Larissa put down her wine. “Here…Here Greystone, please tell us, which man would you say was the honorable man for your cousin to have good clean passionate sex with?”
Greystone rubbed his temple. For some reason the image of that question didn’t settle well. “If you are asking me to tell you which man is better at sex, you can both forget it. It’s not my business and I don’t care!”
“I meant character. True character,” Janeshia added. “Come on Grey darling cousin. What’s your opinion?”
He remembered back to the summers he spent with Walker. “I’ve known Walker a lot longer than I’ve known Ramsey,” he hesitated. “I’ve only attended a few meetings with Ramsey.” He hoped they didn’t sense his lie. “Walker and I shared a lot of growing up. We shared a lot of classes together, for instance we did summer camp together for years and we took a summer engineering program together from middle school through high school,” he nodded.
“Oh Really?” Larissa said. “I didn’t know that.”
Greystone tilted his head. “Oh, I recall Walker and I did meet Ramsey one year at Science Camp. The three of us did a project together,” he paused. “To tell the truth, I spent way more time with Walker. I got to know him really well. Because of that I do feel I know him more personally. Walker, I can honestly say is a man of honorable character. His character is the best kind, loyal, steadfast and trustworthy. I would trust him with my wife if I had one,” he hesitated and breathed out slowly. “I don’t know Ramsey at all in terms of personally knowing his character. That one time at science camp isn’t enough time, I think, to really decide that. I do know he is powerful. And he is very knowledgeable and important in his field. In character, I can’t say. In importance, power and status, he is revered.”
Larissa smiled. “And so, a man’s good honor defeats duplicity.”
Janeshia asked suspiciously. “So, what does that have to do with anything? None of us know the kind of man Ramsey is.”
Larissa opened her mouth to object and then thought better of it.
Janeshia interrupted. “Oh, never mind Larissa,” she muttered. “We’ll be at it all day if we let you continue to talk.”
Larissa’s face registered surprise. “Now wait a minute. Oh, I get it,” she grinned. “Our girl here wants her cousin to get her some information. And she knows her cousin is the best man to help her out.”
Janeshia made a face at her best friend. She turned her attention back to her cousin.
“So, Cousin Grey, do you think you could strike up a conversation with Ramsey the next time you see him? I know you can do it,” she encouraged him. “You could just mention knowing me. Tell him I’m your cousin. See if he asks for my phone number. Or better yet, just give it to him. What do you say?”
“Yeah Greystone, check out the man’s character for lumps, bumps and all other shadiness,” Larissa added.
Greystone rubbed his face and chuckled nervously. After several moments he finally replied. “I don’t think you should get your hopes up about my seeing Ramsey again, I hardly ever do. In fact, I think you should keep your date with Walker. And I hope it turns into a possibility or at least an adventure.”
“Please Grey, do this for me!” Janeshia asked.
“No!” Greystone said firmly.
Janeshia’s face registered surprise. “What are you saying?”
Greystone shrugged and looked firmly back at her. “Janeshia, I’m not going out of my way to try and find Ramsey to match make for you. You should know better than to ask me that. You remember what happened the last time I did that?”
Janeshia raised an eyebrow. “No, I don’t Grey.”
“Oh, I can’t believe you sometimes cousin,” Greystone murmured.”
“I know Brendan and Lynn both still won’t talk to Greystone, “Larissa said smugly. “And their divorce was final a couple of years ago.” Larissa sadly shook her head. “Janeshia, the attorney in me cannot believe you sometimes. Let this one go.”
Chapter 7
Smooth as a...
Several hours later across town, Adam St Charles smiled back at the woman sitting at the table across from him.
Adam took a deep breath. He was glad he had gone home, showered and changed his clothes. He oozed a suave arrogance in the starched designer jeans he wore. It added to his commanding presence. He was handsome, and he knew it. The woman across from him stared openly. He could tell she wanted him to come over and talk to her. But he wasn’t interested. He had just paid his bill and was ready to leave.
The crowded restaurant in Westgate Shopping center, off Stevens Creek, was just the cover he needed. He checked his watch and dialed the number. The phone rang. It rang again.
Adam was about to hang up when a man answered.
“Well I’m waiting” a man’s voice bellowed into the phone.
“I’ve got some news that I know you will want to know about.”
“Oh… don’t tell me over the phone. I’m upstairs in our regular location. Get up here now!” The Mystery man’s voice yelled.
“I’m coming,” Adam assured the man.
Adam walked briskly through Macys and headed for the parking tower. He took the stairway and quickly made his way to the third landing. He trotted over to the Black Mercedes and tapped on the window. The doors unlocked, and he got inside.
He was out of breath when he got in.
“I wish you wouldn’t run like that Adam, you might arouse suspension,” the mysterious man said. His foreign face looked back at Adam over the rim of his dark glasses. “At least today you’re clad in jeans and not a suit. Taking my advice and dressing down a bit?” He replied without waiting for a response. “I’m glad. I’d much rather believe I’m doing business with a sane, normal, over achiever. Rather than an over hyped, frantic yuppie pup in a suit,” he paused. “So what do you have for me?”
Adam St Charles breathed in deep. “I… I...” He sucked in another breath and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
“Well go on.”
Adam slowly choked out. “It’s Janeshia…I think she suspects something. She’s got the IT department double checking the computer system every night. Harry Billings, one of the managers in our IT department. He contacts her daily with some sort of updates,” he paused. “He’s got connections. He came highly recommended by the Systems Branch Incident Command Center. That’s the company owned by her cousin Greystone James. Harry gets back to her every day regarding anything strange that comes up over the system.” He cleared his throat. “I…err’…Look, I don’t think we should do anything for a while. We don’t want to arouse anyone’s suspicion.”
The man in the dark sunglasses hesitated and tilted his head to stare out of the window. “You are smart Adam. Here is your money,” the man said handing him an envelope.
Adam felt the corners of his mouth widen into a smile. The money made him happy. He checked the envelope. It wasn’t the full amount.
“Maybe with time you might become a smooth criminal. But not now,” he rubbed his chin. “And I agree with you. We’d better stop everything for a while.”
“Agreed,” Adam replied with a nod.
“Hmmmm.” The mystery man rubbed his brow. “And your cover? You made sure it wasn’t flimsy? You know Janeshia James is a very smart lady. She could figure this whole scheme out. You have been watching her? Making sure she hasn’t caught on?”
Adam shook his head. “Those extra employees I’ve been paying a salary to never existed on paper. There’s no way Janeshia or anyone else can trace them. I made sure of that.” He smiled smugly.
The mysterious man chuckled softly. “You are a pretty smart man Adam.”
Adam’s eyes grew solemn. “I followed her before I came here. She’s having lunch right now with Larissa and her cousin Greystone. That’s why I feel we should not deposit any more money into the accounts. Not for a while anyway.”
A slight accent escaped from the lips of the mysterious man. “Greystone Ja
mes huh,” he replied. “Now there’s a smart man. Maybe too smart,” he frowned. “Adam, you were right to stop the operation. We don’t need to attract notice.”
He growled. “Oh, and Adam, don’t try and contact me anymore. If I need you I’ll get a hold of you. We don’t want anyone tracking anything back to me.”
“What about the rest of my money? The full amount isn’t here.”
The Mystery man said nothing he just started laughing. “Adam…Adam you haven’t completed the job yet.” He growled low and reached underneath his seat and pulled out a large brown paper bag. “But here is a little extra. To show you I believe in what we’re doing.”
Adam took the bag and reached inside. His fingers slid over the bills quickly. “Hmmmm this feels like fifty thousand dollars!”
“Ah that’s what I like about you Adam. You can count. I threw in a little extra to keep your mouth closed. Besides, there’s much more to come when you finish the job. Right partner,” the corners of the mysterious man’s lips pulled up into a smile.
“Yeah, right partner,” Adam said. “What am I to do next?”
“Just be available when I need you. In the meantime, don’t draw any unnecessary attention to yourself. Just keep acting normal.”
Chapter 8
Old familiar feeling…
Greystone strode into his office and shut the door. He sighed heavily sitting down at his desk. What he thought was going to be a routine lunch date with his cousin and her best friend now troubled him deeply.
The old familiar feeling balled up in his stomach. He hated to feel this way. He knew his cousin Janeshia liked the guy. He could tell by the way her eyes had beamed. He didn’t want her blindsided by this guy. Hell, he didn’t know a thing about him. Only what he remembered most from that camp that summer. Even his memory was feeble. Ramsey Montgomery was smart. That he did remember. He thought back. His mind drifted.
That night was strange and wild way back then as the group of boys sat by the fire telling ghost stories and trying to scare each other.
The tall lanky boy they called Slick had started the run of magic tricks. Slick had jet black hair and looked like his father could have been a vampire. He stood up and pulled out a thin wide black blanket. It was odd. When it was his turn he stood up. Some kid did a magic trick instead of telling a ghost story. And that was how it had started.
Greystone remembered that the hairs stood up straight on the back of his neck when Slick did his magic trick.
It started with Slick Dickerson, the tall lanky kid with jet black hair and braces, started doing an eerie trick making his fingers smoke. It was pretty standard stuff if you’d taken chemistry. Even Greystone knew how the trick worked.
When it was Ramsey’s turn, that’s when stuff got ghostly frightening. A shiver ran through the small group of friends as they sat there watching Ramsey perform his hypnotism routine. The boy that had agreed to be hypnotized was named Isaiah Fifth.
Isaiah Fifth was the husky boy with the freckled face and reddish orange hair had said that night Ramsey Montgomery had hypnotized him, that Greystone would never forget.
After Ramsey had put him under Isaiah told the story of who he really was. Ramsey wanted to show the group of boys that Isaiah was really in a trance. He asked him a series of questions.
“Isaiah can you hear me?” He asked.
“Yes, I can,” Isaiah said.
“Where are you?” Ramsey walked slowly around him.
“I am where you sent me. I am in the place with the big window.” Isaiah said.
“Then go to the room where the Angels stay with the children until they are born,” Ramsey commanded.
“I am going.” Isaiah’s face contorted into a frown as if he was traveling through his mind. His eyes remained closed. “I am there…I am there now.”
“Describe the place,” Ramsey said.
Isaiah’s eyes were still closed as his head tilted toward the sky. “It, it’s bright and so full of light, but the light is not blinding. It’s just pure and clean.”
“Good, now do you see yourself before you were born?”
“Yes, but there is someone standing here beside me Ramsey and he wants to speak to you.”
In an instance Isaiah’s face twisted before our eyes and rays of light beamed from it. His voice changed from the cracking voice of a pre-teen and sounded low and authoritative. “Ramsey…Ramsey…
Ramsey seemed to jump out of his skin from the sound of the voice. He popped his fingers several times. “Wake up Isaiah…Wake up.”
Some camp counselors told them that it had been just a gag that Ramsey had performed. They told the kids it had been nothing but a standard magician performance. But Greystone had always been amazed at the spiritual coincidence.
Slowly Greystone woke up out of his fog. His logic told him he should stay out of it. But he remembered the way Janeshia’s eyes sparkled when she asked about him.
If nothing else, he felt he should get to know the guy again. Better this time. Just in case. He quickly dialed the number. “Hello, this is Greystone James. I’d like to speak with Mr. Montgomery, please,” he said firmly.
“One moment please,” his secretary said.
The line was quickly answered.
“Hi, Ramsey Montgomery is that you? It’s Greystone James. Can you talk?”
A few minutes later, Ramsey couldn’t believe his luck. He’d just learned Greystone was the cousin of that gorgeous woman named Janeshia he’d recently met. His mind went straight to Greystone’s gorgeous cousin Janeshia. He remembered her well. Her beautiful smile, striking good looks and superb figure was all he’d thought about since he’d met her. Now he’d made contact with her cousin. He thought quickly how to steer the conversation to his advantage. “Hey Greystone, your company needs some of my venture capitalist funding?”
“No, I don’t need your venture capitalist money,” Greystone replied with a soft chuckle. “I just think we should have lunch together and catch up. You did ask me before, remember?” Greystone swirled around in his chair listening attentively.
Ramsey hesitated a few seconds. He didn’t want to appear too eager. “But this weekend is booked solid for me.”
Greystone laughed. “I’ve got to have a life too. I’m not available this weekend either,” he replied.
“What about Monday?” Ramsey asked.
“Okay, you’ve talked me into it,” Greystone said switching the phone. “I’ve got just the place. How about that new Steak Restaurant at Santana Row?”
Ramsey hesitated for a few seconds then switched the phone receiver in his hands. “Yes, I love LB’S Steak. Let’s say 1:00?”
“That’s good for me. I’ll see you then,” Greystone said swiveling around in his chair and hanging up the line. He hoped he wasn’t making an enemy.
Chapter 9
Meet the neighbors…
That Saturday evening Janeshia found herself tensing up as she checked her bedroom clock. In just two hours Walker Edmund Perrault would arrive to pick her up and she hadn't even dressed yet. She still wandered around her bedroom in her bath robe. She pulled the belt tighter and wondered if she could call him and cancel. Maybe it wasn't too late. She eyed her telephone sitting on the night stand and went to reach for it. Slowly she dialed the number and listened as the phone began to ring.
All at once her front door bell rang out loudly. She shrugged and hung up the phone quickly and made her way to the front door. She reached for the handle and opened it before checking the security hole.
Janeshia ushered out a surprised gasp when her eyes registered who was standing there. "I don't believe it. You are two hours early.”
Walker Edmund Perrault pushed his way inside holding a huge vase of flowers. "I didn't want to give you the opportunity to cancel our date.”
"But I'm not even dressed yet.” She hesitated. "And it's not really a date,” she said standing there holding her front door wide.
The door across the hall f
rom her's opened abruptly.
She looked up and straight into the curious eyes of her neighbor.
Mrs. Olsten walked over quickly with a curious gaze in her eyes. “Hi Janeshia, you didn’t tell me you’ve been dating a young man. My…My, he is a handsome fellow, isn’t he? And he’s brought you such beautiful roses. Are those violets too?” She giggled winking back at her. “Are you going to marry that young man, Janeshia?”
“Hello Mrs. Olsten.” Janeshia loved Mrs. Olsten. She was a sweet old lady that always looked out for her. “Is everything Okay Mrs. Olsten?”
“Don’t look now Janeshia, but Mrs. Harvey’s door is still ajar. You know Mrs. Harvey thrives on gossip. You’d better get inside with your young fellow.” Mrs. Olsten smiled up at her.
Mrs. Olsten looked up at Janeshia and cleared her throat. Her eyes twinkled as she put her finger up to her lips to silence Janeshia. She spoke out in a clear voice. “Mrs. Harvey stop being nosey and leave the young people alone. Besides, if you leave your window too long you might miss Mr. Wong taking his afternoon shower.”
All at once Mrs. Harvey’s door clicked shut.
Janeshia looked back at Mrs. Olsten and smiled.
“Don’t keep your young man waiting Janeshia. Even if it’s not a real date, enjoy every moment. You never know. A fake date might turn into a real date right in front of your eyes.”
Mrs. Olsten slowly closed her front door.
Janeshia bit her lips and looked back over her shoulder. She was amazed at how much that old woman knew without being told. She caught Walker out of the corner of her eye, standing behind her and watching her.
Walker smiled back at her and took her hand. The gesture was simple but complex.
“Well come on in Walker,” she said, yanking her hand away from his, but not before desire shot through her.
Walker had waited patiently to see Janeshia all day. He knew he was early for his date. He gazed down at her tenderly. "These are for you,” he said handing her the vase.
The Proposition Page 5
