The Chase II (10 page)

“Uh, no, I’m Xena.”

“Yeah, yeah. He told me about you. Come on in.” She backed away and moved further into her apartment.

“O-kay.” I followed her.

It was warm, cozy and much cleaner than I expected.

“Have a seat.” She went over to a plastic covered love seat and put
Jeopardy
on mute. “Kevin told me you were his lady friend and that uh, you may be stopping by to look for him.”

What?

“Did he now?” I mused.

“Well, yeah. That article is old and when I tried to tell the press about it, they didn’t want to know. He’s not missing. He’s on some island, he couldn’t tell me, living it up. Said some guy paid him to disappear and would take care of my expenses. A nurse, house cleaner and cook. So, I’m living it up.” She grinned, showing only a few teeth.

I smiled back, but wasn’t sure what to make of this. “So you talked to Kevin?”

“Yeah, he calls me at different times every week. He not supposed to, but he do.”

“Oh okay. So, he’s alive and well.”

“Oh, hon-ney, please. He got them ladies over there eating out of his hands.” She grunted. “He loves women, but he only talked about you.”

“That’s flattering,” I said with mild sarcasm.

Especially considering the nature of our relationship.

“Well, uh, Ms. Lowe, I have to go now. I just wanted to check-in.”

“No problem, honey. Do you want me to tell him you stopped by?” She called after me.

“No, no. I just wanted to make sure he was alright. Glad he’s living it up.” I opened the door. “Have a good evening.”

What the fuck.

Crazy for me - check nine.

The next day, after a morning crying session talking to Milan on the phone, I went to work. Reese Jeffries called me to update me on the information I sent him.

“Can you talk?” He asked.

“Sure, let me just close my door first.” I shuffled across the room.

“I’m back, what did you find?” I asked.

“Well, I don’t want to say much over the phone, but I wanted to meet you tonight for dinner so we could discuss this face to face. Is that okay?”

“Uh, sure. That works. You sure you can’t grab lunch or something?”

“Ah, sorry. I have a lunch meeting already and I know you didn’t want this to wait for too long.”

“No, no. Dinner is fine. Where shall I meet you?”

“Good, I’ll text you the details and location.”

“Great. Thank you.”

We hung up.

It was great. I was going to get some more news to help me protect myself and my school. Thankfully, I had no more crying sessions, as I tried to focus on work and not the loss of Xavier. I simply couldn’t think about it, because it was bound to have me home in bed with an icepack on my head, fighting a splitting headache that would definitely turn into a migraine. There was too much for me to do for the school and my practice.

As the day flew, Reese texted me the information to a nice restaurant in Manhattan. I caught the train and left my car at the school, because I did not drive in the city at all. When I arrived, I was surprised at the size of the place. It was huge and the stores and restaurants in the area were usually small. The property value in the city was very high, so most of the places were tiny, but extremely expensive. So for this place to be so big, I knew the menu would be costly. 

After telling the hostess who I was, she brought me over to a gorgeous man who had on a black tailored suit, baby blue shirt and cufflinks. Where did all of these beautiful men come from? They were in Far Rockaway, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. I swear, before I met Xavier, I never saw any.

“You must be Xena,” he said as he stood to greet me.

“Yes,” I confirmed, “You’re Reese Jeffries?”

“That’s me.” He gestured for me to have a seat. “I must say, you’re picture doesn’t do you justice. You’re beautiful, don’t get me wrong. But up close,” he scoffed, “Wow. Breathtaking.”

“Uh, are you trying to make me blush?” I tried to laugh the compliment off.

Damn.

“Sorry, wasn’t trying to do that. Just thoroughly impressed.” He pulled out his napkin and put it on his lap. “Your picture is so serious, but that smile.”

“Okay, okay. Mr. Jeffries. You’re a tall glass of water yourself.”

He erupted in a deep laughter. 

I miss that with Xavier.

“So, this is all on me, because I just wanted an excuse to come here. Everything here is great, so pick whatever you want.”

“Oh, well thank you. This is a first for me, so I’m in for a treat.”

We ordered our food and chatted lightly about our day, how I came to New York from D.C. and when he started his practice. Then he changed the tone to business.

“So, for the matter we spoke about on the phone.”

“Ah, yes,” I said after wiping my mouth with the napkin, dabbing the water off my lips.

“I looked into the information you gave me, but according to the law, you are not liable for someone donating to your organization. Now, when you become liable, is if you are a part of the illegal organization.

The END

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“Listen, I told ya already,” Kane said through gritted teeth in that sexy Brooklyn accent. “Get outta my store, before I put you out.”

“Come on man, I don’t understand what the big deal is.” The patron snapped back, “It’s a fucking book, so it has creases. I tried it out, don’t like it. I want a refund.”

Kane held up a silver steel bat that looked like it had actually clobbered a few heads. He tossed the bat straight in the air, caught it in the same position he tossed it and started to come from behind the counter.

Oh boy
.

Kane could be a little grouchy, but I’d never seen violence of this sort. I grew up on the far side of Queens in a quiet neighborhood with no noise and too much gossip. The only reason I was in Brooklyn was to finish my M.B.A. at Long Island University (LIU). The only reason why I was in
Reader’s Block Bookstore
was because it was the quietest place in the Park Slope area and minutes away from school.

The campus was always full of students and wanderers of all shapes and sizes. Brooklyn was quite different than Queens, as I was not used to people sitting outside of the 7-11 food store asking for money. I always gave them change if I had it because that’s what I was taught to do. My mom was big on this as she was homeless with me once and felt that this was another way of survival. She had yet to tell me the entire story. My brother, Dean, only knew bits and pieces because our mom was so secretive, except for the things she wanted us to know.

Kane hopped over the counter, instead of using the wooden lift that separated him from the patrons. Maybe they hired him because they needed a cashier and a security guard. In the rare occasion, he would come in with a t-shirt, you could see his muscles quite well. Maybe in a former life, he was a boxer or something. He had an athletic physique and a beautiful, light brown face with long locs. He was known around the store to not take too much from patrons. He was bossy, yet a bit of a recluse. He did not speak to many people, just grunted at them. So when he did speak, you listened. Only at this moment, he was nearly growling.

The man in question, was rightly intimidated and started to head towards the row of books, right next to me. Kane’s upper body strength alone and hopping over the counter would cause any man to move. I just wished he would have moved towards the door. I was quickly putting away my tablet because now the danger was headed my way and I did not want to be a witness or a victim. Others must have had the same idea because they started to scramble. The only problem was the man was one foot away from me and Kane was three feet away from him.

Quickly, I stood and started to leave, but the patron must have seen movement in his peripheral because he grabbed me to position my body in front of his. My book bag was not closed, so it dropped and everything spilled out. The scared, sweaty man had me by the shoulders and I knew his grip would cause marks with the way his nails were digging into my skin.

“Let her go,” Kane words were curt.

“Put down the b-bat.” He stuttered.

Kane knuckles wrapped around the bat tighter, as he tapped his ankle with the top of it and said, “Three.”

“W-wait.” The man begged.

“Two,” Kane’s face contorted as he looked through me and at the man.

If looks could kill, we would have both turned to ashes like vampires in the sun.

“One,” Kane said and all hell broke loose.

The cowardly lion pushed me right into Kane, causing me to bounce off of him, but thankfully he caught me. I turned in time to see Kane whirl the bat at the guy, hitting him right in the back, causing him to accelerate forward and fall over a love seat. Kane started to move towards him, seemingly forgetting that I was in his arm. He was carrying me like a football. I was not small, nor was I anything that needed to be tossed. He looked down at me and I could see right through those deep brown eyes. The man was crazy. Stone, cold killer crazy. I jumped back out of his arm so I could leave and get my stuff to get out of there. Never to come back. I would simply have to find another place to study, read and get great iced coffees.

As I took in the scene, all, except three patrons were gone and the other two were filming. Candace, the barista scowled at them, so they left with phones still in the air, taping through the glass doors. She used to be a cashier at The Readers’ Block and was there almost every day. Or at least every time I was there, she was there. I was frequently in the bookstore because during my Tuesday/Thursday and Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule, I had over an hour between my classes. This must have been Kyle’s day off because I had not seen him all day. He was another employee at the bookstore, that has been around as long as I have. 

The small bookstore was nothing to write home about, but it was very homey and kind of reminded you of an older grandparent’s attic. The walls consisted of wood paneling, the floor was wood, the counters were a dark wood and the loveseats and chairs were a burnt orange. The bookshelves were relatively old, yet sturdy, and they were filled with books. The glass doors were kept clean, but condensation had set in and they needed to be fixed or updated. The tables were huge and scattered in various places around the small store. The refreshments and coffee were the newest addition that Candace operated where she sat in a booth towards the back of the building. The books were purchased at the front and usually it was Kane, Kyle or Tyler who worked the front area.

I liked the light in the front of the store, so I tended to stay there, but now I would no longer come back. It wasn’t the fight necessarily, but that look from Kane who never paid attention to me ever before was beyond intense.

“WHAT!” Kane yelled at the man lying on the floor.

Oh no.

“Man, I’m sorry. O-okay. I’ll j-just keep-p the b-book.” The man said between deep breaths as Kane stood over him with the butt of the bat in his chest and his big boot on his crouch.

“Now, apologize to the lady,” Kane growled.

That was my cue to leave. I quickly put everything back in my bag, then started to walk around them towards the door. As I passed them, Kane grabbed my forearm and said, “Where are you going? He needs to apologize.”

“It’s okay,” my voice was a whisper as I just wanted to get out of there.

“See,” Kane nudged the bat deeper into his chest and his foot began to grind in the guy’s crotch. “You’ve scared her. She is shaking like a leaf.”

“S-sorry.” The man stuttered as he tried to look at me through his loud groans.

“It’s okay.” I attempted to wiggle my arm loose from Kane.

He turned and pinned me with a look that clearly said stop. Not feeling like I had much choice, I stilled and his grip loosened. His foot then lifted off the guys groan, which his next move immediately went to cover his jewels. Kane raised the bat and said, “Get out and don’t come back.”

My first thought was that this was bad business all around, but then I realized it wasn’t my business. Any of it, so I kept my mouth shut. Kane, still holding my forearm, turned to me and asked, “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” I said in a low voice.

“Can you speak up?” He asked louder.

Clearing my throat, I said, “Yes, I'm all right. Thank you.”

“Are you sure?” He continued.

“Yes, I’m sure.” I made sure I spoke loud enough and convincing enough for him to let me go.

It must have worked because he did and I skedaddled out of the door. The other guy was still on the floor, holding his treasure or what was left of them. Hopefully, it was not that bad.