New York's Finest (22 page)

The airport’s generator room was only three feet from me. I eased towards the door very carefully. I acted as if I had lost something on the floor and right before I swiped my key card to make my entry, I glanced around the concourse to make sure I was free and clear. When I realized passengers and airline staff had fixed their attention on the manpower search that had engulfed the entire airport, I knew now was the perfect time to make my exit.

Without hesitation, I swiped my key card and pushed the door open. And just when I thought I was about to make a clean getaway, the security alarm went off. Immediately, my body became panic-stricken. I didn’t know whether to proceed through the door or turn back around. But as soon as I heard several of the law enforcement officers yell from behind me, I instinctively looked back and noticed a horde of law enforcement types rapidly rushing towards me. I could tell by the expressions on their faces that they wanted me badly. I slammed the door shut and looked around the machine-filled room for something I could use to barricade the door. My heart beat at an incredible pace as I scanned and moved around the room. Then I finally saw a pipe lying next to one of the big generators. I snatched it up from the floor and said a quiet and quick prayer as I raced back to the door. I heard the commotion on the other side of the door. There were at least two different voices yelling obscenities as they struggled to get the door open.

“
Who has a fucking key card?” I heard one officer yell over top of the loud blaring sound of the security alarm.

From that question alone gave me a glimmer of hope that I may be able to prevent them from getting into this room. If I knew Mr. Wright, I was sure he was behind the delay. I knew he wasn’t forthcoming with his security badge that accessed this door. Now I had to hurry and place the pipe between the crease of the metal bar and the floor. So when they tried to push the door open, the pipe wouldn’t allow the door to move one inch.

Not even ten seconds after I placed the pipe against the door, I heard a loud booming sound hit the door. BOOM! But the door didn’t budge. “On the count of three, let’s hit it again,” I heard one of the officers yell. On the count of three, I watched nervously as they hit the door again. But the door didn’t budge. “She’s gotta have something barricading the door,” I heard another male’s voice yell over the top of the continued blaring sounds coming from the alarm system.

Knowing that they had figured out what I had done sent my mind into overdrive. I knew I had very limited time to find my way out of this room before they found a way inside. I had to get a move on it if I wanted to escape this madness.

When I turned around to bolt into the opposite direction, I was stopped in my tracks by a police-issued .40 caliber Glock.

“
Where the fuck you think you’re going?” said a man’s voice as he pointed his pistol directly in my face.

The words slim to
improbable reverberated throughout my mind as I looked down the biggest barrel I had ever been face-to-face with.

Then my nerves calmed down as Evan my TSA Agent smiled and told me to follow him. I was so surprised to see him. He was supposed to be unloading the plane right now so why was he on the other side of the terminal with me? I needed answers to those questions so I waited until we got to safety before I sprung it on him.

After about five hundred feet of underground tunnels and one man holes, Evan finally got me out of harm’s way. It was a feeling of relief when I got into his Ford Expedition and raced away to freedom. At least, I hoped we were racing to freedom.

New York’s Finest Kiki Swinson

I had to get myself together mentally after that incident at the airport. It had become a daunting task just to calm my nerves after I took the wig off my head. It seemed like the harder I tried to be optimistic about coming out of this thing altogether, a gut wrenching thought of possibly going to prison may be in the cards for me. The thought of prison life wasn’t something I looked forward to. In addition to being arrested, I also thought about how Miguel was going to react when he found out about his shipment. It was clear that it would get confiscated once a thorough investigation was completed. So, I knew I needed to figure out how to ratify that situation as well.

On our way to the city I went into question mode for Evan. I needed some answers. “How did you know where I was? And why did you come for me?” I asked him.

“
The airport is tight with security and no one is allowed down in my area of the loading dock but my crew and when I saw a lot of unfamiliar faces show up in the loading area, I knew something was about to go down. So I called my men off the site and sent them to another gate area until I found out what was going on. And when I started asking questions and couldn’t get any answers about why they were setting up surveillance in my loading port, I knew your shipment was their target so I switched gears and got out of there.”

“
Well, how did you know where I was?” I repeated the question.

“
I watched you from the time you got off the plane.”

“
So, why did you save me from them? I mean, if I were you I would’ve been trying to save myself.”

“Naomi, it’s gonna come out that me and my men were going to allow that shipment to come in. And when it does, my whole career and retirement is going down the drain. I may be even looking to do some serious time too, so I figured I needed an insurance policy.”

Baffled by Evans words, I tried to define his words in laymen terms. I wanted to know what the fuck he was talking about when he said he needed an insurance policy. Then all of a sudden it clicked. He wanted some money from me. A dollar amount hasn’t been uttered from his lips, but I knew it was coming next.

I looked back at Evan who happened to be a very small man in statue, but I remembered he mentioned to me some time ago that he worked out at least four days a week. So when I zoomed into the collar area of his shirt, I saw the muscles around his shoulder as clear as day. This Puerto Rican cat would probably have my ass beat up in the back of an alley real bad if I didn’t give him what he wanted. He has been an associate of mines for a long time and he had been loyal to me, so I guess he figured it was time for him to cash out and go off on his own. Clearly it was every man for himself.

Pretending to stay calm, I said, “What kind of an insurance policy are we talking about?”

“For where I am going, I am going to need five hundred thousand dollars.” he said and he did not blink one eye nor did his expression change. This guy acted like he was dead serious.

I thought for a moment about how much money I had back at my place. I knew that it wasn’t near the amount he asked for but I hoped that it would help by me some time. “Evan, I don’t have five hundred grand at my disposal. But I can get at least one hundred and fifty of it to you.”

Evan slammed his fist on the steering wheel. “No!” he roared. “That’s not enough. I want five hundred thousand dollars right now. Now if you can’t get it to me, then you and I are going to go on a very long ride Chica.”

After I watched Evan snap out like he’d just done, I got a whole new sense of reality. This guy wasn’t stable at all and I had the slightest clue as to what to do next.

“You better think of something real quick because I’m trying to be out of town in the next couple of hours.” he concluded.

“Can I make a phone call?” I asked.

“Hell, no! I’m not stupid. You’ll try to get me ambushed.”

“So, how do you expect me to get the rest of the money for you?”

“Get it from your bank account. I know you gotta have some of it there.”

My heart continued to race and my mind wouldn’t unscramble my thoughts. I thought I was about to lose my fucking mind. I figured what in the hell could go wrong next? But then it came to me, that I was instructed to go by our hideaway spot. Damian insisted that he’d meet me there so that’s where I decided to take Evan. Until this very moment, I liked Evan. He was indeed a soldier for our operation, but don’t bite the hand that fed you all this time. That’s a fucking no-no! And when it was all said and done, one of his loved ones would need his insurance policy.

“I can’t go to my bank. That’s too risky. Take me to my apartment at 145 West 67
^th
Street. I got a drop off I was supposed to deposit in the bank yesterday. There’s more than enough in there for you to get your share and for me to take and leave town with.” I said.

“Oh no way, Chica. I’m getting everything you got. I put my neck on the line for you. You owe me for all those times you underpaid me for helping you to bring in your fucking drugs.” he growled, his facial expression got more menacing.

I remained calm. I knew something he didn’t; his life was coming to a screeching halt when Damian found out that he intended to rob us. Talk about a sad ending.

As we approached the apartment building, I searched both sides of the block to see if I noticed Reggie or Damian’s cars parked anywhere, but I didn’t. The optimism of getting Evan off my back dissipated rapidly. Fear crept right back into my heart at that very moment because I knew that I would have to fight this battle all by myself. I started to stall him, but I knew that would only piss him off so I climbed out of the truck and made my way up to the apartment while Evan followed.

I fumbled with the key at the front door so he snatched the keys away from me and unlocked it himself. Immediately after he opened up the front door, he pushed me inside but instructed me to stand where he could see me. And before he made his entrance, he peeped around the door to make sure the coast was clear with his gun cocked and ready to fire. I stood there and faced him head on trying to figure out how I would handle this situation. “Now, let’s get that money.” he said and then he turned his back to shut the front door behind himself. Having him turn his back on me gave me a big enough window to make a run for Reggie’s room so I could grab his money bag and hop out of the window. But all plans don’t go as they were mapped out because as soon as I turned to dip in the opposite direction, I was startled by Reggie himself. It all happened so quickly. Reggie pressed his hand against my mouth to keep me from screaming and then he pushed me off to the side. And as soon as Evan turned around, he realized that he had a standoff with the head boss of our operation. Evan had never met Reggie, so he never knew what he looked like. But, I guessed he was about to find out. “Look, all I want is what’s owed to me.” Evan said as he kept close to the front door.

“I don’t owe you shit. You came here to rob us.” I spat.

“Nigga, you came here to rob me and my sister?” Reggie roared as he pointed his pistol with his silencer attached towards Evan.

“No, she promised to pay me for the load that came in today. And I’m trying to leave town so I need my money.” Evan continued as he looked at me and Reggie both. He seemed like he was getting a little scared.

“What load nigga? We didn’t have a load to come in today.” Reggie challenged him. I knew he was playing head games with Evan. Reggie wasn’t about to admit to having no involvement with Miguel’s load whatsoever. Reggie was the type of cat that he wouldn’t admit to doing shit even if you caught him in the act.

“I’m talking about that load that Naomi had me and my boys to offload from the plane. But we couldn’t do it because the FEDS came in and intercepted it.”

“So, that means you couldn’t do your job right?” Reggie pressed on.

“We tried. Bu……but…..we couldn’t.” Evan tried to explain but he started stuttering his words.

“That’s too bad.” Reggie said and without warning he pulled the trigger and shot Evan twice in the face. Evan’s body fell back against the door and made a loud thud noise. Blood splattered the back of the door and on the walls nearby. I swear I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Why the fuck you bring him here?” Reggie questioned me. I knew he was pissed. But I had no other choice.

“Trust me I didn’t mean to. He saw me trying to get away from the FEDS at the airport and helped me. And then when we got into his truck, he started acting crazy and threatening to do shit to me if I didn’t give him five hundred grand. I tried to settle with him by giving him the one hundred and fifty grand at my place but he wouldn’t take it. So, what was I supposed to do? Let him kill me.”

“Come on and help me move this nigga out of the way. Damian and Stone should be here in a minute.” he said. I thought he would’ve answered my question. But he didn’t. I guess he figured that I didn’t have a choice after all.

We grabbed a box of industrial size trash bags we used to wrap our money in and took it to the where Evan’s body had laid. But before we touched him he slipped on plastic gloves and a surgical mask.

“Help me grab his legs first.” Reggie instructed me. The bags we had were big enough to put a human who was 5’5 or shorter inside of it. And since Evan was right there at that height, his body fitted the bag perfectly. I believed we covered him in at least ten bags. And when we were done we wrapped gray electric tape around his waist and we sealed the top of it with the same tape. Reggie made sure we contained the rest of his blood and the odor that comes from a dead corpse.

Immediately afterwards, I struggled to get up all Evan’s blood that soaked into the carpet before we moved his body into the bathroom shower. I used ammonia, bleach and baking soda and when I realized that this wouldn’t do the trick I grabbed a pair of utility scissors from the kitchen and cut the entire area of the blood stained carpet and removed it from the floor. I asked Reggie what to do with it and he simply said, “Lay it on top of that nigga in the tub. I’ll get Stone and Damian to take it out when they get him.”