Beneath The Surface (16 page)

“Tell me a little about what you’re working on now?”

“This movie like all my other features, started with some kind of pun or play on words. Those
kind
of stupid puns, plus full-bodied performances. From there, it was a matter of coming up with even more stupid puns to make a feature-length film.”

“When I got here, your receptionist thought I was looking for work. So I was wondering; how do you cast for a film like this?”

“Casting for the naked people are mostly strippers from local clubs.”

“Thank you for talking to me, Mr. Finch. If I ever do a story of New York’s adult entertainment industry, I know where to come,” Carmen said.

“Anytime, Miss Taylor. You come by anytime,” Finch said. “And if you still want to know when the last time Tish was here, just check with Margaret,” he said and pointed to the woman that greeted them. “She keeps up with everything that goes on around here.”

“Which reminds me; there is one more thing I wanted to ask you.”

“What’s that, Miss Taylor?”

“I understand that there are two other women that did some work for you.”

“What’re their names?”

“One’s name is Cecelia Cunningham; went by the name Crème. The other’s name real was Valerie. I’m not sure of her last name, but they call her Vallie.”

“Never heard of either of them,” Finch said quickly, and cut his eyes at Margaret. “But like I said, check with Margaret there. She knows everything.”

“No. I think I got all I need,” Carmen said.

“Well then, I’ll say good-bye. Miss Taylor, Mr. Black, it was nice meeting you,” Finch said and hurried away.

On the way out, they walked past Margaret. “Do you have a card, Miss Taylor?” she asked.

“I sure do,” Carmen said, and dug a card out of her purse before she and Black left the building. Once they had reached the street, Black turned to Carmen. “Did you really get what you needed?”

“I think so,” Carmen said as they walked down the street. She stepped closer to Black and looped her arm in his. “I really just wanted to get some background on her so I’ll be ready when the police release more information about the murder.”

“I’ll tell you something. Your boy Finch may not know anything about Tangela House or what happened to her, but did you notice how his mood changed when you asked him about the other two women, Crème and Vallie?”

“Yes. But I just thought he was ready to get rid of us,” Carmen said.

“Maybe. But remember what Shade said? One night Crème and Vallie were braggin’ that they were goin’ to do a scene for Finch, and nobody’s seen either one of them since.”

“That’s right, she did.”

“I’ll bet you Finch is involved in whatever happened to those women,” Black said as a bullet ricocheted off the building behind him. Black turned and saw two men coming at him with guns. People on the street scattered as the shooting continued.

Black took out his gun and returned fire as he and Carmen ducked behind a car. “Friends of yours?” Carmen said as bullets flew over her head.

“I thought they were with you,” Black said and shot back. He took out his other gun. “You still know how to use one of these?”

Carmen took the gun and put one in the chamber. “I remember everything you ever taught me.”

“We’ll see about that later; but right now, I need for you to lay down some cover fire, while I get around behind them.”

Carmen took aim and began firing in the direction of their attackers, while Black worked his way down the sidewalk.

When he was in position, he waved at Carmen and she came up firing. That gave Black a chance to make it across the street. Now that he had a better angle, Black moved in behind them.

The shooting stopped and the two men looked at each other. “You think we got them?”

“No,” Black said and shot him, then turned his weapon on the other and fired two shots to his head. Black kicked their guns out of the way and checked to see if they were both dead. Once he was satisfied that they were, Black ran across the street to check on Carmen.

“Did you get them?” Carmen said, handing him back his gun.

“Yeah; now let’s get outta here before these people start getting brave and want to see who did the shooting,” he said, dragging Carmen away from the scene, covering their faces as they rounded the corner.

“Who were they?”

“I saw them at the studio,” Black said and hailed a cab.

“Finch sent them?”

“Let’s go find out.” Black and Carmen rode in the cab back around the corner, and got in front of Finch Studios. They tried the door but it was locked. They rang the bell and nobody answered.

Wanda arrived at Marcus’s hotel and had her driver park the car. She had made plans with Marcus for him to meet her legal team that morning, but she had completely forgotten that she had a meeting with a real estate developer to discuss ideas for some land that she had recently purchased. She had her personal assistant reschedule the meeting for that afternoon. She was on her way to the meeting when Marcus called.

“Good morning, Marcus,” Wanda said in her sexy voice.

“Good morning, Wanda. I just got a call from your assistant about you canceling the meeting.”

“Yes. I have another meeting that I have to go to this morning. I hope it didn’t cause a problem for you?”

“I had planned on dropping my car off this morning and have them to take me to the office.”

“Tell you what; go ahead and drop off your car. Let them take you back to your hotel, and I’ll have my driver swing by and pick you up for the meeting.”

“You have a driver?” Marcus asked.

“Yes. Is something wrong with that?”

“No. Not at all. I just didn’t picture you as the type to be riding around in a limo, that’s all.”

“Well, it’s not a limo, Marcus. It’s just a standard Cadillac CTS. But I hate driving in traffic, so James drives for me.”

“After a couple of weeks of driving here, I can definitely see your point.”

“Oh, please, Marcus. I’ve been to Atlanta, and traffic there is just as bad if not worse. Anyway, you want me to pick you up or not?”

“I’ll be here waiting for you,” Marcus said and ended the car.

After wrapping up her meeting, Wanda headed to pickup Marcus. James parked the car and Wanda got out. “I won’t be long,” she said, and headed for the building. On the way up in the elevator, she thought that it would have been easier if she had simply called ahead. Then Marcus could have met her outside, and they would be on their way. But the idea of catching him off guard had a haunting pull on her.

Wanda knocked on the door.

Marcus opened the door.

He was wearing suit pants and a wife-beater T-shirt.

Wanda took a deep breath.
It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but this is good too,
Wanda thought.

“Come on in, Wanda,” Marcus said and stepped aside to let her in. “I thought you would have called first. I could have been ready.”

Wanda took a seat on the chase, while Marcus grabbed his shirt from the chair and put it on. “There’s no rush. The meeting won’t start without me,” Wanda said as she crossed her legs and got her eyes full.

“No, I guess it won’t,” Marcus said while he buttoned his shirt. “How did your meeting go?”

“Fine. I was meeting with a developer to discuss the ideas he has for some property I bought recently.”

“You or your company?” Marcus asked and picked up a couple of ties. “The blue or the red one?” he asked holding up both ties.

“The red one. It makes the shirt pop,” Wanda advised. “And this land is all
mine
. I plan to build a track of ten homes.”

“You do have your hands in everything,” Marcus said as he tucked his shirt in his pants.

“Not everything,” Wanda said softly.

“Let me grab my jacket and I’ll be ready to go.”

“Your tie is crooked,” Wanda said and stood up. “Here, let me straighten it for you.”

Wanda stepped close to Marcus and began straightening his tie. “You smell nice,” Marcus said while he admired Wanda. She was almost as tall as he was, and he liked that. “What fragrance is that?” he asked, wondering why he never really noticed how pretty Wanda was all the years that he had known her.

“Missoni Parfum,” Wanda said and took her time doing what she was doing. When she was done, Wanda put her hands on his chest. “There, you look very handsome,” she said and was about to step away.

Marcus put his hands on her shoulders. “You smell nice,” he said, looking Wanda in her eyes.

“You said that,” Wanda said and leaned forward a bit.

“What did you mean last night when you said, ‘It’s time for you and leave those little girls alone and step up to a real woman’?”

“Exactly what it sounded like, Marcus,” Wanda said softly.

“Are you saying that you’re that woman?”

“I’ve wanted you for a long time,” Wanda uttered before his mouth covered hers. Their tongues intertwined. Marcus squeezed her
ass tightly, and before long, he had lifted her skirt and had
maneuvered his hand between her thighs.
 

Wanda’s legs spread. She kissed him passionately and began to stroke his erection.
Wanda felt that tingling sensation in the balls of her feet. The sensation crept up her thighs and made Wanda tremble in ways she’d never felt before, and she loved it.

“Wow,” Wanda said in a whisper as she gently eased him down on the bed. Marcus pulled her on top of him and allowed her to straddle him. She kissed him again and he unbuttoned her blouse. Marcus unhooked her bra and took out her breasts, then held them and squeezed them, and ravished them with his tongue. Wanda eased her blouse and bra off her shoulders, and quickly pulled down the zipper on her skirt. She gathered her skirt around her waist and wrapped her arms around Marcus’s neck. As their tongues met again, he allowed his body to fall back slowly on the bed.

Wanda sat up, loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt. Wanda started making circles around his nipples and his body shook. Wanda moved closer to Marcus and pressed her body against his. She took off his pants and got on top of him, but Marcus flipped her over gently.

Marcus reached between her legs and fingered her clit with one hand, and squeezed her breast with the other. “Take me, Marcus,” she whispered in his ear and spread her legs. Marcus knelt down on the bed. He reached out with both hands and began to massage her thighs. He allowed his hands to flow freely all over Wanda’s body. “You are so beautiful,” Marcus said very deliberately, and spread her lips with the thumb and forefingers of his left hand, while making small circles around her clit with the tip of his right forefinger. Marcus slowly lowered his head closer to her, raising her legs at the same time. He slid his tongue inside her, and then gently sucked her moist lips. He felt her body quiver as he licked her clit with the tip of his tongue. Her clit grew harder and her thighs pressed together as her body convulsed uncontrollably.

Marcus trapped her swollen clit in the gap between his teeth. The louder Wanda moaned the harder Marcus sucked. Wanda rocked her hips, and Marcus slowly inserted two of his fingers inside of her. In and out—slowly and deliberately he probed in search of her G-spot. And then he found it. Wanda felt like her eyeballs were threatening to explode. Nobody had ever made love to Wanda the way Marcus did. Not even Nick. And before that evening, she thought he was the bomb.