by Sarah Thorn
''Are you Steve,'' she asked. He detected a tremor in her voice.
''Follow me.''
As she struggled to keep up with him, he laughed to himself. She was just like all the others. If there were a quiz show called 'Guess who wants to murder their fiancee,' he'd win it, he thought. They reached a small alleyway that ran adjacent to Wild Bill's. He pulled her into it.
She gasped as he held her against the wall. ''Now listen to me. On the phone, you told me you want me to do a job for you. I can do that job. But it requires three things of you, all of which must be strictly adhered to. If you fail to do so, I will kill you and leave your fiancee alone. Do you understand?'' She nodded. Maybe she'd gotten herself into more than she could handle, she thought.
When he let go of her, she rubbed her upper arm. His grip had been vice- like, and her arm had gone numb. ''Now tell me, slowly, what do you want?''
Britney composed herself as he watched her. All the same, he reminded himself. Brunette, five feet six, brown eyes, pretty face, anemic and neurotic. ''As I indicated when we spoke, I want you to kill my fiancee, as soon as we have signed the insurance papers. I'll tell you when.''
''Why do you want him killed?'' He looked round as a car drove past the end of the alleyway. It wasn't a cop car.
''I don't love him, in fact, I hate him, he's an alcoholic. I'm virtually forced to marry him, and I don't want to. He's rich and well insured, so I'll get a nice payout and be able to live a life of luxury.''
The same old reason as well, he thought. Greed. The bitch probably never got off his case, nagging and moaning him all the way to the bottle. Not being satisfied with ruining his life on earth, now she wanted the poor sod dead too. Not that he cared, money was money.
''The three things: First, you don't talk to anyone about this. If you tell a single soul, I will shoot you.'' Britney nodded, her eyes wide open and her bladder on the point of exploding in fear. ''Second, fifty grand up front, no negotiation.'' Again she nodded. That was the easy part she thought. ''Third: details, lots of details. Name, address, place of work, the time he comes home and the time he goes to work. Also a list of places he frequents regularly, and a list of his family members, friends and business colleagues.''
Britney hadn't expected him to be so frightening. A head taller than her and dressed solely in black he cut a very eerie figure. When she gave it a bit more thought, she realized he ought to be frightening, he was an assassin.
''Now you have met me, you are bound to continue with the plan. No going back. I told you on the phone, if we meet you are bound. Do you understand?'' She nodded again. ''Remember if you don't deliver what I have asked for, it is you who will die.''
*****
Keke Miller looked through the window at the man getting out of the red Ferrari. Not bad, she thought.
''I wouldn't mind a piece of that,'' the waitress said as she poured Keke's coffee. ''We don't often get guys like him around here.''
Keke nodded in agreement as her eyes followed the tall, well-dressed man from his car to the door. The waitress walked back to the counter and Keke dropped a lump of sugar into her drink. Jesus, when will I stop doing that, she thought. ''Next time, take the sugar away from the table, Jessie. My ass is fat enough as it is,'' she shouted.
''You've got a complex, there's nothing wrong with your ass,'' the waitress shouted back.
Keke kept her eyes on the man as he walked to the counter, and spoke to the waitress. ''Over there,'' the waitress said, pointing at Keke. Keke sat upright on the red seat and curiously watched as he walked towards her.
''Hi, are you Keke Miller?'' he asked.
Keke looked at him. He wasn't the usual type of man that came to her for advice. ''Yes, that's me.''
''I'm Dan Stephenson, I called into your office a few minutes ago. Your secretary told me you could be found here most lunchtimes.''
Darn woman, Keke thought. How often had she told Janice that she wasn't to be disturbed at lunchtime? ''Sure. Well, you've found me. Take a seat and tell me what I can do for you.''
Dan sat down on the other side of the booth and pushed the unused cutlery to one side. Beautiful woman, not at all like the stereotypical private detective, he thought. Since when were they young, black and attractive? ''You're not what I was expecting,'' he said.
''Really? And what were you expecting?,'' Keke said, leaning forward.
''I don't know. Most private detectives are white, middle-aged and fat. They are in the movies anyhow.'' Then, at least, he doesn't think I'm fat, Keke thought. ''I need someone to watch my fiancee,'' he continued.
Keke raised her eyebrows and leaned back again. ''Why?''
''Er.. I...don't really know I.....''
Keke looked at him and ticked off his features against her wish list. Dazzling green eyes, tall, well built, dark hair well cut, white smile, beautiful honest-looking face, no designer stubble and about her twenty-five, her age. Perfect. ''Dan, if you don't know why you're asking me to investigate your fiancee, how do you expect me to be able to help you?''
Dan felt embarrassed. The beautiful woman opposite him with the seductive lips and sexy smile had pointed out a flaw in his presentation of the problem. Lack of preparation, he usually did a much better job in his business, so why not now? He wondered
''Yes.. er ... sorry. Perhaps you'll allow me to be more specific?'' He picked up a spoon and threaded it through his fingers as he waited for Keke to nod. ''I have been engaged for around three months. My fiancee and I live together. Since we became engaged, her behavior has changed dramatically.''
Jesus, this man really can't get to the point, Keke noted. ''Dan, let me help you. You think she's screwing someone else, and you want me to check it out.''
''Maybe,'' Dan said as he looked around the diner. When he saw a picture of a tin of Budweiser, he was sorely tempted, but he remembered all to well, what Dr. Needham had told him would happen if he had another drink. '' I don't know whether she's having an affair, but I want her checked out before I settle down and marry her. She won't touch me anymore, and she spends two or three nights a week at a girlfriends house. She's just behaving really weird.''
Keke sighed and looked at her watch. She was anxious not to miss her two o'clock appointment with Mr. Sanderson. He could be really important for her struggling practice, she thought. If Dan were asking her on a date, she'd say yes, without hesitation. But asking her to investigate his woman just because her behavior had suddenly changed, was a much less interesting proposition. ''Dan, you'll have to excuse me. I have an appointment soon, and I need to go. It was nice to meet you.'' Keke nodded to the waitress who brought the check. When she put it on the table, she smiled at Dan and gave him a wink.
''I'm Jessie,'' she said, hopefully.
Dan stood up as Keke left the table and watched her walk towards the door. He'd always been a sucker for a woman in a business suit and black stockings, especially one with such a beautiful behind as hers, he thought. ''My Dad's Ernie Stephenson,'' he shouted after her.
Keke stopped and turned around. ''Ernie Stephenson from ESM, the largest mining company in the world?'' she asked, trying to hide the sudden surge of interest within her.
Dan looked at her and noticed how her breasts fought against the softness of her blouse. ''Er..yes. That's my father.'' Dropping his father's name worked every time, he thought, as Keke began to walk back to him.
''I'm sorry I was a little abrupt,'' she said. ''I really do have an appointment at two, but can you hang on until it's finished? It shouldn't take too long.''
''Okay, then let me give you a ride,'' Dan said.
''I usually walk, it's good for me, but I've never been in a Ferrari so why not.''
When Keke got into the low seat, her skirt rode up, revealing her soft thighs, a fact that didn't escape him.
*****
Dan pulled up outside the office and took a good look at it. The peeling paintwork around the windows and the weeds growing through the surface of the small pa
rking lot led Dan to one conclusion. Keke's business was not flourishing. When she opened the door, he was already round at the passenger side, helping her up. Chivalrous as well as hot, she thought.
''Come with me. It's not much of an office I'm afraid. I've only just started the business. The office needs some renovation work doing.'' Inside it was a scruffy as outside, which surprised Dan because Keke was obviously the kind of person who took great care in her personal appearance. Perhaps it was a lack of money, not a lack of will, he thought.
A man in his middle sixties stood up and shook Keke's hand. ''Dan would you mind sitting here for a while?'' Keke picked up some old magazines from the arm chair and put them on the glass coffee table. Why the hell do I employ a secretary, if I have to do everything myself, she thought.
''Janice, make Mr. Stephenson some tea, please.'' Keke left Dan to the mercy of her secretary and disappeared into the back office with Mr. Sanderson.
''How do you like it?'' Janice asked referring to the tea.
''Milk, no sugar.'' He watched Janice as she got up and skilfully navigated her ample rear end through the gap between her desk and the wall. She walked past him to the kitchenette. The office was a small wooden construction, with white painted paneled wood walls and a V-shaped roof supported by iron trusses. It needed a coat of paint and the linoleum on the floor needed replacing. There was a picture of a tall ship in a storm hanging on the wall behind Janice's desk. The picture reminded him of his life. He was just like a ship in a storm, perhaps a rudderless ship.
Janice brought his tea and almost spilled it on him as she reached over to put it on the glass table. ''Thanks,'' he said. ''How long have you guys been operating?''
Janice put a finger to her lips and rolled her eyes to the ceiling as she tried to remember the exact date they opened. ''I think we started in April two years ago.''
''And is there much work for private detectives in Dallas?''
Janice put her head to one side and started to play with her red hair. Stop looking at his bulge, she told herself. ''Most of it is working for men who think their wives are cheating on them. Easy stuff really. Follow her, take a few pictures and send an invoice.''
''And how do you actually become a PD? I mean it's not exactly a mainstream kind of job?''
''I'm just a secretary, but Keke studied criminology at Harvard. She's a bright lady.''
''Does she have a male friend?'' He mentally crossed his fingers and waited for her reply.
'No, she's single.'' Janice felt disappointed. It was she who'd first helped him and sent him to look for Keke. Why was he asking about Keke? What was wrong with her? She tried to look nice everyday, she really did, and it wasn't her fault she'd inherited her grandmother’s pear shaped figure.
When the old man left the office, Keke appeared and showed Dan into her office. It was tiny. There was a laptop on an old dining table and two chairs. In the corner was an aluminum case that he assumed was her photography equipment. There was a picture of a black woman that he'd seen before, but couldn't quite place.
''Madame Tinubu. She was a slave trader who realized the error of her ways and became a scathing opponent of slavery,'' Keke said when she saw him looking at the picture.
''Yes, I remember now. She was Nigerian, and they called her the queen of the ladies. So why exactly do you have her on your wall?''
''Because she's a symbol that you can start life on the wrong foot, but still change your ways and do good. Sorry for the wait. Now where did we get to?'' She sad down and crossed her legs. Dan waited for her as he stared at her them. ''Yes, you want me to check out your fiancee. But you don't know why.''
''Now I've had time, I can explain more fully. It was all a bit of a rush to get here, and then I had to go to the diner so I guess I got thrown off course.'' What he really wanted to say was, when he'd gone into the diner and seen Keke her stunning looks had totally thrown him. ''I am engaged and have been for three months. The wedding is planned in ten weeks.'' Still no further Keke thought as she waited impatiently. ''She is the daughter of my father's chief accountant. You may not find this a plausible reason for you to start an investigation, but I want her checked out because I will have to live with her for the rest of my life and at the moment she is behaving very strangely indeed.''
''Okay, I understand.'' Mr. Sanderson had decided not to invest in Keke's business, and she was now quite desperate for work. Lucky break him coming along she thought, now make the most of it and stop looking at his bulge. ''Then I'll check her out for you.''
''Why the sudden change of heart?''
Keke refrained from saying: because your father is loaded and a potential business partner has turned me down. ''I was a little hasty before, and you obviously need my help, so I will do so.''
''Great. Then tell me what you need to know,'' Dan said relieved.
''Here fill this out.'' Keke handed him a client information sheet that covered just about everything she needed to know. ''Can we discuss fees?'' He nodded. ''Two thousand a day plus expenses,'' Keke said emboldened in the knowledge that his father was one of the richest men in American and that Dan was in all likelihood his heir. He nodded again. Keke smiled and shouted for Janice to come. She appeared and listened. ''When Mr. Stephenson has filled out this form, please draw up a contract for him to sign. The fee is two thousand a day plus expenses.'' Janice looked and was about to say 'how much?' She managed to stop herself when she saw Keke look at her in a 'don't say anything,' kind of way.
*****
Dan put his foot to the floor and felt himself being pressed back in the driver's seat. He loved his Ferrari. Not because it was an eye catcher, and woman after woman wanted to talk to him, but because it was his only chance to let off steam. His way of dealing with stress was flooring it and driving at a speed that made his heart race and his hands cling to the steering wheel in fear.
As he hurtled down the freeway towards his office, he thought about Keke. What the hell was he doing, getting married to Britney when he could have someone like Keke? She was a real woman. She had her own business and was fighting for herself in the big wide world. All Britney had ever done was sponge off him and moan that she was bored. Now she even refused to sleep with him. It had been three weeks since he'd had sex and he was bursting. Was that why he'd found Keke so darn attractive, he wondered. Or, was it simply that she was smoking hot? He realized it was the latter.
He pulled into the parking space marked Mr. Dan Stephenson and looked up. What a difference between this office and Keke's, he thought. Sixty floors of pure glass luxury versus an old hut in need of paint. As he was about to open the door and climb out of the car, it enveloped him. That feeling. Oh no, you're kidding me, he thought.
''Dan, I've been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?'' His father was sitting at his desk in his office. Dan put his hand over his eyes to protect himself from the stream of sunlight flooding in through the floor to ceiling glass wall and peered at him.
''Dad, sorry, I had a couple of jobs to do. I'm back now. What's happening?''
Ernie Stephenson was sixty-three years old and very tall. He had a full head of gray hair and a tan that showed off his smile. If only he knew how proud of him I am, he thought as he looked at Dan. ''Your mother has been on the phone, non-stop. She must have called twenty times. Something about the wedding. Apparently Britney has been to see her, and they have been looking at seating arrangements. They seem to want your input.''
''Jesus, what the hell does it matter who sits next to who? Throw a list of names into the air and see how they land.''
''I know how you feel son. Weddings are a nightmare. But just bite your tongue. Women love weddings, and you'll get yourself into a lot of hot water if you don't cooperate. Take it from an old hand.''
Ernie found it hard to understand how a man of Dan's age, twenty-six, could have so much business acumen. He himself had done okay, but he'd inherited the business from his father and expanded it gradually. However in the
two years since Dan had left college, his suggestions had increased profitability by an amount Ernie had never thought possible. Born to it, he thought. All he had to do now was marry the daughter of his long time friend Jeff, and everything would be perfect. ''Are you alright?'' he asked his son.
''Yer. Just sick of all the wedding stuff. Britney just hasn't been the same since we got engaged. I haven't got a clue where her head is. I can't seem to get through to her.''
''Nerves. She's very young, give her time. We are all very much looking forward to the wedding. She's a great girl. You couldn't have found a more beautiful woman, and she'll make a fantastic wife and mother. Just be patient and don't go around upsetting her. She'll be a great asset to the family.''
What sort of asset? Dan asked himself as he walked to his office. Isn't an asset supposed to be of value and enhance your life? All Britney was doing was driving him away from her. Do you really love her an ugly voice asked him? You don't really do you, admit it, the voice continued. He plonked himself down in the leather chair behind his desk and took a deep breath. He shook his head and blocked all further thoughts of Britney. As soon as he had done so, Keke came into his mind, and the feeling he'd had in the car came back again. ''Oh no, please leave me alone,'' he said.
*****
Not again, Dan thought. He'd know for a long time that worker relations weren't good at the mine in Johannesburg, but they'd had a pay increase, and he'd implemented their suggestions for fair distribution of overtime. Now they were playing with his good nature, and he didn't like that. He'd had enough.
''Listen, George, we employ you to keep the mine profitable, and it is far from that, in fact, it's leaking money like I've never seen before. So here's the deal. I've been more than fair with everyone. You tell them to get back to work by six am tomorrow morning, or I'm closing the mine, and they can all starve. Got it?'' He slammed the phone down and looked out of the window. There it was again. The same feeling he'd had yesterday, twice. Give in to it, a voice said.
