Chapter 3
1577 Words
Chapter Three
I heard Leah suck in a breath just as I did, awaiting the fallout, but after cracking her jaw, the visitor simply smirked as she reached into the inside pocket of her motorcycle jacket, extracted a thin wallet and attempted to hand it to Anna, who crossed her arms defiantly and stared the woman down.
“Uh, Anna, is everything okay?” Leah asked as we glanced back and forth between them.
Even Nicoh had risen and was now positioning himself protectively between the two, ready for action.
“No, Leah, everything is most definitely not okay,” Anna replied through gritted teeth. It was as fierce as I’d ever seen her. “It’s her.”
It was like being late to the party. I glanced at Leah, who shrugged at me, before responding, “You’ve lost us. Her who?”
Anna broke the gaze, rounded her desk and pulled one of the files we’d just stashed from its hiding place. “The witch in the pictures,” she seethed, before thrusting the photos, one by one, on the desk so that we had a full view of each.
The visitor looked down, only mildly interested. She continued to offer the wallet and Anna still refused to accept.
Leah and I peered at each image of Blaze and the woman Anna believed he’d been trading more than digits with.
“She’s wearing a wig in the photos,” Anna clarified, “and accentuated some of her more…feminine assets.”
This time, Leah and I glanced from the pictures to the woman, each of us gasping at the transformation. The woman standing in front of us looked more like Ronda Rousey’s supersized twin than the voluptuous, heavily made-up blonde with satiny locks that Blaze had met on at least a dozen occasions.
The bemused smirk on the real-life version was starting to annoy me. “She doesn’t seem all that surprised to learn you were following her, Anna.”
The woman shrugged and started to respond when Anna thrust a finger at her. “You…do not get to speak. You’re on my turf and I’ll let you know when I’m ready to hear your sorry-ass excuse for showing your face.”
Anna moved from behind the desk and positioned herself millimeters from the woman’s side and for a split-second, I thought round two was about to begin when the visitor, still holding the wallet, calmly responded, “Blaze is in trouble.”
Anna leaned in and snarled into the woman’s ear, “You’d better believe those fake boobs he’s in trouble.”
The gal smirked and again thrust the wallet at her. “My private investigator’s license. Name’s Decker. Kelly Decker. Blaze hired me to look into the recent…incidents.”
As Anna’s eyes widened and she took a step back, the bad juju that had been swirling throughout the office seemed to evaporate.
“You’re Decker?” She backed up another step and gave the woman a thorough once-over before nodding. “I’ve heard of you…from Abe and Elijah. But you don’t look crusty, have a smoker’s voice…or appear to be male.”
Decker barely moved a muscle but somewhere a snort resounded. “That was my pops. Recently passed away from smoking those arsenic logs he called cigars. I started working with him when I was ten and took over the business when the cancer finally took him down.” There was a hitch in her voice when she added,” Man was a bulldog…all the way until the savage end.”
“I’m very sorry to hear about your father,” Anna replied quietly, as Leah and I nodded.
“It is what it is. Life goes on.” Decker shrugged. “Mind if I take off my jacket, sit down and have a normal adult conversation?”
Anna nodded and gestured toward the sofa as Decker peeled off her jacket, exposing a pair of guns so chiseled I muttered a word of thanks that I hadn’t been the one who’d slugged her—though it did give Anna a few extra gummy bears in my book. I broke free of my internal dialogue when I caught a glimpse of a tattoo on the inside of Decker’s wrist as she tossed the jacket over her knee.
Aequitas.
Justice.
Interesting.
Decker got right down to business. “I assume that we can speak freely in front of Arianna and Leah?”
Leah and I might have been shocked this stranger knew our identities but I had to give Anna cred—she played it as cool as a glacier, offering Decker nothing more than a single head nod.
Decker grunted before continuing, “Great. For several months now, Blaze has been the target of a series of incidents at home and work. His crew, too. At first, they seemed to be isolated coincidences, but when they started occurring more frequently and evolved from pranks to increasingly menacing episodes, a few of the crew bailed when the threats extended to their families.”
“Threats? Blaze didn’t mention any of this to me,” Anna replied, looking down as she chewed her lip.
“He didn’t want to worry you. He knew the moment he said something, you’d make it your sole mission. Plus, he worried about what those Stanton boys would do if they found out.”
“You know Abe and Elijah?” Anna raised her head.
Decker shrugged. “Everyone knows those two. Blaze got my number from them—he asked for the best—and he got me.”
It was a statement of fact, not arrogance.
I didn’t know her credentials but if the Stantons thought she was that good, there was no question, despite whatever ego she was bringing to the table.
At the same time, I found myself shaking my head. If Anna had only shown the photos to Abe and Elijah, she would have known what she was up against. I wondered why they wouldn’t have mentioned Blaze’s request. I also started wondering whether Decker was a mind-reader when she responded to my internal ramblings.
“When Blaze contacted Abe and Elijah, he only indicated he needed help with his current project, so as far as they knew, the services he required could have simply involved looking into perspective employees’ or vendors’ backgrounds. Or at the financial standing of potential backers. At no time did he mention the incidents that had been occurring.
“Having said that, once things began to escalate, I encouraged him to have a conversation with you and the Stantons, but he was adamant that none of you were to be brought into the fold, at least not until he could get a handle on these threats. As it is, he could fire me for getting you involved now.”
“So why are you here, then?” Anna asked, frowning.
“My rationale is two-fold. While I have always believed Blaze should have told you about these occurrences from the very beginning, I now feel not telling you could prove catastrophic. If you don’t know a threat exists, how are you able to protect yourself when it’s sitting on your doorstep?”
“I completely agree,” Anna replied. “You said your reasons were two-fold?”
Decker nodded. “I don’t often ask but when I do, I get the best. And from what I’ve heard from the Stantons—their own qualifications notwithstanding—you’re it.”
“You’re asking for my assistance?” Anna’s tone turned incredulous as she furrowed her brow.
“I am. This…thing is quickly getting out of hand. Sooner or later someone is going to get seriously hurt, or worse.” Decker paused, crossing her arms. “Yet Blaze refuses to get the police involved and the crew that remains agree, even though they don’t know where the threat is coming from, they want to handle it internally.”
“Surely they realize they can’t deal with it themselves? And, if things continue to escalate, the police are going to involve themselves, regardless of what Blaze or his crew wants,” Leah replied.
Decker shrugged. “A lot of them have not had positive experiences where law enforcement is concerned.”
I nodded. Anna had previously told us that Blaze and his friends had a few run-ins as juveniles.
“What about Blaze’s family—I assume he hasn’t told them either?” Anna asked, blowing out a breath when Decker shook her head. “As usual, I’m sure he was concerned about his father’s propensity to get over-involved or turn it into some media sideshow.” This time Decker was silent. “Unless Blaze believes his father is directly involved in the threats, that is?”
It had been no secret that Terrence Edwards had been less than pleased by his son’s choice of career paths, including his most current venture.
“Blaze doesn’t believe any member of his family has had any involvement,” Decker replied, standing as she eased into her moto jacket before adding, “Though I prefer to keep my options for potential suspects open, as my expectations of my fellow beings, especially ones with ulterior motives, tend to be fairly low.”
Anna nodded. “You mentioned needing help.”
Decker grunted. “First, I need to let Blaze know that I’ve breached our agreement, allow him to either digest it or fire me.”
“Let me handle that,” Anna suggested.
Decker frowned, shaking her head. “I prefer to do my own dirty work.”
“Indulge me, would you?” Anna tone was insistent. “He’s my fiancé. I know him best.”
“Fine,” Decker replied. “Just let me know when it’s done.”
Anna gave her a single head nod and Decker relayed her cell phone number and extended a hand to each of us. I was initially worried she’d crush my hand with those meat hooks but found her embrace to be firm and no-nonsense, much like the woman delivering it.
There was a moment of silence as we watched Decker exit. Leah was the first to fill the void.
“What’s the plan, Boss—get the story direct from the horse’s mouth?”
“Sure,” Anna grumbled, grabbing her tote and striding toward the door. “Right after I find him and kick him in the ass.”
- Writer
