Maxine Skye, Private Eye

by Monique Smith

  I felt bad but I was doing my job and sometimes that required me to report bad news. It was going to get worse so I continued. I showed her the pictures on his desk. “Who is this woman?” I asked. “That's his wife Melissa. Well she left him hoping he would clean up his act. She took the kids and they went to stay with her sister in Ohio for a while. She was trying to shake him up a bit. But it sounds like he's screwing around with Laura Baxter again instead.” I nodded my head. I continued scrolling through the photos in my phone to show her the cabinet with the clothes and the folders. “There is also a back door in his office. I was told it leads out to the rest of the building?” “Yes it does. He has the biggest office in the building.” “Next I moved on to Will. I also dumped his trash, his shredder was empty.” I told her. “He also has a picture of a woman on his desk?” I posed the question to her as I showed her in my phone. “This is Kim his girlfriend. He was supposed to marry her but when he lost his job she called off the engagement. She told him he needed to be able to support a wife and child before she could marry him. Which is what brought him to work here in the first place. He's a good kid.” Her last statement made me skeptical to continue but I had to remember yet again, that I was doing my job.

  “Will's laptop turned on when I bumped into it and this is what came up.” I showed her the website that came up on the screen. “He doesn't even have enough sense to log out and lock up.” she said shaking her head. “Now Heidi on the other hand had nothing but fruits and veggies everywhere. There was nothing incriminating at all in her office.” “Well that's good, the one I have no ties to is the loyal one. Go figure.” “She has a picture of an elderly couple on her desk?” “Yes those are her grandparents. From what she told me they raised her. Her parents died in a car accident when she was seven years old.” “Wow, I'm sure that was hard for her.” “Yes I can only imagine.” Lucy said. “She graduated at the top of her class. I'm glad I was able to give her a chance.” she told me. “Getting back to the transactions...when I went through all of them, Steve's didn't seem to correspond with any of the accounts that you gave me to clear for them. I checked three times to be sure.” Lucy nodded and took another gulp of her beer without saying anything. “I also had a chance to check out the attorneys. Nathan, seems quiet, stays mostly in his office. Greg is much louder. It sounded like he was working on a fraud case and it doesn't seem to be going well, he was upset.” “Ashley seems like a vigilant, determined and very successful woman.” “She is.” Lucy said. “Well it sounds like she's working a divorce case that's about more than divorce.” “What does that mean?” “I heard a conversation she was having with her client, several conversations in fact. She was telling him she would handle it and that she knows his wife is definitely having an affair. She even told him she knows the guy his wife is seeing. He at some point, must have mentioned murder to her, because she told him not to think about that.”

  “I don't condone murder or anything of the sort. Ashley knows the creed of Knight, Hall and Hall.” she said slamming her hand on the table. “What exactly is the creed at Knight, Hall and Hall?” I asked. “I mean, I heard about the mandatory founders classes offered to new employees.” “It's a simple two hour class that each new employee undergoes. It explains who we are, what we've accomplished and where we're going.” she said with vengeance and she was looking at me but her mind was miles away. “You've certainly been a busy little bee this week.” she seemed to come back. “Is there anything else?” “Yes there is. The other day while I was cleaning, I noticed that the copiers you use have log-ins on them.” “Yes each associate is able to log-in so they can keep track of their work.” “Will was the last to log-in at the time I was near the machine. He made copies of expense reports which included a hotel stay at Madison City hotel, dinner at Rocco's Bar and Grill and a jewelry purchase from Waverly's Precious Jewels.” I showed her the photo I took of the copier and she shrugged her shoulders. “Well this is why you're getting paid the big bucks. You produce results!” she exclaimed. “Will also has manila folders in his office with LK-PERSONAL just like Steve. Also, Steve received a text message from an unknown source asking for a meeting. I was able to follow him after work. He went to Sam's Place about twenty minutes from the office. He met with a man driving a navy blue BMW license plate KNIGHT1.” I showed her the picture of the car. “The man was not alone. He was with a young woman, also from the office. It was Jennifer Wayman, the receptionist.” Lucy made a small whimper and she became visibly upset.

  “Anything else?” she asked me her voice going deeper. “Well...yes.” I said scrolling through my phone showing her the pictures I'd taken of her husband kissing Jennifer. “She finally got her claws in him.” she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Are you okay Mrs. Knight?” “I'm fine.” she said taking control of her voice. “Thank you Maxine. Thanks for your work, you're quite good at what you do.” she told me. “You're very welcome.” “We'll be meeting here again next week.” she said with a wink. “Sure thing, Mrs. Knight.” “Please call me Lucy.” Now that the hard part was done I was ready to enjoy the weekend. It was a long crazy week. I hated having to tell a woman her husband was cheating, even if they were estranged. It seemed that his cheating wasn't part of the plan. “Lance?” “Hey baby, how'd your meeting with Mrs. Knight go?” “It went about as well as I expected. I had to disclose uncomfortable information.” “I told you that's part of the territory baby. Telling people the truth when they really don't want to know.” “Yeah, you're right.” “You on your way home?” he asked me. “Yes I am, what are you doing tonight?” “Whatever you want to do.” “You're not getting Lacey?” “Not tonight. I agreed to pick her up in the morning.” “So I have you all to myself?” “You do...what are you going to do with me?” “You'll see.” I said blowing him a kiss through the phone. “I'll be over soon.” I decided to make a pit stop at home first. I wanted to make the most of the night with Lance since the rest of the weekend we would have Lacey.

  I freshened up and tried on four sexy lingerie outfits before I came up with the perfect one. It was a black lace and silk teddy with matching thigh high stockings. I put on his favorite black six inch heels, did my make-up and hair and found my black trench coat. He loved when I showed up ready for action. I felt like being a little minx tonight after the long week I'd had. I pulled into Lance's driveway and parked my little KIA Soul next to his huge Chevy Suburban. He kept teasing that I could have one too but I had bigger plans for the money I had. I pulled my overnight bag and purse from the trunk of my car, found my keys and unlocked Lance's door. It was dark and quiet and I assumed he was sleeping. Instead he was in the bedroom sitting on the side of the bed changing the station on his radio. I dropped my bags on the floor and he turned to look at me. “Well hello sexy.” he said standing up to greet me. “Hello baby.” I smiled. “I'm here to show you what I'm going to do with you...all night.” I said untying the belt on my trench coat to allow it to fall open and hit the floor. “Mmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm.” he said. Even though I was wearing six inch heels he still towered over me. I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him closer to me and gave him a kiss on the lips. The kiss lasted for at least five minutes while he groped me. But then I suddenly wanted to show I was in charge so I pushed him hard and he fell back on the bed. I climbed on top of him and pulled his t-shirt up over his head and we started to kiss again. I kissed his chest and moved down lower. We made love for what seemed like hours.

  “Wow, I really, really needed that.” I said. “Do you want a cigarette?” he teased me. “No!” I laughed. “Are you hungry?” “I could eat. What do you have in mind?” “I heard about this new pizza place around the corner from here. Want to try it?” “Sounds good.” I said. While he ordered the pizza I decided to take a shower. After a few minutes he joined me. We stayed in the shower together until the pizza arrived. I loved being with Lance. Nothing made me feel more safe, more alive, more in love, more happy than when I'm with him. Everything disappeared and h
e was all I could see, all I could think about when we were together. I looked forward to every moment we could spend together. We decided to watch 'Fifty Shades of Grey' eat pizza and drink wine. The phone rang so loudly it sounded like the whole world could hear it. “Hello?” “Yeah, of course I'm sleeping man, it's 4:00 am.” “What?” “Yeah, okay...I'm on my way.” “Baby?” Lance said softly shaking me. “Yeah?” “I have to go out for a while, there's been an accident on the highway. Five people are hurt.” I sat up in the bed to look at him. It never gets any easier knowing that he's the one who has to go deal with these things. “Okay.” I finally answered. “Okay.” he said kissing my forehead. “I'll be fine... I'll see you soon, go back to sleep.” It was as if he could read my mind and answered my unspoken fears.

  Chapter Five-What the Ex? A few minutes passed after he left and I did lie back down and pulled the covers up. I tried to go back to sleep but not before I said a prayer asking God to be with him, keep him safe and bring him back home to me. The phone rang loudly...again. I turned over to see what time it was 7:45. “Hello?” “Hey Max, baby...I know you're sleeping. It looks like I might be here a little while longer. Would you mind going to pick Lacey up for me? She's expecting me to be there by 9:00 this morning.” “Yeah, no problem honey. Is everything okay?” “Yes, we just have to get all the paperwork filed and everything. There's going to be an investigation, you know how this goes.” “Sure, alright, I'll get her, no problem.” “Thank you...what would I do without you?” “I don't know.” I laughed. “I never want to find out. I love you.” “I love you too.” I got up to get dressed. I pulled my hair back in a ponytail, put on a purple jogging suit and Nike's. I just wanted to be comfortable today, no frills. I made a cup of coffee and put it in my to go cup. It was such a warm beautiful Saturday morning. I couldn't help but wonder how Lucy was doing today. She had a lot on her plate to figure out. I put on my sunglasses and drove to Keisha's house. When I got there, Lacey was sitting on the front porch with her Sponge bob suitcase. When she saw my car she jumped up and ran off the porch. “Maxine!” she yelled.

  “Hello princess.” I said getting out of the car. I took her bag and put it in the back seat. “Does your momma know you're out here?” I asked picking her up. She shrugged her shoulders. I carried her back up the stairs and rang the doorbell. I waited a few minutes until Keisha finally came to the door wearing nothing but a robe and panties. “Where is Lance?” she asked me rolling her eyes. “He's working and he asked me to pick Lacey up. “Why didn't he call and tell me that?” “He's busy there was an accident last night.” “I don't care about no damn accident, he still could have called.” she said closing up her robe. “Give me my daughter!” she screamed snatching Lacey from my arms. “Is this how you always dress when Lance picks Lacey up?” “What?” “You heard me Keisha.” “That ain't none of your damn business. This is my house and I can dress any way I damn well please.” “You're right, you can. But let me tell you one thing...Lance is with me now. I know you have some fantasy in your twisted little brain that makes you think one day he'll come back to you. He won't. But I don't have to tell you that because you already know. So you pull these childish stunts thinking you can fuck your way back in his heart. It won't work and Lance is too much of a gentlemen to tell you that. But I am the bitch who will give it to you straight, no chaser.” “You're right, you are a bitch!” she yelled. “A damn good one too.” I said feeling ashamed of this behavior especially in front of Lacey. “You ready to go sweetie?” I said reaching out to Lacey. “Don't touch her!” she screamed at me. “I wanna go with Maxine!” Lacey screamed. “Hush girl!” Keisha said. “Mom!” Lacey yelled again.

  She put Lacey down and she ran into my arms. “Have her back here tomorrow by 9:00pm...no later!” Keisha yelled as I walked away from her. “Will do.” I said not wanting to continue this mess. Lacey and I drove back to Lance's place. I made her a bowl of cereal and we watched cartoons. “Hey, how are my two favorite ladies in the world?” he said. “Daddy!” Lacey yelled running to him. “How's my baby girl?” he asked giving her a kiss. “Good.” she said. “How'd it go baby?” he said walking over to kiss me too. I just shook my head. I hoped Lacey would have forgotten about the way her mother and I behaved and I didn't want to bring it up in front of her again. “Go finish your cartoons okay pumpkin? Let me and Max talk.” She skipped back over to the television. “So what happened?” he asked pulling me into the kitchen. “Keisha wants you and she'll do anything she has to for that to happen...and in the process she hates me.” “You don't have to worry about that woman Max, you know that.” “I know Lance but she came to the door wearing nothing but a robe and panties. She thought you were coming.” “I don't care about that, she could come to the door butt ass naked and I would still not care. I been there and done that. Don't let her stress you, it's not worth it.” he said giving me a hug. I rolled myself into his arms like a little girl.

  “So what's on the agenda today?” he asked clapping his hands together. “I want to go to Wonder World!” Lacey said. “Wonder World huh?” Lance asked. “Okay, Wonder World it is!” he said. Wonder World was an amusement park/zoo. They had everything from water rides to kid friendly roller coasters and there was a zoo. We took Lacey on just about every ride there, then we visited the zoo. She had a good time and fell asleep on the way home. Lance carried her in and tucked her in her bed. He was such a great father and I looked forward to someday having a child of our own. “She's gonna be out all night.” he said. “I figured that she really had a good time.” “I bet if we're quiet, we could get started on her little brother or sister.” he said picking me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he carried me to the bedroom for round two. But just as it started to get good the bedroom door was pushed open. “Daddy?” a small voice said in the darkness. Lance scrambled to get to his feet and pull up his shorts. “Uh, hey pumpkin, you okay?” “I had a bad dream.” she said rubbing her eyes. “You can come climb in bed with us.” I told her. She ran and did a flying leap into the bed beside me and I covered her up. Lance gave me the 'I knew you would do that look'. I simply smiled thinking this is what it would be like if and when we did have another child.

  The next morning I made a big breakfast and we went to church. I was happy that Keisha didn't have a problem with us taking Lacey to church. It is very important to me to raise our children in a loving, God fearing home. I believe children need love, stability, encouragement and to be able to trust his or her parents. Church was wonderful as usual. Pastor Blackmon was very inspirational and I had a feeling I would need as much inspiration as I could get for the coming weeks. After church we took Lacey to get a tricycle. Lance spent the afternoon teaching her to ride it and I spent the afternoon watching Law and Order. Even though I was trying to relax I just couldn't keep my mind off of work. I was wondering if Lucy decided to say anything to her estranged husband about his new girlfriend or if she'd spoken to her brother about his drug use. I started going through some of the photos I'd taken trying to compare them to the information I'd gotten from Lucy. As I studied each of the photos in comparison to her notes, there was one number off from each account that Steve paid. If he was stealing from his sister, it looked like he purposely had these accounts set up so it wouldn't be so obvious. Will's accounts also seemed to be one digit off. But most of Will's were the same as Steve's. It looked like they were working together.

  “You're never not working are you?” Lance asked me. I was so engrossed in what I was looking at I didn't even hear them come in. “I'm gonna make dinner now.”he said. “What are you making?” “Lamb chops, salad and stuffed potatoes.” “Sounds good, do you need some help?” “No I got it. You keep on with your detective work.” What was really concerning to me was the fact that Ashley had a client who was talking about murder and the reaction I got from Lucy. It almost seemed like she knew about it or something but didn't want to acknowledge it. It almost seemed like she didn't want me to know about that part of their prac
tice. I studied more of the pictures I'd taken. So far everyone at Knight, Hall and Hall had something to hide. Who took the trip to Madison City? Whoever it was had a good time. Lucy didn't seem concerned about that either. She also didn't give much feed back for me. Was I on the right track with this investigation? “Dinner!” Lance said breaking into my thoughts. I took Lacey to the bathroom so we could wash our hands. Lance and Lacey set the table and everything looked nice. “This is lovely baby, everything looks good!” I told him. “Don't sound so surprised.” he said and began the blessing. “Dear Lord, we thank you for the food we are now about to receive, for the nourishment of our bodies for Christ sake, our redeemer. Amen.”

  As we sat enjoying dinner Lacey told us about school and her teacher. She said she was learning multiplication. “That's good baby girl!” Lance told her. She smiled and took a sip of her milk. “Who's at the door now?” Lance said obviously irritated. He got up to go answer it while Lacey talked about her new friend Kate. Suddenly there were elevated voices. “Stay here honey, I'll be right back.” I told Lacey. “Why did you have to come here to pick her up Keisha? Our arrangement was for me to bring her home by 9:00.” “I was in the neighborhood.” she said. “But you're two hours early. You're cutting in on my time now.” “Your time!” she yelled. “You could have all the time you want with your daughter if you wasn't fooling with miss perfect!” she pointed in my direction. Lance turned to look at me and I was shaking my head. “She has nothing to do with this Keisha.” “She has everything to do with it! If you would have been a man and not cheated on me then...” “Let me stop you right there. You didn't even know who Lacey's father really was until I told you I wanted a paternity test. You're just lucky I'm the father and not that low life punk you was screwing around with when we were together.” “But you didn't have to...” “I had every right to leave you!” Lance yelled. “Daddy? Mommy!” Lacey said running to her mother. “Come on baby we're leaving!” Keisha said grabbing Lacey's hand. “But I have to get my blanky!” Lacey said. “I'll get it for you.”