Bobby got behind the wheel and started the car. They went to check out the address of the woman who owned the boat, but the house was in darkness.
"Where to now, Mike? Back to the airport?" Bobby asked.
"Not yet."
"Where you wanna go then?"
"Let’s go see Hector. He hangs at a club called La Covacha. It’s on Twenty-fifth Street."
"Hector?" Nick questioned. "Hector Villanueva?"
Mike nodded.
"I remember that guy," Nick said.
Back in the day, Hector Villanueva used to buy from Andre Hammond, who controlled most of the drug traffic in the area. Mike worked for Andre as enforcer, collector and at times, his personal bodyguard. Even though he did business with them, Andre hated Puerto Ricans, so he was killin’ Hector on price. Mike did Hector a favor and introduced him to Angelo Collette. Angelo and Mike were in the same homeroom class in high school. Back in the day when they were both freelancing, they did a few jobs together. They robbed a few jewelry stores, took down a payroll or two. Now, Angelo was a very important man. After Mike introduced Hector to him, Hector started buying his product from Angelo at a better price than Andre had been giving him.
Mike was forced to call in the favor when Shy had business with Hector and he was being tough on the negotiations. Mike was able to get Hector to do business with Shy. At that point, Hector considered their business together concluded, but he and Mike had something else more personal in common.
"You think Hector has something to do with this mess?" Bobby asked and glanced over at Nick.
"Not really," Mike replied casually. "But you never know."
"Yeah, right." Bobby laughed. "You just wanna fuck with Hector, see if you can go up in Nina while we’re down here, don’t you, Mike?"
"I remember Nina," Nick said. "That was one beautiful woman. Seeing her would be enough reason for me to go fuck with Hector."
"No, I just wanna ask him some questions."
As Bobby drove off, Nick thought about the years he had missed. He glanced in the backseat at Mike and then over at Bobby. He was glad to be able to close the door on that part of his life, after all these years, to finally say that he was sorry to Bobby. Maybe now he could take Shy’s advice and forgive himself for betraying Bobby and fucking Camille. Even if she was a ho who was fuckin’ everybody.
It was 2:30 in the morning when Bobby pulled up in front of La Covacha, one of the most popular spots for Latin music in Miami. Once they were inside, Bobby went one way while Nick and Mike went another.
"Nice place," Nick said as they wandered around the club looking for Hector.
"Yeah, it is a nice club. It almost burned down in the mid-nineties," Mike said over the music. They went out to the open-air part of the club, which was under a thatched roof.
"How you know so much about this place?"
"I came here few times with Nina before I knew she was married to Hector." Mike paused. "She really liked this place."
"You really liked Nina, didn’t you?" Nick said.
"There was something special about her."
Out on the patio, the place pounded with a mix of new and old salsa. The crowd ranged from the thirty-something crowd to South American teenagers. There were even a few older couples. But Hector wasn’t out there, so they went back inside. That’s when Mike saw her coming out of the VIP room.
He stood and watched her walk through the club and make her way to the bar. Mike tapped Nick on the shoulder. "There she is."
"Who?" Nick asked.
"Nina." Nick turned around quickly. "Wait here," Mike said as Bobby walked up.
"I don’t see Hector anywhere," Bobby said to Nick.
"He’s here." Nick pointed toward the bar where Mike was now standing next to Nina.
"Hello, Nina," Mike said.
Nina closed her eyes and allowed her head to drift back at the sound of his voice. "Hello, Black," she said without looking at him. "What are you doing here?"
"I’m looking for Hector."
"I was hoping you’d say something noble like you came here looking for me. That you couldn’t live another minute without seeing me."
"It is good to see you, Nina, even if you won’t look at me." Nina took a deep breath and turned around slowly. "You look good, Nina."
"So do you. Very good."
"Where’s Hector?" Mike asked before the conversation went in another direction.
"He’s in the VIP room. But if you stand here and talk to me long enough, he’ll be out here soon. I’m sure somebody will run and tell him that I’m out here talking to this big, fine black man," Nina said and put her hand on Mike’s chest.
"I wanna talk to him, Nina." Mike slowly removed her hand from his chest. "Not have to kill him over you."
Nina looked at the ring on Mike’s finger. "You’re married?"
"Happily."
"Now that we’re both married, maybe you’ll come down here to see me."
"I still don’t mess with married women."
"Is that why you never came looking for me?"
"It’s the only reason I didn’t come and get you, Nina. If you weren’t married to Hector. ." Mike paused and looked around the club. "Who knows?"
"I do." Nina smiled a satisfied smile and turned around to motion for a waitress. When one responded, Nina talked to her for a minute, then she returned her attention to Black. "Tell her what you want."
Mike reached in his pocket and handed the woman a hundred-dollar bill. "Tell Mr. Villanueva that Mike Black sends his respect and asks that Mr. Villanueva give him a minute of his time. Tell him exactly what I said. I’ll be right here waiting for his answer."
The waitress was about to go to deliver the message, but Nina stopped her. "Wait until ten minutes after I’m back in the VIP before you come in there." Once the waitress was gone, Nina turned to Mike. "Goodbye, Black. I want to kiss you. I want you to hold me in your arms and kiss me; not just a goodbye kiss or a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I want you to kiss me the way that you used to." Nina took a step closer and ran her hand up Mike’s crotch then whispered in his ear, "What I’d really like to do is suck that big dick and then ride you until I feel it swell up and explode inside me." And then Nina stepped away. "But then somebody would die tonight. Goodbye, Mike Black. I hope this won’t be the last time I see you."
"You never know, Nina. Anything is possible."
"We’ll see," Nina said and walked away.
Nick and Bobby joined Mike at the bar. Mike watched Nina as she made her way back to the VIP room. She didn’t look back.
Nina looked exactly the way he remembered her. It was like time stood still for Nina. When they were involved with one another, Mike never knew that she was married, and definitely not that she was married to Hector. Nina never wore a ring, and he never asked her any questions. Mike never called her; he never even knew her number. She never knew his number. That was the way she wanted it. All spontaneous and natural, is what Nina used to call it.
When Mike saw Nina anywhere, anytime, he would drop whatever and whoever he was with to be with her. When they would get together, they had the best time. They even went on trips together. They went to Miami all the time, and to several islands. In his wildest dreams, he never imagined that Nina was married. But whenever they’d get back, Nina would leave and Mike wouldn’t see her for a while. But he wanted to. There was something special about Nina.
Mike didn’t find out she was married to Hector until he saw her one night on the street. They talked for a while then she said, "Oh shit, here comes my husband."
"You’re married? To who?" Nina pointed at Hector then walked away without a word. Not too long after that, Hector shipped her down to Miami and Mike never saw her again.
"You all right, Black?" Nick asked.
"Yeah. I sent Hector a message."
"Yeah," Bobby said. "Nina is still fine as hell."
A half-hour later, Mike looked up and saw two men escorting Nina out of the VIP room. "Get ready."
"What’s up?" Nick asked and put his hand on his gun, while Bobby turned toward Black.
Mike pointed as the two men pushed their way through the crowd and took Nina out of the club. "You know Hector wasn’t gonna talk to me with Nina around. Probably took him this long to convince her to leave." Once Nina was safely out of the club, the two men approached Mike at the bar.
"Mr. Black?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Villanueva will see you now," one of the men said then turned toward the VIP room. Black, Bobby and Nick followed them.
Nick overheard one speak to the other in Spanish. "Debemosapenas los dirigiofueraespalda y los mata."
"No, permitioqueelloshablenprimeroentoncesquenosotros los podemosmatar."
Hearing their plans, Nick laughed. "Black."
"What they say?"
"One said they should just lead us out back and kill us. The other said, ‘No, let them talk first, then we can kill them.’ "
"Okay," Mike said. "So, now we know. Be ready."
Hector Villanueva sat alone in a booth in the VIP room, but one of his men stood next to him. As Mike approached, Hector extended his hand for him to sit down. "Mike Black."
"How are you, Hector?" Mike said as he sat down. Nick and Bobby stood on Black’s side of the table, while Hector’s men stood on the other. Bobby smiled, and the stare-down began.
"I am doing very well, Black. But I am curious. I thought that I made it very clear that I considered our business together concluded. Now here you are, and I want to know why. Why are you here?"
"My wife was kidnapped by two Latinos and a white guy at my club in the Bahamas earlier today. The bandits brought her by boat to Miami."
"And you think I had something to do with it?"
"No, Hector. I just wanna find my wife. This is your city. I was just hoping that you might have heard something."
Hector sat back in the booth and finished his drink. It caught him off guard when Black asked for his help. It made him feel powerful. Mike Black comes to me for help. "I am very sorry to hear about your wife, Black, and very sorry that I can’t help you. I don’t know anything about it, but if I hear anything, I will let you know."
"Thank you, Hector. I would appreciate that." Mike started to get up, but sat back down. "One more thing you can help me with, Hector."
"What is that, Black?"
"I overheard your boys saying that they were going to kill us after I talked to you. I don’t think anybody needs to die tonight. I hope you agree."
Hector looked at Mike and then to his men. "Yes, I agree. Nobody needs to die tonight."
Mike stood up and extended his hand. "Thank you for taking the time to see me." He started to ask how Nina was doing just to fuck with Hector, but he decided against it.
Hector accepted Black’s hand and stood up. "I am honored that you would come to me."
Once they were out of the club and in the car, Bobby asked, "Was all that really necessary? I’m about to throw up with all that touchy-feely, thank-you-for-seeing-me, honored-that-you-would-come-to-me shit."
"You never know when we might need an ally down here. Let’s get back to New York. And besides," Mike paused as Bobby drove off, "I really came here to see Nina."