Authors: Shareef Jaudon
“Dude what’d you do…read the ‘How to Jackem’ hand book? I came here to let you know you’re still breathin’ cuz I allow it. I came here to tell you not to show u
p to the underground market. I came here to see the second best crew in L.A. for myself, and so far I’m not impressed.”
Jax rolled his beady eyes. “You’re not impress
ed huh? Lemme ask you somethin’. You ever seen a frog get cooked?” His beady eyes narrowed. “You see, the water in the pot starts out cold. The frog gets dropped in the pot, but he doesn’t jump back out because he’s comfortable. The heat from the burner slowly warms the water up, but the frog doesn’t jump out because he’s comfortable. The warm water is soothin’ givin’ the frog a false sense of security. Before the frog knows it…the water is boiling and his ass is cooked. You ever had frog legs? They kinda taste like fishy chicken, but anyway Kermit. I think you should really pay close attention to my little frog story and recognize the wisdom in it. You should quit before the water gets too hot.”
I decided my unannounced visit was over. I ha
d seen what I came to see. Hopefully I’d given Sway and Angelique enough time to plant the GPS tracker on Rachael’s ride. I was certain they could handle Rachael on their own, but I couldn’t have them dealing with Jax and Bishop at the same time. Plus, I wanted to keep Angelique out of harm’s way.
“
I think you put Bishop to sleep with that weak ass Sesame Street story. Look, I gotta go snatch 25 million real quick, so you two can stay in this five hundred dollar a night room and hop on each other. And if you get in my way next time I will body the both of you without a second thought.”
Jax pointed at me. “I’ll see you soon pretty boy.”
I backed out of the room the same way I came in with my gun drawn. I left the odd couple sitting on the floor watching me work. I shut the door to the room and walked swiftly down the hallway toward the elevators. I looked over my shoulder to make sure I was alone as the chrome doors parted slowly.
As I got inside the elevator and pressed the L button the one opposite mine chimed loudly and the doors slid open.
To my surprise, Rachael walked out like one leg was shorter than the other. She was directly in front of me and we saw each other at the same time. I could tell she had been in a little scuffle and I knew exactly who had made her limp like that.
Where was
Sway? Where was Angelique?
Ange
lique sat alone in a chair with no arms in a basic small room. The only furniture decorating the place was a small table with various carvings from the other people who had sat in the same place before her. On the other side of table there was an empty chair staring at her. She ran her finger over the jagged words and snorted her approval. Someone obviously had a strong distaste for law enforcement and he or she had scratched “Fuck the Police” in the table top.
The room was cold, which was
probably a deliberate move by the powers that be to make people uncomfortable. Her micro shorts did little to warm her up as tiny goose bumps dotted her legs and arms. It had been an hour since she first got pulled over and detained, and for the last 20 minutes she had been waiting in the room under bad fluorescent lighting. Angelique poised herself and steadied her nerves. She didn’t know exactly what she was there for, but she had an idea. It damn sure wasn’t for any traffic offense, and the regular beat cops offered no hint either. All they said was that she was wanted for questioning in an important investigation…that was it.
The silver door knob clicked loudly as t
wo detectives walked in and closed the door behind them. One had a crew cut and was about 30 pounds overweight. He was pale and looked like he had not shaved in a few days. The taller man was black and had a low cut fade with salt and pepper hair on top. He appeared to be in his mid-forties, but his body was in good enough shape considering his age. Angelique could tell that the black man was the lead and the military looking dude was playing the back ground. The boss sat down in the only empty chair in the room while his crony stood in the corner against the wall with a Styrofoam coffee cup in his hand. His cold accusing eyes stared at her as he took long sips from his white cup. Angelique ignored the intense glare coming from the corner and focused her attention on the man sitting across from her with a pad and pen in front of him.
She smirked. “If you wanted my phone number you didn’t have to do all this…you coulda jus’ asked me for
it.”
The detective tapped his pen on the table. “I’m detective Sharpe and that’s detective Conner. We’re a part of a special high profile robbery unit with the L.A.P.D. The reason for your visit today…well, I think you know why you’re here don’t you Ms. Angelique Dupree?”
Angelique smirked again. “Look, I completely forgot I was holdin’ the gum. I had every intention on payin’ for it. I even grabbed it at the check-out stand. I paid for my food, grabbed my bags, and by the time I got to my car in the parking lot I realized I had stolen it. I know I shoulda went back in and paid for it, but I figured Walmart wouldn’t go bankrupt over a 99 cent pack of Orbitz.”
Detective Conner huffed in the corner showing signs of irritation on his flat face.
“You think this is a game Angelique? You keep up this comedian routine and you’re gonna find yourself neck deep in shit. I’ll freakin’ bury you. You’ll be…”
“That’s enough Conner.
Let me handle this.” Sharpe waved his hand.
Angelique peeped the plain gold wedding band on Sharpe’s ring finger.
“Please excuse my partner. He gets a little animated sometimes.”
“I know one thing he doesn’t get is pussy
, cuz he’s too uptight.” Angelique winked at Conner who was trying hard not to open his mouth.
Sharpe cleared his throat and began again. “Angelique, I won’t waste anymore of your time. You are not under arrest, and we’re not holding you on any pending charges. I know you were wrongly convicted for a drug charge as a result of the dealings of a crooked District Attorney. Even though you escaped from custody, the late D.A. completely absolved you any wrong doing before he was murdered. So that case is history and not one the current D.A. wants to touch to avoid a potential law suit from you.”
“Ok, so why am I here?”
“You’re here because of your affiliation with Tyce Adkins.”
Conner couldn’t resist the urge to speak any longer and jumped in the conversation. “And don’t pretend you don’t know who the hell he is either.”
“I know who he
is cowboy. You can relax.” She rolled her eyes at him.
Sharpe continued. “Good, so you know he’s the criminal master mind behind at least two murders and one robbery that we know of. Tyce knocked off an armored truck and stole millions in cash. He’s built quite the life for himself for a former ward of the state and group home resident for the first 15 years of his life. A life that includes you Ms. Dupree.”
Angelique folded her arms. “I was involved with him before, but we’ve ended our relationship recently.”
“What can you tell us about the robberies and the murders?” Sharpe smoothed the front of his white dress shirt.
“Nothin’. I’ve never seen him kill anybody, or rob anyone.”
“Gimme a break.” Conner pointed at her. “You expect us to believe that bull shit? You’re rich because of him!”
“I’m rich because of me. I know I don’t have to tell you cuz you probably already know. However, I’ll refresh your memory. I own four highly successful private clubs and I lease six semi-trucks to licensed truck drivers. I earn over a million a year from my legit businesses. You can check my taxes. I’m legally wealthy. So you can stick your finger up your ass and fuck yourself Detective Conner.”
Sharpe enjoyed how Angelique handled herself under pressure. He silently witnessed her throw young Detective Conner off his game with little effort. He could understand why Tyce had chosen her to be on his crew in the first place. And by looking at her beautiful face, and sexy body; he also understood why Tyce had fallen for her. Angelique was the perfect balance of Devil and Angel and she wasn’t one to cave in and start singing like a canary in a freezing interview room.
Sharpe turned around. “Conner would you mind stepping out please? I could use a cup of coffee and you could use a little break.”
“Whatever.” Conner let himself out and slammed the door behind him.
Angelique shook her head in amusement. She knew she was being video tapped. She knew they were trying to play that ancient good cop bad cop routine on her. And she knew they were putting their poles in the water hoping to catch a big fish and planned on using her as bait.
“I apologize for his actions. You’re not on tr
ial here. We’re not after you. We’re after Tyce. Look, I’ll be straight with you. I think you’re intelligent, so I’ll lay it out for you and let you think on it.” Sharpe put his elbows on the table. “I know you know more than you let on. In fact you know everything Tyce does, but check this scenario out. Let’s say you show up at the next heist and we show up as well. Tyce gets arrested along with you, but you know who doesn’t get locked up? Khari. Your daughter goes to foster care unless someone from either of your families takes care of her. What kind of life would that be that for her? She’ll be completely traumatized and lost without you. How do you expect to be a good mother to her when you’re serving a life sentence? And for what? To protect a thug like Tyce? He doesn’t give a damn about you or Khari. If he did, he wouldn’t jeopardize his freedom, or his life for money. What kind of man kills innocent people, steals money, and then kisses his baby girl good night? I know he’s handsome on the outside, but you have to know that on the inside he’s a monster. Don’t stand by and go down in flames with him and miss out on your daughter’s life. You owe her your allegiance…not him.”
Angelique kept her arms folded. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to do the right thing for you and your daughter. Look, we both know what’s going to happen at the end of this story. Tyce is gonna either get locked up or killed. He barely escaped death a few months ago. Do you think he’s lucky enough to survive another attempt on his life? You can spare Khari and yourself the heartache and pain of burying him if you work with us to put him behind bars. At least he won’t be dead.”
Angelique licked her dry lips. Detective Sharpe sensed a shift in her mood.
“Do you have kids Detective?”
“
Yes I do. I have four. Two boys and two girls.”
“How long have you been married?”
“18 years, so I know what I’m talking about.”
Angelique held her palm out and looked the cop in his
deep brown eyes. Sharpe took a long look at Angelique’s bare left hand and shook his head.
“Where’s your ring? Tyce isn’t man enough to make an honest woman out of you?” He tapped his pen on the table again. “If you were the mother of my child, I’d treat you like a queen.”
“I have to pick up my daughter this evening. I need to leave, but I’ll take your card if you have one.” Angelique ignored the obvious jab at her unmarried status.
Sharpe smiled. “Sure, I understand.” He reached into his shirt pocket and placed his card in her outstretched hand. “Here you go. Do yourself a favor and work with us. You can call me anytime day or night. I pride myself on being discreet and I’ll keep this and any future conversations we have regarding Tyce completely confidential from any o
utside people. No one will know. I can assure you of that.”
Angelique let out a deep sigh. “Give me a few days to think about it.”
“No problem. I’ll walk you out and take you back to your car. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me Ms. Dupree.”
The sun rays felt especially warm on Angelique’s face as she walked outside next to Detective Sharpe. It felt good to be out of the desolate interview room and back in the free world again. Angelique was allergic to police stations, so she was glad to be out of there before she broke out in hives or something. She placed the Detectives information in the back pocket of her tight denim shorts as a yellow Lamborghini rolled past her. The black windows contrasted nicely with the bright body. She imagined herself behind the wheel of the expensive sports car and smiled. One thing was for sure, she couldn’t very well speed through the city in a four wheel rocket if she was locked the fuck up.
My home was the place where I rested my head. I tried not to bring my problems to the house with me
, but I had to make an exception. I had too much shit on my mind to just drop my baggage off at the door. Something wasn’t right. I felt uneasy. Normally there was a certain amount of tension and stress that came with the territory in the type of business I was in. However, things were different now.
I tossed the empty to-go box in the tra
sh can in my kitchen. Lately when Carmela was off, Dallas was too busy to take over. So, tonight she ordered dinner from my favorite Mexican restaurant. Dallas was finishing up her chicken enchilada plate when the doorbell rang.
“You want me to get it?” Dallas took the fork out of her mouth.
“Naw, sit tight. I got it.”
I made my way to the front door to let Sway and Peck inside. They were right on time for the short notice meeting as usual.
“Wasup fam?” I addressed my partners.
“I can’t call it.” Peck gave me a pound.
Sway punched me playfully in the stomach as he walked by me after Peck. He seemed upbeat for the occasion, rocking his customary V-neck T-shirt and diamond encrusted dog tags with his kids’ names etched in the middle.
“We in the kitchen.” I closed the door and walked down the hallway.
Dallas put her Corona down on the table as we all walked in to join her. I pulled up a chair and cracked my knuckles.
“Alright
, fill me in fellas. Where we at?”
Sway leaned his back against my counter. “After me and you put the tracker on Rachael’s car
, I put another one on Jax’s Hummer. So when they make a move we’re gonna know about it. All we gotta do is plug in.”
“How did you know it was Jax’s Hummer?” Dallas chimed in.
Sway chuckled. “Cuz the nigga had Jax on the license plate.”
We all saw the humor in that move and shared a laugh at Jax’s expense.
“Alright cool. Wasup with you young Jedi?”
Peck grabbed a beer from the fridge and turned around. “I handled all my shit Yoda. Me and Sabrina took a ride down to China town and picked up them things, and checked out three get away routes from the job site. We got into a lil
’ argument cuz she didn’t believe the one I chose was faster than her route. So we drove both at legal speeds and I proved mine was three minutes faster than hers. Now she owes me a butt naked oil massage when I get home.” He rubbed his hands together and smiled.
I nodded my approval. “That’s wasup. I see you catchin’ on. When you make a wager with your woman, you never bet money. You alw
ays bet sexual favors…that way you both don’t lose.”
“Tell
‘em baby.” Dallas co-signed.
“Ay
, I appreciate you holding up your end. And tell Sabrina I’ll call her tomorrow.”
“Yep.” Peck popped the cap on his Corona.
Sway adjusted his thick white gold watch. “So, have you talked to Angelique since she got into that fight with Rachael?”
Dallas perked up when she heard Sway mention her old nemesis.
“Naw, she hasn’t hit me. My mom called me after she picked Khari up, so I know she’s alright. I figured I would give her some time to get settled and give her a shout later tonight. I feel bad about the whole fightin’ shit.”
Sway sucked his teeth. “Come on man that shit ain
’t on you. She coulda stayed in the car, but she chose to get out and confront her. You know Angelique ain’t about to let some bitch get a pass after she tried to shoot her. There was nothing you could do about that. You can’t be in two places at once.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Damn, I wish I coulda been there to see that shit. I bet Angie whooped her ass.” Peck grinned widely.
I put my hands in the air. “Well, I did see the bitch walkin’ out
of the elevator like her shoe was about to come off, so you’re probably right.”
Dallas sighed. “Yeah
yeah yeah, the girl can fight. Let’s move on.”
I took the blatant hint and changed the subject to a more serious topic. I could see why Dallas was short on patience when Angelique was taking up her time.
“Alright listen, I got my final meeting with Quiana tomorrow evening and three days later it’s kick off time. We’ve been over the plan back to front and front to back so everybody knows wasup. If anything should change jus’ follow my lead. Keep the ear pieces in so we can communicate at all times and hear everything each other says. The main channel is two. If that one gets jammed or crossed up the secondary channel is nine. I want everybody vested up and if the shit goes south the link up spot is Sabrina’s house. Jus’ make sure if you gotta dip that no one follows you there. If you even think you have a tail lead them in the opposite direction far away from the beach house. I don’t care if you gotta drive all the way to Vegas…jus’ keep the heat away from the house. This shit might go a lil different so I’ma need you all to keep up with me on this.”
“We gotchu.” Sway nodded his curly head.
The sudsy water went slowly down the drain as I lifted Khari out of the bath tub. I loved the smell of clean and fresh baby skin. I think it soothed me more than her to be honest. And at the moment I could use a little soothing. It was stressful times that made being a single woman suck ass. Even though I could hold my own, at the end of the day I was still a woman. As I dried off my baby girl my thoughts flashed to her daddy. I replayed the whole cop scene in my head and got agitated all over again.
I wonder if Tyce knew
that the holice were onto him?
Was my place bugged? Was my phone tapped?
How much did they really know and was Detective Sharpe hitting on me in the interrogation room?
After I put Khari to bed
, I took the baby monitor, a big cup of vodka and orange juice, my cigarettes, and my phone all with me to my second floor patio. I was not in the mood to eat. I was not in the mood to sleep. I was in the mood to drink…a lot. However, before I drowned my problems in vitamin C infused alcohol…I had one phone call to make first. That’s when it crossed my mind that I couldn’t use my phone because it might be tapped. I had to think fast. I spotted my next door neighbor taking her ugly ass squirrel chasing dog for his nightly walk. I left my feel better kit on the patio and walked quickly through my bedroom. In a matter of seconds I was outside with Yolanda and her cross eyed mutt.
“Hey girl. Hey Tank.” I patted the dog
’s scraggly head.
“Hey Angelique how you doin’?” Yolanda scratched her dry wig making it wiggle on her small head.
“I’m good. Can I ask you a favor?” I didn’t wait for her to answer. “I dropped my phone in a puddle today, but I need to make a call. Do you mind if I use your phone for a second?”
My neighbor reached into her back pocket. “Sure, no problem.” She handed me her Black Berry. “Hey, you should take the battery out and put the whole thing in a bowl of rice to dry it out. After that it should come back to life.”
“Oh ok…I’ll do that.”
I took the phone and walked a few feet away. I could tell her nosey ass was trying to hear my conversation
, so I planned on keeping my voice low. I punched the number in, but I didn’t have to wait long before he answered.
“Hello.”
“Dwayne, its Angelique.”
“Oh, I didn’t recognize the number. I thought you was Kisha. She always callin’ me fr
om different numbers and shit cuz I won’t talk to her trifling ass.”
“Well I ain
’t your baby mama and I’m glad you picked up. Can you meet me at the club tomorrow night?” I cut to the chase.
I could hear him contemplating the idea. “Ummm
, I don’t know cuz I was supposed to go to a concert tomorrow. I got front row tickets to see Monica. You know how much I love her sexy ass.”
I shook my head. “I’ll triple your fee if you come.”
“Shit, you shoulda said that off the rip. Bump Monica. I’ll be there by ten.”
“Thank you…oh, and bring your equipment too.”
“Already,” he said.
“See you tomorrow night.”
“Already,” he said again before he hung up.
I handed the phone back to Yolanda who was busy pretending to inspect a bed of flowers near a tree.
“Here you go and thank you very much.”
“Oh
, don’t worry about it. It was my pleasure, don’t forget the rice. I have a whole bag if you need some.”
“I’ll let you know if I need any
, but I think I’m good. Thanks again for the phone call.”
“You’re welcome sweetie and y
ou have a good night now.”
“You too.” I walked up my sidewalk.
Before I resumed my adult activities on my balcony, I checked on Khari. She was still fast asleep laying on her back with her legs wide open and the blanket kicked off. I looked down at her peaceful face and smiled. She slept with her mouth slightly open just like her dad.
Now that I had set up the meeting with Dwayne, I could finally exhale a bit. I didn’t like surprises like the one I had earlier that day and I hated not knowing what to do. I lit my cigarette and took a drink of my tasty treat. The smoke from the cigarette snaked its way up and into the warm night air as I explored my options.
I met Quiana in our usual meeting place at midnight. I purposely contacted her and changed the pre scheduled time from three days away to right that second. In fact, after Peck and Sway left my house, I kissed Dallas on the lips and dipped out to take care of my business. Sometimes you have to switch shit up on people to keep from being too predictable. Unexpected moves like that kept people on their toes.
The secluded spot on the sandy beach offered a
small measure of privacy. It was the perfect place to have a conversation with my new employer because as usual, we stripped before we spoke openly. I took my T-shirt and shorts off, and she removed her bikini. We both stood there naked looking each other up and down until we were satisfied that there were no wires in play.
“You can leave your clothes right there Tyce.” Quiana licked her lips seductively.
I watched her size my package up. “Not a problem. I’m comfortable in my skin. My dick ain’t shy.”
She smiled. “And it shouldn’t be. But let’s stop talking about your magnificent pleasure pole and talk about business first.”
“I’m all ears.”
“First of all congratulations on getting the drop on Jax at the Omni.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “How’d you know about that?”
Quiana put her hand on her bare hip. “I don’t kiss and tell sweet heart. Just know that I have my ways. I like your style though. You definitely have his attention. Now
, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing when it comes to him.”
“Trust me, it’s a good thing. Niggas like Jax talk fast
, but think slow. Don’t trip…I got his number.”
“Okay so after you get the case where do we meet to do the exchange? I assume you want to be paid in cash
, so we’ll need a place that can accommodate such an expensive transaction.” Her brown nipples hardened as the wind picked up a bit.