Devilish Details (24 page)

“He’s not half bad,” Jazz replied and
giggled at Kelli’s grimace.

“Dude hasn’t had game since the eighties, if
he had any back then,” Kelli said low. Then she straightened up to
beam at him. “Hey Lawrence. What up?”

“Spending quality time with the prettiest
woman up in here. I...” Lawrence frowned at the sound of his cell
phone during a lull in the music. He glanced at the caller ID.
“Excuse me a minute.”

Kelli watched him leave the club, cell phone
in hand. “His wife.”

“He’s got an apartment downtown he
said.”

“His friend has an apartment downtown that
he uses when the guy is traveling on business. Lawrence has been
married for a long time. He and wifey got two teenagers. Plus, his
girlfriend has his six year old little girl. He looks good, and
he’s got money, but he’s trouble.”

“So am I,” Jazz reminded her.

Kelli laughed hard. “You gonna play him?
Please, let me watch.”

“I’m not in the game no more, girl. I’m a
business woman,” Jazz said with a wink. “Still, if he keeps
bragging about his money...”

“He ain’t lyin’ either. His family has real
estate. He owns an insurance franchise and a couple of sandwich
shops. He’s overdue to get played the way he’s been playin’ women
for years.” Kelli said. “Shh, here he comes. Lookin’ whipped,
too.”

“I’ve got some urgent international business
to take care of, you know time zones different over there. Can I
call you sometime?” Lawrence stood close to Jazz with a hand on the
bar.

“I hear you got a wife, Lawrence,” Jazz
drawled.

He shot a grimace at Kelli. “I thought we
were friends.”

“I’m her friend,” Kellie replied with a
grin.

“When were you going to tell me about being
a family man?” Jazz put in.

“Look, we lead separate lives and... No, no,
as corny as it sounds, I’m telling you the truth.” Lawrence had
nerve enough to place a palm over his heart as if swearing an
oath.

“I like you, but I don’t know,” Jazz said,
putting just enough indecision in her tone to give him hope.
Bingo.

“Look, look, I have a gorgeous apartment
downtown like I said. I can offer you good times with no drama. I
travel to Atlanta, New York and San Francisco a lot. Sometimes I go
to Hawaii. Here’s my card. We can have beautiful times together.
Promise you’ll call.”

Jazz gazed at the white business card with
gold embossed lettering. “You gave out about ten of those in the
last month I’ll bet.”

“I’ve been looking for the right one, and
here she is. Please Monesha, give me a chance.” Lawrence put on a
sincere serious expression.

Kelli’s mouth flew open. She cleared her
throat and turned away. “Let me go catch this customer.”

“Okay,” Jazz said with a smile. She took the
card and tucked it into her jacket pocket. “I’d love to see New
York again.”

“You will, baby girl. The best hotels,
restaurants and more. Now don’t lose that ticket to paradise.”

Before she could duck, he planted a kiss on
her right cheek. Jazz managed not to punch him. “Yeah, sure.”

Kelli watched him leave before she joined
Jazz again. “What the fuck? Monesha. Warn me next time. I almost
lost it.”

“I wasn’t going to give that fool my real
name,” Jazz said.

They both burst out laughing. After a few
more jokes at Lawrence’s expense, they exchanged chitchat to catch
up. As usual Kelli had complaints about her grouchy mother and
latest no-good man. She took breaks from talking to Jazz to serve
up drinks. The other bartender worked alone while Kelli took a
break. “Okay, so instead of being at your club holding it down,
you’re here. Checking up on Lorraine is my guess,” Kelli said as
she glanced around.

“How come I can’t just be takin’ a night off
to relax?”

Kelli grunted. “Uh-huh.”

“You nailed me. Damn, I need to be less
obvious.” Jazz studied the crowd to see if anyone was paying too
much attention to her.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t spotted any of her
crew up in here,” Kelli said, reading Jazz’s mind.

“Yeah, but you haven’t worked for her in a
while either,” Jazz retorted and kept looking.

“True. I hear Lorraine has changed, and not
in a good way. Bitch,” Kelli hissed. She clenched a fist.

“She was never sweet and cuddly, Kelli. How
the hell could she get worse?”

“Lorraine got paranoid to the point of being
a nut after her son got killed. The kid was a terror, so nobody was
surprised when he got taken out.”

Kelli walked off and wiped a spill on the
polished bar surface. The customer wanted another drink. The male
bartender nodded to Kelli, and she rejoined Jazz.

“Yeah, he started fights everywhere he
went,” Jazz said, taking up where they’d left off.

“Needed his ass kicked, not that I’m saying
somebody should have killed him. Anyway, Lorraine started goin’ off
on all kinds of shit. Then she accused me of stealing liquor and
money from the register. I told her she needed to look at her son
and nephew. That heffa exploded and took a swing at me.” Kelli’s
hands clenched.

“Lorraine was lucky you didn’t swing back.
She must have lost her mind knowing how you moved in the ring.”
Jazz looked at her friend. Kelli had boxed from the age of sixteen
and during her short stint in the Navy.

“Yeah, well her six foot four inch thug son
and two of his gangstas stood nearby. I was pissed, but not as
crazy as
her
,” Kelli retorted. “But like my grandmamma
always said, rest her soul, God ain’t sleep. Lorraine lost the
club, buried a son, and saw another off to prison.”

Jazz grinned. “You think the Big Guy
delivered payback just for you?”

“Nah, they done a whole lot worse to other
people. I just enjoyed watchin’ though. Anyway, her old regulars
have been coming here lately. They say a bunch of serious gangstas
hang out at her new place. A couple of ‘em are known hit men still
in their teens.”

“I hope you know what they look like.” Jazz
tried to look casual as she turned to lean against the bar. She
sipped from her glass as she scanned the crowd. The door swung open
and she muttered a curse word.

“He’s fine. If he ain’t yours, introduce
us,” Kelli smoothed down her cute short cut bob. She stood straight
to give the world a view of her ample cleavage.

“I don’t own nobody” Jazz kept her
expression blank as Don strolled in. Yet irritation boiled toward
full blow anger. He had the nerve to smile at her.

“Hey, I lucked up when I walked in and found
two beautiful women waitin’ for me.” Don spoke in a sing-song voice
typical of a player showing off his charm. He wore baggy jeans and
a designer red knit sweater that hugged his muscular body. He put
swagger in his step the closer he got to them. “Hit me with a
private room and set up of Cristal. Both y’all can join me.”

“That simple, huh? All roads lead to you I
guess,” Jazz shot back with attitude. When he slid onto the
barstool next to her, she lowered her voice. “You got hella nerve
following me. I don’t need a baby sitter.”

“Apparently you do because coming here was a
stupid bad idea,” Don replied softly. Then he winked at Kelli and
spoke loudly. “C’mon, let’s get this party started. Three’s
company.”

“I can’t drink, sorry. But I’m ready to
serve you up the best, man.” Kelli’s lips smiled, but her gaze
darted around nervously. “Tell me what’s goin’ on, Jazz.”

“Nothin’ except a dude stickin’ his nose
where it don’t belong,” Jazz replied. She looked straight ahead and
pointedly avoided looking at Don.

“You shouldn’t be this close to Lorraine’s
territory,” Don whispered to her.

“Humph, Lorraine doesn’t have territory,”
Jazz shot back with a snort. Then her mocking grin froze. “Unless
you know something I don’t.”

“If she had a part in what happened to
Kyeisha like we think, then Lorraine is in something deep.” Don
kept up the appearance of a man trying to get laid. His easy smile
covered the serious theory he’d just shared.

“Shit, they messed her up bad and then...”
Kelli pressed a wet dish cloth to her neck. “Look, y’all need to
get outta here like ten minutes ago.”

“You two scared little kids need to calm the
hell down.” Jazz stopped when three laughing men came through the
club’s front door.

“What?” Don said at the same time as
Kelli.

Two squat but well built men stood on either
side of a tall man. All three were various shades of brown, with
the taller man being the color of light caramel. He wore a long
sleeved white t-shirt rolled up to expose forearms covered with
tattoos. His friends wore open collared shirts under denim jackets.
They had tattoos on their necks. One of them was bald with a tattoo
on one side of his head. Jazz didn’t know two of them, but the bald
man sent a chill through her like jagged ice.

“We need to go, like now,” Jazz said.

“You know them,” Don murmured so low the
music almost swept his words away.

“One of Filipe’s guys used to ride with him
as a bodyguard.” Jazz turned her back to the club and faced the bar
again. “Bald guy.”

“He looks dumb and dumber,” Don replied.
Still he followed Jazz’s lead. Instead he positioned his body
sideways.

“Mateo is not stupid. He likes letting
people assume he is, which makes him even more dangerous. Kelli, I
sure as hell hope a back way out is near that private room.” Jazz
spoke with the glass up to her face.

“This way.” Kelli said. She moved stiffly
with a tight smile on her face. She swung a small half door on
hinges to come from behind the bar.

“Try not to look scared shitless, Kelli,”
Jazz mumbled.

“Screw you comin’ in here draggin’ trouble
into my life,” Kelli shot back low. Then she raised her voice to a
normal level. “Yeah, y’all gonna have fun up in here.”

Don placed a hand in the small of Jazz’s
back. “Move faster ladies. Baldy has separated himself and is
moving to our left.”

“Shit,” Jazz and Kelli said at the same
time.

Chapter 14

They kept walking and pretended not to
notice Mateo moving parallel to them across the room. Then he was
gone. Kelli led them down a hallway with muted lighting. The door
to one of two private rooms had a keypad entry door. One glass wall
showed the interior. A large black leather sectional sofa curved in
a crescent shape. A round glass cocktail table sat in front of it.
Around a corner down another hall was a door.

Kelli fumbled the code entry twice. She kept
looking down the hall. “Damn it, what’s the number?”

“Take a breath and slow down. We’re okay,”
Don replied. He used his body to block her view of the way they’d
come.

“Right.” Kelli’s third try resulted in a
click. She pushed the door open.

“Hold on. We’re only going in there if this
room has a back exit,” Jazz said.

“This is the assistant manager’s office. It
does have a back door. C’mon.” Kelli led them in. Once she shut the
door Kelli panted with anxiety.

“Thanks. Stay here for a minute. They’ll go
to the other side exit door looking for us.” Don nodded for Jazz to
follow.

“No problem. Hey,” Kelli called before they
pushed through the heavy steel door. When Jazz and Don stopped, she
pointed at them. “Call me once you’re driving off. If I don’t hear
from you in fifteen minutes, I’m calling the police.”

“Check. Tell them officer in need of
back-up,” Don said.

“You’re runnin’ with a cop?” Kelli blurted
out staring at Jazz in surprise.

Jazz shrugged . “Some days a girl needs
protection.”

“This one sure does. Let’s move.” Don pulled
Jazz by one arm.

“We gotta have a talk for sure,” Kelli
called out before the door bumped shut.

“Everybody is a comedian,” Jazz
muttered.

She had sense enough to let Don continue in
go first. They went down a narrow alley between Grown Folks and the
building next door. A single flood light illuminated the way. Just
like a low budget crime movie, a figure stood at the end of the
alley. Don turned, pushing Jazz ahead of him. A high wooden fence
stood about ten yards from the other building. They headed past a
back door toward the side parking lot of the offices of a temporary
labor company. Another figure, this one tall, waited for them.

“Hey Jazz, what’s your hurry? Let’s talk old
times,” Mateo called out.

“Don’t stop,” Don said.

“That’s your plan? That thug ain’t gonna
just step aside cause you say, ‘Excuse me, dude.’”

“Just follow my lead. We can’t get boxed up
here. He obviously wants to get information first. They could have
shot us before now. Big man there will back up as we get closer.
They’ll circle us.” Don pushed Jazz to move.

“Oh, so you’re claustrophobic. You’d rather
die in the open. Great,” Jazz whispered.

“Yeah, come right this way,” the tall man
called out in good humor.

The second man followed them. Mateo emerged
from the shadows of the back alley minutes after Jazz and Don. Jazz
glanced around. They were in a parking lot. A side street with no
traffic led to other businesses. All were closed.

“Hey, we just came out to have a good time.
Sorry, but we drank up most of my money. The most I have is ten
dollars.” Don held his arms out.

The other short man snorted. “Dude, he
thinks we wanna rob his pocket change.”

Mateo laughed. “No, home. I’m just sayin’
hello to my old pal right here. What is up, Jazz? Still lookin’ all
good and shit.”

Don turned to Jazz with a scowl. “So I gotta
deal with a jealous boyfriend. You told me you didn’t have a
man.”

“I haven’t seen this guy in almost three
years, baby. I don’t know why he’s trippin’,” Jazz said.

“Shit, we can’t walk two steps in a club
without stumblin’ up on some guy you was with. Damn, girl. How many
dudes you been bumpin’?” Don spat out waving his arms.”