As Travis followed him into the dining room, Murray whispered, “Sorry it has to be this way, Travis. Things will go smoother this way. You’ll see. It’s not so much Jacquelyn, but that Ronald-whew, he can be such a hothead.”
“I understand, Murray. Let’s just do this.”
Murray sat down at the table and proceeded with his work. He meticulously looked over each piece while Travis watched in silence. Every now and then, Murray would make a sound or say, “Hmm.” After about an hour, Murray put down his eyepiece. He looked at Travis. “Very good work, Travis. Very impressive indeed.”
“How much, Murray?”
“A hundred and ten is the best I can do.”
“Including the car?” Travis asked, not believing what he was hearing.
Murray nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders. “Including the car, that’s the best I can do.”
“What the fuck you mean that’s the best you can do?”
“Just what I said, Travis. One-ten is the best I can do for you for what you got here.”
“Give me a fuckin’ break, Murray. I know you can do better than that. Come on now, we talked about this.”
“Travis, I know what we talked about. But things are different now,” Murray said softly.
“Murray, be fair with me. The diamonds are worth a hundred grand on their own. Eight grand for the Lex. So, what you’re tellin’ me is that you’re only givin’ me two grand for the rest of this shit?”
“Travis, I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do. The word is already on the street. Gun play inside the store. Gun play outside the store with the police. Car chases though the street with the police. Travis, please understand the stuff from the store is so hot now that it’s gonna be very difficult to get rid of,” Murray said.
“Get the fuck outta here!” Travis yelled loud enough to get the attention of Jackie and Ronnie.
“Please, Travis, lower your voice. There’s no need for shouting,” Murray said as Jackie and Ronnie came into the room.
“That’s bullshit, Murray, and you know it!” Travis yelled as he raised up from his seat.
“What’s up, Tee?” Jackie asked.
“This muthafucka only wanna give us two grand for the stuff we got from inside the store,” Travis said, moving closer to Murray.
“What!” Ronnie screamed. “This muthafucka think he gonna rob us like that?”
“Like I was explaining to Travis, with the gun play and the involvement of the police, Ronald, it’s going to be very hard to move the items from the store. No one locally is going to want to touch them. I’m probably going to have to go outside the country to move these items.”
“Now you see what them fifteen seconds is gonna cost us, Mr. Adrenaline?” Jackie shook her head.
Travis observed what was happening and smiled with satisfaction. He took a step back and let things develop.
“Shut up, Jackie. This ain’t even about them fifteen seconds. That’s a whole other matter. This is about this bitch here thinkin’ he gonna rob us,” Ronnie said and pulled out his gun.
Murray jumped out of his chair and backed his way into a corner. “Calm down, Ronald. Please. The stuff is too hot right now. Really, that’s the best I can do. You know I’ll make it up to you on the next job.”
“Next job my ass, muthafucka.” Ronnie followed Murray into the corner and put the gun to his head. “You better come correct on this job right here, right now, or you gonna die wishin’ you had.”
“Travis, please!” Murray screamed as he dropped to his knees.
Travis smiled and laughed to himself. He didn’t think Ronnie would really kill Murray, but there was no point carrying it any further than it had gone. He and Jackie stepped up behind Ronnie from either side. Jackie grabbed Ronnie around the shoulders while Travis put his hand gently on the barrel of his gun. “Don’t kill him, Ronnie. Just give me the gun and it will all work out,” Travis said calmly. Ronnie slowly moved the barrel away from Murray’s head and handed it to Travis. “Thank you.” Travis helped Murray get up from the floor and walked him back to the table. He handed the gun back to Ronnie and pulled out his own. “Sit down, Murray.”
Murray removed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his brow. Maybe Travis knew Ronnie wouldn’t kill him, but Murray thought he was going to die. He sat down at the table and looked at the gun that was now in Travis’s hand. He looked around the room. Jackie had let Ronnie go and now she also had her gun in hand. Murray turned quickly to Travis. “One-two-five, Travis. Please. I’m cutting my own throat here.”
“One-two-five is good, Murray.” Travis smiled and put away his gun. “In small bills, if you don’t mind.”
With money in hand, they left Murray’s and drove off. Travis sat quietly in the back seat, counting the money and listening to Jackie and Ronnie argue. Once again, he was lost in his thoughts. Although he didn’t believe that Ronnie was really going to kill Murray, the possibility did exist. Ronnie was becoming more and more un-predictable every day. He and Jackie had always had their disagreements, but they were occurring much more frequently. And that day’s events only proved to be another point of contention between the two.
Maybe it’s time to quit?
The words rolled around in his mind, over and over again. Maybe it was time to find a way to make it out of the game. They had been doing this thing for the last two years. They had made plenty of money during that time.
Travis reached forward and handed Ronnie his cut of the day’s job. “Here you go, Ronnie.” He handed a stack to Jackie. “That’s for you, Jackie.”
“I think I should get a bonus for drivin’ us out of Ronnie’s mess,” Jackie said with a laugh.
“Ronnie,” Travis said, “I think Jackie has a point.” Travis counted off two thousand dollars and handed it to Jackie. “That’s two grand. Thanks for gettin’ us out of there.”
“Shit. All right,” Ronnie said reluctantly. “Here. Thanks.”
“I was only kiddin’ y’all, but thanks,” Jackie said and continued laughing.
The $37,500 that they had each earned that day was about average for the jobs they did. In that time, Travis had built himself a nice house in Connecticut, bought a timeshare in Freeport and had $75,000 in an account in the Cayman Islands. That’s not enough to retire on. A half million or so is what I need to have before I even consider retiring. Just a few more jobs with no mistakes, and I’ll be set. But maybe it’s time to quit.
“Where to now, Travis?”
“To Cuisine. I might as well give Freeze his taste now and get it over with.”
Chapter Four
With Mike Black out of the business and Bobby Ray being semi-retired, Freeze now had complete control of the New York operation. Black put Freeze in charge of Cuisine, a small supper club that offered fine dining, an intimate atmosphere, and a small dance floor. It featured Que, a jazz combo with a female vocalist. Until Freeze took over, that is. With Freeze running the supper club, what was an intimate atmosphere had begun to change when Freeze began conducting business there. More and more of Freeze’s “business associates” began to frequent the establishment to pay Freeze. They would hang out, have some drinks maybe, but not much else.
Travis entered Cuisine along with Jackie and Ronnie. Usually he went there alone, since he knew that Freeze didn’t like the way Ronnie carried it, and was frustrated by Jackie, who didn’t have any interest in giving him any pussy. This time, however, he wanted to get it over with. Besides, Freeze needed to be made aware of the issues they had encountered just in case it became a problem.
“Can I help you?” the hostess asked.
“I’m here to see Freeze,” Travis said and smiled at her. She picked up three menus and they followed her.
“I’ll let Freeze know you’re here,” she said as she led them to a table.
“Wait a second. Don’t be in such a rush. Don’t you remember me? Travis? We talked about a month ago,” he said as she seated them. “Your name is Diane, right?”