No More Tears in the End (26 page)

Miles didn’t offer any resistance when the police and hospital security arrived on the scene. Miles stood up and put his hands behind his back.

I stood there with Rain, watching as they took Miles away. Then she turned to me. “Something ain’t right about this.”

“What?”

“Come on.” Rain took me by the hand and we walked toward the intensive care unit. She told the attendant that I was her husband and they let me go in with her.

We went in JR’s room and Rain sat down next to him. She took his hand. “The police just took Miles to jail for killing Jeff Ritchie.”

“What?” JR said in barely a whisper. “Why?”

“Lakeda found out that Miles was having an affair. She said she told Jeff Ritchie and he sent the men that killed the woman.”

JR closed his eyes and turned away from Rain.

“But something ain’t right about her story. Lakeda wouldn’t talk to Jeff Ritchie about Miles having an affair. But she would talk you. Lakeda came to see you that night. That’s what happened, ain’t it, Daddy?”

JR didn’t answer, didn’t open his eyes; he just gripped Rain’s hand a little tighter.

“Jeff Ritchie would never do anything like that. He wouldn’t send men to kill her, not unless you told him to.”

Rain let go of her father’s hand and stood up.

JR opened his eyes.

“She was pregnant with Miles baby, Daddy. You killed your grandchild.”

When Rain walked out of the room, JR looked at me. I thought about what Black said.

If JR’s involved, kill him.

“You shouldn’t have hit her at our spot, JR.”

“Didn’t know it was your spot.”

“Guess not,” I said and walked out of the room.

Chapter 37

Mike Black

It took a couple of days for me think through what I was gonna do, and a week to put it all together. But I was almost ready to put my plan into action. There was just one more piece that I needed to put in place—the most important piece.

Kevon parked the car and we went in the building. We took the elevator up and Kevon knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

I leaned in front of the peephole. “Mike Black.”

“Don’t go nowhere. I gotta put something on.”

“Don’t go to any trouble.”

“Maybe you should call first, boss,” Kevon said and leaned against the wall. I took the other wall and we waited.

Five minutes later the door opened. “Hello, Mr. Black,” CeCe said. I don’t know what she had on before, but now she looked radiant. Knowing my fondness for the color, CeCe was wearing a black dress and four-inch stilettos, her hair was done, and her make-up was flawless.

“I didn’t catch you at a bad time, did I?”

“Not at all. I was just sitting around watching TV. Please come in,” CeCe said and extended her hand gracefully. I walked in and CeCe looked at Kevon. “He’s not coming in?”

“He’ll be right there if I need him.”

“I understand.” CeCe smiled and shut the door.

I followed her into the living room and she offered me a seat. “Nice place,” I said and sat down.

“Thank you,” CeCe said and sat down next to me. “It would be an understatement to say that I’m surprised to see you. I didn’t know you knew where I lived. But you did say that when you wanted me, you would find me.”

“Sorry I didn’t call first, but I needed to talk to you about somethin’ and I don’t like talkin’ on telephones.”

“I heard that about you. That’s why I haven’t blown-up Kevon’s phone.”

“I appreciate that.”

“So, what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

“I need you to do something very important for me.”

“You know I’ll do anything for you. Just tell me what you need?”

“I arranged for you to meet with a reporter from the
Post
.”

CeCe frowned. “For what?”

“I want you to give him a story.”

CeCe looked at me for a second or two and then she sat back. “This is about your wife, ain’t it?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so.”

“What you know about my wife?”

“I know that she was murdered, and that they accused you of her murder. I know that finding her killers is the only thing that’s important to you.”

“You’ve been talkin’ to Bobby.”

CeCe smiled. “I know a lot more about her, but you don’t wanna hear all that.”

“Try me.”

“I know that you loved her very much.”

“I still do.”

“Is she what’s keeps you from letting me get close to you?”

I didn’t answer her because she was right. I won’t let anybody get close to me. I didn’t want to feel for any other woman what I felt for Cassandra. But there was something about CeCe.

“I guess that answers my question,” CeCe said and got up. She stood over me and shook her head.

I wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked standing over me like that, but I didn’t. I had to admit that her appeal to me is much more than physical. The thing was that I liked CeCe. Liked her look, liked her style, liked the way she handled herself.

CeCe stood there looking at me, and then she walked away. “I’ll do what you need me to do for you, but after I do it, there’s something I want you to do for me.”

“What’s that?”

“Do we have a deal?”

“You haven’t told me what you want.”

“Do we have a deal, Mr. Black?”

“Not until you tell me what you want.”

“Believe me, it’s nothing you can’t do.”

“Then why can’t you just tell me,” I laughed.

“Do we have a deal?” CeCe came and sat next to me again. “Look, you want me to do something for you. I want you to do something for me. Since you’re sitting here I know it’s something important to you, or you wouldn’t be here. Bottom line, you
need
me. When I’m done doing whatever it is that you
need
me to do for you, I
need
you to do something for me. So do we have a deal, Mr. Black?” CeCe said for the fourth time and extended her hand.

Once again, I knew that CeCe was right. I did need her and it was something that only she could do. I accepted her hand. “Deal.”

“Good. So what can I do for you?”

I stood up and extended my hand. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going, handsome?”

“To meet some people.”

We left CeCe’s apartment and Kevon drove us to Monika’s. Since she already knew about Cassandra’s murder I told CeCe that Vinnelli had arranged the murder, and that he was our target. When we arrived Monika opened the door and let us in. “CeCe, this is Monika Wynn and Travis Burns.”

“Hey,” Monika said half-heartedly.

Travis got up and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, CeCe.”

“Good to meet you both,” CeCe said and looked at Monika.

“Now that we’re all here.” I went and sat down next to CeCe. “I’ll tell you why we’re here and your part in it. I intend to destroy agent Vinnelli. Over the last few weeks Monika has been compiling information on Vinnelli that you’re gonna feed to the press.”

“Why me?”

“Because your past relationship with Steven ‘Cash Money’ Blake gives the story credibility. And it’s something that he can verify with the police.”

“What about him?”

“Nothing really, but he connects to Mylo, or as you know him, the late agent Clint Harris. He connects to the late agent Masters.” Monika put a picture of Mylo and Masters in front of her. “And Masters connects to Vinnelli.”

“Okay,” CeCe said, but I knew it still wasn’t clear to her.

“You’re gonna tell the reporter about Mylo’s dealings with Cash. Then you’re gonna give him information about a meeting between Mylo and Masters discussing several murders, and taking over drug markets. Then you’ll give him the head man, Vinnelli, and information about his offshore accounts. That’s just the first part of the plan.”

I got up and stood by Travis. I looked at Monika. “How much is in those accounts?”

“Right now there’s $7, 562,753 in those accounts. It will be more allowing for interest-earned between now and when we make our move.”

“Thank you. Now, when that information becomes public, the government will freeze those accounts, but not before we take half of it.”

“Why just half?” CeCe asked.

“Because I want the government to have something to freeze. Monika, half is how much?”

“Roughly $3,781,376.”

“Which we split four ways. And that is?”

“That’s $945,345—each,” Monika added.

“Any questions?”

CeCe’s jaw dropped and we all laughed at her.

“Welcome to the big time,” Monika said to CeCe.

“You still want me to do something for you?” I asked, thinking that damn near a million dollars would be enough compensation for her part in my plan.

“Yes,” CeCe said definitely. “And a deal’s a deal. But I do have a question.”

“What’s that?”

“What if the reporter doesn’t believe me? I mean, that’s gonna be a lot to remember.”

“I’ll coach on what you need to say,” Monika assured CeCe. “And when you talk to him, you’ll be wearing a wire and an ear piece. Me and Black will be someplace close by listening and we’ll help keep you straight.”

“You in?”

“I already told you yes, and a deal’s a deals,” CeCe said.

“Travis. The money—”

“Like Black said, the money is in offshore accounts in different banks. So we can just roll in there and take it at gunpoint. In order for us to get it, I gotta access the network and get past a 128-bit encryption. Now accessing the secure cluster has to be done on a computer at a bank on the backbone of the network. I have a friend who works in investment and special services at a Bank in the Cayman Islands, which is part of the network.

“By placing a packet sniffer on a network I can capture and analyze all of the network traffic. Then I use a hydra which, for lack of a better definition, is a login cracker. I go in, pop the firewall, drop in the hydra and transfer the money into another account.”

The next morning Travis left for the Cayman Islands to wait for my call.

For the next two days, Monika and I drilled CeCe on what she would say to the reporter. By the end of the second day she was ready. I was impressed, but I knew I would be. There is much more to her appeal than the physical.

That night CeCe met the reporter at One if by Land, Two if by Sea, a restaurant on Barrow and West 4
^th
Streets. Monika and I were seated at a table near the one where
New York Post
reporter James Fremeno waited for her to arrive.

After Monika did a sound check on the equipment, CeCe went in. “Mr. Fremeno?”

Fremeno sprang to his feet when he saw CeCe coming. “I’m Cameisha Collins. Sorry I’m late. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long?”

“Not at all, Ms. Collins. Please have a seat.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, tell me what I can do for you?”

“Well, a few months ago my boyfriend Steven was murdered in my apartment.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Do you know who did it?”

“DEA agents.”

“That’s a very serious accusation, Ms. Collins. Do you have any proof that it was the DEA?”

“Yes, I do. My boyfriend Steven was a drug dealer who went by the name Cash Money.”

“I understand.”

“Do you remember a couple of months ago a DEA agent was killed at a parking garage and a few days later, another agent was found dead at his house outside of Philadelphia?”

“Vaguely.”

CeCe took out the pictures we gave her and pushed them in front of Fremeno. “That’s them,” she said, and told Fremeno about the meeting. For the next half-hour, Fremeno took notes and sat fascinated by the story CeCe was telling to him.

When she was done with her story, CeCe made one request. “I know that you need to verify what I told you, but before you go to print with the story, I know you have to call the DEA to ask if they want to comment on the story.”

“That’s right. It’s more of a courtesy than a requirement, but yes. ”

“All I ask is that before you do that you call me.”

“I can do that,” Fremeno readily agreed.

It was two weeks later when CeCe got the call from Fremeno. As soon as she hung up with him, CeCe called Kevon and he handed the phone to me. “It’s on.”

“Thank you.” I hung and called Travis. “It’s on.”

The story hit the paper that next morning.

Chapter 38

I sat in my office at Cuisine that next morning and read the paper. Fremeno had written a very interesting article that took his readers step-by-step through Cash Money’s murder to Mylo and his meeting with Masters, and dropped the whole thing on Vinnelli, just the way I planned.