by K. M. Hodge
She couldn’t speak, so she smiled instead. As the cabbie drove through the crowded streets, her mind wandered to Alex and their night together. His innate tenderness and attentiveness were so different from the greedy lawyer’s, who seemed to want to consume her whole for his own pleasure. She lay her head back on the seat and let herself imagine a life with Alex—her impossible dream of a happy ending.
Chapter 7
MDNA Headquarters
Unknown Location
November 24, 2005
Noon
~~~
Jude bounced his hip on his chair, enjoying the squeak it gave with each bump. The MDNA headquarters used mismatched furniture that he found on the side of the road and he loved every squeak, rattle, and rusty rasp they offered.
Sally, not so much. She reached out and grabbed the back of his chair. “Cut it out, Jude. Just tell me the plan and let’s get on with it. I ‘ve got to go to Thanksgiving dinner with Billy’s parents in a couple of hours.”
Jude looked at his watch. “He still out of town?”
“Yeah, he’s gone for another couple of days. “
A heavy silence fell between them. Her plan was dangerous and it made him nervous. Even though he knew he couldn’t sway her to change her mind, he had to at least try. Jude cleared his throat and sat up in his chair. “Look, I know you’re determined to see this through, but I wish you would reconsider this. We can figure out a better way to get at this information.”
“This is our best shot and you know it.”
Jude groaned. He hated when she was right. “Okay,” he said, reaching inside his bag for the pre-loaded thumb drive—the smallest he could find—and reluctantly handing it to Sally. “I hate this.”
“So, I take him to his apartment, cook for him. I’ll excuse myself to go to the bathroom and scope out where he keeps his computer. Then what?”
“You’ll put the thumb drive in the back of the computer in the USB drive and then turn it on. Once the computer is on the welcome screen, you can shut it off and remove the drive.”
Sally held up the drive and eyed it in wonder. “So when I turn on the computer the will install and we’ll have access to it?”
“Yep.”
“Can he figure out we’re in his system?”
Jude leaned back in his chair, making it squeak. Sally frowned. “It’ll run as a Windows process. So unless he’s a tech geek, he won’t notice. The computer will run a little slower though. I’m guessing he uses a separate computer for work and doesn’t use the home one that often.”
“But he can we get his personal financial records and passwords from the home one?”
Jude took a tiny listening device out of his bag. The damn thing had cost him two weeks’ pay. “This bug is what should give us the most information about his work. I’ll need it placed on his briefcase.”
Sally took it from him. She smiled and turned it over in her hand. “It’s so small.”
“Yeah, and expensive, so don’t fuck it up.” Jude got up from his chair and started to pace the floor. “I don’t know that this is worth the risk of you getting hurt.”
“I can take care of myself, Jude.”
“What if he tries to sleep with you? This guy had his last girlfriend killed.”
“He will definitely try and sleep with me—”
“And so what, you’re just gonna bone the creep?”
“Fuck no! I have a plan.”
Jude crossed his arms over his chest and stopped beside Sally’s chair. “What plan?”
“According to our source’s information, he’s allergic to sesame. I’ll sprinkle a little in his food and our date will end in the ER and not in his bedroom.”
Jude’s breath caught in his throat and his arms dropped to his sides. “What if it’s not enough? What then?”
A slow smile spread across Sally’s face and she stood up beside him. He didn’t like this at all, but trying to dissuade Sally was like trying to steer a rowboat in a hurricane.
“I’ve got it covered.” She stretched and packed up the surveillance equipment into her bag. “I appreciate your concern. I need this to work. Some kind of progress so that I don’t feel like a rat in a cage.”
Jude stood and watched her. He didn’t know what to say. Her confidence in her plan did nothing to ease his concerns. She could be reckless and impulsive—two things that could get her killed.
Sally slung her bag across her body and grabbed her house key. “That lawyer doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into.”
***
Michael David’s Home
Ocean Pines, Maryland
November 24, 2005
7:00 PM
~~~
Michael sat in his home office, waiting for his computer to boot up. No family to celebrate with made it just another Thursday at the office. He’d finally called it a night at 6:00 and hit the drive-thru on the way home. He set out to drink his way through the day and sleep the next. His second glass of bourbon sat beside him. When his cellphone buzzed, he considered letting it go to voice mail, but he had too many high-profile cases that needed his round-the-clock attention.
“Michael David speaking.”
“Hi, Michael, it’s Sally. I borrowed my neighbor’s phone. I wanted to wish you a happy Thanksgiving.”
He sighed and let a smile form on his face. “Sally! Just the person I needed to hear from after a long day at work.”
“You didn’t take the day off?”
“Why take off work when I can bill my clients?”
“Hmmm…that’s not good for you. Everyone needs a break sometimes.”
“I wouldn’t mind taking a break with you.”
“How does a home-cooked meal sound? I could come to your place tomorrow. I have a family recipe you might like. My mother always made it after Thanksgiving to use up all the leftover turkey.”
Michael relaxed in his chair as delightfully dirty thoughts danced in his head. “Our third date. Are you a rules girl, Sally?”
“What’s the third date rule?”
Michael chuckled. “Hmm…. This coy act of yours, it better be worth it.”
“All good things come to those who wait.”
“I’ve been more than patient.”
The line went quiet and he wondered if she’d hung up.
“Yes, you have,” she said, breaking the silence.
“I love the idea of a home-cooked meal. I sure hope you’ll be my dessert.”
“Have your secretary email me the details and we’ll see about dessert.”
Michael wet his lips and smiled. “Goodnight, Sally.”
“Goodnight, Michael.”
Michael hung up the phone and stretched. He couldn’t stop smiling. His phone beeped with a new message, breaking the spell. He pulled it up and groaned. The damn mechanic he hired from Ocean City wanted his money. The man had been sloppy. What kind of idiot leaves the murder weapon at the scene? The idiot would be on his own for this one. Michael had no intention of paying him another dime.
The doorbell to his condo chimed three times. The new service promised to send him over some company for the night. The girl would be young and agreeable, the total opposite of Sally. But soon enough he would have her, too. No one said no to Michael David and lived to tell about it.
***
Alex’s Studio Apartment
Washington, DC
November 24, 2005
9:00 PM
~~~
Alex alternated puffs of his cigarette with sips of his whiskey. He couldn’t get Sally out of his mind. He palmed her cellphone, pulled up the address book, and jotted down the handful of names on the list with their numbers. He punched them into his computer and set about looking them all up. His cigarette dangled precariously from his lips as he looked up one of the names and sighed when he found that the man coached football. Must be her kid’s coach. The other name, Jude, came up empty. He ran a background check and still nothing. The man didn’t exist
on paper. Didn’t even have a driver’s license. After going through the rest of the list, Alex sat back, disappointed. He didn’t know her any better now than he had before. His phone beeped with a reminder. His friends, Betty and Brian, were expecting him for dinner.
He showered away the smell of the woman he’d been with a few hours before. Nothing seemed to take the edge off. Being with Sally ignited the addict in him and nothing would come close to satiating him like she would. He thought about calling Doc. Maybe he should get back on the medication and beat the addiction once and for all. But Doc didn’t want to talk to him and his new therapist was a joke.
After the shower, he pulled up the football coach’s number again and found the team’s schedule. They would be playing this week. He jotted down the location of the field and the time of the game. Just to return her phone, he said to himself. If he tried hard enough, even he could believe that lie.
***
Michael David’s Home
Ocean Pines, Maryland
November 25, 2005
7:00 PM
~~~
“Mmm…that smells good.” Michael wrapped his arms around Sally and buried his nose in her neck. “The food smells good, too.”
She turned her head and caught his mouth in hers. He groaned and raked his hands up the sides of her body. He liked to be rough and she played along for now, all the while knowing how dangerous it would be to start down this road.
“Dinner can wait.” His grip on her waist tightened.
Sally gave him a firm push. “And so can you. Why don’t you pour us some drinks and set the table?”
Michael grabbed her from behind and squeezed hard. “All right. We’ll play it your way.”
Sally’s heart slammed against her chest in warning. She tried to take some slow breaths to calm down, but couldn’t. She gripped the stove to keep from passing out. It would be bad if she went unconscious.
From the living room, she could hear the stereo playing some cheesy romantic song that made her stomach roil. She swallowed hard and continued to stir the stew with the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. It did smell good. She forced herself to relax her shoulders and slow her breathing.
This time, when he came back into the kitchen he didn’t come empty-handed. He gave her a generous glass of red wine and she happily took it. After she took a sip, she had the sudden concern that he might try and slip something into her wine. No. He wouldn’t do that. He would want her to come willingly. He liked the chase too much to play a cheap trick like that. So she took another sip, this one bigger, and let him kiss her again. He tasted like the scotch he’d been drinking since she got there. The stew sizzled and popped and she broke the kiss.
“You’d better stop. I’ll end up burning dinner.”
“That wouldn’t be so bad, now would it?” His brow rose suggestively. “Then we could just skip straight to dessert.”
Sally swatted at him. “Go set the table. It’s almost done.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He disappeared with the plates and silverware and she caught her breath. Checking over her shoulder that he was truly gone, she uncapped the unlabeled bottle of herbs containing the crushed sesame seeds, sprinkled them into the pot, and stirred. She crossed herself for added measure, praying she wouldn’t end up accidentally killing the man. She pushed the bottle back into her apron pocket.
She turned the burner to low heat and put on the lid. He walked back into the kitchen just as she was trying to undo the knot of the apron.
“Here, let me help you,” he said as he pushed her hands out of the way.
“Thank you.”
While his hands worked the knot, he dipped his head down so his lips brushed the curve of her neck, making her shiver. Finally, the knot loosened and gave way for his hands to slide underneath the tented fabric.
Sally turned to face him with her best smile. “Dinner’s ready.”
“Good. I’m starving.” His sly smile did nothing to calm her overworked nerves.
“Could I use your restroom to wash up first?”
“Second door on the left,” Michael said, as he pointed to the darkened hallway off the kitchen.
Sally tossed the apron on the counter. “I won’t be long.”
The bathroom connected to a small bedroom that Michael seemed to be using as his office. The sparse decorations and lack of anything personal bothered her. No family pictures. The art he did have looked like Holiday Inn hotel stuff—bought in bulk. She hurried inside the darkened room and over to the computer. She turned off the speakers, put in the thumb drive, and restarted it as quickly and as quietly as she could. She opened the desk drawers and peeked inside. A gun was in the first one to the left. She closed the drawer and looked around some more. His briefcase lay open on the desk. She looked inside and found a zippered pocket.
Meow.
A black cat came over to Sally, rubbed against her left and purred. Sally’s heart pounded from the surprise. She didn’t have time to be distracted though. She needed to get the bug planted into the briefcase without him knowing. A letter opener lay on the desk to the right of the computer. She used it to slice a tiny hole in the inside zipper pocket and shoved the device inside. There was no tell-tale bump or fold in the fabric so hopefully that would do. The cat clawed at her leg. She nudged the thing, but it wouldn’t take the hint. The damn thing would get her killed if it didn’t shut up!
From the other room she could hear Michael sighing. He wouldn’t be patient for much longer. She dashed to the half bath off of the office, flushed the toilet, and washed her hands. When she stepped out of the washroom, Michael stood outside the door. Her heart slammed against her chest and faintness washed over her.
She clutched her chest. “Michael! You surprised me.”
“I was beginning to wonder if you fell in or escaped through the window.”
“I told you that just happens in the movies. I just wanted to freshen up for you.”
Michael kissed her. “You look fresh enough to me.”
Sally smiled and shrugged, hoping to come off as shy instead of terrified. All she could think about was the drive sticking out of the back of the computer.
Michael took her by the arm and guided her to the small table he’d adorned with roses and candles, which might have been romantic under different circumstances. He ladled out the stew into their bowls and handed her the basket of steaming bread that she’d baked for them. She took a piece, but didn’t think she could swallow anything. Her throat constricted and her palms dampened. The desire to bite her nails overwhelmed her, but she clenched her fist to stop herself.
“Mmm…this is very good. Aren’t you going to have some?”
Sally placed her napkin in her lap and filled her spoon with a chunk of turkey and broth, chewing it slowly. She took a sip of water to help it down. “It’s a family recipe from the old country.”
“Which old country?”
“My mother’s family is Hungarian.”
“Are you close? You and your mother?”
Sally paused a beat to give herself a second recall her fictional self’s back story. “She died when I was in high school, but, yes, we were close.”
“That must have been hard.”
Sally took a long drink of her wine to help her relax. She didn’t want to talk about her mama and all the pain she’d caused Sally over the years. She forced herself to remember she was talking about a fake mother and not her own.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Sally dabbed at her wet eyes with the corner of her napkin.
Michael cleared his throat and ate another spoonful of the stew. “My parents sent me away to boarding school when I was ten. So I didn’t know mine at all. My father is a retired judge and my mother is an active philanthropist. They’re living in France now. I sometimes fly there for the holidays, but that’s about it.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“No. Do you?”
Sally took another sip of her wine. “A sister. She passed a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“We weren’t very close. She overdosed with her boyfriend.”
Michael drank some of his water. His face began to turn red and he began to cough and sputter.
Sally jumped up from her chair and went to his side. “Michael! What’s wrong? Are you choking?”
Michael’s skin darkened to a purple and he gasped, “Epi-pen. Bathroom.”
Sally turned on her heel and ran off to the office. She ripped the drive out of the slot and pocketed it, then turned off the computer by depressing the On/Off button. Once it started to shut down, she went to the bathroom, grabbed the epipen and ran back to Michael, praying he was still alive.
***
St. Mary’s Hospital
Ocean City, Maryland
November 25, 2005
10:00 PM
~~~
Jude charged through the emergency room’s automatic doors, and past the sign-in desk, and over to the secluded alcove where Sally sat drinking a Coke. Her hair hung in a mussed ponytail, and hollowed blank circles outlined her eyes. She’d called him from a pay phone. Apparently she’d left her emergency cell—that he’d paid for—with that hot CIA agent. She should have been with her baby daddy tonight, not that sleazeball lawyer.
“You look like shit,” he said, as he took a seat next to her.
Sally patted down her messed-up hair, only making it worse. “Thanks. Just what I wanted to hear.”
“Did you get it done?”
Sally reached into her pocket and pulled out a ring of keys and the jump drive. “Yeah, here ya go. The one with the three holes on the top is for the house. He has a cat. Nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“I didn’t take him for a cat person.” Jude shrugged off his jacket. “I’ll need your soda can to make the copy.”
Sally finished off her drink and handed it over. Jude opened a canvas bag and pulled out a sheet of paper, glue stick, stamp pad, ruler, copy key, and scissors. He pressed the house key into the ink and stamped it onto the paper to get an imprint. A copier copy of it would be better but beggars couldn’t be choosers. He cut the soda can until he had a good sized section to work with. He tapped the cut out of the stamp of the key onto the metal of the can and cut the metal along the stamped copy, leaving some metal on the edge for creating the grooves later.
