Mahogany's Dream Page 14
“Three days from now.”
He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but decided against it.
She said, “You know that I’m not a good liar.”
Blake responded with tough love. “Well you better become one between now and then.”
CHAPTER
35
The moment Janaya went out for lunch, Jill marched into Brian’s office without knocking.
“This is bullshit Brian, and you know it!”
Brian turned away from his computer screen. “Do I look like a mirror?”
“What?”
“Obviously you’re under the impression that you’re standing in front of a mirror practicing what you would say to me if you didn’t care about losing your job.”
She toned it down. “I don’t know how they did it in D.C., but here we generally don’t date the people we investigate.”
A pained look came over Brian’s face. “Conwell is not under investigation, at least not by this office. And if he is, I’ll give you a reference for your private investigator’s license.”
She got the warning, but she didn’t heed it. “Yeah well, a P.I. could probably do a better job of protecting the country than you’re doing right now.”
“Give me your credentials,” he said calmly.
“Why?”
“Because you’re being suspended for insubordination.”
“I don’t believe this!” she said indignantly. “Your secretary is the one giving blowjobs to terrorists, but you’re suspending me?”
“Keep talking and that won’t be the only thing you don’t believe.”
But she was defiant. “Maybe you should pull the trigger then. If I can’t do my freakin’ job, I don’t want to work here anyway.”
“Believe me, I’ve thought about it. When I heard about all the dim-witted shit you did to jeopardize this office, it took every ounce of loyalty in my blood not to put your ass on the chopping block.”
“If I jeopardized anything, I did it under your orders.”
“Bullshit,” he said. “I told you off-the-record to have a talk with the man. Nobody ordered you to become J. Edgar Hoover in pearls.”
“I don’t wear pearls.”
“I’ve noticed.”
She wanted to slug him. “You know what I’ve noticed? I’ve noticed this field office become a fucking joke. You sit in here and play See No Evil Hear No Evil while Miss Priss plans lunch dates with a known associate of the KMV. Bob told me the other day he saw Conwell drop her off right on Market Street. It’s a goddam disgrace!”
“What would you like me to do about it, Jill? Give her a demerit for poor judgment? I hate it as much as you do, probably more. But as long as Conwell is not a target of an official investigation—which I repeat he is not—Janaya’s personal life is none of our business.”
Jill wasn’t buying it. “How can you trust her? How do you know he’s not using her?”
“For what purpose?”
“Pick one. She could be passing him copies of our files. She could be telling him who we’re investigating so he can alert them.”
Brian handed her a folder. “Trying walking out of my office with that.”
Jill took the folder and walked into the foyer outside Brian’s office. The moment she passed through the doorway of his office, a high decibel alarm in the ceiling panel began screeching.
She came back in his office and the alarm immediately ceased. “Cute. What the hell was that?”
“All the files in this office are marked with R-F-I-D tags. Alarms are triggered the moment any of them pass by certain checkpoints, including all the exits to this building. And even if they get out, we can track them.”
Brian’s phone rang and he answered it. Jill overheard him tell someone on the other end to disregard the alarm.
When he hung up, Jill said, “Why wasn’t the alarm tripped when Janaya brought the HMC files to the proffer session?”
“Because I can selectively disable it with my PDA. Janaya doesn’t even know the system exists.”
“Who tags the files? I’ve never seen anyone do anything to my files.”
“That’s not your concern. All you need to know is that all the files are tagged.”
Jill still was not placated. “How do you know she’s not telling him classified information so he can warn the people who are targets?”
Brian sighed. “I don’t. Look Jill, Janaya is a secretary, not an agent. She doesn’t participate in our meetings and she has very little knowledge of our field operations. As soon as I found out that she had a thing going with Conwell, I changed the lock codes on the file cabinets and started doing my own filing. I’m careful about what I tell her, and, thanks to you, so is everyone else around here. I’ve talked to the Office of Legal Counsel about it. They agreed that as long as Conwell is not a target, then we have no grounds to invade her privacy. I even discussed it with Carl.”
“What did he say?”
“He said it’s wonderful. He thinks we can use Janaya against Conwell.”
Jill said, “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“And don’t start now, because it won’t happen. I reminded him just like I’m reminding you: we’re not investigating Conwell.”
“Did you remind Tyra Banks too?”
“I would appreciate it if you would refer to Janaya by her name. But to answer your question, yes, I’ve told her that she’s playing with fire. She knows if Conwell ever becomes a target, she can’t work here anymore.”
Jill looked away. “Joyce says her relationship with Conwell might be an ethics violation and that I should contact the I.G. about it. But I thought I would talk to you first. You know, out of quote unquote loyalty.”
He shook his head. “Both of you should get a life. It’s not like she’s dating bin Laden. Joyce just has a stick up her ass over what happened at the proffer session.”
“Maybe,” Jill said. “But at least she has the balls to address it.”
“There’s nothing for her to address. She runs her office and I run this one.”
“We’re all on the same team, Brian. I hope your black Barbie doll doesn’t make you forget that.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You and Joyce can swap maxi-pads for all I care, but if either of you do anything to hurt Janaya, I’ll be so far up your ass you’ll shit out my initials.”
“I want a transfer,” she said.
“Fine. Submit the paperwork as soon as you get reinstated.”
“Reinstated? You’re serious about this suspension?”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“For how long?”
“Until you read Who Moved My Cheese cover to cover. I don’t know how long. Call me in two weeks.”
“Starting when?”
“As soon as you inhale your next breath.”
“I have other cases that require attention. I can’t just drop them.”
“Let me worry about that.”
She slammed her ID onto his desk. “This is bullshit.”
He swiveled his chair back to his computer monitor, dismissing her.
CHAPTER
36
Dyson picked up Janaya at 30th Street Station.
In the car, he asked, “How was your trip?”
“Wonderful!” she said enthusiastically. “It was so good to go home again. You don’t realize how much you miss people until you see them.”
“I had the same thought when I saw you come up the escalator.”
She smiled like she was getting paid for it. “I missed you too, boo. The whole time.”
“So did you catch up on the latest pots and pans music?” he teased.
“Don’t be jealous because Philly doesn’t have its own original style of music. As a matter of fact, I listened to go-go all weekend.” She began demonstrating the latest maneuvers right in the passenger seat. “I felt like I was back in high school.”
She was as happy as a fat man at an eating contest.
“Did your grandmother like the camera?” he asked.
“Is the sky blue? She loved it. Once she was through asking me one hundred questions about you, she couldn’t put the thing down. It was like Christmas. She said she was going to buy a tripod for it so she could use it to film rehearsals at the Community Center.”
“I can get a tripod and send it to her.”
“You don’t have to do that. I think she’s looking forward to shopping for one herself. Plus she asked me twice if you were a drug dealer.”
Dyson was surprised. “How did you answer?”
“I said, ‘Not unless sex is a drug.’”
Dyson looked horrified.
“Just kidding. Nanna would’ve broken off a switch if I had said that. I told her all about you, Dr. Conwell. Not that I had much of a choice. She still looks at me as her vulnerable little granddaughter.”
Out of curiosity, Dyson said, “Did you tell her where we met?”
“I sure did. She didn’t judge you, but she did have my uncle look up your name on the Princeton Alumni website. Once he found it, she relaxed a little bit. She wants to meet you though.”
“I look forward to it. And I’ll leave all my drugs at home.”
She laughed.
They approached the expressway exit for Janaya’s apartment. Dyson hit his turn signal.
“No,” she said, touching his arm. “Let’s go to The Factory.”
That was her nickname for Dyson’s house. She started calling it that after Dyson insisted on referring to the FBI as the Federal Bureau of Insinuation.
“Don’t you want to unpack first?” he asked, even though he hoped the answer was no.
She said, “The only thing I want to unpack is you.” The mention of unpacking reminded her of something. She reached down into the travel bag between her feet. “I almost forgot. I got you a surprise.”
The surprise was a book entitled A Collection of Kingdoms. It was an anthology of short stories about twelve fictional kings. After Janaya was through with him, he ended up reading half of the book that same night. The best story was about a king who was forced to make a life and death choice between the welfare of his family and that of his kingdom. At the climax of the story, a royal courier anxiously awaits the King’s decision as a hostile army approaches. The king says to the courier: “Yesterday I was a king. Today I am but a slave to the choice that beckons me.”
The King’s predicament lingered in Dyson’s mind for a long time.
CHAPTER
37
As they lay in bed, Janaya said, “Dyson?”
“Yes?”
“What about God? My grandmother asked me if you go to church and I couldn’t answer her. Do you believe in God?”
“Which God?” he said. “If you read the Ugaritic Texts, they seem to imply that Israelite Monotheism evolved from a pantheon.”
That wasn’t the answer she was looking for. “What do you think will happen to your soul when you die?”
“Presuming I buy into Cartesian Dualism?” he said evasively.
It was like a game of hide and seek.
“Dyson,” she said again. “What about God? And if you say one more word that ends in ism, I’m going to go downstairs and scratch up all your cars.”
He sat up against the headboard and told her the truth.
“Are you familiar with the story of Gideon?”
“Vaguely,” she said.
“In the Bible, in the Old Testament, there was a man named Gideon who lived in a cave. Twice the Lord came to Gideon and told him to go out and do some pretty incredible things. Both times, before doing what the Lord directed, Gideon asked for a sign that the Lord was with him. One of the signs Gideon asked for had to do with a piece of fleece. Gideon asked the Lord to prove that He was with him by saturating the fleece with due but keeping the ground all around the fleece dry. The Lord did it.
I was twelve when I first read that passage. It was about the time I first met Rock. We were both on our third foster family by then. Anyway, in my little mind, I decided that if Gideon could ask God for a sign, so could I. I didn’t have any fleece, so I made up my own test. Before I went to bed that night, I put an empty cup on my nightstand. I asked God to fill the cup with water by morning if He was with me.”
“What happened?” Janaya asked, titillated.
“I don’t know,” Dyson said. “In the middle of the night, my foster father woke me up and took me back to the Group Home where I had come from. He dropped me right on the front steps in my pajamas and drove off.”
“I’m sorry, baby,” Janaya said, placing her hand over his.
A few moments later, she asked, “So what does that mean about your faith?”
“It means that I’m still in the cave waiting for God to get back to me.”
CHAPTER
38
The next morning, while Janaya was still there, Michelle paid Dyson a surprise visit.
Both Michelle and Rock had keys to Dyson’s house in case of an emergency. But unlike Rock, Michelle viewed her key as an open invitation to drop by whenever she felt like it. Dyson was usually happy to see her.
This wasn’t one of those times.
Janaya was awakened by the sound of voices emanating from the kitchen. She reached over for Dyson, but she was alone in bed.
She walked into the kitchen wearing Dyson’s robe to find him arguing with the woman from the restaurant. Only this time the woman wasn’t dressed in a business suit. As far as Janaya could tell, all Michelle had on was a three quarter length coat and knee high boots.
“Are you naked under that?” Janaya asked Michelle, interrupting their argument.
“Are you?” Michelle shot back.
Janaya looked at Dyson, but he was staring up at the ceiling, probably thinking that now would be a good time to receive that sign that he was waiting for.
“Who is she?” Janaya asked him. “And tell the truth this time.”
Unsure what else to say, Dyson said, “This is Michelle. Michelle, meet Janaya.”
They both looked at him like he had a hole in his head.
“Your lawyer right?” Janaya asked, doubt dripping from her voice.
“As a matter of fact,” Michelle said, “I am.”
“Do you always meet with your clients butt naked?” Janaya said.
“Dyson is more than a client. And he’ll continue to be so long after you’re gone, sweetheart.”
They both turned to Dyson.
He sighed. “Michelle is my lawyer, but she’s also my friend. Probably my best friend.”
“And we used to lived together,” Michelle added for posterity.
“If she’s your so called best friend,” Janaya said, “how come you’ve never mentioned her before?”
“I was going to ask him the same thing about you,” Michelle said. “He told me you were just the flavor of the month.”
“Did he?” Janaya said, anger rising in her belly.
Dyson sighed again. “The answer to both questions is: I was waiting for the right time.”
“Now is a good time,” Janaya hissed.
“Now there’s nothing to explain anymore,” he said unwisely.
“Why don’t you start with why this hussy has a key and I don’t,” Janaya said.
“Watch your mouth, bitch,” Michelle warned her.
Dyson stepped in between them.
“Michelle’s key,” he said, “is supposed to be used only in the event of an emergency.”
“You didn’t say that the last time I used it,” Michelle cut in.
“The last time you used it, I wasn’t in a relationship,” he said.
Michelle threw the key at him. “Fuck you, Dyson! You can have your goddamed key. When you get tired of your new toy, don’t call me. In fact, don’t ever call me again.” Then she stomped away down his spiral staircase.
Janaya watched her go. Then she turned to Dyson. “So I’m just a plaything to you? Your latest conquest?”
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br /> “Of course not,” he said immediately. “I love…” But he never finished.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth? How can I believe you now?”
“Give me the chance to prove it,” he said.
She didn’t know about that. She didn’t want to be a fool.
“I want to go home,” she said. She stalked off towards his bedroom.
As she hastily dressed and gathered her things, Dyson followed her around trying to change her mind. When it became apparent that he could not, he decided that the time was right to tell her about his telepathic dreaming. As he did, she stopped moving and listened.
He told her everything. He told her how other people’s nightmares tormented him so badly that he sometimes wondered if it would be better to die than live with the condition. He told her that, for reasons he couldn’t explain, her presence in his life had made the dreams stop. He claimed she had the same effect on Mahogany. He told her that the place he originally recognized her from was a recurring dream that he had been having his whole life.
It was a lot to digest. Between the incident with Michelle and Dyson’s revelations, Janaya was thoroughly confused. She told him that she needed time to sort things out.
So he took her home. In the car they didn’t exchange a word.
When he got back to his house, he said, “Oasis, change to Very Unhappy.” The windows became opaque and all the lights went dark.
That night he received a terrifying nightmare from someone he had never met.
CHAPTER
39
Joyce still had trouble believing it. Two weeks ago, out of the pure blue, Reed Hoffman had called and said that Dyson Conwell wanted to have another proffer session. He claimed that this time Conwell was willing to tell them everything they wanted to know. She was skeptical until she heard through the legal grapevine that Danny Gwang had resigned as Conwell’s co-counsel in protest. Once she heard that, she scheduled the meeting as quickly as possible. It would’ve taken place a week earlier, but Brian had insisted on the attendance of a couple of people whom she didn’t know.