New York City
When Carter landed in New York and got off the plane, he had the driver take him to J.R.’s. On the flight back, he was alone. That gave Carter a chance to think, and he truly had a lot to think about.
Mike Black had just pulled out the captain’s chair for him. To simply say that he was honored that Black offered it to him was an understatement. Carter was overwhelmed by the honor.
After they left Palais de Plaisir, Black took Carter to his house to meet his family and have dinner with them. He was excited about that too because M’s cooking skills were legendary in The Family.
When Carter was introduced to Shy, he said, “Nice to meet you again.”
“We’ve met?” Shy asked.
“We did. I’m sure that you don’t remember me, but I was with Freeze a few times when you met with him.”
In fact, Carter was with Freeze the night that everybody thought that she had been murdered and again that next day after it happened.
Carter knew firsthand how Freeze blamed himself for what happened to Shy and how much it hurt him that he had not only disappointed Black, but for the fact that Black was in jail because he wasn’t there to protect her.
It was after eleven when Carter walked through the doors at J.R.’s and went looking for Mileena. When Demi, who was the new bar manager, told him that she was in the gambling room, Carter headed in that direction. When he got there, he saw Mileena coming out along with security. They had a man in plastic cuffs and they were escorting him out of the club.
Mileena’s smile returned to her face when she saw Carter coming toward her. She motioned to let him know that she would be with him in a moment and continued her march toward the exit.
Once that was taken care of, Mileena went back into the club and found Carter standing exactly where she’d left him.
After wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him like she hadn’t seen him in ten years instead of ten hours, Mileena had questions. One actually.
“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you all day,” Mileena asked.
“I went to Freeport to talk to Mike.” Carter paused. “On his private jet. And then he invited me to have dinner with his wife and family.”
“I haven’t seen him or Shy since I started working here.”
“I know, Mike mentioned it. He said to be sure to tell you, hello and Shy said that you were always very nice to her every time she came in Impressions.”
“Of course I was very nice to her; she’s the boss’s wife.”
“She also said to tell you that she is looking forward to getting to know you better.”
“She said that?”
Carter held up his right hand. “She said that maybe she’ll fly you down there one day so the two of you can get to know each other better.”
Mileena looked at Carter. “What aren’t you telling me, Carter Garrison?” She got in his face. “What did Black fly you down there to talk about?”
“He offered me the captain’s chair.”
Mileena swallowed hard and took a step back. “He did what?” she asked even though she had heard him clearly the first time.
“Mike wants me to consider taking Howard’s spot.”
“So you’d be a captain?”
“Yes.”
“A captain like Doc and Sherman?”
“Yes, Mileena.”
“What did you tell him?” Mileena asked and held her breath as she waited for the answer.
Just then, Akira, the new head waitress came rushing up to Mileena. “You gotta come right now,” she said.
Mileena looked at Carter. “We’ll finish this conversation later, Carter Garrison.”
“When you get home, I’m tired.”
“See you later,” Mileena said, and then she turned to walk away with Akira. “What’s wrong?”
“Three women were fighting in the ladies’ room because they were all fuckin’ the same guy,” Carter heard Akira say as she walked away with Mileena.
It was almost six in the morning when Mileena left J.R.’s and she was anxious to get home. Other than the fight in the ladies’ room, and the guy that they threw out for cheating, it turned out to be a quiet night.
Mileena spent most of the night in the office talking to Rose. But when she was out on the floor, alone with her thoughts, Mileena had time to think about Black’s offer for Carter to take over for Howard and she wanted to know what he said.
When Mileena got home, Carter was in bed sleeping. She started to wake him up, but he was sleeping so peacefully that Mileena didn’t want to bother him. Besides, there really wasn’t any rush; she already knew what the answer was, so she let him sleep. She thought about the other captains.
With the exception of Jackie, who was always down for a good fight, Doc, Sherman, and even Cynt and Grant before they were murdered, never left their spots. And Howard, not only did he never leave his spot, he was home every night to have dinner with his wife. If Carter were to take Howard's seat at the table, that meant he would never have to get his hands dirty ever again.
He could call somebody to put in the work the way they used to call him.
Mileena got undressed on the way to the shower and when the water was the right temperature for her; Mileena got in and allowed the water to wash away her anxiety.
That afternoon when she woke up, Mileena reached for Carter, but he wasn’t there. She got out of bed and went out into the living room.
“Carter.”
“Up here,” he answered from the loft.
“I’ll be up in a minute.”
Mileena went back into the bedroom, put on her robe, and then she went upstairs to join Carter. She wasn’t at all surprised that he was up there.
Since Black gave Carter the condo, it had become their favorite spot. The loft had a large picture window that afforded them an excellent view of The Long Island Sound.
“Hi,” she said and kissed him.
“How did you sleep?”
“Like a baby,” Mileena said and sat down next to him on the love seat that sat in front of the window.
“Why didn’t you wake me up when you got home?” Carter put his arms around her and Mileena rested her head on his shoulder.
“Because you looked so peaceful that I didn’t want to bother you. Did you eat?”
“I’ve been waiting for you,” Carter said. “You hungry?”
“A little.”
“You wanna go get something?”
“I do, but I wanna hear what you told Black first.”
“I didn’t tell him anything. He didn’t want me to give him an answer. He said that he wanted me to think about it,” Carter smiled. “And talk it over with you.”
Now Mileena was smiling. “He said that?”
“He did. I told him that I was thinking about getting out and about us starting a business together.”
“And he asked anyway.”
“He said he needed me.”
“So when are you going to tell him that you’ll do it?”
“He said that he’ll be up here in a couple of days and we’ll talk then. And how do you know that I’m gonna say yes?”
“Because he said that he needed you.”
“But I won’t do it. Not if you don’t want me to. I have you back in my life again. And I never intend to let you go or do anything to make you want to.”
“You never will.” Mileena sat up, punched Carter lightly in the chest, and then she stood up. “You’re stuck with me now, Carter Garrison.” And then Mileena called the Crosstown Diner to order Broiled Stuffed Shrimp and Broiled Stuffed Filet of Sole, both made with Crosstown’s famous crabmeat stuffing for them to pick up.
That night when it came time for Mileena to go to work, Carter went with her. When he got there, he went straight to the office to see Rain. With Demi being promoted to bar manager, Mileena brought her friend Yarissa Dash, who was the head waitress at Impressions, in to fill the position of office valet. In fact, Yarissa begged her for the job.
“You mean all I gotta do is make drinks for Wanda and Rain’s wild ass?”
“That’s the gig.”
“And you gonna pay me twice what I’m making now in tips to keep my mouth shut because it’s Rain, and Black and Bobby and them show up there sometimes.”
“Like I said, that’s the gig.”
“All them years on these feet, drunk customers all up in my face, men grabbing my ass all night when I’m making my way through that crowd,” Yarissa said. “Bitch please, if you don’t give me that job, I will never speak to you again.”
This was her first night on the job.
Once Carter had gotten past security and made it to the office, he was told by Yarissa that Rain was in a meeting and he could wait there or in the VIP room. “If you choose to wait in VIP, I’ll come and get you as soon as Rain is free to talk to you.”
In the office, Wanda could see what was going on in the hallway through the security feed. Since she hadn’t seen Carter since he got out, she went to the door and let him in.
“How are you, Wanda?” He gave her a big hug.
“I am doing great, Carter. What about you; how long have you been out?”
“A week now.”
“Well, I am glad to have you back, Carter. We need all the men like you we can get. Have you talked to Mike since you been out?”
“I talked to Mike yesterday.”
Wanda picked up her clutch. “I have got to go, but it was great seeing you again, Carter. We need to have a drink sometime soon and talk.”
“Sounds good.”
Wanda kissed Carter on the cheek and then she rushed out of the office.
Then Carter looked at Rain. Her stone-faced expression hadn’t changed at all since he came into the office.
“Can I sit?” Carter asked.
Rain extended her hand graciously and Carter sat down. “You wanna drink?”
“Thanks.”
Rain pressed a button on the desk phone and Yarissa answered. “Yes, Rain.”
“Come in here,” she said and buzzed her in.
“Yes, Rain.”
Rain pointed at Carter when Yarissa came in.
“Can I get you a drink, Mr. Garrison?”
“Hennessy neat.”
“Is Hennessy Paradis all right?”
“That’s fine,” Carter said and Yarissa gladly went to the bar to pour his drink.
“Can I get you another, Rain?”
“Go ahead.” The expression on her face still hadn’t changed.
When Yarissa finished pouring, she gave Rain and Carter their drinks, and then she asked, “Is there anything else you need, Rain?”
“That’s it, Yarissa. You can go.”
“I’ll be right outside if you need me,” Yarissa said and she happily left the office. Thank you, Mileena.
Rain wasted no time. “What you gonna do?”
“Black said to think about it and let him know when he gets up here.”
“I know what Black said. I’m asking you what you’re gonna do?”
Carter drained his glass and stood up.
“I offer you my respect and swear on my life that you have my unwavering loyalty.”
Rain stood up and came around from behind her desk. Carter bowed slightly before her as a sign of his respect and loyalty.
“I’m gonna take the spot Black offered me,” Carter said, “But first I want to find out what happened to Geno.”
“Then we got work to do.”
Once she had her vest on and she had holstered her guns, she looked at Carter. “Come on, let’s go.”
Carter followed Rain out of the office and then they left J.R.’s. Once they got to Rain’s car, she told Carter about a gun smuggler named, Herminio Leoncio that worked for El Decreto de Guerra. Carla had intercepted a call between Leoncio and Pablo Garza, saying that Ramón Prudescio and his men were at Mar Y Tierra the night Reese was killed and Geno and Smoke were shot.
“You know where to find any of these guys?”
“We are on our way to pay Ramón a visit right now.”
“Good.” Carter looked over at Rain. “Gloves still in the glove compartment?”
“Right where you left them. There’s a gun in there too.”