by A. L Long
Thinking that things couldn’t get much worse, I stepped out of the building and noticed what looked to be a parking ticket wedged under my windshield wiper. As I got closer to my car, I could see that it wasn’t a ticket at all, but a note. Unfolding the small piece of paper, I read the words ‘Be Careful’ hand written in what looked to be a man’s handwriting. Looking around, I thought I might be able to see who had left it. I knew by the way I handled the note that my prints would be all over it. I should have known better. The first thing we learned in training was how to handle possible evidence.
Opening the door, I got inside my compact Mini and headed back to headquarters. There was something I needed to check on. First of all, I was certain that there was more to Ms. Laurent than her name. If I had to guess, she was as crooked as her father. Secondly, I wanted to find out more about Chavez, who I had no intension of ever sleeping with again. If we were going to continue working together, I needed to find out what made him tick.
Pulling away from the curb, I glanced over to the tall building where I knew Chavez was having his fill and shook my head. I really needed to get a social life and not one that consisted of one-night stands. Maybe the guy in the Science and Technology branch who had been hounding me for a date would be a good start. He really was very good looking with a nice body, even though he was a little on the geeky side.
~****~
Twenty minutes later I was in the parking garage at the FBI building and I was just about to head inside when I saw Graham Porter, the geek from S & T. Hitting the lock button on my key fob, I walked slowly in his direction as he began to approach me. It was late and I couldn’t understand what he was doing here. When I was twenty feet away from him, I asked with curiosity, “Hey, Gray. What are you doing here so late?”
“Hi, beautiful,” he answered, always calling me that instead of by my real name. “Delaney wanted me to work on some face recognition on Elliott Crawford. I think I have come up with an actual face to go with the name.”
“Do you have it with you in that mess of papers you’re holding?” I questioned.
“Yeah, I think it is somewhere in this mess,” he chuckled as he squatted and placed his bag on the concrete floor and began rifling through the clutter of documents that were stuffed inside.
When he finally found what he was looking for, he handed it over to me. Turning it the right way, I looked down at the sketch of the man and couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only had I seen this man before, he looked exactly like my father. There had to be some mistake. My father died almost fifteen years ago. Looking to Graham, I folded the sketch and stuffed it inside my purse.
“I need to hold on to this for a little bit,” I informed him.
“No problem, beautiful. I have others,” he confessed.
Walking past him to where the elevator was, I heard his footsteps stop and his voice ring. “Are you ever going to let me take you out?”
Waving my hand in the air, I answered, “Someday, but not today or tomorrow.” I hoped this would satisfy his question. I really hadn’t thought about ever going out with him, but after tonight, it was now a definite possibility.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Chavez
I don’t know what it was, but the minute I walked up to Kataryna’s door, I could have sworn that I could smell the scent of Gabrielle. I must have been losing my mind, or maybe she was the only woman I could think about. When Kataryna’s door opened and she pulled me in for a kiss, that all disappeared. Even though I knew Gabrielle was nowhere near me, somehow, I could feel her presence. Pulling away from Kataryna, I leaned back and looked down the hallway where I heard the door of the elevator shut. Someone must have realized that they were on the wrong floor. No one got off, nor did anyone get on that I could see.
My thoughts were interrupted as Kataryna tugged me inside her condo and kicked the door closed with her foot. Once again, her lips were on mine and her tongue managed to slip between my closed lips. A man would be stupid not to want to be kissed by this beautiful woman. Lifting her, from where she stood, I walked her over to the kitchen counter and placed her on the hard granite top. A little yelp left her mouth as her bottom hit the cold surface. If I had to guess, she was probably completely bare under her form fitting dress.
Giving into her, I skated my hands down the slim lines of her body and lifted the hem of her dress upward. Even though she wasn’t bare underneath, like I had initially thought, the barely-there thong hardly covered anything and I could feel the heat radiating from between her legs. With her dress completely off, I was able to see what I had been waiting for. Her body was perfect in every way, at least in every way by the hand of a plastic surgeon. Even though it wasn’t bad on the eyes, I could tell that her breasts weren’t real, and even her small waist was the result of a rib being removed from each side. Who in God’s name would even put their body through such torture to get such perfection?
A person’s body is their temple and it should be worshipped and taken care of naturally, and not by enhancements of any kind. Completely mesmerized by the shock of what I had just discovered, I faintly heard Kataryna. “Do you like what you see, lover?”
I wasn’t even sure how to answer that. It’s a good thing I didn’t have to because before I could speak, her lips were on mine, while her hands were busy getting the button of my jeans undone. I was just about to resist, but I needed to find out just how much of her was actually fake. Slipping my hand between her legs, I could feel that she was all woman as I dipped a finger inside her moist channel. A small moan escaped and it was then I realized what I was doing. This was not me. Never in my adult life had I ever played the part of a player, but that was exactly what I was doing. “What the hell was I even doing here?” I thought to myself.
Pulling my finger from her warmth, I kissed her lightly on the forehead and whispered, “I have to go.”
The look on her face said everything I already knew. She was pissed. With a slap across my face, which I totally deserved, she pushed me away and screamed, “Get the fuck out of here.”
It didn’t take me long to get the hint. Before I got to the door, a sharp ping on the back of my head radiated through my body. Hearing the thud of her black platform heel hit the floor, I rubbed the back of my head, and never looked back. I knew that she still had one more heel she could fling at me, and right now, I didn’t want to take a chance that it would land square between my eyes.
Just as I closed the door, I could hear a thud against the door, which I assumed was her other shoe. Grinning to myself, I had to admit my exit went a lot better than I thought. Stepping inside the elevator, there was that scent again. I couldn’t have been dreaming. It was Gabrielle’s scent. She had to have been here. Another thought had crossed my mind, “What if she saw what happened at the Kataryna’s door?” There was no way she could have been here. She would have had no reason to come here. Unless the little thing she needed to take care of had to do with Kataryna.
~****~
It felt good to be home after the long drive home from Kataryna’s condo. Peace, quiet, and a cold brew were all I needed. Making sure to lock the door, I headed to the kitchen to grab a cold one. As I passed the kitchen counter to get to the fridge, I looked down at the manila envelope that Gabrielle had given to me earlier. Popping off the top of my long neck, I picked up the contents and took a seat on the couch. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for as I pulled the contents from the envelope. Everything inside pointed to Kataryna’s fake identity. Maybe Gabrielle was on to something in thinking that Kataryna was following in her father’s footsteps. There had to be a reason why she wanted to change her identity. She really wasn’t that bad looking, nothing that a little cleaning up wouldn’t solve. Thumbing through the rest of the documents, there was one in particular that caught my eye. It was her birth certificate.
I don’t know how I could have missed it. We had never discussed Kataryna’s mother. There wasn’t any information on whether or not she was still dead
or alive. Jotting down her name, Cecilia Crawford, I headed to my room where I had left my laptop earlier. Making myself comfortable in my bed, I took a quick draw of my beer before placing it on the nightstand. While I waited for my computer to boot up, I thought about how I treated Kataryna when I left her condo. Those sapphire blue eyes of hers went darker than the night sky. Never had I seen a woman so angry. Most importantly, I thought about what it would happen if Gabrielle found out that I was there. Even though nothing really happened, at least in my book, association made me guilty as hell.
Getting where I needed to be, I plugged in Cecilia Crawford and waited for the information to download. It didn’t take as long as I thought. There really wasn’t very much information on her except that she worked at the Excelsior Hotel. This was one thing that I found very odd. It could have been just a coincidence. As I further researched her name, there was more information about her that didn’t sit well with me, like the fact that she committed suicide shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Olivia Crawford. Nothing came up as to why she would end her life, only that she overdosed on pills and they found her in one of the apartments on the 15th floor. Another coincidence? I didn’t think so.
I found that it was always the insignificant things that ended up being the biggest help. It was just like when we worked on a counterfeit case which led to the kidnapping of Emma Atwood, who is now Gainer’s wife. I would never forget how calm Gainer tried to stay. We knew that Father O’Malley, a low life SOB, had something to do with the counterfeit money and he would do anything to get what he wanted, namely the counterfeit plates. So, when a finger showed up, we all presumed it was Emma’s, only it wasn’t hers at all. It belonged to one of the nuns that worked at his orphanage. Sister Claire, to be exact. She admitted that O’Malley ordered it to be cut off. It was his way to keep her quiet about what he was doing to all the boys living there. Her testimony added an additional ten years to his sentence. It really didn’t matter, he was going to be spending the rest of his years in prison, and from what I heard, not too many of his jail mates took kindly to child molesters. In the long run, O’Malley got what he deserved and Gainer got Emma with all her fingers intact.
I shut down my computer as I realized the rest of the information worth finding would need to be done at the shop. I could ask Gabrielle about the incident, but that would make her think I was digging into her life. I had already learned, anything that had to do with the Excelsior or the 15th floor was going to be a sore subject with her. Maybe I could just ask her what she knew about Cecilia Crawford and let her fill in the blanks.
Pushing from the bed, I put my laptop back in its case and began stripping off my clothes. It was getting late and I knew that tomorrow would be a bitch of a day. I would be working with some guy by the name of Graham Porter to work on some facial recognition shit and find a way to hack into the Gateway system.
~****~
Even though I got a good six hours of sleep, it felt like I had just gone to bed. My mind must have been going a mile a minute dreaming about the operation, and of course Gabrielle and Kataryna. These two women were so different, yet so much alike. They were very feisty, one not more than the other, but where Gabrielle had a natural beauty, Kataryna had a little help. Gabrielle was also an independent woman and Kataryna lacked independence. Kataryna, however, knew how to get what she wanted, that she otherwise wasn’t capable of getting herself.
Needing to get going, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and moved slowly to the bathroom. I had about an hour to get ready, which gave me plenty of time to swing by the small bakery close to the shop and grab a dozen of those cream-filled donuts the guys loved so much.
Just when I was thinking that my day couldn’t get any worse, not only was the bakery completely out of the cream-filled donuts, Kataryna was waiting in the conference room along with Ryan, Josh, and Cop. I knew what Ryan and Josh’s motives were, but seeing that Cop was in there as well piqued my curiosity. Dropping off the box of sugar-glazed donuts in the kitchenette, I headed down the hall and into the conference room, where I was met with deep laughing coming from the guys. I didn’t know what could have been so funny, especially since the expression on Kataryna’s face didn’t show any humor at all. Matter of fact, she looked like she was beyond pissed.
If I had to guess, the guys were laughing at something she said. Dying to find out what it may have been, I took a seat and asked, “What’s so funny, guys?”
With a shit-eating grin, Ryan looked over to me and said, “I’m out of here.”
It didn’t take long until Cop and Josh were following Ryan out of the room. I still didn’t know what was so funny, and I doubted that Kataryna was going to elaborate. Letting it go for the time being, I looked at Kataryna and asked, “So what are you doing here, anyway?”
“I want you off of this operation. We clearly have two different opinions on what is important,” she blurted, pressing her hands against the conference table as she pushed her chair away.
“If this is about last night, you need not worry. It will never happen again.” My words were true. Nothing was ever going to happen between us again, especially if I wanted any kind of relationship with Gabrielle.
“Got that right, although it could have been a lot of fun,” her words seemed softer than a few moments ago.
Not adding to the conversation, I sat back and watched Kataryna leave. There was one thing that I needed to know, so before she got out of earshot, I questioned, “Why did you change your name, Olivia?”
Her hands went into tight fists and her head swung around, like something from The Exorcist. She was clearly upset that I knew. Waiting patiently for her answer, the chance was lost the minute some geeky-looking guy stepped in front of her. He was about to say something, but instead, she shoved him out of the way, almost knocking him off his feet.
With a look of confusion on his face, he sauntered into the room and held out his hand. “Not sure what I missed, but I’m Graham Porter. I’ve been assigned to work with Jagged Edge on the Gateway operation.”
Standing to my feet, I shook his hand and introduced myself. “Nice to meet you, Graham. My name is Mike Chavez. Let’s head to the back, it’s where I do my best work.”
As we headed out of the conference room, I could hear a familiar voice coming from Peter’s office. Trying not to draw any attention, I took a quick glance inside to find Gabrielle was inside talking with Peter, only she wasn’t talking, it was more like yelling. I wasn’t sure what was up with the women today, but they were all in a pissy mood. I wondered if there was going to be a full moon or something? Something certainly had their panties in a wad today.
Shaking my head, I continued walking down the hall to the back room. My best bet was to stay away from women today, unless I wanted to get my head chewed off. For a geek, Graham was a pretty smart guy. “What’s up with the women today?” he asked, confirming that I wasn’t the only one who felt the tension.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Gabrielle
Talking to Peter was a total waste of my time. I knew that the men of Jagged Edge were tight, but I never thought that he would take the side of Chavez, knowing the information I had on Ms. Crawford, and not to mention what I had seen. This was way beyond conflict of interest, this was personal. Not only did I dislike Olivia Crawford, I didn’t trust her as far as I could throw her. And to top it off, Chavez was now involved with her, which pissed me off even more. I just wanted to know what her motives were with him. I hoped she wasn’t planning on putting her claws in him so that he got in so much trouble that he would never be able to dig himself out.
Maybe I was just overthinking the whole thing, just like Peter said. I didn’t have the authority to terminate our relationship with Jagged Edge, and when I brought it up to Delaney, he only advised me that I was a woman with hormonal problems and to get them under control. The nerve of that man. My problem didn’t come from hormones. It came from one Kataryna Laurent, aka Olivia Crawford. To top
it all off, seeing a sketch of my father didn’t help matters either. I knew there had to be some kind of mistake. There was no way that her father looked like that.
As I was leaving his office, I noticed Chavez and Graham head to the back of the building. I wasn’t sure where they were heading, but I needed to speak to Graham about the sketch he had given me. Walking towards them, I said in a strong voice, “Graham, do you have a minute? I need to ask you about the sketch you did on Elliott Crawford.”
Graham and Chavez instantly set their eyes on me. Graham looked back to Chavez and said, “I’ll be right there,” before walking towards me. When he was a few feet away he asked, “What is this about?”
“I need to find out how you came up with that sketch of Elliott Crawford,” I explained, heading towards the door that he was getting ready to enter.
