Kiss Lonely Goodbye (24 page)

“You could have had anything you wanted.” Marcus shook his head. “Hard to understand why you were unhappy. Man, I hated being poor.”

“One day I asked myself, ‘What are you really worth?' I didn't have an answer.” Nicole looked at him.

“Oh, baby,” Marcus murmured.

“You can only blame your parents for so long, you know. But it was fun while it lasted,” Nicole said with a humorless smile.

“I had a teacher in high school, Mrs. Estevens. One day I was in trouble again, can't remember what I'd done, to tell you the truth. When I started yelling about my mother being a drunk and my missing-in-action thug father, know what she said? ‘So what, Marcus. What are
you
gonna do?'” He shook his head slowly. “I thought about that for a long time.”

“You have to decide who and what you're going to be in spite of everything.”

“Right.” Marcus wore a thoughtful expression.

“After I got over the shock, I started seeing Summers Security as my chance to be more than a useless ornament. I don't want to be a means to somebody's end.” Nicole stared at him.

“You're not, at least where I'm concerned,” he said.

His voice came to her softly, a gentle vibration that made her heart hum in response. Marcus held out a hand in invitation. Nicole left the chair to obey. Realizing she still held her purse, Nicole gazed at it. She could still leave, her warning voice said. Just get your car keys and go, it urged. Take time to think. Yet she needed the solid feel of his arms around her chasing away years of loneliness, especially now. Nicole needed to feel part of him, needed the reassurance of this man who had become her friend and lover.
So much for you
,
Nicole said to her cautious alter ego. With a flip of one wrist, the purse landed on the chair behind her.

Nicole settled on the sofa and into the arch of his strong right arm. “Think we can make the whole world go away for a little while?”

“I'm going to give it my best shot,” he whispered.

His full mouth tugged up at one corner in a half-smile that was both seductive and secretive, as though he held a surprise. Nicole shivered, eager to get whatever prize he offered.

“It's late and we're short on time. The phone could ring at any minute. Your pager might go off,” he spoke close to her ear and nipped her lobe.

“True.” Nicole closed her eyes as he reached down her blouse and cupped a breast.

He looked into her eyes as he unhooked the front clasp of her bra. “Don't make me wait.”

A stab of hunger bit into her. “No.”

Like a video in fast-forward they undressed rapidly, kissing each other hard over each inch of flesh as it was exposed. Their foreplay lasted sixty seconds at most. Naked and driven by a yawning need, Nicole straddled his lap without taking her mouth from his. Her tongue pushed through his lips in a demand for satisfaction. Marcus moaned and gripped her thighs as he penetrated her. Or rather Nicole swallowed him with a guttural whimper in the back of her throat. She wanted to be the taker. He gave in willingly.

Nicole rocked and rolled her pelvis. She lifted her body and then plunged down as waves of desire crashed over her. Marcus buried his face between her breasts and growled with pleasure.

“Please,” he begged.

“Baby,” was all she could whisper in reply.

Nicole could hardly breathe. And she came. Clouds split
and her mind cleared of everything as she fought for every inch of him, every drop of the joy he offered. Marcus came seconds later with a grunt that threatened to become a roar, except that his mouth was still pressed against hers. Nicole shuddered as a smaller orgasm took over. Suddenly they were both still. Gradually she heard the music from his compact disc player again.

“Baby, it's all about you.” His eyes still closed, Marcus shook his head. He planted a tender kiss on the tip of her nipple.

Nicole sank onto the sofa. She exhaled when Marcus pulled her down to stretch out beside him on the wide cushions. He shifted until she was neatly tucked, spoon-fashion, with her back nestled against him.

“About us. I'm not into being the self-absorbed Black American Princess you called me.”

“I never—”

“Not to my face.” Nicole smiled at the expression she imagined he wore.

“Okay, maybe once,” he confessed with a chuckle.

“I knew it.”

Nicole closed her eyes and drifted into a glow she'd never had with another lover. She savored the circle of his arms around her waist. A thumping rhythm came from the sound system speakers. They lay together, wrapped in the music and each other. After a long moment Marcus nuzzled the back of her neck.

“Baby, things might get worse before they get better,” he whispered.

“Shhh, you're messing with our moment,” she mumbled, already half asleep. “I'm ready to take it on. I've got a secret weapon this time.” His reply was to tighten his embrace.

 

Marcus rapped hard on the door. He'd stood outside Shaun's condo for fifteen minutes pressing the white button. Then Marcus pulled the cell phone from the holster clipped to his belt. He dialed Shaun's number. A recording announced that the number was disconnected.

“Come on, Shaun. Open up,” Marcus shouted.

“He ain't there,” a deep voice rumbled.

Marcus spun around to face a man of about sixty with iron gray hair. “Excuse me?”

The man shifted an empty metal garbage can from his left hand to his right. He adjusted the silver metal eyeglasses that had slipped down his nose. “I said he's gone. Moved out three days ago. Had six months left on his lease. Gonna mess up his credit rating.”

“Moved,” Marcus repeated and stared through the window.

Only then did he really look through a part in the curtains. Shaun's fancy leather sofa, love seat, and chair were gone. So was everything else, it seemed.

“Yep. Always did think he was slick looking. Told my wife, too. I said, ‘Bet he's a criminal or something.' Real smooth talker, like my grandmamma used to say.”

“He was in sales,” Marcus replied. He'd grown accustomed to defending Shaun as a reflex.

“Same difference in my opinion. Always hookin' folks into paying more than they intended for stuff they don't need. Can't trust nobody these—”

“You live close by?” Marcus broke in to stop his rambling.

“One door down,” the man answered and pointed ahead. “Bud Wilson is my name. First name Budweiser. My daddy was a drinking man.” Bud laughed.

“Nice to meet you.” Marcus stared through the curtains again.

“I manage the place to earn a little extra. My pension
doesn't go far these days. No-good corporate crooks ruined the stock market and—”

“Did anyone else come looking for him in the last few days?” Marcus cut in again.

Bud's friendly expression turned to one of suspicion. His eyes narrowed. “Depends. Who are you?”

“I'm an old friend. I've been over here quite a few times.” Marcus took off his sunglasses and stuck out a hand. “Marcus Reed.”

“Hmm.” Bud scanned Marcus's face as though he were in a police lineup. “Yeah, come to think of it I did see you around here a few times. Hope your friend hasn't gotten himself in trouble.”

“Me, too. I've been calling him for the last three days.”

“Call his mama or daddy,” Bud said. His eyes crinkled again in appraisal. “Since you're an old friend.”

“His mother is dead. His father isn't reliable. He hasn't been there for Shaun in years.” Marcus shook his head.

Bud's eyes twinkled with interest. “Had a rough childhood, huh? Damn shame for a man to walk away from his responsibilities. Too bad.”

“Yeah. We got into scrapes back in the day. But we went to college and both got jobs. Moved out of the Fifth Ward. I just hope Shaun hasn't slipped back into old habits.” Marcus adopted the same chatty tone Bud had earlier.

“Son, you can't change another man. All you can do is be a friend and show him the way.” Bud's voice dipped low in a fatherly fashion.

“Yes, sir. I still can't help but worry about him, though.” Marcus had no trouble sounding sincere, even though he was trying to finesse information from Bud.

“Listen, a couple of rough-looking dudes have been over
there. They didn't look happy when I told them the condo was empty. Whatever your friend has gotten into is bad. You better be careful.”

Marcus decided not to press for more. Besides, he doubted Bud could tell him more anyway. “Thanks, Mr. Wilson. If you see or hear from Shaun, call me.” He handed Bud one of his business cards.

“Summers Security,” Bud read. “I saw an article way back in the
Chronicle
. Black man built that company from the ground up.”

“Hosea Summers. He was considered a pioneer. He died a few months ago.”

“Vice President of Operations,” Bud read again. “Good to see a young man come from hard times and make good.”

“Thanks.”

Marcus smiled distractedly as he glanced back at the condo. He pondered asking Bud to let him look inside. If he knew Shaun, the place would be so clean even a forensics crew would have trouble finding anything.

“I've been telling the owners we need better security.” Bud nodded with vigor and waved the card.

“Yes, sir. You have them give us a call.”

“Sure will,” Bud replied and slipped the card in his pants pocket.

“One more thing, have you seen a woman come by lately? She's tall with dark reddish hair, wears expensive clothes and drives a red BMW.”

“Her.” Bud grinned. “My wife Carrie calls her ‘Miss Thang.' Not that she was the only woman over there. Yeah, come to think of it, she came by a few nights before he took off.”

“Thanks again, Mr. Wilson. Don't forget to call me if—”

“Right, right. You be sure and remember what I said. Be
careful. You might need to let him go his way and you go yours.” Bud started off when a handsome older woman stuck her head out a door and called to him.

Marcus waved back, then stared at what used to be Shaun's front door. “I can't do that, Bud.”

T
he board members left the conference room with sober expressions. Nicole stared hard at her father. Marcus wanted to hold her hand but knew better. Stanton Summers smoothed down his silk paisley tie. Lionel Summers cleared his throat and shot a meaningful look at his brother.

“I'm going to ride back with Ethel and James, Stan.” Uncle Lionel stood.

“Right. I'll stay and talk to Nicole for a while.”

Marcus rose. “Goodbye, Mr. Summers.”

“Stay,” Nicole said.

Her father's brows bunched together. “It would be better if we—”

“No, it wouldn't,” she clipped.

For once Uncle Lionel didn't intervene to correct what he perceived as impudence. Instead he cleared his throat again and left the room. Nicole and her father continued to gaze at each other.

“I'm okay with letting y'all talk alone,” Marcus said quietly.

“You need to hear what I'm about to say,” Nicole replied without taking her gaze from her father's face.

“Nicole, honey, you know we're only interested in the survival of Summers Security,” Stanton began.

“With the exception of Marcus, no one else can easily step in and run things in the middle of this mess,” Nicole asserted. “Not even my smart, competent brother.”

“And he doesn't want to. Terrell made that perfectly clear. I think you two must have prepared for this meeting.” Stanton drummed his thick fingers on the wood surface.

“Of course we did. I'm glad we cleared the air,” Nicole said.

Marcus gazed at her with pride. Nicole had surprised her relatives by being calm and in charge. Once they'd gotten over their shock, the real work had begun. She'd endured two hours of being grilled, challenged, and thinly insulted by Russell and his supporters. Through it all Nicole had maintained a cool poise.

Stanton studied her for several minutes. He gave a curt nod, as though he'd reached a decision. “All right, keep going. Let's see if you can hold it together.”

“I will.” Nicole stood as a signal the meeting was over.

Marcus blinked hard and glanced at her formidable father. Stanton rose with the shadow of a smile on his broad face. He seemed to accept the dismissal.

“I'll be in touch,” Stanton said. “Nicole, I like this new you.”

Nicole shook her head. “Not new, Daddy. I'm just directing my energy in a different direction.”

Stanton kissed Nicole on the forehead. “That's my girl. Goodbye, young man,” he said over his shoulder.

“Goodbye, sir.” Marcus still wasn't accepted, Stanton's tone seemed to say.

“Daddy, one more thing. Marcus is important in my life. You need to understand just how important.”

“I believe I do. I'll call you soon,” Stanton said in a restrained tone. He walked out without looking at Marcus.

“I don't think the subject of our relationship is closed,” Marcus murmured.

“They'll get used to it.” Nicole stared at the door as though she could still see her father.

“If you say so.” Marcus doubted they would, but he let it go. “You did a wonderful job today.” He smiled at her.

Nicole dropped into a leather chair. “God, but I'm glad it's over.” She rubbed her eyes.

“Russell is very frustrated. He was so sure the board would fire you.” Marcus sat on the edge of the conference table next to her. “He'll try again.”

“He can't do anything.” Nicole rested her head against the dark red leather.

“Yeah, you're probably right. Are you okay?” Marcus brushed a tendril of her hair back in place.

“I will be one of these days. Just not today.”

“Go home early tonight, baby.”

“You mean at ten o'clock instead of midnight?” she joked. “No, if the staff works late, so will I.”

“They don't have to deal with your family. Honey, please. You're exhausted.”

“I must look really awful.” Nicole patted her cheeks.

“You're the most beautiful woman in the world on your worst day,” he said with passion and meant every word.

“Good answer,” she said with a tired grin. Then she used the arms of her chair to push herself up. “Now it's back to work.”

“Okay, just one more thing.” Marcus caught her hand before she could leave. “I love you.”

Nicole pressed a palm to his left cheek and gazed into his eyes. “I love you, too.”

Cat bustled in with Andre and Imani close behind. “Sorry, Nicole, but we've got to talk about this invoice.”

“Yeah, but can we get to her first?” Imani squeezed past Cat. “Just take a look at my draft outline. It will only take fifteen minutes. I've got to get the producer working on our television spot today.”

“Me next,” Andre put in.

“Now wait a minute!” Cat protested. Her plump cheeks puffed out with irritation.

Nicole's worn-out expression disappeared. She raised a hand in the air. “No fighting, kids. Let's head to my office. Andre, I read your report. I already made notes.”

“Great! I can get moving on the next project. I've got two clients on a new firewall for their servers,” Andre chattered as he followed Nicole through the side door into her office.

“Stand in line, sonny,” Imani muttered and yanked him back.

Marcus had to smile at their antics. He went back to his office. Shelly sat at her desk shuffling papers. “I'm back with all my fingers and toes,” he joked.

“I didn't hear shouting, so the meeting must have gone fairly well.” Shelly handed him a stack of incoming mail.

“Actually the board members weren't all that bad.” Marcus looked through the letters.

“I meant Nicole.” Shelly grinned at him.

“You would have been proud of her. Not once did she lose her cool.” Marcus winked at her.

“I know Russell tried.” Shelly leaned across her desk and dropped her voice. “His secretary says Russell has been on the phone with his sister every day for the last two weeks. Plotting.”

“No surprise. The good news is it didn't work.” Marcus started to say more when he saw Shaun's name on a pink message sheet. “When did he call?”

“Who?” Shelly stretched her neck to look at the message he waved.

“Shaun Jackson. You didn't put a time on here.” Marcus spun around and strode into his office.

Shelly followed him. “Sorry, but the phones went crazy around here. Which reminds me, and I sure hate to tell you. A reporter named Tamara Collins called from Channel Thirteen.”

“I'll deal with that later. Better yet, let Imani handle it.” Marcus itched to call Shaun.

“She might find one of our disgruntled employees.” Shelly pursed her lips.

“I've got to make some calls. Take messages for me and don't let anyone in.” Marcus walked her to the door.

“Mr. Sullivan from the commission is supposed to come by and—”

“Take him to Nicole if I'm on the phone.”

Marcus closed the door behind her as she walked out. He punched in the number and let it ring a long time. Finally Shaun answered. When the cheery voice requested that he leave a message, Marcus swore. Unable to concentrate, Marcus sat staring at his phone for fifteen minutes. When it rang, Marcus somehow knew it would be Shaun.

“Yeah, Shelly. Put him on.” Marcus gripped the receiver. “Where the hell are you?”

 

“Hello, Detective Tyler.” Nicole extended a hand to her.

“Hi. Thanks for seeing me on short notice. Is Marcus around?” Dayna shook her hand and sat down.

“His secretary says he's on an important phone call. I'm
sure he'll come in when he's through.” Nicole sat down at her desk. “I hope you're bringing good news.”

“I'll let you decide. Maybe we should just wait for Marcus.” Dayna wore a tense expression.

Nicole felt a knot of unease as she looked at her. “I'll catch him up when he shows. What have you found out so far?”

Dayna seemed about to resist, then let out a gust of air. “Okay. You already know Tameka Grant was arrested for possession of stolen goods. At first she was all mouth, talking a lot of trash about her lawyer and police harassment, blah, blah, blah. We hear it a dozen times a week.”

Nicole nodded. “I had the pleasure of listening to her my first week. Another client had a theft.”

“Right, Mr. Phoung. We traced some of his goods to one of Tameka's brothers. Set up a food wholesale business with stolen merchandise. But there was no violence involved. The thieves would either steal a truck or get jobs as drivers and disappear with the goods.”

“Getting jobs in order to set up thefts is part of their operation,” Nicole said.

Dayna smiled. “You caught on to that one fast. You're right. These folks aren't your average street thugs. They've done some thinking and pretty impressive planning.”

“Such as?” Nicole rocked back in her chair.

“Like I said, some of the gang get jobs. The ones that do don't have arrest records, or if they do, no convictions. But they also have friends, relatives, or girlfriends get jobs, too.”

“They don't lie on the applications and their names aren't in arrest records. Clever.” Nicole shook her head.

“If the jobs require drug screens, they get pals who don't use. We think they've infiltrated one of the labs to doctor
drug tests.” Dayna flipped open her notepad. “Hope you haven't used Advanced Tech Labs.”

“I'll check.” Nicole wrote down the name.

“Several other security firms do, which is why I asked. Bad stuff going down. They've got quite a criminal enterprise.”

“I can't see Tameka being the brains behind such an organized scheme.” Nicole tapped her ink pen against the yellow legal pad she'd written on.

“Nah, she's middle management at best. I haven't put together the whole picture. And my bosses are skeptical.” Dayna's scowl deepened.

“I know a little bit about not being taken seriously,” Nicole retorted.

Dayna glanced up from her notes. “Right, right. About my attitude earlier—”

“Forget about it.” Nicole waved away Dayna's apology. “Tell me what you think is going on.”

“This is all theory.” Dayna got up and paced for several seconds.

Nicole reined in her impatience. Obviously Dayna needed to gather her thoughts. “Sure, I understand.”

Dayna stopped pacing. “I think one of the local gangs has diversified. There's a lot of money in drugs, cocaine, especially. But it's a bloody business.”

“I see.” Nicole didn't see at all. Still, she knew to keep her mouth shut.

“Say members of this gang in the Fifth Ward, for example, decide to get into stuff with a better survival rate. So, they sell their drug trade to another gang and set up white-collar types of crimes.”

“You mean…Wow.”

“Wow is exactly what I said when it hit me. This gang is
looking toward the future.” Dayna sat down again.

Nicole tried to work through the intricacies mentally. “But they would need lots of connections. I mean, the police aren't dummies.”

“Glad somebody noticed,” Dayna quipped.

Nicole grinned at Dayna briefly, then frowned again. “Our clients work with local precincts to coordinate crime watches and connect their alarms to police stations.”

“One procedure I tried to implement has gone exactly nowhere,” Dayna complained. “I wanted to use a grid to plot out certain classes of crime, even developed a computer program model. The bosses put it on hold.”

“Lack of vision.”

“Nope. They'll just wait a few months, then present it as their idea,” Dayna said with a sour face.

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, well.” Dayna shrugged it off. “Anyway, it might not have worked. These crimes didn't fit a neat pattern anyway.”

“You're thinking of ways to modify the model.” Nicole's respect for her grew.

“Any kind of organized effort leaves traces of the pattern. In this case it's what was missing that counted.” Dayna squinted.

“The stolen goods didn't show up on the street immediately, for one thing. Another thing, the usual suspects didn't pop up on the radar screen,” Nicole said.

“You're no dummy at this yourself.”

Nicole blushed. “Thanks. So, the pattern fooled some smart people. Including Marcus. When we first realized we had a problem, he was upset about missing the signs.”

Dayna's expression tightened again. “Speaking of Marcus, why don't we check on how much longer he might be?”

Nicole noticed a subtle change in Dayna's tone. She punched his number, and Shelly answered. “Gone where?
Yes, as soon as he comes back. Marcus had to leave.”

“Oh.” Dayna didn't appear pleased. “I really need to touch base with him.”

“You've got this funny look on your face. What's up?”

“I interviewed Tameka. She got kinda quiet when I mentioned several names. One of them is related to Shaun Jackson.” Dayna shifted in her seat.

“Marcus's pal from the old neighborhood Shaun Jackson?”

“Yeah.” Dayna frowned.

“That's a common name.” Nicole watched her closely.

“True, but it's him. This guy is Jackson's cousin, and he's not very nice. He's got arrests for assault, armed robbery, and possession with intent. His record goes back ten years, and that's just in adult court.”

“They came from a rough area of the city. So?”

“So…” Dayna's voice faded off as her frown deepened.

“Come on, tell me,” Nicole prompted.

“It just so happens Jackson's cousin has been spotted hanging around with even nastier dudes. Which is really saying something.” She paused to glance at the door as if wishing Marcus would appear.

“He's not coming. What is this about?” Nicole felt the hairs on her arms stand up.

Dayna looked at Nicole again. “There is another investigation. Jackson and his cousin have been spotted together.”