Diamond Lilly

by Henriette Daulton

  “Okay, yes, please be careful, Oksana. Don’t take any more chances.”

  Jessie clicked off and sat on the edge of her bed, going over their conversation. What was Nasir Hakim up to? Was he planning some sort of chemical attack? Suddenly frightened, she rang Liam.

  He answered in a voice thick with sleep. “Jessie? Are you all right?”

  “I know where the diamonds are,” she said.

  “What? How did you find out?” he shouted into the phone.

  She told him about Oksana’s call.

  “No problem. All we have to do is figure out how to get in there and break into his safe.” Liam scoffed.

  “Liam, this is about much more than the diamonds right now,” she chided.

  He sounded contrite. “Sorry love, I know. This is no time to make jokes. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m calling Sonia Estrada.”

  “She won’t be happy. They told you to back off and stay out of it,” he warned.

  “Not this time. Not with Oksana’s information.”

  “Call me back after you talk to her,” he said.

  She dialed Estrada and the call went straight to voice mail. She left a message, asking the agent to call back, and telling her it was urgent.

  She went to the kitchen, turned on the coffee pot. She needed a jolt this morning. She barely had time to have a sip when her phone rang. It was Estrada and she didn’t sound happy.

  “Don’t tell me you’re still looking into the diamond case,” she said curtly.

  “I have information coming to me, and I don’t think you want to ignore it,” Jessie retorted.

  “What is it now?” the woman asked harshly.

  Jessie relayed her conversation with Oksana. When she finished, there was a pause on the line.

  “Agent Estrada?”

  “And all this happened this morning?” the woman finally asked.

  “She called me around six o’clock. Hakim showed up at the Club yesterday.”

  “And this woman is sure it was him?”

  “She described him to a tee, including the scar on his cheek. And he had the diamonds. Who else would it be?” Jessie said, her voice rising angrily.

  “Calm down, I believe you. I just have to make sure I have all the facts.”

  “Oksana said Ivan Zherdev was getting passports for Hakim and he would be back to pick them up in a couple of days. This will be your chance to nab the guy. You need to put surveillance on the strip Club right now, before it’s too late,” Jessie stressed.

  “We will take care of it. You know this needs to remain out of your paper, understood?”

  Jessie sighed. “Of course. You have to get this man before he attempts something terrible.”

  “I know. We’ll do everything we can to stop him.” Estrada’s voice softened. “And Jessie, thank you for calling.”

  Sharing Oksana’s information with the agent didn’t do much to allay her fear. The more she thought about it, the more she was concerned. She took a quick shower and left for work.

  Art stopped short when he got off the elevator and spotted her seated at her desk. “What’s going on? Is there some sort of imminent disaster brewing to bring you in here today?” he asked, planted on his short legs in front of her desk.

  She nodded sullenly. “It’s going to be a disaster all right, unless it can be stopped.”

  He frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

  She told him, then shook her head. “I don’t know what to do, Art. I just hope Agent Estrada takes it seriously. I wonder if she even believed me.”

  Art set his briefcase on the floor, grabbed a nearby chair and plopped down.

  “Judging from my experience with the Bureau, they never are very forthcoming. More likely it won’t be any different this time around. But it would be foolish for them to ignore the kind of information you had. And believe me, they’re no fools.” He mused pensively for a moment. “You can be sure they’ll check it out.”

  Jessie looked at him and they held each other’s eyes.

  “Damn, that is some scoop, kid. Too bad we can’t publish it.”

  She sighed. “I know.”

  Suddenly she had an awful thought. “Oh God! I hope they don’t go in and confront Zherdev. He would probably guess it was Oksana who ratted him out. She was there when he put the diamonds in the safe. Even if they arrest him, he could still get back at her.”

  Art shook his head. “Above all else, I wager they want to get this terrorist. The Russian and the diamonds…I think that’s all secondary to them. I bet they’ll watch the strip joint and arrest him when he shows up for the passports. Once they get him, then they’ll haul in the Russians.”

  “I hope so,” Jessie said.

  He went to his office and Jessie absorbed herself in her notes. It was midmorning when the phone rang. “Jessie? This is Annabelle, can you come over?” The foster mom said in a shaky voice.

  “Is Lilly okay?” Jessie asked, frowning in concern.

  “No, no, she’s not— I mean physically she’s okay— I really need for you to come to the house, talk to her…”

  “I’m at the office. I’m leaving right now, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Jessie assured her. She signaled to Art she had to go and he nodded.

  “Don’t get into any more trouble,” he shouted as she rushed out. She drove over the speed limit all the way to the foster home and pulled in behind Annabelle’s car. She must have been watching for her. She opened the door before Jessie even rang the bell.

  “What’s wrong?” Jessie asked in a low voice.

  “Lilly knows,” Annabelle whispered, looking crushed. “She overheard me on the phone talking to my sister. I was telling her about Lilly’s parents.” Her lower lip quivered. “I had no idea she was there. I believed she was upstairs playing with the girls. I turned around and there she stood. Oh, her eyes, her eyes…”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  Jessie threw her arms around her. “Annabelle, you didn’t know.”

  The woman shook her head. “No, no. I should have been more careful. It’s unforgivable for her to find out like this.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “She ran upstairs, went into the bathroom. She won’t come out, Jessie. I begged and pleaded, but she won’t say a word.”

  Jessie nodded and guided the woman to a chair in the kitchen. She poured a glass of water and set it in front of her. Annabelle kept shaking her head in despair. “What did I do? That poor child.”

  Jessie rubbed her shoulder gently. “She’s upset right now. I’ll go talk to her.”

  Jessie went upstairs and peered into the first bedroom. Two little girls sat next to each other on the bed, staring at her with big, frightened eyes. The bathroom door was closed. She knew it was a Jack and Jill set up, accessible from both sides. She went to the second bedroom and gently knocked on the other door.

  “Lilly? It’s Jessie, can I come in?”

  Silence.

  “Lilly, I know you’re upset. Can we please talk?” she said softly.

  Another moment of silence, followed by the sound of the door being unlocked. She waited a second, then reached for the knob and opened it. The child sat on the tile floor with her eyes closed, her face wet with tears.

  “Is it okay if I sit down next to you?” Jessie asked.

  Lilly nodded and Jessie lowered herself to the floor. “Baby, I’m so sorry you had to find out about your mom and dad this way. I know how much you love them and miss them.”

  Lilly opened her eyes, tears running down her cheeks. “Why did everybody lie to me, Jessie?” she asked softly.

  “We didn’t want to. We just didn’t know how to tell you.”

  “I miss Mommy and Daddy,” the child said between sobs.

  Jessie shook with grief. “Oh, Lilly, I’m so sorry. I wish I could make everything better for you. I really do.”

  “I don’t want to stay here anymore. I want to go home.”

>   “Your aunt Emily will be here soon. She is your daddy’s sister, and she loved him very much. I talked to her on the phone. She is really nice and she can’t wait to meet you. She would like for you to come live with her family.”

  Lilly frowned. “Do I have to go live with them?”

  “I think you’ll really like it there. They live on a big farm with cows and chickens and goats. Maybe even rabbits. They will love having you.”

  Lilly looked at her, a ray of hope in her eyes. “Do they have a dog?”

  Jessie smiled. “I’m pretty sure they do.”

  “Mommy is allergic to dogs, so I couldn’t have one.”

  “Your mom would be very happy for you to have a dog.”

  Lilly was quiet for a moment. “I heard Annabelle tell her sister about Mommy and Daddy.”

  “I know. She really feels bad about it. She didn’t want you to find out this way. Can you forgive her and can you forgive me, Lilly?”

  The child nodded. Her blue eyes were drenched in sorrow. “Why did they die?”

  “Because there are some very bad people in this world. They will harm others, whether they did anything wrong or not.”

  “Where do you go when you die, Jessie?”

  Jessie hesitated. “I’m not sure. A lot of people think we go to heaven to be with God. Other people have different beliefs.”

  “Like what?”

  “It’s complicated, baby.”

  “So I won’t see them ever again?”

  Jessie remembered her father, and her own uncertainties about religion and death. “You know late at night, when you look at the sky and see all those beautiful stars?”

  Lilly nodded.

  “What if the people we lost turn into stars? Then they can shine ever so brightly at us to let us know they love us and watch over us. So when it’s really, really dark, look up there, and your heart will tell you which ones they are.”

  Lilly inched closer and then rested her head against Jessie’s shoulder. “I miss them so much,” the child said softly.

  Jessie gently ran her fingers through the silky blond hair. “I know you do, sweetheart.”

  They sat together on the bathroom floor for nearly an hour, sometimes talking, sometimes just listening to the quiet around them. Finally, the child sat up and turned to Jessie. “You want to go see Annabelle?” she asked.

  “Do you?”

  Lilly nodded. “I don’t want her to cry anymore.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  They went downstairs where Annabelle was still sitting in the kitchen staring at the walls. She looked at Lilly anxiously and nearly started crying again.

  Lilly ran to her and hugged her. “It’s okay, Annabelle. I’m not mad at you.”

  “Oh, Lilly. You are the sweetest little girl.”

  At Annabelle’s insistence and after a passionate plea from Lilly, Jessie agreed to stay for lunch. The other two youngsters joined them for chicken and salad, and everything seemed fine on the surface. But an occasional glance at the little girl revealed the lingering sadness she tried hard to hide.

  ****

  She was only home a very short time when Nina, her landlady, appeared at her patio door, wearing a purple saree, bangles on her arm and beads in her hair. She was bare footed and wore a toe ring. Instead of her usual martini glass, she was carrying a tiny cup.

  Jessie eyebrows shot up. “Hey, Nina. No martini today?”

  The woman smiled and raised her cup to Jessie’s nose. “Mint tea.”

  “Does it have anything to do with the cool new outfit?”

  “I turned a new leaf last week. Hello new life. I joined a meditation group and now I do mental purification. I am ten years younger, you see it, yes? You should try.”

  Jessie scrutinized her face, but didn’t notice anything different. Nonetheless, she nodded. “Yeah, you look great, but I’m not much of a tea drinker.”

  The woman shrugged. “Well, you should try it anyway. You get way too much stress with your job. By the way, you had visitors again.”

  Jessie frowned. “Who was it?”

  “Same man, tall, good looking, dress real nice. He had a woman with him this time.” Nina shook her head in disapproval. “She is not dressed so nice, though.”

  Jessie nodded. Sonia Estrada and her cohort, Bruce Williams.

  “They looked very annoyed you weren’t here.”

  “They’ll get over it.”

  “Anyway, they said they would be back later. So, fair warning.”

  “Thanks Nina. Got to go now, I have to make some phone calls.”

  The woman nodded, a look of disappointment on her face. “All right then. See you later.”

  She turned to leave, then stopped abruptly and bowed. “Oh, and Jessie, Namaste.”

  Jessie grinned, bowing as well, “And Namaste to you too.”

  She sighed and closed her patio door. Nina and Hinduism? That was a very strange mixture indeed. Guess the woman had to find a new way to define her life. Better than downing a half a dozen martinis every day.

  She was in her bedroom, changing clothes, when her doorbell rang. The two FBI agents were standing at her door, wearing long faces.

  “Can we come in?” Estrada asked.

  “I was just getting ready to go for a walk. Sure, yeah, come in.”

  She ushered them into the living room and they sat next to each other on the couch.

  “What can I do for you?” she asked.

  “We wanted to go over everything we talked about on the phone, make sure we didn’t miss anything,” Estrada said, glancing at her partner.

  “Okay, what do you need to know?” Jessie asked.

  “You said you met this young woman during a previous visit to the Doll House strip club in South Broward County. When did the encounter take place?”

  Jessie nodded. “A week ago, when my friend Lonnie McKenzie and I went there around lunch time. I wanted to talk to some of the young women who are forced to work there. It’s a really sad situation. Once before, I met one of the girls, Irina. She later contacted me and I helped her get away—”

  “Yes, we know about Irina Chekov. Let’s get back to this woman, Oksana,” Estrada said abruptly, then made a face. “Sorry, we may not have a whole lot of time with this.”

  “I understand. I gave her my card. Asked her to call me. Then a Russian goon came in and chased me away.”

  “So, she called you, out of the blue, this morning at six am?” Williams asked.

  Jessie nodded. “Yes.”

  “And somehow, she knows this Russian, Ivan, has the diamonds. He gave Hakim money and boxes of chemicals to make a radioactive bomb of some kind,” Estrada recited.

  “Oksana didn’t know what he’s planning to make, but she was sure it was something meant to kill a lot of people.”

  “Why was she so sure?” Estrada asked.

  “She overheard their conversation,” Jessie exclaimed.

  “Was she in the room with them?”

  “At some point she had to be. She saw the Russian put the diamonds in the safe.”

  Williams leaned in, his eyes probing hers. “Ms. Milner, what did she say about a bomb?”

  Jessie glared at him. “I told you. She was concerned when she spotted the outfits Ivan got for Hakim. They were similar to those worn by the rescuers at Chernobyl, the nuclear site, where all those people died from radiation—”

  This time it was Williams who cut her off. “Ms. Milner, we know what Chernobyl is.”

  Jessie was annoyed. “Very well then. With this information, you can assume they are planning an attack of some kind.”

  “What did she say about the passports?” Williams asked.

  “Hakim is getting new passports from the Russian. He’s supposed to pick them up in a few days.” Frustration got the best of her. “Instead of going over this whole thing again, maybe you should be watching the strip club so you can catch Hakim when he comes back for his passports.”

  “Don�
��t worry, Miss Milner, that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Williams said.

  “No, you’re not, you’re here talking to me.”

  Estrada smirked. “Be assured we’re not the only two agents working on this case.”

  “So, you have the club under surveillance?”

  Williams nodded. “Around the clock.”

  “You won’t arrest Zherdev before you get Hakim, right?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Because I’m worried he would find out it was Oksana who turned him in. Even if he’s in jail, he could still have her killed.”

  “No, we’re getting Hakim first,” Williams assured her.

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  “One more thing Ms. Milner, did Oksana, request any money, help or favors?” he asked.

  “Nothing. When I asked her if I could help her in any way, she turned me down.”

  “Did you wonder if she might be setting you up?” Estrada chimed in.

  “No, not at all. On the contrary, she risked her life to call me with this information.”

  Estrada shrugged. “She could have been coerced into calling you.”

  “First of all, she didn’t ask to meet me. If the Russians intended to get me, they could easily do so at any time, or any place. It’s no big secret where I live. And why would they tell me Ivan has the stolen diamonds in his safe, and that he sold Hakim boxes of chemicals and hazmat suits? Makes absolutely no sense, does it?” Jessie said, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

  The two agents didn’t answer.

  Jessie shrugged. “The reason Oksana gave me all this information is because she wants those men in jail. She plans to escape with the other girls they forced into prostitution. They want to get away as far as they can from the Russian mob.”

  Estrada nodded. “Anything else you can recall from your conversation with her?”

  Jessie shook her head. “I have a question for you now. Will you let me know when you capture Hakim?”

  They didn’t react.

  “I’m the one who brought you this information. At least give me the courtesy to get the first stab at the story,” Jessie insisted.

  The two agents exchanged glances and Estrada nodded.

  Jessie smiled. “Thank you.”

  They left. Jessie walked to the patio door and glanced out. The sun was shining, the sky was a deep blue. There was not a cloud in sight. It crossed her mind again how disaster could be just around the corner, yet nature went on uninterrupted in its pattern, regardless of the turmoil surrounding it. Suddenly she was very tired, feeling the full weight of the knowledge she had acquired just hours ago.