“We’ll have to disable the current video monitors before we can go into the offices or down to the warehouse.” Cortnie said as she handed me her pail and pulled out what looked like a penlight.
“Look, maybe you should have briefed me before we entered the building. I feel a bit lost on this mission impossible.” I hated not knowing what was going on. I was the boss after all, and even though this was Cortnie’s case, it was my ass if anything went haywire.
“We’ll go into the bathroom since there aren’t any cameras in there and I’ll lay out the maps and the plan. I’d never go into any mission unprepared, either. It’s just that you were in the city all day and I had to get on top of things to get the surveillance in tonight.”
“I’m not mad; I just want to be informed.”
Once in the executive restrooms, Cortnie placed a chair in front of the door so no one could “accidentally” walk in on us as she was showing me the plans. Then she put her bucket down on the coffee table in the suite off to the side of the sinks and pulled out her iPad®.
Tapping and sliding her fingers across the surface of the iPad®, she brought up a 3-D image of the executive floor of the HCM building. “We’ll actually be starting in here.”
“The bathroom?”
Cortnie smiled. “I know, but Mr. Clinton wanted audio in here. Thank goodness he didn’t ask for video, too, because I really don’t care to see what goes on in here. By the way, do you realize this is a unisex bathroom?”
I looked around, nothing suggested male or female, other that the lack of urinals. “No urinals?”
“Actually, they are behind the stall doors, just like a regular toilet. This makes it less awkward for both sexes.” Cortnie pulled a tiny piece of plastic from her bucket. It was about the size of a dime, and just as flat. “I have thirty of these, but I don’t think we’ll need all of them.”
I took the disc from her and looked closely. It looked like a tiny watch battery and thinner than a dime. It was the audio recorder. She took it from me and handed me a set of wireless earphones. Then she flipped a button on the tiny silver box in her hand.
“Put the ear buds in. I’m going to go over to the stalls.”
I did as she said, and to my amazement, I could actually hear her footsteps as she walked. A few seconds later I heard her whisper, “Can you hear me now?”
We laughed.
When she came back toward me, I said, “Did you still have the microphone in your hand when you whispered to me?”
Cortnie smiled, a smug look on her face. “Nope, it was already stuck to the top of the wall between the stalls, completely out of sight.”
“That’s incredible. You whispered and I heard it as plainly as if you were whispering in my ear.” I was impressed.
“Thanks. I’ve been working on this technology for ten years. We just got it refined about six months ago. I’m pretty proud of it, but wait until you see the video.”
“Imagine the wonderful sounds we’ll be hearing from this room.” The thought almost made me gag.
She handed me something that looked like the penlight she had earlier, and a black hoodie. “Put this on, and then I’ll show you how this works.”
I did as she asked. “So what’s going on now?”
“We have to bypass the current video surveillance. I’ll have you go ahead of me, and I’ll point the laser at the cameras. I have photos of the cameras’ views downloaded to the laser. Just point and click, and all the security camera sees for a moment is the still photo I’ve flashed on it. But it only lasts a minute. That’ll give us plenty of time to zap the camera and get down the hall to the next one. We’ll zap as we go along.” Cortnie pressed the button on the laser and aimed it at the ceiling. “Just remember, don’t look up into the cameras, no matter what.”
“Okay, no problem.” I wasn’t sure how I was going to not look at a camera I was trying to point a laser at. I still wasn’t exactly sure how her little laser thing worked, despite the explanation, but I’d trust we’d get where we needed to go without being seen.
“I just need you to get us from point A to point B and so on. By that I mean go ahead of me and unlock the office doors.” She handed me a set of lock picks.
Ah, now this I was familiar with. I’ve picked a few locks in my time. Not that I’m proud of it. Oh, hell, that’s a lie, I’m very proud of it. Lock picking is an art.
Cortnie changed screens on the iPad® and explained the plans. She pointed out which offices Mr. Clinton wanted bugged, and how we’d get to the warehouse. Once at the warehouse, the plan became a bit trickier.
I could have kissed Cortnie when she told me the camera we’d be using had a telephoto lens. We could zoom in and out as needed in order to see what dastardly deeds were being performed.
Over the next several hours, we lasered, picked, and placed our way to the warehouse. Between each security camera, we took breaks as Cortnie lined up the photo for the next camera to see. Patience was the key to getting the surveillance set up, and by the time we arrived at the warehouse, my nerves were rattled.
It was too much to ask that this operation would go off without a hitch. Just as we picked the lock to the warehouse and opened the door, we were greeted by the security guard from the front desk.
Cool as a cucumber, Cortnie said, “Hello, handsome. I thought you were stuck at the front desk all night.”
Not as friendly as earlier, Security Man said, “It’s been almost four hours. The regular cleaning crew doesn’t even work that long without a break. I’ve looked everywhere for you.”
“Now you’re making me blush. You were looking for me?” Cortnie ran her finger down his chest.
I know it’s not ladylike, but I looked down at his crotch as her finger traced lower. Oh, yeah, she had his full attention. “Uh, well, not exactly. I mean, I was looking for, well, I wondered where you two had gone off to. Our cameras have been acting up, and I thought you would be done by now.”
The guy was at full attention now. By that I mean his little guy was at full attention. The little guy wasn’t so little. I had to keep myself from laughing. This girl was good.
“Come with me a minute.” Cortnie grabbed the man’s uniform tie and pulled him along.
I caught a slight glance my way as she pulled him closer and whispered something in his ear. Then she turned away and pulled him toward the closest door. “Okay, handsome, got keys?”
The guard pulled out a set of master keys and unlocked the door. This was my chance. I had to get the job done by myself and in a hurry before Cortnie had to do something I could never ask her to do.
53
Cortnie entered the warehouse just as I was finishing up. I was jogging up the stairs when the door opened. My heart nearly stopped before I realized who was standing in the doorway.
She had a huge grin on her face. “Well, that was fun.”
I grabbed the door from her. “I don’t even want to know. Let’s get the hell out of here.” I started back down the hall.
Cortnie yelled after me. “No. We’ll go through the warehouse, so we don’t have to disable all of the security cameras again. Aaron is already suspicious.”
“Speaking of Aaron--Aaron?”
“The security guy?” Cortnie said, with that “duh” tone the younger set seems so good with.
“Okay, so you know his name now. Aaron. We’re okay there?”
Cortnie looked over her shoulder. “We are if we hurry. I sent him for condoms.”
“What?” I really didn’t want to know.
“I’ll explain later. We’ve got to get out of here, like now!” She grabbed me by the arm and we headed back down the stairs.
She stopped at an emergency door and did something to the wiring, and we left the building without the alarm blaring. I sprinted to the Land Rover without looking back. When we got to the cars, Cortnie immediately started changing her clothes and ripping the signs off the Land Rover.
“Don’t bother changing. Get i
n your car and I’ll meet you at your hotel.”
“You know the way?”
“GPS.” she said, as she jumped in my Land Rover and drove casually out of the parking lot. I drove behind her and noticed thick dirt covering 75% of the license plate. Damn, this girl was good.
Cortnie followed me as I took an exit before the hotel and filled Nick’s Porsche Boxster with premium gas. She pulled in next to me and filled the tank on the Land Rover.
“Kinda weird filling up so early in the morning. I haven’t done this since I was in college.” She grinned. “Back then, it wasn’t at a gas station. No money, so we’d go to huge apartment complexes and siphon gas from the nicer cars.”
I just stared at her.
“We figured the people with nice cars could afford it more than the beater cars.”
“Reasonable.”
“Look, there’s really nothing to talk about tonight. I’m just going to head back to Salinas.” She had finished gassing up the Rover and was twisting the cap on.
“What about surveillance? Don’t you have to make sure the equipment is working?” I did my best to remove the nozzle without dripping any fuel on Nick’s car.
“If the equipment isn’t working, it’s too late now. It’s not like either of us will be going back tonight. I can view the video from home.” She ripped off the gas receipt off and walked back to the driver’s side. “Welcome to the new millennium of surveillance.”
“Follow me to the hotel. Get a room for the night, and we can talk about things later today. I’d rather sit with you and go over everything in person.”
“Okay.” She hopped in my Land Rover and waited.
I grabbed my receipt and got in the car. I wanted to smack the girl for being so smug, and yet hug her at the same time. Not having to sit in a van in a parking lot, just waiting for something to happen, rocked!
The drive back to the hotel was a bit scary, as I had trouble keeping my eyes open. I hadn’t realized I was so tired. Even with the minimal amount of traffic, I was having trouble concentrating, so I rolled down the windows and cranked the music. When that wasn’t enough to keep me focused, I programmed Pandora for classic rock and started singing at the top of my lungs.
I grabbed my cell phone and called Cortnie. “I’m headed straight to my room. I can barely keep my eyes open. Do you have a company credit card?”
She did.
As I approached the hotel entrance, I opted for valet parking. I was too damn tired to park the car and walk back through the parking garage. I handed the valet the keys and didn’t look back. The last song on Pandora was still stuck in my head and I sang it to myself on the way to the room.
Bed, I just wanted to climb in bed. I started unbuttoning and unzipping as I walked down the hallway to my room. By the time I put the key card in the door, I was stepping out of my shoes, and left a trail of clothes from the door to the bedroom, not even bothering to put on a nightshirt. I’d be fine sleeping in the buff. I didn’t even think about bed bugs, I was that tired.
The hotel staff had been nice enough to leave the living area light on, and turn down the covers. I flopped on the bed.
“What the hell?” The bed was lumpy and rock hard.
“What the…” Nick said sleepily.
I scrambled up and into the bathroom, searching for the bathrobe the hotel provided. Shit, it wasn’t there. I opted for the larger of the bath towels and wrapped it around my chest. It barely covered my recently waxed landing strip. (Don’t even ask why I bother, since it hadn’t been seen by anyone but me and my waxer in years).
“Hey, what are you doing back so soon?” Nick had picked up the alarm clock, looking at the time, and then turned on the lamp on the nightstand.
“Welcome to the new millennium of surveillance. We don’t have to sit in the parking lot and watch the monitors.” I struggled with the towel. “Uh, could you hand me a T-shirt out of my bag?”
Nick grinned. He walked across the room to my bag, and instead of looking through it and handing me something to wear, he tossed it at me.
“Oh,” I yelped, as I grabbed for the bag, my towel dropping to the floor.
Nick stood across the room, wearing only his underwear. Damn, he looked good, and just for a moment, I forgot my own state of undress.
“Why don’t you just come to bed? You look exhausted. I promise I won’t maul you.” Nick climbed back into bed and pulled the covers over him.
I wasn’t sure how to feel. He’d just seen me naked and told me I looked exhausted. Something about his words made me suck in my gut as I bent over to retrieve the shirt from my bag. I deliberately dropped the towel and stood naked as I pulled the shirt from the bag, put it on, then climbed into bed and flipped off the light. I had to remind myself to breathe because I was holding my breath and the tears were welling up. He wasn’t even remotely interested in me that way. I felt so stupid.
“So how did it go?” Nick rolled toward me.
“Fine. We were in and out in a few hours.” The catch in my voice had to be obvious.
“Good. I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried.” He touched my shoulder.
I smiled, not daring to say anything for a moment. It took everything I had not to move away from his touch, or move into it.
“Want to talk?” Nick asked.
Excuse me? Did a man just utter the words, “Want to talk?” I had to be hearing things.
“About what?”
“Today.”
“What about it?” All I could think was, I’m exhausted, you said I looked like it, and now you want to freaking talk?
“I really enjoyed seeing you again. It was great to hang out together without investigating a murder.” He sighed. “Sorry about the dead woman. I don’t know what made me jump to the idea of murder. My intuition, I guess.”
“I guess.” I really didn’t want to talk about the dead woman right now.
“It was probably just a heart attack. Everyone we talked to said she was constantly stressed.” I could hear Nick roll over onto his back.
I looked at the clock. If I was lucky, I’d get two hours of sleep, before a full day with Charles and Anthony. I thought about going in the other room and sleeping on the couch. I mean, what good was it to be in bed with a man if he wasn’t interested in me that way? I’d just as soon share my bed with Lola.
“I don’t know about that. There seemed to be a lot of people who’d love to see her dead. Several of them right here at the show.” I thought about ticking off a few names, but then changed my mind.
“According to her husband, she did have a tendency to be litigious, but he figured she was just getting what was coming to her.”
I thought about all of the times Charles vented about the lawsuit Anthony was involved in with Marina. “Not really. I remember Charles saying something about suing for future lost income, because she was unjustly fired, or something like that. But I can assure you, she was justly fired. Yelling and swearing at the person who hired you is definitely grounds for firing.”
“The whole thing stinks.” Nick pounded in his pillow and moved around.
“Too much caffeine?” Geez, settle down already.
“Probably. Too much on my mind as well.” Nick yawned. “This was supposed to be a day off, to get away from murder and mayhem.”
“Well, then you don’t know Charles very well, because everything with him centers on mayhem.” I yawned, trying to give him a hint.
“Sorry. I’ll go in the other room.” Nick threw the covers back.
Suddenly, I didn’t want him to go. Hell, I’d chug a Red Bull if it meant keeping him in bed with me. I seriously needed to see a doctor about my bipolar disorder. Maybe I needed to be the one to make a move.
“I have an idea.” I sat up in the bed. “Lie down and roll over on your stomach.”
Nick complied, and I got up and straddled him over his butt. Starting at his lower back, I dug my thumbs in hard, and kneaded his muscles up his spine to his neck. Then
I leaned in close to work his neck and shoulder, which were always my tight spots. I kind of hoped that he’d offer to roll over, and we’d get some serious tension relief going, but when I leaned in, I heard him snoring. Well, crap, that backfired.
Exhausted and disgusted with myself, I moved over to my side of the bed, as far as I could get from Nick, and curled into the fetal position. Getting older was hard enough, but when you are nearly naked on top of a man in bed and he starts snoring, that’s humiliating.
When the alarm buzzed on the side table, I found myself wrapped in Nick’s embrace. Somehow, in the night, we’d ended up spooning. His warm body pressed against my back nearly melted me. His arm over my side was comforting, but damn, the weight of it was crushing my ribs.
He didn’t seem to hear the buzzer, so I lifted his arm and rolled over to silence the intruder. As soon as I hit the button, the hotel phone rang. I didn’t remember asking for a wakeup call. Maybe Nick had. I lifted the receiver with the intention of putting it right back down and going back to sleep. But I heard a sound on the other end, which made me bring the phone to my ear.
54
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Charles cooed. “Rise and shine time.”
“Charles, no one has said that to me since I lived with my mom,” I growled.
“Oh, so just a few years ago, huh?” More sternly, Charles said, “Get up. We’ll meet you in the restaurant in thirty minutes. Don’t. Be. Late.” He hung up.
I was sorely tempted to wrap Nick’s arm back around me and go back to bed, but I had miles to go before I slept. Yup, me and good old Frost, hard-working suckers, the two of us.
I climbed slowly out of bed, not wanting to wake Nick. I wasn’t sure why I was so keen on letting him sleep, since he was mostly responsible for my lack thereof, but I didn’t want him to see me the “morning after,” even if nothing happened the night before.
The shower felt divine, and as I lathered and scrubbed, I hoped Nick would find the need to join me. No such luck; he was still dead to the world and snoring when I walked back into the bedroom to grab some clothes.
Gotcha Detective Agency Mystery Box Set Page 42