Forty-Seven

The day before Nico’s shipment of drugs was scheduled to arrive in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Jasmine met with Agent Gosling at Argentina Steak House, located on Queens Boulevard, not too far from the mall. It was the first time Gosling and Jasmine had met or spoken since the day he had fucked her twice.

Gosling had on a brand-new golf shirt, new slacks, and new shoes, and he had a fresh new haircut. He also had on a small gold chain that was visible, since he didn’t button the three buttons to his shirt. Gosling’s exposed arms looked shiny, and so did his chest and neck area. Jasmine couldn’t help but think of how fatherly he looked. He wasn’t ugly or anything like that, but she just viewed him in a completely platonic way. But it was obvious to her that Gosling had purposely come to the meeting looking his version of freshly dipped.

When Jasmine first walked into the restaurant, Gosling was waiting in the lobby for her. And when he saw her, he walked up to her and gave her a hug, something he had never done before. His 1990s era-smelling cologne was so strong, it almost made Jasmine’s eyes water. She could also smell liquor on his breath.

If Gosling tried to push up on her for sex, she was going to tell him that she had her period and a yeast infection. She was not trying to form a habit where every time they were to meet up he would be expecting to fuck.

“How are you?” Gosling asked.

“I’m good.”

“Before we start talking, I just wanted to say, about the other day, it shouldn’t have happened. But I also wanted to make sure I thanked you.”

His comments seemed weird to Jasmine, but she just nodded and told him that she understood.

The hostess seated Gosling and Jasmine.

“I want you to hear this.” Jasmine took out her BlackBerry and played Nico’s words from the other night.

Gosling started to smile; it was clear he was excited. “When is two days?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Gosling was concerned that he would have to scramble to get agents in place to help with the raid and the takedown.

“I didn’t call you because my gut tells me it’s bullshit.”

“What if it’s not bullshit? We could never get a shot like this again. I want to at least have agents in place.”

Jasmine shook her head.

“That’s the thing. If it’s a setup and Nico spots any agents near that area scoping the place out, he’ll never trust me again. Never!”

Gosling thought to himself for a minute. “We have to send somebody.”

“Gosling, please just trust me on this.”

“I do trust you. Okay, how about this? I know that park, and it’s real kid-friendly, right on the water, newly renovated, and everything is visible. So I’ll call Agent Battle and have her get four female agents who have small kids. I’ll send the agents into the park on different shifts for blocks of like three hours. They’ll be in the park with their kids and baby strollers and stuff like that, looking very normal and blending in. This way, if something does go down, we would be able to get some kind of visual observation.

Jasmine felt comfortable with that plan, but she warned Gosling not to send in any unmarked cars and no men, and she also reminded him not to make any arrests or else her credibility with Nico would be shot. Gosling gave her his word.

After they were done speaking, Jasmine ordered an appetizer and a Sprite. She wasn’t trying to hang around Gosling longer than she had to. So within twenty minutes after she had arrived at the Steak House, she was leaving, headed back to her and Nico’s house.

As it turned out, the next day a drug deal went down in Brooklyn Bridge Park without a hitch at nine thirty in the morning. A young black FBI agent was there near the empty warehouse with her baby, and Nico’s young up-and-coming soldiers never suspected a thing. They did see a young black mom taking pictures of her baby, but that didn’t seem odd to them at all. What they didn’t know was that mother was snapping high-resolution pictures of them as well.

God must have been on Jasmine’s side because she was clueless to the fact that she had spared the life of both of her parents. As far as Nico was concerned, she had passed a huge test and would live to see another day.