E'steem: Undercover

By Shawn James

Bad Girl Gone Good! Good Girl goes undercover! When E'steem and John find stolen boxes of Marshmallow cookies in a Bronx Bodega, she goes undercover at the Nabiskit factory in Philadelphia to find the employee responsible for the thefts. Can the Devilish Diva stop the cookie crook and put an end to their confectionary caper?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shawn James
• Release date: Aug 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310069925

Shawn James

Shawn James is the author of over seventy Books. A graduate of Monroe College he's been writing fiction and nonfiction for twenty years.

Book preview

Chapter 1

A flash of light takes John and I from the executive offices of the Morris Phillips Tower in Midtown Manhattan to the streets of his old South Bronx neighborhood. As we pass by the old elementary school he used to attend on Washington Avenue, the husky handsome golden brown skinned man cracks a smile. Looking around at all the rundown buildings and housing projects on the street, I’m curious to find out how he found happiness in all this urban blight.

You look happy. I say catching John’s friendly brown eyes.

Just thinking about back in the day when I was a kid. John replies.

I thought you hated school-

I didn’t mind afterschool. John continues. Especially Fridays. Back then Ma would get us a slice of pizza and a soda and I’d be able to start my weekend-

That’s probably how he found love with his favorite comfort food. At that shop across the street? I inquire looking over at the series of stores below the rundown buildings across the street.

Yeah, I bought many a slice there back in the day.

I wonder if he’d be eager to participate in his old childhood routine with me for old times’ sake. How about we get one now?

What do you want on your slice?

I’m feeling like pepperoni today.

John and I dart across the street and down the block. Once we get across the street we step into a pizza shop that’s crowded with junior high school kids. As John and I approach the counter the kids are in awe at the sight of us dressed in our tailored business clothes. When the pizza chef catches our eyes he’s taken aback by John’s presence as he places our order.

Two pepperoni slices. John requests.

Two minutes boss. The chef replies.

On hearing the reply John rushes out of the store. John, aren’t you going to wait for your slice? I ask following him out onto the sidewalk.

John gives me a playful smile before answering my question. Don’t you want to get a soda to go with your slice?

Er…they have sodas in the pizza shop-

That’s not how Mom used to do it back when I was a kid.

Well, I wouldn’t want to break the family tradition. John leads me from the pizza shop a few steps down the block and into the grocery store on the corner. As we walk towards the refrigerated cases in the back, I’m surprised at how limited the selection is on the shelves. There’s more beer and junk food here than actual groceries. This definitely isn’t the Morris Market.

Yeah, people here don’t get half the shopping options we have downtown.

Is that why you’re working so hard to diversify the selection of products in our retail spaces here?

Yeah. I want the people here to have the healthy eating options we have at those downtown delis. John says opening up the sliding refrigerator case. Diet Coke?

Nah, I think I’ll have a regular.

I thought you were watching your weight-

Thanks to my Katian physiology I can eat virtually anything and still keep my sexy hourglass figure. But since he’s comfortable enough to take the time to share one of his childhood pastimes with me I can share one of my present day favorite comfort foods with him. We have a busy schedule to get back to. And I’m gonna need the caffeine to keep up with you.

John takes a regular Coke off the shelf for me and a Sprite for himself. As we turn around and look at the selection of snacks on the shelf I notice a product that’s usually not sold in stores like this. "One of these things just doesn’t belong here..." I sing taking the box of Nabiskit Marshmallow cookies off the shelf.

"…One of these things just isn’t the same." John sings back taking the box from me. I thought these were Morris Market exclusive.

I thought they were too. I reply. Maybe they’re remainders-

I doubt our territory reps would distribute remaindered product here with factory firsts. John continues.

Is that what you know from your personal experience growing up here?

That’s what I learned from reading the monthly sales reports from the Nabiskit Territory reps.

I had no idea he was that aware of what transpired in all of Morris Phillips’ businesses. So how would Morris Market exclusive Marshmallow cookies wind up on a Bronx bodega shelf?

Good question.

Maybe we could ask the store owner where they came from-

I doubt you’d get any answers from anyone here.

How do you know that?

Personal experience.

He’s got a point. The owners of this store are probably tied up in a dozen other illegal operations. Stolen Marshmallow cookies are probably the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the rackets they’re involved in. "I take the only answer we’d get is No Habla Ingles if we asked any questions."

Pretty much. John continues. The only way we’re going to find out what’s going on is to run the batch number at our computers downtown. If there’s theft going on we have to stop it at the source.

So you’re buying a box of Marshmallow cookies to snack on with your Sprite?

We’ll need the box for evidence.

Chapter 2

After I pay for our snacks, E’steem and I head out of the store back over to the pizza shop. When we step into the restaurant, our slices are boxed and ready on top of the oven. Once we make our way through the crowd of kids, I pay for our lunch and step back out onto the sidewalk. A flash of light takes us from my old neighborhood in the South Bronx back to the executive suite of the Morris Phillips tower in Midtown Manhattan. Since the lunch hour is just getting started, I can do a little investigation on this box of Marshmallow cookies. There has to be some reason why a Morris Market exclusive product wound up in a Bronx bodega.

I hurry over to my desk and drop the pizza box and bag of snacks on my desk. As I’m reaching for the back of my leather office chair, E’steem playfully puts her hands on her hips and gives me a look. Okay, what did I do? I ask.

You’re working through lunch again. E’steem replies taking her Coke out of the bag.

"I thought it’d be something to do while you watched The Young and the Restless." John replies.

E’steem takes my hand and gives me a concerned look. Anyone ever tell you that you work too hard?

Just trying to lead by example-

Your pizza is going to get cold-

It’ll only take a few seconds for me to look this up-

Knowing you that few seconds will turn into hours. And an investigation into the mystery behind the stolen Marshmallow cookies could take a few weeks.

And what would be wrong with that?

You have a meeting with the Craft Cheese executives at one-thirty.

I’d love to delegate this task to our investigations department. But since most of Morris Phillips’ employees are demons our entire investigations department probably has dirtier hands than the people who worked in that bodega.

It’s not like I can trust the staff in our investigations department-

You can’t do everything John.

I’m not trying to do everything E’steem-

Well, if you weren’t trying to do everything then you’d understand there is an employee standing right here you can trust to delegate this little task to-

Looks like my assistant wants to take on some work outside of her job description. I thought your job was to take care of me.

Er…you do know as your helpmeet, my job is to manage the day-to-day business so you can take care of the stuff that impacts us long-term.

Helpmeet? I thought you were my girlfriend-

I’m seeing a role for myself in the bigger picture of your life.

I am too. The fact that she’s looking to take