Free Private Deceptions by Roy Glenn Page A

understand me now?"
    "This picture was taken at the same party as the picture you gave me. I got it out of your brothers safe." I took out the picture and handed them to her. "Who are they?"
    "This one is Pamela Hendricks. And that looks like LaShawn. I don’t know what her last name is. She came to the party with Pamela."
    "Does your brother know them?"
    "I don’t keep up with all of Jake’s friends."
    "Does your brother know them?"
    "He might have met Pamela at some party. And LaShawn runs with Rocky, so he probably knows her too."
    "What were they doin’ at the party, Mrs. Childers? Who invited them?"
    "I did."
    "Who are they? How do you know them?"
    "I’ve known Pamela for years. She was my supervisor at the bank when I was in Kansas City."
    "What does she do, fly in for parties?"
    "No, Pamela got a job at Manhattan Bank as an Area Manager and she moved here years ago."
    "Banker, huh. She have any involvement with your husband?"
    "Not that I know of. She knows him, naturally. But I don’t involve myself at all with Chilly’s business. So even if she did have some business with Chilly, I wouldn’t know it."
    I was starting to believe her. She really didn’t know anything or she was giving me an academy award winning performance. Either way, it didn’t change anything.
    "What’s does any if this have to do with Pamela?"
    "She’s dead." I dropped the morgue pictures in front of her for impact. I picked them up along with mine. I figured Kirk must have wanted me to have them since he left them sitting there.
    "My God."
    "The police think she died of a cocaine overdose."
    "The police."
    "Yes, the police, Mrs. Childers."
    "What do the police know about Jake?"
    "They know he’s missing."
    "So they’re looking for him?"
    "In connection with these overdose’s. Pamela had Jake’s card on her when the police found her body. LaShawn, whoever she is, died about the same time Jake is supposed to have disappeared."
    "And you think that has something to do with Jake disappearing?"
    "I don’t know, Mrs. Childers, I was hoping you would tell me."
    "I don’t know." She looked away.
    "Well tell me something you do know."
    Mrs. Childers looked back at me and smiled playfully. "I know how you know so much," she said, as if nothing that I was sayin’ had any importance.
    "Excuse me."
    "I know some people too, Nick."
    "And what are they telling you?"
    "That you used to roll with Mike Black. Not only that, y’all came up together. Lived on the same block. They tell me that you were his enforcer. You were good at it too."
    "Oh really."
    "Yes, really. André’s muscle. Let me see." She was having fun with this. Too much fun. But at least she had a playful side. She always seemed so distant. Like there was always something else she was thinking about. But she was all smiles now. "It was you, Vicious Black, Bobby Ray, Jamaica and Freeze. You and Freeze used to work together." She laughed. "So you’re no stranger to how Chilly does his business. You used to work the same way. I heard you and Freeze were bad boys back in the day." She waved a chastising finger at me. But she was right; me and Freeze have done some shit for Black.
    While André focused his attention on selling drugs, Black chose to make his money on gambling, prostitution, loan sharking, and number running. More so after Vickie OD’ed in his apartment. I remember one New Years Eve, Black closed all the gambling houses, in spite of the money he knew he’d make that night, and had a party for everybody that worked for him. Which was nice, or so we all thought. The party was held at one of the house that was run by Gary Banks. Like everybody else, Banks made a pledge to Black not to sell drugs, which to Black was rule number one.
    The party was wild, with plenty of food, drink, and woman naturally. Everybody was having a good time, except Black and Bobby. They, for the most part, sat at a table in the back of the room and talked quietly amongst themselves. At one