Chapter Five
At 10:30 P.M. a man boards the Saint's Widow and walks into the lounge area. He goes and sits down.
"Did everything go as planned?" asks Barton.
"Yes sir. But the ladies had a little accident. They were killed," answers the man.
"Good, very good. Do you remember that you have a meeting with Cooper and Burnett?" asks Barton.
"Yes sir I do. Would you like me to cause another accident?" asks the man.
"Yes I would. But only to Burnett. Leave his partner alive. I want him to know what the business is really about," says Barton with a wicked grin forming on his face.
"It shall be done," says the man as he starts to smile.
The man gets up and walks out of the room. He gets off the boat and starts for his car. He gets in and heads for the Stray Cat Lounge.
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Sonny and Rico pull into the parking lot of the Stray Cat Lounge at 10:55 P. M. They walk up to the doorman and he lets them in. Sonny and Rico don't want to make Mr. Jackson suspicious so they go to the bar and order drinks. Sonny a Blackjack and Rico a Virgin Mary, their usual. After they finish drinking it is about 11:04 P.M. and they head to the back of the room. When they get to the orange and black door, Sonny stops and says "Here we go. Good luck partner."
Rico says in return "Good luck."
As if they both know something terrible is going to happen. Rico knocks on the door three times, pauses, then three more knocks. A very muscular man, almost like a football player or weightlifter, opens the door and stares at Sonny and Rico. Sonny asks for Antonio Jackson. The man takes them to a small office area at the back of the room.
"Mr. Jackson, these men are here to see you. Shall I leave?" asks the man.
"Yes. We are going to step outside to do business, so keep everyone inside. Understand?" asks Jackson.
"Yes sir," answers the man.
"Shall we gentlemen?" asks Jackson as he walks to an exit that leads to an alley behind the Lounge.
"Yes, by all means," says Sonny.
"So where is the money?" asks Jackson.
"Oops, it's in my trunk," says Sonny in a jokingly behavior.
"What?" asks Jackson stopping dead in his tracks.
"I'm just kidding. Cooper has it in his hand," says Sonny.
"Oh, that was a good one," says Jackson.
Rico and Sonny give each other a strange look.
"Shall we get down to business because, as you can see, I have plenty of other business to take care of," says Jackson.
"Yes we shall," says Rico.
As Jackson, Sonny, and Rico walk to the emergency exit Rico turns and gives Sonny a look of doubt. Jackson opens the door to the alley behind the Lounge. There is a cherry red '57 Corvette parked in front of the door. Jackson takes a key out of his jacket pocket. All three men walk over to the trunk of the car. Jackson turns around and says "Show me yours first."
Rico places the briefcase with the money on the trunk. He opens it and says "It's all there."
Jackson says in return "That's good."
Rico closes the briefcase and moves it off the trunk. Jackson takes the key and opens the trunk. He pulls out a briefcase. He opens it where Sonny and Rico could see. In it is the drugs.
Sonny asks "Is it all there?"
"Yes it is," says Jackson.
"Good," says Rico.
They hand each other their briefcases and turn to walk away. The phone in Sonny's car starts to ring and Rico runs to answer it.
"Hello?" asks Rico.
Nobody answers and he hears a click. He gets into the drivers seat and starts the car. Jackson places his briefcase in the trunk and reaches for a gym bag. He unzips the bag and pulls out a sheathe. In the sheathe is a six inch serrated hunting knife. He throws the sheathe into the trunk as he turns around. He steps quickly forward to catch up with Sonny. As he gets closer he pulls his arm back to his head. Sonny stops to bend down and tie his shoe and Jackson stands a foot behind him. Just as Sonny is getting up, Rico turns on the headlights to the car. He looks up and sees Jackson behind Sonny with the knife in his hand.
"Sonny! Look out!" he exclaims as he pulls his gun out of its holster. But his effort to warn Sonny is no use.
Jackson drives the knife into Sonny's back. Sonny turns around long enough to see the look of happiness and joy on his assailant's face. Jackson turns around and starts to run to his car as Rico starts to shoot at him. As the cherry red '57 Corvette peels out Rico calls the paramedics.
As Rico makes his was to Sonny, Sonny falls to the ground. When Rico gets to Sonny he is barely conscious. Rico kneels down and turns Sonny over. He places Sonny's head is in his lap and starts to talk to him.
"Sonny? Sonny say something?" he asks.
Sonny starts to say something, but is cut short. He starts to gasp for air and tries to speak again. "Wa…watch Gi…Gina f…for m…me," says Sonny in a great deal of pain.
"Why don't you do that for yourself?" says Rico as he fights back tears.
Sonny starts to laugh, but has to gasp for air. Rico turns to hear a siren, but turns back when Sonny's body goes limp. Even though Sonny is just unconscious Rico starts to cry as the ambulance pulls up.