Mr. Inoue picks his phone up and frowns looking at the two men before answering it. He put the phone on speaker. The man on the other end of the phone doesn’t say his name. He only says that he wants to meet with the three of them. It’s regarding Heavenlee. Mr. Inoue looks at Mr. Sato and Mr. Kobayashi are shaking their heads until the man on the phone tells them to stop shaking their damn heads.
All three men are looking around the room thinking they’re being watched.
The man on the phone chuckles. “No, I’m not watching you three clowns. I know the three of you fools' behaviors so well. You have seventy-two hours to get back to me. This is a one-time offer.”
The three men are staring at the phone as it goes dead.
“Who is this man that knows us and our whereabouts?’ Mr. Kobayashi looks out the window and then ducks down.
Mr. Sato rubs his chin “This isn’t good. How in the world could that man have your number? “ He narrows his eyes at Mr. Inoue.
“How in the hell would I have the answer to that? Maybe he’s one of those damn computer geeks.” Mr. Inoue looks at the caller’s number. “This is weird. Why didn’t he call one of you?”
“Calm down. There’s no one outside watching us. He called your ass because everyone knows you’re the weakest one. I must say the asshole has done his homework. We have seventy-two hours to come up with who he is.” Mr. Sato looks at Mr. Kobayashi walking over to another window to look outside.
Being called the weakest one isn’t sitting well with Inoue. He shoves Sato’s shoulder “Take that s**t back. I’m not the weakest one. I seem to be the only one with a funking brain. I don’t see a damn thing wrong with wanting to stay alive.”
Sato pushes him back. “Shut the hell up. We all know you’re the b***h between all three of us.” He looks at Kobayashi crawling on his knees to another window and thinks “I might be wrong.”
Inoue grabs Sato around his neck and puts him in a headlock. “Take it back.”
“I’m not taking a damn thing back” Sato mumbles before he falls to the floor.
Kobayashi looks at them rolling on the floor. He sat on the floor watching them until they got tired and stopped. “Well, that didn’t last long.” He looks at his watch. “Five minutes. Can you two stop fighting each other long enough for us to find out who the fucker was that called?”
Sato and Inoue release each other and sit up. Both are breathing hard. Inoue rolled his eyes at Sato “That wasn’t Shingo.”
“No, it wasn’t. I have never heard that voice before. I don’t like it someone knows more about me than I know about them. Now I know what it feels like to be on the other side.” Mr. Inoue saves the number in his contacts.
*****
Yesterday Dajon fired everyone who worked at the butcher shop and warned them if he and his brother discovered later that they were aware of or were involved in the mistreatment of their mother and cousin there wouldn’t be any place they could hide.
Akeem slept beside his mother's bed last night watching her sleep. He can't stop thinking about how Martell treated his mother. He reads the text he receives after feeding Tanja to his dogs. "What does this bastard have to say for himself? It better be damn good."
Dajon peeps in the door and motions for Akeem to come into the hall. Akeem kisses their mother's head and whispers "I promise you nobody else will ever hurt you again." He walks out of the bedroom.
"Man, Percy has gone into hiding. Isiah and I went to his apartment. His closet is bare as old mother Hubbard's cupboard. We searched it there wasn't anything that would lead us to his whereabouts." Dajon looks at their mother's door "How is she doing?"
Akeem is putting his hair into a man's bun "She slept most of the night. A few times she woke up talking about when we were little boys." He pats his brother's shoulder " Mother will be fine. Post two men at every damn place you know his dead ass hung out at. I want his ass alive.” He goes back into the bedroom wondering “If Heavenlee and Carlisle have found Shingo and the other three bastards.” He takes his phone out to call her but changes his mind. “She needs to heal a little bit longer. Damn, I want a piece of those sons of bitches.”
*****
Carlisle has Baby's n****e in his mouth, he fell asleep after his feeding. She wakes up playing in his hair, kisses his head, and picks up her cell phone to read her messages. "Babe, wake up Dondre found something."
He sucks her n****e a couple of times. “Make the meeting with him quick. Your calf was looking a little better. How is your side feeling? Has the pain deceased since you drank that herbal cocktail Hina concocted?” Carlisle steps out of bed, “Let Doctor Babe work his magic.” He winks at her.
She giggles looking at Carlisle removing the bandage. “The pain isn’t as bad as it was yesterday. Doctor Babe, what is my diagnosis?”
Carlise kisses her knee, “a diamond ring for starters. As the saying goes diamonds are a girl's best friend." He reaches into the nightstand and takes out a white ring box with a lilac ribbon wrapped around it out of the drawer. “It’s one of a kind just like you. I love you, Baby.”
“I love you more Babe.” Baby unties the ribbon and opens the box. “Oh, my is beautiful." She’s looking at a 27.8 purple–pink rough diamond ring and kisses him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now for your second diagnosis." Carlisle claps his hands
She looks at him confused "Second diagnosis?" The door opens and their kids run into the room. Baby points at their kids. “I had them for you. You can’t give them back.” She chuckles while the kids hug and kiss her.
He laughs "Baby I wouldn’t give our little ones back for any amount of money. But there seems to be someone missing.” Carlisle looks at the door. "They were supposed to have delivered something."
“Sorry, I’m late, my grandchildren ran off and left me.” Pam is carrying a tray “Your husband has requested that you have a special breakfast in bed this morning and he even decided on the menu.”
Carlisle takes the tray from her. “ I hope you like it.”
Baby smiles looking at lobster scrambled eggs, creamy strawberry crepes, a bowl of cut-up melon, a croissant, a bowl of blackberry jam, a cup of coffee, and a flute of Bellini. “I love my diagnosis. It looks delicious.”
The kids are talking to their parents about going to the mall. Carlisle still thinks it’s too soon for Baby to be walking around. But he agrees they will go for an hour and not a minute longer.
The kids run out of the bedroom screaming."We’re going to the mall.”
“Breakfast was delicious now to meet with Dondre" She’s getting out of bed. Carlisle picks her up “ I’ll dress you, Baby. Mami, I'll be happy as hell when you're well. s**t Papi needs you."
Baby buried her head in his chest ."A few more days Papi."
Downstairs in Heavenlee's office Colin and Dondre are waiting for her. Carlisle walks into the room carrying Baby bridal style because she’ll be walking around at the mall. He put her in the chair behind her desk and looked at Dondre “Make it quick.”
Dondre tells Heavenlee he sent all of his computer friends' pictures of Inoue, Sato, and Kobayashi. Mr. Inoue has relatives in Da Nang Vietnam. One of them spotted the three men from a drone but lost when they got in a car because of the rain. Inoue has relatives there and he’s searching for their addresses. He takes a deep breath “I search all the tenants at the Tengoku Empire and Shingo isn't listed. "
Heavenlee nods “Look for all of Shingo’s aliases. He’s close. I can feel it in my bones. Father do you have any connections in Da Nang, or do I need to send some people there?” She reads a paper that’s in the folder.
“Yes, I know a few men there. “ Colin takes his phone out of his pocket
“Good, I want to know where to find the three stooges. Good work” She looks at Dondre
Dondre smiles and starts walking out of the office, “I'll get on Shingo.”
Carlisle has been sitting on the desk quietly and curious about the folder. “Baby, what’s in there?” He points at the folder she laid on the desk.
“It’s the information of all of Kanna’s close associates. But it seems that I only need three addresses from the list. That would be the three stooges' home address. Their ass will pay for coming after mom and for bringing that s**t to our home where our kids are. Damn, I want all of those assholes dead. But I can't travel to Da Nang right now. Not while Shingo is lurking around. Where can his ass be hiding?” Heavenlee clenches his fists.
****
Shingo is walking on the beach with his German Shepherd trying to come up with a plan to get his hands on Pam. He knows if he has her Colin would follow. But he has to also get the man who stole her away from him. Shingo has hated Matt for years and now it’s payback time. He still can’t believe Pam chose Matt over him and every time he thinks about it makes him furious.
“When I saw Matt at the tournament, I wanted to kill him then. But I wouldn’t have gotten the same satisfaction since Pamela wasn’t there to watch the bastard die. That wouldn’t have been any fun.” Shingo throws a tick for his dog to get. A young lady walks past him in a bikini and catches his attention. He didn’t hear Masi talking to him.
Masi folded his arms looking at the old man drool over the beautiful young woman for a few minutes before clearing his throat.
Shingo looks at him “What now?”
"Mr. Nakano wants to know why you haven’t contacted Mr. Sato or one of the other men.” Masi looks at his cell phone.
“Tell him because I don’t have time to work with imbeciles, cowards, or betrayers. I’ll deal with Heavenlee Manzo my way.” He frowns looking at the phone. “Tell his ass don’t call me anymore.”
Masi repeats the message to Mr. Nakano. He nods his head and cuts his eyes at Shingo as he listens to the man on the phone. When the call ends Masi shakes his head. “Sir I don’t believe that was a good idea. Mr. Nakano said you’re now on his list and he’s looking forward to putting you out of your misery himself.”
Shingo smirks, “Let his ass come at me I’ll f**k him up. His ass must have me mixed up with his damn puppets. Son of a bitch.”