“I understand, with the cancer and all. How is your mother doing?”
“She’s doing much better, but this time of night, she gets a little tired, and Mike Jr. can be a handful at times,” she said, and glanced over her shoulder at Black and Martin. They were both smiling on the brink of laughter.
Taking Shy’s glance as, come get your wife, Martin, he stepped up and took Yvonne’s hand as they got to the door. “Let her go, Yvonne. You remember when our kids were little, you used to sneak out during the speech and leave me to make up an excuse for you.”
“I wasn’t that bad, was I?”
Martin turned to Shy and held up his right hand to testify. “I’d say, what do you want me to tell everybody? And she’d say, I don’t care, make something up.”
“I sure would,” Yvonne said, looking a bit embarrassed and then she hugged Shy. “Go home, mommy, be with your children.”
“Good night, Yvonne.” Shy gave Martin a hug as Black said good night to and hugged Yvonne.
“We’ll talk in the morning, Mike,” Martin said, and walked
away with Yvonne.
Now that the event was over for them, Mr. and Mrs. Black left the roof top ballroom at The St. Regis Hotel. Shy called Chuck on the way down, and he was outside waiting for them when they came out. They were both so glad to be out of there.
“You need to promise me something,” Shy said as they drove away.
“What’s that?” he asked, loosening his bowtie.
“That when you and Martin sneak away for your meetings that you take me with you. Even if I have to stand in the hallway, wait by the elevator, I don’t care, just don’t leave me alone with those women.”
“That bad?”
“It was like, he’s gone, may the questions begin. I had to escape to the ladies’ room.”
“I’m surprised that no one offered to go with you.”
“What makes you think one didn’t?” Shy stared at him. “I had to lose her in the crowd and go to the ladies’ room furthest from the ballroom.” They both laughed. “And when I got back to the table, she wanted to know where I disappeared to and what took me so long.”
“Deal.” He laughed. “So, you really ready to go home?”
“What did you have in mind?”
“I wouldn’t mind trying to find Ezequiel Simmonds.”
Shy smiled, because she was thinking about going to talk to Valencia, but they would just end up going to see him after they talked to her anyway. “We’re not exactly dressed for the occasion, but—”
“I did bring your big purse, Mrs. Black,” Chuck said as he drove.
“Then I’m with you.”
Black took out his phone and called Carla to see what she had. He had told her to find out everything that she could about The Comodoro Cartel and as promised, she was all over it.
“I have an address and a phone number for Ezequiel Simmonds, and he is currently in the same location. And just so you know, that is where Geno and Valencia are too.”
“Figures. Send the address to Chuck and you let me know if any of them move.”
“Acknowledged.”
When Ezequiel said, kill them, Geno jumped up from the couch, grabbing Valencia with one hand, pulling his gun and opening fire with the other. As Ezequiel and the heavily armed man returned his fire, Geno and Valencia ran into the dining room and took cover.
He turned over the dining room table and began firing back at them until his gun was empty. As Geno reached in his pocket to get another clip, he looked at Valencia. Her eyes were opened wide, she was taking short, gasping breaths, and holding her stomach. Geno saw the blood on her hands, slammed in the clip and came up firing. But he was forced to take cover again quickly when another man appeared at the doorway and began firing at him. Now they had Geno caught in a crossfire and running low on ammo.
As Chuck pulled up in front of the house, they heard the gunshots and could see the flashes of light coming from inside the house.