by Simone Kelly
When I first met Elizabeth, I thought she was beautiful. Tall, slender yet curvy, and elegant, with deep chocolate-toned skin. Dressed in designer gear from head to toe. She was like a cross between Grace Jones and Naomi Campbell. Her exotic head wrap made her look like an African doll. I couldn’t understand why Yuri would want to cheat on someone so gorgeous, but sometimes beauty is not all men want.
The day she came in to hire us, Elizabeth sat up straight like a dancer and crossed her legs. “I really hope you can help me. He denies it every time I do catch him. He’ll always have some elaborate story. I need to have evidence so I can really, really prove it. Catch him in the act if you can.” Her Liberian accent was very charming, she seemed to come from money. Very classy.
Vince leaned in over his desk and said, “You know, Mrs. Vlad—”
“Please, call me Elizabeth. I’m not going to be going by that anymore. Elizabeth Moore is my birth name.”
“Okay, Elizabeth, just an FYI . . . before we get started, you will have to sign a waiver and contract, because once we find out what we need to find, it’s on you what you do with the evidence. We won’t be held liable for what happens next.”
I looked at Vince and then back at Elizabeth. He handed her a folder with the documents. I was a bit shocked at how he played that.
“I understand. I am prepared for what you find. I won’t be silly. I’ll leave right after. I probably won’t even let him know until our day in court.”
She looked the papers over briefly and signed them without really reading them.
“He is extremely possessive and controlling and I need to get out,” she explained.
Vince asked, “Elizabeth, have you ever tried to leave him before?”
She looked down at her neatly manicured nails and shook her head.
“I’ve thought about it, but he controls everything, my phone, my car, my bank accounts. He won’t let me work. A friend gave me the money to pay you.” Her deep brown eyes closed for a second, as if she were holding back tears. She was truly crying out for help. “I’m hoping I can get enough money in our divorce to move back to Liberia for a while and be with my family. He’s even isolated me from them, since they don’t like him.”
Yup, all the signs of abuse were there, even if he’d never laid a hand on her. Controlling her money and isolating her from friends and family were enough already.
Elizabeth continued, “He’s very powerful. He owns a few fast-food restaurant franchises and is well known in South Beach. In the beginning, he treated me like gold. Like his prize. Five years later, I feel used and taken advantage of. He never really loved me. I was just his little trophy to show off and bring to yacht parties with his obnoxious friends. ‘Look at me and my African princezzz’”—she mocked his Russian accent—“that is what he would tell people.” She scoffed as she recrossed her legs.
Vince chimed in. “I’m sorry you’re going through this. We’re going to get right on it. Fill out this application, too, so we can gather as much info as we can on him and let us know his hangouts.” He handed her all of the paperwork on a clipboard.
I was amped up. This controlling bastard was going to be a thrill to bust. I got the vibe that not only was she terrified of him, but that he possibly beat her. She didn’t feel comfortable telling us that yet, but I felt it.
“You know Yuri is a professional MMA fighter from Russia? He is not violent toward me, but he threw our TV out the window once during an argument. He’s a furniture thrower.”
“Ummmm, that doesn’t sound good,” I said. It’s like she sensed that I knew.
Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. “He’s harmless. He can throw whatever the hell he wants, because by the time you give me what I need, I’ll be clear across town with all of my belongings.” She dusted her hands off as if she was going to be done with him for good. “He’s on the road a lot, which is where he keeps meeting these sluts. He stopped me from modeling, from doing what I love, because he didn’t want me around handsome men, then he goes around and does this shit? I’ve contracted a few STDs in the last year from him. He’s putting my life in danger. I can’t wait to be rid of him.” She slammed down the clipboard.
Getting STDs from your man, excuse me, your husssband . . . That’s some lowdown dirty shit. I would end up in jail if some dude did that to me. I don’t need no mo’ proof. It was time for me to put my super sleuth cape on! Vince knew I was excited to work on this and he let me take control, as long as I checked in with him and Antonio daily on my findings.
The next day, I hacked into Yuri’s social media accounts with no problem. He was really carrying on like a single man. From selfies in the tub to mini videos of him jerking off. It was disgusting. He was so sloppy with his interactions. I think he just had a sense of entitlement since he was wealthy. In a typical week he went on five to seven dates with different women.
I really couldn’t wait to get revenge for Elizabeth! I had the perfect plan. After a little private investigator training from Vince, I knew what to do.
Last week, Vince sat me down and gave me a few lessons in surveillance.
He said, “Kylie, the best spy doesn’t even have to hide. You stay in plain sight. They won’t suspect a thing! Like a fly on the wall.” He pointed to the logo of the agency on the wall. “You see a fly, but you don’t usually care about it. If it’s not buzzing in your face or in your food, you ignore it, don’t ya? You, my friend . . . become the fly. When I was a rookie, my first partner Willy B. taught me everything I know. He was a big, broad, six-foot-two black dude, but he still had a talent for blending in.”
“How the hell did he pull that off? I thought I was gonna get to wear disguises and stuff.”
Vince laughed and started writing in a composition notebook.
“Nah, you don’t have to. Unless you want to. Look, after all my years as a homicide detective, I’ve seen it all. I solved the hardest cases trailing some clowns who were clueless that I was on their asses.”
I was intrigued. “Was it a nerve-racking job? Working in homicide?”
“Well, it had its highs and lows. It’s not like the movies. You young kids watch Law and Order or CSI and think it’s all fun and games and shit gets solved in one day. You need patience. Some cases take months, some years. It’s never easy seeing dead bodies, and trust me, I’ve seen hundreds.”
“Oh my God, hundreds? I would have nightmares.”
“Oh, you get those, too, trust me! But the joy, I mean the reeeeeal freakin’ joy, is helping those people. I like being the voice for the dead.” He smiled at the memories.
“What? You talk to dead people, too?”
“No, no, not like that! I spoke for the guy who got killed. I was his mouthpiece. Solving the crime and putting those assholes behind bars. Oh and another thing . . . every day is something different, just like this job. We get all kinds of cases. Some you will love; some not so much, but they are all challenging and different.” He snapped his fingers with both hands. “Keeps you on your toes.”
“I see!”
“You gotta learn your craft, kiddo. Shadow us whenever you can. I’m getting up there in age, I’ll be fifty-nine this year . . . so not really on the streets as much. I keep it light. I am more of the research guy, but Antonio is a master at surveillance. Study, study, study for that PI test. I’d say in a five to six months you should be good to take it, but start studying now.”
“I’m ready to learn. I’ll be your faithful Jedi, Yoda.”
He rolled his eyes at me. “What are you trying to say, I’m Yoda ’cause I’m little and round?” The chair squeaked as he leaned back to tuck in his shirt and cracked a smile.
I laughed, relieved he was just teasing and not really offended.
“All right, we’re gonna have a little school right now! Here’s a pop quiz: Let’s say the person you are following is a cheating husband. You find out he has a meeting at a park with his new fling. What do you do?”
“I don’t know .
. . wear dark glasses and hide in the bushes?”
He shook his head and folded his arms.
“Okay, okay. Go jogging? Pretend I’m a jogger and maybe hang near them and start stretching.”
“That’s okay, but then what? You gonna stretch and then start taking pictures?”
I shook my head eagerly. “I could with my phone.”
“Too sloppy. What I would do is act like I’m a photographer. Bring a real camera, though. Take photos of the birds, turtles, spiderwebs. Just act fascinated with nature. Zoom in on leaves and butterflies and all that shit. Most guys are so stupid, they aren’t even thinking. You would have snapped ten pictures of him holding hands and making out with the chick without him having a clue!”
“Ohhh, that’s a good one!”
“Remember, you are a woman, so use your femininity as a cover. No one ever suspects a woman as doing anything shady. Okay, let’s say the date is in a restaurant. You follow the lady to the bathroom. Start chatting with her. Mention something about her husband and see what she says. You’re a charming girl. You can get her to cough up the goods. She might go, ‘Oh, that’s not my husband, that my boyfriend,’ then pow. You got ’em. It opens the door to gather more evidence. You are still new and you don’t know the ropes yet. This is not so complicated, but you don’t wanna get messy. We have a very good rate of solving cases and our customer satisfaction is pretty high.”
“I know! I saw the reviews online.”
“It came with a lot of experience. I take every case with the confidence that I’m going to solve it, Kylie. If it’s out of our scope I will decline it.” He took a sip of his coffee and loosened his tie.
“One of the things you will get really good at is not just surveillance, but asking the right questions and listening for the right answers. I always say, everyone who comes through that door is a liar, even the clients! I don’t trust anyone until they show me I should. But you can find out what you need and learn to trust your gut by asking the right questions. You ever see Antonio in action? He’s a master, but I trained him.” He slapped his chest proudly.
I agreed. “He sure does ask a lot of questions.”
“He can’t help it. It’s in his blood. The job becomes a part of you. It’s in your veins. And not for nothing, all that shit Jacques does, we do, just on a different level. You gotta have your intuition on. Follow your gut.” He grabbed his stomach with two hands, mimicking Santa Claus. “It’s all in here. You gotta have that sixth sense going twenty-four/seven.”
Chapter 28
Kylie
After a little bit of digging, I found out that our client’s husband, Yuri, had his hands in a few rough circles. There were a few arrests for bar fights and some bad press mentioned that he was tied to the Russian Mafia that owned a boxing gym.
Now it was time to show my skills. Yuri had a date planned at a Middle Eastern spot in Brickell. It was a good twenty miles from his neck of the woods in Pembroke Pines. I guess he thought he was safe. Pretty smart choice, since the restaurant was surrounded by trees and bushes. The decor included dim lighting and was very sexy. Lucky for me I knew exactly what he looked like. I had seen more of him than I wanted from the photos he’d emailed.
The restaurant had loud music playing while a sexy belly dancer shimmied and hip-rolled around the patrons dining outside. After my coaching session with Vince I was inspired with a plan to catch Yuri red-handed.
I was dressed in a sexy hot-pink dress. My hair was blown out straight, so it was super big and long, touching my shoulders—my disguise, since I rarely wear it like that. I knew he would not be able to resist and if he saw me again with my usual ’fro, he wouldn’t recognize me. I walked right up to him and his date as they waited to be seated.
“Mr. Joe! Mr. Joe!” I ran right into him and hugged him like he was my long-lost father. He hugged me back and slowly pulled away.
He smiled. His date looked bewildered.
“Oh, no, no . . . sorry, mizz. You have me miz-taken.” His Russian accent was undeniable. His date was lovely—about my age, deep mocha-brown skin like his wife’s, yet she was less glamorous. She had a simple librarian vibe to her. Glasses, bun, small diamond stud earrings, and lip gloss.
I put on my best performance. I raised my hands in the air and my eyes were wide open with disbelief. “You are his double . . . I mean the splitting image of my dad’s best friend, Mr. Joe!” I stood back, eyeing him from head to toe. “When I saw you, I was about to lose it if he was in town and didn’t call me. I gotta take a picture of you to show him, pleaasseee!” I reached in my purse for my cell.
His date laughed. “Oh, that is so sweet. Yuriiiii, you should!”
His face was frozen. I’m sure he knew in his gut it wasn’t a good idea. The librarian hugged up on him to pose as I had my phone out. He couldn’t resist and let me take one picture. Then I got greedy and I quickly turned around and took a selfie with them in the background. #Winning! I was a whirlwind that happened so fast I don’t think he had time to really grasp it all.
“Oh thank you, thank you. Soooooo crazy how you guys are twins! You made my day.” He had no freakin’ idea how much.
As I was about to walk away, he grabbed my hand softly. “Mizz, would you like to have a drink with us?”
The librarian nodded and smiled as she licked her lips. “Yes, stay for a little.”
Wow, they were bold. Looking for a threesome? I. Don’t. Think. So.
“Oh no, I have to get going,” I insisted. “I’d hate to be a third wheel.” The intensity in Yuri’s eyes was chilling. I could almost see dark thoughts going on in his mind. He wasn’t too happy that I’d rejected them.
I held my phone up to say, “Thanks for the picture.” Wow, poor Elizabeth had it worse than I thought. I technically wasn’t supposed to do this surveillance by myself, but Antonio had to pick up his son from ball practice, so he said I should be fine alone. I was supposed to just make small talk, not take a selfie. But I wanted to take it for my first souvenir—proof of my “bust.” I already saw it on my desk in a nice frame. I was looking forward to writing up my report for Vince to review and to send to our client in the morning. It would be a problem if I sent her the picture tonight. She would have come down here and I wasn’t in the mood or in the right shoes to break up a fight.
Chapter 29
Jacques
I got to the airport and saw a text from Hicham as I was about to board the plane.
HICHAM: Autopsy came in. Call me ASAP!
I called him immediately but before I could speak he chimed in, “Yo, you get the message, too?”
“No, well . . . I haven’t checked yet,” I said.
“They emailed it to us. Detective Santos called and said they ruled it as an accident due to heart failure. Mom had a heart problem?”
I felt a pain in my heart when he said it, but it felt more like shock. It could have been the jolt from being frightened when Hicham came charging in on her.
“No, not that I know of. She was taking a few medications, but she said it was for sleep. We can check the bottles. They might still be in the bathroom.”
“Man, I still can’t believe this all happened. I didn’t mean for this to happen, Jay, I mean really . . .”
“It was an accident.” I tried to reassure him. I hoped this would teach him how to control his temper. We can’t bring Mom back with an “I’m sorry.”
As I sat down, the flight attendant gave me “the look.”
“Well, that was good news, I guess. I gotta turn off my phone, though.”
“Hell yeah, it’s good news, niggah!”
“Okay, later.” I really felt disgusted. Hicham cared more about himself getting off the hook than about what really happened with Mom. All the more reason I’m glad I haven’t told him about the journals yet.
I took one last glimpse of the sun setting out the plane’s window. I was getting ready for my two-and-a-half-hour flight and I couldn’t wait to get a little nap i
n. The flight attendant was very nice. Long legs, and her short dark hair reminded me of Dee’s. She had perfectly straight Cleopatra bangs and she was a dark chocolate tone. By the looks of her calves and curves, she must have been an avid gym goer or runner.
Our eyes met as she passed by, slamming shut the overhead compartments.
“If you need anything, you let me know, okay?” Nice lips. Plump. She smiled and had a Colgate grin. I smiled back and nodded gently. I tried not to gawk when she walked down the aisle, but she caught me anyway when she looked back.
Human nature is so interesting. It’s as if the opposite sex can always tell when you have someone else. They seem to crave you more when you are involved. I think it’s because we all enjoy a challenge. These last two years had been great, but I worried about my future with Vicky. I might have already tainted it with what happened during the blackout. What if there are more Dee-like encounters? What if karma was right around the corner, ready to take its toll on me? The outcomes are endless, which is why I should practice what I preach and just remain present. Remain in the now with the woman I love. I had never really been a player or manipulator. I left that for Hicham. It was just not my style.
The captain said over the speakers, “We’re glad to have you on board. We’ll give you an update on the weather in about an hour, but we might hit a few rough patches.”
I put in my headphones as the plane took off and turned on my old-school hip-hop mix. A Tribe Called Quest came on. I was happy that it was a pretty empty flight overall. Just like the subway, planes aren’t very easy for me due to the nervous energy I pick up from some folks. Those who hate to fly, babies, and even animals who suffer from anxiety. I usually do a deep meditation the second I lock in my seat belt.
I closed my eyes and tried to meditate. We still hit a few bumps of turbulence. A few people gasped and I opened my eyes as I felt someone grab my hand. I looked to my left and saw it was Chocolate Legs, the sexy flight attendant.