Out of Control

While Black and CeCe celebrated, back in New York, events were taking place that would affect Jada West’s business in ways that she had never anticipated.

During their investigation of the suicide of congressmen Geoffrey Canfield, the police found Jada’s private number in the congressman’s rolodex. That led to her being taken in for questioning and resulted in an investigation into her activities. She had been down that road once before when an undercover vice operative named Rachael Dawkins was able to penetrate her inner circle. Having barely dodged that bullet, Jada and had no desire to repeat it.

It didn’t take much thinking for Jada to decide that maybe it was time to get out of the business or at worst move her operation to someplace where the police weren’t investigating her. That’s when she thought about Mike Black.

They met years earlier when Jada was a dancer at a small club called Ecstasy and Black was there for a private party for rapper, The One. He enjoyed watching her and afterwards they talked briefly. They met again by chance at a restaurant. By that time, Jada was no longer a dancer; she had transformed herself into one of the city’s top madams with a stable of high priced call girls.

During their conversation, Black mentioned that he needed a reporter to plant an incriminating story about Pete Vinnelli; the

DEA agent that arranged the murder of Black’s wife Cassandra and Jada was more than happy to help him. So when Oleg Mushnikov, an ex-KGB operative with ties to the Izmaylovskaya mob tried to shake her down for twenty percent of her business, she turned to Black for help.

“So, if I take care of this guy for you, what makes you think that I wouldn’t want twenty percent of your business?” Black asked her.

“Because you’d be doing me a favor. You know,” Jada said and smiled sweetly. “Like the one I did for you not too long ago.” She never knew what Black did, and she never asked, but after that she never heard from Oleg Mushnikov again.

Jada remembered that Black had recently offered her an opportunity that, at the time, she wasn’t at all interested in. But in light of the investigation into her business, Jada now viewed his offer in a whole new light. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Jada asked the night Black showed up to talk to her with television reporter Carmen Taylor.

“There is something I want you to consider doing for me,” Black said and leaned forward. “I’ve got an operation in Nassau.”

“What type of operation?”

“Gambling. It’s attracting an international tourist clientele.”

“Sounds lucrative.”

“It is, very. But what’s missing is women. That clientele isn’t interested in paying for the caliber of women that currently work the trade in Nassau.”

“I see. What did you have in mind?”

“You have a talent for recruiting and training women to be high-priced escorts. The caliber of women that my international clientele would be willing to pay top dollar for.”

“What would be my end?”

“You could name your price. Call all the shots, or put somebody in place to run it for you. Unless of course you want to move to Nassau.”

“I just might. I hear you spend a lot of time in Nassau,” Jada said. She wasn’t in love with him, or anything close to it, at least she didn’t think so. But she was definitely willing to go with him any time or place and do anything he wanted her to do.

“I have a house there.” Black finished his drink. “I don’t want you to give me an answer now. Give it some thought and we’ll talk some more about it.”

“Tell me something.”

“What’s that?”

“Is this what I owe you for taking Oleg Mushnikov off my neck?”

“Only if you want it to be,” Black told her that night.

With her decision made, Jada got dressed for a meeting with twelve of her top earners. She wore a Armani Collezioni herringbone jacket, Prada peep-toe suede platform ankle boots, Gurhan white diamond & 24k yellow gold droplet earrings and a Marco Bicego 18K yellow gold multi-strand ring. At that meeting she explained that the police were investigating her and how it would affect business. “That’s the situation, ladies,” Jada said.

“What are you going to do?” Jenna, one of her top earners asked. “’Cause I’m not at all interested in going to jail,” she said and all of the other ladies agreed.

“Well, Jenna, I’m glad that you asked. If things go the way I want them to,” Jada began.

“And they usually do,” Yanjali, another moneymaker giggled.

“I’m going to relocate to Nassau.”

“Nassau?” LaChelle questioned. She wasn’t as good an earner for Jada as either Jenna or Yanjali, but she held her own. “What’s in Nassau?”