Pulling up to the entrance of Punkie's club, Lucy stepped out of her car and handed the key to the valet before heading towards the door. Frank the hefty bodyguard by the door winked at Lucy and opened the door for her. She blew him a kiss as she walked in.
Inside, she stood briefly by the door and looked around. This was her world. She had been an active player in the underworld of crime that existed in Punkie's. To the unseeing eyes, the place was just an average clubhouse with decent drinks and more than enough loose women hanging out at the bar.
Spotting Wesley at the bar chatting loudly with the bartender, she walked over and sat on the vacant stool beside him.
"Hello Wesley", Lucy said with a smile on her face.
"Wow, look who the cat dragged in!" Wesley exclaimed.
George, the bartender who was mixing a drink at the far end of the bar, paused and came over to say hello to Lucy. Hugging her across the counter, he slapped her back fondly a couple of times before letting her go. He had always been fond of her ever since she was a little girl and used to come in with her dad.
He poured her a complimentary drink on the house, before heading back to the other end of the bar. Lucy took a sip of the drink, before turning to face Wesley. Judging by the look on her face, he knew this was not a courtesy visit. She was here for business.
Picking up his drink, Wesley motioned to Lucy to follow him. They wiggled their way through the group of pleasure-seekers dancing at the dancefloor. They settled in an empty booth at the far end of the club.
Not one to waste time, Wesley looked Lucy squarely in the face and asked, "What brings you here, darling?"
Reaching into the pocket of her hood, Lucy pulled out Sarah's phone and placed it on the table. She had gone through the phone and now knew it belonged to Sarah. She also saw the text Ethan had sent to Sarah. Although she was still at a loss as to what Ethan was doing with Sarah's phone, and why he had brought it to her apartment.
Sliding the phone over to Wesley and pointing a finger at it, she said, "This".
Wesley picked up the phone and accessed it. He was Lucy's go-to guy as far as ICT and tech was concerned. He could hack into almost any system. When he was a teenager, he hacked into a bank's system and transferred money into a fake credit card, which he then used to buy beer. The bank never found out. He was that good.
"I want you to clone that phone for me, or hack into it, whatever. But I want to have access to every call, sms and chat that passes through it."
Leaning back into the leather seat, Wesley eyed the phone briefly before he replied, "It will cost you".
"How much?" Lucy asked.
"Four grand". Wesley answered without taking his eyes away from the phone.
"Do it". Lucy said.
Without another word, Wesley rose from the booth, and retreated into his "lab" through a door marked "out of bounds to customers". Lucy sat alone at the booth, her hands wrapped around her drink and waited.
Wesley reemerged from the "lab" after almost an hour with two phones in his hands. He placed the both of them on the table in front of Lucy and resumed his seat opposite her.
Pointing to the new phone, he said "With this one, you will be able to listen to every call that comes into the other phone. You will also receive a copy of every text and chat that passes through it.
Pulling out her wallet, Lucy counted the fee and handed it to Wesley who then took his time to recount the money. This made Lucy remember the saying that, "there is no honor among thieves."
"Satisfied?" Lucy asked when he was finally done counting the money.
"Sure", Wesley said. "You know we could both be prosecuted for a dozen offenses if you're caught using that, right?"
Lucy looked at Wesley quizzically, and then asked "Meaning?"
"Meaning don't get caught", replied Wesley.
Yes, Wesley was a crook, but he was not a hardened criminal. He was just a nerd who enjoyed engaging in criminal activities.
"Alright," Lucy replied nonchalantly as she rose.
Wesley stopped her with a hand. "Not that it is any of my business, but who owns that phone and why are you doing this Lucy?" Wesley asked
"Like you said, it's none of your business" replied Lucy and walked away without looking back.
***
Sarah woke up early on Monday morning and got Amy ready for school, before tiptoeing upstairs to shower and dress up for work. She had slept in Amy's bedroom on Sunday night because she was too afraid to join Edward in their bedroom after their conversation last night. He was still snoring away in bed when Sarah snuck in.
She made sure Amy ate her breakfast quickly, before calling for a cab. Edward was still fast asleep upstairs when they left. Dropping off Amy at school, Sarah hugged her daughter tightly before heading off to work in the cab.
The thought of possibly seeing Ethan at the office drifted into her heart. She had missed him. Shaking any form of sexual thought away from her mind, she focused her thoughts on fixing her car and recovering her phone.
Stopping over at the break room, Sarah poured herself a hot cup of coffee and sipped it. As she turned around to leave, Stan, one of her subordinates in the accounting department walked in.
"Hello, Mrs. Dean", Stan greeted her cheerfully.
"Hi, Stan" Sarah replied.
Looking her over, Stan asked, "Are you alright? Mrs Dean, you look like you haven't slept all weekend".
"I'm fine, Stan. I just had a very hectic weekend."
"If you need anything, Mrs Dean, just know that I'm available for you," Stan said, winking at Sarah as she walked away.
"Thanks, Stan, but no thanks", Sarah said as she exited the coffee room.
Stan stood there, licking his lower lip and eyeing Sarah's backside as she shuffled out of the room. Stan was a womanizer who had his eyes on almost every woman in their department. Sarah did her best to stay off his radar while maintaining a cordial work relationship with him.
Using her office phone, Sarah called Felix, who was her mechanic and told him about her car trouble. He promised to come pick it up later that morning himself, and have it back before Sarah closed from work. "Just drop the key with the receptionist," Felix said.
"You are a lifesaver", Sarah said before hanging up.
Rushing out to drop the key with the receptionist, She bumped into Lucy who was on her way to Sarah's office. Lucy glared at her disdainfully, while trying to regain her composure.
"I told you I had my eyes on you, but you thought I was joking right? Here." Lucy said, keeping her hand in her Louis Vuitton bag and pulling out Sarah's phone.
"How did you get that?" Sarah asked Lucy furiously, as she snatched her phone from Lucy's hand.
"The question is, what was your phone doing in my man's possession?" Lucy retorted.
"I don't owe you an explanation" Sarah replied sharply, as she stormed past Lucy, and continued to the reception.