'Little of both.'
'How long are you planning on being gone?'
'Couple of days. I’ll keep in touch.'
'Do that,' Martin said and the two separated.
One advantage to meeting Martin on 34th Street was that it served a dual purpose. It was far from Martin’s Congressional District in the Bronx, and it was close to a high-end boutique called The In-town Experience, which was owned and operated by CeCe. Her real name was Cameisha Collins. She used to be with a baller that called himself Cash Money. After Cash was murdered by Mylo’s hit team, CeCe made herself very useful to Black. Anything he’d tell her to do got done.
Since he was going to the Bahamas, Black decided to invite CeCe to join him. 'That is if you’re not too busy,' he said, looking around the practically empty store.
'Just you and me?'
'You, me, and Kevon.'
'Of course I want to go with you. How long are we staying?'
'Couple of days. Maybe a week.
After spending a few days in Nassau, Black met Martin in Freeport for their meeting with the Chinese and the Cubans.
'Martin Marshall to see Huang Chang.' Scotty, Martin’s right-hand man said. And the man stepped aside to allow them to enter. When they entered the suite, two men and a very attractive woman all rose to their feet.
'Mr. Marshall,' one of the men said and extended his hand. 'I am Huang Chang. This is my associate, Wei Jiang. My assistant Mei Ai Bao and you have already met Xiang Yong. He is, how you say-my bodyguard,' Chang said and each bowed slightly.
'This is my associate Mike Black. You’ve already met Scotty, and this is Mr. Black’s bodyguard, Kevon Bailey.'
The meeting was a success. The group decided to move forward and make an investment in Cuba, while Martin used his position to influence American foreign policy. But there was one person at the meeting who was not happy with the decision. His name was Maximino Cristobal. He felt strongly that the group should invest in oil development in Cuba instead of sugar-based ethanol.
Chang had just returned from his trip to Cuba and was anxious to get together with Black to discuss the details of their venture.
'To be honest with you, Chang, I was making plans to get off the island before you called,' Black told Chang. There was a hurricane reported to be heading for the island, and he wanted to be gone before it hit. 'Why don’t we get together when we get back to New York? This way Martin will be able to sit in with us.'
'Here is the situation. I spoke with Cristobal several times while I was in Cuba. He is still here on the island. He still feels that we should make an investment in oil development.'
'I understand that. It puts him in a better position financially. But we all agreed. Oil is not where the future is.'
'And that is still my position. That has not changed. As you said, when the oil is gone it’s gone. You can always grow more sugar cane.'
'Exactly,' Black said. 'So if that’s the case, why are we even talking about oil?'
'I only agreed to speak with him as a courtesy to Clemente Eustaquio. As I said, Clemente is a trusted old friend, whom I have done business with for years.'
'I can understand that.'
'I assure you that we will take care of our business and be off the island long before the storm approaches.'
'So when does he want to get together?'
'This afternoon over lunch, so please bring your associate with you. Martin tells me that she is quite charming, in addition to being very beautiful.'
Black looked at CeCe who was sitting across from him packing. 'She is that
'After that, I am leaving the island going back to New York on my private jet. I would be honored if you would join me.'
'I accept your most gracious offer.'
'Excellent. My limousine will pick you up at your hotel at noon.'
'We’ll be ready.'
The meeting was to be held at a house in McLean’s Town, which was about forty kilometers outside of Freeport. It was the farthest settlement on the east end of the island that could be reached by two roughly paved roads. The winds were stronger on that side of the island as the storm approached much faster than anyone had anticipated.
When they got to the house, lunch was served and afterwards, Black, Chang and Cristobal went into another room to talk. Kevon, CeCe and Chang’s assistant, Mei Ai Bao were asked to wait along with two of Cristobal’s men. Xiang Yong, Chang’s bodyguard waited outside along with another one of Cristobal’s men.
'Cuba has been oil hunting for decades, and their attempts have not always been successful,' Chang began as they entered the room.
'This is true,' Cristobal said and took a seat behind his desk in front of the French doors. 'However, as you know, with discovery of oil field’s revealed within five miles of Cuba’s northern coast, we expect yields which could excess forty percent of Cuba’s total production,' Cristobal said.
'How much is that?' Black asked.
'Roughly seventy-five thousand barrels a day of heavy crude. Oil companies from China have already begun talks with Cuban energy officials about investments in deep-water operations.'
'I am well aware of this fact, Cristobal,' Chang said and looked impatiently at his watch.
'What you may not be aware of is that the north Cuban basin holds a substantial quantity of oil: ten billion barrels of crude and ten trillion to twenty trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This creates an opportunity for foreign oil conglomerates with offers of production-sharing agreements.'
Chang took a deep breath. 'You tell me things that I am already well aware of. And frankly, it does nothing to change my mind in this matter.'
'I am sorry that you feel this way,' Cristobal said and pushed a button on his desk.
'I agreed to meet with you today out of respect for Clemente. But unless you have something new and profitable to share with us, I’m afraid this meeting will be a short one,' Chang said.
Outside the house one of Cristobal’s men approached Xiang Yong and motioned him for a cigarette. When Xiang Yong stood up, the man covered Xiang Yong’s mouth and shoved a knife in his stomach.
Back inside of the house. 'Clemente was an old fool who had outlived his usefulness.' Cristobal removed a gun from the desk drawer and stood up. 'That is why I killed him,' he said and shot Chang.
Cristobal turned the gun on Black and he hit the floor quickly and took out his gun. Hearing the shot, Kevon burst through the door and was immediately shot twice in the chest. Black fired at Cristobal, but he was able to escape through the French doors.
In the living room, one of Cristobal’s men shot Mei Ai Bao and started toward the office while the other went after CeCe, who had just come out of the bathroom when the shooting began. She quickly went into one of the other rooms and hid under the bed.
Black got to his feet and went after Cristobal. When he got to the doors, Black could see him running and fired at him, but missed. Black came back inside and saw one of Cristobal’s men standing over Kevon’s body. He looked at Black and both men fired. Black hit him with two shots to the head, but felt pain and burning in his stomach.
He kicked the gun away from Cristobal’s man and knelt down next to Kevon. He checked for a pulse. 'Goodbye, my friend,' Black said and closed his eyes.
Black picked up Kevon’s gun and went into the living room. He saw Mei Ai Bao’s lifeless body slumped over on the couch, but no CeCe.
'CeCe,' he screamed and went looking for her.
Black opened the front door and saw Xiang Yong’s body. 'Damn.' He looked around to see if he saw her and
