Business is Business PT 5 Read online

  CHAPTER 11

  Eric Mason

  Eric stepped out his front door and slid in the back seat of the Range Rover. He had just gotten several calls from employees at his hotel informing him that someone had walked in the lobby and shot the place up along with several members of his staff. “The Black Dragon?” Eric asked.

  “Nope,” Pistol Pete answered making sure to keep his eyes on the road. “From what I’m hearing it was an Italian man.”

  “Frank Russo must of sent one of his men to shoot up the hotel cause I wouldn’t sell it back to him,” Eric shook his head. He knew the Russo family wasn’t going to go away quietly. Now he had to find a way to end this feud before things really got out of hand.

  “What’s the play boss?” Pistol Pete asked as he pulled up in front of the hotel.

  “I’m not sure yet,” Eric replied. He slipped out the back seat and entered his hotel to see just how much damage had been done. He stepped inside his place of business when he was confronted by a serious-faced detective.

  “Detective, Tyson,” he flashed his badge. “Mind if I ask you a few questions?”

  “Sure, be my guest,” Eric replied.

  “Let me start off by saying I did my research on your family before I got here and I was disgusted,” Detective Tyson began. “I know all about you and from what I hear you’re a real scum bag,”

  “I don’t mean to cut you off detective but are we almost done here? I have a very important meeting that I have to get to,” Eric said with a friendly smile on his face. He hated cops and everything they stood for.

  “I got my eye on you. One slip and that’s your ass!” Detective Tyson growled as he brushed past Eric he made sure that he forcefully bumped shoulders with him on his way out.

  “Have a nice day!” Eric called over his shoulder. He then looked over to Pistol Pete. “Get me all the info you can on that detective,” Eric ordered. He wanted to know everything there was to know about the detective that way he’d know what he was up against. Eric looked up and almost shit in his pants. Getting off the elevator up ahead was none other than the Black Dragon. His presence alone was enough to send chills up Eric’s spine. The Black Dragon was the last person he expected to see on a day like this. Eric reached in his suit jack and gripped the handle of his P89 when he felt a pair of hands touch him from behind causing him to almost jump out of his skin. Eric spun around with a crazy look in his eyes ready to squeeze the trigger but he let up when he saw who stood in front of him.

  “What’s wrong baby? You look like you just saw a ghost. Is everything alright?” Nicole asked.

  “He…hey baby, what you doing here?” Eric asked stumbling over his words.

  “I came to take my man out to lunch. I know you’ve been having a rough week so I figured I’d come and take your mind off of work for a little while.”

  “Now is not a good time, baby,” Eric said as he grabbed Nicole’s arm and pushed her towards the staircase.

  “Eric, you’re hurting me!” Nicole snatched her arm out of his grip. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Eric pulled his P89 from his holster with a nervous look on his face. “Come on, baby, we have to go. The assassin is here! And he’s coming to kill me!” Eric rushed Nicole down the flight of stairs. They made it down two flights when they heard the staircase door bust open followed by the sound of feet running down the stairs skipping two at a time. “Come on, come on, come on!” Eric yelled in a panicked tone as he and Nicole went spilling out the side door that led out into the garage area. Nicole ran and slipped her hand down in her purse and removed her .380. Without warning, she quickly turned and tackled Eric, forcing him down behind a parked car just as two bullets whizzed past her head. “Stay down!” Nicole whispered as she darted from behind the parked car and fired off three shots in the Black Dragon’s direction, before diving behind another parked car. Eric looked on with a shocked look on his face. Seeing Nicole move like this was all new to him. And just from first glance, he could tell that this wasn’t her first rodeo.

  Nicole stayed low as she listened for the Black Dragon’s movements. She reached down in her purse and tossed a smoke bomb over her shoulder. The smoke bomb exploded and immediately filled the garage up with a thick cloudy smoke.

  * * *

  The Black Dragon stood behind a wall as he watched the smoke bomb land and immediately fill the garage with smoke. He had no clue who this mystery woman was but whoever she was he had to admit she had skills. The Black Dragon sprung from behind the wall and eased his way through the parking garage with a firm two-handed grip on his gun. Not being able to see, the Black Dragon had to use his ears as his eyes. He inched his way through the garage when he heard the sound of tires screeching. The Black Dragon turned his head just in the nick of time to see a pair of headlights coming straight at him. “Shit!” the Black Dragon yelled as he jumped out of the way just as the car zoomed past him. He hit the floor, rolled, and came up firing but it was no use. The car had already sped out of the parking garage.

  CHAPTER 12

  Nicole

  Nicole weaved from lane to lane at a high speed her eyes going from the road to the rear view mirror then back to the road.

  “What the hell was that back there?” Eric asked staring at Nicole. He had just seen a new side to her; a dangerous, violent side.

  “What?” Nicole asked faking ignorance. “I got us up out of there.”

  “You’ve been playing me all this time!” Eric barked as he banged his fist on the dashboard.

  Nicole quickly pulled over to the side of the road and placed the gear in park. “Playing you how? I just saved our lives,” she shot back.

  “How’d you learn how to shoot like that?” Eric pressed. “Those were professional skills you showed back there!”

  “I didn’t want to say anything, but I used to be an assassin in my past life,” Nicole admitted only telling half of the truth.

  “Why weren’t you honest with me from the beginning?”

  “Didn’t want to scare you off,” Nicole answered. “Ain’t no man going to want to make no female assassin his wife,” she pointed out.

  “When we get back to the house I want you to pack your things and get the fuck out of my house!” Eric spat. He loved Nicole to death but he couldn’t trust her any longer. The fact that she was able to keep a secret for that long bothered him.

  “Baby, you’re overreacting,” Nicole pleaded. “I love you. Please don’t do this to us.”

  “You did this to yourself,” Eric said with ice in his tone. He was so mad that he didn’t even want to look at Nicole.

  Nicole placed the gear back in drive and pulled back out into traffic. “I’m sorry,” she said in a light whispered. “I wanted to tell you but your mother told me not to.”

  Eric turned and looked at Nicole. “I don’t want to hear another word from you, do I make myself clear?”

  “Crystal clear!” Nicole said matching Eric’s tone.

  When they arrived back at the mansion, Nicole stormed inside and headed straight for the master bedroom. Eric walked over to the bar and poured himself a strong drink as he heard the sound of glass shatter coming from upstairs. He figured she was probably upstairs breaking all of his things. Eric sipped his drink as he slowly made his way upstairs. He stepped in the bedroom and saw Nicole standing with a golf club in her hand. She tried to break anything that wasn’t glued down to the floor.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Eric asked with his face crumbled up.

  “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m tearing shit up!” Nicole yelled as she swung the gulf club and shattered the mirror that sat on top of the dresser. “I hope you and you’re new bitch have a good time cleaning all this shit up!” She went to swing the gulf club again but Eric grabbed her from behind in a bear hug.

  “Stop with all this bullshit. Just get your shit and get the fuck out!” Eric growled.

  Nicole dipped low and hip tossed Eric down to the floor.
Before Eric knew what was going on, he looked up, and was staring down the barrel of a 9mm. Nicole stood over Eric with her gun pointed at his head.

  “Baby, put the gun down,” Eric said in a soft tone. He didn’t want to come off aggressive and wind up getting his head blown off so he decided to play it cool. “Baby, listen. Trust me; you don’t want to do this.”

  “Oh, now I’m your baby,” Nicole sang sarcastically. “Was I your baby a few seconds ago when you told me to get my shit and get the fuck out? Huh?”

  “Listen, baby. I’m going to need you to put that gun down,” Eric slowly raised his hands in surrender.

  “You know you’re the only family I got,” Nicole said as tears rolled down her face. “And this is how you do me?” she said as she lowered the gun and tossed it on the bed. “You don’t have to worry about me ever again.” Nicole turned and made her exit, leaving Eric lying in the middle of the floor with a stressed out look on his face.

  CHAPTER 13

  Beans

  Beans stepped out the building carrying a small duffle bag in his hand. He flipped his hood over his head as he cautiously looked over both shoulders before heading down the block to where his car was parked. Beans had only been out of jail for a few weeks and was already back working for the Mason family. All the time he spent up north in jail did him no good. Prison was supposed to be a rehabilitation center for criminals but all it did was teach and mold Beans into a master criminal; a more violent criminal who would rather hold court in the street before going back to prison. As Beans made his way up the block, he never noticed the four pairs of eyes that were on him the entire time.

  * * *

  Lethal Weapon sat behind the wheel of a black Ford Explorer with a pissed off look on his face. “So you mean to tell me this is the guy that fucked you up?”

  “I told you already,” Bad News huffed. “I got jumped by like six of those moolies and they still couldn’t even get me off my feet,” he boasted. Bad News winced in pain as he grabbed at one of his stab wounds.

  “You see this is why you need me around,” Lethal Weapon threw the gear into drive and began to follow Bean’s car. “Now I’m going to show you how to kill a man the right way.” Lethal Weapon loved Bad News like a brother and the fact that someone had actually physically assaulted him didn’t sit well with him. From the time he heard the news, Lethal Weapon knew that he was going to hunt down each man one by one and make him pay for what they had done to his partner. “You can sit this one out tonight. I got it,” Lethal Weapon said keeping his eyes on the road.

  “Not happening,” Bad News protested quickly. “I’m going to make that motherfucker pay for what him and his friends did to me.”

  * * *

  Beans stepped in his home and was instantly bum rushed by his two sons.

  “Wassup, dad! You up for a game of Madden?” Jacob, the older of the two boys, asked.

  “Damn, can I even get in the door first?” Beans joked as he turned to his other son, an eight year old that went by the name Travis. “And what you want?”

  “I want to show you this new back flip I just learned how to do,” Travis said with an excited smile on his face.

  “Thank god you’re home,” Iyana the mother of his two children said as she leaned in and kissed Beans on the lips.

  “Thank god I’m home, my ass,” Beans joked. “Why don’t I smell nothing cooking?” He looked down at his watch then back up to Iyanna. “What you on strike or something?”

  “The kids wanted to do pizza tonight so I told them that they had to wait until you got home because I wasn’t sure what you would be in the mood for it when you got here.”

  Beans took a step closer and palmed Iyana’s ass with one hand until one of the kids finally cleared his throat, reminding them that they were still standing right there. “My bad,” Beans laughed. On the streets, Beans was one of the roughest men to walk the streets and feared by many men but at home, he was the sweetest and most gentle person you could ever meet. It was like night and day with him. Out on the streets Beans was a beast but when in the house he was a family man. Beans and his family sat around watching an episode of Martin when he heard a loud knock at the door. “Oh, that must be the pizza.” Beans stood up and headed to the door. He opened the door without looking through the peephole and was rewarded with a broken nose. Lethal Weapon violently smashed the butt of the assault rifle in his face. “Everybody down on the floor!” Lethal Weapon yelled as he sent several rounds into the ceiling. He roughly snatched Beans up off the floor by the collar of his shirt and forced him inside the living room with the rest of the family.

  Bad News entered the house last and closed the door behind him. He walked into the living room and smiled when he saw Beans with a scared look on his face and blood leaking from his nose. Bad News pulled a roll of duct tape from his back pocket and quickly taped Beans’ entire family’s mouth and hands.

  “You done fucked with the wrong motherfuckers,” Lethal Weapon said with an evil smirk on his face. He reached down in his back pocket and removed a hammer. Lethal Weapon walked over towards the youngest son and without warning, he raised the hammer and struck the child in the face. Iyana and Beans let out muffled screams from behind the tape that covered their mouths as they watched in horror as Lethal Weapon repeatedly hit the young child in the face and head with the hammer until he was no longer moving. Lethal Weapon then moved on to the next child. Beans shut his eyes as he heard the hammer striking his other son. The scene was too much for him to take in.

  “Are we having fun yet?” Lethal Weapon asked, his face covered in specs of blood as he now stood in front of Iyana. Lethal Weapon ignored her muffled cries and swung the hammer with all his might repeatedly until Iyana stopped moving. Lethal Weapon moved on to Beans but stopped short when he heard Bad News speak for the first time.

  “Nah, I want him!” Bad News stepped up. He removed a sharp hunting knife from the small of his back.

  “Hold on, I think he’s trying to say something,” Lethal Weapon said as he roughly snatched the strip of tape from Beans mouth.

  “When Jimmy finds out what happened to me and my family he’s going to hunt the both of you down!” Beans growled.

  Bad News jammed the knife in and out of Beans chest repeatedly until his arm got tired. Lethal Weapon quickly searched the house for a stash before the duo made their exit.

  CHAPTER 14

  Millie Mason

  Millie sat in the passenger seat of the forest green Range Rover staring out the window. In her hand was a white Styrofoam cup filled with vodka and a sprinkle of orange juice. “And then what happened?”

  “Then he told me to get the fuck out.” Nicole wiped her eyes dry. For the last twenty minutes, she had been telling Millie about the big fight that she had with Eric.

  “All the time that I’ve known you, you know I’ve never seen you cry,” Millie pointed out.

  “But what was I supposed to do? Let him get killed?”

  “You did the right thing,” Millie said in a soft voice. “I’ll talk to my son and fix this but right now I need you focused.” Tonight Millie had an important meeting with Chico. The Mason family needed some product and at the moment, he was their only option.

  Knuckles pulled the Range Rover up in front of the five star hotel and the trio quickly stepped out the SUV as the valet attendant hopped in. Millie led the trio to the restaurant inside the hotel. She walked past the hostess and headed straight for the table in the back.

  Chico sat at the table enjoying a nice dinner along with four heavily armed bodyguards. He looked up and saw Millie standing before him. Behind her was a pretty woman that looked to be maybe fifteen or twenty years younger and behind her was a huge man who looked like an NFL linebacker. Immediately, Chico’s team of bodyguards frisked the trio before allowing them to have a seat at the table.

  “Millie, what do I owe the pleasure?” Chico asked, not bothering to look up from his plate.

  “I need some
product and I need a lot of it,” Millie answered.

  “I’m sure that you’re aware that I no longer do any business with the Mason family. Your reputation is no good anymore.” Chico took a long sip from his glass of wine. “Besides, the Mason family cannot be trusted.”

  “Oh, but you trusted me when I gave you the Black Dragon’s info? Or how about all the millions I made for you before I went to prison,” Millie refreshed his memory. “Chico you know me and you know what I’m about.”

  “A lot of things has changed since you been gone,” Chico said. “Your son is responsible for getting my closest loved ones murdered including my daughter so there’s no way that I’d ever do business with the Mason family again.”

  “You put a hit on him and his entire family. What was he supposed to do?”

  “The answer is no!” Chico said in a stern tone. He was tired of beating around the bush and making small talk with Millie even though he liked and respected her. She was a hard worker and great businesswoman but there was no way that Chico would be able to forgive the Mason family for all the pain that they had caused.

  “Chico, I strongly urge you to reconsider,” Millie said, the look on her face serious. “If I walk out of here I go from a potential ally back to the competition and I don’t think you want that.”

  Chico chuckled. “I’ll take my chances,” he smirked.

  Millie nodded as she stood to her feet. “Thanks for your time,” she said as she and her team made their exit.

  * * *

  Millie slid back into the passenger seat and slammed her hand down on the dashboard. “Could you believe how that asshole spoke to me?”

  “I mean, you couldn’t actually believe that Chico was going to sit down and do business with you?” Nicole asked.

  “I knew he wouldn’t agree to do business with me, I just wanted to look him in the eyes,” Millie said. “I have a meeting with a new connect. One that can supply us with as much product as we need.”