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“Believe me; I’m not playing games with you. I’m so serious. And don’t think because I’m in this wheelchair that you need to feel sorry for me. Believe me; I might surprise you with many things.”
“Look, I have to go. It’s getting late, and I don’t want my parents to worry. I’ll call, or maybe I won’t.”
She strutted off, and The Kid sat there and watched her fade away from his view once more. Damn, he wanted her in his life for some reason. Was it her skill at playing chess? Her beauty? Her elusiveness? Maybe it was all of those combined into one petite and cute young girl. Whatever it was, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Finally, he wheeled himself in the opposite direction. He wondered if he liked her enough to one day reveal the truth about himself—that he was able to walk, and his other, darker secrets. Only time would tell.
***
Jackie strutted toward the modest looking home on the tree-lined New Rochelle street. She quickly climbed the stairs, placed her key inside the lock, and entered the home. The crackling of police radios, surveillance equipment strewn in the living room, and the men moving around the home with holstered Glocks and “FBI” stenciled across their attire was a clear indication of her identity.
“Why do you keep toying with him, Agent Moore?” one of the agents asked.
“Because, I don’t want to spook him. He’s smart,” she said.
“He’s a fuckin’ cripple.”
“Yes, but I believe there’s more to him than meets the eye.”
“It’s your case and your career if you’re wrong.”
“I’m not wrong. He’s linked somehow. I just have to find a way inside.”
The façade of a young teenager quickly evaporated, and her professionalism as an undercover FBI agent resurfaced. Her eyes became sharper and her speech a lot more adult. Agent Daphne Moore was twenty-nine years old with a young-looking, Barbie-doll face that made her stand out. But she had an old and serious soul to her. She was motivated and ambitious. She had graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the top of her class and soon joined the NYPD task force. After four years as a top cop, she became a federal agent.
The Kid had made her radar via his brother Kip Kane. Kip’s meeting with Maserati Meek sparked interest from the feds. Who was Kip, and what made him important to the Egyptian drug lord? Meek was a dangerous man who had slowly but surely become a blip on the FBI’s radar. The feds acquired a few pictures of Kip, but so far, they had nothing on him.
Agent Moore found it odd that a slew of men associated with Kip Kane were being viciously murdered. There was Uncle Junior and his crew viciously gunned down in Brooklyn—not too long after their confrontation with his little brother Kid. A man named Jay P, who was connected to Maserati Meek, had been slaughtered with his girlfriend in their bedroom, and there were others being hunted down like animals and murdered cruelly by someone. Agent Moore knew Kip to be a murderer, a hired killer for Meek—but these murders were different, she felt. Her gut instinct told her that these killings were personal for some reason, and they weren’t executed by Kip. Her instincts never lied. She convinced her superiors to open a case on what was left of Kip’s crew, including his younger brother—but so far, there wasn’t much. But she was determined to find something on everyone and make her case by any means necessary.
She had his cell phone number, an address, and information that he might be leaving town. For what reasons, she still didn’t know.
33
The FBI surveillance team began to quietly disperse the modest New Rochelle home once Agent Moore debriefed everyone. Something Kid said about leaving town was bugging her. Where was he going and why? Of course she wanted to ask specific questions about his upcoming departure, but she didn’t want to seem too interested when her cover was to be elusive and blasé. Where would this take her investigation? And were Devon Francis and “Papa” John Jakes leaving too?
What if Kid wasn’t connected? He could just be a man in a wheelchair who happened to have a dead brother that was in bed with a crazy Egyptian drug lord. She had so many questions that she wanted answered, quickly. Maybe playing coy wasn’t the best route when someone was blowing up New York. Innocent lives were taken, and she was no closer to solving the case. She had a lot riding on this case and was determined to prove her worth. Law enforcement is a man’s world—a competitive arena—and Daphne was never going to fuck her way to the top. She knew other agencies were vying to solve this case, and her supervisor assigned it to her.
“You coming, Agent Moore?” one agent asked.
“Not yet. I want to go over a few things.”
“You work too hard. There’s always tomorrow.”
Agent Lanier was the last to exit the home, leaving Agent Moore to her work. She had already grabbed a beer from the fridge and was nibbling on a slice of leftover pizza they had ordered hours earlier.
Daphne stared at the pyramid wall of suspects. Akar Mudada, AKA Maserati Meek, was at the top, and Kip Kane was there with a large X across his face along with several other dead goons. On another line was Devon and Papa John, who was also wanted for the attempted murder of his father, a NYPD detective. Last on the list was Kid Kane, chess champion. Why did she have a strong feeling that he should be moved up the ladder? Well, that’s what her gut told her. But her heart, it said that he should be excluded altogether.
Daphne decided that she had done enough for the day. In order to move forward in this investigation she had to definitively include or exclude Kid Kane. To do that, she had to see him again and quickly, as he was leaving town.
***
The Kid sat perched in his wheelchair across the street from Jackie’s home. He had followed her, keeping a safe distance back. Kid didn’t think he would follow her. In fact, he had begun wheeling himself home but felt a strong urge not to. He felt connected to Jackie, and for some reason he couldn’t get her out of this mind. He was familiar with wanting what he couldn’t have. How could he ever forget Jessica? But Jackie was different. She was smart, sassy, and a challenge. Most importantly, she was an excellent chess player. He’d only just met her, and already Kid wanted to marry her. He just couldn’t get her out of his head.
The whole time Jackie walked briskly home she was talking on a cell phone that she said she didn’t own and never turned around. As Kid wheeled himself behind her, he felt a like a stalker. But following her was satisfying. He would get to know one more thing about her that he hadn’t, that she wouldn’t dare disclose.
As Kid’s strong arms pushed him toward his destination he thought about rescuing her from strict parents and whisking her off into the sunset. They’d get married and before long he would experience a “medical miracle” and walk again. She would love him and have his babies, and he would always protect her. The Kid pictured them both playing professional chess tournaments and living a life of leisure. Eshon was in his daydream too. She would find a new love and come around to be an aunt to Kid and Jackie’s children.
Initially Kid had the intention of knocking on her door, meeting her parents, and asking her once again on a date. Now, seeing the cell phone, Kid felt that she was hiding something, and he was determined to find out what that something might be.
