This Time, Baby

by Roy Glenn

Genres: Christian Suspense

Synopsis

This Time Baby is a continuation of Roy Glenn’s bestselling Mike Black series.

Some might say that Khalil Patterson is living his best life. Kendrick Nance and Jack Dandridge are both dead, and he is now the boss. But he still has what’s left of Kojo's operation, which is being run by Shanice Hardaway, to worry about. Now that he is running things, it’s time to turn his attention and firepower to shutting her down and taking over her market.

“And this time, I won’t make the stupid mistake of fuckin’ with Mike Black.”

After eliminating Drew Mack, Kevin Franklin, Jackson Hill, and Sienna Petrocelli, Shanice Hardaway—AKA former NYPD officer Veronica Isley—had taken over what is left of Kojo's operation. Now, it is time to grow her business and take it to the next level.

“And this time, I won’t be stupid enough to make an enemy of The Family.”

Bored with marriage and hating her job at the anchor desk, Carmen Taylor is vacationing in Nassau with Jada West. So, when Jada suggests they take a trip to Spain, Carmen is all in.

“And this time, we are not going to get ourselves arrested.” 
 

Release date: December 24, 2024

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

Big Cross Cay is an island in the Bahamas located in the district of East Grand Bahama, in the northern part of the country, 170 km north of Nassau. On the coastal highway, situated on a bluff between the ocean and the bay, sat a beautifully handcrafted five-bedroom and four-bathroom Bahamian cottage with natural wood finishes and a wraparound deck with views of water, stretching from the bay on the west side to the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

When Nada Benitez sent men to Cuisine and almost killed Wanda Moore, she was rushed to a hospital. Fearing that Benitez would send men to finish the job, Mike Black and Bobby Ray decided to move her. While allowing everybody to believe they had been killed in what some would call disastrous and others would call a highly effective reign as Boss of The Family, under cover of night, Black and Bobby secretly flew her to that house to recover. At the time, they said it was for her safety. However, Wanda always considered it to be in exile, a punishment that she believed only ended because Black’s wife, Shy, pointed out the need for her to reemerge.

Wanda and her new husband, James Austin, had recently returned from their honeymoon and wanted to celebrate with their family. That night, at the RH Rooftop Restaurant, Bobby and his wife, Pam, Black, and Shy, sat down to dinner.

“I already made a long-ass speech at the reception, so I’ll say you’re welcome and wish you all the best,” Black said.

“Thank you, Mike,” James and Wanda both replied.

When it was time to leave, Black tried to pay the check, but James insisted.

“This is our party,” he said, dropping the American Express Centurion Black Card on the bill.

When the party emerged from the restaurant, a black van came to a screeching halt, and the side door suddenly opened. Before Black and Bobby could react, one man armed with an automatic weapon opened fire.

“Oh no,” Shy said when she saw that Wanda had been shot and James was dead.

Once she was released from the hospital after this most recent shooting, Wanda decided to return to Big Cross Cay to recover from the murder attempt on her life and to mourn the death of her husband, James. This time, Black and Bobby had nothing to do with it. It was totally Wanda’s choice to return. The day that she was released from the hospital was also the day that Black told her that they had found the people responsible for James’s death.

“Lisa Austin hired two men, Thomas Gates and Larry Bracy, to kill him. Gates was Daryn Chambers’s half brother.” He leaned close to her. “They’re dead.”

“Thank you, Mike. What about Lisa?”

“Kirk and Dawkins arrested her.”

Wanda’s eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you kill her?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Never mind. I’ll take care of it myself.”

After that, Wanda was in court every day. She watched Lisa Austin plead guilty to conspiracy in the second degree in the murder of her ex-husband, James Austin. She was sentenced to serve twenty-five years in prison, five years of probation, and was ordered to pay a substantial fine of a hundred thousand dollars.

Now, it was time for phase two of Wanda’s plan. Before the trial, Wanda had lunch with her good friend, the Hon. Anthony Wilson, the chief judge of the courts. Over seared salmon and Angus skirt steak, Wanda arranged for Lisa to be remanded to the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women. It was a women’s prison in Bedford, New York, the largest women’s prison in New York state, for phase three of her plan to be set in motion.

Lisa was immediately put in handcuffs in the courtroom and escorted out. After she was stripped and cavity searched, she was given a shower and her new prison uniform and supplies just in time for dinner. Lisa, the new fish, stepped nervously in line. Everybody in there was a hardened criminal, so everyone scared her. A few short weeks ago, she was one of the top lawyers in the city of Los Angeles, a partner in the Austin Law Firm, and now, she was just another inmate with a number.

When it came time for Lisa to eat in the dining hall, she jumped down from her bunk and followed the other inmates. As she stood in line, Lisa couldn’t help but think about whether it was all worth it. Lisa was mad because James was getting ready to marry Wanda Moore.

“We were working things out when he met her. And then I felt him slowly pulling away again until he was gone,” Lisa recalled telling Kirk and Dawkins when they arrested her. She said she made him feel young again.

After being defended by her ex-husband, James Austin, the notorious LA drug dealer, Daryn Chambers was found guilty of murder. At his sentencing, he told James that he would see him dead because he thought that he had told the police where to find the murder weapon. Therefore, Lisa conspired with Thomas Gates, the half brother of Daryn Chambers, to have him killed.

“You two were a perfect couple. He wanted revenge; you wanted money,” she remembered Detective Dawkins telling her.

Lisa thought that she had been so careful. She was a lawyer; she knew better than most how people got caught for their crimes, and she was confident that she could plan and then execute her plan and not get caught. Each step that Lisa took in the chow line reminded her that her plan wasn’t foolproof.

Lisa withdrew one hundred thousand dollars using her account at CIBC First Caribbean International Bank. Then she ran the money through several shell companies before she wired the money to Gates’s account at the National Bank of Belize. Now, Lisa had twenty-five years to think about her mistake.

Just then, the inmate who was in line in front of her turned around and began stabbing Lisa in the stomach. Then the inmate who was in line behind her began stabbing Lisa in the back. When the inmates stepped away from her, Lisa had been stabbed nineteen times. When her body fell to the floor, the other inmates gathered around her, and seeing the commotion, a guard came to check it out.

The two inmates who did the stabbing stayed in line, and once they reached the front, each put their shanks on a tray and handed them to the inmate behind the counter. She quickly removed the shanks from the tray and walked away. Another inmate took her place and served the two murderers their food.

As quickly as she could, the inmate with the shanks put them in the garbage can and then piled some more trash on top of them. She sealed the bag and then put another bag on top of it before wheeling it outside to the dumpster. As for Lisa, she was rushed to the infirmary, where the nurse did what she could, but she had lost too much blood and was pronounced dead at 5:18 p.m.

That same night, Purple Rock hosted the Breakout Talent Showcase, featuring some of the most popular acts from the last few seasons. The concert hall was run by Rain Robinson. She was in the house that night.

Rain began operating out of Purple Rock because Carter Garrison occasionally occupied the office at RJ’s, the nightclub she took over when her father died. When Carter was released from prison, Black made him a captain and Rain’s consigliere. Over time, an intense sexual relationship began between them, which Rain abruptly ended. She concluded that Carter fucking the shit out of her had compromised her position as Boss of The Family. Then she found out that she was pregnant with his baby. So, Rain aborted the baby and avoided him.

While she operated out of RJ’s, Rain spent the entire night in her office alone, drinking Patrón and watching porn. Since she still wasn’t fucking anybody, watching all that porn was just frustrating. At Purple Rock, she reserved a booth near the stage for herself, where she spent her nights. On that particular night, Rain was in her office when the phone rang.

“This Rain.”

“It’s done.”

“Okay.”

That evening at the house on Big Cross Cay, the deck overlooking miles of white powder beaches, Wanda and her assistant, Keisha, were sipping apple martinis while enjoying another dazzling flaming sunset over the bay.

When the phone rang, Keisha looked at the display. “It’s Rain.” She handed the phone to Wanda.

“Good evening, Rain.”

“It’s done.”

“Thank you, Rain,” Wanda said and ended the call.

Khalil Paterson loved the life he was living; some might even say he was living his best life. Kendrick Nance and Jack Dandridge were both dead, and he was now the boss of Nance’s drug operation. Dandridge always thought that Nance was weak, and one night, Dandridge had enough of his shit and took out his gun.

“And we don’t need to be led by no weak muthafucka.” Dandridge shot Nance in the face, and then he pointed the gun at Khalil. “You got a problem with that?”

“No problem. It’s all good,” Khalil said and put up his hands.

After that, Dandridge all but, some would say foolishly, declared war against The Family and made several unsuccessful attempts to kill Black and Bobby. All that did was earn him an introduction to Rain. That meant it was time to get out of the city because she would kill him, and Rain Robinson could be ruthless. Dandridge had money he kept in a safe at the apartment of Shaunta Elias, one of Nance’s women that he was fucking behind Nance’s back. Once he had filled the bag, he closed the safe and headed out of the room. However, when he came into the living room, Rain was standing there with her gun raised.

“You should have locked the door,” she said. Her first shot hit him in the chest. The second was to the head. She walked up to Dandridge and stood over him. Then Rain took the bag from his hand and put two more in his chest before she left the apartment.

With both Nance and Dandridge dead, the remainder of their men began looking at Khalil. He was a loyal soldier to both men and had no desire or designs on carrying power, but he stepped into the role.

“And this time, I won’t make the stupid mistake of fuckin’ with Mike Black.”

But he still had what was left of Kojo’s drug operation that he had to worry about. He was sure that Kojo was dead or he had left the country and that Sienna Petrocelli had taken over, but she was dead too. Now, Shanice Hardaway was running the operation, and she had ordered Sienna’s murder in retaliation for a failed attempt to kill her. But it didn’t matter. Now that he was running things and fucking with Mike Black and The Family was no longer a priority, it was time to turn his attention and firepower to shutting Shanice down and taking over her market.

He was on the Bronx River Parkway on his way to White Plains to the home of Julianna Verrett. Although she was well into her forties, and as much shit as he used to talk about her, the truth was that he wouldn’t mind fucking her. And now that Nance was dead, he was fucking the shit outta her as he was Shaunta Elias. It seemed that everything that Nance had now belonged to him.

Julianna had been anticipating his arrival all day. She was so restless at times that she didn’t know what to do with herself. When she heard the key slide into the lock, and he entered the room, she slid out of bed and fell into his embrace.

“What’s the matter?” Julianna asked when she noticed the look on his face.

“Nothing. I just got a lot on my mind, that’s all. Nothing for you to be concerned about,” he said. “I’m gonna take a shower and get outta here.”

“You want me to bathe you?” she asked, following him to the bathroom.

“Undress me,” Khalil said, and once Julianna had done so, she led him by the hand into the shower.

As she ran the loofah over his skin, his mind drifted to thoughts of Shanice Hardaway. As Julianna dropped to her knees and took him to the back of her throat, he thought about the one time he saw her. That night, she was at a reggae bar called One Love with Aaron Copeland because Dexter Adams liked to hang out there. He watched as Copeland talked to a nervous-looking Adams while Shanice played threateningly with her gun.

And then Copeland took out his gun, said, “You’re a snitch,” raised his weapon, and shot Adams in the head.

When the club erupted at the sound of gunfire, and people started moving toward the exits, Shanice saw Adams’s partner, Fish, running at her with a gun. She fired and hit him in the chest with two shots.

After that, they left One Love, and Khalil knew that he wanted to get with her because, in addition to being at the top of her game, Shanice was fine as hell. That night at One Love, she was wearing the shit out of a Saint Laurent backless jersey dress. He closed his eyes and thought of her thick thighs and toned calves in those Saint Laurent metalized leather pool sandals.

“Shit.”

He looked down at Julianna sliding her tongue up and down his dick. Her thumb and forefinger were squeezing the bottom of his shaft. That caused his head to swell, and then Julianna ran circles around his head with her tongue. As his body became tense and rigid, she knew she had him. She licked and sucked harder and felt him begin to expand inside her mouth. Julianna squeezed his dick, felt it twitching in her hand, and stroked it until he shot his load.

“Damn, that shit was good,” he said as she turned off the faucet and then got out of the shower.

She rushed to get a towel to dry him. Although he was fucking the shit outta her, Khalil didn’t respect her, so he treated her like shit when he wasn’t fucking her, that is. She rushed to get his clothes so she could dress him. Once dressed and ready to go, Khalil reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of bills. He tossed it on the bed. Julianna picked it up and put it in her tittie bank.

“I’m gone.”

“You coming back tonight?”

“No. Had you already today. Fuck I’ma come back for?” he said as she opened the door.

“When will I see you again?”

“When I come back,” Khalil said coldly, and she closed the door behind him.

Julianna didn’t necessarily like the way that Khalil treated her at times, but since he was keeping her in the same manner that she’d become accustomed to when she was with Nance, she kept her mouth shut and chose to believe that one day, everything would get better.

Once in his car, Khalil took out his phone and called Blake Cornell. Like Khalil, Blake started working for Nance, who immediately saw their potential and educated them in the business.

“Sup, B?”

“Ain’t nothing. Sup with you?”

“Fuck all that. Where the nigga at?” Khalil inquired about Frank Dickey.

“Gun Hill Projects.”

“I’m on my way.”

Khalil had long suspected that Dickey and his partner Ferdinand were skimming. He sent Davion Woods to ambush Ferdinand as he was leaving his mistress’s house and shot him in the back of the head with a shotgun. Khalil had intended for Dickey to suffer the same fate as his partner. However, lately, he’d heard that a dissatisfied Dickey had been talking to Carneisha McCoy. She worked for Shanice and quickly established herself as a major player in the game, and Khalil wanted to know what was up with that before he killed Dickey.

When he arrived at Gun Hill, Khalil entered the building and took the elevator to the top floor. Then he went up on the roof. There, he saw his men, Cavin Andrews, Garland Ferric, Lamar Redmond, and Tyrus Umar, gathered around Dickey, taking turns beating him.

“Sup, Khalil?” Blake said.

He pointed at Dickey. “What this nigga got to say for himself?”

“After about an hour, the nigga said that Carneisha didn’t trust him, so he was fuckin’ with Strong.”

“Who?”

“Nigga’s name is Armstrong Crawford,” Blake laughed.

“Whatever. Give me your gun.”

Blake handed Khalil his gun, and he walked up to Dickey. Andrews and Ferric were at the edge of the roof, holding each of his arms.

“Let him go.”

When they released Dickey, his knees buckled, and he almost fell off the building before he could steady himself. He lifted his bloody and swollen face as best he could and looked at Khalil.

“Give me a chance to make this right.”

“This is your chance,” Khalil said, shooting Dickey in the head. His body fell off the roof. Khalil walked away from the edge and handed Blake his gun. “He tell you where this muthafucka Armstrong is?”

“One Love. He’s supposed to be meeting Shanice there sometime tonight.”

However, when Lamar Redmond and Tyrus Umar arrived at One Love to kill Armstrong and Shanice, they were told that Armstrong had been there and left, and Shanice went to Yonkers.

“What now?” Tyrus asked.

Redmond was about to take out his phone to call Khalil for instructions when he saw Leon Brooks coming out of the VIP room. Although he was Armstrong’s right-hand man and a ruthless killer, some said there was more to that relationship than just guns and drugs.

Redmond pointed. “We gonna follow that nigga and kill him. Come on.”

“You don’t wanna check with Khalil or Blake?”

“No. Every once in a while, you gotta show some initiative,” Redmond chuckled, and they followed Brooks out of One Love. “Besides, I don’t like the nigga.”

“Works for me. I don’t like his ass either,” Tyrus said.

Redmond and Tyrus stood outside the front door of Brooks’s apartment and looked at each other. When Redmond nodded, Tyrus set himself and kicked in the door. When two of Brooks’s men entered the living room, Redmond raised the pump and fired. He hit one of the men in the chest. The other man fired back, but then Tyrus hit him with a shot to the head.

When they heard the shooting, Brooks was in the kitchen with Miguel and Campbell. He grabbed his .45 and ran to see what the commotion was about. Miguel ran down the hallway and could see the two men lying dead on the floor. He saw Redmond and Tyrus coming toward him, and he opened fire. They hit the floor and took cover. Miguel emptied the clip as Campbell came out of the kitchen carrying a Mac-10.

Miguel fired wildly at Redmond and Tyrus. They fired back at Mig. . .