by Karen Singer
“What?” Robbie asked, surprised and now very worried.
But it was Sally who answered. “When they couldn’t find Jenni, they destroyed everything in her room. And I mean destroyed…everything. All her clothes, all her belongings, even her underwear. And the next time they came back, they did the same thing to my room because that’s where she was staying at the time. We were just lucky that each time they came, we weren’t in those rooms. The clothes we’re wearing right now, came from the hotel gift shop, and we had to buy bathing suits to act as underwear.” Sally saw the look of surprise on Shirley’s face. “Neither of us even has any makeup to fix our face with.”
Shirley reached across the table and grabbed Jenni’s hand. “Jenni, you don’t look bad. I just noticed you don’t look as good as you used to. That’s all.”
“Thanks Shirley,” Jenni mumbled. She looked up at Robbie. “Mr. B. I have something worse I need to tell you about too.”
“Worse?” Robbie asked, now really alarmed.
“Worse!” Jenni confirmed. Mr. B. I love working for you and Shirley, and I don’t want to stop. But…they took my laptop. They didn’t just break it, it was missing. That’s the only thing we’ve noticed that was missing.”
“Just your laptop?” Robbie asked, wondering why that should be such a problem.
“Mr. B. Without that laptop, how can I work for you? Most of my job is done on that computer. I had everything on there.”
Robbie shook his head. “Jenni, don’t worry about it. It’s just a computer. We can replace it.”
“How? I don’t have hardly any money left as it is, and I’m going to need all new clothes now. I had almost everything I own on that island. And now it’s all gone.”
Robbie looked at her for a moment. “Didn’t you tell me your grandmother was giving you an extra thousand dollars for taking that trip?”
Jenni almost laughed. “Mr. B. After I pretty much sent her to prison all by myself, do you really think she would honor that?”
Robbie shook his head. “No. Not really. Good point.”
“Besides,” Sally added. “I met briefly with my mother last night in the Miami jail. She’s not only blaming Jenni, but she claims she’s already got her lawyers looking into finding some way to send Jenni to jail instead of her.”
That threw Robbie for a loop. “How can she do that?”
Sally shook her head. “Your guess is as good as mine, but my mother isn’t just rich, she’s very rich. She’s got a few hundred million dollars that she can use to hire the best lawyers in the business. And my guess is that no matter what really happened, Jenni and I may be in for a difficult time.”
“That’s not good!” Shirley replied, fully concerned. “A good lawyer can do almost anything.”
“So you see, Mr. B,” Jenni added, “things aren’t looking so good for us right now. I have no way to replace that laptop. I don’t even know how I’m going to buy any new clothes. I have no idea what I’m going to do.”
Robbie shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re going to do Jenni. One step at a time. Understand? But whatever you do, don’t worry about your job. That much is secure. Trust me!”
Jenni’s smile was muted. “Thanks Mr. B. I just don’t know how I’m going to manage.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it Jenni. Like I said, one step at a time.”
Chapter 17
He could have killed him – so easily! He could have done it this time for sure. He had no doubt. But his uncle had said don’t. Instead, he was hidden next to a small dumpster in the alleyway next to the building across the street, watching, waiting.
He saw the private eye and his wife, both of them, come to work. For a Monday morning, he was surprised to see them there so early. If he had been closer. If he had been across the street where they were. If he had been in just the right spot. He could have killed him. Killed both of them. But he wasn’t in the right spot. He was on the wrong side of the street.
And now his uncle had entrusted him with a different mission instead. A mission his uncle claimed was far more important. But the truth was, Pasha considered this man, this private eye, to be the most important thing in the world. He had failed in the mission his uncle had entrusted him with before, to not only get the information this man had, but to kill him as well. And more importantly, it was because of him that Bijan was dead. Even though it had been that policeman who had pulled the trigger, Pasha still blamed the private eye across the street.
He watched as the private eye and his wife entered the building where their office was. He couldn’t see them anymore, but he could imagine them walking up the stairs to their office on the second floor. He had gone into the building earlier just to see. There appeared to be four different office spaces inside. Some kind of design artist and an architect occupied the two offices on the first floor. There was one office space on the second floor that seemed to be empty. But the other office had said Bosch Investigating on the door. As he sat, he saw a light come on inside the office on the top left side of the building, where he had seen the door for Bosch Investigating.
He didn’t move. He continued to wait where he was. He was waiting…to see. It was a long wait. A boring wait. Several times he nearly abandoned it. But the cause and the stirring words of his uncle made him stay. His uncle was a great man. A brilliant man. He could explain the cause in ways that made it so easy to understand. He constantly pointed out reason after reason for their struggle. Even a child could see the logic of what they were doing. Why couldn’t these infernal barbaric Americans see it?
He watched as a woman drove up and took one of the few parking places along the street. Was it the Jennifer woman? He watched as she entered the building. But the blinds on the window of the artist opened a few moments later. She wasn’t the one he sought. He saw a car park further along the street and a man get out carrying long round tubes in his arm. The architect, he was sure. He watched as the man entered the building and he noticed the lights going on in the downstairs right office. Everyone was there but the one he was looking for. Was she coming today, or not?
His eyes noticed the woman walking down the street, but he paid her no real attention. As she got closer, her skinny body gave him even less reason to pay attention. He glanced at his watch. Where was she? It wasn’t until the girl turned and went into the building across the street that he finally paid her his full attention. But by then, it was too late. She had already gone into the building. Was that the Jennifer woman? If so, why hadn’t she driven up in her car? There were still places to park that weren’t far from the building. Did she live that close that she could walk to work? If…that was the Jennifer woman. In truth, he couldn’t be sure. She could be someone coming to see either the artist or the architect. But if so, why would she walk? Unless she simply did live that close and chose a local company to do her business with. Pasha approved of things like that. His uncle did too. Local friends…and more importantly, family!
He thought things through. After all this time, he decided that perhaps the woman had to be the Jennifer he was looking for. He pulled out his cellphone and called Vahram. “Uncle,” he said as soon as he had answered. “I think I spotted the girl, but not until it was too late. She didn’t arrive by car.”
“Strange,” Vahram replied.
“I think she must live close by. Maybe that’s why she works for him.”
“That makes sense,” Vahram agreed.
“Uncle, it’s possible that I can simply go in there and kill her. Maybe the private eye too.”
Vahram considered it. “No. You are alone now Pasha, and you are all I have left. I don’t want to risk you any more than I have to. It would be better if we can catch her somewhere where she’s not around the private eye. You yourself said he was difficult to kill.”
“He was Uncle. Otherwise, he would be dead by now.”
“I’m sure you are right, Pasha. I know how dedicated you are to our cause.”
&
nbsp; “I am!” Pasha assured him. “I’m very dedicated.”
“I know you are, Pasha. That is why you are so valuable.”
His words made Pasha feel good. “What do you want me to do Uncle?”
“Pasha, I need you to follow her home later. Follow her home and either kill her before she gets home, or what I’d prefer, is if you can kill her inside her home where nobody will see and her body won’t be discovered so quickly. I would rather not have anyone see it who can possibly identify you.”
“I can come back later this afternoon and wait again Uncle. I can do it then.”
“Wonderful Pasha. You have no idea how much I treasure your help.”
Once again, Pasha felt good hearing his uncle’s praise.
--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---
“Hi Shirley,” Jenni called as she strode into the office. She stopped dead, staring at the table where she usually worked. Or…where the table should have been. There was a desk there now. A regular desk with a real office chair. “What’s….” She turned to Shirley who was now smiling broadly and coming out from behind her desk. “Do you like it?” she asked. “We bought it just for you while you were away.”
“A desk? My desk? A real desk?”
“If she doesn’t like it, that’s too bad. She’s stuck with it!” Robbie said from the doorway to his office. “I’m not buying another one. That one cost enough as it is.”
Jenni ran to him and hugged him. “Thanks, Mr. B,” she said gratefully. “I do like it. A lot. I’ll have a lot more room to work now.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Robbie replied. He went back to his desk and grabbed a folder. Carrying it out, he stood next to Jenni’s new desk. “Have a seat,” Robbie told her.
Jenni sat in the new office chair and pulled it up to the desk. “This is great!” she exclaimed happily.
“I’m glad you like it,” Robbie replied…just before he threw the file folder down in front of her.
Jenni looked up at him. “But I don’t have a computer to work on anything,” she told him.
Robbie pulled a pen from his shirt pocket instead. “You don’t need a computer today,” he said. “You just need this,” he added as he put the pen on top of the file folder.
Jenni looked at him dubiously as she turned her attention back to the folder in front of her. She briefly looked up at Shirley who was now hovering over her on her other side.
“Open the folder,” Shirley told her. “I’m afraid you’ve got some paperwork to fill out.”
“Paperwork?” Jenni asked a she grabbed the pen and opened the folder. She saw a small stack of pages inside. “What is this?” she asked as she saw what looked like some kind of government form.
“Government regulations,” Shirley replied. “You can’t work here unless you fill out all the paperwork,” Shirley told her. “I’m afraid that even Robbie and I had to do some of that when we originally formed this little company. And I’m afraid that you…being our first full time employee, have more to fill out than we did.”
Something hit Jenni quickly. “Did you say…full time?”
“Unless you have some problem with it,” Robbie replied. “And if you do, then I have no problem going back to our original arrangement.” He didn’t miss the nasty look his wife gave him.
“No!” Jenni replied quickly, not sure she could believe what she was hearing. “You’re really hiring me…full time? To do this…all the time? For real?”
“Jenni, you’ve been doing it for real for the last few years,” Robbie told her.
“We’re just now making your position here official,” Shirley added. “And it’s about damn time!” she added as she looked over at her husband.
With Shirley and Robbie’s help, Jenni started through the paperwork. Her biggest problem was her name and wherever it asked for her sex. Only because they both said it was absolutely required, did she give in and put Kyle Finch on the forms. And only because they insisted that she had no other choice did she list her sex as male. But Shirley assured her that the forms would get filed, and nobody would ever really know. That made Jenni feel a little better about the situation.
And then they came to the last two forms. “What’s this?” Jenni asked, not understanding.
“It’s a new company policy I started a few days ago,” Robbie told her. “All employees must have a gun permit and carry a gun with them at all times. The next form there is for the concealed carry permit. And once you’re done filling them out, then we’re all going down to the gun shop and spend some time teaching you how to shoot.”
“But…I don’t….”
“Jenni!” Robbie interrupted her. “It’s now a requirement to work here. I got lazy doing this stuff over the last few years, and it almost cost me not only my life, but Shirley’s life too. And I can’t accept that. If you’re going to work here, then if the time comes where you have no other choice, I want you to have at least a fighting chance.”
“I didn’t want to do it either,” Shirley told her. “But the same day Robbie bought me a gun…I needed it.”
“You did?”
“Yes! Someone tried to kill us as we were coming into work here last week. Robbie is sure that me having that gun and shooting it made all the difference in chasing whoever it was away.”
Jenni looked at them wide-eyed. And then another thought sank in. “Was it because of me?”
Shirley looked over at Robbie. “We think so,” Robbie replied. “So like it or not, you’re going to learn how to handle a gun, and you’re going to start carrying one.”
Jenni looked up dubiously at Shirley. “I’m not sure…”
“Jenni,” Shirley said. “I suggest you get yourself a bigger purse.”
Jenni wasn’t sure about this situation at all. She didn’t want to carry a gun. She had worked for Mr. B for two years now, and never came close to needing one. Of course, in the past week, things had changed quite a bit. With grave misgivings, she let Mr. and Mrs. B help her with the last two forms.
“There,” Jenni said as she signed Kyle Finch one last time…and she hoped she’d never have to sign that name again. “Is that it now?”
“Nope,” Robbie replied. “Not quite.” From his wallet he pulled out five twenty-dollar bills and he set them down in front of her. “That’s an advance on your next paycheck. And trust me, I’ll be deducting it from that check before you get it.”
Jenni got up from her seat and hugged him. “Thank you Mr. B. Thank you so much.” She turned and hugged Shirley too. “Thanks Shirley. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.”
“We know,” Shirley told her.
“Well if we’re all done here, then let’s get going,” Robbie said. “We’ve got to spend some time at the gun store, and then I guess we have no choice but to find you another computer.”
--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---
“Detective Pierce?” Special Agent Conifer asked as he heard someone answer his phone call.
“Yes?” Pierce replied.
“This is Special Agent Conifer with the FBI. We talked on the phone a few days ago?”
“Yes. I remember,” Pierce replied. “What can I do for you?”
“I just thought you’d like to know. We managed to ID one of those bodies of the killers from the island last week.”
“You did? Great? Who was it?”
“I’ll be sending you all the details of course, but his name was Rashid Marzaei. From Iraq. We found him in the Interpol database. He’s suspected of being involved in three major terrorist plots in different parts of Europe.”
“Terrorist!” Pierce exclaimed. “That’s the one thing I didn’t want to believe.”
“Us either,” Conifer replied.
“How about his buddy?”
“No clue yet. But we’re still working on it.”
“So what do you recommend?”
“I’m afraid all I can recommend is the usual. Keep your eyes and ears open, and let us know of anything you even suspect
might be related.”
“Yeah. Sure,” Pierce said with a shake of his head. The truth was, there were terrorist groups and then there were terrorist groups. But in a place like Miami, the ones who scared him the most, were the drug dealers. They could make the average terrorist groups look like Sunday School kids.
--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---
“Bosch,” Robbie said into his phone as he stuck the finger of his other hand into his free ear so he could hear.
“Shit!” Philly exclaimed as he suddenly came out of his seat. “Is that someone shooting at you again?”
“Shooting, yes. But not at me. Yet!”
“I’ll be right there. I’m calling for backup too.”
“Don’t bother. It’s the gun range. I’m teaching Shirley and Jenni how to shoot.”
“Oh! Man! You had me worried there for a second.”
“What do you need, Philly?” Robbie asked.
“I just heard from the FBI, and they’ve already called Pierce down in Miami.”
“About what?”
“One of those killers on that island where Jenni was.”
“What about him?”
“He was a known terrorist wanted in connection with a few different incidents around Europe.”
“Terrorist!” Robbie did his best to hold back the curse he had on the tip of his tongue.
“Do you need his name?”
“No. What good would it do me?”
“None. But Conifer said he was from Iraq, if that means anything.”
“Only that we’ve got to continue to watch our backs. Philly, we may have a terrorist cell right here in the city somewhere.”
“And I’m guessing one in Miami too,” Philly replied.
“Miami doesn’t surprise me,” Robbie replied.
“Bosch, look around. Gainesville ain’t exactly Podunk USA. It’s a big place.”
“Yeah. You’re right. Very big. There isn’t much that Miami has to offer that Gainesville doesn’t.”
“Are you kidding? You’re forgetting about the beaches.”
