"I don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin’ ’bout. What shooters?"
Rain punched him in the face again. "Don’t lie to me, nigga! One of your boys told us you sent ’em before I blew his brains out. Be a fuckin’ man and admit that shit before I kill your bitch-ass."
Jay Easy looked over his shoulder at Nick. "I thought we had something. I was ready to do life for you. I gets out and come lookin’ for my woman and you play me off for this nigga."
"So you decide to start robbin’ me?"
"I still got all the dope and the money. After I shut you down I was gonna step to you and give it all back."
"Bullshit! After all this shit you was just gonna hand it all back to me."
"Yeah. I wanted to show you that you needed me in your life. Not this nigga! He can’t do the shit for you that I can. He couldn’t stop a nigga like me."
Nick pressed the gun to his temple. "See how well that worked out for you so far, playboy," he said.
"Go ahead and do it. But even if you kill me the shit won’t stop. It will only get worse. You got more enemies than just me. Only one that can save you is me. Drop this nigga and make it all right, and we can get back to where we was," Jay Easy pleaded.
Rain looked at Jay Easy and shook her head. "You always was a stupid mutha fucka. I don’t want you. That nigga’s so far above your level that you couldn’t even understand it." Rain laughed. "That, and he’s fuckin’ the shit outta me."
Jay Easy spit in her face. Rain picked up the gun and shot him in the face. Then she pulled the car over and pushed him out in the street. Rain closed the door and drove off.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
One step behind, Kirk and Richards arrive at Rock-well’s apartment. When they get there, the uniformed officers had already gotten there and had taken control of the murder scene.
"Looks like we’re a little late for the party," Richards said as he and Kirk entered the apartment.
Kirk looked around the apartment. "Yeah, but this one’s different." He knelt down next to one of Rain’s people. "They’re not tied up this time." He stood up and walked around the room. "Looks like somebody got them before they had a chance to tie them up, and killed the shooters."
"PR?"
"Probably," Kirk said and continued walking around the apartment. He looked at the bullet holes in the wall. "Looks like she was in the back here; they see her and start shooting at her."
"You’re not sayin’ that she took all three of these guys down by herself, are you?" Richards asked.
"I doubt it, but I’m not ruling it out. We’ll know more when the ballistics comes back. That may tell us how many, and if we’re lucky, who was with her."
Kirk went in the kitchen and looked at the body. "Come here, Pat." When Richards got there, Kirk pointed to the wounds. "This one was shot once in the shoulder, once in his hand, once in each leg and the kill shot to the head; like they were trying to make him talk."
"Think he told them what they wanted to know?"
"If he did we can expect more bodies," Kirk said. "Anybody see anything?" he said to one of the uniforms.
"Haven’t started a canvass yet, detective."
"Well get to it. Maybe a miracle will occur and somebody saw something."
While the officers went to canvass the building, the detectives remained at the crime scene. "What do we have, Pat?"
"So far we got four crime scenes. The first three were most likely drug robberies. The victims were all tied up, on their knees and executed. Word is, all the victims work for somebody called PR-who a junkie hooker says is a woman. She tips us to this place.
"We get here and we find six bodies. One of them is probably Rockwell. Three of them were most likely the shooters we’ve been looking for, and one of them may have been tortured into telling PR or somebody connected to her, who knows what before they blow his brains out," Kirk said and walked back in the kitchen. "Too bad he can’t tell us what he told them. At least we’d know where to go next."
"You guys throw a party and didn’t invite me?"
Kirk and Richards turned to see Detective Sanchez walk in the apartment. "What? You didn’t get the memo about killing drug dealers?" Richards mused.
"I must have missed that one. Que Pasa, Kirk?"
"Gene."
"I take it these are the shooters you been looking for? I’d ask if you killed them," Sanchez said as he looked at one of the bodies, "but shooting suspects in the head isn’t exactly your style."
"You recognize anybody?" Kirk asked.
Sanchez walked around the room and checked each of the bodies. "This one."
"Who is he?" Richards asked.
"KK Rockwell."
"You know who he’s with?" Richards asked.
"He used to run with a chick named Rain Robinson."
"Who’s she?" Kirk asked.
"You remember Jasper Robinson?"
"Yeah-used to run few gambling spots back in the day."
"Rain is his daughter. She was a small timer; a little coke, a little heroin when she could get it. But my sources tell me that she retired and took over JR’s night club and his gambling interests after her father died."
"PR?" Richards asked.
"Could be," Kirk said as one of the uniformed officers came in the room.
"Detectives, I just talked to a lady who saw a man and a woman leaving the building after she heard the shots; said they got in a gray Taurus."
"She give you a license number?"
"No sir."
"What about a description?"
"She didn’t get a good look at them. Only that they looked like they were in a hurry."
"Thank you, officer. Go ahead and get that out on the wire."
"Already done, detective, and we got a report that a gray Taurus was seen in the area of another murder."
"Another one?" Sanchez asked.
Kirk looked in the kitchen at the dead man. "I guess you gave somebody up. Any details?"
"Witness said the Taurus stopped, pushed the body out and drove away."
"Think we should take a look?" Richards asked.
"No, I’d rather ride by JR’s and see what Miss Robin-son has to say about all this," Kirk said, and him and Richards left the apartment and headed for JR’s.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Nick and Rain were on the way back to her apartment when her cell phone rang. "This Rain."
"You need to get down to the club," a female voice said.
"Who is this?"
"It’s Rose from the club."
"What’s goin’ on?"
"We got robbed."
"What?"
"I said-"
"I heard you. What happened?"
"Five of them came through the back door with guns. Two of them hit the safe in the office and the other three took the gambling room."
"Goddamn it!" Rain shouted. "These niggas gonna break my ass. Did anybody get hurt?"
"Not bad, but somebody called the cops. They’re all over the place."
"Did they find the gambling room?"
"Not yet, but-"
"I’ll be down there," Rain said and ended the call. She looked at Nick. "Somebody hit the club. Rose says cops is all over the place. But they haven’t found the gambling spot."
"You know how much they got?" Nick asked.
"I don’t know. I won’t know until we get there," Rain said and drove a little faster.
When Rain slowed down for a red light, Nick turned to her and said, "Let me out here."
"What? Didn’t you hear what I said? Somebody robbed the club and the gambling spot."
"Yeah, I heard you. Did you hear me? Let me out here," Nick said again.
Rain stopped short and Nick reached for the handle. "What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing’s wrong. I just got something I need to do right now."