Thin Ice (26 page)

Jaleesa smiled slightly and accepted his offer. She took any and every opportunity to get out of the house and map out different routes to escape. She still had to take care of Ryan and make it past Chino and Al to get out safely and hook up with KiKi.

“We’ll leave in about an hour, okay,” he threw out again as Jaleesa turned and kissed him softly, confirming his request.

Left alone for a few moments, Jaleesa began to reflect on the plans KiKi shared with her. She smiled to herself of the outcome.
We better get this plan right though,
she thought once more as the gravity of what would happen if they didn’t hit her full force. Ryan was in love with her now and if she didn’t take care of him, trust and believe he would find her and kill her.
In the most gruesome way possible too, I’m sure,
Jaleesa thought. She took another deep breath and calmed her nerves. She and KiKi weren’t amateurs. They’d been doing this for a while now.
Gonna work out just fine,
Jaleesa admonished herself once more as she greeted Destiny and told her of her impending lunch, before leaving the woman to run the desk and returning upstairs to dress.

*****

Tariq quickly prepared the next order and placed it in the window. He was glad to be at work. Time alone gave him too much time to think and worry about KiKi. He kept replaying the plans she’d shared with him after they made love and it terrified him every time he thought about it.
KiKi’s playin’ with fire,
Tariq thought as yet another order was called back to him. Sighing deeply he had to admit she was right. She had to be the one to handle it and it had to be handled with the utmost precision or it would blow up in both their faces. Tariq just hoped Ice would let KiKi go.
He’s so damned crazy, ain’t no tellin’ what his ass would try,
Tariq continued to think. He finally finished all the immediate orders and decided to go outside and grab a breath of fresh air for a few minutes.

“I’ll be right back, Jorge,” Tariq told the other cook who nodded and went about his own business.

Tariq was sipping his mountain dew and shooting the breeze with one of the waitresses when they were interrupted.

“Hey Tariq,” Sherene said kindly.

Tariq regarded her a few moments more before finally returning her hello.

“Tariq, look,” she began as the waitress excused herself and wandered off, sensing they needed privacy. “I never meant to hurt you, honestly.”

Truthfully her conscience had been beating the hell out of her for how she treated him. Tariq really was a super nice guy.

“It just didn’t work out between us,” she added softly as Tariq sighed deeply.

“It’s straight Sherene,” he replied calmly. “Let’s just move on,” he added as she nodded slightly. “Hope things work out with you and old boy,” Tariq spoke once more as he turned and headed back to the kitchen.

I hope your girl forgives you,
Sherene thought suspecting that was the real reason she’d been hired to set him up. Sighing deeply she turned and headed about her day, conscience appeased.

Tariq quickly immersed himself into his work again trying to block out the encounter. Sherene was a mystery.
Truth be told, she hit on my ass,
Tariq thought. Their entire relationship was always precarious. She just appeared in his life and just as quickly disappeared.
Like somebody sent her,
Tariq thought fleetingly before recollection hit him square in the face.
The picture,
he thought of the photo KiKi had thrown on his table.
I’ll be damned,
he thought once more knowing he’d been set up and exactly who had done it.

“Ice is one low ass fucker,” Tariq mumbled aloud.

He gave KiKi those pictures,
Tariq again thought knowing that Ice wanted to drive a permanent wedge between them.
He knew she would come after my ass,
Tariq thought again, thankful he’d been able to diffuse KiKi’s anger or he would be lying in the morgue right about now. Still steaming, Tariq again prayed KiKi’s plan worked so he could personally tell Ice to kiss his ass once they were together again.

30

Day Two

The afternoon was going smoothly and the evening crowd was beginning to fill in when Carlos spotted the officer as he entered the club, immediately intercepting him.

“How you doing today officer?” Carlos asked smiling at the uniformed patrolman knowing he wasn’t one of their usual.

“I’m good sir,” the officer replied, all business.

Fuck, where is Giovanni’s ass,
Carlos thought as he waited for the cop to speak again.

“Sir I need to see all your liquor licenses and permits for the food,” he replied eyeing Carlos evenly.

Carlos sighed slightly and asked the officer to follow him. They went to the bar where the licenses were prominently displayed. Carlos asked Shikia to hand him the glass encased items and he in turn handed them to the officer.

“Do you have the new license ready to display?” the officer asked making note that the current ones expired today.

Carlos knew Ice had the licenses in his office but he wasn’t going anywhere near that area for fear the officer would follow and find the hidden entrance to the gambling and pleasure rooms in the club.

“I believe my boss has already received them,” Carlos replied alerting the officer that he was simply an employee.

The officer grunted shortly but said nothing else. “Well, we will be by to check on that later,” the officer finally told Carlos as he rose and headed to the door.

Taking one last look around, he bid Carlos a good evening and left him to his business. After making sure the officer was gone, Carlos dialed Ice and filled him in on what had just gone on.

*****

“Get the new licenses from the drawer in the file and go ahead and display them,” Ian instructed evenly.

He was pissed that the police were still hassling him.
I need to find this muthafuckin’ snitch and deal with his ass,
Ian was thinking as he continued listening to Carlos.

“Yeah I’m still on track to return later next week,” he told his friend answering his earlier query.

“How’re things as Castles?” Carlos asked about the club in Alabama.

“Everything is running smoothly, trade is good, no worries,” Ian answered as Carlos told him that was good.

“I’m heading out,” Carlos told him again, iterating that Tye had just arrived.

“Cool, enjoy your evening man,” Ian told him.

“Oh, I fucked Shikia this morning,” Carlos told him as Ian chuckled slightly.

Shikia was their new bartender and Carlos had been trying to get in her panties since Ian hired her.

“So, was it good?” Ian asked as Carlos confirmed it was.

Both men continued chuckling and talking crudely until he saw KiKi exit the store they’d stopped at to get her a bag of cheetos and a coke.

“Lemme go man,” Ian told Carlos who told him he understood.

Giving a couple of last minute instructions Ian disconnected and smiled at KiKi, taking the other coke she’d purchased for him from her hands.

*****

“We should swing by Platinum,” Ian remarked as Kaitlyn nodded and continued munching on her cheetos.

“KiKi,” Ian began carefully. She was immediately on guard from his tone.

“Yeah,” she threw back taking a long swallow from her coke.

“Would you ever have a baby,” he asked glancing over at her.

Kaitlyn frowned deeply wondering where Ice was going with his questions.

“That was random,” Kaitlyn replied buying time.

Ian chuckled slightly. “It’s just a question,” he threw back letting her know he still expected an answer.

“I like kids well enough,” Kaitlyn answered vaguely.

“That’s not what I asked,” Ian replied, giving her a look.

Sighing deeply, Kaitlyn finally answered his question. “I guess if the time and circumstances were right, sure,” she replied as Ian grunted and nodded slightly.

He remained silent a few moments more until Kaitlyn spoke.

“So you wanna tell me where that came from now,” she asked as Ian smiled again.

“Macy’s,” he replied simply as Kaitlyn frowned quizzically before she remembered the chance encounter with the woman and her baby.

I wouldn’t ever have a baby with your ass,
she thought but didn’t voice. Kaitlyn actually couldn’t believe Ice would even entertain the idea of kids anyway. She definitely didn’t see him as the loving fatherly type; she thought and caught herself before she chuckled aloud.

“Maybe we’ll have a couple in a few years,” Ian threw out once more wanting to reiterate to Kaitlyn her future was with him and he had no intentions of letting her go.

“Hmm,” Kaitlyn replied simply as her mind whirled.

That sure as hades won’t be happenin’ fool,
she thought continuing to enjoy her cheetos. She supposed that was as close to telling her he loved her deeply that Ice was going to come. Kaitlyn knew she had to tread very lightly. His emotions obviously ran extremely deep. She only needed to play the role for a few more days and then it would be finished. Ice would be out of her life and she would be free. They finally arrived at Platinum and the conversation died for the moment.
Need to call Tweety later,
Kaitlyn thought as a final point of reference before gathering her thoughts and heading inside the club with Ice.

*****

Ben was on the phone with the District Attorney.

“So what are you thinking, Ben,” Angela asked.

Angela Saunders was the newly elected D.A. for the county and was working diligently to clean up the police corruption there.

“I’m thinking that Giovanni English is on Ice’s payroll,” Ben replied point blank as Angela sighed deeply.

“Can you prove it,” she asked, making notes on the small pad near her phone as she talked.

“I have enough links to make the water murky,” Ben replied. “I have a couple of my senior UC’s on his trail though,” he added as Angela grunted slightly.

“Well you know I have no issue with prosecuting dirty cops,” Angela replied. “But you gotta make it stick,” she added as Ben told her he understood.

“I just wanted to know you were in, that’s all,” he told her as Angela assured him she was and they disconnected.

Ben sat back and began going over the case file again. He saw Giovanni’s name on more than ten cases involving Ice or one of his known associates. Each time, the officer conveniently didn’t show up to testify or the evidence was somehow lost or contaminated.
This fucker is dirty as hell,
Ben thought angrily. There was nothing worse in his mind than a rogue cop. They’d taken an oath to protect and serve, yet the only person this moron seemed to be serving was himself.
He’s going down with his boy, and all the other dirty ass cops he got working with him,
Ben thought making more notes in his file. They were almost ready; just a few more loose ends to pull together and men to put in place.
We are gonna swoop down on his ass like a hawk on a mouse,
Ben thought angrily of Ice. He’d watched the man grow more and more powerful year after year peddling his illegal wares. They’d never found anyone willing to help them break his stronghold until now.
Guess it’s a good thing Landon fell so hard for Kaitlyn,
Ben thought sighing deeply and rising to grab himself a quick bite of lunch. After that he was back to his files, and their plans to destroy Ian “Ice” Bailey.

*****

“OK guys, get settled and be downstairs at 2:00,” Landon was telling the team as they sat on the bus inside the parking garage. “We’re going to have a full scrimmage and then you’ll get some time to relax,” he finished eyeing each player carefully. They’d arrived at the Las Vegas airport around ten this morning after taking an earlier flight from Atlanta.

Everyone departed the bus and began heading for their rooms. He was the last to check in.

“You hitting any casino’s tonight?” Landon joked with Tony.

He was the man who replaced Evan, after his death, in the organization.

Tony chuckled and told him he was going to see some shows tonight. “It’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing,” he clarified.

Landon chuckled again as they boarded the elevator.

“What’re your plans?” Tony asked giving Landon a look.

“To find a woman or two while we’re here and get laid,” he asked chuckling.

Landon sighed lightly and shook his head no.

“Well, you could come to the shows with me,” he offered.

Landon thanked him but told him he’d probably try his luck at a table or two and call it a night. The elevator finally stopped and the disembarked. They were in separate suites, directly across the hall from each other.

“Well,” Tony began. “If you change your mind, you know where I am,” he told him smiling again. Landon smiled slightly and thanked him. He used the card key and entered his suite, closing the door behind him.

Of course Landon’s mind went immediately to Kaitlyn.
Ben says we’re almost ready,
he thought opening his suitcase and taking out clothing. Landon thought long and hard about having to testify against Ice and what it would cost him should the man find a way to walk.
He would kill you in a hot ass minute,
Landon thought sighing deeply. He couldn’t just stand by and do nothing though. Kaitlyn needed him. She didn’t ask for the relationship with Ice, he forced her into it, Landon thought recalling the things Kaitlyn shared with him during their conversation and her visit. Landon smiled slightly to himself however thinking of Ice in handcuffs.
Oh I would love to see the look on that sonofabitch’s face when they slap those iron bracelets on and escort his ass to a federal holding cell,
Landon completed his thought and actually did chuckle aloud. Pushing the thoughts from his mind so he could relax and de-stress, Landon grabbed his room cardkey and headed downstairs to the casino, hoping lady luck had pity on him tonight.