried to get at her father through her. And they would have succeeded had Tahanee not been there to protect her. It was only recently that she had the type of freedom that would allow her to get snatched up. Barbara made the decision that she would no longer rely upon those people hidden in the shadows to protect her.
Barbara sat up quickly and looked at Tahanee; she reacted to her movement by standing up.
“What’s wrong, Barbara?”
“Nothing. I mean it’s something, but you can sit back down. I doubt we’d be in danger in this house anyway.”
Tahanee said nothing because she knew all too well that there was no such thing as a safe place.
Not even a fortress like this one.
“Okay, so what’s up?” she said and reclaimed her seat.
“Well, it’s just that I realized how unprepared I was for what happened today.”
“That’s to be expected. You only just found out who your father is. You can’t beat yourself up about it.”
“Yeah, I get that. But still, … it’s not just that. It’s that even though I knew who my family is, I wasn’t prepared to defend myself and I need to be. So …”
“You want me to show you how to protect yourself?”
“Yes. Will you? I mean are you even allowed?”
Tahanee laughed. “I should be, but I’ll get in touch with my boss, to make sure.”
“You’ll be able to do it,” Barbara smiled. “Your boss works for my Uncle Mike,” she said confidently, but instead of relaxing because he would do anything for her, Barbara still look bothered.
“Got another question?”
“I just wondered if everyone is going to think it’s my fault. I mean I know Daddy will be upset when he finds out I left the school.”
Tahanee just nodded; what could she say? It was the truth.
“Did I do this?”
Tahanee knew this was all part of the shock wearing off. Instead of feeling the emotion of the situation, now she had questions.
“I think once you explain what happened, everyone will understand and remember what it was like being a teenager. Teenagers do stupid things; I know I did.”
“How old are you anyway?”
“I’m twenty-eight.”
“You don’t look it, but I guess that’s why you got the job.” Barbara nodded her head. “You needed to blend in with the rest of us kids at Forten.”
“But now that you know who you are, you can be smarter about what you do and be more aware of your environment and the people around you.
“I guess you’ve watched me do a lot of stupid things?”
“Yes,” Tahanee paused. “I’ve
watched you do plenty of things that you shouldn’t have, been places where you seriously had no business being and all I could do was shake my head and hope for the best.”
“Am I that bad?” Barbara asked and then she thought about being Barbie, the pampered princess who has it all, and how that feeling of power and entitlement was what left her unprepared. “Yeah, I am that bad.”
“Like I said, Barbara, the biggest mistake you make, is that you don’t pay enough attention to your environment or the people you come in contact with. You believe that all people are good and that everyone has good intentions for you, because that’s how you are.”
“It is my fault,” Barbara said feeling naïve and stupid as Black tapped on the door and walked in.
“Hello, Barbara.”
“Hi, Uncle Mike,” Barbara said and got up from her bed to hug her uncle.
“You all right?” he asked and kissed her forehead.
“I’m okay.”
“You sure?”
“No.” Barbara laughed. “But I’ll be all right, Uncle Mike,” Barbara said as Bobby came in the room.
Barbara rushed into her father’s arms and she finally broke down in tears.
“Tahanee,” Black said and extended his hand to her.
“Yes.”
“Thank you for saving her.” Black glanced at Barbara crying in her father’s arms. “Barbara is very special to me. Now come on, we need to talk,” he said, and she followed him out of Barbara’s room. “You need to tell me everything, and don’t leave anything out.”
“I’m sorry, daddy,” Barbara said as soon as the door closed. Now she was safe. There in her father’s protective arms, arms that had always been there to love and protect her for as long as she could remember. Barbara cried harder. “I’m sorry, daddy.”
“It’s okay, baby,” Bobby said and held Barbara tight. Tighter than he had ever held her. Barbara felt it too. “It’s okay, baby. You’re safe now and that’s all that matters.”