Cougars (27 page)

“Yes, I suppose you're right. It's about the money as well. Especially if I can make a profit from my super pill and live in the lap of luxury.”

“See, now you're talking. Now you're starting to think right,” Alex said.

They drove to a private airplane hangar and then boarded a small jet.

“Alex, where are we going?” Travis asked as Alex sat in the pilot's seat.

“Relax. This aircraft is fully stocked. Check out the refrigerator back there. We're going to take a quick ride down to Miami. I'll
have you back home around midnight,” Alex said as he taxied the aircraft out of the hangar and onto the runway.

HATCHER'S HOME WAS GRAND. He lived in a gated community near the boat docks where several major cruise lines departed. Travis and Alex were escorted by a number of men who looked liked they wouldn't hesitate to kill them and feed their remains to sharks. Admittedly, Travis was intimidated and nervous but somehow willed himself to continue on. He was without a doubt covering ground that was foreign to him, but at the same time it seemed surreal, fascinating, and exciting. Travis moved through a grand foyer and out of a set of glass doors. They walked through the yard and toward a dock where there was a white yacht with a helicopter resting on it. Once they boarded, they went into a well-appointed office where Hatcher was waiting on them.

Hatcher was without a doubt a very clever and dangerous man, Travis sensed from the moment their eyes met. He was in his mid-fifties, well-built with black-and-gray curly hair. His moustache was pencil-thin and well-groomed. He was dressed in an expensive-looking white suit and had several expensive rings on his fingers. Hatcher looked of Spanish descent and not Irish like his last name McKean suggested. It was then that Travis realized that Hatcher was probably one of many aliases.

“Fellas, I'm so happy you could make it,” Hatcher said with a slight Spanish accent. “Please have a seat. We're all friends here.” Hatcher's eyelids sloped downward as if he'd spent unimaginable time under the blazing hot sun. Both Travis and Alex sat down.

“I'm so glad you're here, Travis.”

Travis cleared his throat, then swallowed hard. Then in his most confident voice, he said, “I'm happy to be here, too.”

“Alex has told me many things about you. He says you're like
a brother to him. That's a good thing because I like Alex and I trust him. If he says you're like a brother to him, then I know that I don't need to bullshit around. Am I right?”

“Of course you don't have to bullshit. This is Travis. He's cool,” Alex answered with a nervous and shaky voice. Travis had never seen or heard this particular side of his friend's personality.

“Excellent. Then let me get right to the point. I like to have my way and I always get what I want. Mr. Adams, the moment you stepped into my Rolls-Royce we became business partners. So if you have any business dealings with anyone else in the under- world, speak up so that I can blow your head off right now.”

“No. Travis is clean. He doesn't—”

“Alex!” Hatcher shot daggers with his eyes. “I was not talking to you.”

Alex tucked his tail between his legs and remained silent.

Travis repositioned himself in his seat. He sat up straight and answered, “No, I don't know anyone in your line of work.”

“I like you already. You answered the question directly and didn't give me a bunch of bullshit.”

“I don't believe in bullshit,” Travis responded, allowing the vile and monstrous side of his nature to come into full bloom.

“You have a product that is very unique and special. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world. It is something that we can make a lot of money with. You do want to make a lot of money, don't you, Mr. Adams?”

At that moment Travis sold what remained of his integrity and his soul to an agent of the devil.

“I want money and respect for my work,” Travis said boldly.

“This is good. I like a man who takes pride in his work. Look at me. Look around inside a small corner of my empire. In this world I am a king with wealth and riches at my feet. I have people
who respect me, fear me, and admire me. In many ways, to many people, I am a prophet.”

“So do you want to talk business or do you want to talk religion. You don't have to explain your power or importance. I already know that.”

Hatcher leaned back in his seat, and placed his index finger to his temple. He glared at Travis for a long moment and Travis unyieldingly glared back.

“Check him,” he said to one of his aides who stepped over and frisked Travis.

“He's clean,” answered his henchman.

“You know from your profession that the drug trade is a billion- dollar business that has two sides: the legitimate side and the dark side; one cannot exist without the other. Pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars each year on research in hopes of finding new medicines that will make them a large profit. Those big companies don't want to find a cure for diseases; they only want to relieve the symptoms. This keeps their customers coming back time and time again. In my business I don't give a damn about giving people false hope for miracle cures. I give them what they want. I give them the ability to escape from their reality and misery. And you, my friend, have created something that everyone will want.”

“If someone overdoses on it, they will die,” Travis said.

“So fucking what! You can die taking prescription medicine just as easily as you can illegal drugs. In the end, we all die.” Hatcher let his words linger in the air.

“You will make Cougars for me and only me. I will distribute it around the world and together we'll introduce something more powerful than cocaine or heroin.”

Hatcher snapped his fingers. One of the henchmen placed a
large briefcase on Alex's lap. “I'm going to assign some people to you and Alex. I want you to make me one-hundred-thousand pills. There is a lot of money in that briefcase. It should be enough to get the job done. And Travis, don't stop working your day job just yet. I have something I want you to do for me.” Hatcher popped his fingers again and another person brought in a bottle of wine and glasses. “Let us drink to our arrangement,” Hatcher said. All three men held up their glasses and toasted to the moment.

Jasmine stood in the bathroom mirror putting the finishing touches on her makeup. She was waiting on her sister, Lauren, to come pick her up because they decided it was time for a girls' night out. They were heading to a nightclub for an evening of fun, laughter, and anything else that came their way. Jasmine had decided to wear her sexy blue jeans, which accentuated her behind and long legs. She also had a pair of favorite gladiator high-heeled shoes and a low-cut top. Once she was finished with her makeup, she squirted on some of her most seductive perfume. She then walked into her bedroom and selected a small purse to carry. As she exited her bedroom and descended the staircase, her doorbell chimed.

“Hey babe,” Jasmine said as she greeted her sister wearing a blue jean miniskirt with a green top and strapless heels. Jasmine looked her sister over and gave her approval.

“You're showing off all of your big, sexy legs,” Jasmine said.

“You're damn right, I am. I am too damn sexy to just sit around the house being grumpy. Are you ready?” Lauren asked.

“Just about,” Jasmine said, walking over to a nearby closet and grabbed a light jacket. “Let's go.”

“I'm so tired of being upset over LeMar. Tonight I just want to go out, have myself a few drinks, dance with some young men and just do whatever,” Lauren explained as she opened her car door.

Once they got situated inside, Jasmine said, “Girl, I don't know
what is going on with Travis and me. He acts so hot and cold. One minute he behaves as if he wants to be with me, then the next he's as cold as the Antarctic. I'm the type of woman who has a high sex drive and I need the dick on a regular basis. I can't deal with him just wanting to keep shit casual. I got things a little twisted by suggesting that we get a little more serious. But I couldn't help it. I swear his dick is so damn good that I had a damn out-of-body experience fucking him. That's the type of lovemaking that can screw a woman's head up.”

“What do you mean you had an ‘out-of-body experience'?”

“Girl, I've done some shit with Travis that I've never done with any man. It's just something about him that I just can't shake. We had anal sex and I have never in my life wanted to do that. But he was putting it down so excellently and I was so damn hot that I took it. I was sick and my stomach was uneasy for a few days, but after that I was cool,” Jasmine said.

“Girl, I just can't do that anal thing. More power to you on that tip. Would you do that again, or was that one of those one-time-only deals?” Lauren asked.

“I'd let him do it again, but he'd have to be more gentle.”

“Well, let me just say this and then I'm going to leave the shit alone. I get a funny vibe when I'm around Travis. I don't know what it is, but something about him just doesn't sit right with me.” Lauren stated what was on her mind.

“I'll admit he can be a little arrogant, but overall he's an okay guy. Of course from my perspective, his best asset is his dick. For some reason, his shit is like gold to me.” Jasmine laughed.

“What has he been up to?”

“Actually, it's funny you should mention that. He's been assigned to work with another team. Some other special project the president of the company put him on because he complained about
having his research interrupted. He works on a different floor, so I don't see him as much at work. I've been poking his ass every day on Facebook though.” Jasmine laughed and then continued talking. “As pathetic as this may sound, I still want to fuck him. We haven't spent any intimate time together in weeks. And like you, I have my needs. Ever since we did the anal thing, I have been craving dick. I mean I've really been hot. It's like my sexual desire has kicked into overdrive. My vibrator has been getting a serious workout.” Jasmine chuckled.

“Oh Lord, Jasmine, that was really too much information.”

“Whatever, but I do know this, I'm not going to keep calling him to ask for some of his precious time because Jasmine Sallie does not sit around waiting on some man to bring the beef. If I'm forced to go out and hunt down some new dick, I will.”

“Amen to that,” Lauren said as she turned up the radio. The old school jam “It Takes Two” by Rob Base was playing.

“Old school for life, baby. When I was in college, this song here was the shit,” Jasmine shouted as she grooved to the music.

“My favorite college song was ‘Wild Thang' by Tone Loc. Do you remember how I'd go around just saying that phrase?” Lauren asked.

“Oh yeah, between that and your obsession with the movie
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
, you drove me crazy.” Jasmine laughed.

“Come on, you've got to admit that movie was funny as hell. I still laugh every time I think about the part where the dude went into prison in the seventies and then when he got out it was like a decade later,” Lauren said.

“Oh yeah and he had the fish swimming in his shoes.” Jasmine started laughing aloud with her sister.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now that was some stupid shit, but it was just too damn funny.”

“Damn, Lauren, we were in our twenties back then and didn't have a care in the world. And the sorority parties we went to. God, those were good times. Where does the time go?”

“Time is never on our side. The more we want it to slow down, the quicker it moves,” Lauren said as they drove down the highway toward their destination.

W
HEN
J
ASMINE
A
ND
L
AUREN
ARRIVED at the club, there was excitement and energy on the streets. The weather had finally warmed up and waves of partygoers were walking in the streets traveling from one club to another. Lauren used the nightclub's valet service to park her car. When they entered the club there was loud music, flashing lights, and a massive gathering of people dancing to Rick James' “Super Freak
.
” Jasmine and Lauren maneuvered their way through the crowd and found a spot at the bar. They ordered themselves something to drink. No sooner than Lauren's drink arrived did some young man come up to her and ask for a dance.

“Go on. Have fun,” Jasmine said as she encouraged her sister to enjoy herself.

“I'm a super freak, I'm super freaky yow!” Lauren said as she made her way to the dance floor.

As the night continued on, Jasmine and Lauren had danced to many songs and had a particularly grand time dancing to the Casper Slide.

“Okay, everyone, this is DJ Boogie Child. How y'all feeling tonight?” The DJ interrupted the music to try to get the crowd pumped up.

“Is anyone celebrating a birthday tonight?” A loud roar arose from the crowd again. DJ Boogie Child decided to have a contest to see which male had the sexiest chest. He stopped the music for a moment and selected volunteers from the crowd.

“Come on, let's move closer. I want to see this,” Jasmine said to her sister. They moved closer to the stage so they could see. Four young men stood before them; all of them looked scrumptious to both Jasmine and Lauren.

“Who do you think is going to win?” Lauren spoke purposely in Jasmine's ear.

“I don't know, we'll have to wait and see what they're working with.”

“Now, I'm going to play some music for each of these guys. As I play the music they're going to do a striptease, taking off only their shirts.”

“Let them take it all off,” Lauren yelled out and the crowd agreed with her. All of the young men on the stage laughed with embarrassment. The first guy stepped forward and danced to Justine Timberlake's “Sexy Back
.
” He had a strip of hair down the center of his chest, but his pectoral muscles were very well-developed. The next guy danced to a song by Kanye West called “Love Lock- down.” His chest was nicer looking, but he needed to work on his abs. The third guy danced to a song called “Body on Me” by Nelly.