PRESENT DAY

Inspector Kpodo sat in his office, going over the notes from his meeting with Mrs. Benton. He’d thought she’d be a tough nut to crack, but she’d been surprisingly forthcoming. She worked with Kane as a special projects manager for his entertainment business. She was an events planner and a “pleasure purveyor.” She’d said it meant she provided drinks, music and entertainment for the events, but she could very well be meaning drugs. He’d have to look into that later.

She was at Ziba’s Lounge alone when the incident happened, and she had no idea what took place. She didn’t even seem to have any inkling about Glazer willing everything he owned to her until the day his will was read. His read on her was that if she knew something, she was guarding it with every bone in her body. But she was most likely not the mastermind behind the operation. She was as carefree as she was organized, and there was very little chance Glazer’s body would’ve resurfaced if she had planned the hit. She could have ordered it for sure, but even that was questionable unless she was lying and she knew about the will beforehand. So many questions, so little answers.

This case looked exactly like it did ten years ago: unanswered questions and unknown people. Glazer’s orbit was large, yet surprisingly anonymous. It made it very hard to know who exactly to talk to about anything. He’d tried to reach the woman who was Glazer’s secretary at the time, but she wanted no parts of this thing. The only thing she did was come and ID the body, but she left immediately after. He had no cause to bring her in either, because she was out of the country on assignment for Glazer when it happened. The records showed as much.

He knew it was a cold case, but just once he’d wished for it to be painless. In the fifteen days since the body was discovered, he’d learned next to nothing about what happened. Ten years ago, it was a missing person’s case; they’d suspected he was dead, but they could never be sure. So there weren’t many people to talk to or reasons to talk with them. Now, it was a murder case, and there were only two people to actually talk to. Security camera footage from the house had been removed ten years ago, and so little was known about the house or who went there anyway. How was it that this man was so exposed to the world yet his affairs were completely unknown to anyone? There had to be a key. Someone who could break this whole thing open.

It could be the secretary, but it was more likely to be Carol. Either way, he needed to bring her in again soon.

At any rate, he was tired and it was time to take a break before he got a headache. Mary would enjoy ripping him a new one in the most polite possible way if he fell into that trap, and he wasn’t going to hand her that pleasure.

He got up and was just about to head out when Mary came in with a package in her hands. “This just came for you, sir.”

He took the package and opened it; it was a flash drive.

Mary joked, “Hopefully someone confessed and this case could just close right now.”

Julius smiled. Oh how he wished that would be true. “Wouldn’t that be nice! Its probably more documents. Either way, I’ll check it out when I get back from my walk.”

As soon as he said that, some part of him objected to the idea. Most people wouldn’t realize it, but he knew what it was; he’d relied on it his whole career. Now he knew that whatever was on that drive mattered. “On second thought, could you kindly order some KFC for me? I’ll be in here.”

“Sure sir.”

“Thanks Mary.”

As soon as she left, he plugged the drive in. It was password protected. Dammit. Who puts passwords on flash drives these days?

He took the package again and looked inside; nothing. He turned it upside down, and a small piece of paper fell out. It was a strip of paper from a fortune cookie, but instead of a saying, it had one word on it: Icarus.

He typed it in and got access. There was one video file on there. He played it, and in it was a familiar face.

That was the late Goosman’s son, but he looked like he’d been roughed up pretty bad, and his first words were, “My name is Seth Goosman, and I know what happened to Kane Glazer.”

***** 

TEN YEARS AGO

Carol knew the Monslant family home very well now. She’d been coming for counseling here for the last five days, and had taken every opportunity to figure out the best way to run this op.

Getting on Bishop Charles’ schedule was easier than breathing. She’d learned from Caris that the good bishop was in charge of all projects, so all she did was make a significant donation to the building fund at King’s Court Chapel. That got her a meeting with the bishop, who wanted to see if she was interested in partnering with the ministry.

The rest was a matter of a woman’s touch. A soft tone here, a little pause there, and a well-crafted story that would need more than prayer to require counseling that only he could provide.

Dating a preacher’s son had it’s benefits, although this particular son was more devil than angel. She’d told him that she needed to get access to him and they’d come up with the plan together, but she didn’t tell him what she was going to do. He understood that there were things she couldn’t talk about, and he felt the less he knew, the better. Even she had had enough of this life, and with what she stood to gain, she already had her plan in place. It would require a few other pieces, but this plan would work. Only one person stood to lose anything if things went sideways, and it surely was not her. Either way, she had gamed her way out, and this op was the beginning of the end.

Bishop Monslant seemed really helpful, and a part of her wished she didn’t have to do this to him. He was witty, he was caring, and his sole interest seemed to be in helping her. Whether that was because he wanted to help her heal or that he just wanted more money from her for the church, she didn’t know. She did know that he despised predators, rapists and sexually immoral people, so there was very little chance their plan to smear him was going to work. She still had to try; humans could be very surprising at the least expected times.

She knew from talking to Caris that the bishop’s marriage was sexless. It was basically just for show, and they didn’t even sleep in the same room. She hoped that the lack of activity from all those years could be a weapon in her arsenal. Either way, tonight was the night to find out.

“Girl. You sure this man’s going to bite? I go to his church oo. I’ve seen him preach. He doesn’t look like the type at all.”

Trista was a conundrum. She was a lifelong member of this church, yet she was giddy when Carol asked her to help smear the number two guy here. What brand of loyalty that was, Carol was yet to fully understand.

“It’s a gamble, babe. Just like we used to do. Remember how we used to think some ministers were above reproach, and then they fucked us and blew our backs out like crazy? Some men know how to put up a front.”

“Hmm. I’ll say this though: I really hope he’s not the type. I really hope you’re wrong about him.”

“You’re saying you want the op to fail?”

“Nah. I hope his dick is the size of a damn plantain, I’ll tell you that. But I would hate for him to be a cliché. Not for nothing, but I really respect the guy.”

“Me too. But his son’s the motherfucker who put him in this spot.”

“Yeah, I know. I can’t believe this guy gave birth to that stupid ass. I wish we’d just beat him up and move on.”

“And risk the Archbishop’s curse? Do you really want that problem?”

“Damn. You’re right. Hopefully we don’t fall into that fate. But, hey, it’s going to be a good night of fucking, whether he’s about that life or nah. I have plans later in the dawn, so let’s get to it!”

Carol shook her head. There were very few people who possessed both the energy and depravity to engage in debauchery literally all night, and Trista was one of them. She was an old friend Carol loved working with, and she was as bad as they came. Her type was powerful men, and it turned her on like crazy when they bossed around. She was actually an old favorite of Parker Monslant’s, but then he tried to stick a fruit inside of her and she taught him a lesson he never forgot. She tried to warn Gigi about the fool, but Gigi thought she was jealous.

Carol gave Trista one of the bodycams, and put hers on. They got out of the car in their black lace bodysuits and killer pumps, and headed for their entrance.

*****

PRESENT DAY

Inspector Kpodo lay on the longer of the two couches in Mary’s office, thoroughly shocked. It was as though every bone in his body had been cracked, then healed, then cracked again, then healed, and over again for the entire duration of the confession tape. Goddamn.

His first thoughts were that if this fool had not been hired, this case would never even exist. This guy was the sole reason why the operation had failed so badly. Well, this guy and Thomas Gardner, the guy who had actually planned the operation. Goosman didn’t know who the order came from, so Thomas, or Tembo, as he was called in the video, would have to fill in that blank.

Mary brought him some green tea. “Here. I put some honey in it. This’ll soothe your body.”

She sat in the other couch and watched as he slowly got up and sipped the tea. His jerk reaction let her know that it was a little too hot for him, but she was certain he’d feel better soon.

“That must’ve been some document on that drive. Are you allowed to even say what you watched?”

Julius lay back down after a few more sips of the tea. “Well, your joke turned out to be prophetic. I just need to gather some strength before I make my next move.”

It took Mary a couple of seconds to remember what she’d said earlier, but she couldn’t believe it could be. “Someone confessed? The case is closed?”

“Well, someone confessed, and most of the case is done. It does feel like the plan was designed to fall solely on one person’s head though. And given what was at stake, there’s no way that person could’ve come up with this. No way at all.”

“What’s your next move, then?”

“For starters, I’m going to confront a retired assassin.”

“I’ll put in the request for backup now.”

“No need. I won’t be taking any.”

“You’re going by yourself? Julius, that’s too risky.”

“Based on the video I just watched, it’s better I go alone. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful, mum.”

Mary rolled her eyes as that last part, and went back to her desk as Julius lay in the couch.

*****

Tembo sat in a secluded corner of Seddy’s Restaurant. He’d noticed the sparsity of people in there when he walked in, and he knew that whoever had called him earlier that day knew what they were doing. Wednesday nights were usually for church services, whatever series was popping, or sleep, depending on the individual. None of that was reason enough for there to be this few people at 8pm at a restaurant this popular. This was a very odd day.

He’d received a call with instructions to be here at this time, and he knew not to cross the person on the other end of the line. As he sat, sipping on his coke, the other party joined him.

“Is it done?”

Tembo looked up at the person. “Have you held up your end?”

“Is it done?”

“It’s done.”

“Good.” The person passed him an envelope the size of a palm. He took a peek inside, and nodded his head. The other party nodded back.

“Deal’s a deal. How it should’ve been all those years ago.”

As the person got up to leave, Tembo asked, “What’s in this for you, woman?”

The woman shot him a look of warning as she replied, “That’s none of your concern,” and walked away.

As surprised as Tembo was by the turn of events, he always knew this day would come for him. He may not have thought it would be because of this particular matter, but he knew something would get him.

He’d been diagnosed with cancer seven months ago, and he had no interest in looking pathetic when it got bad. So when this woman came to him and offered him this deal, he didn’t even resist. Sure, this was going to be one steep price to pay and it would really suck. But, nothing gave him more pleasure than knowing how much Carol Swanson was going to finally suffer for all the disrespect she’d shown him.

“Only a matter of time now, bitch. Game. Set.”                

Inspector Kpodo’s getting closer and closer to the truth! And who’s this woman pulling strings behind the scenes?

Yeah, you’re probably guessing who it is, right?