I booked a one p.m. flight to Nassau, Bahamas. The spontaneity of the trip would cost me, but I would pay the price ten times to finally speak with someone who had information about the Son's. I got moving early. I wanted to stop by the office before I left. Kenyon needed to know I was leaving. I made it to my office by ten a.m. that morning. Sherry was busy making coffee and running her mouth on the cordless phone. I walked to Kenyon's office prepared to knock.
"He is in with a client and asked not to be interrupted." Sherry tossed at me over her shoulder. I shot her a dirty look and headed for my own office. Inside my office I pulled the file I had been building since I was sixteen. The file was filled with all the human trafficking cases I believed was related to my sister's disappearance. The file was thin. Over the years I had barely found anything to fill it with.
Now finally after all these years I had come up with a lead that might prove promising.
"Antonio man, can I come in?" Kenyon asked from the other side of the door.
"Yeah come on in."
Kenyon stopped short at the sight of my bags which sat in one of the office chairs.
"Are you going somewhere?" Kenyon asked with a frown.
"I have to leave the country for a while on a case; I don't know how long I'm going to be gone," I said.
"Antonio you have a case waiting in my office. This case is your expertise, not mine." Kenyon said slapping his hand against a photo he held.
"K, it's about my sister. I have a lead and I have to take it before it's gone."
"Tell that to the woman in my office. Her sister is missing too. She has nowhere else to turn but you." He yelled.
"K, I'm sorry about her sister, but right now I'm only thinking about mine. I have waited years for an opportunity like this one to present itself. I'm not going to let it slip through my fingers." I yelled back.
My office door opened and hit Kenyon in the back. The force of the blow knocked him forward and the photograph that he held flew out of his hands and landed on my desk.
"Can you guys please keep your voices down? You have a client across the hall. It looks to damn unprofessional for you two to be yelling at each other like a couple of hoes fighting over a corner on the boulevard," Sherry hissed.
"She didn't hear us did she?" Kenyon asked.
"I don't see how she couldn't, considering that everyone in Ft. Lauderdale probably heard you," Sherry said. She shook her head and closed the office door. Kenyon looked at the closed door for a second then turned back to me.
"I'm sorry for coming down hard on you. Go find your sister," he said in a defeated voice with his shoulders sagging.
Remembering the picture on my desk, I reached down and picked it up.
"Hey K-"
The words died on my lips as I looked into a face I had not seen in years. Kenyon turned around and reached for the picture. I snatched the photo back to have a closer look. Was I hallucinating, could it be?
"Where the hell did you get this picture?" I asked.
I stumbled around my desk and grabbed Kenyon's arm.
"Antonio what the hell is wrong with you?" He replied, snatching his arm out of my grip.
"Where did you get it from?" I yelled.
"From the client in my office, she believes the-"
I didn't give him a chance to finish. I crossed the hall to Kenyon's office and flung open the door. The sight that awaited me there was one I could not believe. Was this a dream? Had I finally lost what was left of my mind? She paced around Kenyon's office as if she was a dangerous caged animal. Her movements were tensed but graceful. My body responded to her without my consent. My entrance startled her, she struck a defensive pose.
"Es usted verdadero?" I whispered.
"What?" Her hazel eyes narrowed in suspicion. Kenyon who'd gotten over his shock came charging into his office, halting at my side. He didn't say anything, but his body remained tense as if he expected to wrestle me to the ground at any moment. But his stunts were wasted, because I made no attempt to move. Hell I was too afraid she might disappear. How could she not? She was an erotic manifestation of my imagination, there was no way she was real. Kenyon cleared his throat bringing my attention back to him.
"Can you see her too, K?" I asked, my eyes never leaving the vision.
"Antonio stop playing. Dr. Nichols, this is Antonio Rodriguez. Antonio this is Dr. Nikayla Nichols." She was real. Slowly, I recovered from my shock.
"Do you know the man in this picture?" I asked, holding up the now crumpled picture with a shaky hand.
"My sister was presumed dead six months ago. I have reason to believe she was kidnapped," she nodded her head at the picture, "and the man in that photo is responsible for her abduction. I was told you had information regarding this, Detective Rodriguez."
She looked as if she had not slept well in months. Her exhausted look, made her look sexier. Immediately I began to imagine her in bed and me-. Damn it, Rodriguez get your head in the game, this Chica has information, go get it.
"Who told you that?" I asked.
"Do you have information regarding my sister, or not?"
"Sweetheart I don't know your sister. I do know the man in this photo, and if he is involved my rate just doubled," I said, pissed off that I didn't seem to have the same effect on her as she had on me.
"How do you know him?" She asked.
She drifted closer to me. It took me a second to find my voice. Her scent alone made me as hard as a rock. Get your shit together man.
"We have history," I replied.
Damn was it hot in here? She stared at me for a few ticks, and then walked over to the office's window. I glanced at Kenyon and he nodded.
"Dr. Nichols, have you ever heard of human trafficking?" I asked.
"Are you talking about people who are kidnapped from third world countries and forced into slave labor?"
"Yeah, but that's not even a tenth of it. Human trafficking is a billion dollar business which extends too many areas of the sex trade industry. It's not just limited to third world countries either, it's global," I said.
"Why are you telling me this?" She asked.
"If he is involved, then I am a hundred percent sure your sister is a victim of human trafficking," I said as I placed the photo on Kenyon's desk. She dropped into the chair next to mine and buried her face in her hands.
"Tell me everything, start from the beginning and try to leave nothing out," I said.
"Six months ago my sister announced she was marrying a man that she had only known for a month and a half. Up until that point we had no idea if she was even seeing anybody," she said looking up to stare at the photo. "When I met him I thought he was an arrogant bastard who was full of himself, and my parents' hated him. That kinda drove a wedge in my sister's and parent's relationship. So to prevent her from being totally isolated from us, I pretended to support her decision to marry Caleb. I even agreed to go on a pre-bridal trip to the Bahamas he had arranged for us. I thought that if we had time alone I would be able to talk her out of marrying him." Her gaze swung to me, pinning me the fuck down. "But the son of a bitch out maneuvered me. Miah called me a day before we was scheduled to leave for the Bahamas. In order to save our reservation at the resort her and her fiancé's sister had to fly out a day before schedule. When I made it there they were already gone. We searched for them for two weeks, before the search was called off. The constable was able to pinpoint that Zyonna and Miah rented a boat the day they disappeared. The man who rented it to them said there had been shark sightings that day, and the boat Miah and Zyonna rented was found empty. Bloody fabric from a sundress I'd given Miah floated near the boat, and some even washed up on shore. Because of that Miah and Zyonna was presumed dead."
Her face had grown pale as her eyes became distant.
"What makes you think events didn't unfold exactly the way the constable said they did? What makes you so sure your sister was not shark bait and then shark waste?" I asked.
Her neck snapped back as if I had slapped her.
"I am not some grief stricken relative who is in denial. If my sister was really dead I would know it, I would feel it." Dr. Nichols slammed her fist down on Kenyon's immaculate desk. Neat stacks of paper were sent flying in different directions. I stood my ground and continued to jug at the stability of her beliefs. I had to know exactly what she knew, feel exactly the way she felt. Without her trust what tools did I have to bring her sister home?
"Feelings let me tell you a little something about feelings and the people who believe in them."
I came out my seat and left Kenyon's office. In my office I flung open the file cabinet which held cases I tried to forget. With an armful of folders I marched back into Kenyon's office.
"Now where were we? Oh yes, feelings. Two years ago David Watson came to me looking for his little girl. He told me the police had stopped treating the case as a rescue and started handling it as a homicide. Mr. Watson didn't want to believe his little girl was dead. He too had feelings his daughter was still alive and out there somewhere." I slapped one of the folders down on the desk and opened it to a picture of a dead little girl with shocking blue eyes. The little girl eyes telling the tale of her last horror filled moments of life.
"So much for his feelings. I found her two weeks later in some woods not ten yards away from a playground. She had been repeatedly raped and when the kidnapper was done with her he snapped her neck."
I opened more folders of all the different cases over the years that had not had a happy ending. Dr. Nichols eyes were glued to the pictures of death which lay strewn across the desk.
"Because these clients didn't trust me enough with their secrets I was unable to do my job. So tell me, Dr. Nichols, what are your secrets? " I asked.
"What do you think I'm not telling you, Detective Rodriguez?" Kayla asked.
"If I knew we wouldn't be having this conversation," I said.
She stared at me a moment, before finally nodding. "Caleb is not who he appears to be. My father told me of terrorist group he believed Caleb to be a part of. My dad was a member of that organization but quit when he discovered all the things they were in to. Before Miah was presumed dead my father believed that Caleb might have had something to do with her disappearance. He thought Caleb had taken Miah to exact some kind of revenge for his leaving the organization."
"You said believed?" I asked.
"Yes, that was before the constable declared Miah dead."
"Do you believe Caleb found your family for the purpose of carrying out revenge?" I asked.
"I don't know what to think. All I know is that everything Miah's ever told me about Caleb is a lie. The place he was born, what he did for a living, and even his name, all lies. The credit card he used to pay for the trip to the Bahamas was not even in his name. The owner of the card was a victim of identity theft. So you tell me Detective Rodriguez, what do you think?"
"I am not a dect-" I began.
"You were a detective before being kicked off the force for following a lead all the way to Mexico and out of MDPD jurisdiction. I've done my homework Detective Rodriguez and I'm pretty sure I wasn't given your name because it looked good on a card. You may have heard this story many times before from a variety of clients, but guess what? This time it is different and you can take that promise all the way to the bank, and cash it without a damn ID." She said as she slapped a check down on Kenyon's desk. I reached to pick it up and she slid it out of my reach.
"There are some conditions if you agree to take my case." Kayla said. Her gaze bore into mine, she had my attention.
"And those are?" I asked being pulled in once again by her intense laser focused hazel eyes.
"I am involved one hundred percent or nothing."
"Antonio has no problem keeping you abreast of -" Kenyon began to assure.
"That is not what I'm talking about and he knows it. On this case I will be his shadow and he mine, this is a deal breaker," She said.
I stared at her for a long time. Before I could stop my words I heard myself say, "Can you keep up, because I am not in the babysitting business?"
"Neither am I." She responded in the next breath.
"Antonio prefers to work-" Kenyon started once again.
"I don't have a problem with that then. As long as when I say it's time to move you're ready and waiting." I took two steps toward her.
"I sleep with my shoes on." She answered.
Unaware, she moved toward me as well.
"Have you lost your mind, Antonio we don't have insurance to cover this. She could be hurt and where the hell will that leave us?" Kenyon said coming out of his seat and around his desk.
"I am willing to sign any release that will make you feel comfortable Mr. Michaels." Kayla said turning from me to Kenyon.
"There is no release big enough to hide us from a family like yours. I don't feel like having my ass handed to me if you was to get hurt." Kenyon screeched and waved his arms around in the air.
"Now I feel left out, has everybody but me been googling?" I asked.
"This is not a game Antonio, she's a fucking Clairrington." He hissed at me and marched around his desk and slammed the door to his office shut.
"I am not, I am a Nichols." Kayla calmly replied.
"The same damn thing, Dr. Nichols and you know it." Kenyon said.
"What the fuck is a Clairrington?" I asked only mildly curious.
"Gentlemen, your language. Please," Kayla said, sounding like she was an elementary school teacher.
"Not a Clairrington, the Clairringtons', as in the third richest family in the world." Kenyon said.
"Look Mr. Michaels, my mother's family rarely interferes in our lives so please calm down before you have a stroke."
"Tell me about the other girl who was with your sister?" I asked Kayla and shooting Kenyon a cool it look.
"She's my sister's roommate and Caleb's sister." Kayla replied.
"You think she may have been in on this with your sister's fiancé?" Kenyon asked
"I wouldn't doubt it. Zyonna behaved strangely when I first met her. She was uncomfortable with answering any questions that pertained to Caleb," Kayla said.
"Do you have a picture of them?" I asked.
"Yeah in my back pack." Kayla said. She retrieved the bag that was lying against the corner of Kenyon's desk. She pulled the photo out and handed to me. Air left my lungs and my knees buckled. Alejandra! She was sixteen years older, but it was her. I would know her face before I knew my own.
"Antonio man, are you alright? What's wrong? Talk to me." Kenyon asked. He tried to snatch the picture away but I wouldn't let it go. I couldn't let it go.
"Alejandra." I whispered still staring at the picture.
"What where? That's your sister?" Kenyon asked.
"You know Zyonna?" Kayla asked.
"She's my sister." I forced out.
"I don't understand, are you and Caleb related?" Kayla asked.
"No, that bastardo is nothing to me or her; she was only twelve years old when he took her." I said.
Kayla's face clouded over; she dropped down on her knees and grabbed me by the front of my shirt.
"Look at me damn it, you give me this whole song dance about me not trusting you, not telling you everything, when all along you are withholding things from me! This ends now. You start telling me everything right now or I swear I will walk out of this office and the last thing you'll ever see of me is my black ass."
Kayla challenged me with a stare. I took a deep breath to get a hold of myself before she made good on her threat. I could not afford to lose her now.
"Look Chica, your right, I haven't been telling you everything. If you'll let me go so I can stand, then I promise I'll tell you everything," I said placing a hands on top of hers. She held her position a second longer, and then let go of me. She stood and backed away, giving me enough room to also stand.
"I've spent many years searching for that man. My family left Cuba for America when I was sixteen. Before being allowed into the states we were placed in a refugee camp in Guantanamo Bay. The man in this photo was one of the guards there. One night after being there for six months him and some other guards rushed inside our tent. They kidnapped Alejandra, my sister, and killed my mother."
"Oh my god. He really is a monster," she muttered under her breath.
"You have no idea what this man is capable of. I have spent half my life searching for this bastard and this picture is the only thing I have to show. I can't get close to him. No one is willing to talk about him. His name alone inspires fear," I said.
"Last night he came to where I was staying and drugged me. He wanted me to stop asking questions about him and his associates," Kayla said.
"You saw him just last night? Why didn't you open with that?" I asked.
"He drugged me to the point I was paralyzed. When I came through the next morning I wasn't entirely sure if I had dreamed the whole thing or not," She said turning to me to meet my gaze.
"We need information. From the looks of your sister I'm willing to bet the check on Kenyon's desk she was sold to a private owner." I said.
"The prophecy?" Kenyon asked.
"What does that mean?" Kayla asked.
"It means that you have a lot of superstitious old men willing to spend top dollar on the reincarnation of the Queen of Sheba. They believe that owning the Queen of Sheba will rain blessings of prosperity on all of their households and businesses," I said.
"Don't forget it also says she will give birth to sons and daughters who are destined to rule nations." Kenyon added.
"Miah was taken because someone actually believed she was the reincarnate of the Queen of Sheba." Kayla asked astonished.
"I don't think the people who took her believe that. But I do, however think whoever took her doesn't mind capitalizing off of someone else's belief in the prophecy," I said, turning to face Kayla.
"Why in the hell would they believe that Miah's the Queen of Sheba?" Kayla asked.
"The prophecy is the Queen of Sheba will once again walk the earth in a mortal form that is identical to the form she possessed during her own time. Prophecy says you will know her by the darkness of her skin, dark hair which curls and pools around her waist and green eyes that shines like emeralds. She will be desired by every man who is impure of heart, but will only give her heart to one man who is truly fit to be her king." I said, as Cleopatra James' face entered my mind.
Kayla rolled her eyes and flopped back in her chair. "Miah, what have you gotten yourself into now."
"Dr. Nichols, go settle into your hotel, and we'll go out later. Shake a few trees. See what falls out." I said holding Kenyon's office door open for her.
"I have no time are patience for shaking trees, Detective Rodriguez," she said, brushing me as she passed. "It'll save us time if we just cut the damned things down."
"Now you Angel are my kind of woman." I said watching her go.
"So I guess for now you're going to be sticking around, huh?" Kenyon said.
"You know I think I just might. It looks like my case just came to me." I replied, my eyes still firmly fastened to Kayla's ass