Such A Cute Couple

Gary and Lisa Hughes was the perfect example of a young black and urban power couple....They met while in Howard University Law School....They married and then both went their seperate ways for awhile...Lisa came back to her native Philadelphia and earned a MBA at Wharton to go with her J.D. and Gary went to Harvard to get his MBA...They ran into each other by chance at my good friends, Attorney ,Robert Foxworth and Bonita Turner's wedding and they began their torrid love affair all over and got married themselves shortly thereafter...

They both did well in the world of corporate law , but longed to go in business for themselves...They took on a partner named John Scurlock and they bought a Yacht Rental company....The company was about to go into receivership when they bailed it out and bought it with Scurlock's help nearly two years ago....They were the only black owned Yacht rental company at Penn's Landing ,here in Philadelphia...

"They're such a cute couple." marveled my wife, Sepia as we sat down at the table with the Hughes and Robert Foxworth and Bonita Turner at Bottom of The C. where we were invited to dine with them....I felt a little out of my league...I was a writer/editor of a magazine and sometime private investigator at dinner with a bunch of lawyers and real estate people...

"Hey Kev...How's it going?" said Robert Foxworth as Sepia and I seated ourselves....

"We are doing just fine." I said..

"Kev, Sepia...This is Gary and Lisa Hughes.....Friends of ours...I knew them both when I was in law school." said Robert.

"Yes...Small world that it is..Sepia and I sold these two a house." said Bonita... Sepia smiled in agreement...So this was the connection eh?  I just smiled...I wondered why I was being made to go out to dinner on an afternoon when I would have rather of just sat around my house in my underwear.

"I understand you two just celebrated an anniversary?" said Lisa Hughes.

"Yes we did ...we spent a week in Atlantic City." said Sepia...

"Oh wow...sounds nice." said  Gary Hughes....I wondered if he really meant that...I was sure that he and his wife vacationed in Paris or some private island....I mused to myself.

"Next year...you have to take one of our short cruises....I was at Josies talking to Mr. Gus, I believe his name was and I was inquiring about us doing a summer Jazz Brunch cruise...From here to Baltimore, with all of the artists that perform there at his establishment and with Ms. Mabel Jenkins and her fine staff doing the catering..." he said...Now my imagination was peaked...That was a good idea...I thought.

Just then, Ralph Scallion and his daughter and two waiters bought our food and drinks to our table....The food smelled great and the steam was coming off of the top of the dishes...

''Everything smells delicious." said my wife, Sepia..

''Compliments of the chef, who would be me." said Ralph....I laughed...So did Robert....Sepia smiled...but Bonita looked down toward the floor....Her brief affair with Ralph, right before she and Robert got married was still a thing of uncomfortableness between the two of them.  Robert however had seemed to have gotten over it and moved on.

We began to eat and as these things go...people are usually quiet when they are eating and the food is good...
I looked up and I saw Lisa eying me..I smiled and she smiled...I wondered what that was about...

''Uh Kevin...I hear that you're an investigator of sorts.." she said.

''Uh Lisa...we are eating dinner, let's not talk business"said her husband Gary..

"Oh...I just need a little professional advice." she said shushing him and turning her attention to me again..

''Why do you ask?" I said , not really wanting to know...I had just finished a big case..that wasn't a case I thought.

''Well...This company, which should have been profitable was nearly in receivership when we bought it...We have hosted several big boat rides and cruises...Oh , The Kappas, The Ques...The Deltas, The AKA's, The Masons, Church groups....you get it and they have had huge crowds and have paid us a lot of money...Our overhead is not that high and yet we are still losing money...." she said.

"Oh?" I said.

''Yes...I let the previous accounting company go and began looking at the books myself and let's say ..I saw some things that didn't look right....Then mysteriously...the books vanished!!! I asked our business partner Mr. Scurlock for certain things and he would tell me either that he would get them or that he would let me see , but he hasn't as of yet and we are still bleeding money." she said.

''So you don't trust him?" I asked.

"Lisa" said Gary.

"Did I say that?" she laughed coyly...

"You wouldn't be talking to me if you did." I said.

Lisa paused...She looked at me with a flirtatious grin and smiled.

"Sepia...I know this husband of yours must be thrilling in bed...just full of surprises." she said.

Bonita,Sepia and Robert's mouths dropped...

"Lisa!" snapped Gary...

''Oh Hush up...she knows what I mean...He's a right to the point...No Nonsense kind of guy..I know he turns her on...He turns me on..."she said.....To my surprise...Sepia laughed...and Lisa laughed too...a kind of conspiratorial laugh...

"I want to hire you to investigate Mr. Spurlock...I'll be grateful for anything you can find...Stop down to our office tomorrow...I'll fill you in on the particulars." she said.

"Oh...There is the matter of my fee." I said.

She pointed at me...and laughed..."Ouuuu..I like that about you Mr. Kevin...Name your fee...I'll pay....I don't trust this guy and I think he's possibly embezzling our profits." she said.

"More than likely." I replied...

She looked at Sepia....then she winked...

"He's a keeper gurlll."

Sepia nodded and we all continued eating.

"Oh Lisa..Don't forget...You and Gary have a meeting with us also tomorrow to look at a new property you guys said you might be interested in." said Bonita...

"Oh yeah....We are meeting you at 10:00 am sharp right?" she said.

"Okay..So Kevin, How about we meet at two?" she said.

''Sure thing." I said.

Just then Gary's Android rang....He looked at us...

"I've got to take this ...excuse me." he said and got up and walked towards the restroom.

We all continued to laugh and talk and eat....Gary came in after a little while and said to Lisa...

"Well you talked Scurlock up...He would like to meet with both of us first thing in the morning." he said.

''About what?"asked Lisa.

"He said he has some new figures to show us..." he replied...

"I'll bet...You go see him...I'm going to meet with Sepia and Bonita." she said.

"He insists on the both of us being there." said Gary...

"Ohhh, okay...We might be a little late girls...but we'll be there." she said.

II-

2:00 pm the next day, Clerow and I drove up to the Hughes's Office...Lisa's 2012 custom BMW was in the parking lot...It had her initials engraved on the side.  We walked up to their plush office...The door was open, but I rang the bell anyway.  Nobody answered!  I opened the door and Clerow and I walked in...There was a receptionist's desk at the front, but no one was at the desk...I looked out the window..Gary's car was nowhere in sight...There were papers on Lisa and Gary's desks..Invoices...Registrations, Maps, what not...Lisa's cell phone was there, so was her purse....

"If her cell phone is here and her purse , then she couldn't be far boss." said Clerow..

"What woman you know goes anywhere without her purse and her cell phone?" I asked.

"Maybe she went to the bathroom." he remarked...

I pointed to the restroom in the office...The door was open..

"Oh....Well her car is in the lot...She must be close by." He said.

We sat and we waited....Clerow fell asleep...soon he was snoring....I looked up at the clock..It was now 3:30 and there was no sign of either of them!

"Hey.  Heyy Clerow..Wake up." I said.

"Huh? What's up?" he said.

"They never showed up." I said.

Just then, we heard the door open and a young Black woman in her early twenties came in....

"Heyy, who are you?" she asked.

"We had an appointment with Gary and Lisa Hughes..only they never showed up." I said.

"Yeah..Me too...I called them both three or four times this morning to confirm and they never answered their phones...It's odd that neither of them answered she said.

''Let me call my wife...They might still be with them." I said and I called Sepia.

"Hey Kev...Is Lisa and Gary there with you?" asked Sepia.

"Funny...I called to ask you if they were still in the meeting with you and Bonita." I asked.

"They never showed up...We waited as long as we could...but we had another couple that wanted to see the house too...After we came back Bonita called both of them and neither of them answered their phones.." she said.

"Well I'm at their office now...I've been here since two....Her purse and her cell phone is here and her car is in the parking lot, but there is no sign of her or anybody else in this office." I said.

"Hmmm, that's strange." said Sepia.

The three of us left the Suite....I called Gary and Lisa's home phone...It went straight to voicemail!  Equally odd.

"Well,I've got to be going...If you should see either of them...Tell them that Vernita came by...I was their 3:30 appointment." said the woman who got in her car and pulled off.

"This don't look good Boss." said Clerow.

''Sure doesn't." I said.

Clerow and I drove to the Hughes home...Maybe they were there I thought, but as soon as we pulled up, I got a bad feeling in my stomach..Robert Foxworth, Chance Howard, Bonita and my wife Sepia were out front....

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"Lookin for Lisa and Gary....Bonita called me and told me that you told Sepia that they weren't at their office,So Chance and I picked them up and drove by here..." said Robert Foxworth...

"We've been inside Kev..The door was open....Everything is as they left it...It looks like they are still there,like if they did leave, it was just to go down the street...Beds made..Kitchen clean as a wink...Bathroom clean...Clothes in closet...but no sign of them..." said Chance Howard...

"This isn't like them at all Kevin..Lisa was miss prompt..She got on me for being two minutes late for one of our meetings."said Bonita..

"Well they aren't in their office and they aren't here...Were they supposed to be anywhere else today?" I asked..."Oh and where is Gary's car?" I asked.

Gary drove a silver 2012 Lexus with his initials engraved on the side.

"No sign of his car at all." said Sepia.

Robert ,Clerow, Chance,Bonita,Sepia and I went back through the house and we found an address book...We also found an appointment book...It had all of their appointments in it up to today...That page had been torn out...

I looked at Clerow....

''Something is bad about this Clerow...Real ,real bad." I said.

(TO BE CONTINUED.....)