Troubleshooters (Jackson Chase Novella Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

for us into Kahembe’s investigation. The big man offered one of his southern smiles, and said, “Well, Lieutenant, today is your lucky day because Commander Chen here has enough capabilities in that area to keep all of our heads spinning.”
    I wasn’t sure if it was Sterba’s warm southern charm or relief that he would get some technical assistance, but Kahembe said, “Miss, sorry, Commander Chen, we would very much appreciate your help.”
    “It’s Haley, sir,” she said, offering a smile of her own, “and I look forward to it.”
    Just then another officer came up and spoke quietly to Kahembe. His eyes brightened after the exchange, and he said, “It appears that we’ve been able to recover the kitchen’s security video. It’s taken days to dig it up. Let’s go have a look.”
    We packed ourselves into a small utility room—little more than a closet, really—where an assortment of aged computers and video machines had been cobbled together. A cart held four monitors, one of which was operational and playing a security video.
    What played out in rather poor quality black and white before us was two males wheeling in a stack of boxes on a battered dolly. They lowered the stack onto the ground in the exact spot where the crater was today. The two then withdrew the dolly and walked through a doorway, which took them off camera.
    “Again, please,” Kahembe said to the hotel staffer manning the control board. We watched it again, each of us now focusing on the details.
    There were eight boxes in the stack, though I suspected some had been glued together with the center panels removed in order to hold the shells. They were white, with a name printed on the side. It looked to start with the letter A, but the resolution made the rest of the name difficult to read.
    It was also difficult to gauge how tall the men were, but they were both thin and wearing jeans. One wore a light T-shirt, while the other’s was dark. The poor video quality made distinguishing their faces impossible, and the only thing we could tell was that their hair was short.
    Great. Be on the lookout for two thin black males with short hair. That really narrows it down.
    As my cynicism was getting the best of me, I noticed one of the men on the screen pause and look back at the stack before exiting. The back pockets of his jeans were white. Not knowing what to make of that, I simply filed it away.
    Lieutenant Kahembe had been studying the monitor carefully as well. During the second run through of the video, he had said something to one of the officers in the room with us. The officer had left immediately.
    “One more time, please,” I said.
    As we were going through the video once again, the young officer returned with some papers. He spoke quietly to the Lieutenant. Kahembe thanked him, and with a small wave of the papers, he said, “Invoices for kitchen supply orders.”
    “The letters on the boxes. Nice thinking, Lieutenant,” I said.
    He ran a finger down the list on the first page, then the second. Mid-way through, he stopped. “The bakery that delivers here every morning is the Asha Bakery.”
    Naseeb seemed to brighten up with this news. “I know this bakery. Not far from here. Let’s go.”
    Frankly, I agreed. Assignment One in the bag. Still time for a little safari. Looking at the Lieutenant, it was clear he felt otherwise.
    “Mister Aman,” he said, “we will not jump to conclusions. We do not know if the bakery played any part in this. Someone could have simply grabbed some old boxes.”
    Naseeb lowered his eyes, attempting to be deferential in lieu of an apology.
    “Might still be worth a look,” I said, partially to allow Naseeb to save face and partially because it was something to go on. Plus, I really did like the idea of wrapping this up and going on safari.
    Kahembe considered this for a minute. “Very well. We will go together.”
    On safari?
    Chen observed this exchange silently, glancing between Kahembe and