Private Deceptions (24 page)

"I figured that part out too. As long as Felix had his hand around our throats and we didn’t know what was really goin’ on down there anyway, we were non-threatening. What happened to change that?"

"My friend wasn’t the only one with influential friends. There were stories in some circles of American service men participating in a drug eradication effort. If those stories ever made their way to Capital Hill there would be hell to pay," Felix said. "And all that hell would fall on me, Nick."

"You three were the only one’s who lived, and like I said you were smart enough to figure it out," the general said.

"And I wasn’t gonna take the chance of you bein’ subpoenaed to testify before some fuckin’ Senate sub-committee," Felix said.

"So you killed Jett and you tried to kill Monika."

"I didn’t want to, Nick, but you can surely see where I didn’t have a choice in the matter. You three were the best operatives I had. It’s gonna be hard to replace you," Felix said.

"What about me? Why didn’t you try to kill me?"

"You’re a killer, Nick. You would be hard to kill. I thought about asking you to join us, but, as your presence here proves you’re too damn loyal to your friends. Even if you said you would go along with it, there would always exist the possibility that you would flip and try to kill us all. Anyway, since you were making a fool of yourself playing private detective, I just figured that either that animal Chilly would kill you, or the cops would have you for murder. But if neither one of those options panned out, don’t think I wouldn’t send a team to kill you. And they would have to be good to get the job done."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"No problem."

"Well gentlemen, I’ve heard enough." I started to reach for my third weapon.

"Good, so have I."

I turned around as Freeze came through the door and fired two shots to the general’s head. Then he turned to Felix and fired two shots at him.

"What’d you do that for?" I screamed.

"What are you talkin’ about? You said you had heard enough. I figured that meant it was time for them to die."

"Yeah, but I wanted to kill Felix."

"I tell you what, I’ll let you kill the next one."

"It’s not the same. Fuck it, nevermind. Let’s just get the fuck outta here."

Freeze walked over and looked at Felix. "Why didn’t you tell me he was the one you were lookin’ for?"

"You know him?’

"Shit yeah. Didn’t you hear him? He’s partners with Estabon, who supplies Chilly."

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

"You didn’t ask me about him or Estabon. You just asked me about Chilly."

"Damn."

"Sorry, Nick, how was I supposed to know."

"Forget it, man. Thanks for havin’ my back."

"Anyway, what were you gonna do with your guns on the floor?"

"I had three guns, remember."

"That’s right. Yo, I was listening to them talk about you. You that bad a mutha fucka?"

"Yeah."

"Well, come on Shaft and I’ll buy you a drink."

"Okay, but just a quick one. I got one more body to account for."

"You ain’t thinking bout goin’ to Peru to kill Estabon, are you?"

"No. Something a little closer to home."

"Who is it?"

"Its, Nick."

Felicia opened the door and let me in. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. "I’m so glad to see you." Felicia kissed me again and again. I was glad to see her too.

"Surprised to see me?"

"Yes. I heard about Chilly. I thought you were in jail."

"Wanda got me out."

"Who is Wanda? Should I be jealous?"

"No. Wanda is not only family to me, but she’s my lawyer."

"All right now. I just want to know who the players are in this game before I get in."

"Baby, this ain’t no game."

"Oh, so you the real thing, huh?"

"Is there anything to drink?"

"Sure, I have a bottle of Zinfandel. You want some?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"What do you —" she looked confused. "Oooohh! You want some?" Felicia got up to get the wine. "Nick, you can have all you want of this. As much as you want of this."

She returned with two glasses and sat down next to me. "Here you go baby. You look tired."

"I really haven’t slept in a couple of days." Felicia looked sad. "Smile, Felicia. I ain’t ever that tired." She smiled and sipped her wine.

"What happened with the police?"

"I’m out on bond. But Wanda thinks they’ll be willing to accept that my killin’ Chilly was self defense."

"That’s good. What about the rest of them?"

"I think they’ll probably drop the whole thing on Chilly and call it day. He was responsible for all of it anyway." I finished my wine. "Felicia, do you mind if I take a shower?"

"Not at all." She popped up from the couch and held out her hand. "Come with me. Let me get you some towels,"

"Thank you. A nice hot shower is what I need," I said as Felicia turned on the light in the bathroom. "It will help me relax."

She turned on the shower and started to undress me. "Not too relaxed that you pass out on me."

I shook my head no.

"I could use a shower too. You want some company in there?" She asked as she removed the last of my clothes.

"Is that a trick question?" And I got in the shower.

Felicia bathed me, then we made love in the shower, and again once we made our way to the bed. I enjoyed making love to her. In spite of her tough cop exterior, Felicia was an extremely sensual and highly sexual woman. While we made love, I had to ask myself the question. Was I in love with her? And would it make things any different?

As advertised, I waited until after we made love to pass out. When I woke up, Felicia was gone. "Felicia!"

"I’m in the kitchen. Don’t get up, I’m fixing you breakfast." She stuck her head in the room. "How does breakfast in bed sound to you?"

"Great. You’re all right, you know that?"

"I’m more than all right, but I’m breakin’ it on you slowly. I wouldn’t want you to feel overwhelmed. I know how you men are."

Felicia went back to the kitchen while I got up and went to the bathroom. I took care of matters in the bathroom, got back in the bed, and waited for Felicia. She came in carrying a tray with a flower in a vase. She made Spanish omelets, hash browns with link sausages. "Toast, coffee, and a Mamosa."

"All this for me?" I said, trying my best to look surprised and honored all at once. "Will you be joining me?"

"Of course. I’ll be right back." She came back with her food and got in bed next to me. She was a good breakfast cook. I’d be interested to see if that translated to being a good cook period. We ate and talked; sausages inspired sexual innuendo, mostly. I told her about Monika and Jett, she cried a few tears for me.

Man I was diggin’ her
.

When we finished eating, Felicia took the trays back to the kitchen. She came in the room and got back in bed and snuggled up close to me. Felicia told me she had an appointment with her professor the next day to talk about her getting back into law school. "Now that it’s over, I want to try to get my life back."

"That’s good that you’re gettin’ your life back. But there’s something that always has bothered me."

"What’s that?"

"Why did you leave?"

"I told you, I was afraid."

"You know I don’t believe that. But we’ll pass that for now. If Chilly had Pamela killed because she knew what was goin’ on, what did you have to be afraid of?"

"He might have thought that she told me." Felicia looked away from me.

I touched her shoulder. "Look at me, Felicia. Why’d you come back?"

"I told you, I missed you."

"It’s over, Felicia, Chilly’s dead. Jett’s dead. Monika may die." I put my arm around her. "Please tell me the truth, Felicia."

"Nick." She kissed me on the cheek. "I told you the truth, I came back because I missed you. And you gave me the courage to face things. To finish what I started."

"What was that?"

"I told you why I left the force. Well, I didn’t tell you the whole story. Once the shooting stopped, Morgan and I searched the house. I told you about the cocaine, well, there was a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash. Morgan said we could split it. He said he had an old friend who could get rid of the drugs for us. But I told him no, I didn’t want anything to do with the drugs. Morgan said, fine. I could keep all the money. He could make twice that from selling the drugs."

"That’s why you were so worried about the cops investigating you. You were afraid they would find out."

"Yes." Felicia looked away, but she turned back quickly. "So we robbed a bunch of dead drug dealers. Nobody would care about that, right?"

"You would think. What happened?"

"It was Rocky we robbed."

"When did you find that out?"

"I was looking at some of Pamela’s pictures. I recognized two of them from pictures she took at Jake’s party. Then Morgan called me and said that Rocky knew. He said he would kill both of us if we didn’t give back the drugs and the money."

"How did he find out it was you two?"

"Morgan’s source. He tried to sell the dope to one of Rocky’s people. He told Rocky he got it from Morgan, before they killed him. Morgan called and said he wanted to see me. He had bought into his uncle’s bar in Queens, he said to meet him there and we would figure out what to do. But he was dead when I got there. Police called it a robbery."

"What happened then?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"For the next couple of months, nothing happened. Then about a month ago, Rocky called me. He told me he wanted the money back. Or what happened to Morgan would happen to me. I was supposed to meet Rocky here the night Pamela died. I tried to call Pamela, to tell her to stay away from here. But I never did catch her. Pamela was dead when I got here."

"Is that why you killed Rocky?"

"Pamela died for something me and Morgan did. When I woke up and you were gone that morning, I called Rocky and told him I only had half of the money. He said to meet him at his club that night. I had the money, but I knew he would kill me anyway, whether I gave it to him or not."

"That much was obvious."

"I waited outside the club until I saw him pull up in the convertible. Two of his boyz were up front; Rocky was in the back seat. I walked up to the car and shot the three of them in the head. Then I swung around and put one each in their chests. I threw the gun on Rocky’s lap a got away from there."

"Nobody would care if three piece of shit drug dealers got whacked in the street, right?"

"That was my plan, Nick. I made it look like it was just another drug related murder."

So there it is, I had actually solved the case. The big question now was, what was I going to do about it? I didn’t know what I was gonna do. I knew one thing for sure, I knew then that I was finished trying to play private detective. Too much like being a cop for me. I looked over at Felicia, I put my arms around her, and she rested her head against my chest. Whether I was in love with her or not I couldn’t turn her over to the police for what she’d done. She didn’t do anything that I hadn’t done. Felicia got revenge for her friend. I couldn’t roll her over for that. Or Mrs. Childers, or Chésará for that matter. I just couldn’t see myself helping the police. If they figured it out on their own, that would be different. But I knew they would make Chilly the fall guy.

Case closed.

"Oh, Nick! That feels so good," Vivian moaned.

I looked down at the dance floor at Impressions. From above the stage, I could see the entire club from where I was standing. I came here with Freeze. He didn’t tell me where we were goin’, he just said, "We need to ride." Next thing I know, we’re gettin’ valet parked at the club. "What we doin’ here?"

"Time you and Bobby made peace and put that Camille shit behind y’all. Bitch been dead for ten fuckin’ years."

Now why he wanna go and do that?

Not this, not tonight. Freeze knew I’d had a rough week. I wanted to relax, clear my mind, and have a little fun. I needed to think about where I was goin’ from where I am now. But I got lucky; Bobby had already left for the night. "Good, I wasn’t up for that tonight anyway." That’s when I saw an old girl friend of mine named, Vivian Merrick.

I just got back from Jett’s funeral in Iowa. Explaining to Jett’s parents how and why he died was hard. But it was harder to tell Monika. The afternoon she came out of her coma, I ran fanatically down the hall, screaming for a doctor or a nurse or anybody. Once the doctor checked her out, she left us alone. I told her that Jett was dead and how things played out with Chilly. She cried softly when I told her about Jett. "I’m going to take his body home to his parents in Iowa tomorrow," I said. "I talked to them yesterday. The funeral’s gonna be on Saturday."

"I’m goin’ with you, Nick," Monika said softly as the tears poured from her eye.

"Monika, I don’t think you’ll be strong enough to leave the hospital in time for the funeral."

"Don’t argue with me, Nick. He saved my life and yours, too. He died goin’ after the bastard that shot me. I have to go," Monika mumbled, as she began to drift off to sleep.

"You get some rest and we’ll talk about it in the morning." I knew better than to argue with her. Even in her condition, Monika was still as strong willed as ever.

As promised, Monika went to Jett’s funeral, albeit in a wheelchair and in the company of a private nurse. After the funeral I took Monika back to the hospital and sat with her a while until she went to sleep. I left there and went to check on Gee. I walked up to the house and saw a for sale sign in the yard. I drove downtown to Chezara’s apartment building. The doorman told me that Ms. Rollins had moved out and he was not at liberty to say any more on the matter. I was happy for them. They were finally free at last.

"Nick, that feels so good," Vivian moaned. "You’re gonna make me cum!"

"Nick! You up here?" Freeze yelled, seeming to appear from nowhere.

"Yeah!"

"Well come on. I’m ready to go."

"Alright — alright —" my voice trembled. "I’m coming."

"Well hurry up then," Freeze said shaking his head as he turned away. "You ain’t changed a bit."

Once I finished doin’ my thing with Vivian, I met Freeze at the bar and got myself a drink. Freeze looked at me and shook his head. "You ain’t changed a bit, nigga."

"Give me a break, I’m tryin’ to relax."

"You looked pretty intense from where I was standing."

"Whatever."

"I gotta go by the office, then we outta here. Come on."

"What you gotta go to the office for? Bobby ain’t up there?"

"No, Wanda’s up there. She got something for me. So stop actin’ like a bitch and come on."

I followed Freeze upstairs to the office at Impressions. I didn’t appreciate him calling me a bitch. But if I wanted to be honest with myself, he was right. After reading Camille’s journal and talking to Wanda about it, it made the whole situation easier to deal with. In fact, it was like a tremendous weight that I’d dragged around with me for years had been lifted from my shoulders. I needed to put this shit behind us and move on. So what’s my problem? Probably because I was fuckin’ Camille behind his back. I didn’t think that Bobby would pull out his gun and shoot me on sight. But I wouldn’t put it past him. The fact was, I did some foul shit, and now I had to step up and face it.

Freeze burst into the office, "What’s up, Wanda! What you got for me?"

I followed him in. There was a woman standing by the window. Tight black mini skirt and black heels. The woman turned around, and to my surprise, it was Wanda.

"I got a message for you. It wasn’t anything that couldn’t have waited," Wanda said as she walked toward Bobby’s desk. "How you doin’ tonight, Nick?"

"I’m good. How are you?"

"I’m tired and I’m ready to go home. But Bobby wants me to see tonight’s act. What’s he call himself?"

"The One," Freeze said.

"Whatever," Wanda said as she leaned over the desk looking for the message. I’d seen her in a business suit and a big fuzzy robe, but if I had any remaining doubts about how fine Wanda had gotten, the black mini crushed them. Those beautiful legs lead up to a near perfect ass and that slim waist. Felicia Hardy crossed my mind. She jumped back into law school and didn’t seem to have a minute to talk. Or maybe she was tryin’ to tell me something?

"I’ll see what he got," Wanda said. "You two gonna stay and watch the show with me?"

"No, I gotta roll. Doc said some niggas was tryin’ to post up in his spot," Freeze said, before I had a chance to say yes. Wanda looked a little disappointed, but she covered it up.

"Here it is," she said, handing Freeze a piece of paper.

"Derrick Washington?" Freeze said in surprise. "What Curl want?"

"I don’t know. He just said to call him."

"Derrick Washington. I heard that name before," I said.

"You should have, you made him somebody when you killed Chilly," Freeze spit out.

"Chilly’s lieutenant," I had been trying to put all that behind me, but I see that wasn’t happening.

"It’s probably his boyz that’s tryin’ to set up at Doc’s. I’ll be right back, Nick, then we goin’ to Doc’s." Freeze left the office, slamming the door behind him. I looked over at Wanda, who had taken a seat behind Bobby’s desk. I expected her to say something about Chilly, but she didn’t.

"You look tired, Nick."

"Yeah, maybe I need a vacation."

"Everything is taken care of with the police so you might as well."

I laughed out loud. "I can’t remember the last time I sat around somewhere with nothing to do all day."

"They tell me that’s what people do on vacation. Try it, and let me know how it works out," Wanda laughed. "I haven’t taken a vacation in years."

"Why don’t you come with me?"

"Excuse me? Did you just invite me to take a vacation with you?" Wanda smiled. "What are you suggesting?"

"I didn’t mean anything by it, Wanda. I was just sayin’ that since you haven’t taken one in years that you could probably use one, too. I wasn’t suggesting anything." I looked at Wanda, thinking that it wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

"Well, thanks anyway, but I’ve got too much work to do. Where are you thinking about goin’?"

"I don’t know. Maybe I’ll go to the Bahamas, see Black. Meet our new queen." And I regretted it as soon as I said it.

Wanda rolled her eyes. "That’s a good idea. I know Black would like to see you. And when you get back, you and I need to sit down and go over some things."

"Like what?" I smiled and took a seat across from her.

"Business, Nick," Wanda smiled back.

"Business?"

"Just business. I don’t know where your head is." Wanda dropped her head, and quickly looked up. "I mean about what you wanna do now, but I know Black has some things he’d like to talk to you about."

"I’ve been thinkin’ a lot about what I wanna do," I said suggestively.

"And what have you come up with?"

Just then, Freeze burst into the office. "Let’s go, Nick," Freeze barked.

I got up slowly.

"Goodnight, Nick, we’ll finish our discussion when you get back," Wanda said suggestively.

"When you get back?" Freeze asked as we made our way down the stairs. "Where the fuck you goin’?"

"I’m goin’ to meet Shy."