Page 74

“What can I do for you?”
“We wanted to talk to you about what you’re working on.”
Carmen leaned closer to the agents. “I’m investigating a murder.”
“Somebody at Marietta Dynamics?” Matthews asked.
“No,” Carmen said, and told the agents enough to get rid of them. Since her murder had nothing to do with Marietta Dynamics, the agents moved on.
As she walked away, McCullough had another problem and a decision to make. She knew of Carmen and her association to The Family, and thought about approaching her with the information she had, but thought better of it. And that was when she saw the answer to her problem.
Across the room, dressed in a sophisticated Monique Lhuillier sleeveless illusion gown, Jada stood at the bar, gracefully sipping a cocktail.
“Good evening, Ms. West,” came a deep voice in her ear.
Jada turned to find a very handsome and tall gentlemen standing next to her.
“Good evening.”
He sipped his drink. “Are you enjoying your evening?”
“I am. But you must forgive me.” Jada put down her glass. “You have me at a disadvantage. I don’t seem to remember your name, and that rarely happens.”
“My name is Clayton Edmonds. I’m Martin Marshall’s chief of staff. We met on one of the congressman’s visits to Paraíso.”
“I hope that we took care of all of your needs and you enjoyed your visit.”
“It was more of a business trip for me. But there were so many beautiful ladies; there was no way that I couldn’t enjoy my visit.”
“If you see one that you like next time you visit, please let me know.”
“Actually, there was one.”
“Let me know which one and I will make her available for you,” Jada said.
Clayton laughed. “That’s very gracious of you. But I won’t hold you to that.”
“Oh, really. And why is that?”
“You were the only one I saw that I was interested in.”
Jada said nothing at first, and then smiled at Clayton.
“I’m generally not in the habit of making myself available to just any man.”
“I’m not just any man.”
“I see.” Jada paused, and looked him over again.
She saw Clayton Edmonds as a man with access to power, and the ability to get things done for her. And Jada considered him to be a very handsome man. “You keep talking and we’ll see just what kind of man you are.”
Agent McCullough excused herself from her partner and approached Jada. She’d been trying to get in touch with Rain for days, but hadn’t been able to. McCullough felt a little funny approaching Jada since she was the one who ran Jada out of the city.
“I like you, Mrs. Black, so I’m going to do you a favor,” McCullough told Shy the night she met her.
It was the agent that went to Lieutenant Gineconna with a fictitious story about the FBI needing access to Jada’s client list and then McCullough helped set up the sting. And to top it off, she was the one who sent the audit letter from the IRS to Jada’s new address days after she moved there.
Bright side is, if I didn’t run her out of New York, Black wouldn’t have made her boss in Nassau, McCullough thought as she approached.