I asked Cyn, “Is this the room?”
“Yes it is, Stevie.”
I spent a minute or two looking around, evaluating the lounge. Even though the back wall was glass, its dark smoke shading, the subdued interior lighting, the wide patio, and lack of tall buildings across the street, created a very private lounge. No one outside had a clear view of this interior. Then, I asked Cyn if she would mind lying on the chaise for a moment. She hesitated, but said she would.
After she was lying down, I asked her if everything still felt familiar. She said it did.
I then asked her, “Did you ever notice the camera when you were in the room?”
Cyn laughed and answered, “Well, I was kind of busy with Andi.”
I looked around the room trying to get the same angle of the camera that made the video. It was above the action and from the left. That made the point of view near the door.
We walked over to the doorway and looked up. I noticed that one of the suspended ceiling tiles had a small rectangular hole, near one of the metal cross supports. The hole looked to be about 3 inches square.
I turned and said, “ Cyn, bring over one of those metal chairs, I want to look up there.”
Cyn brought the chair over and held it steady, while I stood on it. I slowly lifted the ceiling tile. The tile was two feet square and very light, made of dry, chalky material. Looking closely I noticed small holes drilled through the tile on two sides. Lifting the square up and out, I stood on my toes and stuck my head inside the cavity between these tiles and the true ceiling of the second floor. I didn't see anything - no wires, or cords, or outlets - except white dust on the cross support.
I put the tile back in place and said to her, “Some one cut out this square and it's possible that a camera could have been stored up above the suspended ceiling. You know what I notice Cyn?”
She answered, “No, what?”
“There isn't any camera or other electronics at all in this room, except for the two smoke detectors in the ceiling. I think the camera was planted by the blackmailers.”
Andi asked, “How can we prove it?”
I answered, “Let's talk to security.”
“Yes, let's go.”
***
I turned off the lights in the room and led Cyn back down to the lobby. I went to a guard and asked him if he could direct us to the supervisor on duty. The guard wanted to know if there was a problem. I said there was, but not anything right now, we were interested in an event that happened here over three months earlier.
He pointed us to an office at the far back left corner on the first floor of the Kimmel Center. The guard told us that the manager, Jim Mason, was on duty. He even used his walkie-talkie to call the boss and informed him we were on our way. We thanked him and set out to find the boss.
We reached the security office and Jim Mason met us in the outer office where they had a counter. I noticed two other security officers on duty; one was behind the counter answering phones. The second officer was looking at TV monitors and controlling the security cameras that provided these images.
Jim Mason was a forty-something guy in a blue uniform. He had greying dark hair and a growing belly on his five feet ten inch frame. He was fairly friendly, especially when he saw the gorgeous woman on my arm. I introduced Cyn, and Mason asked how he could help. I requested a few minutes of time in his office to discuss a private matter.
Mason agreed and escorted us to his office. Mason took his seat behind the big wooden desk. I took the side chair by his desk, while Cyn sat on his small sofa.
I handed Mason my business card, which he placed on the middle of his desk. As Mason enjoyed the views on the sofa, I grabbed part of his attention with an edited version of Cyn's incredible story, indicating that a tape was made of Cyn and her friend in one of the lounges in the front of the building on the second floor. I told him that, subsequently, that friend, Andi, was blackmailed and her life has been severely impacted. As I spoke, Mason's eyes took several trips up and down Cyn's body. As if we planned this ahead of time, Cyndie began to cry and I knew I had Mason. Ms. Myst is such an actress when she wants to be.
I asked him, “Jim can you help us with a little information?”
Mason quickly replied, “What kind of information?”
Seeing my opportunity, I asked, “Do the front lounges have security cameras?”
Mason answered, “No, they don't. Only the front hallway does. When the lights are turned on in those rooms, a red light appears on our security board in the outer office, but we don’t have cameras inside. Once a red light appears, that room becomes part of our floor detail, which means a guard will go by once an hour to check on the room.”
“Do you save the tapes from the front hall's security cameras?”
Mason thought a moment and then replied, “Yes, we do, but I don't have them. I think they are stored in the computer. I'll find out about that. What was the date?”
Cyn answered, “Saturday, Feb. 14, Valentines Day. We arrived around 7:15, about forty-five minutes before the orchestra started.”
Mason wrote that down.
As we were talking, I noticed Mason was trying to hide his wedding ring and I caught a glimpse of a middle aged woman and two children in a picture on his desk. I suppressed a grin, guessing that reaction was almost normal when you saw Cyn.
“Jim, who does your maintenance work on the security equipment?”
“We use different firms.”
I asked, “Was any work done just before and after February, 14?”
“I don't know. Repairs are controlled by our maintenance department, which is in the office next door. Only thing is they're closed on weekends. I can check it out next week. Okay?”
I answered, “Sure, that'd be great. Thanks.”
Not having any other questions, I thanked him for all his help, and asked him if he would be kind enough to show us the security camera in the hallway, and how his monitoring equipment worked in his outer office.
Mason did so with pleasure. We noticed that he put his arm around Cyn's back as he escorted her to the front room. He told the guard on duty to take a five-minute break and they sat down at the control board. Mason showed us the security camera in the front hallway, which displayed a fairly dark picture of a tile floor and wooden walls. Mason also pointed out the lights that would turn red when the lounge overheads lights were turned on.
Next, he walked us slowly towards the front of the center and showed us the security cameras along the way, ending with the camera in the front hall of the second floor.
I thanked him again and reminded him to call me if he got any images from the security cameras. We said our goodbyes.
***
We left the Kimmel Center and walked out into a steady rain. Another storm front had moved in. The overcast skies matched our moods. It had turned colder and windy too. I told Cyn, “Let's go eat lunch. It will give us time to think about all we've learned from Mason, and plan our next steps.”
“Great idea, Stevie.”
Holding hands, we went back to the Miata. We drove a few blocks east to one of Cyn's favorite restaurants, Moriarty's, on Walnut Street. Once we were seated, I said, “Let’s recap what we know. We know that someone put a camera in the Kimmel Center lounge. It wasn't a security camera.”
I stopped and thought out loud, “So, how did this blackmailer know you were going to be there that night? They needed lead time to plan their moves.”
“I don’t know. Maybe someone told him.”
I responded, “But who?”
Cyn answered, “I don’t know that either.”
“The strange part is why? What was his motivation?”
Cyn replied, “Maybe he knew Andi was rich. I mean, Robert was rich. That's motivation enough.”
I answered, “True, but something else is missing. I'm not sure what.”
Cyn said, “This is all so scary and crazy to me.”
I didn't think she knew anything e
lse. Maybe a memory would come back if we just started planning other stuff. I just needed to be patient. I talked a little about my trip to Denver. Maybe that might bring some good news. My gut told me I shouldn’t be optimistic.
Cyn again showed her modeling discipline as she ate less than half what I did – no wonder she looks like she’s still in her twenties. We finished our lunch and ran to my blue baby to avoid the rain. Fortunately, we only had to go around the corner of Walnut and run down 11th Street to our metered parking spot.
Cyn slid in to the front passenger seat and I shut the door behind her and then walked around and got in the driver side.
***
When we got back to Cyn’s apartment, we parked and I escorted Cyndie inside.
I picked up Andi’s large white envelope and started saying my goodbyes to Cyn.
“Cyn, why don’t you come down my place for the rest of the weekend? I’ll make dinner on the grill.”
Cyn looked at me and said, “Stevie, I’ll do it, but let’s be clear. This is a no commitment, friends only time.”
“Sure.”
She paused and then said, “I just want to be with you, Stevie.”
Cyndie walked out of the room. I was left to watch Cyn's cute behind move inside her sheer black skirt.
I waited on the couch, while Cyn packed. I passed the time by scanning Andi’s white journal. I kept reading the same phrase again and again during the past year’s entries; Sexy Girls. Who were they? I’d ask Cyn later, once we were at my home.
After twenty minutes, Cyn was ready and we locked up her apartment.
***
Cyn followed me in her Ford SUV and pushed me on our trip south on the interstate, but my baby blue Miata beat her to my suburban Wilmington home.
sexy girls
We arrived at my ranch home around five o'clock. As I gave Cyndie a tour, her mood brightened. It had been several years since Cyn had seen my place. She said my small home had lots of extras that made her feel wonderful. I told her to make herself at home. Cyndie put her bag in my second bedroom.
I changed into casual clothes, then went outside and gathered the mail and brought my trash can up the driveway. When I made it back to the kitchen, Cyn was there.
I said, “Let's open a bottle of wine and then I'll start the steaks for dinner. Can you make the salad?”
With that, we settled in to a calm, slightly awkward evening together.
***
After dinner and a rental movie, Cyndie went to the bedroom and changed. When she returned to my living room, Cyn was covered by a robe and sat on my couch. I sat next to her.
“Tell me about the Sexy Girls?”
Cyn looked at me and paused. “What do you mean?”
“Cyn, Andi wrote about the Sexy Girls for page after page in the white journal. I read about them when I got up this morning.”
“Stevie, that's a long story.”
I answered, “Give me the short version.”
She began. “Okay. My party friends and I liked to go clubbing once or twice a month. We called each other the ‘Sexy Girls’. The Sexy Girls were a secret club, because what we did looked gay and we didn't want anyone to know. Plus, Andi didn't want anything to happen to her straight life since she was still married. We did these party nights for eighteen months until Valentine's Day.
“Anyway, when our night of partying was over, we ended up in bed. We were totally faithful to each other and were very clean. We played lots of lesbian games and were into sensual touching and kissing and never hurt each other.”
I knew Cyndie had been living like this for years, but I was surprised again by Andi’s involvement.
I asked, “Who are the Sexy Girls?”
“We had guests from time to time, but only three of us were regulars; Red Sable, Andi and me. Red is 34 and a great photographer.”
I said, “I know Red, she was the photographer at Andi’s wedding.”
“That's right. Red may be a lesbian as I don't think she's been with a man for many years. Andi and I always dressed in our most feminine and provocative clothes, while Red dressed butch or as a dominatrix. Andi and I had a fierce competition to look the sexiest. It required us to plan ahead and we usually needed to buy new clothes before each party night.
“Stevie, I'm sure you know Andi is a very feminine girl, but I am too, mostly, and we turned-on Red. I think we treated each other great. Sometimes, we did S&M, but no one really got hurt. Bottom line, we loved each other and tried to dress and look our best. We complimented each other and had fun together. Okay, we did some wild things in bed but it was always behind locked doors.
“I began dating Red a few weeks after I joined the agency. My 'gaydar' is pretty strong and I recognized it in Red.
“Then, a few months later, in the late summer of 2002, Andi approached us about going out to a bar one Friday night because she was bored and wanted to have fun. Red was not crazy about the idea, but I convinced her. I told Andi we would pick her up after work at the penthouse. Andi joined us only when Robert was out of town.
“So, we picked Andi up and took her to a club named Sisters. She knew right away that it was a lesbian bar. She liked it and had a great time. The second night we went out, we asked Andi back to Red's row house. She said no and asked us to take her back to the penthouse. We kept asking the next few times we went out. Finally, Andi said yes. Believe me compared to things I saw in New York and around the world, we mostly play-acted as lesbians. We were pretty tame.
“Red's townhouse became the Sexy Girls pad. We started our nights at her place and we all took showers together, gave each other make-overs, and dressed each other. Andi loved it and got so excited dressing up and prepping for our big nights out.
“Being with these stunning women was a real turn on, especially when you saw them naked and when they were seducing me. I couldn't resist and I know you wouldn't be able to either. We became close friends since we all worked at Grayson's. Andi showed us her beauty tricks and shopped at the best boutiques in town to find the two of us the sexiest clothes and lingerie. We both shared clothes too, everything really, except bras since her fake boobs make her bigger than me.
“Anyway, Andi loved how we treated her. We complimented her looks and treated her like a princess. Andi didn't think she was cheating on Robert because this was just fun with girls. She now knows she was stupid and wrong.”
I asked Cyn, “So, what happened on the Sexy Girls nights?”
“For 18 months we went to lesbian bars. We tried to be careful on our club nights as we knew we were very vulnerable. We attracted a lot of attention, since we were three sexy girls prancing around Philadelphia half-naked. We traveled very light. Red always held the Sexy Girls purse. It’s bright red vinyl with a shoulder strap, so everyone could easily see it. The purse had all our spending money, everyone's ID's, a cell phone, the car keys, a small can of pepper spray and red lipstick. Andi and I wore the same cherry red shade. Red was our driver and she had a three drink limit all night.”
“When we got back to Red's home, we usually played fantasy games. A lot of the games were played out of bed.”
Cyn sighed, and then started to summarize her story. “All that time, Robert and Andi were together, but Andi was getting nowhere with her baby idea. She wanted to be with a guy as her biological clock was starting to sound its alarm. But she wasn’t foolish. Andi knew she didn’t want to do anything that would risk losing the million and a half dollars. Andi believed it was her insurance policy for enduring life with Robert. She didn't want to get into a relationship with anyone else until her future with Robert was clear.
“Then, Andi made a decision. She had it all worked out. Andi would file on Feb. 21, Robert’s birthday. Andi's future looked great; great until Valentine's Day night.”
Cyndie was getting frustrated and grasped my hand, looked me in the eyes and said, “Stevie, I hope you see what Andi was doing, planning. The Sexy Girls were just fun and games. Her future was not
with Robert or with a woman.”
I understood what she didn't say.
I said, “Okay, that’s makes things clear. What has Robert Grayson been up to since February?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is he acting normal at work?”
“I guess so. I don’t see him that often. Weeks go by and I may not see him or only say hello.”
“Have you seen him with a new woman?”
Cyndie answered, “No. But, according to Andi, and Red too, who saw him a lot more than me, Robert cheats big time but he’s discreet.”
I replied, “Maybe, but he could let his guard down. Look, things have gone his way very well these last three months. He was able to dump Andi, save a ton of money on the divorce and screw Andi while he’s doing it.”
“You’re right.”
“Let’s take a ride tomorrow.”
Cyndie asked, “Where?”
“Out in the valley. Did you ever visit the Grayson’s big estate?”
“Sure, three or four times. Robert always throws big parties. I went to last year’s Christmas party.”
I asked, “Do you know how to get there?”
“Yeah, I’ll figure it out.”
“Good.”
“What are we going to do there?” Cyndie asked.
“Just look around. We may find something interesting.”
“Cool.”
“Cyn, let’s go to bed.”
“Yes, let’s.”
spying
The warm spring weather continued through Sunday. The explosion of spring green everywhere provided a terrific backdrop for our ride and hike in the Beaver Valley. Of course, Cyn dressed all in black for our spying adventure. I wore navy shorts and a navy polo shirt.
We slept in that morning and I woke Cyndie around 10 a.m. We got into my Miata after noon and I loosely followed Cyn’s directions as I had fun driving up and down and around the Beaver Valley again.
Sexy Girls Page 5
