by Arizona Tape
If she told that man what her father knew, there would be another person on earth from whom we could gather the information that we needed.
If we succeeded I could stop manipulating Lexi. Maybe that man even worked for us, which would solve the issue completely.
‘She just leaves her gun on her coffee table, so much for being cautious. Oh, and I have no clue how to find him. I’m a lawyer, not a detective.’
Good thing that I am a detective. Sort of.
‘Maybe I could help? I could do some research at work. After all, we work for the government too.’
This was going in the right direction.
‘It wouldn’t hurt I suppose. I’ll give you his name later. Oh God, I told you not to leave the gun just on the table. Silly Jane.’ she said. She kept giving comments, but I didn’t hear her anymore.
She was gonna give me his name.
She was gonna give me his name.
Bingo.
—
‘No, no, no. We do this job because we don’t want information to fall in the wrong hands. What if this man is “the wrong hands”?’ my boss protested while placing his pen decisively on his desk.
Damn, he made a good point.
‘Well, we won’t know before we find this man. If we know who he is, we can decide for ourselves if he is on our side. If he is, we’ll make Lexi and him meet, otherwise, we make sure that they never see each other ever.’ I quickly proposed, trying to find an argument that would convince my boss.
‘Besides, it can’t hurt to look into him.’ I added, strengthening my case.
‘That is true. Give me his name and I’ll look into it myself.’ he said, giving in. I handed him a torn piece of paper with a name scribbled on. He looked at it and I could see his face go blank. He curtly nodded and started typing on his keyboard.
‘Thank you. That’s all. I’ll contact you when I made my decision.’ he coughed, politely dismissing me. I nodded and quickly stood up.
‘Thank you, sir.’ I added and walked out of his office. Before I closed the door I saw that he was rapidly typing and frowning at the screen. The name must have triggered something. I hope that this was the key to our success.
I walked back to my office and found Ruben sitting in my chair, his feet on my desk.
‘Hello there, what do you say about a little game of paintball.’ he grinned while throwing a paint capsule at me. I swiftly dodged the little ball and it splattered against my wall.
‘Rube! Come on, why would you do that?’ I shouted, looking at the big splash of paint.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would break. They look rather sturdy.’ he muttered and stared with big eyes at the yellow stain.
‘Whatever, you are cleaning it up. And get your feet of my desk and your ass out of my chair.’ I declared while rolling my eyes and shooing him out of my chair. He grunted and stood up, still playing with another single paint capsule.
‘Fine, fine. Now, paintball? Some guys I know are making a team and we need some other players and I want you on my team. Are you in?’ he requested, studying the yellow blot that now coloured my office.
‘Staring at it won’t make it go away. Get some wipes or something, I don’t know, just clean it up.’ I scoffed, looking at Ruben who was carefully poking the paint.
‘When my office is back to her old colour, I’ll think about your offer.’ I concluded my rant and started my computer. My boss was gonna do some inquiry, but I couldn’t help it. I needed to look for this man myself even if I wasn’t authorised.
‘I think it goes well with the rest of the colours. It brings this dull office to life. Don’t you think?’ Ruben smirked, having even the audacity to ask for my opinion, as if it were a serious question.
‘No it doesn’t go well with the rest of the colours. Remove it.’ I sarcastically snapped, while taking some files out of my desk drawer.
‘Oh, Jesus, someone is on edge. I’ll clean it up.’ Ruben muttered quietly, rubbing his forehead. I sighed. Normally I would have laughed with the stain, but right now I just was in a foul mood and Ruben was on the receiving end.
‘I’m sorry. I’m having a bad day.’ I apologised, looking at the splatter. It was a nice bright colour and he was kinda right. My office was boring.
‘Just let it be. I’m not that often here anyway.’ I gave in, not really caring about the paint blot. Ruben grinned and threw another capsule at my wall.
‘RUBEN!’ I yelled, looking shocked at the second splatter. I didn’t care about the first one, but now that he had thrown one on purpose...
‘I thought it was gonna be funny. I take my words back.’ Ruben muttered, while slowly turning around. He had been standing too close to the wall, so the paint had splashed back in his face.
‘Oh, you are right. This is funny.’ I grinned, looking at the partially yellow figure standing in my office. Yellow drops falling down from his face onto his expensive suit and shoes.
‘I hope that it will get out of your clothes.’ I pointed out, still snickering. This sight surely made up for the second big stain on my otherwise grey wall.
‘Ha. Ha. Ha. Whatever. I’m gonna change and clean up.’ Ruben huffed and started walking out of my office, trying to keep as much of his limbs still so he wouldn’t leave a yellow trail behind. He kind of resembled an alien when he walked like that. An alien or a kid that pooped his pants.
Both were hilarious.
‘Watch out, there is a yellow monster. Oh wait, it’s just you.’ I shouted at his back, making fun of him. He raised his arm and gave me the finger.
I snorted and focused my attention on my screen. I typed in the name that Lexi gave me and hit enter.
My computer started processing and after I did some searching and browsing, a file finally came up. I impatiently double clicked on it and a screen popped up.
A picture of a middle-aged man, short hair and blue eyes. He wasn’t handsome or ugly, not blond but not really brown either. He was a man that you wouldn’t notice when you were walking down the streets.
And even if you did, he was someone you wouldn’t remember. And it wasn’t a coincidence, no, he was trained to be unnoticeable. A man who could become invisible under the eyes of hundreds. Invisible in a crowd.
But yet, here he was.
‘Found you.’ I whispered, browsing through the files to find some contact information.
26. Lunch Break
Cara Hemlock
I heard a soft knock so I looked up. My boss was standing in my door opening and had such a neutral look on his face that I knew he was trying to hide something. He walked into my office and instead of sitting down he kept pacing around. He opened his mouth to break the silence, but then his eyes noticed the yellow splatters.
‘Trying out some new colours?’ he smirked, making me chuckle and breaking the awkward tension. I shook my head in amusement, both of us smiling.
He coughed and I saw his smile disappear. ‘Hemlock, that man you were looking for, well, he doesn’t exist.’
‘What do you mean?’ I frowned in confusion. I had looked him up and I found his file.
‘Well, technically he exists. He has a driver license, an ID, a social security number, a birth certificate. He even has a library card on his name. But they are all fake. He only exists on paper. Someone who knows the mazes of our system must have created him.’
I groaned. That explained why no one picked up to phone. Just my lucky day. Why was the man we were looking for fake? Lexi’s dad must have known that...
‘But someone must be using him. You don’t just make a person for fun?’ I logically reasoned, my mind making all kind of scenes from kidnapper to bank robber to pirate. I know, pirate isn’t that likely but hey, you never know.
My boss shook his head. ‘I’m trying to find out who’s behind him, but for now, I can’t find anyone with any ties. From what I know, he is just a facade, but a facade created by our government, so tread carefully.’
‘Maybe he
was used for money laundering and when they finished the job they didn’t need him anymore and just let him be?’ I suggested, thinking aloud.
‘Maybe. I’m still trying to determine that. Men like this aren’t created without purpose and discovering it might lead to other issues, so we need to be cautious. I don’t think I need to explain to you how delicate this situation is.’ he spoke, making me nod.
Of course, I understood that if we went digging in the wrong place, something nasty could come out of it. We could be sabotaging another company or exposing a fraud. And for neither, my company wanted to take responsibility.
‘In the meantime, keep trying to get Zellichman to just tell you the information. Ask her on a date or something.’ he said, ending our conversation. He made his way to the door and then something popped into my head.
‘Boss. A quick question. If I want to resume my relation with Lexi after all this, can I tell her about the pill and you know, work?’ I asked, my insides cringing since I was hoping for a positive answer.
He stared at my grey wall, his eyebrows furrowed in thinking.
‘Up until a certain degree. But you can’t explain her the specific details. Just like talking about the company, you can give her an idea of what you do, but you never elaborate too much. I hope that I can count on your discretion when you try to explain this mess to her. Hope that she understands and doesn’t flee the scene.’ my boss finally said, but the tone he used made me question if we were only talking about me.
‘Thank you, sir.’
He waved his hand, dismissing my gratitude gracefully and walked out of my office, obviously sunken deep in his own thoughts.
I turned back to my computer and looked at the man. There went a lot of thought into making him. He was so casual, so invisible, so neutral. His picture, his name, his profession,…
Everything was carefully picked out to make the perfect unnoticeable man. Well, almost.
Still, this didn’t help my situation with Lexi. Could I tell her that he didn’t exist? Maybe if I did, she would tell me instead. That actually sounded like a good idea. Go me.
I picked up the phone and dialled her number, but she didn’t pick up. I left a voicemail message but got impatient after five minutes of waiting. She must’ve been at work, doing all her sexy lawyer things with her unreadable handwriting. Maybe she was wearing sexy glasses and a short skirt…A sexy lawyer.
I turned back to my computer and typed in the name of her company, deciding that I should definitely call her. Lexi Zellichman. Ah, bingo, contact information. I typed in her office number and pressed the green button. After three rings she picked up, her sweet voice filling my ear.
‘Lexi Zellichman speaking, how can I help you?’
‘You can help me by going out with me tonight.’ I confidently said, trying to keep my cool.
‘Cara?’
‘That’s me. Unless you have more friends who randomly ask you out on dates.’ I playfully bantered, making light of the situation, but I was not so secretly hoping that there weren’t any.
In fact, even though it was my joke, it made me a little bit nauseous thinking about it.
‘Hi Cara, it’s nice to hear you and no, you know that I’m only dating you.’
A big grin stretched across my face. That must have been the best thing that I heard all day.
‘Good. So what about the date?’ I repeated, the excitement bubbling up.
‘Tonight? Ehh. That’s short notice, but I’ll get back to you? I’m rather busy right now.’ she answered, immediately inflating the happy bubble inside of me.
‘I, err, I, sure. Give me a call back when you made up your mind.’ I muttered, trying to hide my disappointment. She softly chuckled and said her goodbye. Not even a seconds later the line disconnected and I looked shocked at my phone. She never declined this bluntly? I sat back in my chair, huffed and dropped the phone on my desk. My good mood was completely gone.
Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.
My phone started buzzing as soon as it hit the desk. I saw it was an incoming call from an unknown number. I picked up the phone and tried not to let my foul mood get in the way of sounding cheery.
‘Good morning, Cara Hemlock speaking.’ I greeted while picking up a pencil and drawing little circles on a blank paper.
‘I made up my mind. Yes, I would like to go on a date tonight.’ Lexi chuckled on the other side of the line.
So that’s why she had hung up like that, she was just playing with me.
‘You tease. I’m not sure if that offer still stands.’ I smirked, my mood immediately lighting up. I heard her laugh and I wished I could just see her right now.
‘Oh, the offer still stands. I know it does.’ she confidently stated, bringing back the smile on my face.
‘You’re right. I’ll pick you up at 10 tonight. We are not going to dinner but we’re gonna do something.’
‘Okay, can I wear heels?’
‘Yes. Yes. Definitely. You can always wear heels.’ I quickly answered, without even thinking. Lexi in heels was a delicious sight.
I must have sounded a bit too eager.
‘Haha, stop drooling.’ she chuckled, making shivers run down my spine. Her laugh was so captivating.
‘I’ll try but now I’m imagining you in heels. Your long, long legs and how I can run my hands over it and…’ I whispered, but she interrupted me quickly.
‘Stop, stop. I’m at work, I can’t be horny when I’m discussing court rules with my clients.’
‘Okay, okay, I’ll see you tonight.’ I laughed, glad that I was seeing her later. She said her goodbye again and hung up. This time the conversation ended with a satisfying feeling. I smiled and leant back in my chair, enjoying the excitement running through my veins.
Then suddenly it dawned on me. I asked her on a date, but I forgot that I didn’t really have a date planned. Damn, how could my brain have skipped that part?
I racked my brain in an attempt to come up with a date that I could pull off by 10 pm and one where she could wear her heels. So nothing to active and no long walks.
I looked at my watch and counted the hours. I still had to wait eleven hours until I saw her. That was a long time and I wanted to see her now. When was her lunch break again? Maybe I could just quickly drop by, uninvited.
I mean, as a surprise. That sounded better, but it was basically the same thing. Yes, taking her for lunch sounded like a good idea, confirming if my little fantasy was accurate. I checked the time again.
Hmmm, it wasn’t time for my break yet, but, hey, Lexi was work. My boss said so himself. Taking Lexi out for lunch, that was work.
So I decided that I was gonna go by her office right now.
I grabbed my coat and walked out off my office. The drive might clear my head and give me idea’s for a fun date.
I arrived at her building and walked through the prestigious doors, slightly nervous. What if she was already taking her break with some co-workers? Or maybe she was meeting a friend? Or maybe she was working? Why didn’t I think this through…
‘Hello, can I help you, miss?’ the receptionist asked, gaining my attention. I shook my head and pointed at the elevator.
‘Oh no, that’s quite alright. I am picking up someone.’ I casually lied, pretending that Lexi was expecting me.
‘Okay, have a nice day.’ the lady smiled, no longer looking at me, but staring at the computer, which I am pretty sure she was playing games on.
She obviously didn’t care enough, so I nodded, threw in a quick thanks and inconspicuously walked myself towards the elevator. I pressed her floor number and tried to compose myself.
The elevator made that ding sound, indicating that we were on the chosen floor and the doors slid open.
I had been here before, so I knew my way. I arrived at her office and saw that the door was open. Lexi was sitting at her desk, intensely looking at a giant pile of papers. There were no glasses or short skirts, but damn, she looked so cute when she was fo
cused. I walked into her office and loudly shut the door, making her jump up in surprise.
‘What the?! Jesus, you startled me. Huh, Cara, what are you doing here?’ she breathed out, her hand placed over her heart and a big smile on her face when she realised it was me.
‘Just came over to say hi.’ I grinned and walked closer to her. She wanted to stand up but I gently pressed her back in her chair and bowed down to kiss her on the lips. She softly moaned in content and gently kissed me back. I swiftly deepened the kiss and our tongues engaged in a wild dance.