“What are they; a rap group or something?” I asked, fighting back the laughter. I glanced over at Kirk and he was doin’ the same thing.
“No, they’re low rent drug dealers that used to work for Birdie,” Richards said.
“Now him I heard of. Heard they found his body in some river in Jersey,” I taunted. “But you answered your own question. If these guys are low rent drug dealers, I wouldn’t know them or anything about them. Maybe you should talk to Freeze. He keeps up with that kind of shit. It’s like a hobby to him. But since you drove all the way out here to ask me about them, it must be something that you can only ask me.”
“That would be correct,” Richards said.
I took a step closer to him. “You don’t like me, do you, detective Richards? To you I’m just another arrogant crook who doesn’t deserve the respect Kirk shows me.”
“That would be correct,” Richards stated plainly.
“That’s why I respect you, detective Richards, ’cause you don’t like me and you have no problem lettin’ me know that you don’t like me. You're not like a lot of other cops who smile in my face or try to act tough. You do your job, and I respect you for that.”
“Right,” Richards said.
I knew I caught him off guard, but I meant what I said. “Whatever I can do to help you, detective Richards.”
“Somebody killed Cash Money in his apartment and K Murder was killed this weekend in a drive by.”
“I don’t know anything about that. I just came back from the Bahamas today. Like I said, Freeze keeps up with that type of shit. So unless you're tellin’ me that these are the guys that killed my wife, I wouldn’t know anything about them. Why would I?”
“That’s what I asked one of them,” Richards said.
“What he say?”
“He didn’t have a reason either, but right now he’s sitting behind fifteen guys-”
“Seventeen,” Kirk corrected.
“Okay, seventeen guys; waiting for you to come after him.”
“So let me get this straight; Four baby ballers, that I’ve never heard of, are so scared that I’m gonna kill them that they get together to protect themselves against me, but I don’t know them?” By that time, I couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore. “But now two of them are dead, which says a lot for their security and they think it’s me that killed them. So now, one of them is so scared of me that he is sittin’ behind a little army waitin’ on me to show up. Is that what you're tellin’ me?”
By then Kirk was laughing too.
“I’m sorry, but would you mind tellin’ me what my motive is for doing this?”
“See, I told you he was going to ask you that,” Kirk said and dropped his head to continue getting his laugh on.
“I’m not out there figthin’ over corners with these kids,” I said before Richards could say anything. “They play it a little too hard for me. They have no honor or loyalty; shootin’ each other over bullshit. Why would I even be involved with these guys?”
It didn’t take long before Richards cracked a smile. “I was kinda hopin’ that you could tell us,” he finally said. “Since they think it’s all about you, I just thought I’d ask.”
“It is not about me, believe that.” But now things were starting to make sense. Now I know it was these assholes that sent somebody to kill me.
“I’m sorry we took up your time,” Kirk said and turned toward the car.
“Before you go, Kirk. Have you heard anything new you want to share about my wife’s murder?”
“I’m sorry to say that there isn’t any new information, but believe me, we’re still on it,” Kirk said.
“And you still don’t think you can tell me what you do know about Cassandra’s murder?”
“We’ve been through this before, Black. That would come under the heading of police business.”
“Yeah, you told me.” I looked at Kirk and then turned to Richards. “Would you excuse us for a minute, detective Richards?”
Richards extended his hand graciously and I walked away with Kirk. What I was about to do was risky. Some might even say it was arrogant, but it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been accused of that. I stopped and faced the detective.
“Does the name DeFrancisco mean anything to you?”
The
“We’ve met,” was all Kirk would commit to. It wasn’t like I expected him to spill his guts and tell me everything he knew, like they do on TV.
“See I’ve always believed that you’ve known who had killed Cassandra for a long time, but there was some reason you couldn’t do anything about it. Now I understand some of why that may have been. Here’s the problem, Kirk. I know DeFrancisco had her killed and you know what I’m gonna do about it.”
“I do.”
“The question between you and I is, when I do what I’m gonna do, what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m gonna do my job, Black. I’m gonna follow the evidence where ever it leads. If I didn’t do my job, you wouldn’t respect me,” Kirk explained, and I understood and could respect that. “Just like if you didn’t do your job, I wouldn’t respect you.” Kirk took a step closer to me. “Just make sure you do your best work,” he said and left me standing there. “Come on, Pat.”
“What was that about?” I heard Richards ask.
“Friend of his got some parking tickets, you know the rest,” Kirk said and got in the car.
Chapter Twenty-one
Black stood outside the house and watched the detectives drive away. He had just taken a risk by telling Kirk that he knew DeFrancisco was the one that had Shy killed, but it was necessary. And it wasn’t all that risky anyway. Black understood that DeFrancisco being found dead in his cell wouldn’t be a big deal. The real issue, the one Black didn’t mention, was Vinnelli. He was an active DEA agent. His murder would have every law enforcement officer in the country coming after them, and as Bobby said, that’s something Black wanted to avoid at all costs.
Black knew that once Kirk heard that Vinnelli was dead, no matter the circumstances, he’d suspect that Black was at least involved, if he didn’t do the job personally. At that point, Kirk would do his job, but Black felt like he had an understanding with Kirk. He would follow the evidence. “Just make sure you do your best work,” was what Kirk told him. Black took that to mean that there couldn’t be any evidence of his involvement in Vinnelli’s death.
Black went back in the house where Bobby was waiting with Pam. “Come on, we need to ride,” Black said to Bobby and walked back out.
Bobby stood up and followed him out.
Pam came out behind him. “What goin’ on, Mike?”
“Nothin’ for you to be worried about,” Black said and got in the car.
Bobby kissed his wife on the cheek. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. By the way, we’re not goin’ to Hong Kong,” he said and got in the car.
“We got more problems,” Black said before Bobby could shut his door. “Let me see your phone.” Bobby handed Black the phone without discussion.
He dialed Freeze’s number and he answered quickly. “What’s up?”
“I need to see you, Nick and Wanda. I’m at Bobby’s. We’re on our way to the city.”
“Where you wanna meet?”
“Cynt's,” Black replied and Bobby started laughing. Black gave Bobby the finger and ended the call.
“What they want?” Bobby asked.
“You ever hear of some baby ballers go by the names Cash Money and K Murder?”
