The Color of Greed (Raja Williams 1) (23 page)

“Don’t you mean a cougar?” asked
Rafferty.

“I stand corrected. However, she’s not
as bad as you think. I do hope she finds someone who makes her
happy.”

“If I were a betting man, I would say she is
married again within the year,” said Rafferty.

No one took the bet.

Raja held up his glass to make a toast. “To
the wheels of justice—they may turn slowly but, thankfully,
they always do turn.”

Rafferty quickly added, “To a case closed.
Finally.”

Everyone said in unison, “Here, here,”
and they all drank.

The four friends chatted for a while over dessert.
When they were done, they walked outside on Olympic Boulevard. Vinny
held on to Detective Rafferty’s arm and asked him about his
career in the LAPD. He certainly didn’t mind having such a
pretty girl’s ear. The pair walked ahead, leaving Raja and
Sharon alone.

As they strolled slowly, arm in arm, Raja leaned in
close. “You know, Sharon, I don’t need to go back to
Florida right away. Maybe you could get some time off.”

“I appreciate the suggestion, but you and
Vinny probably have lots of details to take care of.”

“You do know that Vinny and I are just
business partners, right?”

“Is that what you call it?”

“Really, it’s true,” he protested.
“Admittedly, we do have a close relationship. Like family. We
are partners and good friends, but that is all.”

“Uh-huh,” said Sharon, unconvinced.
“Look, I’m not here to argue. You live a long way from
LA, so unless a case brings you here.”

“I could think of other reasons to come to LA.
And I have my own plane.”

“You’re sweet to say so, but let’s
leave it at this. I’ll look forward to seeing you the next time
a case brings you back to town. Deal?”

Raja couldn’t argue with her logic, and he was
too much a gentleman to push her on it. “Deal.”

Epilogue

When it was time to go back to Clearwater, a phone
call to Mickey found him enjoying some down time on the Columbian
coast with two of the Bucs cheerleaders. He was in California the
next day to pick up Raja and Vinny. Once the jet was in the air and
heading home, Vinny and Raja settled into the soft leather seats of
the private jet that was taking them back to Florida. Both were
exhausted, but happy with the outcome of the case. The plane climbed
to cruising altitude and leveled off.

“You two might want to see this.” It was
Raja’s pilot, Mickey, who had the jet on auto pilot and was
watching the satellite feed on a small screen in the cockpit. “Turn
on Channel 30.”

Raja punched a button in the arm of his chair. A
large flat-screen TV slid down from the ceiling into view. It was the
reporter Sue Storm. “Michael Bates, the CEO of SunGod Systems,
a Silicon Valley company was taken into custody outside his Corporate
Headquarters in Mountain View, California. Bates was arrested and
charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit murder, bribing
of a government official and fraud. Sources close to the case allege
that these events are connected to the recent suicide of the
governor’s top aide, Stanley Bryce. The continuing
investigation into misappropriation of federal funds may involve the
governor and even officials in the White House.”

“Did you tell her that?” asked Vinny.

“She deserved a great story. This one has
legs. I think we’ll see the governor resigning before it’s
over.”

“You know there is no evidence directly
linking to the White House. They may not have been involved.”

“True. But if you believe that, I’ve got
some land in the Everglades I’d like to talk to you about.”

Neither of them spoke for a while. Their recent
adventures had finally caught up to them. They both sank back into
the seats while Mickey poured champagne. Vinny snorted softly while
sipping hers.

“You know, this is getting to be an annoying
habit of yours,” said Raja.

“It’s the bubbles. They tickle my nose.”

“Not that. I’m talking about you saving
my life all the time.”

“Are you complaining?”

“Yes, and for good reason. A lesser man might
feel his masculinity threatened.”

“Good thing you are not a lesser man.”

Raja chuckled. “I suppose you are right.”
Then he added, feigning helplessness, “I guess I’m stuck
with you.”

Vinny raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got
that
wrong, Raj. I’m the one who is stuck with
you
.”

“True dat, Vinny. True dat.”

~~~

Following is the
Prologue of
C’est
la Vie
,
the second novel in the Raja Williams
series.

C’est
la Vie: Prologue

Margaret Browning strolled along the Rue des Écoles,
enjoying a holiday in Paris which her husband Phillip had been
promising her for the past two years. Usually Dr. Phillip Browning’s
academic commitments as ranking professor of literature at King’s
College London in Westminster took precedence in their lives, leaving
little time for holiday. However, a hastily convened conference in
Paris on a newly discovered written work by nineteenth century French
author Guy de Maupassant, and his wife’s persistence had
finally won out. Today Phillip was somewhere inside the Institut de
France, giddy over the possibility that a de Maupassant story had
gone undetected for over one hundred thirty years and reeling with
the opportunity to be one of the first to study it. Such a once in a
lifetime happenstance overwhelmed and absorbed the professor
completely, dimming the rest of the world and leaving his wife
Margaret free to shop on her own. The day before, a small antique
shop had drawn her interest, but a scheduled dinner with her
husband’s colleagues had delayed her chance to explore it until
now. As she neared the shop, she phoned Phillip, catching him waiting
for the museum preservation room to finish preparing the next batch
of documents he was to study.

“Margaret, I trust you have found something to
entertain you?” said Phillip. He well knew how excited his wife
was to be in Paris.

She was about to launch into an animated rundown of
the places she had visited, when she spotted his rye humor. Without
missing a beat, she said, “Why yes, Phillip, although I may
have to hire an extra cab to carry all the expensive antiques I have
purchased.”

Philip smiled. He and Margaret knew each other too
well. “Where are you now?” he asked.

“I’ve just arrived at that shop you
pulled me away from yesterday. They will surely have some bargains
... Oh dear.” The shop had all the curtains drawn together and
the sign on the door read FERM
É
.
Margaret looked at her watch, hoping it might be a short dinner
break. Then she cupped her hands and peeked in through a gap in the
window curtain. “Oh, dear lord,” she said.

“What is it, Margaret?” asked her
husband, hearing the alarm in her voice.

Margaret never heard him. Her phone had already
dropped to the sidewalk. Inside the shop, she saw a man strapped to a
wooden chair. Two men held him roughly by the shoulders. Another man
with a tattoo on his neck stood in front of the victim, alternately
firing questions at him in French and pistol whipping his face.

Margaret could do nothing but stare, frozen by the
sheer brutality of the scene. Her husband continued to call her name
from the phone lying at her feet, but it was a faraway dream.

Finally the man with the tattoo forced the barrel of
his gun into the other man’s mouth and pulled the trigger,
splattering blood and brains on the men holding him.

The loud blast snapped Margaret from her trance. She
backed up into the street. A small blue car screeched its tires,
barely avoiding her, and the driver laid heavily on the horn.
Margaret turned toward the car and watched the driver’s mouth
move angrily as he passed by. Then Margaret remembered what she had
just witnessed and she looked back to the shop, hoping that no one
inside had noticed her.

An arm yanked aside the window curtain and she was
face to face with the tattooed man. The evil in his gaze cut her to
the bone. As adrenalin took over, Margaret turned and ran headlong
across the busy boulevard, careening off the hoods of several cars
before reaching the other side. She looked back and saw two men dart
out of the shop across the way, guns drawn. She knew they were coming
for her. With nowhere to run, she stood helplessly, resigned to a
certain death.

Suddenly a blue and white police van she had not
noticed swerved over to the curb in front of her and stopped. The
side door opened.

“
Montez! Montez!
” said the
officer in the van.

Needing no translation, she darted inside. The door
slammed shut and the van sped away into the flow of traffic.

“Thank you so much,” said Margaret, to
the two uniformed police officers who were in the back of the van
with her. “You saved my life. Those men
—
”
Her voice trailed off.

“You are safe now. What did you see?”

“I don’t know. A man with a tattoo.”

“Could you recognize him?”

“I will never forget his face. He shot a man.
He killed him.”

The policemen spoke to each other rapidly in French.

There was an explosively loud crunch, and Margaret
was thrown violently into the wall of the van. The van rocked and
spun around, skidding to a stop. Woozy from a bump on the head,
Margaret slumped to the floor. She tasted blood. One of the policemen
was lying next to her, his head twisted at an odd angle.

She heard shouting from the front, then gunshots.
The other policeman opened the side door and stepped out,
disappearing to the rear. More gunshots, then nothing.

A long ten seconds later, a man in a black ski mask
appeared in the side door opening and climbed into the van. When he
reached down toward her, Margaret passed out.

Buy
C’est
la Vie
now.

About the Author

Jack Thompson is a professional writer, finding
voices in a number of different genres. So far he has written a wide
variety, including children’s stories, fairy tales, science
fiction, paranormal romance, political thrillers and mystery
detective stories. He’s even written a book of poetry. As an
avid reader he has enjoyed an even wider variety from classic Greek
literature to modern horror.

According to Jack, whether reading or writing, what
makes a story great is how well it communicates to the reader.
Whether presenting him with a hero he wishes he could be or a villain
he chooses to hate, the characters must relate to the reader on a
personal level. A reader will leave a good story in an improved
condition. He may have learned something new about the world or
himself, or simply been well entertained. That’s why Jack
writes.

Other Kindle Titles from Jack Thompson:

C’est
la Vie (Raja Williams Series, Book 2)

The
Rand Principle (novel/political thriller)

Godmachine
(novel/science fiction)

Lyrics
for Living (book of poetry)

A
Trick of the Eye (short story/adventure)

Blue
is for Boys (short story/science fiction)

The
Companion (short story/science fiction)

Hangtime
(short story/science fiction)

Contact Jack

email:
[email protected]

website:
JackWrites

twitter:
@jack_writes

facebook:
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