5
KAI
“I’m listening,”I say, exiting the gym and stopping in front of the glass wall facing the backyard.
Grayson clears his voice.
“George Bach. No criminal record. No legal issues of any kind. Like his brother, he’s never had a run-in with the police. So he’s no career criminal. This is personal to him. As much as it’s personal to you. I received the entire report regarding his business. Nothing suspicious. No lawsuits. No outstanding back taxes. Their clients are in good shape too.”
“Okay.”
“Someone from the firm called the Yearwood family. Spoke with Jessica. I couldn’t identify that person. It could be George. It could be someone working for him. Like a secretary. I doubt that person knew it was a setup. Since the appraiser they usually work with hadn’t been called in this case, I had to go through George Bach’s contacts with a fine tooth comb. There is someone… Well, I narrowed it down to three people. But one of them was out of state, the other one was at work, and the last guy, Martin Jackson, was someone George had hired some time back to help him around the office. The man has a background in law enforcement and is a computer whiz. He’s freelancing, covering a variety of jobs from physical labor to office and investigative work. He’s not established, and from what I gather he does it to supplement his income and also for fun.”
“Did you find him?”
“No. And that’s the thing. His neighbors say he’s in and out, meaning… He spends his days at home, working, they suspect, while ordering his food and necessities online, and getting them delivered, and then he’s gone for days. Someone suggested he might have a girlfriend. Well, based on his phone records, there’s no one fitting that description. He rarely speaks on the phone. I was surprised George Bach’s number showed up in his phone records, to begin with. I’m not concerned with him in the least. He’ll show up eventually. He only does what George Bach asks him to do. Andrew’s brother is the key player in this story, and he knows more than we do. He’s clearly following a hot lead. Unlike us.”
Staying quiet, I revisit the moment I met Andrew’s brother in their mother’s house.
He was defensive before I had the chance to confront him. I wonder if he would offer me the information if I claimed we were on the same side.
Something tells me that he wouldn’t.
“Yeah… He probably does,” I say. “I doubt he’d want to share that lead with me.”
I think about it for a moment.
“Okay. All right… Thank you so much,” I add before ending the call, running my fingers over my brow, wiping away a bead of sweat, and spinning around, heading to my apartment.
By the time I enter my place, the evening creeps in already, and the night lights glow over the terrace, the sound of the people walking to the restaurants drifting from the street.
The air smells like flowers. That must be her perfume.
I close the door and look around. Music plays in the speakers, and her phone is on the coffee table.
I hear the click of her heels across the marble floors.
“Raven?” I call out, trying to locate her.
The sound comes from the kitchen. Indeed, I find her there.
Stretching her arm, she struggles to retrieve a mug from the cupboard.
My eyes fall on her hair and her body.
She swirls around to face me, catching me ogling her butt.
“Let me help you,” I say before extracting the mug and setting it on the counter.
“What were you doing?” I ask, noticing the tea leaf storage jar on the counter.
“Do you want some tea?” she asks while my eyes hover over her body.
The cropped top encases her chest, squeezing her boobs, and her skirt highlights her hips and thighs, her floral scent, like the view, getting me hard.
“Kai?”
I lift my gaze, and turn to stone, unable to focus. Her lips are parted into a soft smile, her skin looking like caramel silk from the sun, her eyes resembling amber mirrors sparkling with excitement.