“I need to talk to you,” Black said.
“When?” she asked.
“Now. At The Grill,” Black said and hung up.
Thirty minutes later, Vonetta stuck her head in the door once again. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Black, but there’s a woman out here that would like to speak to you.”
“Thank you, Vonetta. I’ll be right out.”
Black got up and came out on the floor and this time Deidra Walker was waiting for him. When Harry refused to take the deal, Deidra came to The Grill and talked to Black. She promised Black that she could get Harry to change his mind and accept the offer. After Harry said he would do it, she returned to The Grill and made a deal with Black to give them a few days to make some money before he stuck his hand in. “What happened, Deidra?” Black said as soon as he sat down.
“I don’t know what happened,” Deidra replied and shook her head.
“You sat right there, Deidra and assured me that you had him under control.”
“We talked about it and he was good with it, but when he came back he said you called him a coward.”
“I never called him a coward.”
“Something about him being unwilling to use violence.”
Black sat back and tho
ught for a minute. “Did he say what he was gonna do?”
“No. He just walked out. I don’t know where he went.”
“Okay. Come with me,” Black got up and led Deidra to the office. He handed her two thousand dollars. “Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to go to Miami, and check into a hotel. Call me when you get there and let me know where you’re staying. Give me your phone.”
Deidra dug in her purse and pulled out her phone. She handed it to Black and he dropped it on the floor. After he crashed the phone, he looked at Deidra. “You don’t talk to anybody and if I hear that you called Harry I’ll kill you Deidra. You understand?”
“I understand.”
“You go to Miami, relax, do some shopping and wait for my call. You work for me now,” Black said and opened the door to the office.
“When can I come back?”
“I’ll let you know.” Black walked up to Jamaica. “Get someone to take Mrs. Walker to the airport and see that she gets on the last flight to Miami.”
“You got it,” Jamaica said and walked off.
“Thank you, Mike,” Deidra said and followed Jamaica. She was glad that for her it was over. She was sad for Harry, but he should have listened to her and took the deal Black was going to offer him. Now it was too late for him. Deidra didn’t know what Black planned to do with Harry and as she rode away from The Grill she tried not to think about.
Black went back in his office and found his phone ringing. He expected it to be CeCe, because she was the only one who called that number. “Hello, baby,” he answered.
“I need you,” Jada said crying.
“Ms. West?”
“Yes. It’s me.”
“Clam down, Ms. West and tell me what’s wrong,” he asked as Bobby and Jamaica came into the office.
Jada took a breath and tried to pull it together. “We had a problem at the compound tonight.”
“What happened?”
“Two men set fire to one of the buildings. But they were able to put it out before it did much damage.”