Did he give her too much power? The answer was yes. It wasn’t that Rain wasn’t good at what she did, she was. Rain was excellent. And it wasn’t that she was rude and brutal, as Wanda said. Being brutal was part of the job. The problem was Rain. Putting Rain out there like he had was a cold slap in the face to Wanda. That was the mistake he made.
Just then, Monika came and sat down next to him. She pushed a glass of Johnnie Walker Black in front of him. “You all right?” she asked and pointed at his chest.
“Yeah, I’m all right. It only hurts when I breathe.”
“How many you take?”
“Two to the chest,” Nick said and took a sip.
“That puts you three behind me, junior,” Monika said proudly. She had been shot five times while they were pursuing Chilly. Two shots in the chest, two to the head, one hit her above the left ear and one in her eye. They weren’t able to save her eye. The other one was in her hand.
“I’ll gladly let you keep that record.”
“See that you do. I’m in no mood to lose any more friends. Losing Jett was hard enough,” she said referring to their partner Jett Bronson. He was murdered the day after Monika got shot. “I can’t lose you too.”
“You won’t.”
Monika punched Nick in the shoulder. “Then why don’t you let me help you with shit like this?”
“You’re always busy doin’ stuff for Black,” Nick said, but he knew that was just an excuse. Then he decided to tell her the truth. “That and I can’t lose you either. Burying Jett and telling his family was the hardest thing I had to do. I can’t do anything that might get you hurt again. Remember it was me who insisted that you go after Chilly alone that night.”
“I’m a big girl, Nick. You know I can take care of myself. What you think Black got me doin’; making brow
nies?”
“I know exactly what you’re capable of, so I know what Black has you doin’. The difference is I didn’t send you.”
Monika thought about what he said and saw his point so she didn’t push it any further. So she asked the question that was really on her mind. “You think they gonna kill her?”
Nick finished his drink before answering. “Yes.”
When Black told Jackie to lock the door on her way out of the office, it told Rain one thing. The cavalry ain’t comin’ to save my ass this time. By the time anybody got past Monika and made it through that door, she’d be dead.
Rain looked at the stern look on Black’s face and the smile on Bobby’s and knew that she was going to die. What she couldn’t get to was why? Why was she in there about to get shot when this whole mess was Wanda’s doing? All she had done was bust back when somebody and she still thought it was Wanda, tried to kill her man.
“Give me one reason why Bobby shouldn’t shoot you right now?” Black asked and Bobby took out his gun. He pointed it at Rain’s head. “Better question; tell me why Nick didn’t put a pillow over your face while you were in the hospital?”
“You gotta ask Nick that,” Rain said with attitude.
“Wrong answer. Kill her, Bobby.”
“Wait!”
Bobby lowered the gun a little.
“I know that I been a lotta trouble, but I been tryin’ to get my shit right. I gave up the dope game like Nick told me to and shit. But when it seemed like they was bringin’ it to us and shot Nick, I had to do what I did.”
Black looked at Rain for a while and didn’t say anything.
“Can I say one more thing?” she asked without the attitude. She understood that attitude would get her killed.
“Go ahead,” Black said.
“Nick told me that when your wife was murdered that you killed everybody you thought was involved,” Rain said using her hands to emphasize her point.
“You askin’ me what makes you any different?”
“Yeah, I am. Somebody tried to kill my man. I went hard at the people I thought did it. I ain’t tryin’ to get smart, ’cause I know Bobby will shoot me, but what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just sit back and take that shit.”