Who's Zooming Who?

Several weeks went by and the John Pryor /Jake Robinson business was over...He was safely buried and his wife had moved on... Olivia, Beverly and I had moved on to other cases..Cases where we actually got paid and as far as we were concerned..The matter was settled and closed..

Olivia, Bev and I were at Josies one night drinking after a big case closed when we happened to see Gretchen Carter, the fiance of John Pryor aka Jake Robinson out and about..

 Olivia spotted her first, dancing and drinking and having a good time....

"Look Donnie Ray, Bev...it's Gretchen.." she said.

"Yeah that is her...Look how she's dancing with that guy....I suppose she's really moved on now huh?" laughed Beverly.

"Wow!...Well ,I guess everybody copes in a different way....Shame what happened to her...Thought she was engaged...Then finds out ,not only is the guy married but he was just stringing her along to get information. She must have went through hell..Especially since he dropped dead and she didn't get to confront him or get any closure.." I said.

"True...She really is moving on...Look at that guy she's dancing with...He's got his hands up her dress...All out in public...Oh my." said Olivia..

"Wowww and she's kissing him...She kissed the other guy she danced with too...She must be drunk." Observed Bev...

As we watched her , Nelson walked in the bar at that moment....He saw us and he walked over to where we were sitting..

He leaned over and kissed Beverly on her cheek...Then she turned around and he gave him a wet sloppy kiss...She giggled like a school girl....He had a receipt in his hands...

"Hey..isn't that your former client? The girl that's dancing over there?" he said.

''She wasn't our client...Her now deceased boyfriend was."said Beverly.

"Well she paid her credit card bill and dropped her signed receipt on the floor..I picked it up." he said.."I thought her name was Gretchen?" he said.

"It is."said Beverly...

"This says Gina Harris."He said.

"Let me see that." I said.

I studied it...It was Gretchen's handwriting alright...I had seen her handwriting before...
So why was she signing the name Gina Harris on her credit card receipt?

''Something wrong babe?" asked Olivia..

"Yeah,it is...I'll be back."I said.

I walked over to Gretchen and passed her ,her receipt...

"Gretchen...You dropped this." I said.

''Gretchen...You said your name was Gina." said the guy who had just finished dancing and dry humping her...He was clearly out of breath...

She ignored him....She took the receipt and smiled..

"Thank You Donnie Ray." she said and turned back to her date..

Olivia, Beverly and Nelson were downing the row of colorful martinis stacked in front of them...I looked at them and smiled...

Gus, the bartender walked over to me..

"Your women are going to be sloshed by the end of the night Donnie Ray."he said smiling as we both watched Olivia and Bev and Nelson drinking...

I smiled ruefully...

"Yeah, how bout that." I said.

''Somethin eatin you kid?" he asked.

''Yeah, you might say that...I got a feelin..we all got hustled by one of your patrons...Nothing you need to worry about Gus..I got this." I said.

Gus just looked at me and shrugged his shoulders.

II-

A few days later...Beverly and I were sitting in a parking lot, across the street from some projects in North Philadelphia...Right off Broad Street..

"D.R. what are we sitting here for?"she asked...

''Sit tight...If what I suspect is true...We are going to see something surprising."I said.

Within minutes we saw a car drive up and we saw a familiar figure get out of the car...

It Was Gretchen Carter!!!!

''Oh My God..That's Gretchen!! What's she doing down here??"asked a puzzled Beverly...The Gretchen we knew lived in a fabulous condo in Center City...

"This is where she lives, that's why she's here."I said...Beverly looked puzzled..

"Huh?" she said.

"Watch and learn little robin."I said.

A middle aged woman came to the door with a small child, a girl who looked to be about five or six..The little girl hugged Gretchen...She picked her up and spun her around and she kissed the middle aged woman on the cheek...

"Gretchen told me that she didn't have any children..."said Beverly....

"She does...That's her little girl...Her name is Gretchen Harris. The little girl's mother's name is Gina Harris...There is no Gretchen Carter...We've been sold a bill of goods." I said.

"What?" said Beverly..

"After Nelson gave me that credit card slip with the name Gina Harris on it..I did some digging.. Gina Harris..graduated from Girls High, Attended and graduated from Temple University and got a Masters from Morgan State...Just like Gretchen said she did.. She went to work for Beasley-Reece Pharmacueticals about five or six years ago...And this is the address she shares with her mother..Lula-Mae Harris...Her daughter's father is a local guy named..Phillip Foley...." I said.

"Okay...Then where does Gretchen Carter come from?" asked Beverly...

"It was made up...The condo that she was living in is now empty and guess who paid the morgtage on it?" I asked.

''Beasley-Reece?"said Beverly..

"You are correct little Robin...They made up the identity of Gretchen Carter, They paid for the condo and they put her in place..." I said...

"But Why ?" Asked Beverly...

"That!..She  is going to have to tell us." I said.

III-

The next day, the woman we had thought was Gretchen Carter walked into our office...

She looked a little bit ashamed... Josie offered her a seat and some coffee, all of which she took..

"They'll be right out."she said.

Olivia , Beverly and I walked out and took seats...

''Gretchen...Gina...Whoever you are!!You're not on trial here...We just wanted to know why? Over the months...I kind of thought we were friends.."said Olivia...

"It's Gina...Gina Harris..."she said.."How did you guys find out?" she said.

"When you dropped you credit card slip in Josies...and the guy you were dancing with called you Gina."I said..."That got me curious and I looked you up." I said.

"I needed some extra money...I've got a kid and all..I suppose you know that...At first I was told that they couldn't give me a raise...Tight budget...We were losing money to our competitior...Then I got called in to the Deputy CEO's office..We had a mole in McGarry-Edelstein Pharmeceuticals who told us that they had placed a mole in our office...He was a youg black man who thought he was a ladies man..a Jake Robinson...So they asked me if I would pose as a counter spy...Get flirtatious with him,make him think that I liked him...and feed him with false information.." she said.

"So you knew Jake Robinson was a plant?" asked Olivia.

"Yes...I didn't know his real name or that he was married..but I knew he was a spy..I fed him false information for close to a year...and I set him up,just like they asked me to do ,which is how he got in trouble and how you guys came in the picture...I knew you'd get him off..." she said.

"So you never really was in love with him?" asked Beverly...

''That's the thing...I spent a lot of time with him..He was good to me...bought me things,treated me better than any guy I'd ever been with...Next thing I know..I was sleeping with him...I was getting in too deep, I felt awful setting him up and I dreaded the day he would find out that it was all a ruse...but I just kept going along...getting deeper than I ever expected.."she said.

"So he thought he was playing you and all the while you were playing him?" I said..I laughed and slapped my knee...

"He asked me to marry him...He bought me this ring...He really fell for me hard..Now that I know he had a wife,I don't know how that was going to happen...Maybe he was planning to come clean with me before he died.." she said.

I didn't say anything...Olivia looked at me...On the last night of his life, He was flirting shamelessly with Olivia and Beverly...Was anything about this guy real? Who were these two people?
Both were living a double life...

"Gina...Did they pay you?" asked Beverly...

''Yes...Extremely well...My daughter is now in a very nice private school..and we both will be moving out of my mother's house in North Philly and into a nice place of our own.."she said.

''Well I guess everything turned out alright for you after all huh?"said Olivia

"Yeah,I suppose...My job as an industrial spy is over...I'm back in my old role now..Office Administrative Assistant...No more lies or double life...I'm Gina now!"she said..  "I would like to be your friend....Now that you know who I really am."she said.

"I don't see why that would be a problem Gina."I said...

She stood up and shook my hand and hugged Olivia and Beverly.........and then got in her car and left...

''Wow...What a morning...Auntay...Josie and I are going out to get some lunch...you want anything?" said Bev as she and Josie prepared to leave.

"No..I'm good."said Olivia...

"Bring me one of those Italian Hoagies.."I said smiling..

"Got'cha."they said as they left...

''Wowzers...what a case."said Olivia as she walked into the kitchen...

I walked in the kitchen behind her and put my arms around her and kissed her..She turned and kissed me..I pulled her to me and kissed her softly and long...She slowly eased out of my embrace...

"Okay Donnie Ray...that's enough.."she said, breaking our embrace...

I pulled her to me and kissed her again...

"Donnie Ray..We are in the office...The girls will be right back...Let's not get started with something we can't finish...You know I'll take care of you tonight."she said...

"I'm not Donnie Ray...I'm Lester from Jamaica mon."I said with a fake Jamaican accent..Olivia cracked up....

"Ouuuu, well in that case Lester...."said Olivia, laughing...She moved in and gave me a long sensual kiss...

She then laughed...

"You are soo silly Donnie Ray." she laughed...as I hugged her and rocked her back and forth...

EPILOUGE:

The war between McGarry-Eldelson and Beasley -Reese continues...with neither company gaining a foothold in anything...

Juanita Pryor moved back to Philadelphia where she found  work...She lives in a very nice house in South Philadelphia..

Gina Harris and her daughter live in a nice house in the Mt.Airy section of the city...She has put her Industrial spy days behind her...

As far as I know..both women are still single...

On a clear ,sunny day...Olivia and I sat in the park...near our home and office just talking..

"Isn't that something Donnie Ray...All that time Jake thought he was playing Gina and she was playing him?" said Olivia..

"Yeah...She knew who he was all along...Guess he wasn't that good a spy."I said.

"And he had fallen in love with her...He might have left his wife for her.."I said.

"No, I doubt that...She would have had to have told him who she was at that point and he would have had to tell her who he was too!"said Olivia..

''What do you think would have happened next? You think they still would have gone through with it?"I asked.

"I can't see how they both could...after all the lying they had to do.."said Olivia..

"But their feelings for each other were real." I countered..

"You're such a romantic..I doubt that...It was lust on his part and just a job for her." she said and leaned over and kissed me...

I smiled...

"I guess I am... I suppose I am." I said.

"But with me and you, Donnie Ray...it's definitely love.."she said kissing me....

"Definitelty babes." I said as we sat on that park bench and made out like two teenagers...on such a lovely spring day!