by Roy Glenn
He picked up his phone and dialed a number. AD answered on the first ring. “What can I do for you?”
“Don’t bother sending a car.”
“I think that it would be in your best interest to meet with me. At least hear me out.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to meet, I just said don’t bother sending a car. I’ll call you back and let you know where to meet me.”
“I will look forward to hearing from you,” AD said, and he ended the call.
Hawkins quickly dialed another number. He didn’t want to, but he had little choice.
“Yo,” Thomas Mills answered.
“This Hawkins.”
“You got a lot of fuckin’ nerve calling me after the shit you pulled.”
“So, you know that it must be serious.”
“You in trouble?” Mills asked.
“Big trouble,” he said and explained his situation to his old partner.
“Why the fuck would you do some dumbass shit like that? Mutha fuckin’ Rain Robinson ain’t nobody to be fuckin’ with. What could possibly make you do some shit like that?”
“Money.”
Mills laughed. “You always was a greedy fuck. I told you that one day money and pussy would get your mutha fuckin’ ass killed.”
“Yeah, well you may be right, but I ain’t trying to make that day today. So, you gonna have a nigga’s back or what?”
“Yeah, I got you. Truth be told, I was done with her pretty ass anyway. But it was just the principle of the thing; you know what I’m saying. I counted you a friend and you went behind my back and went hard at her, that’s all. But like I said, you always was a greedy mug, that went double when it came to pussy.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“Tell me what you need and I’m there?”
“I need numbers.”
“I got ten treacherous niggas that’s ready to ride on my word. You just need to tell me where and when.”
“I’ll call you back,” Hawkins said and ended the call. Now he needed a place to meet AD, someplace where he could see them coming and a place that would be easy for him to defend.
If this went south and AD was just tying up loose ends, he planned on surviving it. With that singular thought in mind, he knew that it had to be a public place and it needed to be outdoors.
He called both AD and Mills back and told them to meet him at Van Cortlandt Park; Mills in an hour and AD in an hour and thirty minutes. That would give him enough time to pack up and move someplace where AD didn’t have the number. Once he had gotten himself moved, Hawkins went to the park and walked around for the next ten minutes to be sure he would be safe. When he got to the meeting place, Mills was there waiting.
“I was just about to bounce,” he said.
“Just checking things out.”
“I hear you. Where you want us?”
“Right here,” Hawkins said, and they sat down to wait. Their wait wasn’t long because soon after they sat down, he saw AD, along with another man, walking toward them.
“That’s him,” Hawkins said and stood up.
“How you wanna play this?” Mills said, standing next to Hawkins.
“Walk with me,” he said and started toward AD.
“Y’all be ready for whatever,” Mills said as he walked off with Hawkins. “This just like old times.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“We done faced down a bunch of niggas in our time,” Mills said.
“And we still standing. A lot of mugs we came up against are across the street rotting at Woodlawn.”
“I don’t like that it’s just two of them. I smell some trick shit coming.”
Hawkins laughed. “I know T-Mill from the Hill can handle it,” he said as they approached AD. He stopped and held open his coat.
“I’m not armed.”
“I am,” Hawkins said and took out his gun. “And if it’s all the same to you, I’ll just hold on to it.”
“No problem. A man’s got to protect himself when he feels threatened.”
“Shoot this shit-talkin’ nigga,” Mills leaned close to Hawkins and whispered.
“Let’s hear what he has to say first. If I tell him to go fuck himself and that bitch, put two in his head,” Hawkins said and walked over to where AD was waiting for him.
“Let’s talk,” he said and started walking. Hawkins looked at Mills and he started walking behind them.
“I want you to know that Rona appreciates what you did for her,” AD began.
He wanted revenge for Robert and Ronnie, but he thought that going after The Family was a bad idea and it was something that they didn’t need to be involved in. He told Robert that same thing before he brought Monk in. He offered Ronnie the same advice when he decided that fuckin’ with Rain was a good idea.
“Right.” Whatever, nigga. That shit damn near got me killed. “You said that you were in a position to offer me some assistance as a show of your appreciation.”
“And I can. I just needed you to do one more thing for me.”
“You ain’t really been paying attention, have you? I’m surprised, you’re usually on top of shit. I’m done. I got no soldiers.”
“What about them?” AD asked, pointing back at Mills and his men.
“They just here out of friendship to watch my back in case you decided on doing some stupid shit.”
“I understand.”
“Look, I’m just trying to put enough paper together so I can get out of dodge. If you’re in a position to be of assistance with that as a show of your appreciation, then I’m all ears. If not, this conversation is over.”
AD stopped walking.
“Then I guess this conversation is over,” he said and walked off in the opposite direction.
“I guess so,” Hawkins said as he watched AD walk away from him.
“That don’t seem like it went like you thought it would,” Mills said when he walked up.
“No. Some people just don’t like to be told no. Yo, man, thanks for coming. If you wasn’t here, this probably would have gone a whole lot differently.”
“Yeah, that shit-talkin’ mutha fucka would have killed you as soon as you told him no.” Mills shook his head. “What now?”
“Same plan. Wait on my money to come through and hope that I live long enough to collect it.”
“If you need some paper, I could front you a little piece of something.”
“No worries, you doing this for me was more than I deserve. I’ll be all right.”
“You’re right, it is more than you deserve for the shit you did.” He laughed. “How is Keeshana anyway?”
“Fuck I know. After she fucked me, she fucked Barnes and then Sterling.” He laughed. “I did your ass a favor. You should be thanking me for taking that scandalous tramp off your hands.”
Chapter Fourteen
When Rona walked out of the precinct with her lawyer, it was hard for her to hide her smile. She knew when she embarked on the venture that this day might come, and it went exactly the way that she thought it would. But the added satisfaction that it was Kirk that she was able to walk out a free woman on, made the day so much sweeter for her.
“If you have any more contact with those detectives, you just call me, Rona,” Madison, her lawyer said as Garon open the door to his car for her.
“You can be sure of that. And thank you so much for coming, Madison.”
“It’s no problem, honey. After all, it is why you pay to keep me on retainer, right?”
“Right. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t express my appreciation. I was terrified to be in that room alone with him.”
“I understand.”
“So, thank you again, Madison.”
“If Kirk comes at you again, we’ll go the restraining order route.” Madison hugged Rona. “Don’t worry. You are nothing like your father. You’ve taken all the death, violence and destruction that your father caused and turned it into something beautif
ul.”
“I know,” Rona said shyly.
“Old dinosaur cops like Kirk should have been put out to pasture years ago. Call me.”
“I will,” Rona waved as she walked away, thinking that Madison was right. She was nothing like her father, she was worse because she was smarter than him. She got in the car knowing that she had won the first two rounds and now it was time to decide if it was better to cut her losses, tie up loose ends, and move on. She had dealt a serious blow to The Family and though she should be satisfied with that, Rona wasn’t satisfied. She wasn’t satisfied at all.
She wanted Rain dead and that was all that there was to it. There were times when she thought that if killing Rain was what this was all about, why didn’t she simply contract Joachim Eisenbraun to kill her? But she smiled to herself as she thought that this was so much sweeter.
“Where to?” Garon asked as he drove.
“Take me to the restaurant, please,” she said and looked out the window. “And call ahead and have them to call AD. I need him to meet me there.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Garon said picking up the phone to call The King Family Restaurant to carry out her instructions. But then there was a question that he needed to ask. “Erica wants to know if you want something to eat?”
Rona smiled. “Who’s cooking?”
“She wants to know who’s cooking?” Garon asked and waited for a reply. “Paul is cooking tonight.”
“Tell Erica yes, I do want something to eat and Paul knows what I like.”
“Got it,” he said and relayed the message.
When Rona and Garon arrived at the restaurant, AD was already there waiting in the office. That was their only meeting place. So he wouldn’t be seen by customers or staff that wasn’t family, AD entered through Robert’s private entrance. That was the only direct contact that he had with Rona. Otherwise, she only sent messages via her cousin, Erica, who managed The King Family Restaurant and her aunt Miss Betty. She and her husband, Theo had been running Bones, one of the King Family’s other restaurants, for years.
“Hello, Rona. How are you?” AD asked, getting up from behind the desk in the office.
“Other than getting arrested today, I’m fine.”
“What?”
Rona sat down at the desk. “You heard me. Kirk, of all people, came to my apartment to arrest me for conspiracy to commit murder. He asked me about Joachim Eisenbraun.”
“That’s not good.”
“No, but it wasn’t unexpected. My personal feelings about the man aside, Kirk is a thorough cop.”
“Your father thought the same thing.”
“Still, I didn’t expect him to find Eisenbraun so quickly.” She held up her hand. “And before you ask, yes, he was arrested; and yes, he implicated me as the one who hired him.”
“How did you get out?”
“When his lawyer arrived, he apparently recanted the statement that he made to Kirk, claimed police brutality and they released him. Without his statement, Kirk had no reason to hold me.” Rona paused and folded her hands on the desk. “I am thankful to be out, of course; however, I am curious to know how Eisenbraun knew to implicate me?”
“I never mentioned your name in any of our conversations …” he paused. “As you requested. But he is your father’s contact and —”
“And with my father being dead,” Rona interrupted. “Eisenbraun naturally assumed that you were merely my representative.”
Although she respected and trusted AD, she had lost patience with him and him constantly reminding her of the way her father used to do things. In her mind, AD had become a reminder of the failed ways that got her father and brother killed.
“I’m sure that’s what it was,” AD said.
Although he loved Rona like she was his own daughter, he had grown tired of the way she talked to him.
“I need you to clean up anything that ties him to us.”
“I contacted him with a burner, and I paid him in Bitcoin like he wanted. There is nothing to tie us to him.”
“I know that,” Rona said impatiently. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t have released me. His statement was all they had. But Kirk won’t let this go,” she said, knowing that she made it worse.
Haven’t you harassed my family enough? Haven’t you caused me enough pain?
“He’ll be back.”
“I’ll make sure that there is nothing that ties him to us,” he said. As she had lost patience with him, he had gotten tired of her shit.
AD was running a nice quiet program for her, as he had done for her father for years and everybody was making money. Then Rona decided to take that money, money that he worked hard for, and invest it in revenge.
Revenge never has earned anybody a nickel.
“Thank you.” She smiled. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Rona said, but didn’t mean. “Now, if there’s nothing else —”
“There is. I finally caught up with Hawkins. He’s on the run and has no soldiers.”
“Terminate him.” Rona stood up. “And please see to that quickly. I’m going to eat. You enjoy your evening,” she said as she went out in the restaurant and Erica showed her to a table.
“Good evening, Paul,” Rona said as he pushed his cart to her table.
“How are you this evening, Ms. King?”
“Everything is wonderful.” She smiled her bright smile. “Excited to see what you have for me tonight,” she said with an almost childlike enthusiasm.
“I’ll be preparing steak and shrimp flambé for you this evening.”
She rubbed her hands together as he got ready to cook. “Now that does sound delicious.”
“And I promise that it will be, Ms. King. We’ll start with an eight-ounce filet mignon, which I am going to flambé with cognac. And then I will sauté six giant tiger shrimp with smoked paprika, shallots, garlic and cherry tomatoes, flambéed in cognac with butter and a drizzle of creme fraiche, served over Yukon Gold mashed potatoes with a medley of wild mushrooms and brandy truffle sauce just the way you like it.”
“And what is for dessert?”
“Crêpes Suzette, of course, Ms. King.”
“Thank you, Paul,” she said and happily watched as Paul, in a dazzling display of culinary showmanship, prepared and then served Rona’s meal.
“Would you like wine with your food, Ms. King?” Erica smiled and asked.
“Stop calling me that,” she laughed. “How about a kind of tropical Sauvignon blanc?”
“I think you should try the Cordier Labottiere Prestige 2016.”
“Excellent choice, Erica, thank you.”
“No worries, cuz,” she said and signaled for a waitress to handle it as she walked away from the table.
Once Rona finished her flambé, and believe me, it was absolutely delicious, she asked Erica to have Garon join her at the table.
“Are you ready to go?”
“No. Please have a seat, Garon,” Rona said, extending her hand toward the chair across from her. She liked Garon and had been gradually positioning him to take AD’s spot since she had gotten back. “Did you eat?”
“I had what you had,” he said and sat down. “In the kitchen without all the presentation and showmanship.”
“But that’s the best part.”
“But the food tastes the same.”
“True,” Rona paused. “Now that the police and Rain are on to us, her next move, or I should say Black’s next move, will be to assassinate AD.” Garon nodded. He had a question, but he knew that he should hold it. “When that happens, one of two things will occur. Black will do nothing and wait to see what I do.”
“Or?”
“He will send Rain after us with everything he has,” she said calmly, knowing that this was always an all or nothing proposition and since she had little to lose, she was all in.
“Which do you expect?”
“The former. In that case, Rain will still come, but she’ll be there to look. Black will need a reas
on to start fighting, so Rain will try to provoke a confrontation. I need you to make it clear to who are now your people that they are not to engage Rain’s people for any reason.”
“I understand.” Garon paused. “How do you know that AD will be assassinated?”
“Because I arranged it so that everything will lead back to AD.”
Chapter Fifteen
At Rain’s request, Carla had been investigating Rona King and the businesses that she rebuilt after her father and brother were murdered.
“I need you to find everything there is to know about the bitch.”
“What’s my name?” Carla smiled.
“And when you do, start taking all the bitch’s money,” Rain demanded, and Carla went to work.
Using all of her skills and the tools at her disposal, Carla set out immediately to carryout Rain’s orders. She knew how important her skills and knowledge were to The Family. It was she that handed them Mobley and Barnes, and she was dead on finding Hawkins, but her getting information on Rona King and tying her to the attacks on The Family was now her main priority.
While she worked, Carla thought about the decision that she made years ago when she married Zavier. Saying that it was life-changing would be an understatement. She went from working a boring nine-to-five job processing data and barely using her skills, to working for a criminal organization; hacking into secure computers, as well as sophisticated and supposedly impregnable surveillance systems, commandeering satellites for her own use and coming up with elaborate ways to steal money.
And having the time of my life doing it, she thought and prepared to run a search for any property, businesses and investments in the name Rona King. What she found wasn’t unexpected, but it definitely wasn’t going to be what Rain was expecting or wanted to hear.
Rain was on her way to J.R.’s to meet with Black and Bobby when she got the call from Carla. Rain told her to meet them at the club and she was waiting there for them when they arrived.
“Tell me you found her money and the bitch got plenty of it to take,” Rain said when she walked in her office followed by Black and Bobby.