Dead or Alive

As soon as Agent Forster left the building, Q picked up her phone and dialed Craig.

‘Thank you very much, Craig, for throwing me under the bus,’ she said, as soon as the phone was picked up.

‘I have no idea what—’

‘Oh please, don’t pretend you don’t know what you did,’ she said cutting him off. ‘I had a visit from Agent Forster.’

‘Oh…’

‘Explain yourself!’

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice. They threaten to suspend me.’

‘You couldn’t warn me?’

Craig said nothing.

‘Start from the beginning.’ She took a deep breath and leaned back on her chair. ‘Is Steve in trouble?’

‘While I was doing the background check on your friend Steve—’

‘He’s not my friend,’ she said, interrupting him.

‘I had a visit from the Hawks who were asking me all sorts of questions about him. They told me that they would report me to my station commander if I didn’t tell them why I was snooping around their case.’

‘Their case? I don’t understand.’

‘Steve is in trouble. He’s involved with the notorious Czech businessman that the Hawks have been trying to nail for years now without any luck. And from what I could find out, Steve cut a deal with them so that he won’t be charged.’ He paused. ‘But now he’s disappeared.’

‘Excuse me? What? What do you mean he’s disappeared?’ she said in a whisper as if afraid that someone might be listening in.

Craig took her cue; he also lowered his voice. ‘Yep. No one can find him. The Hawks don’t know whether he’s dead or whether he’s skipped the country. All they know is that they cannot find him.’

Q was silent, assimilating it all. Steve involved with the Czech mafia? No, she corrected herself, the Czech Godfather. The most dangerous man in the country. Anyone who double-crossed him died and the police could never link anything back to him, hence he’d never been charged.

She began to worry. Steve’s disappearance was cause for concern, especially if he was involved with the Godfather.

She wondered if Thando knew anything about the disappearance. She had not said anything to her about it. She shook her head. Craig must be mistaken, maybe—

‘Did Forster say anything about me?’ Craig asked, speaking normal again.

‘What?’

‘Forster.’

‘He didn’t say much. I think he was trying to intimidate me.’

Craig laughed. ‘Intimidate you? Really? He should have asked me how to approach you. You’re not easily intimidated.’

‘You still owe me for throwing me under the bus, but thank you for this information.’

‘Does that mean you’re no longer gonna set me up with your hot friend?’

‘Exactly.’

She ended the conversation with Craig and called Thando. She asked her where Steve was. Thando told her that Steve left the country two days ago on a business trip oversees. He won’t be back for another three weeks. Q took down the details that Steve had left. The country, the hotel name and the business he was visiting. She ended the call with Thando who clearly had no idea of what was going on. She was about to do some investigation on Steve’s trip when her phone rang. She lifted the handset.

‘Q, Steve has left the country with all our money.’ It was Sbu, he spoke before Q could even say hello. ‘The company is bankrupt. He transferred all our money to an offshore account.’

Q didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know why Sbu had decided to call her with all of this information. Maybe it was because they were now friends. She  didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the challenge she had been presented with. No one asked her, but she knew that if she didn’t do it no one else would. So she decided she would find Steve. Wherever he was, whether he was dead or alive she would find him.

50 Shades of Brown

Q woke up with an uneasy feeling that morning. She’s not one to worry, so waking up feeling as if her world was coming to an end was cause for concern. She tried to dismiss the feeling, but it just lingered on. As a result, she woke up earlier than usual. She wanted to call her mother and find out if everyone was fine back home. She picked up the phone, but put it back down when she noted the time displayed on the screen. She didn’t want to wake up her mom for nothing. She swung her legs off the bed and sat there for a moment, trying to think back to the previous day. What could have happened that gave rise to this anxiety? Her mind drew a blank. As far as she was concerned, she had no reason to worry.

By the time she left home, dressed in her favourite Zara yellow tight-fighting suit and powder blue peep toe Prada heels, the feeling had disappeared. She even forgot about it. But it returned when she got to work and found a man she didn’t recognise, wearing an ill-fitting suit waiting for her. He was an average man, nothing memorable about him. Nothing at all. He was of average height and average weight; he had brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a three-piece brown suit with a khaki shirt and a striped tie with different shades of brown. Q knew there was no way he could be from her past and there was no way he was in the entertainment industry. So who is he and what does he want, she wondered. He sat at the waiting area outside her office.

‘May I help you?’ she asked, opening the door to her office. She switched the lights on and placed her Louis Vuitton handbag inside her cabinet. She’d owned it for little over a year. She’d received it as a gift from her friends on her birthday. There was no way she could afford one on her salary.

The man followed her inside her office and closed the door behind them.

The uneasiness grew. ‘May I offer you something to drink?’

The man shook his head. ‘I’m not gonna be long,’ he said. ‘My name is Agent Forster from the Hawks.’

Q raised an eyebrow. She wondered what the Hawks wanted with her.

‘I heard that you were asking about Steve Pule,’ he said.

She wasn’t sure whether to be honest with him or lie. After all, it was illegal to do a background check on someone, especially when you were not part of law enforcement.

‘How do you know him?’

‘He’s my friend’s boyfriend,’ she said.

He noted this on his tiny notebook. ‘Does this friend have a name?’

‘Why are you asking this? Is he in trouble?’

He was silent for a moment. He was considering how much to tell her, Q could tell.

‘Steve is involved with very unsavoury people,’ he said.

‘That’s it? That’s the reason you came to my office so early in the morning? Come on, detective, I’m not dumb.’

‘Agent.’

‘What?’

‘Agent not detective.’

Q rolled her eyes. ‘Just tell me what’s going on. I don’t want my friend to get mixed up in whatever Steve’s been up to. She’s an innocent bystander.’

‘What has Steve been up to and how do you know that your friend is innocent?’

‘How the hell should I know what Steve’s been up to? You’re the detective here?’ She paused. ‘The agent here.’ She continued, ‘And Thando is innocent; she’ll never be involved in anything shady. Trust me.’

He noted something down. ‘So her name is Thando,’ he said.

Q could have kicked herself for letting that slip. She had to be more careful, she told herself. ‘If you’re not gonna tell me anything about Steve, then I’ve got nothing more to say to you.’

‘Just tell me why you were doing a background check on him. You had to have a reason,’ he said.

‘Am I under arrest?’ she asked.

He shook his head.

‘Then I’ve got nothing more to say to you. If you have any more questions you can contact my lawyer.’

Agent Forster said nothing. He didn’t move. He was sizing Q up and it made her feel uncomfortable. He drummed his average fingers on the desk for a second, then he slowly stood. ‘That won’t be necessary.’ He placed his notebook on the inside pocket of his jacket. Q thought that all he was missing was a pocket watch and he would look like the detectives in those black and white movies.

‘A word of warning, if you know something about Steve, you better tell me. And if you are involved with him, be careful,’ he said. He reached into his pocket for his wallet, peeled one of his business cards and handed it to Q.

‘If you think of anything else or suddenly feel an urge to talk, call me.’

Q studied the business card as Forster left her office. There was nothing memorable about it. Nothing at all.