by Nella Tyler
Again Alicia was silent as she pondered what to ask Bill next. But she didn’t have to wait long.
“It’s Ryan and Isabella,” Bill said. “I’ve been following them. First it was because of the duplicate invoices that people were saying they had gotten. But then I wanted to see why we didn’t have enough merchandise, either.”
Alicia was quiet.
The silence filled the room uncomfortably and I kept looking over at Natasha to see what her reaction was to things.
“Where are they today?”
“I don’t know. I tried calling them and it went to voicemail.”
I looked at Mike and Natasha, I knew exactly where those two were going if they were the ones steeling from Alicia. They were going to the warehouse. They needed to get the money and documents to hide what they at been doing.
“Rosalynn, you have to get people out to the warehouse. That’s where they will be,” I said as I wrote down the address to the warehouse.
She nodded and passed the information on to the young man that sat next to her, so she could continue to listen to the conversation between Alicia and Bill.
I had to admit, Bill wasn’t sounding very guilty to me at the moment. As long as the ownership of that condo checked out, Alicia could have been totally right about him.
Rosalynn called Alicia and told her she could let Bill leave the office. They were going to try and track down Ryan and Isabella and see if they had any more information.
“We have a team that is about thirty minutes from the warehouse, we should know something soon,” a man in a black suit said as he opened the door to the room we were in.
There wasn’t much talking going on as we all sat quietly and waited for Alicia to return from her office. I desperately wanted them to find Ryan and Isabella and hoped it would be the end of Alicia’s nightmare.
Even if she decided never to talk to me again, at least I would have helped save her company. It was the least I could do for putting her through the hell I did with Rebecca.
I told Rosalynn about the armed security guard at the warehouse and the side opening I had snuck in through. Hopefully the officers that arrived would be able to safely get into the building. I suspected that the security guard would put up a good fight, even with the FBI; he had been so insistant when I visited before. He was probably instructed that people would pretend to be law enforcement to get in. Or maybe he would just let them in without an issue.
Rosalynn picked up her phone and I saw her face turn intense right away.
“Be safe,” she said and then hung up. “They are at the warehouse and about to approach.”
Just then, Alicia was escorted back into the room. She looked totally exhausted.
There was an empty place next to me on the couch and another chair over by Mike. I expected that Alicia would choose to sit by Mike because of how angry she was with me. But to my surprise she sat down next to me and let her head rest on my shoulder.
Again, tears started to flow and I looked at Natasha to see if she could help.
“It’s almost over,” Natasha said as she rubbed Alicia’s back.
We all sat there and silently watched Rosalynn as she waited for a call back from the officers who had arrived at the warehouse.
Over an hour went by before the phone finally rang.
“Hello,” Rosalynn said and then shook her head up and down at us all. “Wow, really? Is everyone safe? Great job. I’ll send a team out to back everything up. Bring those three in for questioning.”
Relief washed across Rosalynn’s face and instantly across mine as well.
“What happened?” Mike blurted out.
“The officer’s found the security guard, Ryan, and Isabella loading bags of cash into a vehicle. There was a gun fight and the security guard was shot in the leg. Everyone else was unhurt.”
I reached over and put my arm around Alicia and pulled her toward me in a hug. It was an instinctual reaction to the great news and I did it before I remembered she was mad at me. But again to my surprise, she didn’t pull away.
Alicia leaned into me and let me hug her for a good minute before she pulled away. She got up and went over to Rosalynn and gave her a hug. The two women talked for a little bit while Mike, Natasha and I chatted about the news. We had all worked hard to figure out what was going on, it felt really great to know it was over.
I was still in a bit of shock that Bill Yobi had not been involved. He seemed like a shady character to be for the longest time. But after hearing how he talked to Alicia with such respect, even when faced with her accusations; I had to change my opinion of the man. She obviously knew him much better than I did.
We all stayed at the FBI office for about an hour as we talked about everything that had happened and made sure Rosalynn had our contact information so we could give statements later.
“I can take you home if you would like,” I offered Alicia.
“I don’t want to go home. I can’t be alone tonight.”
“You can come to my place,” I offered.
I instantly saw the look of disgust on her face. It was probably a bad idea to bring her back to the place that a woman had pointed a gun at us just a few short hours before.
“Yes, I guess that will work,” Alicia replied.
She surprised me that she was willing to go back to my place at all. The shock must have been visible on my face because Alicia made a comment about it.
“I can’t avoid your place forever just because of the memories there.”
“Tomorrow is a new day. We can erase the memories and start fresh.”
***
We walked into my apartment and Alicia went straight up to the floor to ceiling window again. She looked out over the city for a moment and then turned on a bunch of lights in my living room.
“Fuck me right here,” she said to me as she started to take off all of her clothes in front of the window.
My mind went crazy as I looked at her. Who was this woman? Alicia didn’t seem like the kind of girl that would have sex in front of the window. Surely she understood that after turning all the lights on like that everyone would be able to see us.
“You know people can see us, right?” I said and pointed to the restaurant across the street.
“Oh, yes. I know. I once sat at those tables outside and watched at pretty elaborate scene.”
Alicia winked at me and my face went ghost white. I looked at her and was totally shocked.
“What do you mean?” I said as I followed her lead and started to take off my clothes as well.
“Oh, that blonde had nothing on me though. I can put on a much better show,” Alicia’s smile was the same as when I first met her.
She laughed, and I knew I was hers forever.
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Steamed: The Complete Series
By Nella Tyler
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 Nella Tyler
Steamed #1
Chapter One
I picked at my salad wishing that I had ordered more food, maybe not just more food but different food in general. If I was honest with myself I wasn't even sure if that would cut it. The destination had been a poor choice and I only had my friend Sarah to blame. I should have been the one to choose our restaurant destination, as I knew all the hot spots to find delicious food in town. But Sarah already knew how nuts I could be when it came to food so I tried to let her pick sometimes too. Though in this case, the food was a real head-shaker.
“Ugh! This is terrible. Why did you ever talk me into coming here?” I wanted to spit the salad out. How can you mess up a salad? In this case it just wasn't very in
ventive and by the looks of it, not very fresh either. The lettuce was limp and pathetic looking and the tomatoes were overripe. It really made me want to cry right there at the table. In case you haven't noticed I am very passionate about food.
Sarah snorted, “What's wrong? It's not that bad.” She looked into her bowl of soup as if she was checking to make sure her statement was correct. I loved Sarah, she was one of my best friends and she often made situations we were in that much more comical.
“It's terrible. My shitake tofu wontons almost made me gag. It's not that hard to make that appetizer. I could make it in my sleep.” Mushrooms happened to be one of my favorite foods and when someone messed it up it made me fiery.
“You're something else.” Sarah said shaking her head.
“I love food Sarah, good food. I'm willing to pay good money for it. But I don't think it's too much to ask to have a good meal. I'm scared to think what my turkey confit sandwich will be like. If it comes here soggy I just might die. Honestly, I’ll die right here at the table. Are you prepared for that? My body, although light, will not be easy to get rid of.”
Sarah laughed, “You are always like this Gemma; you're truly a food snob. It's embarrassing going out with you sometimes.” She said laughing. “You can be a real food-hater.”
“Oh come on, you're telling me that you just loved your meal, and that you would come back to this dump?”
“I'm not saying that…it did leave something to be desired. But not every restaurant has gourmet-quality food. Do you remember the stuff we used to eat in college? How did you end up being such a foodie?”
I did remember what we used to eat in college and it was sort of tragic. Ninety percent of the time it was macaroni and cheese - from a box no less! We’d gorge ourselves on greasy pizza and leftover French fries. It was surprising that I wasn't grossly overweight considering the garbage we used to put in our bodies, but that was a different time. We were poor college students working our way through an education. We had to eat that crap then, but now there was no excuse for it.
“The day that I realized that my hard-earned dollars should go towards quality, that's when. I'm not a snob; I just have high standards when it comes to food. How is that so wrong? How can you not have higher standards? This stuff is terrible.”
“It's not wrong Gemma. It's just funny to see you this way. You shouldn't worry about food so much. It's not the end of the world; we just won't come back here is all.”
The waiter brought our entrees and Sarah waited in anticipation to see what I was going to do. I knew deep down she often worried that I was going to lose my shit on a waiter for bringing me low quality food. Worse than that, she feared that I would ask to speak to the chef, because then things would really be on. She worried about these things because I have asked to speak to a chef more than once and it usually ended in tears-for the chef. A good shaming will make for a better chef in my opinion.
I looked down at my sandwich hoping for the best. “Okay, it doesn't look bad, I'm sure it's fine. Yours looks good too.”
“Don't start pretending now that you aren't fearful of your food. I will still go out with you for lunch.” She looked at me with narrowed eyes.
I grinned, “Okay great, because this looks awful.”
Sarah started laughing as my phone dinged with a message coming in. I looked down at my phone and noticed it was a message from my brother Jared. My brother and I were very close. He was genuinely a good guy, one of the best I knew actually.
“Geez, something is wrong with Jared.”
“What? What do you mean, what's going on?” Sarah asked.
“I have no idea but he seems distressed about something.”
I sent back a message to Jared before taking a bite of my sandwich. I hoped he would give me some more information.
I cringed. Chewing on the sandwich, I set the rest down and vowed not to finish it. The bottom bun was soggy. They had waited too long to bring the food in; they must not be able to handle a busy lunch crowd. Chic restaurant my ass, what was wrong with the chef? Someone should have a meeting with the guy.
Another message from Jared dinged in and I wiped my hands on the napkin in my lap before checking it out. My brother was not doing well and I wanted to see him to determine what was up with him, if anything. I couldn't imagine what could have him feeling so distressed but I had to find out. I set my napkin on the table and grabbed my purse.
“Sarah, I'm sorry. I have to go. I need to go see Jared; something’s wrong.”
She waved me off. “Sure. No problem. Keep me posted about what's going on.”
“Yep, will do. See you later.”
I smiled at her as I headed out of the restaurant.
Chapter Two
I drove a little too fast across town, but I was worried sick about my brother. I kept my eye peeled for cops however; I wasn't a fan of spending money on speeding tickets. Talk about throwing your money away.
I couldn't imagine what got Jared so upset and yet he was flustered about something. My brother wasn't the type of guy to get all heated over nothing. I had rarely seen him bent out of shape about anything. I needed to find out what was wrong with him. Aside from chatting with my friend, I wasn't too distressed that I missed out on lunch; the food at that place had been devastating. Jared’s messages were actually taking me to a great restaurant; I had eaten there many times and was never disappointed. The chefs that worked there were some of the best in the city; it was a privilege to eat their food. They knew exactly what they were doing and were right on point when it came to blending flavors and spices perfectly. That's what a real restaurant should offer you. The restaurant had a great atmosphere with food to die for and some great cocktails on the menu. I hated shelling out money for food that was sub-par; I didn't care how hilarious my friends thought I was. I would only eat the best.
I pulled into the parking lot and noticed the place was busy for lunch, not that I was surprised. I almost wished that I hadn't eaten lunch, that way I could grab a bite while I was there. I walked through the front door and made my way back to the kitchen. As I walked through the kitchen doors I saw my brother slamming down his phone angrily. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Like I said, I had rarely seen my brother like that.
Jared was the proud owner of the aforementioned amazing establishment. He had a natural talent for cooking ever since we were young and it was no surprise to anyone when he decided to go into the food industry by opening up the restaurant. I couldn't have been more proud of him; he was part of the reason why I loved food so much. If you have a chef in the family then chances are you will learn to love quality food. He was well known in the area for his cooking and his restaurant was only gaining popularity. And my friends wondered why I was a foodie. My god, it was practically in our genes to appreciate good food. Our family was big into successful food preparation.
“Jared, what's wrong? I wouldn't be slamming down your phone. They aren't cheap. Tell me what's going on. Why am I here?”
Jared looked up at me from his phone. He looked pissed. “Someone is trying to screw me over. I am really having a hard time not losing my cool completely here.” He started pacing the room.
“Why? Who is trying to screw you over?” I couldn't have been more confused. I rarely saw my brother angry. “How can I help? Just tell me what's wrong and if I can help, then I will.”
He stopped pacing and threw his hands up in the air. “Do you know any good lawyers?”
My mouth fell open. What the hell kind of trouble was he into anyways? “What are you talking about? Are you in trouble? What on earth do you need a lawyer for?” The questions peppered out of me like a machine gun.
A grin formed on his face, as he looked me over. Oh great, what was he up to now? It was never a good sign when a mad Jared started to smile.
“Actually I think you could be my lawyer.”
I rolled my eyes heavenward. “What? What are you talking about?”
“I need you
to impersonate a lawyer for me. Be my lawyer. It's brilliant actually.”
“Are you high? I'm not doing that! If anything you need to start explaining what's going on here. Why on earth would I want to pretend to be a lawyer?”
“Come on Gemma, you are already dressed the part. Hell you could already be a lawyer looking like that.”
I looked down at my charcoal pantsuit and appreciated my appearance all over again. I did look good, professional too, but that wasn't the point. My job was not as a lawyer and I certainly didn't want to pretend to be one.
“I'm not impersonating a lawyer for you. I'm not a lawyer for crying out loud and I would get caught. I'm a financial consultant for god’s sake, how would I get away with someone believing that I was a lawyer?”
“Please, I really need you right now. I don't have anyone else and I don't need to be screwed over. You look the part and on top of that I don't know anyone with a better vocabulary than you do. It would be a slam dunk for you.”
I sighed. “Jared, I don't want to. I can't even believe you are asking me to do it. Like seriously, what is wrong with you?”
“Please Gemma.”
“Jared, just hire a real lawyer. It's a piece of cake; I can probably refer you to a dozen good lawyers in the area. I know you can afford it, so money can't be the issue here. Tell me what is going on.”
“Nope, money is not the issue. I just need you to be an awesome sister right now and help me out. I won't ask you for another favor again, I swear.”
“Oh yeah, that's likely...”
My brother was acting completely weird. He seemed to have this plan up his sleeve and I wasn't sure that he was giving me the whole story. There was more to that issue, I just knew it. I didn't know why I needed to be involved in that scenario when he could just pick up the phone and get a professional. It was all very suspicious. Could he really be in some trouble? I wanted to help him if I could. Maybe it wasn't the end of the world if I just pretended to be a lawyer for a few minutes. What was the big deal anyways?