CHAPTER FIVE: THE FIFTH HOUR

I was finally in the same room as the love of my life and I felt like my heart was about to beat out of my chest, I was confused and had no words to describe how I felt about her.

"Hi am Lisa, she said.

" I'm so sorry, I murmured, pardon me, I mean Hi how may I help you?

She started explaining about the case and wondered how I knew every answer to every question that was on the case which made it even stranger and she started to suspect me. I had to convince her not to think otherwise which she did.

I knew how to make her understand and I took the case anyway but I'm a step ahead of Bakari and his boy squad unknown and as soon as I find him, I will make him pay.

After the meeting, I went straight to Joe and asked him for help. I knew he would react badly so I decided to first look into the drug case that was connected to Bakari but it was going to be difficult considering, the case went cold and the police station shut down the case after it was given to Michael and Johnson. I had to consider that either Mike or John or pretty much both of them were in cohorts with Bakari. I just started to realize how long the web is.

I arrived at Joe's house and he welcomed me so warmly that I started to second-guess myself. I decided to master up my courage and then decided to inform him about a case concerning drug trafficking that is connected to a case of a missing person. Of course, it was a lie and there wasn't any drug trafficking happening but there was a case about a missing person of a young daughter named Ruth Alfonse, who was the daughter of a small businessman named Richard Alfonse. The case was linked to Lisa's sister and I sent Ken to investigate the case. I just needed Joe to tell me about his case indirectly so that he wouldn't get upset and burst out in anger. I now understand his grief of losing a loved one.

"So Kid what's on mind, Got anything good for me to sleuth," Joe said Joyously.

"Yeah, I..uhm...I do actually, it's about a drug trafficking that is about to go down and is linked to the Alphonse case." I answered reluctantly.

"Sure, let me check it out kiddo," Joe replied.

He then picks up the files, takes his glasses off the case and then peruses patiently. Then he sees the Bakari insignia and then clears his throat, as he slowly takes out his glasses, his smile turns upside down very quickly. He then stands up from his chair and starts to pace around the room. I decide to interrupt his anxious pacing and decide that he is still not ready to revisit his past and open up old wounds.

"Look Joe, it's okay if you can't help me, I perfectly understand your predicament and if it's too much trouble, I can just find someone else to help…" I calmly stated and before I could finish my sentence Joe intervened.

"No worries kiddo, I will help you out," Joe replied.

We then sat down for hours and I have to admit it was fun finally doing some investigation with him again. After a few hours, I left Joe's place and then headed out to figure out how I could save Ken from his pending doom, but I needed to find out how he ended up the way he did in my past life, and for me to do that I need to get my hands on the cold case and also find a way to protect Ken.

The next day, I went back to my office and told Ken to hold any new cases and that we would only deal with three cases that were connected to Bakari. One is the main cause of Frank and how his death wasn't suicide but murder, two is the Alphonse case about the daughter of a small but successful business owner who became one of the most popular socialites in Biranoi and the third is the Drug trafficking cold case that Joe was hunting to get justice for his partner. What I didn't realize and overlooked was that the most important case was the fourth case. The ruby theft case that involved Mr Cruz's wife.

Later that night, while I and Kenneth were burning our usual midnight oil, A cleaner came into the office for the usual regular cleaning. I hired a cleaning company to clean my office, and the owner Mrs Allegra Kanuna is a friend of mine I did a job to find her missing five-year-old child. She was a self-made businesswoman and she started to grow her business even further. What shocked me was that the cleaner that came to clean our office wasn't Miss Flora who was the cleaner we contracted but Another guy named Kevin. He knocked on the Door and Ken opened the door. Of course, I started to ask questions as my suspicion grew.

"Ken who the hell is this guy," I protested.

"Oh yeah I forgot to tell your boss dude, we got ourselves a new cleaner yo," Ken casually answered.

This is when I started to remember why my cases on Bakari were always at a dead end. My entire office was on surveillance, we were bugged and I felt angry and disgusted by myself that I didn't realize this.