The Change-up

"Y'all have all this info on Brown and still don't know that he's up to?" I ask sifting through reams of information.

"Up until now, they have been quite elusive." Agent Harris responds.

I have been looking through these files for the better part of a day when one document catches my attention. It’s a bank statement with quite a few transfers on them. I circle the transactions with a pen. I hand them to Harris.” I need to know who all this money when to."

Harris takes the paper and disappears. I look through more papers trying to figure out what's going on. Agent Ross comes in with Agent West, and some things from my house that I had requested from them. Most importantly, he brings the PDA and my laptop.

"I was thinking that one of the two candidates for city council are working with Brown." Ross says. The sad part is that we know this obvious. "I'm guessing Cheney because they are rigging the election to go republican."

I chuckle as he hands me the PDA and the Laptop.” Please tell me you just didn't think about that just now? I suspect they both have something to gain from this plan. We'll see when Harris gets back with some info for me."

"What makes you think Daley has something to do with it?" Ross asks sitting down on the couch next to me.

"Brown is supposedly blackmailing him, and I'm sure Brown has something on Cheney, too. However, it may not be blackmail as it is much a payoff. The blackmail threat keeps both candidates from exposing the Color Foundation." I answer, moving over a bit as Ross sort of invades my personal space.

"Interesting. Explain." West interjects.

"This plan has been brewing at least two years. Brown entices the incumbent Councilman with a new operative. The councilman gets in deep with her. Mister Brown then springs his trap. He tells Daley the plan and Daley's role in it. Quite possibly paying Daley for the trouble. Brown keeps Daley from snitching by holding the affair over his head." I explain to my audience.

Ross gets up and claps like he thought of this all himself.” And what about Cheney, what does he have to do with it, Sherlock?"

I chuckle at his little remark.” That I'll explain to you when Harris brings those account owners to me. By the way, where are my guns?"

"For obvious reasons, we have ordered some firearms from the Agency, and an ATF agent should be dropping them off for both you and Miss Black." Ross tells me.

Shyt! I forgot all about Scarlett. I still need her on this. If anyone can get me close to Brown, she can. "Ross, where are the surveillance photos of Brown being amorous with Dymond?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't be coy, Ross. I know your guys have them."

"How do you know they exist, and what do you need with them?"

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I need a little insurance that Miss Black will be in on this. I don't have the time to convince her with my good looks and sexual prowess."

He laughs.” I have them here in my pocket. I was thinking the same thing, but I'd rather have her mad at you for emotionally forcing her to comply."

Personally, that's my only way of securing Scarlett, but I won't let them know that. Where the hell is Harris with that info. Agent Ross hands me several photos. As I sort through them I realize how shady the Feds are. Though there were more revealing photos, I just take the few with Brown and Dymond holding hands and kissing each other. I return the rest to Ross.

"Is that all you need to convince her?" Ross asks.

"Yes, this will convince them both." I say to him.

"Both?" Ross inquires with a look of confusion on his face.

"Yes, both. I need y'all to arrange a meeting with Daley. Preferably within the next few hours. However, right now, I need to secure Black." I tell the agents. I get up and walk away. I need to talk to Scarlett. I knock at her door.

"Mister Wynn, I will not be part of your plan." She says. She must be psychic.

"Scarlett, open the door and listen to what I have to say and then tell me that."

She opens the door and lets me in.” Call me Dawn, Ice."

I walk in closing the door behind me. She walks over to her bed and sits at the foot of it. She notices the robe she is wearing is open a bit too much and fixes herself. I take a seat in the chair by the desk. "I need your help on this, Dawn. You help me with this, I'll get you out, without being killed."

"And if you don't we will both die. Between the hit men out there and the operatives that are still with Brown, you don't have a chance."

"Not without you."

"With you, my chances of getting killed increase. You're supposed to be dead, remember?"

"Yea, but its been all day. You haven't reported to him. Brown is not that stupid, I'm sure he thinks you're dead."

"Why me?"

"Because, you're not supposed to report back. He arranged the tickets so he can track you. If you got on that plane, he'll know where to send your killers. He'll also know I'm dead. Then he and his girlfriend can take the money and jet out." I explain. I threw that in there. Let's hope she bites.

"Who? Dymond, that bitch can't hold a candle to me."

I hand her the pictures.” These say differently."

She looks through them. A tear rolls down her bruised face.” This can't be."

"Scarlett. I mean, Dawn. He's been planning this for a while. I'm sure he told you that after you kill me, he'd retire with the Venezuelans' money with you on some island and shyt."

"Something like that. What do you need me for? I don't know the plan specifics."

"I need you to tell me Brown's location, and back me up if you want."

"What if you fail?"

"We both die."

That must've set her off because she comes over to kiss me. At first I resist, but feeling her exposed thigh caves me in. The knock on the door kills the whole mood.

"Mister Wynn, I have that info you requested." It's Harris, at the wrong time of course. Dawn fixes herself and opens the door for him. He looks at us strangely as he enters the room to hand me a sheet of paper. I read it. Just what I thought it would be.

"Harris, make sure you tell Ross to hurry with the councilman." I say to Harris. I turn my attention back to Dawn. "If you have any clothes, get dressed, we have a dinner date."

*******

Councilman Daley looks like he might shyt bricks when he sees Dawn and me enter the restaurant. Ross has cleared out the restaurant for this meeting. Ross has good taste because he closed down Lawry's Steakhouse. I notice Ross and some other agents at the table next to the councilman eating. As we approach the table, Daley cannot even bring himself to say anything.

"Councilman, good to see you again." I say sitting down.

"Mist. Mister Wynn, what is all this about?" He asks trying to sound upset.

"What's Brown's plan?"

"I don't know what you’re talking about."

I go to reach for a gun. Of course, I'm still unarmed. I need my fucking guns!

"Well then, tell me about the one-point-five mil transferred to your bank account this past week?" I ask.

"What money?"

"This is getting ridiculous. Maybe I need to try something else. Look at these."

I hand him the same pictures I had shown Dawn earlier. His face goes from smug to upset. Almost like Dawn, but he didn't shed a tear.

"What do you want to know?"

"Better. I want everything."

"He's gonna fix the election. Part of that money was to buy new ads to run this weekend to the election next week. He also gave me a story to 'leak' about Cheney to sway other voters to vote for me. He told me that if I didn't do it, he’d expose my affair with Dymond. However it appears she was in on it. So now I dunno where I stand." Daley explains. Now the tears come. Sorry muthafucka.

This causes Ross to stop eating and turn to us.” Okay, how about the truth now."

"That is the truth." Daley says nervously.

"I believe him." I say to Ross.

"Come on. If Brown wants a republican win. Why would he want people to vote for the democratic incumbent?" Ross asks. I'm sure his appetite is ruined now.

"Because there are more Democrats than Republicans in Daley's district." I tell Ross.

"Mister Brown guaranteed me a win and that Cheney would go away quietly. When he gave me the money, I knew that he was serious. He even promised to pay me double if I didn't win." Daley confesses.

"This shyt doesn't make sense Mister Wynn. He's lying." Ross yells.

"No, Ross, he isn't, it'll all make sense when West and Harris gets here. Speaking of which, here they come now." I smugly say.

Harris and West come in with two laptops and a printer. They place them on the table in front of Daley and me, and then find the nearest power outlet to plug them in. I boot up both laptops. With West's help, I have him bring up a program. I motion for Ross to look at the screen.

"Ok, I had Harris and West get programmers to program these laptops to simulate electronic voting machines. The laptop in front of you has a program that I got from Mister Red's palm pilot. This machine is the County's retrieval program. What I want you to do Ross is vote for Daley, then vote for Kerry. Then print the results." I request. He does what I ask him to do.

"Okay, it’s done. I voted Democratic. Here's the printout." Ross smugly scoffs and hands me the receipt. I turn the other laptop toward him.

"Okay, now here's what the County Registrars will see." I tell him. Ross looks at the screen. His eyes widen.

"You mean a Democratic vote on this machine will turn into a Republican vote for President?" He asks.

"Yes, so anybody in his district who votes Daley/Kerry will be a vote for Daley/Bush. The voters will think they voted correctly. Like I told you before, there are more Daley supporters than Cheney supporters. They could have easily tried to scandalize Daley, but that wouldn't be enough out to vote for Cheney Bush. They’d only vote for Kerry and not Daley. I guarantee the Presidential election will come down to Ohio." I explain.

"What about here?" Ross asks.

"This only works if the County Registrars master computer is programmed to read this code. That was never done, so the votes will go through as correct when the Registrar validates the votes as accurate. There are only two copies of this master coding. We have one from Red's palm pilot. Brown has the other. He won't trust anyone to do it but Red. Red's dead. We have to secure that code from Brown." I say.

"Well hell, we don't need to stop him, we have programmers that can stop it." Ross brags.

"Ahem, Sir? The code is very encrypted. As if the Agency wrote it. Once in the system, it will set up so many decoys, it will take days to find it. However that won't matter because the code will destroy itself after retrieval program validates the vote." West interjects.

Suddenly, Daley upends the table and attempts to run for the door. West moves to grab him.

"West let him go. He's gonna guarantee that Brown will be at the County Registrar. Right now, we need to stop him. Let's get back to the hotel, I have a plan." I tell them.

My plan is already in motion, or rather running. Lousy bastard.

Currently Watching Aeon Flux see related

Unfinished Business*

*Co-written by Ayani Meli

Rather than drive us back into town. Agent Ross must have good friends as now we are sitting in a helicopter on the way to a 'safe' place as Ross puts it. Scarlett is still holding on to my arm. I don't mind, but I must say I like the ice queen much better. I raise my eyebrow as I notice that the copter is landing on top of the Venetian Resort. Truth be told, I didn't no the hotel had a helipad. We touch down and Agent Ross escorts us to a stairwell that leads to the backdoor of a room. I assume by the size and elegance of this place that it's the penthouse you only hear about on TV.

"Good to see where my tax dollars are going." I say chuckling.

"We only wish, but this is for you Mister Wynn, we have a block of rooms over at the San Remo. Agents Harris and West will be here to help you with anything you may need." Agent Ross explains. He's always about business. The two agents step forward smiling at me.

"It is a pleasure Mister Wynn, I am agent West." West says nodding instead of shaking my hand.

I turn my attention to Ross. "Okay, so what? I lay low while y'all handle this?"

Ross grins.” No, Mister Wynn, we're here to assist you."

"Assist me with what?" I ask.

"We want Mister Brown. Dead or alive. We want his organization collapsed. You have the Secret Service at your disposal, and Mister Brown's Organization's best killer at your side. We want you to make it happen." Ross tells me. He ain't smiling anymore. He's dead serious.

"Who said I was gonna help?" Scarlett pipes up very loudly.

"You have no choice. I have a whole dossier on you Dawn Abigail Black." Agent Ross says as Agent Harris hands him a file folder. "We have a list of your work. It only takes one of these to send you to prison or even the gas chamber."

Now he may be right and may be a Fed, but I don't take too kindly to threats, even if  They’re not pointed towards me.

"Hold on, Ross. I'll worry about her involvement in this situation. There's no need to threaten her to help me. She knows what she needs to do. Now Scarlett, or Dawn, find a room and go wash up. Ross and I will have a nice discussion." I command. I'm getting irritated, and I need to get this shyt over with.

Scarlett goes off exploring. Agents Harris and West follow her. I guess to show her around. I go sit on the big elegant chair in the foyer of this suite. Ross takes up the chair opposite me. On the stand next to his chair is a stack of papers and pictures from what I can see.

"So, Mister Wynn, what’s your take on this?"

"They're fixing the voting machines to keep Bush in office and impressing the Venezuelans"

"Why the Venezuelans?"

"You're the government, you tell me."

"Some things are classified. Even to us."

"Well, based on the emails I have read, there are a group of unnamed government officials interested in Mister Brown's plan. If he can pull it off, he'll start getting the covert op contracts again as well as a big money pay out from the Venezuelans to rig their elections, too." I explain. I find it hard to believe that he doesn't know a lot of this stuff.

"Do you know how they plan to rig the election?"

"No, but I know who does."

"Who?"

"Black. I think she was at the school last night when I shot that guy."

"She was there, we have the surveillance photos to prove that. However she appears that she won't be too cooperative."

"How about the guys who were with her? I know you didn't let them go."

"Nothing. They were just assisting her and the dead man."

"What do y'all, meaning the government, get out of this?"

"Mister Wynn, our job is to prevent the election fraud. That bullshit about taking out Brown's organization is some other agency's issue. Though off the record I've been told to throw that in there because they wouldn't mind any help you can give them." Ross responds. There is a hint of venom in his voice. I'll get back to that later. I hear a woman yelling, and it's not Scarlett's voice. It's Ria's.

"What the fuck is goin' on here Ross?" I ask getting up reaching for a gun that isn't there.

"We brought her here to protect her." Ross says.

Ria, being trailed by Agent West yells, "Y'all muthafuckas didn't say I'd be stuck in here with that bitch!"

As she enters the foyer, she sees Agent Ross first. Then sees me. That only infuriates her more.

"Gloria please calm down." Ross requests.

Ria seems to ignore him as she walks and stands directly in front of me." I know you have something to do with this. What? You fucking her, too, and now they supposedly need to protect her, too. Well her best thing is for her to leave because I'll kill her if I see her again."

Agent Ross, I guess sensing something coming, excuses himself." I see you two may want some privacy. Mister Wynn, we'll be over at the bar here if you need us."

He quickly signals to West and they both exit the foyer. Leaving Ria and I alone.

"What do you have to say, Vincent?" She calls me by my name.

"What can I say, Ria? They brought us here, they need my help."

"I can give a fuck less about what they want. I'm talking about me, and this baby."

Whoa. She wants to get deep into this right now. Honestly I wasn't expecting this conversation this soon.” I have just a bit too much on my mind right now, Ria. Can this wait?"

"Hell no it can't wait. I've been waiting too long. I'm about to go crazy over this, Vincent."

"Ria, what is it that is bothering you like this?"

"You, Ice. You know how I feel right now. This whole thing reminds me of him and when you and I first met."

"Him who?"

Ria sits down before saying anymore. I remain standing. ” Mario, Ice. I remember you barely knew me when I told you he was gonna give me to some pimp who was gonna have me turn tricks. I thought he loved me. Then in one incident, that all changed. He was going to give me up like I wasn't shyt to him."

"I remember that well."

"You gave me your cell number and told me to call if I wanted out. I did, but I had to see if Mario would really do it. I sat there for what seemed like hours before I called you. I started to dial it a thousand times and hung up. When Mario came in and said Dante was on his way, I knew that that moment that he didn't care. So I called you. Without knowing shyt about me, you involved yourself, risked your life and then took me in because you knew I had nothing. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't showed up when you did."

"You needed my help, and I gave it Ria. You know me."

"No, Ice, I don’t. The night before we met that Mister Brown dude, you shot a man for waking you up. The night we met Mister Brown, you let him threaten my life and you did nothing but go get some ice cream. I thought to myself. I have been shot for this nigga. I have bailed him out of jail. Kept his office and house clean, for little pay. Stood by him when I knew he was out fucking every woman he saw, gambling money that could've been in my pocket and ignoring me. I fell in love with you, Ice. I knew that the way you protected and helped total strangers would be 20 fold when it came to me. Then in one incident, all that came to an end. You let a man threaten my life and did nothing. I wasn't shyt to you."

"You know that's not true Ria."

"It isn't, Ice? Are you sure, because if you had done what I wanted you to do, we might not be here worrying about that asshole out there trying to kill us. I must admit, at first, being with you doing your cases was exciting, even thrilling at times, but then I got shot. After that I began to realize that your job might not only kill you, but me too. Niecy and Jay died. You, yourself almost died. However you won't walk away from this Ice. I can look past the women, the shady folks u deal with, even the fact that you didn't do anything that night, but I won't forgive you if something were to happen to this baby or me."

"You know I won't let that happen, Ria. You also know I'm not gonna give up what I do. Not when someone needs me."

"Well I need you. This child will need you. You can walk away from this right now, with me. Or you can sit here, keep playing cops and robbers, then eventually die."

I am at a loss of words. I can't handle this. Not here, not now. I want to tell her something, but I cannot let that out right now. I have to get this case wrapped up.

"Fuck it, Vincent. You've made your decision." Ria says walking away from me. "Agent Ross, or Harris? Fuck it, either of you, get me outta here, I don't fuckin wanna be here with him."

I see Harris approach her and escort her somewhere into this large place. Agent Ross comes back.

"What? You have something to add to that?" I ask a bit on edge.

"No. I know you have that personal issue going on, and as much as I want to say I care, I don't. I really need to know if you're in this or not?" He asks.

"You'll keep her protected until this shyt is over?"

"Yes."

"Get me all you have about Brown and get me some guns. I'm in."

I'm in it deep.

Seeing Black

Scarlett has been smiling the entire trip. I'm sort of wondering why she seems almost giddy. She probably is assigned to give me my last meal. I know she knows that Black has been given the okay to come after me. As far as I'm concerned, shyt, she may be driving me straight to black.

"What are you thinking about Mister Wynn?"

"Why are you so giddy?"

"Because I feel good today."

"You do know that there's a killer coming for me?"

"No business, this is just two people having good lunch, and an important conversation." She says, now flashing teeth. Crazy bytch.

We drive to the upper lodge and park. She grabs the food. Instead of sitting at the picnic area adjacent to the parking lot, but she chooses to walk a half-mile to this clearing full of green grass. I've never seen this before, but it's nice. She finds a spot and pulls off her jacket to sit on. Watching her pull off her jacket, I realize she actually carries another gun in the small of her back. I pull off my shirt to sit on. She hands me a sandwich. I don't like all this warmth she is giving me.

"What made you get into this business?" Scarlett asks.

"A little girl was murdered up the street, and they said it was gang-related. Only, there were no gang members, just a little girl playing outside on the sidewalk." I respond. I take a bite of my sandwich.

"So you felt it your duty to solve the case?"

"Yes, because the police pretty much was gonna let a murderer get away with killing a child."

"Did you get the person?"

"Yeah. It was her mother's boyfriend thinking that the little girl was coming between them. One day, I'll tell you the story if I'm around to tell it."

Scarlett puts her sandwich down.” You just wanna steady talk shop. Why can't you enjoy this for what it is?"

"Because, there is a killer after me, and I need to make sure I'm ready to kill him."

"You won't kill Black." She chuckles. That pisses me off.

"You're the second person today to say that. I've gotten this far without dying." I say.

She wraps her sandwich and puts it back in the bag. She pulls out the gun that’s strapped to her back and puts it down next to the bag. I see a tear roll down her face. I lean over to her and wipe away the tear. She pulls away.

"Don't fuckin' touch me!" She yells.

"Scarlett, what's the problem?"

"Mister Wynn. I like you. Probably more than I should. Please let me give you this piece of advice. Give me the PDA and disappear for a while. I'll give it to Mister Brown and ask him to let it go." she begs. She now removes her two side arms and places them in front of her.

"I can't do that, Scarlett. Mister Brown has done too much, and I need to now stop him. I'll give up the PDA only if he gives up his plan."

"Now you know that's not going to happen. I'm now begging you, Ice. Give me the PDA, get in your car and leave." She says leaning over to kiss me. The kiss distracts me, but not enough.

She called me Ice, and then kisses me. Business, Ice, let's think about Business. "What'll happen if I don't?"

"You won't get off this mountain alive." She says, unbuttoning her blouse to reveal a black tank top with the word 'Vixen' in glitter across the chest.

I pull my guns off and put them down in front of me. I won't need them.

"Why didn't you kill me last night when you knew I had the PDA?"

"The same reason you didn't just shoot me dead. It would be too easy." She says jumping to her feet and delivering a kick across my cheek. Shyt! That hurt.

The kick knocks me over. I manage to get to one knee and hit her in the gut. Her response is a knee to the chin. I need to get on my feet. She must be reading my mind because she gives me a little room and time for me to get to my feet. She gets into a fighting stance and cracks her neck like this is some scene from a Bruce Lee flick. I throw a hard right, which she blocks and hits me with a shot to the kidney. I fall to the ground. She quickly moves behind me and I feel wire tighten around my neck. This girl is gonna strangle me!

"I gave you a chance to walk away. Why didn't you just take it?" She asks tightening the ligature around my neck. I hope she doesn't expect me to answer. I feel myself fading. I need to do something quickly. I fall forward hard, causing her to fall with me and over my back. The cord loosens and I gasp for that fresh air to hit my lungs. She is up quickly and coming fast. I respond by getting up and this time my straight right meets her face. Damn! I didn't want to do that, but she tried to kill me. The punch knocks her to the ground. A couple of well-placed kicks keep her there. I swiftly move to cuff her ass.

"Scarlett, calm the fuck down. You kill me and then they will kill you. If you don't know by now, almost every good hit man is in town. Not for me, but for you." I tell her, gasping for air. This altitude and my weight are killing me.

"You're lying, he promised me out. He even had Sal give me a ticket." She says struggling with the cuffs. I have about 30 seconds before she works out of those cuffs. Imma let her too, as I walk over and grab one of my guns from the holster.

"As cold and hard you try to be, please don't believe that Brown was gonna let you get on a plane outta here?" I say to her. Some useless asshole jumps from behind the tree. I easily dispatch him with a bullet to the head. He isn't alone. 3 more reveal themselves, including a dude with an Uzi. Here I am in a wide-open clearing with a woman in cuffs, and 3 muthafuckas ready to kill me. With my back to Scarlett, and facing the guy with the UZI, I ask, "Scarlett, how much longer is it gonna take you to lose those cuffs?"

"In about ten seconds, but we only have 5 to live. You have a plan?"

"Yeah, you have six shots on my right ankle, I'm hoping you can get off two before lefty over there gets off one."

"Right across the snot line. After you, kind sir."

This goes against all my better judgment, but right now, she is all I have. I raise my gun and shoot the guy with the UZI. Scarlett frees one of her hands, grabs my revolver and delivers on her promise while still on the ground. Not forgetting that she still tried to kill me, I turn to her as she hops to her feet. We both draw down on each other. One of us is about to die.

"You really need to clean this gun, it's a miracle none of those shots backfired." Scarlett says with a fierce look in her eye.

"I'll remember to do that when I get home."

"You're not going home, Ice."

"You still don't get it. Those fools weren't after me. I'm the one that's supposed to be dead already."

"He wouldn't do that to me. He promised." Scarlett says with tears starting again. The Ice Queen melteth.

"Scarlett, there is no out. As soon as you would've killed me, they would kill you."

"He's right, Dawn." Another voice says causing both her and I to train our guns on him. It's agent Ross.

"You guys are just as twisted as he is, why should I believe any of this?" Scarlett asks.

"We knew who you were when we detained you earlier this week. Had the Bureau or the Agency got you, you'd be dead. You really want out. You need us, and you need him." Agent Ross explains pointing to me.

Scarlett's grip tightens on the gun.” I don't trust anybody but Ice."

Agent Ross looks at me, with those 'please help me' eyes. I lower my gun. I'm sure Agent Ross won't shoot me.

"Scarlett, he can guarantee us safety while I get a plan together. Right now, we have no choice but to trust him." I say to her. She lowers the gun and grips my arm. I better hope I'm right.

I quickly turn those few corners to my house. I all of a sudden feel weak, but I still manage to get into the house and to my room. I fall onto the bed after closing the door. My heart is pounding out of my chest. I pull my guns off and drop them on the floor beside the bed. I hear a car screech to a stop outside. A door slams; the car pulls off just as abruptly as it stopped. I hear someone come in, slamming all doors in their wake. It has to be Scarlett, but I reach down on the floor for my gun nonetheless.

"What the fuck did you do?" Scarlett yells pushing open the door, gun drawn.

"What do you mean?" I ask calmly.

"A guy is over at the school with a bullet in his chest. Somehow, I know you have something to do with it." She accuses.

"Yeah, I shot him. He was about to kill me." I respond.

She remains very silent. By the redness of her face, I can tell she is seething mad. She wants to pull that trigger. I don't know what stops her. She turns and leaves the room. I drop my gun. Crazy bytch.

After Scarlett leaves the room, I hear a quiet knock at the door before it opens. It's Desiree. I know she heard that little exchange.

"Everything okay, Ice?" She asks closing the door behind her.

"It's all good. I'm ok, just had a misunderstanding with Scarlett." I tell her. She shrugs her shoulders, turns around and begins to open the door. I stop her.” Desiree, come to bed with me tonight"

Imma holla at yall in the morning.

*******

My cell phone rings to bring me out of a good dream." Yeah?"

"Mister Wynn, you have cause me grief for the last time!" The voice yells. It's Brown, and he ain't happy.

"Good morning to you, too, Mister Brown." I say smugly, a smile on my face.

"While you were sleeping with your little fuck slut there, I had Miss Greene fetch you the morning paper. I told her to leave you the front page of the 'Local' section. If you look in the lower left corner, you'd see something very interesting." He says. I look over to the chair by the door and notice the paper on it. I get up walk, phone still in hand, over and read where he has told me to read:

VICTIM OF BEATING DIES--

That’s all I need to read. He killed Niecy. Not personally, but I know he gave the order.

"Awww, Mister Wynn, no smart lines for me?" He asks.

"Why'd you kill her?"

"Because I couldn't find the mother of your unborn child."

He hangs up after that parting shot. He knows I am heated and ready to kill someone. I hear a loud rap at the front door. The knock is loud enough to scare Desiree out of her sleep. Without saying good morning, she quickly dresses herself in one of my t-shirts, and scurries out to the door. I, still in my boxers, grab the gun from under my pillow and follow her out to the door. I'd be damn if he's bold enough to send someone in my home.

"Ice, open the fucking door now!" I hear Tep yell as we approach the door.

Desiree now falls back behind me while I open the door. I haven't been up 5 minutes and have already pissed 2 people off. Tep comes in the door. No smile. No handshake. No hug. He looks at me, then at Desiree.

"What’s up, Tep?" I ask, hoping his anger is not toward me.

"You know exactly what's up, Tep. Desiree, go get your shyt. Your job is over here!" He yells, now looking me in my eye. Desiree quickly leaves the room.

"What's goin' on, Tep?" I ask again.

"Oh, so you still want to play dumb?" Tep spits out,” Jay’s dead. Niecy's dead. They found a nigga round the corner at the school, dead! Word on the streets as of this morning is that you're marked for death. They want you dead. I'm not putting any of my girls in your shyt Ice. I lost my best guy over some of your shyt. His Girl is dead, I know that had something to do with you."

I absorb all this.” So, you take the contract, Tep?"

"No, I didn't, and that's gonna be my last favor to you, muthafucka. My boys have orders not to kill you, but, they also have orders no to protect you."

Desiree comes out with the bag she came with. I can see she'd been crying. Tep points to the door. She goes out. He starts on his way out the door. He turns to look at me, and then leaves without saying a word. I take two steps over to the couch and collapse onto it. All this shyt has gotten my head spinning.

*******

"Mister Wynn, get up, you have company coming in about 15 minutes." Scarlett says waking me from my slumber. I must've passed on the couch. My head is hurting real bad, but I manage to get sit upright on the couch.

"Who's gracing me with their presence now?" I ask.

"Sal." She responds. That name causes me to stand up. Sal rarely gets out of the shop, let alone, he is now making a trip to the Westside. There must be some shyt going down and I'm in the thick of it. I slowly walk to my room. I grab the pair of pants that are on the chair, and snatch a shirt out of the closet. I lay the gun on the bed. I won't need it.

I get back to the office. Sal is at the door, flanked by his nephew, Sonny. Sal has on a black double-breasted suit, and a black-striped fedora with a red feather in it. A very far cry from the white apron I normally see him wearing.

"Sonny, please escort the lady out to the car and keep her company." Sal says as he moves to sit on the couch. Scarlett follows Sonny outside. I roll my chair near the couch and sit. Sal appears to be in deep thought.

I break the awkward silence.” Sal, what can I do you for?"

"As you already know, Vincenzo, there has been quite an interesting situation going on. Now, I normally sit back and watch what goes on, as it doesn't really affect me. When you asked for my help to get a young lady to safety, I helped. By the way, I'm sorry we couldn't pick her up. I hope she is well. Anyway, back to what--" Sal explains before I cut him off.

"You didn't pick her up? That wasn't your people in the Limo?" I ask.

"Vincenzo, I thought you knew. My limo was hijacked. I lost 5 men. That's why I asked for the money." Sal responds. He removes his hat and places it on his lap.” Just this morning I found out about the people you are dealing with. I must say I didn't expect you to be in with this level of people."

That normally means he doesn't think I can handle this type of situation.” What am I dealing with, Sal?"

"Vincenzo, you are dealing with the Color Foundation. They're a highly educated, very efficient team specializing in corporate and political blackmail. Up until the 2000 elections, they had a very good relationship with the government. They successfully handled

Enron, ImClone, and a couple of other corporations but the Florida election thing cost them dearly." Sal explains. This tells me who they are, but there still some other questions to be answered.

"What does this have to do with Las Vegas?" I ask.

"Much of the group has been jailed, killed, or escaped to foreign countries. The U.S. government has cut all ties with them. There still exists a small, but strong team working Las Vegas and Ohio. The Feds don't know what they did in Ohio, so they followed them here. The Foundation runs so smoothly, its normally too late before anybody knows anything. However, there appears to be a fly in the ointment." Sal says, and then chuckles.

"I'm so glad I could be of help to them." I say with an edge of satisfaction on my voice.

"You, know the plan, Vincenzo, and they need to kill you before the Feds get to you." Sal confesses. That took my elation away.

"What plan?"

"You killed Mr. Red last night. Rumor has it that his Palm Pilot has the plan in detail. However was not on him. I only know of one place it could be."

"How do you know all this Sal?"

"I've spoken with Black. Black wants out. You're the last hit. But there's more."

"What more could there be?"

"As with all these types of organizations, Vincenzo, there is no 'out'"

"So Black has a contract, too"

"Yes. Some are hoping you kill, or at least badly wound Black, as the folks who are in town now think it easier to take care of you."

"What are my chances Sal?"

"Let me put it this way, Vincenzo. You won't kill Black. However, if you tap into that brilliant mind of yours and mix it with your unbelievable luck -- You will live to see the end of this." Sal says, replacing his hat, and standing to leave.” I’ll be on vacation in Italy until the end of the election. I pray that I will see you when I return. By the way, your debt is forgiven."

Sal winks then walks out.

Scarlett comes back into the office with two bags and a bottle of wine.” You still owe me that lunch date on the mountain."

"Ok, give me an hour, and I'll be ready." I tell Scarlett. My mind still reeling from Sal's info.

I walk to my room and reach under my pillow. It's Mr. Red's Palm Pilot. I turn it on. No password protection makes it easier for me. Let's see if I can find the supposed 'plan'. Shyt I have a better idea. I go to my closet where I keep my laptop computer. I don't use it much, but it has a connection to where I can download the info from this PDA.

First, I lock the door. I don't want Scarlett just coming in here. I hook up the PDA to the laptop. I check the email first. Reading the subjects of the emails, nothing stands out but one marked, "THAT FUCKING ICE CREAM MAN!"

Of course I have to read this:

THAT FUCKER MR. WYNN HAS SHOT MY NEPHEW. WE GOT HIM PRETTY GOOD. WE DON'T KNOW WHETHER HE'S DEAD OR NOT. I AM AWAITING A REPORT FROM OUR OPERATIVE WITH WYNN. THE ELECTION'S NEXT WEEK. IF WYNN IS STILL ALIVE, WE'LL HAVE TO SOMEHOW KEEP HIM BUSY UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTION. MAYBE OUR DECOY IN THE CHANEY CAMP WILL OCCUPY HIM JUST LONG ENOUGH MAKE THE FINAL UPDATES ON THE MACHINES.

Interesting. I chuckle and move on through the emails. Then something catches my eye. Three emails. One email is from 2001, and the others from 2002. I open the oldest first:

SAM HAS CUT US OFF. WE HAVE LOST 65% OF OUR OPERATIVES. THOUGH OUR FLORIDA PLAN WAS A MONUMENTAL FAILURE. WE HAVE SOME VENEZUALAN FRIENDS WHO WANTS OUR SERVICES FOR A FUTURE ELECTION. IT'S A 10 MIL ADVANCE IN IT FOR US. THATS ENOUGH TO GET OUT OF THE STATES, BUT THE CATCH. HE WANTS PROOF THE PLAN WILL WORK. AS USUAL, YOU AND I WILL SPLIT HALF OF THAT, AND THE REMAINING OPERATIVES THAT SIGN ON WILL BE SPLIT ACCORDINGLY, WITH US GETTING OUR CUT OF THAT, TOO. FROM HERE ON OUT, INFORM ALL REMAINING OPERATIVES TO STAND BY, AND STAY BELOW RADAR. SAM'S SECRET SERVICE IS HUNTING DOWN ALL THOSE WHO HAVEN'T RAN OR BEEN KILL YET. MAKE SURE BLACK DOES NOT LEAVE. THIS PLAN CAN WORK WITH JUST US 3, BUT BLACK IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THIS OPERATION. I'M GOING TO HIBERNATE. GOOD LUCK MY FRIEND.

I can only guess 'Sam' is the government. This will explain Brown's urgency. What also surprises me is that Brown and Red take half the money off the top. I guess there's no honor code in this organization. I know they are trying to fix elections. I open the next email, from 2002, a little over a year after the 2001 email:

HELLO, GOOD FRIEND. ROUND UP BLACK AND 6 OTHER OPERATIVES AND/OR RECRUITS (IF ANY). IN THE PAST 14 MONTHS I HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH A COMPANY THAT MAKES ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES. WITH THE HELP OF A PROSPECTIVE OPERATIVE, I CALL HER DYMOND; I HAVE GOTTEN THIS COMPANY TO CONVINCE MOST STATES TO USE THESE MACHINES. THESE MACHINES ARE ALREADY IN USE FOR LOCAL AND STATE ELECTIONS. WE COULD EASILY PROVE TO THE VENEZULANS WE CAN USE THESE MACHINES TO THEIR ADVANTAGE, BUT THEY ARE SKEPTICAL AND WANT SOMETHING ON A GRANDER SCALE. I'VE ALSO GOTTEN IN GOOD WITH SOME PEOPLE WHO CAN GET SAM BACK ON BOARD. THEY ONLY ASK ONE THING -- KEEP BUSH IN THE WHITE HOUSE. I BELIEVE WE CAN DO THIS MY FRIEND. FROM HERE ON OUT, ALL COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE BY SECURE PHONE.

They are planning to fix the upcoming election. How though? He also mentions Dymond as a new operative. Could she have been in on this thing, too? It can't be a coincidence. It sort of makes sense. Set up the councilman for blackmail to rig the election. He quits, Chaney wins. So Chaney is behind this and that would explain his new spokesperson Mr. Black. Another coincidence? It can't be. They'll always have something on the councilman, but not on me? I now know a bit too much for them and have become the proverbial 'loose end'. I need to think on this; maybe this trip to the mountain is what I need.

A knock at the door causes me to quickly put away this info before I get to the 3rd email. I know it's Scarlett. Just in time. I reach in the closet, grab and quickly put on another shirt. I open the door.

"You ready to go?" She asks, smiling.

"Yeah, just let me grab my guns."

I have a feeling I may need them....

I woke up with a splitting headache.

"Who da fuck hit me?" I ask slowly easing up in bed and looking around the room.

"Some new guy. I have never met him before today." Scarlett responds, nursing my throbbing temple. That's very warm of her.

"Ice, it's good to see you awake." Desiree says, very happy to see me.

I look around the room some more, hoping to see Brown's body on the floor. No such luck.

"He's gone, Mister Wynn, but he did say he'll call." Scarlett says, she must've seen the look of disappointment on my face.

I looked over at the clock. 9 in the morning. I saw I was still hooked up to a hanging IV. I need to get up and hit the streets, and this IV would cramp my style.

"Desiree, get the nurse to come pull out this shyt, then reach in the closet and get me some gear." I command.

"Mister Wynn, you can't even think you're going to go out in this condition I won't..." Scarlett starts, but I put a look on her, she stops mid thought, and follows Desiree out of the room.

The nurse comes back in with that concerned mother look on her face. I keep on my 'I don't give a fuck' look. Guess what? I win. She pulls out the IV and bandages up the wound. She says nothing and leaves the room as Desiree returns with some freshly cleaned and ironed clothes.

"I knew you would want to get up and out." She says smiling.

Good ole Desiree. Only been around a little bit, and the only one who doesn't question my every move. She helps me put on my clothes, and stand up. I'm a little wobbly, but I'm up. I grab my wallet and keys as Scarlett comes back into the room.

"You're drivin'," I tell Scarlett tossing the keys to her, "Desiree, you're coming too."

I leave my room and slowly walk through the house. Desiree has kept this place immaculate. I walk into the office and out the door to the car. Scarlett has let the top down, and Desiree is holding the door open for me. I flop myself down into the back seat. Desiree gets in and we're off.

"Mister Wynn, where are we going?" Scarlett asks, eyeing me through the rear-view window.

"We're going to Chaney's election office." I respond. She returns her eyes to the road.

Desiree turns and puts her back to the door so she can see me. She is smiling real big.

"Ice, I'm so happy you're up and back with us." She says, now showing off a teethy smile.

"It's good to be up and out, Desiree. Now, I have some business to attend to because the bills don't pay themselves," I say, now turning my gaze to Scarlett,"Miss Green, what scheme does your boyfriend have with a five mil pay-off?"

She just drove in silence for a sec, I guess contemplating her answer. Or thinking of a lie to tell me. My instincts tell me that the councilman doesn't have that kind of money, and 5 million is a bit much for blackmail involving a mistress. Mr. Brown has another hustle going, and I really need to find out what. I also need to know where I fit in in all of this. Hell, I'm also wondering do I get a cut, or will I get a casket? I'm hoping I get a cut, because death and me don't get along too well.

"I don't question motives Mister Wynn, I only do as I am told." Scarlett says. I sort-of expected that answer from her.

We arrive at Chaney's office. I walk in with Scarlett and Desiree in tow. The receptionist greets us at the door.

"Good Afternoon, how may I help you?" She asks smiling like a Stepford wife.

"Tell Mister Chaney that Vincent Wynn is here to see him." Scarlett says before I could get my mouth open.

"Do you have an appointment as Mister Chaney has a very full schedule?" The receptionist asks pretending to look at the appointment calendar.

"Go back and tell him who is here, he will see us." Scarlett responds, her eyes no closing to thin slits. The woman nervously gets up and walks back into an office out of our site.

I say nothing, as Scarlett appears to have everything under control.  I am a bit tired so I take a seat in the chair right next to the door. After a few minutes, the receptionist and some suit comes walking out of the office toward us. He's smiling until he sees Scarlett. It's almost like they know each other. He approaches me. I stand to greet him.

"Hello Mister Wynn. My name is Johnny Black. I am Mister Chaney's publicist. Please follow me." He says pointing us to a room to the side of Chaney's office.

He takes us into the room, guessing from the chairs surrounding the oval-shaped table, its a  conference room. He invites us to have a seat.

"So, will Mister Chaney be joining us?" I ask as I sit down.

"No, I should be able to answer any inquiries you may have. Mister Chaney has preparations to make as you know, the President is coming to visit in a couple of days." Johnny responds, smiling." He has been expecting your visit and has trusted me to make sure that you get the info you need."

"So, he's been expecting me, so you know what I'm here for?" I ask.

"Yes. No doubt you're here to ask questions about Councilman Daley's affair and if our campaign is blackmailing him."

"So you no about this do you?"

"Yes. We've always known about it. Also,for the record Mister Wynn, our campaign is not involved in any blackmail scheme or payoff scandal." He says, very smug.

"Ok, Mister Black. With that being said, what is the candidate's relationship to Mister Brown?" I ask him since he seems to want to volunteer info.

"I am not aware with anyone by that name Mister Wynn." Johnny responds, clearing his throat. Now he appears a bit nervous. He now finally sits down, as if he knows I will have more questions. As he sits down, I hear something in his jacket thump against the desk.

"Is it normal for a candidate's publicist to be armed?" Scarlett asks, inserting herself into the conversation.

"No, Miss Greene, but Mister Wynn's reputation precedes him, I just wanted to be prepared." He responds. Smart, but dumb at the same time.

I'm growing tired of Mr. Black. He has actually given me more info than I needed, and he probably doesn't realize it.

"I'm really not satisfied with your answers, Mister Black. So what I am gonna do is make sure I get to speak with the candidate at his 'meet-and-greet', after the President's visit in a couple of days." I tell him. He sort fidgets in his chair.

"Well, we would love to see you, Mister Wynn, but, our friends at the secret Service has assured us that you are not allowed access to any event surrounding the President's visit to Las Vegas." Johnny says smiling.

"Mister Black, I know that the visit will be brief and by time this 'event' takes place, the President, and his Secret Service detail will be at an engagement in Glendale. This meeting is over. You let your boss know, I'll be seeing him." I say to him. Without another word, I stand up. Desiree and Scarlett follows suit. We walk out of the room, through the office and out of the door.

We arrive back at the house just in time to see a car pull up in front of us. Though I don't recognize the driver, I recognize the passenger. It's Agent Ross, and he doesn't look happy. I have Desiree help me out the car. I instruct her and Scarlett to head into the office. I step over to the passenger side of the car.

"You know we received a call from the Chaney campaign saying you threatened him and his publicist." He says in an old Jack Web monotone.

I chuckle."I felt more threatened that a publicist is armed like I was gonna shoot him."

"I totally understand that Mister Wynn. We were sort of puzzled by that also when we met him the other day." Ross says, chuckling also. The half-smile disappears just as quickly as it came.

"You just met Mister Black also?" I ask.

"Yes, he just joined the campaign a couple of days ago. Right after the incident in the mall. He is a former Army ranger and sniper -- best in his class. Once out of the service, he got a degree and works around the country as a sort-of half spokesman, half bodyguard for candidate's big and small." Ross explains. Interesting. Very interesting.

"Thanks for the info,but, for the record, he refused to let me see Chaney. I just told him that I'd be at that meet and greet after the President's visit." I tell him.

"That's good Mister Wynn, I want you there. Off the record, I don't trust Chaney nor his new publicist. I want you to ruffle his feathers a little. Don't worry about the security concerns, my team will be there and well aware of you. Long as you don't shoot anyone, we'll be ok." He says,handing me an envelope."In there are some tickets to the event, and another check for your services. Good evening, Mister Wynn."

He hands me the envelope and pulls off kind quickly. I walk into the house and into the kitchen. Scarlett is sitting at the table reading a paper and drinking a beer. Desiree's cooking something on the stove. I take a seat at the table and open the envelope. A check, an invitation for the event, 3 tickets, and a handwritten note. I took the check and threw the rest to Scarlett.

My heart flutters a bit as its another check for 50 grand. These guys are very gracious clients, though, I know a lot of this cash is to guarantee my confidentiality. They don't call it the Secret Service for nothing.

*******

Phone's ringing. This is the third time in 10 minutes the phone has rang. Let me answer it this time.

"This is Ice." I say trying to clear the sleep from my throat.

"Mister Wynn, this is Mister Johnson. Those men are down at the school again. This time they're moving stuff in and out." Mr. Johnson says. Why is this old man calling me over this.

"Ok, Mister Johnson. I'm on it right now." I say to him, then hang up the phone. Let me get up and see what's going on.

I get up and dressed. I go to knock on Scarlett's door, however it's open and she ain't in it. I dare not wake up Desiree. I'm gonna have to do this trip solo. I head back to my room and grab my holsters. The guns smell freshly cleaned. Had to be Scarlett. I strap them on and head out the door to the car.

The school was only a couple of blocks away. I could've walked here, but I don't know whether I would need to make a quick getaway. I get out the car and look around. I don't see much, except for Mr. Johnson peeking his head out of his livingroom window, probably to make sure I actually came to check it out. I notice the door to the cafeteria is open and there are 3 men standing outside like they're keeping watch or something. They aren't good lookouts because a blind man would have noticed me pulling up in the lot. However now they notice me now. One of them turns and starts toward me.

"Hello, sir. Something I can help you with?" The man asks. He's a youngster, no older than 25 or so.

"I was gonna ask you the same question. It's One-thirty in the morning and you appear to be on the wrong side of town this late at night." I tell him. He gets a little nervous.

"Um. We-, we're with the County Registrar of Voters' office, we're doing a final check on these electronic voting machines. We're in charge of this area. This is our last spot, and rather than wait until morning, we're gonna get it out of the way tonite. One less thing to do tomorrow." He says chuckling. Good lie if Mr. Johnson had come and asked. Me? I know better.

Seeing that the first guy has done nothing to get rid of me, another guy comes over, and I see the third guy go into the door. This tells me there's more than 3 of them here.

"Hey, Mike, Tom needs your help inside. I'll speak with him." The second guy says to the first. The first guy promptly heads into the building to supposedly help the other guys inside.

"Hi, sir, my name is Roman, we're inspectors for the school system, just finishing up a surprise inspection. Sorry to alarm you." The second guy explains to me.

I chuckle. "Well, Roman. Mike just said you guys were with the County checking voting machines."

Roman looks around,opens his jacket, then shows me the butt of a gun hanging from his shoulder holster. Somehow, I am not very surprised nor impress.

"Why don't you walk back to your car, and go home. I think it's the best." Roman says to me.

I do him one better. I peel back both sides of my jacket to reveal my guns. "I think it's best to explain why you guys are here."

His eyes widen. He wasn't planning on this. Roman appears to have lost his train of thought while my train was chugging along full speed. Our little stand off is interupted by Mike, who has come back out holding a cell phone.

"Uh,Re-, I mean Roman. Brown is on the phone, he says it's important." Mike says. Now that's will explain quite a bit.

Roman draws his gun. I immediately hit him, while he's reeling from the hit, I pull my gun. When he stands up, I shoot him in his chest. The blast blows him back off his feet, and I see something drop on the ground. Mike runs back inside, probably to get some back up. Time for that quick getaway. I pick up the item, put it in my pocket and gingerly head back to my car. Once I get it started, I speed off very quickly, hoping I did the right thing.

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