“Anything else?” Carmen inquired.
“No honey, nothing else,” Peppermint said with a bit of a bite. “Alotta these ho's up in here sellin' pussy, but I ain't one of them. Beside, that wasn't Rollie's thing. He just liked to watch me dance. Never even tried to touch me. But he damn sure paid good.”
“Okay.” Said a dejected Carmen.
“But I did do him a favor once.”
“What was that?” Carmen asked excitedly.
“Rollie called me one night and asked me to meet him at The Underground.”
“What did he want?” Marcus asked.
“He asked me to drive his car home.”
“Why?” Carmen asked.
“He didn't say and I really didn't care. He gave me five hundred dollars.”
“Just to drive his car?” Carmen said in disbelief.
“No, he wanted me to go in the house, call some number and leave the long ass message he recorded on my phone. Oh yeah, he was runnin' on E, so he gave me his credit card to get gas.”
“When was this?” Marcus asked.
“About a year ago.”
“Were you still in the house when Rollie got there?”
“Nope. After the recording was finished I left.”
“Did anybody see you?”
“I don't think so.” Peppermint frowned. “Why y'all wanna know all this about Rollie?”
“Because the mutha fucka killed my sister that night.” Carmen got up from the table and headed for the door.
Marcus stood up, “Carmen wait!” he yelled.
“Did I hear her right? Rollie killed her sister? I don't believe that.”
“Neither did a jury. Thank you for your help Ms. Dent,” Marcus said and ran out the club after Carmen.
When Marcus reached the car, Carmen was there waiting for him. “I knew he did it. I just knew it, Marcus! But he's gonna pay. That mutha fuckas gonna pay!”
Marcus unlocked Carmen's door and she got in, still mumbling, He's gonna pay. Once he was in the car, Marcus turned to Carmen. “Have you ever heard of double jeopardy?”
“Yes.”
“Then you understand that under the law he can't be tried again for that crime.”
“What! You mean he's gonna get away with it?”
“Not really, since he owns Hudson Financial; that makes him a co-conspirator in money laundering and all the murders.”
“Yeah, well, suppose he can prove that he had no knowledge of anything about that? What happens then? Suppose he gets another smart lawyer like you? What happens then? He walks away free.”
Marcus had no answer. He simply started up the car and backed out of the space.