by Carmen Faye
“Which mug is your favorite?” I asked.
“This one,” he replied, tipping the mug he was using at me.
“Well, that is interesting too. Don’t you think?” I asked.
“My brother gave it to me. Probably because he has always had to take care of me, since he is older,” Tarek replied.
“Or maybe he gave you that mug because he thinks that is how you have to live your life?” I said. “Does he know about your arrangement? Does he know about the deal that was the cornerstone of funding your success?”
“Yes, he knows,” he replied, looking a little annoyed again.
“Well, he probably doesn’t like that all of the craziness in your life is because you have the consequences of someone else’s problems looming over your head and in every darkened corner,” I said, making my case again. “That cup is your approach to things with your money lending business friend.”
“We were having such a good morning,” he said sarcastically.
“We were,” I agreed, regretting picking a fight. “I just feel like you have been made a target.”
“I can’t see why I would be,” he replied, shaking his head.
This new admission was probably the most ear-catching of all. Until this moment, everything he had said made it seem that his strings were being pulled. His personal worsts seemed to be uncontrollable things from his childhood. Had he placed himself in danger knowingly aside from his agreement with the money?
“I thought you cleaned up messes for your boss?” I asked, trying to sound level and non-accusing. “In all the years, you haven’t learned anything?”
“Well, I know a name,” Tarek confessed, seeming to debate whether he should give me any more details.
“What name? Whose name? Maybe you can get to the root of the problem from there,” I suggested.
He paused and then seemed to decide something.
“Perry Hamilton,” he finally said, “but there is nothing that can be done. I looked into the guy. He’s like the CEO of some huge conglomerate. They deal in all things medical from equipment to prescription drugs. They have basically cornered not just a market but the entire industry.”
My jaw dropped.
“What’s the matter? Is something else wrong?” he asked.
“I know exactly who you are talking about. He is a friend of my boss. In fact, that is why I was even working the gala,” I admitted. “Didn’t you say that your boss was chair of the committee hosting the event?”
“Maybe,” he replied, looking uneasy. “Something like that. My boss is involved in a lot of things, but I know he had a large hand in the set up for the gala and the awards at the dinner.”
“Well, what does he do that would be related to the medical field? We need to figure that out and why Perry Hamilton would risk sending his goons to attack such a large event,” I stated.
“For one thing, I guarantee none of it can be traced back to him. If it could, it would have been in the news already,” he reasoned. “As far as what my boss would be doing, I couldn’t say.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I asked, feeling myself become annoyed with him now.
“Can’t,” he said, shrugging. “The nearest I can think is a pharmaceutical company he is tied to. Maybe they have a competing generic or something. I really don’t know. I guess it could be a breakthrough vitamin or supplement. People do strange things for weight loss meds, pain pills, and the like.”
“I don’t think so. I don’t think they would create a hostage situation over something like that,” I replied. “Think, because this all ties to you somehow. That man in the kitchen wanted to kill you. The attendees were rounded up like cattle, but according to the news, there were actually very few casualties. Authorities think the attack was regarding a specific target.”
Tarek looked frustrated and seemed to be trying to call whatever he could to memory now but having very little luck. He pressed his hands to his face and groaned.
“I really don’t know. I know Perry Hamilton, and I know that I was at the party in case someone showed up to try something,” he said, shaking his head. “They never said it would be so many or that they would try anything on such a large scale. Usually, it’s keeping an eye out for someone suspicious trying to gum up the works somehow. I can take them out back and settle things pretty quick. This time, a guy showed up and got me alone in the kitchen. When I looked around at the sound of the explosion he got the jump on me and put a gun on me. Then a good-looking server for the catering company saved my life. That’s what I know.”
I gave a small smile when he referred to me as a good-looking server but soon furrowed my brow, as there was a large puzzle to be solved.
“Okay, let’s put what you know with what I know. That has to get us somewhere because I don’t think we have been making much progress up to this point. We got tipped off that we were going to be attacked, but not in advance enough to do much about it. We were lucky to have been on the balcony to spot the guys yesterday when we did,” I said, considering our time together and our next move.
“That’s true, and the Underground has basically cast me out on my own,” he said. “I don’t even get the impression I could go to the boss right now if I wanted to.”
“What about your brothers, the War Hawks?” I asked.
“Now that things are getting so serious, I see that you may be right about a few things. None of them owes anything the way I do. We can keep them out of it, and should anything happen to me, my second will take over,” he replied.
I accepted his decision on the matter.
“Okay, that sums up your side of things,” I said, and Tarek nodded in the affirmative. “Let’s see what we can do with what I know.”
***
Tarek
“My boss is Graham Stevens, he was the executive chef at several hotels before opening his own catering company, Graham’s Crumbs. Is his name familiar to you at all?” Annie asked me.
“Not really,” I replied honestly. “I have heard of him, but nothing that you haven’t already said. Less than what you have said, in fact. Until you just told me all that, I just knew he was a guy in food. For all I cared, he could have been a TV chef.”
“Surprisingly enough, he auditioned for a few things, but was never chosen,” I said.
It was true. There were two things anyone who knew of Graham Stevens knew about him. The first was that he loved food and took it seriously. The second was that he loved himself and took himself seriously. Every success was owed to him, and every failure was someone else’s fault.
His food really was phenomenal, though.
“I don’t watch a lot of TV. It feels like watching other people have experiences I could go out and have for myself,” he replied, unimpressed. “So, how does he know Perry Hamilton? Considering their fields, it seems unlikely their paths would cross.”
“It does, but Mr. Hamilton has been a long standing friend and client of Graham’s. He made the recommendation of Graham’s services to the committee for the gala,” Annie said before wrinkling her face in a confused manner. “If Graham and Perry Hamilton are close, why would Hamilton send Graham to an event he intends to have his men attack?”
I shrugged and shook my head, not seeing the logic either.
“Does Perry Hamilton use your company’s services a lot?” I asked.
Annie nodded fervently.
“Sure, all the time. He is one of our best clients. I’ve even served him once or twice,” she said. “He actually seemed pretty nice, so it’s strange to think of him being at the head of all that we have gone through the past few days.”
“If our time together teaches you anything, let it be that you can’t judge any book by its cover,” I reminded her.
“Don’t worry. I have definitely learned that lesson. I have also learned every book has multiple interpretations,” Annie agreed. “If Perry Hamilton really is a bad guy, I should probably warn Graham. He’s a narcissist, but he’s not bad deep
down at heart. I’ve worked for him a few years now, so I think I can, at least, be a decent judge of that.”
I thought about it for a moment but agreed.
“We can visit him. I would like to speak with him as well if he doesn’t mind,” I said, beginning to have a better idea what may be going on.
“Maybe Mr. Hamilton’s men used Graham and our staff access somehow to get in the other night. Service entrances and halls access a variety of places that could probably be handy in planning an attack, or worse,” Annie said, beginning to look worried. “What if things have been going on around me this entire time, right under my nose? What if Graham is being manipulated somehow? He has seemed strange lately.”
“We will figure it all out. I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” I said reassuringly. “If your boss is in any kind of danger, we will try to help him too. First, we need to make sure he is not involved. If he is, we need to see how much he knows.”
“Okay, so are we headed back to the city then?” she asked me.
She looked worried but determined. Her expression was much like when she saved me the night of the gala. There was a certain understanding that life was in her hands.
“Everything is going to be fine,” I said, as much for my sake as for hers.
She gave me a small smile and finished the rest of her coffee, placing the cup in the sink when she finished. With a few minor preparations, we were quickly ready to make the ride from Long Island back to Manhattan. It was lunchtime when we arrived, so we grabbed a meal at a food truck before making our way to the apartment in Midtown West, Hell’s Kitchen.
“I’m surprised your boss would have a house in this area,” Annie said when I punched in the code for the parking garage.
“I don’t see why. This is the Diamond District. Business is done here,” I replied.
We left the bike and entered the building from the back, taking an elevator up several flights.
“No penthouse this time?” she asked.
“The balcony view here is better, so I’m told,” I replied, once we were upstairs settling in. “I was thinking about what you said earlier.”
“What I said?” Annie asked. “What did I say? I thought we were going to meet with Graham?”
“We will, but I want to talk to you more about this guy before we meet. I need to be certain that his friendship with Hamilton isn’t covering something else,” I admitted.
“What? Like the arrangement you have with your friend, who is also your boss in some capacity?” she asked, goading me a little.
“Well, yeah. I still think it’s possible he had a hand in the events at the gala, especially since you said he has catered events for Hamilton before. Maybe you never noticed anything, and somehow you and I have never had our paths cross, but I know that Perry Hamilton and men tied to him have been at the root of a lot of things I have had to clean up and fix,” I said, hoping Annie would open up to me. “Do you remember any other events you all have worked recently or other clients you have had private events for?”
“Tarek, I really don’t think Graham is involved. If anything he is being used,” she insisted.
“We don’t know that for sure, Annie,” I snapped.
She looked surprised by my outburst.
“I would rather be safe than sorry,” I said more calmly.
She agreed, “I think I would, too.”
I knew there was a deeper meaning to her words. She was losing her confidence again. She was missing the safety she had known until the attack.
“We have catered a few private events for some doctors around town. I guess that could be related,” she finally continued. “We also get a lot of work in the fashion district, surprisingly enough. We had a few jobs during fashion week last year and have slowly been picking up business with the local celebrity community.”
“Those are two very different fields, two extremes,” I noted.
“Not really,” Annie corrected. “Models are what they are because they are the model of what the rest of us want to be, or think we should be, on the outside. Doctors and medical personnel work on affecting our insides. And there is also a case for cosmetic medical procedures and treatments.”
She made a very strong point, considering things began with the TRU Body Gala.
“Okay, now we are getting somewhere,” I said, beginning to see the picture all our threads were weaving.
“Have you all been having many other types of clients or events the past few months?” I asked.
“Not really. We used to have all kinds of clients, but we have definitely started to cater to a certain type of clientele,” she said, appearing to have a realization of her own. “Now that I think about it, I can’t remember the last menu we had with unhealthy calories on it or clientele that didn’t talk about their weight, diet, fitness trends, or health anomalies.”
“Can you remember any names?” I asked.
“Not really, but we can find photos from some of them online. Graham has a website, and he is photographed pretty regularly with celebrity acquaintances,” she suggested.
I grabbed her arm and led her through the apartment to a home office near the back. She looked around as I entered the password for the computer and researched recent images of her boss. As she said, several were of him with celebrities. Some were from events he catered, and others were from his private life. There were several that had him in the same setting as Hamilton.
“This is our breakthrough,” I said, getting her attention. “I may actually stand a chance at taking your advice if we can deal with Perry Hamilton directly. Maybe fate did bring us together.”
As she turned to face me, I could see she didn’t hold the same excitement.
“Who is in this photo?” Annie asked, handing me a picture frame from the far side of the desk.
The picture was of a family of Middle Eastern decent. It was a boy with his mother and father.
Chapter 9
Annie
“Tarek, answer me,” I said, raising my voice. “Who is in this picture?”
“It’s my benefactor. It’s the last with his family altogether,” Tarek confessed, coming to my side and taking the picture from my hand. “They didn’t know it at the time.”
“For a moment, I thought it might have been a younger you. You and the child in this photo look like you could be related,” I observed.
He stared at it for a long moment, almost as if he felt his friend’s pain. He placed it on the desk and looked at a few other items in the home office.
“Is that why you two became so close when you were young? Is it because you each grew up without a father?” I asked.
“That’s one of many reasons, but I don’t have time to discuss any of them with you right now,” he replied, coming back to the center of the room. “When we get out of all this, I will tell you everything. I will tell you everything about this situation, where I grew up, my boss, my bike brothers, and anything else you want to know. Right now, I just can’t.”
I nodded, but I wasn’t happy with his answer. If there was ever a time to be honest, all these near death situations seemed appropriate.
I still couldn’t help that his secrets were at the root of our current problems.
“Just tell me this, if your boss is such a great guy, why are you keeping him secret from me? Why hasn’t he made more of an effort to help us?” I asked.
We stood between the couches and the coffee table. This place was as immaculately decorated as the others but somehow managed a homier feeling. The bookshelf had the same dry reading material about business and niche nonfiction topics like plants, insects, and healthy foods and habits.
“Ali has done all that he can,” Tarek snapped.
He quickly looked annoyed with himself for letting his benefactor’s name slip, but in truth, the name was lost on me. Then he sighed and seemed to resolve himself to making the most of his error.
“Ali Poole does all he can, but he has to keep h
is name and hands clean,” he defended. “There is a bigger picture and a larger goal. He is someone you can trust, but he needs to maintain the image that goes along with that to have the best effect and farthest reach.”
“That’s what he tells you to keep you cleaning up his messes. People aren’t like that,” I replied, getting loud again.
“You are walking proof of how judgmental people are,” he said, motioning his hand at me. “You have had all these opinions about me only to have them proven wrong.”