Johan's Joy

by Dale Mayer

  She didn’t know what to say about that. She settled back into the seat, frowning. “Where are we going?”

  “A large buffet downtown,” he said. “I can get two steaks there, if I want them.”

  “Do you really need two steaks?”

  “Not sure,” he said with a grin. “Maybe just one will do, depending on whatever else is on tap.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that. There was just something almost surreal about the evening.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  After a few minutes of silence, she nodded. “Yes,” she said, “just mellow.”

  “Good,” he said. “It’ll be fine, you know?”

  She looked at him, hating to hear the insecurity in her voice when she asked, “Are you sure?”

  As they came up to a stoplight, he reached across, grabbed her hand, and gently squeezed. “I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.”

  “I just don’t understand why I should be in danger at all,” she said.

  “Maybe you aren’t,” he said. The light turned green, and they surged forward again. “Chances are, somebody found out we were there looking into the company, and it spooked them.”

  “Well, two investigators will do that,” she joked.

  “But unless they had some reason to think they would be found out, there wouldn’t be any doubt or worry about it. To have taken out the boss means that something has changed within the organization.”

  “You think the thieves did it?”

  “It makes sense,” he said. “For there to be a large theft ring within the company and not associated with the murder stretches the imagination. Generally, if there’s a bad element, it’s all connected.”

  “Maybe,” she said. “I keep thinking about Chelsea and why anybody would want to kill her.”

  “And again, if it’s connected, it’s likely because of what she might have found.”

  “Nobody even talks about her,” she said. “That’s really sad. The woman lived and worked there, so you’d think that somebody would have something to say.”

  “Sure,” he said. “So think about yourself and who you’ve spoken to since you’ve been there.”

  She nodded. “Other than the bosses, when asked, nobody. Absolutely nobody.”

  “Just Phyllis and the other woman, Doris.”

  “Yes, just those two and then only because we shared that tiny space in the dungeon. But, even then, not much was said and never about anything that mattered.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “That’s what it’ll be like for a lot of people.”

  “Kind of depressing though,” she said. “Since I’ve come here, it’s been very hard to meet people.”

  “And that’s to be expected in some ways,” he said. “I think it’s much harder nowadays to meet people, especially if you’re not online all the time. Instead people tend to choose one of the many dating apps to hook up.”

  “I guess I’m a little old-fashioned that way. I’d prefer to like the guy and to know something about him before I go to bed with him,” she said with a smile.

  “Good,” he said, laughing. “Ditto for me.”

  “Have you ever used the dating apps?”

  “No, I haven’t,” he said. “I’m so busy with work and traveling, it’s never been my thing.”

  “And yet it would be easy,” she said. “While you’re in town, you could find somebody to spend time with, whether it becomes an in-bed hookup or not. Seems at least fifty, sixty, or one hundred people—all signed up to these apps—are within a few blocks.”

  “You’ve checked them out?”

  “I did,” she said. “I tried a couple dates with those online apps back in Boston. You know how they say they use computer algorithms to make a good match? I didn’t find that to be true, at least not in my case.”

  “So you didn’t pursue any of them?”

  “No. I had coffee with one, lunch with another, and met in the park with the third. But, in all three instances, I didn’t want to see any of them a second time.”

  “Interesting,” he said. “Billions of dollars go into sorting out those algorithms too.”

  “I know, right?” Rolling her eyes, she said, “I figured it had to be my answers to the questions on the survey.”

  “If you were truthful,” he said, “then the answers should have helped.”

  “I was as truthful as I could be, I thought,” she said. “It’s always a weird feeling though, filling those things out, because there’s no real way to explain anything.”

  “I haven’t filled one out,” he said, “so I’m not sure how it works.”

  “It is completely computerized, and isn’t that sad? It’s like we’ve lost the human element,” she said.

  “Yet I think it’s meant to put the human element back into our lives,” he said.

  They came up to yet another red light, and she stared at it, wondering where the other vehicle went. “I guess so, but it seems sad that we can’t meet people through the old methods anymore.”

  “When was the last time you went to a coffee shop and sat alone? Or went to the library? Or volunteered with a large group someplace where you could have met somebody? Or even gone to a bar and just sat there alone?”

  “Never, never, never, and never,” she said with a laugh. “Good point. And, if I’m not meeting people at work, then what am I doing to meet people? Nothing.”

  “Exactly. Whereas online, you can input your answers, meet up with all kinds of people, and choose to follow through to meet them in person. For an awful lot of people, it seems to be working out.”

  “Maybe so,” she said. “For me, it just seems like something’s missing.”

  “Well, obviously something was missing in those hookups that you’ve made,” he said gently. “That doesn’t mean the next one won’t be great though.”

  “I deleted my profile before I moved here,” she said abruptly.

  He shot her a surprised look. “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “It just didn’t feel right for me.”

  “And I think that’s important too,” he said. “You have to do what’s right for you.”

  She settled into her seat, feeling better. “When are you guys going out tonight?”

  “I don’t know for sure,” he said. “We’ll make that decision when we get back from dinner.” He took the truck around several corners, then pulled into a large parking lot.

  As they pulled in, she was surprised to see Tyson’s SUV already parked there. “I wondered where they’d gotten to,” she said in surprise. “They beat us.”

  “We weren’t far behind them,” he said, pulling into a larger spot a little farther down from Tyson’s vehicle and parked.

  She hopped out, waited for him to come around the back of the truck, and together they walked over to join the other couple. “I couldn’t see you,” Joy said to Kai. “I figured you were lost.”

  “Well, we were a little bit ahead,” she said, smiling.

  “Interesting. I’ve never been to this restaurant,” she said, looking up at the massive building.

  “It’s known for its ribs,” Tyson said. “And we all figured we could do with a good meal.”

  She smiled and nodded. “I’m always happy to try new restaurants,” Joy said.

  They walked in and settled in for what turned out to be two hours of good laughter, good friends, and excellent food. Eventually they headed outside.

  “I feel like I’ll have to be rolled to the truck, I ate so much,” Joy said.

  “Well, that’s both the good and the bad thing about a buffet,” Tyson said, laughing as his arm found its way around Kai.

  Mimicking the same movement, Johan stepped up beside Joy, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and tugging her closer. “Besides, if you have to be rolled to the truck,” he said, “that would look pretty cute.”

  “No,” she groaned. “Not cute at all.” She watched as they separated into the same two vehic
les again. He held open the truck door and assisted her up. “How come it’s just us two again?”

  “Because I arranged it that way,” he said with a wicked grin. And then he shut the door, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

  *

  Johan opened the driver’s side door, hopped into his truck, and smiled at the confused look on her face.

  “Are you flirting with me?” Joy demanded.

  He laughed out loud. “I can see you’re a little out of practice with the social scene.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “I know I’m a little slow,” she said, “but, if you’re arranging all this, at least tell me if it’s because you’re keeping me safe or because you’re interested in me.”

  “Both, I would say. I really like you. And there are definitely sparks between us.”

  “That’s just physical,” she said, as she stared out the window.

  “And physical is a great start to a relationship.”

  “No,” she said. “It’s a great add-on to a relationship. But a relationship shouldn’t be based on the sparks.”

  “No, maybe not,” he said. “But how do you know who to have a relationship with if you can’t feel the sparks from the beginning?”

  For that, she didn’t have any answer.

  He finally pulled up in front of her apartment and said, “We’ll come up and have coffee before we leave.”

  “So how do you stop your bladder from running when you’re on a job like this?”

  Her prosaic comment made him laugh out loud. “We’ll be sure to use the bathroom first,” he assured her, as she flashed him a grin.

  “That’s all right,” she said. “You stealth types must have all kinds of ways to get around awkward situations.”

  “Well, you’d think so,” he said, “but sometimes I wonder.”

  “Oh, I see you’re human too, huh?”

  “Yeah. Sure I am, and bodily functions are not always the most amiable,” he said with a smile, as he parked and shut off the engine. He came around to her side to help her out.

  At that point, she noted he’d parked a block away. “Is there another reason you have for doing this?”

  “I don’t want to be too close and don’t necessarily want them to see us directly entering the building. And, if we have to leave, we don’t want people easily watching both vehicles.”

  “Got it,” she said. “Is it okay if we walk up to the apartment together?”

  “Absolutely,” he said with a smile. He reached out a hand, and she placed hers in it; then together they walked the block back to her place.

  “This feels very date-like,” she said, her words echoing her earlier thoughts.

  “Good,” he said, “then consider it our first date.”

  “Will there be a second one?”

  “Yes,” he said smoothly. Not wanting to give her any chance to think that it was anything other than a date, he said, “When this nightmare is over, I’d love to spend more time with you.”

  “Kai suggested I move to the suburbs so she and I could be closer and could spend more time together,” she said.

  “That would be a great idea,” he said, “but do you want to move?”

  “I don’t want to stay where the bugs were found, that’s for sure.” She shrugged. “But moving? I’m not particularly interested in that, but mostly because I don’t want to go through the physical effort again.”

  “Did you have a reason for being here in downtown Houston?”

  “No, not really. I was looking at Dallas versus Houston and ended up with Houston, though it was pretty arbitrary, if for no other reason than to be closer to Kai.”

  “You’d also be closer to me,” he said.

  “How long are you staying in the US though? I thought you were from Africa?”

  “My stay is open-ended,” he said. “I’m an American citizen, so I can come and go as I want.”

  “Moving here was a fast decision for me,” she said, “and I didn’t really care either way at the time.”

  “You don’t appear to have much stuff.”

  “No, I don’t,” she said. “Less than you think, because I rented the apartment furnished.”

  As they walked, he paused for a moment and turned to look at her. “Really?”

  She shrugged. “I just came with what I could fit in my car.”

  “Well, that makes it easier, as long as you don’t have a long lease.”

  “No, I’m month-to-month. I’ll have to pay for another month obviously, if I give notice, but there’s nothing else keeping me here, except for my job, and you’ve seen how that’s going.”

  “There could be heavy fallout after the media gets hold of the news about Barlow.”

  “I was checking to see if they had already gotten it, but, so far, there’s been no announcement.”

  “I was checking too,” he said. “I’m surprised at that. But it is the weekend, and sometimes the news is a bit behind on business things like this.”

  “Most of the time it seems like they’re right there on the spot,” she said.

  “I’m sure it’ll be out tomorrow.”

  They walked comfortably together, their fingers linked.

  He thought about her moving closer to him and Kai and really liked the idea. “We could see a lot more of each other if you moved closer to the compound,” he said suddenly.

  “We could,” she said, “but I don’t want to make a move based on that potential,” she said. “I have to be happy in Houston’s outskirts, even if we don’t spend any more time together. The Houston area is potentially only a short-term answer for you too.”

  They had reached the main entrance to her building. He opened the door and let her in first. “You’re right.” He nodded. “Pick a spot where you want to live,” he said. “And, if we choose to, we’ll make it happen.”

  “True,” she said with a bright smile. “I’m still not sure exactly how this is happening though.”

  “Well, I could admit that I saw something I liked, and I wanted it, so I went after it.”

  “And yet you said yourself that you were surprised by the kiss.”

  “I was,” he said. “Delightfully surprised. But I was also surprised at the instinct to kiss you because it was not planned.” They walked down the main hallway toward the elevators.

  “Well, that makes me feel better,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t really want to be targeted.”

  “Never targeted,” he assured her. He tugged her into his arms. “We could repeat the kiss just to make sure it was the real thing.”

  She smiled up at him, looped her arms around his neck, and whispered, “Well, we could,” she said, “particularly if nobody will see us.”

  “The hallway’s empty right now.” He lowered his head and kissed her thoroughly. She responded, feeling the exact same surge of passion that had happened before. When they broke apart, their chests were heaving, and her breasts were heavy.

  “Well,” she said, “we definitely need to dole that out in small doses.”

  He hit the button for the elevator. “True enough,” he agreed, as he snatched her hand and walked her inside the elevator. “Either that or we need to set aside some scheduled time and let the inferno blaze away.”

  She smiled as they exited the elevator and walked to her apartment. “I might be up for that too,” she said, “but not until this mess is over with.”

  He smiled, dropped down to check the hair he’d left in the door, and froze. “Well, you won’t be away from me for any time in the near future,” he said, “because that hair is gone.”

  Chapter 12

  Joy stared down at him in horror. He held up a finger to his lips. “We don’t know if they’re inside or not,” he whispered as he stood.

  She shook her head in disbelief. “Couldn’t he have come and gone? Couldn’t that be just because the others are ahead of us?”

  He shook his head. “They aren’t ahead of us,” he said. “They’re behind
us.”

  She frowned. “No,” she said, “they left before us.”

  “Yes, but I took a shortcut,” he explained.

  Just behind them the elevator doors opened, and the other three walked out, talking. When they saw them, Kai raised her hand, preparing to call out.

  Johan immediately held up a hand and pointed at the door. Silence ensued as the others strode toward them. It wasn’t lost on Joy that Kai immediately complied with the unspoken signal without argument or question.

  “Let’s go in first,” Galen whispered to Johan.

  Gently motioning Joy back toward Tyson and Kai, Johan then crouched on one side of the door, with Galen crouched on the other. On the count of three they burst inside.

  She watched in disbelief because the door should have been locked, but it wasn’t. Or it popped underneath their efforts. They made it look like opening a child’s toy. They went in, and there was absolute silence.

  She stared at Kai and whispered, “Is it good or bad?”

  Her face was grim, but she answered, “It’s too early to tell.”

  Tyson stepped up, so that he stood in front of both women, and whispered, “They haven’t called out all clear,” he said, “so that’s not a good sign.”

  Joy nodded slowly. “Right. In other words, somebody could be in there, and now they’re holding Galen and Johan captive.”

  Tyson looked at her, surprised, one eyebrow raised. “Or not.”

  She glared at him, understanding that all these macho guys probably had skills well beyond anything she’d ever seen before, but they could still be taken down by guns with silencers or men with better skills and better weapons. She’d just seen the two guys pull handguns from somewhere, which blew her away, since she hadn’t even realized either of them were carrying. But suddenly they had guns in their hands, and they popped through the door. But then, this was Texas, and a lot of people were armed that she wasn’t really aware of. It was something she might even want to look at moving forward. She shook her head at that. “This is unbelievable,” she whispered.

  “Now it confirms what we’re afraid of,” Tyson said.

  She glared at his back. “I still don’t want anything to do with it.”