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“No. Being a career woman doesn't leave a lot of time for that sort of thing,” she said.

  “A beautiful woman like you cannot possibly be single. Some man must have snapped you up by now,” he said.

  “Well, thank you for the compliment,” she said. “I date, of course, but I haven't yet met the right man to settle down with. What about you? Are you married?”

  “No. I am still waiting for the right woman to take my hand,” he said. He looked her in the eye and then slid his hand across the table to cover one of hers.

  What the hell?

  Did he honestly believe she’d fall for such an obvious move? She needed to nip this in the bud -- especially if they were going to be working together as attorney and client. She pulled her hand out from underneath his, cleared her throat and changed the subject.

  “Tell me about your father's business. What exactly do you import and export?” she asked.

  Joseph shrugged. “Whatever happens to be profitable at the time. Typically, we export Liberian products and import items that Liberia needs such as vehicles, supplies, electronics, and other finished products.”

  “I see. So, which company does your father wish to acquire and why?” she asked.

  “A small shipping company called Portside Marine. Having a shipping company would provide another stream of revenue and solve some of our transportation issues at the same time. In the import/export business, shipping is one of our biggest expenses next to taxes and tariffs,” he said.

  “That makes sense,” Sonia said. And it did. Maybe, just maybe, Joseph’s company was legit.

  Please let that be the case.

  “Have you ever negotiated this type of deal before?” he asked.

  “Yes. In fact, earlier this year I helped a client acquire a shipping company. Are you sure you want to buy the company? It might be more advantageous to just buy the company’s assets. We could have one of my tax partners take a look at the deal and figure out the best way to structure it.”

  “That sounds like a very good idea,” he said.

  “Good. Well, tomorrow we’ll run a conflict check to make sure there’s no problem with the firm representing you in this transaction. If there's no conflict, then we’ll make arrangements for you to execute a retainer agreement and wire the retainer fee to our account,” she said.

  “Of course. Just send me the wire transfer instructions and the letter and we will take care of that immediately. My father and brother will want to meet with you to discuss the finer points of the deal,” he said.

  “Yes. We’ll certainly need to have more in-depth discussions about what you’re trying to achieve so we can make it happen,” she said.

  Joseph looked at his watch. “I would ask you to join me for dinner, but I have another engagement tonight.”

  “I understand. I have to get back to work myself,” she said. She needed to get that background check going.

  She signaled the waiter for the check. When she reached over to take it, Joseph snatched it out of her hand. She frowned. “Hey! What are you doing? The drinks are on the firm to welcome you as a new client.”

  “No, my lady,” he said, “the drinks are on me.”

  She shrugged. “Well, if you insist.”

  Joseph raised his eyebrows. “I see that you have mellowed quite a bit since the old days at Vassar. The old Sonia would have called me a chauvinist pig.”

  Sonia laughed. “Well, the firm frowns on us calling clients names.”

  Joseph chuckled. “Yes. That would not be very good for business.”

  He paid the bill. They gathered their things and headed outside. A black town car pulled up in front of the restaurant.

  “This is my car,” he said. “Can I give you a ride anywhere?”

  “No, thank you. I’m going to catch a cab,” she said.

  Joseph hailed a taxi. He opened the taxi door for her and she climbed inside. He held the door open for a moment. “I look forward to hearing from you regarding the retainer and setting up the meeting with my family.”

  “I’ll run the conflict check tomorrow. I’ll call you if there are any issues. Thank you for the drinks. Take care,” she said.

  “And you, my lady.” He shut the taxi door and took a step back.

  Sonia gave her address to the driver and slumped against the back seat. She had a lot to think about.

  ***

  Joseph watched Sonia’s taxi drive off. He knew she was not yet fully convinced she should represent his company. She never did trust him or his work. He smiled and shook his head. His Sonia was no fool.

  He climbed into the back of the town car. “Take me to the warehouse in Brooklyn.”

  “Yes sir,” the driver said.

  He arrived at the warehouse twenty minutes later. His man and Saye were already waiting outside. He got out of the car and walked up to them. “Are they here yet?”

  Saye nodded. “Yes. We got here early. They were already inside when we arrived.”

  “Alright,” Joseph said. “Follow me.” He turned and walked toward the entrance of the warehouse, the two men following close behind him. He walked through the door and up to the table where the Russians were doing shots of vodka. Two men followed them in aiming machine guns at their backs. Joseph kept walking focusing his attention on Dmitri -- the leader of the pack. He smiled at Dmitri who waived the armed men off with a jerk of his head. They backed off and headed outside to guard the entrance.

  “Hello Dmitri,” Joseph said.

  Dmitri stood and threw his arms wide. “Joseph, my dear friend.” He moved forward to embrace him. “How are you? I was happy to receive your call. It has been a while.”

  Joseph patted him on the back. “Yes it has, old friend.”

  Dmitri pulled back and took a look at Saye. “I do not believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting this gentleman before.”

  “Dmitri, this is my brother Saye. Saye, this is my friend Dmitri. We are old college buddies,” Joseph said.

  Saye stepped forward to shake Dmitri’s hand. “It is a pleasure to meet you. Any friend of Joseph’s is a friend of the family.”

  Dmitri returned the handshake and then gestured toward the table. “Please, have a seat. We’ll have drinks.”

  Joseph and Saye sat down. Joseph’s man, however, remained standing.

  One of Dmitri’s men brought a new bottle of vodka and clean glasses to the table. Shots were poured and distributed.

  Dmitri raised his glass. “To long-legged women and great friends.”

  “Hear hear.” The men raised their glasses, drained them and slammed them down onto the table.

  “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Dmitri asked.

  “This is about what we can do for each other,” Joseph said. We are about to enter into a very lucrative shipping arrangement that could result in a mutually satisfying relationship. We need to order a large shipment of weapons from you. In exchange, we can assist you with transporting shipments ordered by your other customers anywhere in the world. We could do that for a cash payment or for credit toward our purchases. That is something we can negotiate.”

  Dmitri stroked his beard. “Hmmm . . . transportation is always an issue in our business as you know. And it’s much better to have it provided by people you trust. What type of weapons are we talking about?”

  “We need to equip a small army,” Joseph said. “We need everything from machine guns to grenade launchers to explosives and ammunition. Can you handle that?”

  Dmitri nodded. “Yes. We can handle that. How soon do you need it?”

  “We will have the transportation online in no more than six weeks,” Joseph said. “We will be able to take our first shipment at that time.”

  “That is excellent,” Dmitri said. “I have a customer who expects to receive a shipment in the Ivory Coast in eight weeks. We would normally pay three hundred thousand U.S. for transport of that size shipment. We can deduct that from the cost of your order and consider this a trial run.”
/>   Joseph was careful not to allow his disappointment to show on his face. He knew that Dmitri normally paid half a million dollars for arms shipments to the Ivory Coast. The bribes alone would take up a good chunk of the proposed fee. He glanced at Saye to make sure he didn’t react negatively. At best, a bad reaction could damage the relationship he had been so careful to cultivate with Dmitri. At worst, the volatile Russian could get angry and they’d have to shoot their way out. While that might be Saye’s way -- it was not Joseph’s. He preferred to fight his battles in a different way -- to use strategy instead of blunt force. Saye’s face was impassive. For the moment, he seemed content to let Joseph handle things. He would have to negotiate a very good price on the weapons to make up for some of the loss on the shipping discount.

  Joseph smiled at Dmitri. “Excellent. I am sure we can come to a mutually satisfying arrangement on the arms shipment.”

  Dmitri nodded. “Yes of course, old friend. We always do.”

  Joseph lifted the vodka bottle and poured Dmitri a shot. He poured one for himself and raised his glass. “I propose a toast. To new beginnings.”

  Dmitri raised his glass. “To new beginnings, my friend. He knocked his glass against Joseph’s.

  Chapter II

  Tyrone and Tara Nkrumah entered the headquarters of the ATG -- a clandestine unit of the CIA tasked to handle operations pertaining to Africa and the Middle East. Located in Midtown Manhattan, it appeared to be just another high-rise office building. They took one of the elevators up to the thirteenth floor and crossed over to another elevator bank. Tara took out her I.D. card and swiped it over the sensor that took the place of the elevator call button. The doors slid open. She and Tyrone stepped in and rode up to the 27th floor. This time, the doors opened to reveal a woman sitting at a reception desk.

  “Hi Rachel,” Tyrone said.

  “Good afternoon folks,” the woman said. “Please step up to the scanner for verification.”

  Tyrone and Tara stepped up to the ocular scanners and carefully positioned their heads so the machine could scan their eyes. A misread could result in one or more of them being shot. Security was extra-tight these days. After a moment, a tone sounded, and the wall behind the reception desk opened up. They stepped through, walked down a short corridor and entered a hub of activity.

  The space was circular and modern and took up two floors. Offices, file rooms, pantries, copy rooms, media rooms, computer rooms, and other useful spaces made up the outer circle of the lower floor. Inside the circle was a large bull pen containing several desks manned by what appeared to be a veritable United Nations. Men and women of all different races, ages, and ethnicities peered into computer screens, typed up reports, talked on telephones, engaged in heated debates, pored over maps or thumbed through paper files.

  Tara greeted a very pretty young Asian woman with red highlights streaming through her otherwise jet black hair. “Hey Naimah.”

  Naimah looked up and smiled. “Tara! Long time no see. How long will you be in New York this time?”

  “We’ll be here for a few days.”

  “Good. We should have time to go out for a drink then.”

  “I’ll let you know after we meet with the boss.”

  Moments later, Tyrone and Tara stepped into their handler’s office. Ben Davis, a short wiry man with steel-blue eyes that could pin a suspect or agent to the wall in an instant, peered at them over the metal rims of his glasses.

  “So, what have our friends have been up to lately?” he asked.

  “The Minister and his oldest son, Saye, met with Joseph Saytumah at their hotel this morning,” Tyrone said.

  “We know that the Minister has been planning a coup for some time now. The only question is when,” Tara said.

  “Your job is to stop that coup from happening. As you know, the Minister has anti-American leanings and is likely to align Liberia with other anti-American nations in the region. The current regime is the best hope for that country we’ve seen in a long, long time. We can't afford to lose that alliance,” Ben said.

  “Understood. Tara and I have made some progress in infiltrating the Saytumah family’s inner social circle. We’ve established close ties with Joseph Saytumah. The Minister is planning to have a party to celebrate his birthday in a few weeks. With such a large presence in the family compound, we should be able to get into his computer system and find out what we can about his operation and his plans.”

  “Who are you planning to use?” Ben asked. “I don’t want you to break cover.”

  “I think Jared would be a good candidate for this op,” Tara said. “He could pose as our new driver. That would give him access to the mansion. He could make a detour to Dwe’s office on the pretext of looking for a restroom.” Jared was a new recruit Tara had brought into the fold. He was the first agent she had ever recruited and trained.

  Ben nodded. “Yes. That might work. Jared has received excellent reports from his handlers over the past year. You did an excellent job training him.”

  Tara smiled, her chest filling with pride. She couldn’t take all the credit though. Jared was a natural. He’d taken to the training like a duck to water and had excelled in every category.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Ben nodded again. “Your plan sounds good. Implement it. And keep an eye on the Saytumah family's activities in New York. I want to know who their contacts are and what they’re doing at all times.”

  “Yes sir. That shouldn't be a problem,” Tara said. “Saye has a weakness for the ladies and loves to frequent nightclubs. We'll set him up with a couple of dates. Also, we can arrange for Tyrone to run into Joseph while we’re here. He knows we travel to the U.S. from time to time to visit relatives. And, of course, we’ll have the usual surveillance measures.”

  “Good,” Ben said. “I look forward to receiving your reports. Dismissed.”

  “Yes sir,” Tara and Tyrone said in unison. They left Ben’s office.

  “Do you really think Jared’s ready for this?” Tyrone asked. “I know you trained him and all, and that he’s gotten some good reviews, but this is a very dangerous mission. He doesn’t have that much experience.”

  Tara suppressed her immediate instinct to defend Jared and considered Tyrone’s words. Although Jared was her baby brother, she’d learned to trust his instincts over the years they’d worked together. He was a solid agent who should have risen higher in the ranks than he had. He just had no stomach for agency politics – a fact that sometimes landed him in hot water.

  “I think he’s ready.” Tara said. “And Ben agrees with me. Is there something specific I should know about him?”

  Tyrone shook his head. “No. I just thought I’d raise the issue given the fact that the kid is fresh out of training.”

  Tara smiled and patted Tyrone’s arm. “Don’t worry, little brother, the kid’s not about to take your place.”

  Tyrone grinned. “I’m so glad you put me at ease on that score. I was so afraid of that.”

  Tara laughed. “Let’s go. We need to put this mission together.”

  ***

  Sonia stepped into her apartment, locked the door behind her, and began stripping as she walked down the narrow hallway to her bedroom. She hung up her suit, threw her blouse into the hamper and pulled on a tee shirt and a pair of old sweatpants.

  She headed into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She took it into the living room, plopped down on the couch, and tried to make sense of the day. But all she could think about was how handsome Joseph looked and the scent of his cologne. She shook her head. She needed to talk to someone about this. She picked up the telephone and dialed her best friend’s number. Charlene picked up on the third ring.

  “Hello.” She sounded a little breathless.

  Sonia raised her eyebrows. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  “No, silly. I just walked in. What’s up?”

  “Girl, you will never guess who I ran into today,” Sonia sai
d.

  “Who?”

  “Joseph Saytumah.”

  “What? You mean that African guy you dated back in college? No.”

  “Yes. He walked into my firm, met with the head partner and told him he wanted to hire me to negotiate a deal for his father's company.”

  “How did he look?”

  Sonia laughed. “As fine as ever. But is that all you can think about, Charlene? I really have a problem here.”

  “Yeah, deciding whether or not to let that brother back into the sheets. Didn't he rock your world back then?” Charlene asked.

  “Yeah, but he was also ridiculously jealous and possessive. I had to let him go,” Sonia said.

  “Just the way I like them -- tall, dark, built and possessive,” Charlene said.

  Sonia snorted. “Charlene!” She shook her head. What had made her think that Charlene -- whose hormones were always on overdrive -- could help her make sense of this?

  “On a more serious note though, what type of business is he in? If memory serves me right, you always suspected he was into something illegal, like drugs. Of course, you always did have a wild imagination,” Charlene said.

  “And now you see my problem. I always believed he was into something illegal because he was always so mysterious about the family business. He was always taking these trips but I never got a straight answer out of him when I asked what the business entailed and what part he played in it,” Sonia said.

  “Well, when you saw him today, did you ask him?” Charlene asked.

  “Of course I did. He told me they were in the import/export business. He told me the same thing back then. I just didn't believe him. If I bring them in as clients and they turn out to be into something illegal that would not bode well for my career or the law firm. On the other hand, Gordon wants me to start bringing in business so badly, he practically pimped me out this afternoon. He sent us out to “catch up” over drinks and ordered me to be nice to Joseph. What should I do?”

  “Well, under the circumstances, there’s not much you can do but check them out and keep your eyes open. If you find out something concrete, you can bring it to Gordon’s attention. Otherwise, this might be a lucky break for you,” Charlene said.