The Shadow of Deception

CHAPTER 10: THE DATE

I was not happy that Marvin was going on a date with whoever it was. I did not know why it seemed jealous, but that was the way I felt. I could not explain this, though I needed the distraction to think clearly.

I lay down on my bed. I was going through the documents again and wondered why Marvin did not go through them properly and thoroughly. He was so trusting and I felt very sad about it. Though he claimed his father had told him many times not to trust anyone, he kept making mistakes. I concluded that it was his nature to trust easily.

I thought about the best way to get him killed without it coming back to me. I decided I was going to do it while he was on the date. I was going to poison him while he was on his date. I called Larry, who gave me the location of the date. Larry’s men were his personal bodyguards and Larry warned that I should not kill any of his bodyguards.

Marvin’s date was Shantel. She worked for Marvin’s father for a little while before working for Uncle Jonah’s firm. What Rose told me was already making sense to me. This date was not going to work, it was a setup. Marvin was just Ken’s tool. I asked myself over and over again. Who is Ken? And what does he want?

I dressed and took one of my concoctions. It was called the Blue Ivy. It will cause you a very painless death. You will black out from a painless heart attack and the doctors will never discover it was from poison.

When I got to the restaurant, it was an open-space restaurant. Marvin was learning fast. I could see that his choice of seat shows that a person will not be able to come to him without people seeing the person or obstructing the way. The restaurant was filled with nice rich people and everyone was orderly seated.

I looked at Marvin and Shantel through my binoculars and could see that Marvin was struggling. Shantel was doing all the talking. She seemed like a nice person but I was sure it was one of Ken’s games. I looked around one more time and saw Josh. My breathing froze.

I checked again, he was just at a location where he could only view his target, yet I didn’t trust my judgment. Josh was a very dangerous assassin and had done things from impossible angles.

I packed my things to leave the rooftop, then I noticed Josh was no longer there. Where did he go? I quickly went through the back fence towards the kitchen. There was another meeting room before the kitchen. It was like a secret meeting room for special customers.

I peeped through the door. It was dark but I could see Ken, Uncle Jonah, and another man. I could not understand what they were discussing, but whatever it was, when I was done with Marvin, it would not matter, I guessed.

I called one of the staff of the restaurant serving at the tables and gave him the bottle of champagne I had with me. I had put Blue Ivy in the drink.

“Order, for Table Sixty Four,” I said.

“Thank you, ma'am, I have not seen you here before, you must be new,” he said.

As he was approaching the table, I saw Marvin standing up and excusing himself. I hurriedly stopped the staff, he was so close to their table.

“May I have that please,” I said.

He looked at me, he was very confused. I had removed my apron and the chef's hat I stole from the kitchen.

“I thought, I - - I, I thought you, you, you, please, ma'am, what is the matter?” he asked eventually.

“Not to bother, I wanted to gift a friend of mine the drink but I didn’t know he was with a guest,” I said. I knew it was not convincing and he would signal for security. I took the bottle of champagne from him and put it in my bag.

Marvin was done and was heading my path, I quickly cornered him without Shantel noticing and told him that we needed to leave. I told him that I was not comfortable and that I had seen a man who looked like the assassin he spoke to me about. I was sure he did not believe me because he looked at me like someone who was jealous and followed him to the restaurant.

How could he have imagined that I knew Josh or how dangerous Josh was? We got into the car and the bodyguards were surprised to see me but they acted normally. He dropped me at my place and told me I had ruined his date.

After a few minutes, I heard a knock on my door. I drew out my gun. I had thought that Josh must have followed me but when I asked who was at the door it was Marvin’s voice I heard begging me to open the door.

“What happened?” I asked.

“You might be right about the assassin, someone got into my apartment at the hotel and ransacked it,” he replied.

“I thought you left some guards there?” I asked.

“No, I didn’t,” I thought it was best they all followed me to give me the advantage on numbers,” he replied.

“I can make a call to get you more if you want,” I said.

“Dad already did that. They are putting the house in order. We will move in tomorrow, but for the time being, I need a place,” he said.

“So what about the documents,” I asked.

“I have changed its location. It is no longer in the apartment,” Marvin replied.

“It’s okay you can stay here, but my house, my rules,” I said.

“Thank you. Thank you for everything. I know that there is something special about you, and you need to stop all this coming from the “street” bullshit. I know you were once a professional bodyguard. It shows in everything you do. I am okay with it, as long as I am under your protection,” he said.

“I don’t care what you think, Marvin. Like I said, I am a street girl and hustling is a thing I do for a living. So don’t hate the player,” I said as I pushed him to the bed.

“Who is Ken to you?” I asked him.

Marvin looked at me with a concerned face. “Don’t tell me he came to you after our argument,” Marvin said,

“No he did not, but I have seen him in a couple of places I thought was not seemly proper to see a man of his status,” I said.

“Did you see him at the restaurant?” he asked.

“Nope, he wasn’t there, I don’t think I saw him,” I said.

“Do you think he is after the documents too?” Marvin asked again.

“Everybody is and I think you should know that by now,” I said. I turned on the television and dived on his body as he lay on the bed.