17. Jealousy
Chapter 17
Jealousy
Bull
I go through every inch of the file on Naiya and Ubin, and there’s nothing that points to any betrayal of her father or brother. Even their finances show they live modestly. There are no huge deposits or withdrawals, and all the payments are regular and lead back to legitimate purchases.
Phoenix isn’t getting any hits on Adaku and Serin either. Serin paid his own way through university and started at the bottom in a local law firm and worked his way up. While Wire is going over the last file that includes the youngest sister, Mannia, and her husband, Boluku, Phoenix and I are going over the family’s circle of friends.
A video call comes in, and Wire answers and projects Falcon and Rebel on the screen.
“Hey, you guys all right?” I ask.
“We’re fine. We spent the last couple of hours with Yakubu and President Obi. These are good, solid leaders. They’re respected by their staff, and the people of his little country are standing vigil to protect their president. Obu’s soldiers are just as dedicated to their president,” Falcon says.
“Never seen anything like it,” Rebel adds. “We’re going to go through their next week’s agenda and decide if we have enough security to cover us. If not, we’re putting his appearances on hold.”
“I’m on President Obi, and Rebel is Yakubu’s shadow. They don’t like it, but they agreed,” Falcon says.
I’m scanning Ubin’s file one more time. This gut feeling that I might be missing something just keeps nagging at me. That’s when I see it. “Holy shit!” I exclaim. “I think I’ve got something.”
Phoenix looks down at what I’m pointing to. “What’s that got to do with it?” he asks, giving it a quick read.
“Maybe nothing, but maybe something.”
“You guys want to share?” Rebel asks, obviously annoyed.
“Ubin’s office was broken into five months ago. It was reported, and it says nothing was stolen,” I tell them.
“So?” Rebel asks.
“Why break in if you’re not going to take anything? Maybe they missed something? A file, a USB key, something?” I point out.
“Was the place trashed?” Rebel asks.
“Doesn’t say. Maybe a trip to the local police station is in order,” I say.
“Never mind. Got it here.” Wire flashes the photos from the police investigation on the screen. “Place is trashed. Except,” he uses his mouse to circle a section of the room, “right here.”
“The top of his credenza hasn’t been touched. Those doors are closed, and all the rest are flung open and the drawers pulled out on every other cabinet in that room,” Phoenix says.
“You think it was staged?” Falcon asks.
“I think it’s too coincidental that one small corner of the room looks untouched while the rest is a mess,” I respond.
“Why didn’t the police catch that?” Rebel asks.
“Says here that they think the thief heard the night watchman coming and left before he was finished,” Wire answers.
“Time to find out what’s kept in that cabinet,” Falcon says. “Send me that police report.”
“No fingerprints, no one was ever arrested, and Ubin put a new security system in place shortly after that happened,” Wire says.
“I don’t think he had anything to do with it, but he does handle all the personal investments for his father and brother-in-law. And it’s openly understood that every political candidate must put up their own funds to run for office,” I tell them.
“We’re going to check into the break-in and have a conversation with Ubin. I’ll let you know what we find out,” Falcon says and hangs up.
“What if we track how this guy got into Ubin’s office? Security camera footage of the building and surrounding buildings, maybe?” I suggest.
“This is a very primitive IT system. We’re talking about a place that no one has even heard about, but I’ll give it a shot,” Wire says.
For the rest of the day, we pore through it all again and again. My eyes burn from staring at the same pages, but a pattern begins to emerge. All three of Obi’s sons-in-law had a break-in. What that means, we don’t know yet.
* * *
Maya
I’m getting into a great rhythm at work, and Lily has been a godsend. She’s a wonderful teacher and so easy to work with. She injects life into her classroom. I can hear the students engaging and laughing along with her. That’s a talent, and I think I’m getting better at it, but I know I can definitely learn a lot from Lily. We spend most of our free periods together planning for our classes, and we get along so well that time flies. Before you know it, the day has come to an end. I was worried about not fitting in with the rest of the staff, but I have to say that Principal Doyle has done a fantastic job at making this school a great place to work.
The first period is over, and I have ten minutes in between to prep the board for the next lesson. I’m about to do just that when I see Josh coming in to see me.
“Hey, you’re early.” I give him a warm smile. “Can’t get enough of learning, right?”
He gives me a forced grin. Josh is clearly hesitant to tell me something. Immediately, I wonder if Calvin is all right. These two are as thick as thieves, and you rarely see one without the other.
“I need to tell you something,” he says, then looks around the room to make sure no one else is there. He rakes a hand through his hair and nervously shifts from foot to foot.
“You can tell me anything, Josh. If I can help, I will, and if I can’t, I’ll find someone who can,” I say, hoping this eases his mind.
“Calvin’s a good guy. He’s not that asshole he pretends to be,” he blurts out.
This I already know, and I tell him so. “I’ve already figured that out.”
“It’s his defensive mechanism. Hurt them before they hurt you,” he goes on to say. He looks down at his boots, then raises his eyes, trying to tell me something without actually telling me.
“I’m not going to hurt him. I think Calvin is a very intelligent young man. I’m trying to encourage him to see his own potential,” I explain.
“He knows he’s smart. Calvin and I both tested a year ago, and we both tested off the charts. School isn’t hard for us. Life is hard for us.”
A lightbulb goes on in my head. “Is Calvin being bullied? Are you?” I ask quietly. Josh hesitates and bites his lower lip to the point that I think he’s going to bleed. “I want to help,” I tell him softly. I don’t want to spook him and have him clam up now.
He opens his mouth to speak, and the door bursts open. Calvin comes in, waving papers in his hand. “I finished my assignment,” he says, and plops it on my desk. “Yo, Josh. You’re handing yours in too.”
Josh clears his throat and hands me his paper. “Yeah, bud. Wanted to beat you to it so she can read mine first,” he says. “She should read the best one at the start,” he teases.
Calvin punches him in the shoulder. “I killed it. I’ll take the A+ . You can have the A ,” he brags, but all in good fun with his buddy. Josh snaps back into his former self, and the two friends continue their bantering.
I’m not going to get anything more out of Josh today, and I won’t betray his confidence. There’s obviously much more that I don’t know. I’m going to go to the office later and pull the two boys’ files. I read up on all my students before school, but I was looking for grades and learning styles. This time, I’ll be more thorough.
I give them both my brightest smile. “I look forward to reading them both. But I have a feeling they’re going to be stellar. Now, get to your seats. The bell just rang, and the rest of the wild ones will be in momentarily.”
The class trickles in, and the afternoon runs smoothly, as expected. I caught Josh’s eyes when he was leaving. They were trying to tell me something, but I have no idea what that would be. I run into Principal Doyle in the office.
“Hey, Maya, how’s your day going?” he asks.
“Excellent,” I exclaim. “I would, however, like to see a file on one of my students.”
“Which one?”
“Calvin Martins,” I reply.
“Is he being a problem?” His smile turns into a frown. “I know he can be a bit of a wise guy, but he’s never been in serious trouble.”
“No, no. He started off being a pest, but he’s really stepping up. I just want to familiarize myself with what we have on him. I’m not sure if I’m fully up to speed.” I don’t think it’s necessary to let him know about my talk with Josh. And at this time, I’m not even sure what it meant.
He guides me to the file room and pulls out Calvin’s and Josh’s files. I walk them over to the desk and chair in the room and take a seat. Principal Doyle leaves me alone, and I flip through the boys’ history. Calvin has always gotten good grades. They slipped when he started high school, but that’s not abnormal when kids move on to higher grades. I see that he missed school for over a month in the next year and then was found skipping classes intermittently for the last couple of years. However, his grades are still consistently higher than average. The report cards from his previous teachers stated their concern was in regard to his behavior and attendance, not his grades. Those comments began after his first significant absence.
Josh has always been present in school and has always done well. He was found skipping school at the same time as Calvin. Josh’s parents took a harder stance, and that seemed to solve that problem. Josh comes from a blue-collar neighborhood, whereas Calvin lives in a wealthy part of town. I’ve only been here a short time, and I’m even aware of the big estate homes in his neighborhood.
There’s no information about their parents, but we’re having an open house in a couple of weeks, and with any luck, I’ll get to meet them. For now, it seems that this is all I’m going to get from the information in front of me. Maybe Josh will come back to see me and this time, tell me what he’s holding back.
* * *
A short time later, I’m riding up the elevator, in my apartment building with Ken, the lawyer. He hasn’t stopped talking for a second. I hardly got in a hello before he followed me to the mailboxes. My mother didn’t raise a rude child, and I can’t just walk away, but eventually, I edged us closer to the elevator and hit the button, hoping it would be a polite way of ending this little chat. Instead, he comes in with me.
I’ve never known an elevator to be this slow. Or maybe it’s just me tired of listening to how he defended his last client based on some legal jargon and befuddled the jury. I sigh a breath of relief when the door opens, and I step out, but that feeling ends when he steps out with me.
“This isn’t your floor,” I say.
“You always accompany a lady to her door,” Ken replies with a grin.
“That’s really not necessary,” I tell him quickly. Nonetheless, he walks me to my door. I turn to say goodbye and find him in my space.
“Listen, Ken, I?—”
“Pretty. You’re very pretty,” he interrupts. He touches my curls. Ken just went from an okay guy to creepy.
I push his hand away. “Stop. I’m trying to tell you something and?—”
“You don’t have to say a thing,” Ken says. I brace my hands against his chest to push him away when a large shadow is cast over us. I look up and see a very angry Bull standing behind Ken. Ken looks over his shoulder and jumps off to the side. “What the fuck!” he curses. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.” Ken is attempting to look calm and composed and failing miserably.
“You got my girl pinned up against her door. Back the fuck off!” he growls.
“Your girl?” Ken’s voice is filled with surprise and disgust. He whips his head toward me and sneers. “You tease!” he says accusingly. “You led me on.”
I gape in stunned silence. Is he kidding? I’ve haven’t been able to get a word in since he approached me downstairs. I turn my gaze up to Bull, but he’s not looking at me. I’m shaken to my senses when Bull stands between Ken and me.
“Shut up!” Bull says in a low, lethal tone. “She was shoving you away and you weren’t getting the message. So let me make this perfectly clear, Maya and I are together. You keep your hands to yourself and never, ever do you call Maya a tease.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Ken says. Bull takes a step forward, and Ken steps back. “You lay a hand on me, and I’ll have you brought up on charges,” he threatens.
“Bud, you want to hide behind your Ivy League law degree and threaten me, go right ahead. Just know this: for every connection you might have, I have three,” Bull says with a snicker. “Maya is off-limits, end of discussion.”
“I don’t like sloppy seconds,” Ken says snidely. Bull lunges, but I jump in front of him. Ken’s definitely showing his true colors, and I wouldn’t put it past him to cause trouble for Bull.
“Don’t,” I whisper. “He isn’t worth it.” I tug on his arm and grab my key to open the door. “Bull, please, let’s go inside.” I can see that Bull is fighting his desire to grab Ken by the scruff of the neck and throw him up against the wall. “Come on,” I urge. Finally, I feel his hand on my lower back, and he guides us inside, slamming the door behind us.
* * *
Bull
I’m livid. I know that Maya is beautiful, and I know that guys notice her, but I didn’t expect Ken to come sniffing around after I thought I made it clear when we left the party together that she belongs to me. It pisses me off even more that he tried to pass it off like Maya was the one instigating the confrontation. I was right behind Maya when she walked into the building and saw the whole scene unfold. I was going to jump in earlier, but I thought Maya would want to handle this on her own. Ken was full of shit. I saw Maya try to tell him about us, and Ken never gave her a chance.
I snapped when he reached out to touch her. Jealousy’s a bitch! I never thought of myself as a jealous man, until Maya.
“Bull.”
I look into her eyes.
“I’m not a tease,” she says, her voice wobbly. “I didn’t lead him on.”
I toss my jacket over the back of the couch and come to stand in front of her. I slip her bag from her shoulder and wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her close to me. “Baby, I know who you are and what you are. Ken’s not a stupid man. He saw a beautiful woman with baby-blue eyes and golden hair with a heart of gold and wanted that for himself. I’ve never considered myself a jealous man, but with you, I can’t help myself. The second he touched you, I wanted to break his fingers and gouge his eyes out.”
She gasps. “I’m glad you didn’t,” she murmurs. “I think he’s not kidding when he said he would call the police.”
“He can try.” I cup her chin and make sure she’s looking directly at me. “I want you to tell me if he ever approaches you again. I don’t trust him.”
“I don’t think he’ll be bothering me again.”
“Probably not. But if he does, I wanna know.” Maya’s too innocent, and I have a feeling that Ken isn’t done yet. He’s a guy who expects women to flock to him. His fancy car and prestigious job would usually do the trick. Maya’s not about all that, and it’s not sitting well with him.
“I will.”
“Good, baby. Now kiss me,” I order. Her mood shifts quickly, and she lifts onto her toes, touching her lips to mine in a sweet, soft kiss.
“How was your day?” she asks with a giggle. I laugh, hoisting her into my arms and twirling her around.