One Love (44 page)

“
Everything okay with the
baby?” Lanessa forgot her own troubles. She gazed at Jade
anxiously.

“
Fine. I’m retaining fluid
more than she’d like. I’m supposed to put my feet up now and then.”
Jade brushed off her husband’s suggestion. “But I want to
help.”

“
Good. Go home and rest. Not
worrying about you will make me feel a lot better,” Lanessa said.
She shook a finger at her nose.

“
Damon is right,” Alton said
in a firm, paternal tone. “Can’t have my daughter and grandbaby
under stress. Son, take her home.” He clapped Damon on the
back.

“
I feel great!” Jade wore a
rebellious pout.

“
Don’t argue, dear. Now
isn’t the time to be stubborn,” Clarice lectured. “Damon knows
best. What a perfect son-in-law.” She beamed at him.

“
When I recover from the
delivery, everybody is going on notice!” Jade huffed. “No more
bossing me around. I’ll be in charge.”

“
Sure thing, sweetness.”
Alton kissed her cheek. “Now do as you’re told. Lanessa, two old
buddies are prepared to throw some business your way. I’ll call you
tomorrow.”

“
We’ll be here!” Robyn said
before Lanessa could answer. “Bright and early, ready to
roll.”

“
And my father is finding
out more inside information on Hargrove, Dawson, and Metoyer. If
anybody can dig up the deepest buried skeletons, he can.” Damon
hugged Lanessa.

“
Bye, sis. I’m being forced
to leave you,” Jade complained.

“
I love you, Jade-girl. And
Jade, Jr. , too.” Lanessa her sister’s rounded tummy a gentle
pat.

“
It’s going to be a boy, I
can feel it.” Alton spoke with confidence.

“
Now there’s a miracle,”
Clarice quipped. “Too bad you didn’t feel the bloating and nausea
for me thirty five years ago.”

Her parents kissed her goodbye in turn
even as they traded smart remarks between them. Her husband steered
out jade even as she complained. The noisy foursome made their way
out of the office and to the elevator. Jackie and Lanessa sprawled
on the sofa in the waiting area. Robyn sat at her desk with her
feet on it. Yasmin stood near the door deep in thought. They all
sipped diet soft drinks and were quiet for a time.

“
I say we go to Jazz It Up,”
Jackie said.

“
It’s only four. I need to
answer the phone,” Robyn said.

“
Get serious,” Lanessa said
with a grunt. “No one is going to call.”

“
Then it’s settled. Let’s
go.” Jackie dashed into Lanessa’s office and returned with their
purses.

“
But it’s too early. They’re
not open.” Robyn was turning off the computer and preparing to
leave as she spoke.

“
It’s open,” Lanessa and
Jackie said in unison.

Lanessa chuckled. “Trust me. We know
when bars in this town are open. Right?” Jackie grinned and
nodded.

“
Yeah.” Yasmin joined her
two friends in laughter. “I can still recite every happy hour
schedule within the city limits.” Her expression became serious.
“I’ve got an errand to run.”

“
Sure you can’t come? We’ll
have dinner later and discuss our findings.” Jackie looked eager to
begin.

“
Like real private
detectives!” Robyn chimed in.

“
No, you guys go on.” Yasmin
opened the outer office door leading to the hallway. “I have a lead
of my own,” she murmured more to herself than to the
others.

“
What did you say?” Lanessa
followed her out.

“
I’ll call you guys later.
Maybe we’ll meet for dinner if I’m through.” Yasmin smiled at
them.

“
Cool,” Jackie
said.

The four women rode down the elevator
still discussing the events of the last few weeks. Yasmin left them
with the promise that she would call Lanessa on her cellular phone
later. Lanessa suggested they each take their cars so they would
not have to come back downtown. It took them twenty minutes to get
to the nightclub. Robyn was the last to pull onto the parking lot.
They waited for her so the three of them could walk in
together.

“
Whoa, nice place. I thought
it would be some skuzzy hole in the wall the way y’all talked.”
Robyn gazed around.

“
Robyn is the original
church girl,” Lanessa said in stage whispered aside to
Jackie.

“
I knew that the minute we
met,” Jackie said with a cackle.

“
Hey, I’ve been to a wild
party or two.” Robyn lifted her nose in the air.

“
The church spring dance
doesn’t count,” Jackie said. She and Lanessa giggled like two high
school girls.

“
Very funny. Bet I can fit
in here and find out more than you two.” Robyn fluffed her
hair.

“
Oh, right,” Lanessa said.
“Dollar says not.”

“
I’m in on that action.”
Jackie patted her purse.

“
Done.” Robyn gazed around
the lounge. She studied the bartender for several moments. “You two
sit over in that booth. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Lanessa and Jackie sat down. A
waitress brought them free appetizers provided to early patrons.
They alternated between watching Robyn at work and advancing their
own theories.

“
So why do you think the
Commerce investigators haven’t done anything?” Jackie examined a
smoked oyster on a cracker before putting the whole thing in her
mouth.

“
They don’t have all the
goods yet, pun intended. Or maybe they’ve hit a brick wall.”
Lanessa squinted at her as she picked up a small sausage. “Save
room for dinner for crying out loud.”

“
Umm, I’m hungry now. We
might not meet Yasmin for another hour.” Jackie chewed slowly. She
drank from the glass of crème soda she’d ordered. “I dunno. If worm
mouth Glenn is sniffing around, they’re still working on
it.”

“
Good point. I may despise
the little prick, but he ferrets out stuff better than most.”
Lanessa frowned. “They’ve got to find the products then trace them
to the markets.”

“
A tough job. There are
millions of ways to hide those kinds of transactions.” Jackie
grinned. “Not that I’ve ever helped a client do such a
thing.”

“
Nothing illegal I hope. I
don’t want to read about you in Glenn’s rag.” Lanessa pinched her
hand.

“
All above board. Well,
right on the line anyway.”

Lanessa sighed. “Lawyers, politicians
and accountants. Now tell me some of these ways to
hide.”

“
Multiple bank accounts for
one, especially if other legit trades are mixed in. Then you could
sell to one company doing business with another company that sells
to three others.” Jackie waved a hand. “How you can be held
responsible for what they all did?”

“
Sounds like something
Dawson would be good at,” Lanessa said.

“
He’s got international
contacts. I hear he speaks three languages, too.” Jackie noticed
their plate of goodies was empty. “Miss? More please.” She held it
up to a passing waitress who took it.

“
With their tracking
resources online and overseas, the feds should have no trouble.”
Lanessa looked at her.

“
Not as easy as you think.
Remember, these guys are really good at setting up smoke screens.
They could lead them down blind alleys for years.”

“
I got the distinct
impression that the Commerce Department and a few other agencies
have been looking for years. And now they’re closer than they’ve
ever been.” Lanessa lowered her voice when the waitress
approached.

Jackie did not speak until the young
woman was gone. “Which is why they’re willing to surface now. I
think you’ve got it right.”

“
If we could find out where
the products are stored...” Lanessa tapped her fingers on the
table. “They could be in any number of the thousands of warehouses
in this state.”

“
That’s if the stuff is in
this state. It could be in Texas or Mississippi. Just a truck drive
away.” Jackie wiped her fingers on a cocktail napkin.

“
We’re doomed! How can we
find out more than the feds?” Lanessa slumped back against the
padded bench.

“
Don’t get discouraged,
babe. We figured quite a bit even though they’ve been on to Dawson
longer than us.”

“
Another good point.”
Lanessa glanced at Robyn who was frowning. “I don’t think Jane Bond
is having much luck.”

“
We could be here all night
at this rate.” Jackie picked up another tiny sausage. She did not
seem too unhappy at the prospect.

Lanessa stood. “Forget that. And you
lay off the food.”

She snatched the plate from the table
and gave it to a passing waiter. Lanessa ignored the mumbled
protests of her friend and went to the bar. The bartender was at
the other end taking care of another customer.

“
Let me take over, kiddo.”
Lanessa jerked a thumb toward Jackie. “Go keep the bottomless pit
company.”

“
He won’t talk, the creep.
Demanded my ID!” Robyn made a rude noise before she
left.

Lanessa watched the bartender. He wore
a retro hairstyle, an afro from the seventies. His nametag said
“Barry”.

“
Barry, get me another
ginger ale,” Lanessa called to him.

Barry glanced at her and said
something to the woman he was talking to. He reached into a cooler
and got out a green bottle. With a quick motion, he unscrewed the
cap.

“
How’s it goin’?” Barry said
as he poured the soft drink into a glass. “You calmed down since
the other night.”

Lanessa smiled genuinely. Barry
answered two questions without her having to ask. Yes, he was in
the lounge that night and he remembered her.

“
They tell me I had a good
time,” Lanessa said.

“
Boy did you.” Barry raised
his dark eyebrows. “Too bad about it gettin’ in the paper. Rotten
luck.”

He gave her the opening she needed.
Lanessa settled in for a good talk with her new pal. After ten
minutes, Lanessa had more information than she wanted. She felt
sick at the leering way Barry gazed at her while describing her
wild dancing that night. After a while, Barry was more interested
in hitting on her than talking. Lanessa cut him off
cold.

“
Serves you right having
your name all over town!” Barry said. He wore a look of wounded
male pride.

“
Nice talking to you, too,”
Lanessa shot back. She went back to the booth and sat down next to
Robyn.

“
What was that about?”
Jackie had managed to snare a few more sausages.

“
Let me guess, the creep
wanted a date,” Robyn said with a sour expression.

“
Yeah. Barry doesn’t handle
rejection well.” Lanessa glanced at them. “He didn’t get what he
wanted, but I did.”

Yasmin strode and sat down hard.
“Whew! I need a drink!”

“
Amen,” Jackie
said.

“
You got it. Miss, Diet
Pepsi over here please.” Lanessa called to the waitress. The woman
waved and went off. “Thought you were going to meet us much
later.”

“
Yeah, but I found out
something about our pal Charlie. We need to head out fast.” Yasmin
snatched a sausage from Jackie’s plate and popped it in her
mouth.

“
What do you mean?” Jackie
said.

“
New Orleans. I found the
smoking gun, or rather the smoking chips.” Yasmin’s eyes gleamed
with excitement.

“
I like the sound of that.
I’m ready.” Lanessa slid from the booth and stood.

“
But we haven’t had dinner.”
Jackie followed her lead despite her protest.

“
Ooo, this is so exciting.
Just let me call mama first.” Robyn reached for the phone but
Lanessa grabbed it.

“
After me. I want to call
those agents. Where did I put their card?” Lanessa took out her
wallet. “Here it is.”

“
Why call them?” Jackie
grumbled. “The jerks.”

“
Because, they might want to
move fast if we find what I think we’ll find.” Lanessa pulled out
the white card with the Commerce Department emblem on it. “Here we
go.” She moved off to a corner by the pay phones to
talk.

“
Well are you in or what?”
Yasmin put her hands on hips and stared a challenge at
Jackie.

Jackie did not hesitate. “Okay, okay.
I want to help burn Chucky.” She fished for her keys. “Can we stop
for some hot wings on the way? I need to call my mom,
too.”

“
We can go over there. Let’s
leave the cars there,” Yasmin said. “I’ll drive.”

A spirited debate broke out over who
would drive. Lanessa returned and cut off the discussion by
deciding that Yasmin had the best safety record. Less than an hour
later they were headed down Interstate 10 toward New
Orleans.

Chapter 22

Alex could not sit still. He tried. As
his father mumbled into the phone across the room, Alex squirmed in
the leather chair. Then he paced for a while. Joe pushed the button
to end one call then dialed another number. Waiting was torture.
Another fifteen minutes that seemed like hours dragged by. Alex
paced around his father’s desk until he hung up on what seemed the
last conversation.