One Love (32 page)

“
And crapped all over
somebody. He used you to get close to the senator.” Lanessa saw
that Yasmin’s expression had not changed.

“
He’s interested in pending
legislation like a lot of Louisiana businessmen,” Yasmin replied
with heat.

Lanessa sighed. “Okay, when did you
see him?”

“
Two nights ago, not that I
have to explain myself to you!” Yasmin snapped.

“
In case you’ve forgotten,
your career could be destroyed,” Lanessa said in quiet voice. She
leaned across the table “Worse, you might get caught up in
something illegal.”

“
Don’t be ridiculous.
Charles is not a criminal.” Yasmin glared at her. “And I can take
care of my career without your help, thank you very
much.”

“
I know it’s hard. But you
have to see past the handsome smile and sweet talk.” Lanessa knew
how much Yasmin needed to be loved. In spite of her strong
exterior, Yasmin was the most vulnerable of the three
friends.

“
Just drop the whole thing,
all right. I overreacted.”

“
Yasmin, c’mon. The man--”
Lanessa shook her head

“
You’d think I was in high
school, getting upset because he dated another cheerleader.” Yasmin
tried to make her voice casual. She wore a slight smile.

“
You were upset because he
lied and dated another woman.” Lanessa threw the words out hoping
to make her see the light.

“
He didn’t lie about her. It
was business.” Yasmin did not meet Lanessa’s gaze.

“
Oh, pu-leeze! Men have been
telling that lie since Adam dropped a dime on Eve!” Lanessa would
have laughed under different circumstances. But this was a dear
friend. There was nothing funny about the scared and frantic look
in Yasmin’s eyes.

“
Why do you have snoop
around in other people’s business anyway?”

“
Hey, this got dropped in my
lap!” Lanessa felt a flash of anger. She forced it down and
reminded herself that Yasmin was hurting. “You wanted me to find
out more about Charles and Paxton-Waite, remember?”

“
And now I’m telling you to
butt out! What do you care if Charles is making K-chips or corn
chips? Just leave us alone!”

“
Because Caine Dawson and
Ken Hargrove used me. I won’t be a part of their low schemes,”
Lanessa said, her voice low yet no less angry.

“
So this is about your
precious ego?” Yasmin said.

Lanessa took a deep breath and exhaled
before speaking. “No, this is about a bunch of men who can’t be
trusted. They could be fouling up the environment--”

“
They have a safe disposal
plan,” Yasmin broke in.

“
We only have their word on
that.” Lanessa continued in a relentless voice. “I think they’re
trying to skirt export regulations.”

“
You’re so self-righteous.
Who died and left you in charge?” Yasmin put a hand to her
forehead.

They sat silent for a time. Lanessa
held onto her temper and decided to make the first move.

“
Look, I shouldn’t have come
on so strong. I’m sorry.”

Yasmin shook her head. She lowered her
hand and looked at her. “No, I shouldn’t have snapped at you.
You’re thought you were being helpful. But Charles explained it all
to me.”

“
Yasmin—“

“
He was being nice to
Shauntelle St. Romaine and she took it the wrong way. Charles
couldn’t bring himself to hurt her.” Yasmin seemed to really cling
to his account.

“
He’s lying and you know
it.” Lanessa leaned forward. “Charles probably told her the same
thing.”

“
I realize you’re upset
because things didn’t work out with Alex,” Yasmin said. Her tone
was almost pitying.

“
That’s got nothing to do
with it.” Lanessa sat back as though Yasmin had swung a fist at
her.

“
You and Jackie are very
anti-male these days.”

“
I can’t believe you.”
Lanessa stared at her. “Charles Metoyer is the same canine he’s
always been.”

“
Okay, that’s it. I’ve tried
to be nice about this.” Yasmin pushed her chair back and stood.
“But if you’re going to insist, don’t bother calling me
anymore.”

“
Fine. Be his fool,” Lanessa
shot back.

“
I feel sorry for you and
Jackie. She can’t get a man. And you can’t keep one,” she said
curtly.” Yasmin threw several dollar bills on the table and
left.

Lanessa watched her stomp out of the
restaurant. This lunch had definitely not turned out the way she’d
expected. She wanted to call out to Yasmin, yet a tangle of
emotions had her in knots. Anger, frustration and hurt were all
mixed together. Yasmin’s reference to her breakup with Alex had
stung more than a little.

“
Like she’s the expert. The
little idiot bought that fairytale Charles told her,” Lanessa
muttered.

Yet she wondered if Yasmin had been on
target. Lanessa stared out at the muddy Mississippi River. It
reminded of her life just now. She could no more see a bright
future of love and happiness than she could see into the murky
brown water. Was her life to be work and a few friends
only?

“
Well at least I’ll be an
aunt. Now if I can convince Jade to have at least four, maybe I’ll
have someone to visit me at the nursing home.”

She ordered another diet cola and
watched river traffic for another hour.

Chapter 16

Robyn met Lanessa at the front door of
the office with a tense expression. She looked back over her
shoulder before speaking. “There are two men here to see,” she said
quietly.

“
Okay,” Lanessa replied in a
normal tone.

“
Shush, come here!” Robyn
pushed her into the small file room and.

“
What’s gotten into you?”
Lanessa demanded. She yanked her arm free of Robyn’s tight
grip.

“
I don’t like the looks of
them.” Robyn stood close to Lanessa speaking just above a
whisper.

“
You think they’re out to
rob us?” Lanessa forgot her irritation. “Criminal types you
mean?”

“
No, no. I think they’re
policemen. They wouldn’t say what they wanted. Said they’d wait
when I told them you were on your way.” Robyn stamped her foot on
the carpeted floor. “What a dummy I was!”

“
Let me get this straight,
they’re not scary types dress like gang members?”

“
They’re wearing suits and
look more like junior executives.” Robyn nodded as though she’d
proved her point. “Undercover operatives for sure.”

“
Unless you’ve been up to
something, I really don’t know why we’re in here hiding from the
authorities.” Lanessa laughed. She went for the door but Robyn
pulled her back sharply.

“
You know what happens when
cops start coming down on us. It’s not justice, it’s ‘just-us’
going to prison.” Robyn wore an intense look.

“
You’ve been watching those
gangsta rap movies again, haven’t you?” Lanessa shook a finger at
her snub nose.

“
All I’m saying is the
police are not above setting’ us up.”

“
Robyn, you grew up in a
quiet black middle-class subdivision. The closest you got to a
uniform was the school crossing guard,” Lanessa quipped. “Stop
talking like Master P.”

“
But--”

“
Now come on.” Lanessa
opened the door and walked to her office. “And if they’re the
police, I’ll bet they know everything we said in there.”

“
You think?” Robyn trailed
after her.

Lanessa faced her. “You need to quit,
alright?” She spun around and continued on.

“
I’ll be your witness,”
Robyn said in an undertone as they entered the small reception area
that was also her office.

“
Good morning. I’m Lanessa
Thomas and I understand you want to talk to me.” Lanessa smiled at
them brightly.

“
Good morning. I’m Ed
Brandon with the Bureau of Export Administration.” The tall man
held out a business card to her. “And this is Garland Tate. If
possible we’d like a few moments of your time.”

“
Hello.” Tate blinked at her
from behind his glasses.

Lanessa took the card and read aloud.
“Department of Commerce.” She looked at him. “Come right in. Let me
get y’all some coffee.” The possibility of getting a contract with
a federal agency was reason to roll out the red carpet.

“
Thank you.” Ed Brandon gave
a crisp nod.

“
I’ll get it.” Robyn
left.

Lanessa led the men into her office
and put down her purse. “I’m afraid I don’t have much time before
my next appointment.”

“
This first visit doesn’t
have to be long.” Ed Brandon gazed around her office. He seemed to
be taking careful note of every detail.

“
First visit?” Lanessa
looked from Brandon to his partner. “I don’t follow.”

“
We’re compliance
investigators attached to the New Orleans unit.” Brandon took a
seat without waiting to be asked.

“
Actually we’re part of a
joint operation between Commerce and Customs,” Tate joined in. He
remained standing. “A new initiative.”

“
We trained with ATF and DEA
agents.” Brandon gazed at her pointedly.

Lanessa got the distinct impression he
was not just making conversation or bragging. He wanted her to know
they had some kind of police authority. Now she took time to really
look at them both. Brandon she recognized right away. He had the
bravado of a hot dog. Her guess was he liked playing the part of a
Fed. With red hair that was beginning to recede, he might have been
in his late thirties. Garland Tate had black hair and looked to be
younger. He held himself erect. Tate reached into his inside jacket
pocket and produced a small note pad. He flipped to the first page
of it.

“
You’ve done work for a
Caine Dawson.”

“
Let’s slow this train down
just a bit,” Lanessa broke in before he could continue. “We’ve
skipped a very important part. You know, the explanation as to why
you’re here.”

Tate glanced at Brandon. Some silent
message passed between them before Brandon spoke. “What we can tell
you is that your research is of interest to us. We’re doing
follow-up on companies that have overseas exports.”

“
Right,” Tate said.
“Now--”

“
Hold up.” Lanessa crossed
her arms. “I’ve never heard of any such joint agency
investigations.”

“
As I said, it’s fairly
new,” Tate replied.

“
Uh-huh.” Lanessa search her
memory for what she knew about the investigative activities of the
Commerce Department. Very little unfortunately. So she had to
operate blind for now.

“
Certain products, what we
call dual-use technology, are restricted export wise,” Brandon
said.

“
Dual-Use?” Lanessa had seen
the phrase before.

“
Technology that can be used
in computers, electronic devices but can also be used for hostile
purposes,” Tate said.

“
Like bugs or even bombs.”
Brandon gazed at her. He wore a superior expression of a man who
enjoyed making people uneasy. “We have to be careful it doesn’t end
up in the wrong hands.”

“
I see,” Lanessa
said.

“
I’m back.” Robyn came in
with the big metal tray they used when serving clients. She eyed
the men with a look of barely concealed suspicion.

As she served the coffee, Lanessa went
to sit at her desk. She glanced at the files on her desk. A manila
folder with information on Dawson and Paxton-Waite sat right in
front of her. Thank goodness there was no label on it. She put it
in the middle desk drawer. When she looked up, Tate was staring at
her. He took a cup from Robyn without shifting his gaze from
Lanessa.

“
Thank you.” Tate spoke in a
formal manner.

“
Thanks a lot.” Brandon took
a swig of coffee. He sat back as though making himself comfortable.
“So back to Dawson. How long have you worked for him?”

“
I don’t.” Lanessa leaned on
her desk. She wondered if they had a search warrant. Tate was now
very interested in each piece of paper on her desk and the small
table next to the computer workstation.

“
You’ve done research on a
factory they are building in,” Tate seemed to struggle with the
words.

“
It’s near Des Allemands,”
Lanessa put in. “St. James Parish. And since you’re investigator,
you know I completed my contract.”

“
You still have a
relationship with them. You’ve met with Dawson and Ken Hargrove
since then.” Brandon raised his eyebrows at her.

“
I frequently meet with
clients several times. Sometimes to give follow-up information.
Mostly it’s to clarify some point after they’ve had a chance to
really examine my report.”

“
We understand you’ve given
them detailed information on shipping, water routes and so on.”
Tate again consulted the note pad.