by Karen Rose
Detective Muller stopped outside the open elevator doors. ‘Can I help you, Agent Coppola?’
It was amazing how different the same words sounded when spoken respectfully.
‘Yes. Can you escort this gentleman to the lobby and make sure he doesn’t use either his radio or the cell phone in his hand?’ She smiled at the guard. ‘Just in case you plan to warn someone up there, you’ll be staying here.’
The guard’s mouth fell open. ‘You have no right to bust in here like you own the place.’
‘This warrant says I do. Detective Muller has a copy. I’m sure he’d be happy to let you read it. Please step outside the elevator now or we’ll take you in as well.’ Kate smiled at him again. ‘And trust me, sir. You do not want to be associated with the man we’ll be bringing out.’
The guard didn’t fight when the detective lightly took his arm and guided him out of the elevator, but he did give Kate the evil eye. ‘I’ll be reporting this to your supervisor.’
‘Please do,’ Kate said with a smile. ‘Coppola. Two p’s, one l. Everyone always misspells it.’ She released the button holding the doors open and they slid closed.
Kendra hit the button for the fifth floor. ‘You think he would have warned them, really?’
‘I think so,’ Quincy said. ‘He was texting on the phone in his pocket.’
‘Huh.’ Kendra shrugged. ‘I wasn’t expecting that from a man his age. I thought only teenagers did that when they wanted to text in class.’
‘He’s ex-military,’ Kate said. ‘This is his territory, the tenants are his people to protect. He was posturing, wanting to be the big man when we arrested Addison. He would have thrown his weight around, just to make sure everyone saw him doing his job. I met a thousand guys just like him when I was in the army. Mostly as I was processing them after an arrest.’
‘You were an MP?’ Kendra asked, then grinned. ‘Meredith said you were a badass with a yarn bag. I guess she got the badass part right.’
Kate laughed. ‘She got the yarn bag part right too. I left it in my car.’ The bell dinged for the fifth floor and they got out. ‘Smith, Addison, and Nagel. Corey’s daddy is a partner.’
‘I’m shocked,’ Quincy said dryly, and Kendra’s lips curved.
Kate made a note to thank Quincy later. Kendra was nervous, but Quincy Taylor had put her at ease.
The office was bustling with conversation and activity – until about five seconds after they stepped through the door. Kate led with her badge, her voice loud in the silence. Excellent. Louder the better. ‘FBI,’ she said to the receptionist, who was staring at her with eyes like saucers. ‘We’re here for Corey Addison. Where is he?’
The receptionist pointed to a closed door. ‘But he’s in with a client. You can’t—’
Oh, watch me, sweetheart. ‘Your diligence is noted,’ Kate interrupted and led her little team through the door into a conference room with a mahogany table that must have cost the earth. Corey Addison stood at the front of the room next to an easel, pointing to a concept board. He halted mid-sentence. ‘What is the meaning of this? How did you get in here? This is a private office.’
Addison looked exactly like the photo in the DMV database, down to the dimple in his chin. He’d been a football player in high school and college and looked like he kept up with his workouts. He’d be a handful if he decided to fight.
Kate glanced at Kendra, who nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said quietly. ‘That’s him.’
The table was occupied by six middle-aged men in suits and one young woman dressed conservatively in slacks and a linen jacket. The clients, Kate thought, smiling on the inside. They were about to get an eyeful. Thank you, Lord. ‘Mr Addison? Corey Addison?’ Not waiting for an answer, she approached him, handcuffing him before he got out another word. Because he was staring at Kendra, his jaw tight. His eyes furious.
‘What is this?’ he asked, enunciating every word.
Kate took him by the arm. ‘Corey Addison, you’re under arrest for harassment.’
‘What the hell?’ he exploded.
The exclamation was echoed by an older man who stood in the doorway. He looked like Addison, just aged twenty years. This would be the daddy. ‘What the hell is this? I’ve called Security. We’ll have these people escorted out.’
Kate held out a copy of the arrest warrant. ‘You’ll find everything in order, sir,’ she said as the older man snatched the paper from her hand.
‘Harassment? Who did he harass?’ Addison Senior demanded. He scanned the warrant, then glared at his son. ‘What have you done?’
‘Nothing! She butted in on a private conversation.’ He tossed his head toward Kendra. ‘I did not harass anyone.’
‘He harassed a young girl at the Kroger last Saturday,’ Kate said, keeping an eye on Kendra, who appeared to be in control.
‘That?’ Cory drew a breath, releasing it on an embarrassed laugh. ‘That was me trying to ask a girl out on a date. I was about to walk away. It was nothing.’ He glanced at the suits around the table, who looked both horrified and fascinated. ‘I swear this is all a misunderstanding.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Kate said. ‘We’ll be taking your computer and all of your office files. We also have a team searching your home as we speak.’
‘Looking for what?’ the father sputtered.
‘Child pornography,’ Kate said clearly and loudly.
The suits at the table gasped. The father sagged against the door frame, all the color drained from his face. Corey Addison went still, giving Kate only a split second of warning before throwing his weight against her. Flowing with him, she used his own momentum to shove him to the floor, rolling him so that he landed on his stomach with a grunt. He bucked, trying to throw her off, so she drew her weapon and held it to his head.
‘We’ll be adding a resisting arrest charge,’ she said levelly. She drew a breath of her own, her heart pounding. The last time she’d had a weapon in her hand, she’d killed two men. To her relief, Corey Addison seemed to settle down, although he panted like a bull ready to charge. From the corner of her eye she was unsurprised to see that Quincy and Kendra had both drawn their weapons as well. ‘Officer Cullen, please cover me while I restrain his legs. Agent Taylor, please proceed to Mr Addison’s office and collect everything that’s not nailed down.’ She flicked a glance at the doorway, where the father still leaned, staring at his son like he was a stranger. ‘And can one of you folks at the table call for an ambulance? I think the elder Mr Addison may need medical assistance.’ She pulled a FlexiCuff from her pocket and quickly restrained Corey’s feet before rising and holstering her weapon.
‘What should we do with him?’ Kendra asked.
Kate’s pulse was nearly normal again, her hand steady when she ran it over her hair. Good. Her twist was still in place. Nothing worse than escaping tendrils of hair to make a cop look unprofessional.
‘For now, he can lie there. I’m going to call the team at his house and let them know we have him in custody.’ She made the call on her cell and then crouched next to the chair where Corey’s father now sat, shaking. She gently pressed her fingertips to the man’s wrist and took his pulse. ‘Do you have a heart problem, sir?’ she asked.
He nodded. ‘Yeah. Under control except . . .’ His lips twisted as he stared down at his son, cuffed and prone. ‘Except for times of stress like this.’
The receptionist rushed in with a prescription bottle and a glass of water. ‘I called 911,’ she told Kate. ‘An ambulance is coming.’ She shook one of the pills into her palm and offered it to the elder Addison. ‘Just nitro,’ she murmured to Kate.
The father slipped the pill under his tongue and within a minute his pulse had steadied.
Kate rose and turned to the suits around the table. ‘I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to ask you to stay for just
a little while. We’ll need your names and addresses for the report.’
The woman at the table held up her phone. ‘I got it all on video. I started recording when you came in. For my own purposes, of course. I won’t sell to the media, but I’m happy to provide you with a copy if you want one.’
Kate blinked at her. ‘What purposes? Why would you need a recording in the first place?’
‘To protect myself.’ She tossed a disgusted look at one of her colleagues. ‘I told you he’d made an inappropriate pass at me and you didn’t believe me. I asked you to remove him from our vendor list and you refused. I asked you to transfer me to another project and you suggested that would be bad for my career.’
Her colleague tugged at his tight collar uncomfortably. ‘I’m sorry. I . . .’ He looked around the table, but none of the others would meet his eyes. ‘I shouldn’t have doubted your word.’
‘Thank you,’ she said with dignity. ‘Agent . . . I missed your name before.’
‘Coppola.’ Kate gave the woman her card. ‘I’d appreciate the copy, but it would be more appropriate for our techs to do the transmission. Would you accompany me to the field office?’
‘If I can have the afternoon off.’ She aimed a look at her colleague, who nodded stiffly.
‘Fine. We will give the authorities our full cooperation. Take whatever time you need.’
‘Thank you.’ She gave Kate her business card. ‘I’m Felicia Petrie. If you need additional evidence against him, I have the names of other women he’s harassed. I’m twenty-one. This is my first job out of college. And I’m downright elderly compared to the other women.’
Corey hadn’t moved, his face turned away from the group. He was breathing, however, so Kate wasn’t too worried. ‘Is Mr Addison all right, Officer Cullen?’ she asked, purely for form.
Kendra didn’t show any emotion at all. Good for you, kid. ‘Yes, Agent Coppola. He’s . . . Well, he’s weeping, ma’am.’
A guttural growl came from Corey. ‘Fuck you, bitch.’
The father closed his eyes. ‘Dear God. This is a nightmare.’
‘You can say that again,’ Felicia muttered. ‘That man has been my nightmare since I started this job two months ago. I would have quit, but I would have had to pay back all my moving expenses.’
The collar-tugging colleague winced at that but said no more.
‘How do you know about the other women he harassed?’ Kate asked Felicia.
‘Online forum,’ Felicia answered. ‘A place where women can report assholes who don’t understand that no means no. Sometimes it becomes an avenue to dump on old boyfriends, but in my case, it worked. I typed in “Corey Addison” and got a bunch of hits.’
More victims, Kate thought grimly. ‘If you could email me a link to that site, I’d be grateful.’
A commotion in the hallway signaled the arrival of the paramedics, and Kate stepped back to let them work. Standing close to Kendra, she murmured, ‘At ease, Officer. Holster your weapon now.’ Kendra did so, her hand trembling so slightly that Kate only saw it because she’d been watching. Giving her a nod of approval, Kate said, ‘Officer Cullen, please go help Agent Taylor. You’ve done well here. I’ll need you again when we escort him out.’
Kendra looked at her then, really looked at her, and for a moment there was such turbulence in her eyes that Kate caught her breath. Satisfaction and despair, triumph and helpless rage. But mostly sweet, blessed relief. ‘Yes, ma’am,’ she said aloud, but those eyes said thank you.
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Friday 14 August, 1.00 P.M.
Decker looked away from his monitor when his cell phone buzzed, and his gut settled. A text from Kate. Got him. All is well.
Excellent. She had Corey Addison in custody. Decker wanted details, but that she was okay was enough for now. He turned back to his monitor, scrutinizing the neighborhood Alice had called home, specifically a row of small shops that were central to where he’d dropped her off each time he’d been her driver.
Someone cleared their throat next to him, and Decker lifted his eyes to look over the edge of his laptop screen. ‘What can I do for you, Hope?’
Hope Beardsley was the daughter of Bailey Beardsley, the nurse Dani had left to monitor him when she’d been called in to the clinic. The little girl was nine, she’d informed him very politely, before asking his permission to sit at the kitchen table with him so that she could ‘work’. Her mother had issued a gentle reprimand, but Decker liked kids, so he’d told Hope to stay. Turned out her work was a book she was reading for school, even though school hadn’t started yet. ‘Pre-reading,’ she’d explained. ‘I’m in the gifted program.’
Then she’d been as quiet as a mouse until the moment she’d cleared her throat.
‘I was wondering if you were hungry,’ she said. ‘I was going to get myself a snack.’
Decker found his lips curving, because she’d said the words like she was reciting from a script. A glance at the clock on his screen said it was top of the hour, the exact time that Dani had set for him to eat. ‘What kind of snack?’
Hope frowned a little. ‘A healthy one,’ she said, sounding disappointed.
Decker chuckled. ‘Dang it. If Dr Dani was gonna make you tell me to eat, at least she could have made it tasty.’
Hope’s eyes widened. ‘How did you . . . ?’ She pursed her lips and he laughed out loud.
‘You didn’t give it away, sweetheart. Dr Dani is very thorough. She wouldn’t have left without making sure you and your mom had my schedule. Tell you what. If we eat some fruit, I think we should get some chocolate. For balance, you know.’
‘You have some?’ she asked conspiratorially, as if they were discussing illegal drugs.
‘I have a stash. Agent Coppola brought me some last night. A whole pound bag of peanut M&Ms.’
‘Oh, I like those,’ she whispered. ‘My dad always gets me some when we go out. I’m not supposed to tell, because Mom doesn’t like me to eat too many sweets.’
‘Lunchtime,’ Bailey announced as she walked into the kitchen. ‘Hope’s not bothering you, is she, Agent Davenport?’
‘Heavens, no,’ he answered. ‘She’s been the perfect office mate. We’re just discussing health food.’ He gave Hope a wink and the little girl grinned back.
‘Candy, you mean,’ Bailey said knowingly, then laughed at the look of dismay on her daughter’s face. ‘Baby, I always know when you and Daddy have been sneaking candy. I can taste it when he kisses me.’
Dismay became mild disgust. ‘Mom. I don’t wanna know about that stuff.’
‘So what healthy food have you two decided you want for lunch?’ Bailey asked. ‘Dr Dani said that Agent Davenport needs to eat bland food.’
Decker scoffed. ‘Of course she did, but that was just her way of getting back at me. There’s some shrimp and grits left over from last night. And Kate brought back some fried chicken from the grocery store deli. It’s pretty tasty, too, but there’s not much left. I got hungry during the night.’ He’d been snacking on fried chicken and brownies when Kate had started screaming. He’d forgotten to put the food away so he figured Dani must have done it and seen that he wasn’t following her diet. ‘I think the doc was mainly suggesting bland foods. I don’t think she really expects me to eat them. So, Hope, what’ll it be? Fried chicken or shrimp and grits?’
‘Both?’ Hope asked, well, hopefully. Together they looked at her mother with puppy-dog eyes. ‘Please, Mama?’
‘I’d be obliged, ma’am,’ Decker added, layering on the charm.
Bailey’s lips twitched. ‘Ah, a good southern boy. I can hear it in your voice.’
‘Well, the southern bit is true. I grew up in Mississippi. But I don’t know how good I am.’ He winked at Hope again, who giggled this time, and it was like music. His sister used to giggle
like that, but not too often. There hadn’t been much to giggle about in their house, so when he’d heard it, he’d treasured it. He still did.
Hope slid off her chair and came to look at the papers he’d spread on his side of the table. ‘I wanted to ask questions, but it was work time. Now it’s lunchtime, so can I ask?’
Bailey started to tell her no, but Decker shook his head. ‘Of course you can ask. I’m not looking at anything that’s classified or confidential. All completely G-rated, Mom,’ he added, because he figured Bailey knew who they were looking for.
‘Just a few minutes, Hope,’ Bailey said. ‘Then let him get back to work.’
Hope nodded once, then tapped the map on his left. ‘What’s this for?’
‘I’m trying to find out where a certain person lived. On my old job, I was supposed to take her home, but she always had me drop her off somewhere that was close to her apartment, but not the actual address. So I plotted out all the places I remember dropping her off and they make kind of a circle. See?’
‘A scatter plot,’ Hope pronounced, and Decker laughed in surprise.
‘They teach you that kind of stuff in elementary school?’
‘Yep,’ Hope said. ‘Honors math.’
‘Private school,’ Bailey explained. ‘My husband teaches there.’
‘He was a chaplain in the army,’ Hope said, ‘but he doesn’t do that anymore. He’s retired. But he teaches at my school and then he goes to prison.’
Bailey coughed. ‘He teaches classes to inmates,’ she clarified. ‘One more question, Hope.’
Hope frowned. ‘Okay, Mama. I need to think of one.’ She pursed her lips and stared at the computer screen. ‘Why are you playing a game if you’re supposed to be working?’
‘Hope!’ Bailey blinked, her mouth working, but nothing more came out.
‘It’s okay. It’s a good question. And a fair one.’ Decker pointed to the screen. ‘It’s not a game, Hope. That’s the street view on Google Maps of this street here.’ He tapped the map he’d marked up. ‘This street is in the center of the scatter plot.’