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Paco paced backand forth in his room, his brow furrowed with worry. He picked up his phone and dialed Delmond’s number. As soon as Delmond answered, Paco blurted out, “We have a problem.”
“What’s that?” Delmond asked, his voice laced with concern.
“Zaiden has been to Juliette’s house and left, but the tracker Papa gave you to give him is still at the house. He either gave it to Juliette, or he lost it there. Either way, I won’t be able to keep track of him without it,” Paco explained, frustration evident in his tone.
Delmond’s heart sank. Papa Samedi hadn’t just given Zaiden two trinkets; one of them had a tracking device on it that they needed for Papa’s plan to work and for Juliette to remain safe.
“Damn it,” Delmond muttered under his breath. “Papa warned us that we couldn’t trust Zaiden, but he said we could manage him until we got what we wanted, and then we’d dispose of him. Now Juliette’s in grave danger.”
Paco clenched his fists, anger and fear mingling within him. “We need to figure out a way to get that tracker back or find another way to monitor Zaiden’s movements. We can’t let anything happen to Juliette.”
Delmond nodded, even though Paco couldn’t see him. “You’re right. We need to act fast. I’ll talk to Papa and see if he has any suggestions. In the meantime, keep a close eye on Juliette’s place, and let me know if you see Zaiden or anyone else suspicious.”
“Will do,” Paco said. “We won’t let Juliette down.”
As they ended the call, both men were consumed by a sense of urgency. They knew they had to act quickly to protect Juliette and ensure that Papa’s plan would come to fruition.
13
Zaiden paced around his small room, the idea of owning the Indian motorcycle consuming his thoughts. He knew he needed to tread carefully, so as not to draw attention to his interest in the bike while he was still waiting for news about the box.
Picking up his phone, he called Juliette’s number, and sat at the dining table as he listened to the ringing tone.
Trying to strike a balance between sounding casual and urgent, he said, “Hey, Juliette. Just touching base about the box...I’m not rushing you, it’s just that my funds are running low, and I may need to head home soon.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Juliette replied. “Why is that?”
Zaiden paused, choosing his words carefully as he spun her a story, “Well, paying the rent here is becoming a challenge, considering I’m out of work at the moment.”
He could sense a question in her silence, “What do you do?”
He hesitated again, just long enough for Juliette to notice, before answering, “I’m a handyman.”
“Alright...” she said, a hint of suspicion creeping into her thoughts. “I’ll do my best to get in touch when I can. But I have to go to the market today to buy some items.”
“Thanks, Juliette,” Zaiden said. “I really appreciate it.”
As they ended the call, Zaiden couldn’t help but feel a nagging sense of frustration. He clenched his fists, realizing he needed to be patient, but it was proving to be more challenging than he had anticipated.How long does it take to find a fucking box?
A fleeting thought crossed his mind – what if she had already found the box and its contents? The idea lingered, casting a shadow of doubt. Was it possible that she and Chains were devising a trap? Perhaps they were planning to tip off the police. Shaking his head, he decided to dismiss such notions for now. Fearful conjectures wouldn’t help his cause but staying alert and vigilant might.
Yet, he couldn’t shake off a nagging feeling. Perhaps it was high time he exerted a little more pressure on her. He stared at his phone, his fingers drumming on the tabletop now, wondering what his next move should be.
As Juliette mentioned heading to the market, Zaiden saw it as an opportunity to inspect the motorcycle and ensure it was ready when he returned to steal it. He hailed an Uber, asking the driver to drop him off a few houses away from Juliette’s. He hadn’t brought his own bike to avoid being spotted in the vicinity. He approached Juliette’s place, staying concealed behind the shrubs as he surveyed the property. He noticed her car was gone and no one else was around.Perfect.
He made his way to the shed, gaining access, and quickly examining the bike. Its fuel tank was empty, and the wiring seemed incomplete. It was obvious the bike hadn’t been ridden for a long time, and it wouldn’t be an easy task getting it running. He realized he would have to come back with a truck to take it away. After locking up the shed again, he was about to call another Uber, but as he was leaving, he heard Juliette returning and panicked.
Fuck. She wasn’t gone long. Must have forgotten something.
Adrenaline surged through him. He didn’t want to be caught on her property again. He quickly snuck around the back of the house, and vaulted over the fence into the neighboring yard, ripping his jeans and cutting his leg on the barbed wire. “Damn,” he muttered, unintentionally a little too loudly. It was enough to agitate a dog on the property that started barking. Taking cover behind a line of trees to evade any prying eyes, he hoped the dog was restrained because he didn’t want to have to deal with it now. It didn’t come for him, so he assumed it was, but he needed to get out of there before someone came looking to see what all the commotion was about.
Spotting a car in the driveway, and no one else around, he quickly broke into it, and raced off. He abandoned it a couple of miles away, not wanting to be caught driving it in case someone reported the theft. Then he walked a bit further down the road before hailing another Uber to take him back to his place.
Meanwhile, upon hearing the dog barking, Juliette instinctively made her way toward the fence to investigate. Given the dog’s reputation as a vigilant guard, its barking warranted attention. As she neared the fence, the departing car caught her eye, coinciding with the dog’s sudden silence. Juliette called out to Max, and he responded to her with a wagging tail…content once again. Just as she was preparing to turn away, she caught sight of a patch of denim hanging off the fence, unmistakably torn and left behind by someone who had climbed over it. Juliette scanned the ground, searching for signs of someone having been there recently, but with all the foliage underfoot, and the fact that she was already standing on it, there was no chance of knowing when it could have happened.
Opting not to dwell on what was likely nothing to worry about, she dismissed the disruption, thinking it could have easily been one of the neighborhood boys retrieving an errant ball – such things happened often.
Returning to her house, she was determined to resolve the issue of the box. She was left with two options: hand it over to Zaiden, albeit without the contents, or wait for Chains to take her and the USB to the Jokers MC to uncover its secrets before deciding whether that was what he was really after.
