Cadence

by J. M. Nevins

  Alexa gave Kit’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I think you moving is for the best as well. You’re welcome to live in our new house once we close escrow. That will be in about four weeks. It’s a quick one. So find a place to live in the short term and then our house is open to you until you find somewhere to put your new roots down.”

  Kit looked relieved as she sat back on the sofa. “Thank you. And now it’s my time to contemplate what I want my life to start looking like.” She glanced over. “I’ll tell you this much, big changes are on the horizon, Lex.”

  Alexa stared at her and knew she meant it. She could feel a shift coming for Kit, one that had needed to happen for a very long time. She forced a hopeful grin. “What’s on the books for tomorrow, aside from your therapy sessions and a power walk?”

  Kit chuckled. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do with myself since I can’t work.” She winked. “I’m on medical leave with Diamond and I resigned as GT’s manager.”

  Her green eyes lit up. “I may write some more. Tinkle the ivories a bit. Lila suggested trying out restorative yoga and has a private teacher coming in for a session, which Dr. Perry was totally cool with. I’ll be working with a meditation teacher too. All that’s happening this week.”

  Alexa giggled. “Oh how I’d love to be a fly on the wall! You never know, Kitty, maybe you’ll like it all?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe so. Since I woke up after that lifesaving surgery, I’ve been feeling very different about things… about life. And meditation isn’t that foreign to me. I used to love my moments in mokuso.”

  Alexa frowned. “Huh? What’s that?”

  She grinned. “Something we did in karate, usually takes place in the moments before you bow to your sensei or your adversary. Helps you get mentally focused.”

  Alexa smiled. “And black belt Kitty emerges again.”

  She laughed. “Yes! Although I won’t be returning to karate to get my second degree black belt. I’ll try out this yoga thing. I’m open right now. Everything is shifting in a big way. My personal foundation is completely rocked. I guess I have a lot to think about and some even bigger decisions to make.”

  Alexa sighed. “Yes, you definitely do. And I’ll be a phone call away. I’m packed with back to back meetings for the rest of the week during the day. Wes will be in town still and his schedule is a little more flexible than mine. I’ll be available in the evenings though. Wes is headed over right about now. He should be here any minute to hang out with us. I can have him checking in on you.”

  She grinned. “That’s sweet, Lex. Thank you. Spence will be back in town later this week too.”

  Alexa searched her eyes. “I can have Wes help you pack up your personal stuff so you can move to another place. Are you going to stay in the condo?”

  She nodded. “For now, I think that’s best. Lila and Ariana can help pack me up and get me over there. Don’t worry about me, Lex. You’ve been more than attentive and I’m really grateful.”

  Alexa offered a supportive grin. “Whatever I can do. You scared the shit out of me! Don’t you do that again, missy!” She pointed at her.

  Kit laughed. “I won’t. Can you do me one more favor?”

  Alexa nodded. “Of course.”

  She sighed. “Moira is supposed to be here in the next hour. I didn’t have the heart to have Ariana turn her away for me. Can you do the dirty work? Tell her I’m resting or something. I just… I can’t be around her with my head swimming in all kinds of mixed emotions after my argument with Sully. Moira is good at reading me and she’ll see right through my smoke screen. I’m not ready to talk about it until I’ve had the time to truly process it.”

  Alexa gave her a reassuring grin. “Consider it done. Wes is on his way. He should be here any minute. We’ll get you two set upstairs. I’ll keep Moira at bay.”

  Moments after Moira had left, Alexa entered Kit’s master bedroom and noticed Kit on the top of the bed, watching TV, while Wes was now camped out on one of the chairs in the sitting area. They were making comments about the show they were watching and laughing.

  Alexa giggled watching them. “Well, this looks like old times. I remember seeing a similar scene when we lived in Hollywood.”

  Kit nodded. “That seems like it was ages ago.”

  Wes laughed. “Because it was.”

  She giggled. “Touché.” She shifted her gaze to Alexa. “Did Moira take it ok?”

  Alexa took a seat on the sofa and patted the area next to her, where Wes sat down and put his arm around her. “Yeah, she took it like a champ. So, you didn’t tell me you bought a house in Malibu.”

  She frowned and chuckled. “Because I didn’t. Where did you get that from?”

  Alexa stared at Kit and raised her eyebrows. “Moira.”

  She shook her head. “What? She must be mistaken. Where is she getting that from?”

  Alexa got comfortable, taking her shoes off. “We were chatting. She mentioned she’s living in hotels whenever she’s in town, ‘cuz of the good room service, but she kinda wishes she was living in the Malibu house instead. I didn’t know you two bought a Malibu house, so I asked her when you bought it. She said Sully bought it months ago when he was on a quick tour break. She’s seen pictures of it. It’s supposedly in the Colony.”

  Kit’s furrowed brow spoke volumes. “What the fuck? We didn’t buy a house in Malibu. If Sully bought a house, I don’t know anything about it… until now. I remember that tour break. He was very preoccupied.”

  Wes raised an eyebrow. “Do you two have separate accounts or joint?”

  She folded her arms in front of her chest. “Both. Several joint accounts. And he’s got a few accounts here, some accounts offshore and a big one in Switzerland that were set up for him when he first started making money. When we got married we agreed that was his and I had my inheritance accounts that he’s never touched nor has access to. As far as I know he was putting his inheritance money from Nana into his offshore accounts. That was the agreement at least. Well, wait, Wes, you manage some of his investments, don’t you?”

  He nodded. “Yep, but not directly anymore. I haven’t in years, my team does that now while I focus on expanding the firm and the profitability. I only have a handful of accounts that I still manage personally and, no offense, Sully’s net worth was not enough for me to spend time on it.”

  Kit giggled. “I guess Sull wasn’t a member of the nine figure club.”

  Wes chuckled. “No, not yet at least, but give the guy thirty years and he may get there with the kind of investments he makes. He’s very savvy with his money for someone that never formally studied finance. He’s sharper than some of my Harvard and Wharton grads. And you’re right, the three clients I still do manage are billionaires.”

  Kit whistled. “Now that’s a whole different ball game. I can see what you mean. I’d imagine those strategies are dramatically different.”

  Wes nodded. “You got it. Now, about Sully, I can talk to the guy who manages his account. He’s one of my best hedge fund managers. We can probably give you a better idea of where he’s at financially right now with his investments. We may be able to pull his financials, at least the ones we have access too. Sully has lots of accounts, Kit. He’s very good at diversification and he doesn’t have everything sunk in the markets. I know he invested in other ventures too. He listened to everything I told him when we first met back in ’85 and he’s done amazing things with it. Last I saw, he was doing well. Extremely well. We still talk strategies from time to time. If the guy ever wanted to quit being a rock star and decided to take up a career as a financial planner, he’d make a killing.”

  She looked at Alexa. “Do you have any idea what a beach house in Malibu is going for these days in the Colony?”

  Alexa shook her head. “Nope.”

  Wes patted Alexa’s knee. “I’ll make a call. I can find out. One of my friends is a broker in that area. He can at least get us a comp.”

  Kit nodded
. “Thanks, Wes.” She let out a long sigh as he left the room. “Lex, why do I feel like I’m about to uncover a landmine here?”

  She shifted in her seat. She didn’t have a good feeling about it either. “I’m sorry, babe. Do your best not to stress. Wes and I will help you find out as much as we can.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Lila knocked on the doorframe, getting Kit’s attention moments after Alexa and Wes had left. “Kit, you have a call on hold. An important one. I didn’t want to call up here in case you were sleeping…”

  She nodded, shifting her focus from the TV back to Lila. “It’s ok, Lila. Who is it?”

  Lila forced a grin. “I have that Ralph guy on hold right now. He says it’s urgent and he has information for you.”

  She was stunned her private investigator had found information so quickly. Her head bobbed frantically. “Yes. I’ve been waiting for his call.”

  Lila nodded. “He’s on line 2.”

  Kit reached over and hastily picked up the receiver. “Ralph, so great to hear from you. What did you find out?”

  He sighed. “In all my years in this business I’ve only had a few cases like this and they’re tough, Ms. McKenna.”

  She took a deep breath and reminded herself to let it out and not hold it in. She exhaled slowly. “Ok. Tell me what that means.”

  “Your hunch was right. This guy, Kirby Nelson, could very well be alive. The accident is suspicious and there is no autopsy report confirming his death. They never recovered his body.”

  She nodded. “I know. That’s why I thought it odd back then. They did recover a body in the river, but they said the decomposition was so extensive by the time they found it that they couldn’t identify it was him for sure. They made an assumption it was.”

  “Ms. McKenna, normally I would tell you to back off and not waste your money, but there is something suspicious that makes me want to keep digging.”

  Her ears perked up. “What’s that?”

  “First off, the assets you two had, specifically the bank accounts, were not locked because of probate issues. They were closed off to you because they were frozen by the Feds, yet he has no paper trail or anything related to fraud or anything illegal that would normally cause that unless he had some kind of plea deal and they cleared his record of it.”

  Kit’s eyes widened and she felt her heart skip a beat. Even when she was with Kirby, there were lots of unanswered questions about his past, many dealing with his family. There were big revenue spikes, piles of cash and business dealings he never talked about. He would get agitated if she even tried to ask questions and she always sensed that he may have been involved in something shady. She gulped. “The Feds? That’s why I couldn’t get into the accounts?”

  “Yep. And it looks like they still have control of ‘em. They were never closed like you thought. The bank had to tell you that. They exist, but there hasn’t been any activity since 1983. And I’m not sure if you know this but he had two other addresses in addition to the one you said you shared together.”

  She frowned. “Huh?”

  Ralph continued. “He had two other addresses that came up with his name. One was in Connecticut…”

  She interjected. “Ok. That one may be family related. Gimme the address and I’ll see if I can jog my memory.” He rattled off the address. Kit shook her head and realized it had nothing to do with his family that she knew of. “Ok, so where was the other one?”

  “Philly. In a very bad neighborhood. I talked to one of my friends who used to be a vice detective. He worked the area back in the day—around the time in question. Lotsa crime in that area—lots of drug related crime.”

  Kit suddenly felt anxiety rush through her. She remembered when she first met Darren it was through Kirby. They had started out as friends and then things turned later on. Darren had lived in that neighborhood at one point when he was getting serious about his music career.

  She sighed. “Hey Ralph, was there anyone else tied to that apartment in Philly? Like a guy named Darren?”

  “Nope. The apartment isn’t actually in Kirby’s name, but it is in the name of one of the businesses he owned—North Star Enterprises.”

  She sighed, starting to feel disappointed, wondering if this was a mistake. North Star Enterprises was one of Kirby’s businesses—it was a trucking company he had built from the ground up that hauled runs from Pennsylvania to Canada. He was always forthcoming about North Star. Suddenly, she felt like there was no point.

  She was starting to lose hope. “Yeah ok. I remember North Star well. It was his trucking company. His operations manager took it over when he supposedly died. So, is that all you have? Is this a dead trail?”

  “I’m not sure yet. Like I said, I need to do some more digging. What keeps me engaged here is the fact that the trial that convicted his father took place about six months after the car accident that supposedly ended his life. And there was another trial tied in with that one that sent a big drug lord and his entire cartel to jail. They’re still stuck in the big house along with his dad. Life in prison for the dad and the drug lord was on death row—just executed two days ago. The trials were back to back.”

  Ralph continued. “My gut tells me his identity was wiped out, Ms. McKenna. They probably did it to protect him and he may be involved in some kind of federally sponsored protection program. Considering there was a major drug cartel involved, that would make sense and it would explain the Feds having control over those assets.

  “His dad was convicted in a federal court, and he does have circuit court convictions as well in New York. I’m doing my best to access all the court records, both federal and state, but I’m not having much luck.”

  Kit frowned. “Why is that?”

  “They’re sealed to protect the identities of the witnesses. I suspect Kirby Nelson was one of those witnesses. I may be able to get info on the cases to confirm he was a part of them, but the chances of me finding out his new identity and where he is now are slim to none. The Feds are masters at erasing identities and creating new ones. Do you want me to keep going on this?”

  Kit sighed. “Yes. Keep me posted. I’ll put in some calls myself. One of my friends from law school is a federal prosecutor. Maybe I can get some additional information and see if I can find out who those witnesses were.”

  “Great. I’ll be in touch with any new developments.”

  Kit concluded the call and hung up. She sat back and sighed, taking a sip of the tea Ariana had kindly placed in front of her moments prior.

  She sighed and replaced the receiver, getting up slowly and heading downstairs. She slowly wandered into the foyer and unlocked the front door. She then headed to the kitchen, grabbed a chilled bottle of wine, two glasses and strolled out to the patio.

  She set down the wine and realized it was too quiet. She quickly entered the entertainment room, opened up the French doors and cranked the tunes before she resumed her seat at the table on the patio. She slowly stared out into the abyss and sipped her chilled glass of white wine.

  Spencer found his way out to the patio carrying bags of food. He leaned forward and hugged her tightly. “How are you feeling?”

  She remained in his arms for a moment and then pulled back, letting out a long exhale. She nodded. “Ok. Adjusting. Yes, it’s hard and I’m heartbroken, but it’s better this way.”

  He looked perplexed. “Huh? I don’t get it.”

  She chuckled. “We’ll get to that. I need your help with a few things, so let’s dig in. Can you remind me of how many shares Sully has in KMK? Does he have controlling shares?”

  Spencer poured himself a glass of wine. “He’s got a ton of shares, Kit. He’s a partner. Technically, controlling shares belong to you and me exclusively, but he is our biggest shareholder and that does have clout with the board. If there was ever a disagreement, he holds so many shares that he could be considered a controlling interest. So, to answer your question, yes.”

  Kit frowned. “He’s still g
ot a lot of shares, huh? Didn’t sell any off?”

  Spencer eyed her, suspicious about her line of questioning. “Kit, I get it that you’re recovering from something really traumatic and the anesthesia still may be messing with your brain, but Sully helped us rebuild KMK. Of course he hasn’t sold any shares off. He helped us make KMK what it is today, remember? He’s just as invested in the company’s success as we are.”

  She sighed and nodded, retorting flatly. “Yeah, I remember. How much to buy him out?”

  He burst out laughing. “What is this? Why are you asking? Kit, if we bought him out it would put us in a very vulnerable position as a company. That would amount to several million dollars. It would kill our cash flow. I don’t advise it. What’s going on? Has he been hinting at cashing out?” Spencer suddenly looked horrified.

  She shook her head. “No, he hasn’t. This info doesn’t matter right now, but it may later. I have another question for you.”

  He looked at her. “Shoot.”

  She motioned to the large estate that surrounded them. “This has been in our family for decades. It was willed to me when Pap-pap passed and Nana expedited the deed in my name. That was in ’87.”

  He nodded. “Yep, I remember. I was at Penn.”

  She looked at him. “Do you remember what year they bought this?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “No idea. We can have one of the attorneys check the public record. All I know is that we were coming here from my earliest memories. And I vaguely remember Nana talking about being here in the 20’s or 30’s. Dad was born out here.”

  Kit’s eyes widened. “What? Dad was born in Los Angeles? Are you serious?”

  Spencer chuckled. “Yes. I thought you knew that? They lived in L.A. until he was two and then they moved back to Chicago. And I think he mentioned that he lived here later on, like after law school or something. You’ll have to ask him.”

  He leaned forward and met her eyes. “By the way, Kitty, I never did get a chance to tell you that I’m really glad you and Dad have mended your fences. Him being really sick and now having a clean bill of health really turned him around, plus the shooting really shook him up. Big wakeup calls.”