Chapter 4

The sound of an incoming call startled Jason awake. He reached for his cell. The time read 1:15 AM, and the display showed a missed call from A Morgan Cell. He pressed the recall key and heard it ring.

“Jason!” he heard Aja’s voice as the call connected. She sounded agitated.

“Aja, I missed your call. What’s wrong?”

“I need your help,” she said. “I need a ride home and I don’t want to call Uncle Oscar.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at Dingo’s Lounge.”

“Dingo’s Lounge? Where’s that?”

“I’m not sure -- I think it’s on Center.”

“Hold on...” Jason flipped open his laptop and woke it up. He keyed in a search. “Dingo’s Lounge... 50th and Center.”

“That sounds right.”

“What are you doing in that part of town at this time of night?”

“I’ll tell you later. Please hurry -- they’re going to close fairly soon.”

“Right...” He ended the call. Jason pulled on a pair of jeans, slipped his bare feet into a pair of loafers and pulled a polo shirt over his head. Picking up his wallet, phone and keys he headed to the apartment building’s parking lot and backed out of the parking stall. He headed toward the north-central part of the city.

Jason turned onto Center from 118th street. Watching the numbers on the street signs count down he noticed the buildings became more derelict as he neared his destination. On the corner of Center and 50th was a small bar, its neon sign dark. He saw Aja standing on the sidewalk under a streetlamp clutching her cell phone.

He pulled up to the curb, stepped out and approached her. “Oh, Jason -- I’m so sorry to bother you but I’m desperate.”

He regarded her. “Aja -- are you drunk?”

“A little...”

“Let’s get in the car -- we’ll talk on the way. Do you have a bag?”

“Oh, my God -- I must’ve left it inside. They closed about fifteen minutes ago.”

Jason pounded on the door. Then, he pulled his phone from his pocket and manipulated the screen. Holding it to his ear he heard a ring signal.

On the twelfth ring the call answered. Dingo’s we’re closed.

“We’re outside -- the lady left her purse,” he said before the call could disconnect.

Hold on...

The door cracked open and an arm extended with a black purse. “Is this it?” came a voice from behind the door.

“Yes,” Aja said and took it. The door closed and locked.

“Come on,” Jason said. “Let’s get the hell out of here. This place would give me the creeps in broad daylight.”

“Agreed.” Aja sat in the passenger seat.

Jason climbed behind the wheel and pressed a button to lock the doors. “See if everything’s there,” he said.

“Right.” Aja rummaged through her bag. She let out a gasp. “They took my cash and credit cards ... and my bus pass.”

“Is that all they took?”

“They left my photo ID.”

“First order of business is to call your credit card companies.”

Aja sat with her head bowed and her eyes closed. “Please slow down, Jason.”

“I’m only going the limit.”

“Please...”

He lifted his foot from the accelerator and watched the speedometer needle drop about three miles an hour. “Better?”

“Yes ... and no sudden stops.”

“Are you all right?”

“My head is swimming...”

“Will you get carsick? The cure for that is to look out the window, not sit with your eyes closed.”

“I’ll be all right.”

“This section looks even worse than the last time I was here,” Jason remarked.

“Why would you have any reason to be here?”

“When I first started at the radio station I was interested in Asian cuisine. There was a little Asian grocery just a couple of blocks from Dingo’s. I used to shop there all the time -- I could get ingredients not available elsewhere. And, the stuff was reasonable. I could go in with a twenty and come out with two big, full bags and change.”

“Are they still in business?”

“No -- they got forced out by the crime, and the fact that the cops don’t give that neighborhood the same attention as the suburbs.”

“I know that well, Jason. This is the environment I grew up in.”

“Here?”

“Near by. It wasn’t this bad when I was a girl.”

“You got lucky. You escaped.”

“Yes, I escaped ... but I paid a terrible price.”

“What price?”

“I don’t want to discuss it now.”

“All right then, tell me how you ended up at Dingo’s Lounge.”

“I went with Vincent.”

“Vincent? Vincent Canby?”

“Yes. He called me at my office and told me he had a DJ gig at a nice club and wondered if I’d like to tag along. He suggested I could be a featured soloist. I guess I was still a bit giddy from our recording session last night. I assumed I’d get paid for performing. I was wrong ... It was not a nice club and I didn’t get paid ... except in drinks.”

“I’ll bear some responsibility,” Jason replied. “I shouldn’t have introduced you to Vincent; or, at least I should’ve warned you abut him. I can’t believe you went out with him.”

“Are you jealous, Jason? Are you upset I’d go on a date with a Black man?”

“No. Since we’re only friends, I have no claim on your night life. You can date whoever you want, and the fact that Vincent is Black doesn’t bother me, either. What bothers me is that he’s a serial philanderer. Did he tell you he’s married?”

“No, he did not.”

Jason saw he was approaching 118th street. He slowed, signaled and turned. “He has a reputation of collecting women the way some folks collect butterflies. I doubt he pins them onto boards, though.”

“How do you know that?” she asked.

“His reputation is common knowledge at the station, and in that regard he’s an equal opportunity skeeve. Black, white, Asian, doesn’t matter -- if she’s in a skirt she’s on his radar. Rumor has it he rents a second apartment as a trysting place. He has been known to boast about it, especially if he’s with a bunch of guys during happy hour. Last year we had an intern named Joanna. She spent some time working with me on second shift. Vincent hit on her, to the point she complained to management. Vincent was given a warning and he has, at least, stopped pestering the women at the station.”

“Oh, God, Jason. I don’t know why I keep making stupid mistakes regarding men.”

“How did you end up stranded at the lounge?”

“One of the patrons apparently had a beef with Vincent. They got into an argument and it escalated to a fight that turned into a brawl. The cops came. Vincent and a few others were arrested and taken to jail. I was questioned but I wasn’t detained. By then the buses had stopped running.”

“I think you got off lucky,” Jason remarked.

“Yeah, lucky me.”

“You could’ve ended up in Vincent’s trysting place.”

“I don’t think so, Jason. I’m no naive intern...”

“Yeah? Well Vincent is a pro at this, and if he could get enough alcohol into you ... well, I’m not laying odds on any outcome.”

“I am not that sort of girl, Jason.”

“I know you’re not. He knows it, too. That’s what makes you a challenge for him.”

“Jason -- let’s drop this line of discussion.”

“Agreed. Bottom line is, you’re with me and you’re safe.”

“How much longer? I’m getting really woozy.”

“You’re not going to be sick, are you?”

“No -- I hold my liquor better than that.”

“We’re almost there.” Jason turned into the Woodland Hills section and then into her condominium complex. “Where can I park?” he asked. “There’s no parking on the streets from midnight to six AM.”

“I have a garage but I use it as a workout room,” she replied. “There should be a stall in the residents’ lot assigned to my unit.”

“Okay...” He pulled into the lot and found the parking space. “We’re here. Do you have your keys?”

She reached into her bag. “Yes, I have my keys.” He opened the passenger door and gave her his hand. Aja stood unsteadily. “Feeling a bit dizzy...”

Jason supported her as they approached her front door. He took her keys, unlocked the door and they stepped inside. Aja collapsed on her sofa. “I just want to lie down,” she said.

“First things first -- we need to call your credit card companies. How many do you have?”

“Two -- American Express and Visa ... plus a bank debit card.”

“Do you have recent statements with your account numbers?”

Aja opened a desk drawer and pulled out folders. “Here ... Jason -- My head is swimming. I’m in no shape to place a call. I just want to go to bed.”

“I’ll call for you.” He looked at her American Express statement for the customer service number and her account. Picking up the handset to her landline phone he placed a call. “Hello. I’m calling for Doctor Aja Morgan. She’s a bit under the weather, so I’m calling in her place. She had her credit cards stolen this evening.”

What is the account number? the agent asked. Jason read it from the statement. Can you verify the last four digits of her social?

“Aja -- last four of your social.”

She rolled her eyes. “Six seven one four.”

“Six seven one four.”

And, her mother’s maiden name?

“Mother’s maiden name?”

“Kenney,” Aja replied from the sofa.

“Kenney,” he repeated into the phone.

When did she notice the card was missing?

“Just this evening ... between nine and midnight I’d guess.” Aja nodded in agreement.

When was the last time she used it?

“When did you use it last?”

“I dunno,” Aja replied. “It’s been a while. I only use it for online purchases.”

“She said a while ago for an online purchase.”

We show a purchase on the fifth with Amazon.

“Amazon on the fifth?” he asked her and she nodded. “That sounds right.”

Tell her we’ll take care of it. She should receive a replacement card within seven and ten business days. Thanks for calling.

Jason made two similar calls for her Visa and bank cards. Aja was lying on her side on her sofa. “I better be going. Will you be all right?”

“Jason -- please stay. You can use my guest room. I’ll need your help in the morning. I’ll need to get to work. I have no cash, no credit cards and no bus pass. If you could drive me to work, I can walk to the bank and cash a check once they open.”

“What about the bus pass?”

“I order them online, but they take a few days to arrive. Without a credit card number ... I guess I’ll just have to pay exact change until this is straightened out.”

“Is there any other place to get a bus pass?” he asked.

“They sell them at the inter-modal station.”

“The what?”

“The inter-modal station -- what they call the Amtrak station these days. It’s a bus terminal, now, too.”

“Okay. I’ll sleep in your guest room and take you to your office. Then, I’ll get you a bus pass.”