The Mysterious Women Series:Blackmail

by Paramita Choudhury

  Chapter 15

  After Von left Michelle served herself with some Rosemary corn bread and baked beans, Thank god I prepared these right away in the morning, because I'm totally exhausted now; let me check the beans first. She took a bite of the beans yummy, so delicious; Mitch you've turned a good cook in these few months. She patted her hand and gradually grabbed on the rest of the food, before she gets distracted. Oh how I will miss these classic dishes next month, why do I have to stay fit always, she scorned, "For your job Michelle", she mimicked her boss. She always had the figure of a model, yet these last few months she gained little weight and a few curves attached to her beauty, I love my assets though. Her ambition was not to pose for cover pages; she wanted to shoot down criminals. Just now I shot an army of beans and a huge rosemary tank. Oh geez let me call Jean. But before she could call Jean her cell phone rang and a glance at the number told her it was from Mr. Smarty Martin " What is it Smarty"? she pulled his leg, she knew how it irritated him when someone called him Smarty, he sighed "Agent Elsa is dead", the word dead came out easier than he thought he always backed off whenever he had to give this news but this time it seemed to slip off his mouth like chocolate, may be because Elsa was family, family for everyone. Michelle felt her brain stopped functioning for a while the lady who inspired her to be a Fed was no more with them, "how do you know"? She spoke after a long silence. "I had been calling her for a while but she didn’t receive the call so I thought of sneaking inside the gallery, I through the gates sedated one of the guards while the other slept and walked in through the alternate door. Since the guests were busy observing the paintings no one noticed me sneak in. In the ladies washroom I found her lying wide -eyed and her throat was slit using Copper wire"."Who else is there with you"? She further enquired "Agent Hudson and agent Von is on his way", "Pass agent Hudson the phone", suddenly she could hear lots of hush-hush and then a strong male voice from the other side answered "Hudson hear", "Who is covering Jeanne tonight"? she didn’t know from where the question came to her mind but something about the girl spoke 'deceptive', 'you are acting like a paranoid' Von had told her though the girl was transferred not more than a month yet she got to work in this case along with Michelle and other senior agents. "It’s the new guy Mark and there is something even worse than Elsa's death", she knew what it could be and had always known "The girl is missing", "Positively yes and may have been abducted by the convict". She grinned smugly at the agent's foolishness this guy really needs to go through the entire training for a second time, why can't they see that she is the one behind Elsa's assassination."Interrogate Mark immediately", she commanded, he knew this was not a request instead an order which has to be followed, "There's something important you must know," he said, "Martin says he got a message in Elsa's cell phone sent to her from Jeanne and it says that she must hide before they kill her". This explains everything where and when was she last seen"? she asked "I send with the DNA samples that you collected, she handed it over to the lab and then as they were returning to the head quarters she asked Mark to drop her near Manhattan where she would meet her informer and later return on her own". Damn she has fled; Michelle found her anger rising "She was last seen at around 7 p.m.". Now they had to simply wait for the forensic department to find out Elsa's death timing and then there will be no restraints against Jeanne."Did you check finger prints I sent yesterday?" she asked, "Neither matched." "Alright, send someone to fix the bugs," she said, "But they were only placed last week", he replied. "So, either they're not working or I'm impaired, which one do you think?" she hissed, "I'll send someone tomorrow, just be in the cabin," he said, "I need a report on Ryan Jenson's past history," Michelle said, he seemed to note it down because she heard a sound of turning pages from the other end, "I'll update you later in the morning." With that he ended the call. Her mind was filled with conflicting thoughts forget about sleep tonight.

  "Do you see this person on the video clip"? Von asked Martin. There were getting a closer look on the CCTV footage to check out the guests who were invited at the gallery. "He is observing the paintings and yeah he's keeping an eye on Sara", Martin answered. "And if you remove his moustache, dye his hair blonde the man will be none other than our convict", Hudson added. "Summon Mr. Leroy here we need his opinion regarding his guest". While Martin was away calling Armel Hudson decided it was time Von should know about Jeanne. None of them had told him regarding Jeanne's disappearance and how the senior authorities were blaming him for giving her appointing her as a Federal agent.

  "You're too early," Sara said sarcastically as she and Zack entered the restaurant."You sound more like a girl friend than a secretary," Zack mocked. "I was just worried," she said politely, shit I've lost my mind, well a part of yours was certainly worried Sara when you saw the other man hit his jaw. Zack's eyes lit like a kid I hope she doesn’t change her mind about my well being "Actually a drunkard smacked my car's bumper and ", a waitress out of nowhere appeared in front of them and showed them their seats," And what happened", she asked staring at his blue eyes, she had never seen such beautiful shade of blue, they looked like clear sky. "The brawler he came out of his car and yelled at me, I told him it was his fault," Zack smiled deviously "You know brawlers, you can't explain them anything, he challenged me to a duel," "So you fought with him," she asked appearing to be curious. "I refused initially, but he called me coward, I came out of the car he hit on my jaw and I punched his nose", he chuckled, I know you very well Mr. Hit man. Her eyes turned big "the corner of your lips seems to be bleeding, Waiter," she summoned. The waiter immediately rushed towards their table, a look at their dresses would tell anyone that these people belonged to some high class society and their restaurant rarely saw big money "Yes mam," without turning towards him she said" would you get me some ice cubes?" "Sure, anything else Mam?" he asked " Would you please ask Aunt Matilda that her Nutcracker is hear", Zack had a smile plastered on his face right from the moment they reached here, the waiter rushed with same speed towards their kitchen and within a few minutes got their supplies. She took the tray from him "Thanks, here take this", and paid him a 100 bucks."You know this is not at all necessary," he told her."If you are not well then who'll write my paychecks," she smiled."Uh-huh I get your point," he smiled back at her."Here hold this," she handed him the tray, walked over towards him and started rubbing the ice cubes against the corner of his lips, until the bleeding stopped, I don't know why I'm doing this. She went back to her seat and soon a waitress probably in her fifties; with blond hair brought they grilled chicken, wine and brownies. This might sound as an odd combination, but this was her favorite meal. She took a bite from the brownies and saw that his hands were still placed on his cell phone; where are my manners to cover up she asked him "Do they really sell brownies out here?" "No, " his eyes still glued to the cell phone screen "I ordered this specially for you," he said "You see she is quite good in making these, so I told her to prepare some tonight." Her gaze averted from him to Matilda who was now standing near the manager, checking out some data sheet she supposed. "Is she the co-owner?" it took almost a minute for her receive the answer "Actually her husband started this restaurant along with a friend, "he said "after he died it was up to her to run this place," all this while she had been waiting for him to finish to throw up the next question "and how are you so familiar with it?" He beamed "Matilda is my mom's best friend and the closest to family I ever had"," and ", she eyed the dishes once more "you already had everything arranged," she asked eyeing him like a hawk "and "what is this with nut cracker" ? "When he was five years old he couldn’t crack the nuts and once he learnt to do so he would crack all the nuts that we bought, we used to keep the nuts aside specially for him", she placed a specially made Margarita for them and left the couple on their own. He couldn't understand whether she was angry or happy because of the expressionless mask that she put on her face; it was this expression of hers that he dreaded the most, those cold brown eyes as if sinking to his skin, meanwhi
le she was quite nervous and tried to mask it up using a poker face, I always tried to avoid the inevitable, why can't he leave me alone. As much as he knew he had done nothing to hurt her feelings, surprising someone can never be that bad" yes, don't you like it?" he asked her. "I love it, but why are you doing all this, I mean I know that you are my boss and I accompanied you to the gallery, still you didn't have to do this she motioned towards the food."I don’t do this for everyone," he replied calmly. "Then why for me?" as much as she dismayed her fate she wanted him to say the three sacred words, and to her relief he did "because I love you". You cannot buy that Sara her conscience told her, you cannot fall for him, he's a bait, you need to use him not be used by him, he's a play boy don’t forget that, "Okay," she replied. He looked horrified how can she do this? You're not letting her go "What do you mean okay? I went all the way making you feel like a princess and then you simply reply me okay?" how can someone be so dramatic? She smiled inwardly "How do you want me to react? When I clearly know your reputation with girls?" Gosh keep your anger down Sara "I know I'm a heartbreaker, but it's different between us," he grabbed her hand and held it between his "I feel it and I know you feel it too", Just by touching my hand he can melt me, she closed her eyes feeling the warmth from his hands, think straight Sara, Well being close to him I can get access to all his personal files, so why not give it a chance. When she opened her eyes, she found him looking at her eagerly just like a kid waiting to cut the cake for the first time, "Alright, I can give it a try in one condition, I'll not be forced into something I don't want", and no publicity she wanted to added but discarded the idea, saying that would make her look like a fool."I agree to all your conditions", Zack said his face now glowing; within a month you'll be completely mine excluding your conditions. Oh how I love the way you smile, your silky hair everything. "You never said you love my smile," she replied scornfully. Shit I think too loud and took a sip of his favorite Margarita "Yes, I do, as a matter of fact I want to be the reason of your smile", so theatrical, she thought while eating the brownies. He got puzzled "Excuse me"? "I am not that theatrical"? She didn’t respond, let him think "sho yummy," she said while chewing the chicken pieces and then unexpectedly sensing danger, she went and sat in the chair adjacent to him, "Kiss me," she whispered, when he didn’t follow, she pulled his tie "Hey wait", he chocked and held her hand "If this is your idea to get intimate we can do it in my place", he grinned. She rolled her eyes and forced her lips into his at first he didn’t respond, slowly his hands caressed her back, he kissed her wildly as if he couldn’t get enough of it, when she pulled back he looked disappointed, she was almost out of breath" there are people out here ready to kill you". He slowly turned to his left, there was a person in cowboy jacket and boots, and he seemed to be innocent at first, just then with a flicker of his eyes he signaled a person sitting on the end corner holding a gun which was pointed towards their table.