Terrell smiled. “People grieve in different ways.”

“Don’t put your filthy hands on me again,” Champagne ordered him.

Terrell raised his hands in surrender.

Champagne stared at him in silence for several moments before exhaling. “So, you all right?”

“Fuck no, my brother’s dead.”

“I’m sorry, you know. I’m sorry for your family.”

Terrell shrugged her emotions away. “What do you have for me?” he asked as he let his eyes roam down her body and stared between her legs.

Champagne shook her head. “Never that. Don’t ever even think about that!”

Terrell smiled again and looked up at her.

Champagne opened her Louis Vuitton handbag and pulled out a photo. “This is the chick he was fucking with. He had me check up on her before he got shot up. I have no doubt he was with her when it happened. Her name is Gena Scott.”

“She set him up?”

Champagne shrugged. “Only he or she could tell you that. I wasn’t there. But one thing’s for certain, she ain’t no innocent bitch. She’s down for fucking with a baller, so she could have set J up.”

“Tell me everything you know about this bitch.”

“She’s from Richard Allen. She lives with her grandmother; some old bitch they call Gah Git. She was fucking with the boy Quadir real strong until he got killed and, rumor has it, your brother was behind his murder, so it’s very well possible that Gena sought revenge against Jerrell for Quadir, or at least that’s what some people are saying. Who knows what makes people tick, you know?”

“So, she could have been setting my brother up all along to get revenge for her nigga, Quadir.”

Champagne shrugged. “I don’t know, but it does make a lot of sense. But only he or she could tell you that.”

Terrell took the picture and examined it carefully. “I can find this bitch in Richard Allen?”

“Richard Allen wouldn’t be a bad place to start. That’s where she’s from and it’s where her family lives.”

Terrell examined Gena’s picture. Blood rushed to his face as it became twisted in a dark mask of pure evil. He was staring at the bitch who had set his brother up. This the bitch that was playing you, little bro, misleading you, smiling in your face and shit; don’t worry, I got you. I know she probably gave you the pussy just to throw you off, all so she could get even for her man. Mmm-hmm, I see you, bitch. He couldn’t help thinking to himself of all the things he planned to do to Gena. He decided right then and there that he was going to fuck her. He was going to tie her up and torture her, and fuck her in places that she never knew she could be fucked. He was going to make her beg him to kill her. She would plead with him to end her pain, end her life, end her miserable suffering. He was going to do things to her that he had never done to anyone else before. And he had done so much to so many people in his lifetime. But this one-this one was going to be special.

Champagne saw the look on Terrell’s face and began to panic. His face was set in a deep scowl, and his eyes had become red and glazed over. The nigga looked like he was about to explode.

Champagne backed away from him. “You can keep the picture.”

Terrell seemed to not even notice her leaving. He was too deep in thought of all the things he planned to do to seek his revenge against Gena.

Once Champagne was a safe distance away, she turned and hurried to her car. Bitch, ain’t you glad you didn’t say “bananas”!

Lieutenant Mark Ratzinger lifted his hand calling for a round of beer. The bartender nodded, and Mark turned back to his associates.

“Where are we at on this?” Ratzinger asked.

“We’re tracking her.” Dick Davis told him. “She’s made some big purchases, but she hasn’t led us to the money yet.”

Letoya Ellington shrugged. “She’s smarter than we thought. She must’ve kept an extremely large sum out to spend. The rest, she must’ve hid. And besides the car, and some jewelry, she hasn’t really spent big.”

“She could not touch that stash for months,” Dick added. “Hell, maybe even years.”

Ratzinger shook his head. “Well, it’s getter harder and harder to justify the money and man hours we’re spending tracking her. Pretty soon, somebody is gonna wanna know why we’re on her, and why we haven’t produced anything.”

Cornell Cleaver nodded. “He’s right, guys. This thing can’t go on too much longer. We’re going to have to come up with something, and soon.”

“Like what?” Ellington asked.

Ratzinger shrugged. “Is she dirty in any kinda way? Can we swoop on her and press her?”

The drinks arrived at the table. The detectives sat in silence as the waitress passed their beers around the table. The conversation resumed as soon as she left.

“As far as we can tell?” Ellington shook her head. “Other than spending drug money, no. She’s clean.”

“Can we plant something on her, bring her in, and then pressure her?” Cleaver asked.

Ratzinger shook his head. “That means we would have to bring in a black and white.”

“So? There’s enough money to go around.” Cleaver replied.

“The fewer people we have involved in this, the better,” Ratzinger told him.

“I’m Internal Affairs. I can get us a couple of dirty patrolmen to pull her ass over and plant the shit. That’s nothing; we do it every day,” Cleaver told them.

“I can break her in the confession room,” Ellington added.

“Break her? She hasn’t committed a crime. Police 101, guys, remember your first day at the academy. An innocent person isn’t going to confess,” Ratzinger pointed out.

Cleaver leaned forward. “I say we get her in the room, let her know how much time she’s facing, and we get her to trade her freedom for the goddamn money.”

“And if she doesn’t confess?” Ratzinger asked. “What if she doesn’t break? What if she requests an attorney? What if some hotshot lawyer walks her ass out of the station and is on the phone with Internal Affairs the next day? What happens then? Anybody thought about that shit? Jesus Christ, guys! Think! We can do better than that shit!”

Davis leaned back in his chair. “What about a boyfriend? You think she’d give it up to a lover?”

Ellington smiled. “I don’t think you’re her type, Dickie.”

“Not me, asshole. I’m talking about bringing in a young detective friend of mine to seduce her ass.”

“And you think he looks hot enough to seduce her?” Ellington laughed. “Dickie, I’m going to have to watch you.”

“Fuck you, Toya!” Davies groped himself. “This is all dick, and it loves nothing but pussy.”

“Okay, at least you guys are thinking,” Ratzinger told them.

“Hey what about the big fish you caught, what was that guy’s name, umm… Rick or Rik,” Cleaver said. “What about him?”

Ellington shrugged. “What about him?”

“She offered to help him once, didn’t she? Maybe she’d be willing to offer it to him again.”

Ellington nodded. “Maybe.”

“We just have to make him need it.” Davis smiled.

“We’ll bust his ass, as soon as he jaywalks.” Cleaver added. “We can plant some shit on him, juice things up for the judge so his bond is through the roof, and put the word out on the street.”

“How can we guarantee that she’ll get the word, or even give a shit?” Davis asked. “And how can we be sure that she’ll even make the offer again, or that he’ll accept it?”

“Look, we just need to come up with a way to get her to lead us to wherever she’s got it stashed,” Ratzinger told them. “What about the grandmother? Any medical bills? Any creditors? Anybody close to her that she would loan a large sum of money to? That’s what we need to start looking for, see who she’s close to. Start tracking friends and family. See who she hangs out with and calls all the time. Real police work, ladies and gentlemen, time to show why each of you made detective.”

Ellington lifted her beer into the air. “To making detective.”