When two more men came running out the back, Rain shot one and Carter took out the other and the two kept moving toward the office. When Carter pushed open the door, Coleman was down on one knee in front of the safe, trying to shove money in a briefcase as fast as he could. He raised his weapon and fired until the clip was empty. When they heard the sound of an empty gun, Carter walked in and Rain limped slowly in behind him.
Rain raised her nine, put the barrel to Coleman’s forehead and pulled the trigger. Then she stood over him and put two more in his chest. After that, Carter finished putting the money in the briefcase and then went to douse the bar with gasoline. Once he was done, Carter and Rain walked out, Rain lit a
book of matches and dropped it, setting the place on fire. Then the two sat there and watched it burn until the fire department arrived.
Day Five
Chapter Thirty-seven
Carmen stared out the window of the chartered jet as it took off from Westchester County Airport. She and Jada were finally on their way to Paris. Once the plane reached cruising altitude, Carmen took off her seatbelt and tried to put the events of the last four days behind her.
“Would you care for a cocktail, Ms. Taylor?” The flight attendant asked.
“Thank you,” Carmen said and looked up. The woman was standing in front of her, holding a tray with a glass on it.
“Ron Zacapa XO,” she said, and Carmen took the glass from her tray.
“Thank you,” Carmen said again, took a sip of her rum and thought, not only about what happened, but what was going to happen next.
When Detective Harmon walked Walter Bonner out of Enzo’s Palace in handcuffs, Carmen recorded it on her cell phone and once they got a team down there, she reported the Breaking News story live.
DP watched the same broadcast with a smile on his face. He was smiling because things were going the way he knew that they would. He knew this was coming and had planned ahead. He had the new spot for the online operation up and ready to go. DP had it built in a warehouse in the South Bronx and had recruited new women to work there.
As for his overseas shipment, he had that covered too. The four women that had actually been selected were at the new location and were ready to be shipped. Knowing that the entire operation was compromised, he killed Winston Darby, formerly of Ingram International and found a new shipper. A group of Chinese men with Triad affiliations, who were already in the human trafficking industry, were more than happy for the new business.
Even though his takeover bid was unsuccessful, a total disaster is what it was, DP was actually glad when he heard that Rain killed Barry Hamilton at Truckload and then she killed Kwame Coleman and burned all of his operations to the ground. Since Frank Abbate never knew anything, all he could say was that Walter Bonner hired him to build some rooms at Enzo’s. All that had to happen for DP to consider the matter dealt with was for Bonner to keep his mouth shut long enough to hang himself in his jail cell while he was awaiting trial.
So once the shooting started at Enzo’s and one of the dancers called DP, his first thought was, “Good,” he said, thinking that the police would finish his work for him.
Now I don’t have to burn it to the ground, as his father recommended.
He was a little disappointed, but not at all surprised when Milton called from Venezuela and said that he had to leave the country unexpectedly.
“How long will you be gone?” DP asked, but already knew the answer.
“I’m not sure. I may have to be down here for a while,” Milton told his son.
“What are you working on?”
“I don’t wanna say right now. I’ll fill you in on the details when things start to firm up.”
“I understand,” DP said, and he did. He understood that his father had bailed, and it was time to protect himself, which to DP meant kill everybody that could tie anything to him.
After Carmen reported the story, she went back to the station and tendered her resignation. “Effective immediately,” she told Louis and although he hated to see her go, he understood why she felt she had too.
“You always have a home here with us, Carmen,” Louis said, and shook her hand. And even though they promised to stay in touch, the hardest part of her leaving was saying goodbye to Max.
“We had a great run, didn’t we,” Max said, fighting back the tears.
“We did, it was an amazing run,” Carmen said. By that time, tears were rolling down her cheeks. “I’m gonna miss you, Mad Max,” she said and hugged him again.
“I’m gonna miss you too. Now get outta here before I start to cry and make a complete fool of myself.”
Carmen hugged Max again and kissed him on the cheek, before she rushed out of the station and went home to pack. For her, this was a bittersweet ending and one that she would have never seen coming just a few months ago. She was sad to let go of a way of life that produced so much satisfaction and enjoyment for her. With no real experience to speak of, Carmen had turned herself into a damn good investigator.
But although Carmen was sad to put this part of her life behind her, she harbored excitement for what came next. She was about to spend two weeks in Paris and then, Carmen plan to go home to Atlanta and surprise her parents with the news that she was home for good. She would figure things out with Marcus when she got settled. But if she knew anything about herself, it was that she could do anything she put her mind to, including finally loving a man and allowing him to love her.
As for Jada, she was sitting in the seat across from Carmen, sipping a cocktail and she too was thinking about the last four days and what it meant to her. Although she was a boss in her own right, she respected Rain, admired her actually. So it was very important to Jada that she was able to handle the situation with Detective Bautista for Rain.