It was six-thirty the next morning and Jonathan knew that the day ahead was going to be a long one. He looked down at his sleeping wife. He wished he could forgo the day’s events and spend it with her. The morning sun, creeping through the window, made her appear to be glowing and the sparkle of her ten-karat diamond ring he had given her, added to the effect. He tried to get up without waking her but was unsuccessful.
"Morning Darling."
"Morning, it’s early Sweetheart, go back to sleep."
‘Mmm, ok."
After getting ready he decided he had time for breakfast. He ordered coffee, fruit and rolls for himself and Jennifer and then also called and had flowers sent up.
Jonathan was long gone by the time Jennifer had awoken. She was touched by the flowers and breakfast. Little things like this were just as important as the big ones to her. She looked at the clock and realized she had better hurry if she was going to meet Carmen on time.
"This city is really beautiful, Jennifer," Carmen said as they sat down at an outdoor café for a drink. "Is the rest of France this wonderful?"
"It’s fabulous. You’ve got to visit Nice and the Loire Valley and, oh you just have to experience the whole country."
"That would be fun, sort of a tour de France. I doubt that I could convince Mitchell to do it though. I don’t think he’s enjoying Paris as it is."
"That’s because he hasn’t seen the best parts of it yet. He’s had all those awful meetings. Listen, after all this corporate mess is cleared up maybe we could convince our husbands to take a few days off just to see the sights."
"That sounds wonderful."
"There’s just so much to see here. Hey I’m meeting Jonathan for lunch in half hour do you want to join us?"
"No, thank you. I think I’ll go take a nap." Carmen had some planing to do. She was one step closer to her goal.
Jonathan was fifteen minutes late for lunch. When he arrived he found her sipping iced tea and writing furiously in her reporter’s notebook she kept in her purse. " Hi Sweetheart." He startled her.
"Oh, hi Darling, I didn’t see you come in."
"I’m sorry I’m late."
"No problem, I was just working on one of my articles." He gave her a kiss and sat down. "How did it go this morning? Did you find out where the money’s coming from?"
"No, not yet."
"When do we get to start poking around?"
"This afternoon, well at least you do."
"Explain please."
"Well, have I told you how beautiful you look today?"
"Jonathan…"
"I need you to look through Aldridge’s office. I’d go with, but they know what I look like.
"You don’t think they know what I look like?"
"No, but even if they do your good at disguising you self."
"Oh, a challenge. What will you be doing?"
"Sitting in car, waiting for you."
"Sure, make me do all the hard work." She loved to tease him. She was already planing her disguise.
"Your French is better then mine."
"Sure, try to win me over with compliments."
"How about a surprise?"
"Now, motivation! You’ve got yourself a deal. By the way, breakfast was nice."
"Thank you."
"What exactly do you want me to look for?"
"Anything that shows where the company could be getting a positive cash flow."
"What if I get caught? I would prefer not to spend the rest of my life in a French prison."
"If Aldridge is doing something illegal he wont want to get the police involved."
"Good point. Well we better get back to the hotel so I can change."
"We haven’t ordered lunch yet."
"We’ll have a spectacular dinner."
"Desert?"
"Only if you’re good."
"Let’s go."
Jonathan dropped Jennifer off a block away from the main office building and parked across the street. Jennifer entered the building and checked her self in a hallway mirror one more time. "I don’t look bad" she told herself. She walked up to the front desk and asked directions to Aldridge’s office in prefect French. As she waited for the elevator she took careful notice of her surroundings. The building looked liked it had been newly renovated, everything was fairly modern. "Even a company that won the lottery wouldn’t be able to do this much remodeling in this short of time. They have had the funds for quite a while," she thought on way up to the fifth floor, where Aldridge’s office was located. When the doors opened she was startled to see Timothy Aldridge standing right in front of her. Butterflies formed in her stomach as she passed him and he got the elevator. "At least I know he’s not in his office," she said to herself. After checking to see that no one else was around she entered the office. She started with the filing cabinet and found that it was almost totally empty. She went on to search Aldridge’s desk. In a plain envelope siting on the top of his desk, she found what she hoped was pay dirt. In the envelope were several shipping orders for unidentified merchandise and receipts for large amounts of money. As she tried to restore some semblance to the desk she heard voices coming form the elevator. She looked out the window and saw that it was Aldridge talking with someone that she couldn’t see. She crept out of the office and down the stairs. She hoped that they hadn’t seen her, but she was almost positive Aldridge had. She rushed down the stairs, taking them two at a time.
"I saw that same woman when I left. Who was she, and what was she doing in my office?" Timothy Aldridge asked Mitchell Hayward.
"I think that was Jennifer Hart, sir."
"Damn, I was really hoping not to get her involve. She is such a beautiful woman, smart too."
"Do you want Carmen to take care of her."
"Not yet. However; I would like to meet with Carmen."
"Maybe her husband’s death will serve as a warning for her."
"This matter needs further thought."
"You can meet with Carmen tonight."
"Good."
Jennifer practically flew out of the building and into the car across the street. Her heart was pounding as she tried to catch her breath. "I think Aldridge saw me."
"When?"
"Well, he saw me when I got off the elevator and he got on, that was no problem. Later, however; he saw me coming out of his office."
"Did anyone else see you then?"
"I don’t know. He was talking with someone I couldn’t see." She had calmed down enough and told him exactly what had happened. Jonathan looked over the shipping orders with a great deal of interest.
"It doesn’t say what is being shipped."
"I know."
"This is a lot of money. We would have known if this much stuff were being shipped. We would have known what it was and where it was being shipped to."
"So how are we going to find out?"
"Some more snooping, this time it might involve some breaking and entering."
"This better be one hell of a surprise you have planned. Where?"
"Aldridge’s ship yards."
"After hours?"
"You bet."
"Also after dinner, I’m starving."
"I want a rain check for dessert."
Later that night Jennifer held the flashlight while Jonathan picked the lock with her file. It was cold night and Jennifer was shivering. "How do we get involve in stuff like this? You know, until I got married I was a law abiding citizen," she whispered. "I think I missed the part of the ceremony where I said I promise to love, honor and commit felonies."
"If we get caught we could ask for adjoining cells."
"Jonathan that’s not funny." He had been trying for almost ten minutes to get one of back doors of the shipyard open. Jennifer kept glancing around nervously.
"Don’t worry, Darling we’re not going to get caught."
"At the rate your going we’re not going to get in, either. Here, let me do it." She jiggled at the lock for a few seconds and the door opened.
"I loosened it for you," he said. Once inside Jennifer handed Jonathan an extra flashlight. They decided not to risk the lights. The first room they were in contained boxes that were ready to be shipped out. The next had the same boxes but without the labels.
"Why don’t we split up, you take the downstairs and I’ll take the upstairs," she said.
" I don’t know if that’s such a good idea."
"It’ll be fine. Don’t worry."
"All right." The first room Jonathan came to was office. He searched it thoroughly but found nothing.
"Jonathan, could you come here for a moment," Jennifer asked. He found her standing over loose floorboard.
" What have you got there, Darling?"
"Well, I noticed that this board was loose and look what I found. Now what does that look like to you?" Under the board was hundreds small bags filled with different types of powders. "I might be wrong, but you don’t usually hide spices."
"Drugs, a fast, easy and illegal way to make a lot of money."
"The one looks like it might be cocaine."
"My wife the drug expert."
"No, your wife the reporter. This would make a fantastic story. Remind me to get in touch with my editor."
"What do you think we should do now?"
"We could go to the police."
"And you could explain to them in your best French why and how we got in here tonight."
"Oh, right. What about an anonymous tip?"
"Would they believe us?" Jonathan asked.
"We could send them the shipping orders and instructions on how to find the drugs."
"You are brilliant."
"I know."
The couple headed back to the hotel room to sort things out. They found that the door to their was opened. They entered with caution. They found that not much was disturbed, both their brief cases had been gone through. After giving the room a closer look they found that the desk and their luggage had been searched.
"Do you think they found what they were looking for?" Jonathan asked.
"Oh Darling I think they did. I had the shipping orders in my brief case, them, along with some of my notes are gone."
"Damn, those shipping orders are the direct link between Aldridge and the drugs."
"The fact that Millions of dollars worth of illegal substances are in a warehouse he owns isn’t?"
"I had Stanley check this afternoon and records show that Aldridge was renting out his warehouse."
"To who?"
"A alias. The name is totally fake."
"But still, I think we could get him arrested."
"This would be a lot easier if we were at home, Lt. Grey would find some way to get him."
"Maybe were in the wrong professions. I’ll quit writing and you resign from Hart Industries and we’ll open our own detective agency."
"It’d be fun to work together, I think it’s a good idea," he said, smiling at her.
"I am sorry I even thought it. I’m going to bed; we can discuss job switching in the morning. I’m tired and I’m meeting Carmen for brunch. What are you going to do tomorrow?"
"I’m going to let tomorrow take its course."
"You don’t have a clue do you?"
"Nope."
