Bobby followed Mike out of the house, leaving Red clutching his throat and breathing hard. As soon as they were in Bobby’s car, Mike called Freeze. "Where are you?"
"At the hospital."
"The hospital? What happened?"
"Everything’s cool."
"Then what you doin’ at the hospital?"
"I’ll let Nick explain that to you," Freeze said as he watched Nick push Monika’s wheelchair out of the hospital.
"Put him on."
"He can’t talk right now. He’s doin’ what he gotta do."
"This about that girl that worked with him? What was her name?"
"Monika."
Mike held the phone and thought about what Freeze had told him about Nick’s two partners. He said that while they were investigating Chilly, Monika had been shot five times. Two shots in the chest, two to the head, one hit her above the left ear. She caught one in her eye, and they weren’t able to save the eye. The other one was in her hand. The next day, Nick found his other partner, Jett Bronson, dead with a trail of blood coming from his ear. "Tell him to call me," Mike said and hung up the phone.
As soon as he handed the phone back to Bobby the phone rang. Bobby looked at the number on the display, put the phone down, and started the car. "Where we goin’ now?"
"Let’s go check out Cityscape. It’s a tittie bar on Queens Boulevard."
Bobby put the car in drive and wiped the sweat from his brow. "What’s goin’ on at the hospital?"
"Nick’s taking care of some unfinished business. But fuck that for now. What I wanna know is what’s up with this woman."
"Her name is Cat. I met her at Cynt’s."
"What were you doin’ at Cynt’s?"
"You remember when Wanda was losing her mind about Freeze letting things run down at Cuisine and gettin’ sloppy with everything else?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"She asked me if I’d, you know, make the rounds, check up on him, see if shit was runnin’ right."
"Okay."
"Freeze introduced me to her and she danced for me. Damn, that bitch can dance, and she was cool. I wasn’t even tryin’ to fuck her. We would just hang out, talk shit, that’s it."
"Yeah, right. You knew you were gonna end up fuckin’ her when you started hangin’ out with her," Mike said.
Bobby smiled. "She’s a young girl, barely twenty-two, fine as hell; nice-sized titties, little bitty waist, with a toot-booty that can stop traffic. That body made her one of the most popular dancers at Cynt’s."
"Young girl blow your mind."
Bobby paused before saying, "Yeah."
"So, you been hangin’ out at Cynt’s with this woman?"
"Not anymore. Cynt fired her for being late or not showing up at all."
"Was she with you when she was late or not showing up at all?"
"Yeah."
Mike started laughing. "You got the girl fired from her job, Bobby?"
Bobby laughed.
"Fuckin’ up Cynt’s business over some pussy? You know better than that," Mike said, continuing to laugh as Bobby’s phone rang again. Bobby looked at the display, and once again he put the phone down without answering.
"That her?"
"Yeah," Bobby said louder than he needed to.
"She’s kind of a pest, ain’t she?"
Bobby shook his head. "Mike, you just don’t know."
"If she’s that much of a pest, why don’t you cut her loose?"
"I tried, but she won’t go."
"The fuck you mean, she won’t go?"
"She won’t leave me alone. She’ll call with some excuse to get me over there. Dumb shit, like she need a ride someplace or I got something of hers and she gotta have it right then."
"And you go?" Mike questioned.
"Yeah. I know what’s gonna happen when I get there, but I do it anyway."
Mike looked at Bobby like he was a fool. "You’re either a fool or you’re pussy whipped."
"Pussy whipped. She’ll always find a way to come out of her clothes or she’ll just answer the door naked and I gotta fuck her. One time, she called me and said that she needed me to come get her from Cynt’s ’cause she was locked out and needed to go to the Bowery to meet a friend of hers to get the keys," Bobby explained. "So I tell Pam that I gotta go make the rounds."
"Hold up," Mike interrupted. "What rounds? You ain’t made rounds in years."
"Come on, Mike. Who does Pam talk to? She don’t talk to Freeze, she thinks Wanda is overbearing, her and Shy are great friends, but only when they see each other." Bobby paused. "So I blamed it on you."
"What?"
"After that thing with Wanda and Freeze, I told her that you said I had to start making the rounds, you know, just to make sure things are goin’ right. So when she calls, I tell Pam it’s you reminding me that I need to make the rounds, ’cause you know I forget shit, especially shit I hate doin’."
"The old Bobby is back." Mike laughed. "You always were a lyin’-ass, pussy-gettin’ muthafucka. I’m surprised you lasted so long. But let me ask you this. Why couldn’t you just tell her you were goin’ to the club?"
"She could call the club or just show up there. You know how she likes to just show up there. See, if I’m making the rounds, all she’ll do is call my cell. I’d even call her from some of the houses."
"You were actually making the rounds and taking her with you."
"Yeah."
"How come I’m just hearin’ about this?"
Bobby just looked at him.
"How long has this been goin’ on?"
"Six, maybe seven months."
"You sportin’ this bitch around with you for six months? Your ass was out of control." Mike laughed. "It’s not that I give a fuck if you get some pussy. I’m just surprised, that’s all. All these years you’ve been playing the happily married man with kids. You were the only faithful man I knew."
"Yeah, well, now you can be the only faithful man I know." Bobby laughed.
"What happened to all that shit about finding the right woman?"
"I did. I married her."
"You ain’t thinkin’ about leavin’ Pam, are you?"
"No," Bobby said absolutely. "I would never leave Pam. I love her."
"Then what’s up?"
"Mike, I just can’t resist her."
"You got it bad, son."
"It was cool at first. Like I said, we would just hang out, talk shit, have a good time. We weren’t even fuckin’ then," Bobby said passionately as he drove. "But that night when I picked her up from Cynt’s, we stopped at a couple of places, had some drinks on the way down to pick up the keys, so we were both kinda drunk. So, I’m drivin’, and she says, ‘You gonna give me some of that dick, nigga.’ And I laughed at her and said ‘No, I’m not.’ She said, ‘Yeah, you gonna finish what you started,’ and she reaches over and starts pullin’ down my zipper."
Mike started to laugh.
"I’m tryin’ to drive and fight her off at the same time, but she gets it out anyway. Mike."
"What?"
"Mike."
"What?" Mike asked again, laughing.
"She sucked my dick all the way down the FDR Drive," Bobby said as he pulled in front of Cityscape.
When Mike and Bobby got out of the car, Mike saw Freeze’s truck parked in front of the club. As they walked toward the club, Mike’s thoughts drifted to Shy. He thought about Rio and what a good time they had there. He also remembered that was the first time Cassandra mentioned that she wanted to come back to New York to face her charges. Mike didn’t want to think about that right now.
While they sat in the Cityscape and looked around for Sal Terrico, Bobby, Nick and Freeze enjoyed themselves with the ladies. Mike sat with them, watching, but it was obvious that his mind was someplace else. As the music pounded, Mike was taken back to Rio and their club-hopping nights. They didn’t have to go far from their hotel to reach the clubs. In Copacabana, there were different parties every night. In Ipanema, they hit Baronetti, Nova Lounge and Spazio; Melt, in Leblon; and Sky Lounge in Lagoa.
When they returned to their room in the early hours of the morning, Mike and Shy were playfully drunk. Shy came into the room and plopped down on the first piece of furniture she got to. Mike laughed as he fumbled for the light switch without success.
"Never mind, baby. I’ll just light a candle. It will be more romantic," Shy said as she fumbled for the matches. Once the candle was lit, it illuminated the room. "That’s better."
Mike sat down next to her and Shy stood up. "Un-zip me, please."
"Why did you wait until I sat down to ask me that?"
"Stop being so lazy." Shy laughed as Mike struggled to his feet. Mike took a step toward Shy and she turned around. He zipped down her dress and it fell to the floor to reveal her red lace bra and matching panties.
"Thank you," Shy said as Mike paused to admire her beauty. In his eyes, Shy was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. Shy kissed him on the cheek and started to walk toward the bathroom.
Mike grabbed her hand. "Come here," he said and pulled Shy into his arms. He kissed her lips and Shy began to unbutton Mike’s shirt while he kissed her. Shy slid his shirt slowly off his shoulders and threw it to the floor. She ran her hands across his chest.
"I love you so much."
"I love you too," he said and unhooked her bra, kissed her lips and then her neck. Shy moaned as he slid her panties off. Shy stood naked in front of Mike, and he pulled her closer and kissed her on the lips as Shy helped him out of his pants. Once they were both naked, Shy gently pushed Mike away and walked out on the balcony. Naturally, Mike followed her.
They were in one of the penthouse suites, so neither was too worried about being seen. Mike walked up behind Shy and wrapped his arms around her. He ran his hands over her stomach. Shy spread her legs a little and Mike eased one finger between her legs and massaged her clit.
"Bend over and grab your ankles," Mike said as he ran his hands over her ass and then up and down her back.
"I’m too drunk to grab my ankles," Shy said as she held the rail. Mike knelt down and kissed her legs then stood slid his entire length inside of her, moving in and out slowly. Mike held on tightly as Shy bucked her hips wildly. Sweat dripped from their bodies as they made love with a spectacular view in front of them. Their bodies pounded into each other in fluid motion until she was about to cum. Then Mike suddenly stopped.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"Come with me," Mike said and led Shy into the bedroom.
Shy lay down on the bed and Mike lay next to her. Shy’s breasts seemed to glisten and her nipples grew harder as Mike ran his tongue across them. Shy got up on her knees and started kissing his chest, his stomach and finally his manhood. She stroked it, kissed it, ran her tongue along the length of it before easing it into her mouth. Shy opened her mouth wider and began to suck his manhood. Mike gently grabbed her head and began moving it slowly up and down until his length disappeared inside her.
They looked in each other’s eyes. Mike reached for her face and pulled her toward him. Their tongues became entangled in passion. Mike kissed his way down to her body, lingering at the nipples. He slid his tongue inside her and moved it in and out slowly and gently. Mike spread her lips and tongued her clit. Shy grabbed his head and held it in place. Shy screamed in ecstasy.
"Black!" Nick yelled to him over the music, but Mike didn’t seem to hear him. He was still lost in thoughts of Shy. "Black!"
"Huh?"
"You all right, man?"
"I’m good, Nick. Just thinkin’."
"I understand. You got a lot on your mind. We haven’t seen Terrico in here yet, but we’re in the right place, ’cause all of the dancers seem to know him. When he’s here, he throws around a lot of money, so all the dancers love him. He’s got one that’s his favorite. Her name is Jalyn, but she didn’t come in tonight."
"That’s probably the chick that was with him at Dirty Red’s tonight."
"Could be," Nick said.
Mike looked around the club. "Where’s Bobby?"
"He said that he needed some air and went outside."
Mike nodded, figuring that Bobby was outside on the phone, talking to either Pam or Cat or both. "So, what’s up with your girl? She all right?"
"Yeah. I just wanted to make sure that she was gonna be safe after what Sally Fitz told me tonight."
"What did he have to say?" Mike asked, and Nick told him about the papers that the information broker, Paris, was killed over.
"I think that those papers give a detailed account of what we were doin’ in South America. Before Freeze killed him, Felix said that there were stories in Washington about a drug eradication effort, and if those stories ever made their way to Capital Hill, there would be hell to pay. Sally Fitz said those papers are still in the open and the buyer is still looking for them, so I thought it was a good idea that I move Monika to a safer location."
"Who’s the buyer?" Mike asked.
"I think its Diego, ’cause it was the General who was brokering the deal."
"Fuckin’ Diego. You think that’s what this shit is all about, these fuckin’ papers?"
"I think so. If those papers surface and I get subpoenaed to testify, it could blow up a lot of people’s shit. He killed Jett over that information and tried to kill me and Monika."
"But I hear you’re hard to kill, Nick."