The Black Book

  * * *

  Several hours later, still dressed in his sportswear, Leonard met Peter’s friend, Ikechukwu, leaning on the door of his Cobra. “What is this?” he demanded.

  “I’ve got an invite from your Tricia,” the Nigerian smoothly started. “She begged me to help her since she needed to go home and prepare the party.”

  “A party?” Leonard took the note and read with interest. “I hope she’s not inviting dudes like you.”

  The messenger shook his head. “She said it’s just for friends. A small…party—and don’t worry, I know you didn’t mean that the way it came out.” Ikechukwu knew he wouldn’t be there if not for Peter.

  “No hard feelings, dude. I was just joking, okay?” Leonard defended and swooped into his car. “Besides, I’ve been to Nigeria when I was a kid. Awesome country.”

  As soon as the quarterback sped off, Ikechukwu called Peter on his cell. “Done,” he reported. “Though I wonder what she sees in him. He’s an ass.”

  “I hope Nora begins to see that before this is over,” Peter confided. “I hope so for her sake.”

  “Man, you’re in love and you don’t even know it?”

  “Crazy, right?” the Jew agreed. “Gotta go. Here comes Linda.”

  They quickly disconnected.

  “Okay, partner—where are we?” Linda asked Peter when she came up to him.

  “Still house-watching,” he replied, putting away his phone. “Leonard’s on his way and still no sign of Tricia.”

  “What of Eden?”

  “Told me all’s well a few moments ago. Patricia will come over to his house any minute now.”

  “You’re so cute.”

  “Thanks.” The fat boy didn’t expect that. He was blushing.

  “Did I tell you my Dad used to be a spy?”

  “What?”

  “A spy?” Linda repeated. “My Dad?”

  “Cool. And which agency did he work for? CIA? FBI?”

  “Nope. The KGB. He spied for the Russians during the cold war.”

  The boy felt suddenly uncomfortable. “I . . . see.”

  “Here comes our girl,” Linda pointed out, pulling Peter further into their hideout; a dark alley between two heavy-duty trucks.

  “Hey,” Nora greeted as she sneaked in from the other end of both trucks. “What’s up?”

  “Showtime, girl,” Peter said. “Where did you pack your car?”

  “A few blocks away?” Nora took his extended hand and warmly shook it. “And thanks, Pete, for . . . for your help so far.”

  “You know you’re always welcome, Nora,” the fat boy replied. She actually took his hand and shook it? Wow!

  Some distance from them, Patricia came out from a house and went over to the next one. She knocked twice on the door and waited for a response from inside.

  “That’s Eden’s house,” Linda told Nora.

  A young guy came out from this house and hugged their target.

  They kissed each other on the mouth.

  “Uuuuuuuagh,” Peter uttered.

  “Nice,” Nora added. Her enemy hugged Eden again after speaking in very low tones and both teenagers went inside, their arms around each other’s waist.

  “Our bait’s alone,” Linda said. “We made sure of this.”

  “How?” Nora wondered.

  “A punctured tire,” Peter replied. “Patricia’s mom will have to fix that before she can get home from work.”

  Nora was beginning to admire her foot soldiers. “Good. Here comes Leonard,” she announced. Her heart skipped as the familiar Cobra snaked into Eden’s front yard. Leonard was even still in his sportswear.

  “I think someone’s showing off,” Linda observed.

  “Yeah,” Peter agreed. “A star footballer is in the house.”

  “Stop being jealous,” Nora told them both. “Focus?” Her crush slid out of his car and walked over to the entrance door he thought was his girlfriend’s. Like Patricia, Leonard knocked twice, but he didn’t wait for any inside response before opening it and walking in.

  “Here goes,” Peter whispered, revealing a camcorder from his person. He heard a door bang inside Eden’s house, and then voices rose. Leonard burst out of the door with Patricia chasing him in a towel. Nora went behind Linda and victoriously went crazy.

  “Nora? Is that you?” Leonard was looking at the trucks.

  Peter hid the evidence before the quarterback could come up to meet them. He noticed Patricia looking hopeless after seeing Linda come out.

  “Where’s Nora?” Leonard demanded. “I need to talk to her.”

  “About what?” Peter asked him, stifling laughter. “Patricia’s other boyfriends?” He noticed Eden come out in a towel and run to Patricia, who was teary-eyed. His recorder was still running from behind his back as Patricia angrily pushed the boy away, almost exposing herself.

  “She’s behind the trucks, Leonard,” Linda told the quarterback and he hurried round the vehicles. “And beg like a man,” she advised, giggling.

  “She’s not here,” Leonard announced a few feet away.

  “What?”

  “She’s not here,” Leonard repeated, sweating. “She must have gone home or something, Can—can I call her?” he begged Linda. “Can I get her number from you?”

  “No way, man,” Linda refused. “You don’t have her number?”

  “She came with her car,” Peter told Leonard. “She must have gone home, but so fast?” He was as puzzled as Linda. When did Nora leave?

  “Come with me, Peter,” Leonard begged. “I don’t know where she lives.”

  “That kind of speaks volumes for your relationship,” Linda said, frowning. Where did Nora go? Before the trucks, Patricia was struggling to disentangle herself from Eden. She was crying freely.