“You ready for an eventful day?” I ask Darelle as we alight from the elevator.
I managed to get the address to Lucas’ mom. That’s where we’re heading right now. Me dressed in black leggings, black t-shirt and black boots like the spy I was born to be.
Maybe I could negotiate with the FBI to hand me over to the CIA once I crack this case. Because I damn will.
Darelle on the other hand is dressed in dark wash jeans and a black V neck. A bandage on his left palm. I haven’t asked about that. Yet.
“Hm” is his subtle reply. He’s been in a different mood today and I have a feeling it has something to do with his bandaged palm.
We walk to the parking lot in silence. A part of me is itching to ask him what happened but then the other part is scared he’ll close off on me. His impassive face tells me everything. But then again I’ve never known myself to be one to give up or shut up.
I take the driver’s seat of my car while he takes the passenger seat. More silence. In fact, an elephant pregnant silence.
“You know I think I’m just gonna be candid. What happened to your hand and why did you wear that face today?” I question driving out of the parking lot.
“Can you just drive” he snaps.
I roll my eyes “No. As a matter of fact I will park this car on the road if you continue bullshitting me”
I give him a side way glance and just for a second, I see a twinkle of sadness in his hazel orbs but he covers it up as quick as it showed up.
Seeing me slow down, Darelle runs a hand through his hair. Yeah I’m one stubborn piece of work. Also I like to have bright faces around me when I’m going for mini take outs.
He sighs. A long sigh at that. “I cut myself picking up a broken glass.” He says the words like they’ve been rehearsed.
“Now can you please drive like someone going on a mission” he lets out. If he thinks I believe what he just told me then he doesn’t know me at all. But for the sake of the pained expression on his face, I let it go. For now.
We continue driving in silence coz really, I don’t know what to say. The twenty-minute drive is over before the tension swallows us whole.
“You remember the plan?” I ask once we’re out of the car.
“Yeah Zuri. Distract her while you go around and search for more clues. I heard you the last five times you said it before” he clips.
I move up next to him “First of all don’t sass at me and second of all I might need to install a Spyware on her phone”
In lieu of a verbal response, he nods his head and starts walking towards the beautiful white bungalow that flaunts a beautiful yet dainty garden at the entrance. The drive way has a minivan. Good she’s home.
I stride after him. I fall in step with him just as he raises his hand to ring on the doorbell. I stop him before he does.
“Whatever crawled up your ass and died there better cremate itself before I ring this doorbell because I will not let your stinky attitude come in the way of my future”
He lets out a long sigh of dejection. “I’m sorry Zuri. I’m just having a stressful day”
“Well you could’ve taken a rain check. I’d have understood”
“Turns out you aren’t the only one who honors their promises. So shall we?” The corners of his lips quirk up forming a small smile. Though his eyes remain impassive. A win is a win.
“We shall D. We shall” I ring the doorbell.
A minute or two later, the door creaks open. A middle aged woman stands before us. Clothed in a cream folklore sweater and blue jeans. The way her gray eyes size us up, I can only imagine she wasn’t expecting visitors much less young adult ones.
She raises her blonde brow “Can I help you?”
“Yeah um my name is Keilee,” I gesture to Darelle “and this is my friend Darelle. We’d like to ask you a few things about your son”
Like she’s heard this narrative for the longest time, she exhales tiredly “I already told your coworkers what I know. They didn’t need to send you”
“No ma’am they didn’t send us here. We’re here on our own”
“So you’re a reporter” she lowers her eyebrows and squints her eyes, the wrinkles under her eyes protruding at the action.
“No I work for the police as an IT expert” I settle for the truth.
The woman –who I learnt her name is Betty Wright- gives a thought to my words as if weighing the advantages and disadvantages of inviting us in.
“Come in” she steps away so we can walk through.
The smell of freshly baked goodies welcome us to the homely house. She leads us to the L shaped beige couches. My boots clink on the wooden floor as we wade through the house.
To our right is a staircase that I can only assume leads to the bedrooms. I stop my perusal since we didn’t come here to check out the interior design.
“You have a lovely home Mrs. Wright” Darelle charms the woman.
She gives him a broad smile “Thank you Darelle. Have a seat.” Darelle and I take a seat next to each other.
“Would you like coffee and cookies? They’re freshly baked”
Not wanting to look rude I say “Sure” Two minutes later, Betty appears from the kitchen with a tray full of coffee and cookies. She sets them on the dark brown coffee table.
“So tell me what did you want to know about Lucas?”
“Do you know of his whereabouts?”
“No Keilee. Trust me if I did I’d have already told the police. Look I’m not happy with what my son did. Heck I’ve never known him to be a violent child. But that day people lost their lives. Families lost their loved ones. People have said the unsayable. Most have blamed his upbringing. And you know what the worst thing is? To some extent I blame myself” she says dismally.
“I’m so sorry Mrs. Wright” I soothe.
“You know he’s my only child and I love him so much. We’re so close I just wish he’d tell me if anything was wrong or better yet come out of hiding and face the consequences of his actions” her sullen mood is perceptible in her tone.
I pick another cookie from the tray. Damn they’re sweet. “That’s why we’re here. Will you please give me a call if he tries to contact you?”
“Yes of course I will. I mean why wouldn’t I?” She replies quickly but I don’t miss her tugging of her left ear, her dilated pupils, how her feet shift on the carpet, or the way she diverts the eye contact while speaking. I’ve been around police interrogations. I can distinguish if a person is being deceptive.
At the end of the day, Lucas is her son. She won’t turn him in that easily. No mother would. I guess plan B it is.
“Thank you. The coffee and cookies were amazing” Darelle tells her as she picks the empty utensils from the table.
Once I make sure she’s out of sight, I look around the room for her phone. By luck I see it next to where she was seated.
“Be on the lookout” I whisper shout to Darelle picking up the phone. She has no password. I hastily install the spyware. That way if Lucas does call her, I’ll be able to know.
I watch it download at a snail’s pace whilst my heart thrums hard at the possibility of being caught. Fortunately, the gods of luck have been on my side since I started walking the earth.
It finishes downloading just before she walks back. I throw myself back to my position acting like I never left.
“Can I use your restroom?”
“Yeah sure. Just go down the hallway behind the stairs” she motions.
“Okay thanks” I run towards the hallway but stop short when I see her facing the other way. I take the stairs to the bedrooms.
Pictures of Lucas and his family adorn the wood panel hallway walls. But I’m not here for them.
I go through Lucas’ parents’ room first but I don’t find anything useful.
I move to his room next and the neatness is what throws me off first because damn you wouldn’t ever imagine a murderer having such a clean room. Seriously it’s like you expect killers’ rooms to be filled with blood or something.
I don’t find anything useful in his too. Probably because I’m searching in a hurry. But either way, I dash out of the room. Hopefully the spyware I installed on her phone will yield results.
“D I think we should get going” I say once I’m back to the living room. Darelle nods getting up from the couch.
“Mrs. Wright thank you so much for your hospitality. Call me in case you hear from Lucas” I hand her my card.
“Sure will Keilee” she promises.
I breathe a sigh of relief once we’re out of the house. “Fuck that was close”
“You know she did agree to call if Lucas contacts her” Darelle states.
I scoff “And you believed her? Please, I work with the police I know when someone is lying”
We stop at the car “So what now?” Darelle inquires.
“Now we wait. He’ll call her eventually and I’ll be listening. I also have a strong feeling he’s already flown out of the country”
“Okay” he goes to open the passenger door.
“Wait you’ve got cookie particles on your cheek”
He starts rubbing his left cheek “Did I get them?” he asks.
“No the other cheek”
He rubs again but doesn’t get them off.
“Let me” I move to where he’s standing. I use my thumb to rub it off. A thick tension rises between us. My thumb goes limp on his soft cheek. My eyes drop from his hazel soft ones to his pinkish lips.
He swallows causing his Adam’s apple to bob. If any of us gets any closer than we are, our lips will definitely collide. For a second I’m tempted to go in. Fuck Madison and fuck anybody else who thinks their relationship is doing okay.
From the long lick of his lips, I know he feels a pull towards me too. For the first time I’m on my toes and I can’t feel the pain. I could stay like this forever if it means he’ll continue looking at me like he yearns for the day he can taste my lips.
Like he’s the predator and I’m the prey. The thing is, I’d gladly stop running and drop to my knees and let him devour me if he comes after me.
I’m pulled from my daydream when he clears his throat “Did they come off?”
I avert my eyes, my skin growing hot “Yes they did” I murmur.
He lifts my chin “Don’t be shy I felt it too princess” he opens the door and slides into the car leaving me hot in places that shouldn’t be.
Did this man just admit to feeling a pull towards me? Sure he did. Oh my God I’m sleeping with shoes on tonight.
I dart back to the driver’s door and get in. Hands trembling and all.
“Your hands are trembling. Try not to kill us will you?” even without sparing him a glance, I can feel the smirk after that sentence.
“I’m not making any promises”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Wanna come up for some coffee?” I ask after putting the car into park.
“Depends. Does it come with freshly baked cookies?” he banters.
“Depends. Will you install a spyware on my phone when I’m in the kitchen?”
“I could try”
I slap his good arm “Just shut up and follow me” I like his mood change and I’m happy I had something to do with it.
The elevator ride is not any comfortable considering it’s only the two of us and my brain keeps thinking of the things people in movies do in elevators. It also doesn’t help that the first movie that comes to my mind is the fifty shades trilogy.
“Are you okay? You're sweating” Darelle questions.
“What? No I’m not. This is just my natural oily face” I reply just as the elevator doors slide open.
We walk side by side into my apartment. “You do realize I lied about the coffee right?”
“I’ll take wine as a substitute”
“That there is plenty of” I say walking to my pantry. “By the way did your agent get contacted by the Yun wineries team?”
“Yeah he did. Everything is in the works”
“Nice”
I hand him a glass of wine before settling next to him. Now that I think of it, maybe I should’ve placed a huge distance between us. The butterflies in my stomach are definitely having a pool party.
“So any good news about my case?”
I set my glass on the coffee table “Yeah everything is almost ready just a few more to go”
“Great.” He nods “Do you think Seaman told Roach and Crapper that you took the phone?”
“Seaman? Have you met him? That man doesn’t have half the brain to remember what happened that night. His brain is like air, every time he has a flatulence a portion of it dissipates. And with his age, you can only assume he doesn’t have much of it left if not any”
Darelle bursts into a deep loud hearty laughter. One I’ve never heard before and oh my it is beautiful. I could delete all my music just to spend the rest of my life listening to the sound of his laughter. The sound of his soul opening up to the world. He could give the birds a run for their money.
“Ever thought of starring in a toothpaste commercial?” I press when his laughter has died down.
“No” he states.
I pat his bulgy thigh “Well you’re in luck today D because I know a guy”
“Of course you do Zuri” he smirks. “How do you even come up with these jokes?”
I flip my braids “What can I say? It is one of the many talents I was born with”
He smacks his lips in satisfaction “Sure”
“You were stressed about your family today morning weren’t you?” I’m not good at approaching topics so I just go for it.
“Yeah kind of” he replies perturbed.
I tap my chin in thought “I also know another guy”
He smiles “How many guys do you know?”
“Cute ones? One. The other ones? Over four billion”
“Who’s the cute one?” he asks intently
“I’d say he’s sitting right next to me” I smirk watching him shift nervously. Ha! Making him squirm is my new hobby.
“You know every male in the world?”
“Well they say God is a woman and you know what else God is? Omnipresent” I quip.
He smiles that enticing smile I’m growing attached to “Okay then what does this other guy do?”
“He is actually my dad. I could talk to him about having some of his men protect your family”
“he will agree?”
“Yeah why wouldn’t he? He loves me”
“Okay but just don’t tell him anything about Crapper”
“Don’t worry I won’t. I’ll come up with an excuse”
“Thanks Zuri. This really means a lot to me” he says grateful.
“You’re welcome. By the way Roach told us Crapper will host an end year party for the police department this coming Saturday. He’ll also announce the person who’ll be joining the FBI then. Will you be there to witness my win?”
He tilts his head in thought “I haven’t heard anything of the sort but I’m assuming if he’s the one hosting it, I’ll have to accompany Madison.”
I nod in understanding. “Not to intrude but is everything okay between you and Madison?”
Darelle’s entire body tenses at my words, a flash of frantic emotion passing through his face. It makes me regret asking.
“I think I should get going” he says getting up from the couch. His deflection only fuels my curiosity but I let it go.
“Sure I’ll show you out”
We walk to the door in silence. The only clue that he’s not mad at me is the small hug he gives me “I’ll talk to you later. Be safe”
“Okay bye” I bid.
A/N
Hey guys.
I'm sorry this is not my best chapter yet. I've just been out of it offlate.
But thanks for reading❤