Playing With The House's Money

Life in Fathead's safehouse was kind of fun... Three couples, Sepia and I, Clerow, Corabeth and their two children and Kool Kat and Chelsea all had a room to ourselves... There was cable television, several computers and fax machines and clean telephone lines so that we could communicate with the outside world...

Our friends, Chess, Chris Thompson, Donald Smooth, Owen Todd and Roscoe took turns with security and a steady stream of food was shipped into us.. We spent our afternoons playing cards and laughing and talking...Still...It was a lot like being in prison...Only Sean Jackson actually knew where we were...He was the pipeline between me  and Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson who were still keeping an eye on Mr. Jack Ambrose and his boy, Bobby Darden...

He faxed me a photo of the man who was supposed to kill me....A Jamaican man by way of London named Byron King.... From the information I gathered on him...He was very good, very efficient....Kills without a trace..and vanishes...Usually showing up somewhere else within days.  He was a very high priced killer..So Mr. Jack Ambrose was obviously playing with the house's money.

Kool Kat walked into the back room where I was looking at photos of Byron King.

"That him?" he asked.

"That's him." I said.

"Don't know him....but I know the guy with him.." he said.

"You do?" I asked.

"That's Rick Jeters....Low level skunk that goes with whoever offers him the biggest check." he said.

"You think he's their point man?" I asked.

"Yup...He makes contact...He pays the hitter...The hitter never sees either of them." said Kool Kat.

"Nice...That way...Ambrose's hands are clean." I said.

''Except that we are listening right?" laughed Kool Kat..

"Exactly...Where are the girls?" I asked.

"Clerow and the girls are downstairs eating....Chris,Chess and Smooth left.... Owen is handling security..." he said.

"Good." I said.

II-

We had been listening to Jack Ambrose for close to three days...He was mostly ordering food and having prostitutes sent to his room....Then we began hearing this conversation...

"Who is it?" asked Jack Ambrose....

"Mr. Ambrose...it's me,Ricky man." came the voice from outside the door.

"Bobby, get that." he barked.

"YOOOO MAN, What are you doin here?? And with him????" screamed Bobby Darden  as Rick Jeters and Byron King walked into the hotel suite.

"WHAT THE HELL?" screamed Jack Ambrose....

" He demanded to see you ....What could I do?" said Ricky....

"You idiot.....You idiot...you could have called Bobby..." screamed Ambrose.

"Oh so I'm supposed to expose myself huh?" said Bobby Darden....

''Better you than me?" screamed Ambrose..

"Mannn Jack...you're a trip." said Bobby Darden.

"HUSH YA MOUTHS MON...YA BOTH SEEM LIKE AMATEURS ...." said Byron King.

"Mr. Ambrose..We got a problem....This guy Kevin...He's gone!!" said Rick.

"What do you mean gone?" said Jack Ambrose..

''Gone as in...Aint nobody seen him in days...His wife neither ,nor any of them other people you had that private investigator scope." said Ricky.

''Somebody tipped him off and he's gone to ground." said Bobby Darden  "You think it was Watkins?" he snarled.

"NO....We clipped him before he had a chance to tell anyone." said Jack Ambrose.

"Then how did he know we were in town and worse...Where we was eatin at?" asked Bobby.

"He's obviously got eyes and ears in this town that we don't know about" said Jack.

"Jack, he lives here..this is his town." said Bobby.

"You think I don't know that?? "screamed Jack.

"That other guy...That Ben Ali who we hired to kill Watkins.....He got pinched the other day..it must have been him.." said Ricky.

"He doesn't seem like the talkin type...and he had no love for this Kevin person..." said Bobby Darden.

"Only one way to be sure...Can you have him hit inside the jail?" asked Jack Ambrose.

"Man, I'm gonna really have to reach out on that one..It'll take a few days..." said Bobby Darden.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS SHEEET IN YOUR ORGANIZATION...YOU ARE BOTH WASTIN 
MY TIME MON...I COME HERE TO KILL A MON AND THE MON IS GONE....AND SO AM I.''
said Byron King...

"Look..Just sit tight...He'll show up... Ricky , get back on the street...find him...This Kevin can't stay away but so long...When you find him...Give my man Byron a call....and then Byron...Erase the sucker.." said Ambrose.

''With Pleasure mon." he said.

After they left......Jack Ambrose turned to Bobby Darden.....

''Yo Bobby" he said.

''What?"

''Don't what me...I'm your boss...After Kevin is eradicated....I want you to whack both Ricky and that Jamaican...I don't like the way he talked to me."said Jack Ambrose.

"Sure thing.But you'd better watch how you talk to me, that's all I'm sayin." said Bobby

"I don't have to watch nothin...just do what I said." said Jack.

"You heard what I said?" said Bobby.

"Look ,just take care of that business for me okay?" said Jack,trying to be as diplomatic as possible.

''Alright."said Bobby.

''Goood...and stop bein so damn sensitive."said Jack

''What?" asked Bobby...

"Nothin man, nothin." said Jack.

"You a real peice of work." said Bobby.

''And Another thing...I know a sure way to bring him out...Whack somebody close to him." said  Jack Ambrose, slyly changing the subject...

"Like Who?" he asked.

''A certain attorney he is close to...A Robert Foxworth!!! Before we whacked Watkins , He took some photos of him and this attorney and his wife at the club and at several restaraunts...When he hears that his good friend is dead...He'll come runnin." said Ambrose.

"I'm on it." said Bobby Darden.


We stopped listening and looking.

''You heard that?" asked Kool Kat.

"You know I did." I said. "Looks like there is a little tension amongst the ranks...Which gives me an idea." I continued.

"You got enough to take this piece of human excrement down?" asked Kool Kat who pulled out his. .44 magnum  and loaded it up...

''More than enough big man."

''Well...Let's go put out some trash." said Kool Kat.

"You took the words out of my mouth." I said. " I got a plan..." I added.

''What kind of plan?" asked Kool Kat.

"A plan, where we don't have to do a thing...I'm gonna up the ante on all that mutual distrust and tension amongst them and see where it leads to." I said.

"You playin with the house's money on this one Kev." said Kool Kat.

"Better the house's money than ours right?" I said smiling....

Kool Kat smiled wryly and shook his head as I made a couple of phone calls.

(Conclusion Next)