16. Maxwell
CHAPTER 16
Maxwell
Turning away from the news station, I watch Kam as she backs away from the four of us who are speaking about Harry’s arrest. The news segment ends and goes to commercial, and I move closer to hear what Kam is saying. Her face is filled with surprise.
Who could she be talking to?
She places her fingers at her temple, indicating that the conversation is stressing her out.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be there. Thanks for reaching out. Okay, bye.”
Kamaya checks that the call is disconnected before looking up at me. “You’ll never guess who that was.”
My first thought is maybe its Zach reaching out to her after the date on Friday. “Who was it?”
“Franco. He saw that Harry was arrested and wants to talk to me about what he saw before leaving Financial Journal .”
“Why now?” I speculate.
Kamaya shrugs. “Not sure. He’s finally coming around; I don’t want to take that for granted.”
I got what she was saying. With assignments like this, we had to tread lightly. Since none of us were official law enforcement, we couldn’t get warrants or force anyone into speaking to us.
“What time are we going to meet him?”
Kamaya makes a face like she doesn’t want to inform me.
“Here’s the thing. He wanted to meet me alone.”
“What? There’s no way you can meet him on your own! We still don’t know much about this guy and what he’s capable of.”
“I know, but—” Kamaya says.
“Kamaya, I don’t think this is a good idea. We don’t know what this man can do. I don’t feel comfortable with you going alone.”
“Come with me, Max. I didn’t really want to go by myself anyway. We’ve been working on this assignment together from the beginning. Now this is our chance to resolve this once and for all.”
“What time does he want to meet?”
“Later this evening during his break,” Kamaya says. “He always works late evenings, he says, since he helps to take care of his sick father during the day. He didn’t want to meet at Milano’s again. Instead he asked to meet at Columbus Park a few blocks away.”
I viewed the time on my watch. We still had several more hours before Kam and I were due to meet Franco.
Bree and Harlowe were leaving the office together, chatting like they’d known each other for years instead of moments. That was Bree for you. She could befriend anyone. Brandon returned to his office, and I went in to update him on Franco.
“I’ll be right back,” I say to Kam.
She nods, now at her laptop screen, deep into whatever she’s viewing. All of her work was like another language, and I really wouldn’t be useful until much later, so I leave her alone to work.
“Got a second?” I ask Brandon in the open doorway.
“Sure,” he says. “What’s going on?”
I proceed to tell him about the phone call from Franco to Kam and advise him about my apprehension regarding the situation. I’m suspicious about why Franco isn’t interested in speaking with me as well and his sudden forthcoming attitude.
Brandon leans back and steeples his hands, thinking about what I told him.
“Maybe Harry’s arrest has something to do with this Franco’s change of heart.”
“Yeah, maybe. He wanted to meet with just Kam, but I told her it could be a potentially dangerous situation, and I will be going with her.”
“Smart move,” Brandon answers. “When I’m not here all the time, you’ll have to make decisions like these with the rest of the team. Our number one priority is to keep everyone safe. Even if that means making the unfavorable decision.”
Brandon was right. Being the responsible one in charge would also mean having to take on the role of bad guy or going against what others wanted me to decide. It would take some adjustment, but I was up to the challenge. This assignment with Kamaya felt like the first test.
“Well, Franco can’t meet us until much later in the evening, so Kam and I will be around here the rest of the day. No sense in going all the way back home to Jersey City.”
Brandon nods. “I’ll be around until late as well. I’ve been back and forth with leasing agents in London about the new office space. So, for the next few weeks, that will be preoccupying my time. Let me know if you and Kam will need backup later.”
“Thanks, Brandon, for everything.”
“Don’t mention it. I can usually depend on you, Max, not to get sentimental on me,” Brandon says.
For the next few hours, Kam and I pass the time by grabbing dinner at a local take-out-only pizza place near the office which is not too busy on a Monday. It’s the first moment to ourselves without our coworkers nearby today.
The small space is standing room only, but we stay after I suggest we needed a break from the cold office.
Kamaya sprinkles red pepper flakes on her slice of pepperoni before speaking. “Now that you’re officially promoted, what happens with us going forward?”
I take my time before answering. With the events of the past few hours, I wasn’t thinking about how we’d broach the topic of our relationship at work. With Brandon due to leave in a few months, soon I’d be Kam’s boss.
“We don’t have to say anything until we’re ready.”
“I don’t want either of us to have to leave,” she says. “Although, with you now being promoted, if anything were to happen between us, I’d most likely have to go.”
I place my slice back down and clean up the grease from my hands before reaching for hers. “Kamaya Blake, as God is my witness, I will do everything in my power to stay together. If anything were to happen between us, then we’ll just deal with it if that time were to come. I love my job, and I know how much you love yours. I will make sure that nothing happens where either of us has to leave.”
Kamaya gives me an apprehensive smile like she wants to believe what I’m saying but is not sure if she does. “I will hold you to that, Max.”
I lean forward for a kiss. PDA is not something I am usually comfortable doing, but with Kamaya it was a compulsion. I needed to do it.
After our dinner outing, we kill the final two hours in the office. I wasn’t much help to Kamaya, but I did my best to keep up with her.
“This is something I’ve used with Brandon before. You’ll be able to hear everything I’m saying to Franco. If things sound like they are going south, you’ll be able to?—”
“Come to your rescue?” I say.
Kam smiles. “Yeah, knight in shining armor and all that.”
Kamaya shows me a small device that looks like an AirPod but even a little smaller that she’ll have pinned inside the small pocket square of her button-down shirt. The app she downloaded on my phone will be getting live feed of her conversation with Franco, and I’ll be able to hear everything going on.
“Okay, we need to leave now,” she says, glancing at the time. No subway transit this time. I was going to take one of the TSS vehicles from the parking garage and hideout in it while Kamaya went to speak to Franco.
As soon as we begin descending in the elevator, we stop one level down, and Jacob Reyes walks in.
“Sup, guys?” Jacob says as the doors close. He takes the empty space on the opposite side of where Kamaya and I are standing. “You heard about that arrest at the college?”
“Yeah,” Kamaya says. “We saw it earlier. My sister is a student at City University and told me about it.”
Jacob shakes his head. “It’s crazy that Harry guy is my boss’s son. I’ve never heard anyone mention him since I started working at FJ .”
“From what we know about their relationship, they are definitely not close,” I add.
“Cecily was just in the office not too long ago. Never seen her in here so late before. She and Zach were very dressed up.”
Kamaya and I exchange a glance. “Is that so?”
“I couldn’t hear much from where I was working. I had so much going on today setting up for new employees coming later this week. Anyway, they were both here maybe an hour ago, and I could hear them saying something about a party.”
Interesting. Wonder why they bothered coming to the office dressed up if they had somewhere to be? It would be coincidental, but something was gnawing at me that Jacob might be revealing useful information. Once Kam and I were alone, I’d tell her what I was thinking.
“Did you ever track down Franco?” Jacob asks, directing his question to Kamaya.
“Yes, we did,” she says before the doors open to the building lobby. “Thanks to you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jacob says, but I see the slight smirk on his face, confirming that he did help us but wouldn’t admit it. “Anyways, you two have a good night.”
Kamaya and I say our goodnights to Jacob, and neither of us speak until we’re in the safe confines of the SUV.
“That was weird, right? It wasn’t just me?” I say to Kam once we’re seated back in the car.
“I don’t know. I guess Jacob decided, in the end, that he wanted to help us. Maybe he thinks by helping us out, he’s helping his friend.”
I start the drive downtown towards Columbus Park. “I meant about Zach and Cecily. What do you think they were doing in the office so late?”
“I’m surprised she even came in after the news about Harry today. She’s been so embarrassed of him before,” Kam says, taking her phone out of her pocket. “Let’s see what is going on with all that now. I’m going to see if there’s been any updates.”
At the stoplight, I turn to her, looking down at the phone screen. “Have you heard from Daniella?”
“No, not since earlier. There’s nothing new posted about Harry or the school.” I watch her search Cecily van Zandt’s name and select News .
“Oh, well, now we know why she and Zach were so dressed up. Tonight is apparently her annual charity gala. Get this. They are raising money for underprivileged students for their education.”
I release a guffaw. “She and her son are more alike than they realize.”
“Yes, they just go about their causes for different reasons. Harry actually seems to care, though he does so in an extreme way. Whereas his mother is all for show.”
“What a wild pair they make,” I say, merging into the right lane to make the turn for the park.
“Have you heard from Zach at all since Friday?” I ask Kam.
“He did text me saying that he had a good time, and we should get together again.”
I grimace. “What did you say?”
Kamaya sighs. “I had to lie and say that I had fun as well but wasn’t sure when I’d have time again. I didn’t want to mention you and me, since I’m certain we’ll be meeting with Zach and Cecily again, and I don’t want to alienate him.”
I nod. “That’s smart. Hopefully you won’t have to keep up pretenses much longer.”
“Hopefully not,” Kamaya says.
I park on the corner of Mulberry and Worth Street. I turn to Kamaya for what happens next.
“So, Franco asked to meet by the fountain of the park, not too far from the kids’ play area. His jobs is only a few minutes’ walk, so I’ll head over there now.”
“Before you go, let’s test the device. Make sure I can hear you,” I say.
“Good idea,” Kam says. “I’ll step out and see if you can hear me. If I stay in the car, we’ll hear horrible feedback.”
I pull up the app for the device and wait for Kam to slam the door shut. I see her mouth moving and then a few seconds later, her voice picks up. There’s a slight delay, but the sound is crystal clear. I give her a thumbs up, letting Kam know everything is in working order.
I watch as she makes her way down the block to the park. The sounds of cars driving by or honking come through clearly on the phone. There’s some light left, but the sun has nearly set.
“I’m almost at the fountain area,” Kamaya says. The device is only feeding me her surroundings, but she won’t be able to hear me.
A few seconds pass and there are only the sounds of the city becoming fainter the farther she goes into the park. The next thing I hear makes my blood run cold.
Kamaya’s scream.