Twenty-Seven

Jasmine was shocked when Gosling told her that Black Justice, Poppy, and ten other members of Black Justice’s drug organization had been arrested. She didn’t feel one ounce of guilt or remorse for the role she played in setting up Black Justice, but she did have doubts about whether major charges would stick. The feds weren’t able to catch him red-handed with major drugs, nor were they able to directly link him to the stash house because the house wasn’t in his name, but they did catch him with an illegal gun and four pounds of marijuana when they nabbed him at the Dominican restaurant.

Jasmine had expressed some concern that Black Justice would quickly beat his charges, and, within a year or so, be back on the streets looking for her. But Agent Gosling tried to assure her that there was enough rock-solid evidence on Black Justice to get him indicted and convicted on a federal conspiracy charge and send him away for a very long time.

It didn’t take long for Jasmine to forget about Black Justice. In fact, three days after he had been arrested, Jasmine was reimbursed by the feds for the money she had spent buying the half-ounce of cocaine, and she received another twenty-five-hundred-dollar installment payment. On top of the money, she also had the keys to a ninth-floor loft apartment in the trendy SoHo section of Manhattan.

Jasmine couldn’t believe her eyes when she walked into the pristine, newly furnished apartment in a building with a doorman. It was way more than she ever could have imagined.

“You like it?” Agent Gosling asked.

Jasmine was beaming. “Are you kidding me?” She knew that only high-end doctors and top runway models could afford to live in SoHo, and here she was a drug dealer’s girlfriend and an FBI snitch, living just as good as them.

After Jasmine had finished touring the apartment, Gosling had to bring her back to reality.

“The apartment is nice, but remember, you have a job to do, so don’t let the apartment become a distraction.”

Jasmine nodded.

Gosling reminded her of her next two targets, Prince and Homicide. He gave Jasmine a rundown of the different intelligence reports the FBI had accumulated on them, including the cars they drove, the clubs where they hung out, the restaurants where they ate, and the different women they were fucking.

Jasmine took in everything that Gosling was saying, and she told him to give her a few days and she would come up with a plan to get close to the two targets.

“I got faith in you,” Gosling said.

“Oh, now you got faith in me? A few weeks ago you couldn’t stop reminding me about how I was going get locked up and all that shit.”

Gosling chuckled. “That was before you proved yourself.”

Jasmine sucked her teeth and playfully rolled her eyes.

“Seriously though, you’re a talent that is hard to find and hard to cultivate, and we really value you.”

Those words made Jasmine feel good because she liked being praised for things other than her good looks and her pussy.

“I’m serious,” Gosling added.

“Thank you,” Jasmine replied.

“But listen. Be smart, and be very careful out here. These guys are wolves, and you can’t take anything for granted.”

Jasmine gave Gosling a funny look. “You learn how to roll weed yet?”

“Fuck you,” Gosling jokingly shot back.

Jasmine walked up to Gosling and innocently began to massage his shoulders. “I’ll be smart. I know how to maneuver.”

Gosling liked the way Jasmine was massaging his shoulders. He felt his dick starting to rise, so he stood up from the love seat he was sitting on.

“Okay, so I got some work to do. I’m going to head in to the office. I’ll check in with you in, say, seventy-two hours.”

Jasmine rolled her eyes.

“What?”

“I just told you to give me a few days to formulate a plan, and then you tell me you’re going to check in with me in seventy-two hours? You don’t have to micromanage me.”

“Like I said, I’ll check in with you in seventy-two hours.”

Jasmine rolled her eyes once more.

“But call me if you need me.”

“Good-bye, Gosling.”

Gosling made his way toward the door, but he didn’t leave before asking Jasmine about Nico.

Jasmine told him that Nico had called her the day before just to check up on her and to ask her to visit BJ in the hospital.

“Did you go?”

“No, not yet. I’ll get over there probably today.”

Gosling was about to say something else, but Jasmine cut him off.

“Good-bye, Gosling!” And then she playfully pushed him toward the door.

“Okay, I’ll talk to you later. And, seriously, you be careful out there.”

“I will be.”