VENTURES: Something About Maya

THREE DAYS LATER-

We were eating breakfast in our domicile...Olivia and her niece, Beverly had fixed a wonderful breakfast....

I had news for them...

''Dig in guys..."said Olivia...

''Yes..Everything is ready." said Beverly, smiling..

Everybody had Pancakes

Hash Browns

and sausage..

and hot coffee..

Nelson was chowing down...

"Tomorrow is the first preliminary...You got anything new Donnie Ray?" asked Nelson..

''We sure could use anything you have." said Josie..

"Ohhh this is sooo nice.."said Raylene , who was eating breakfast with us..

''Everything is delicious girls..I see you both were listening and paying attention when I was teaching you how to cook." said Beverly's mother, Alfreda, our office manager , who was like a big sister to Olivia..

Beverly smiled....

''So Husband, what has your few days of investigation turned up?" asked Olivia.

''Well" I said and looked at Beverly and Raylene...''

''Something that is going to be a little upsetting to you two girls... It appears your old college chum is not who she says she is....

"First off, Maya Restin is not an Attorney...She told you she attended Dartmouth after she dropped out of PENN LAW SCHOOL...I called Dartmouth...They never heard of her.!..I checked with the Bar Association in all 50 states and she is not registered....She is not an attorney...What she did not tell you is that she enlisted in the Army, shortly after she dropped out of law school...She won several Marksmanship awards and was a Marksmenship instructor for awhile...She did two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan....As a Sniper...an expert sniper..She had 29 kills to her record...After her six year tour of duty was up..She got an Honorable discharge from the Army and settled in the Atlanta Area...

She did work as a Para -Legal for a very Tony Law firm for awhile and then she went off the grid..
Three prominent members of Organized crime were killed while she was living in Atlanta...Hit from sniper fire at 200 feet....Law enforcement said whoever killed these guys was an 'Excellent Sniper."
a real pro..

Maya next went to live in Las Vegas, Nevada....While there she again worked as a Para -Legal and process server....Three men, two members of a notorious drug cartel and one a businessman were killed there too, same way...by an excellent sniper...All three killings, Unsolved.

Maya next moved to Los Angelas, Three businessmen and the wife of a prominent politician, who was going through a nasty divorce were gunned down too, same manner...All four murders unsolved.

And there were three in Miami, Three in Denver, Three in Chicago, one in New Orleans....all unsolved, all done by an expert sniper and all during the time when Maya was living there.

There is no proof she had anything to do with this, but I followed the money...Maya was a multi millionaire by the time she left Atlanta for Las Vegas...she has a Swiss Bank account and an account in the Caymen Islands...

That's a lot of money for someone who was working as a Para -Legal isn't it? I'm just saying... And a few nights ago...a businessman was gunned down in that same hotel you guys had that party in...That's three deaths in one week and Maya is still staying there...Why is she still there?" I asked.

"Deeeeep! This girl has some skelatons in her closet..."said Nelson.

"I'll say..."said Olivia..

"Wow...You think you know someone....I can't say I saw this coming..."said Beverly...

"All that profiling Maya did...All that postering about how much money she has , her Bently with her name monogrammed on it...Throwing that up in our faces..It was all a farce.." said Raylene..

''Well not a farce...The money is real...She's a Millionaire many times over...She doesn't come cheap...If what I suspect is true...The people who pay her, pay her quite well for her services...Which brings me to us...That guy who was killed a few days ago is a suspected underworld figure...The FBI was planning to use his testimony to take down a real heavy guy in Atlanta, when he went missing..Whoever hired her knew that he was planning to come to this hotel...She was here a week before he arrived..Probably on the lookout for him...Since she was here, she decided, how bout if I hook up with my old college pals...So she rented out that pool and the bar and invited you girls to a party...That was sincere and for real..She hadn't seen you guys in years...Problem is...An African-American woman throwing that kind of cash around in a place like that garners suspicion...I know it's racist, but it is what it is....Raylene did you know your boyfriend, James Logan used to be a cop?
He was a detective once...I found out from some friends of mine that he did a little nosing around into Maya..He just wanted to know where her money came from....and he like me discovered that she was not the high powered litigator she claimed to be with a Dartmouth Law degree...Well, you tell one lie and it spreads like a virus...He discovered her Army background and her work history as a Para-Legal and her financial portfolio that didn't match....It wasn't hard to figure out that she stayed in these key cities for a short while, Murders occurred and soon she was gone...

He must have put together who she was and presented it to her.." I said.

"OH MY GOD!!!...At the pool, remember Ray?? He was salivating over me, Kayla and Jazzy like a hungry wolf...but not Maya...He was real gruff with her , told her they had to talk and she was like, "Not now,later.." said Beverly...

"Yes...I do remember that they were kind of stand offish with each other.."said Raylene...

"He figured out who and what she was and he must have been blackmailing her...Only she turned the tables on him...She lured him up to that pool at 4:00 in the morning...Seduced him somehow and cracked his skull with a hard object..."said Olivia.

"Men! They just can't keep it in their pants..."sighed Beverly...

"If he had stayed in bed with me, he'd still be alive.."sighed Raylene..

'That's the oldest story known to man.."laughed Alfreda..

"And there is our defense...James Logan discovered who she was and she killed him....

"Okay, so I get it...James Logan discovered who she was...He had to go...and she was waiting for that businessman, who got killed the other night..That's why she was here..but why did she kill Hortense? How does she figure into this?" asked Josie..

"That was for you Raylene?" I said.

"Me??" said Raylene..

"I think Maya felt guilty about you being charged with murder...She never meant for you to be involved...Hortense told Lt. Tragg that she witnessed you two having a loud argument...which is why you were arrested in the first place...Hortense was a gossiper and maybe she said more around Maya than she should have...That earned her a quick trip over the ledge and into the street...

Oh and this money we mysteriously got for your defense... I traced it to a Swiss Bank account under the name "Rudolph Restin." That's Maya's father...Maya's late father!! That's Maya's account...she's paying for your defense and she killed Hortense for getting you in this mess in the first place..."I said.

"Wow! I -I guess in her own way....Maya isn't all bad.."said Raylene..

II-

THREE NIGHTS BEFORE, At the Hotel..

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! THIS IS MY INVESTIGATION....I AM THE DETECTIVE HERE!"screamed a more livid than usual Lt. Tragg..

"I'm afraid I can...This man was a government witness in a very important case...We have jurisdiction."said FBI/ATF Deputy Special Agent in Charge, Sharon Hopkins..

The room was swarming with FBI Agents

and Crime Scene Investigators..

Dr. Hazel Baylor, who despised Lt. Tragg and was glad that The FBI was taking over was laughing so hard in the background she couldn't contain herself..

"Okay guys wrap him up...let's get him out of here." she said.

Her crew had wrapped the body up in a body bag and placed it on the gurney...

"Wait a minute..Wait Just a damn minute,.....I AM THE DETECTIVE HERE...THIS IS MY DAMN CASE....I RELEASE THE BODY , NOT YOU!!! Hold up...It's my phone...It's The Deputy Of Operations..He'll straighten this out!" snarled Lt. Tragg..

"Sirrr... My authority to conduct this investigation is being usurped by the Feds, What sir? You've talked to AUSA Brendan Burnside and FBI SAC Frank Cotton...It's the feds case...I am not to give them any trouble...Yes sir sirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Good Night sir.." he said, as red as a beet...

"Well , looks like it's your case....Don't expect any help from me at all little lady...Your case, you're on your own.."said Lt. Tragg..

"I wasn't expecting any help from you...Frankly...I don't need it."said Sharon..

An FBI agent brought Sharon a bottle..

"We found the room the killer must have been in...No prints, no DNA, nothing, but we found this on the window ledge...It's over the counter Anxiety drugs..Snipers used to take em during the war...It helped them shoot better...But check this out...Two fingerprints on it.." he said..

Sharon looked at Lt. Tragg..

"I uh suppose you and your men missed this huh?" she said..

Lt. Tragg was furious...He stomped his foot and stormed out..

Hazel cracked up laughing...

The body was being removed from the room..

and loaded on to the car...

Lt. Tragg stood outside...He had calmed down..

"What a week this has been, Three murders , all in this same hotel...I've only cleared one.."said Lt. Tragg.

"You don't think at least two are connected..?" asked Hazel..

"Nah...This was a professional hit...and that housekeeper , maybe that was a suicide.." said Lt. Tragg.

Hazel didn't know why she even tried to have a sensible conversation with him... She wasn't talking about tonight..But she like Nelson felt as though the first two murders this week were connected..

"You know..At first I was mad that the Feds took over this case...but now, I don't care....It means I only have one open murder....That's better than two any day." he said..

"I suppose you're right." sighed Hazel.shaking her head...

III-

We were secluded in our Office/Duplex at the moment.

Sitting around the conference room , developing a defense strategy...

"Our entire defense is centered around Maya... Make her state where she was that day....Bring up who she really is and her past....Bring up the fact that James Logan discovered her past, just like Donnie Ray did...We have some notes here he left behind with Raylene, that she found that proves everything that Donnie Ray told us this morning...He knew who she was and he was either blackmailing her or at best he had exposed her....She seduced him and killed him...That's our theory."said Olivia.

''We can't prove a lot of that, as far as the other killings are concerned....but she did know James and he did say he needed to talk to her."said Beverly...

"He made a call from Raylene's phone to this number...It's probably a burner phone and it's since been de-activated...but he made this call from her phone at 3:50 am...right before he left and went to the upstairs pool..This was probably her number.."said Nelson..

"It's circumstantial but it's enough to spread doubt and that's all we need is doubt..we keep hammering the doubt and you're as good as free."said Josie..

"All well and good...but you need Maya to testify...and no one has seen her.."said Raylene..

"Looks like I need to make another visit to her room..." I said..

"Let me deliver it to her Donnie Ray.!...I need to look her in the eye...and see her for myself..."said Beverly...

"Baby, she's a killer" cautioned Olivia..

"I have to do this."said Beverly..."You, Nelson and Josie stay here, decide what kind of jurors we want and keep Ray company...I have to do this."said Beverly, more serious than I've ever seen her..

"It's alright Liv, But I'm going with you Shortcake.....NO DEBATE!" I said.. I'm going and get the car.." I said..

IV-

Maya was "entertaining" a young attorney in her hotel room...The same young attorney she had been with a few days before..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...OHHH
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! You are a hard person to catch up with " he wailed..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! well you caught up with me...You're lucky because I have a flight out this afternoon.." she squealed..

The Bed was squeaking out of control, the headboard was rattling..

"OHHHHHH GIVE IT TO ME, GIVE IT TO ME, GIVE IT TO ME STRONG!!!" she moaned...

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW..." he moaned..

They were kissing passionately and continuing to make sweet love.

He had been with her the past SIX TO SEVEN HOURS.... He finally came and came hard....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed..

He lie between her legs, catching his breath...

'Wow, that was great baby" he said,...."When are you going to be in Chicago again...We gotta hook up?" he asked..

"I don't know, maybe next year...I have your number...I'll call you when I'm in town..You gotta go love....I've got to get dressed and I can't miss my flight out." she whispered to him as she played in his hair..

"Shower? Together?" he asked..

"Okay...but then you really have to go.." she laughed..

They took a nice long shower together, kissing and fondling each other to delirium and then they dressed and bid each other goodbye..

Maya got dressed and smiled... She looked up and saw Beverly and Myself..

"Beverly?? What are you doing here?" she asked..Shocked..

Beverly just shook her head....She couldn't even speak...Tears were running down her face...She placed the Subpeona in her hands...

"A court summons for Raylene's Trial!!...Ohhh Girl, I can't...I have an important litigation in Miami tomorrow...I've got a flight out in a few hours...I can't." she said..

"I'm afraid you're going to have to." I said.

"You must be Olivia's husband.." said Maya ,smiling..

"You're not an Attorney Maya.. I know everything...I know who you are, what you are...I just can't believe it.."said Beverly...

Just then, FBI/ATF Deputy Special Agent in charge Sharon Hopkins surprised us all...

"Maya Restin....FBI !!!You're Under Arrest,..For the Murder of Karl Vasputin, A government witness.

"You have the right to remain silent..Anything you say, can and will be held against you...You have a right to an attorney, if you can't afford an attorney, one will be provided for you...You did two years of law school and you have a huge portfolio...I'm sure you understand perfectly well...Hook her up guys.." said Sharon...

Armed with a search warrant , the FBI agents went through her room..

"Look what we found Boss" said one agent... In a suitcase was the parts to a Sniper rifle... and a photo of Karl Vasputin as well as two burner phones....

"Hey look at this...."said another agent...

It was an Iron water pipe with dried blood and what looked like brain matter on it..

''Sharon, as a favor to me...Would you turn that pipe over to uh Hazel for DNA investigation...I'm certain it has nothing to do with your murder case...But could help us in defense of our client." I said.

''Sure Donnie Ray..." said Sharon..

Beverly was crying profusely...

So was Maya...

"Beverly, tell Kayla and Jazzy and especially Raylene that I'm sorry...I really am." said Maya..

The FBI agents handcuffed her and walked her out... She looked at Olivia who was coming out of the elevator as they were taking her inside with handcuffs on..