Sloan added the second photograph, showing Salvatore in the alley with the young mystery dealer. “Here’s the entrepreneur again in his favorite secret meeting spot, this time with one of his ‘business associates.’ Not surprisingly, this guy is definitely a drug dealer. And not a terribly discreet one at that. I found him slinging on a street corner not too far away.”
She laid the final photo on the desktop. “And finally, this is the same young dealer leaving a private party with our former CEO. Very private. Just the two of them in the hotel room.” She looked somberly at Walter. “On the night he overdosed.”
Walter met her gaze and stepped back in horror. We let him process silently for a moment.
Sloan continued softly. “Now, it is possible that Carter simply fell back into old habits and went too far. Of course that’s a possibility. But there is a direct link back to your brother, with secret money changing hands. And a reason to want him out of the picture.”
I tried to assist. “And by trying to set you up, Richard has definitely shown he’ll cross some lines. So we have to at least consider that it’s not all a coincidence. That it’s all means to the same end.”
Walter sank to the bed behind him. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and scratched his hands through his hair. We left him to work through things for a few minutes.
Finally he spoke, his resolve returned. “No. I believe my brother may have made some terrible, selfish choices when he felt backed into a corner. But I still refuse to believe he had anything to do with murder.”
“Fair enough,” Sloan said. “But there’s still the issue of him clearly setting you up.”
I moved closer. “We need to stop his plan to ruin you, and find out the truth. And we may have a way to do both.”
He regarded us carefully. “How?”
“Well, he wants pictures of you in a compromising position.” Sloan’s face broke into a mischievous grin. “We start by giving him some.”
Twenty-Two
Two days later I found myself back in the parking lot of Westbrook Trading with Sloan. Rather than watching for a target to tail, this time we were waiting on him to leave. I had a suspicion I was itching to check out.
“I’m feeling weird about all the vague not-quite-lies we’ve been telling Hannah,” I said. “Now that we’re zeroing in on Richard, can we fill her in on what’s going on?”
Sloan nodded. “I’m thinking the same thing. It’s time she learns what her boss may really be up to.”
A moment later we saw Richard trudge through the front doors and squeeze himself into his sports car. Soon after we got a glimpse of the new assistant. She tottered across the lot on stiletto heels, her hairspray-stiff blonde hair blowing awkwardly in the wind. Her tight skirt was so short she had to continuously pull on it as she walked to keep from becoming truly indecent. At least she had some shame, I supposed.
As soon as she exited the lot, we headed for the building. When we turned the corner to the executive suite we found Hannah, alone at her desk. She hopped up anxiously.
“I sent the other assistant home, like you asked. What’s going on?”
“Walter will be here soon,” Sloan replied. “We’ll explain everything when he gets here. In the meantime we need to take a look around his office. Richard is gone for the day, right?”
“All done.”
“Good.” Sloan pulled two handheld electronic devices from her bag and looked to me, eyebrows raised. “Let’s check out your theory, then.”
Looking confused but playing along, Hannah reached to open Walter’s office door. Sloan stopped her.
“Hang on,” she said. She flipped two switches on the first device in her hand, lighting green LED lights on the front. Satisfied, she left it on the desk beside her. “Okay, we’re clear.”
We entered Walter’s office. It was basically a mirror-image of Richard’s. Same landscaped view out the large windows. But Sloan was interested in the identical furnishings and fixtures contained within. She began slowly waving the second device across every available surface in the room, beginning with the walls.
Hannah watched from the doorway, clearly unsure what to make of the situation. When Sloan stepped onto a chair to reach an overhead light, Hannah finally spoke up. “So what’s going on, exactly?”
The device stayed silent, clearing the light fixture. Sloan stepped down and moved toward the desk. Before we could fill her in, a loud beep sounded from her hand as she swept across the surface.
“Oh boy,” Sloan said. “What do we have here?”
She narrowed the offending signal to a small metal dragon figurine sitting on Walter’s desktop. Sloan picked it up and examined the item. She then held it out to us, pointing to a small round indentation in the corner.
I couldn’t believe I was right. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Looks like it.” Sloan turned to Hannah. “Where did this come from? Did his new assistant give it to him?”
“No.” Hannah hesitated, looking uncomfortable. “I did.”
We both stared at her, waiting for explanation.
“Well, sort of,” she continued. “It was a gift. Blaine wanted me to give it to him.”
Richard’s son. Of course. Sloan and I looked at each other.
Hannah watched us warily. “What?”
Sloan continued her interrogation. “Did you put it on here on his desk? So it’s looking right at him?”
Hannah shrugged. “He told me to. Said it was sentimental or something.” Her voice became more emphatic. “What’s going on?”
I couldn’t keep her hanging any longer. “You seem to have inadvertently planted a hidden camera in Walter’s office.”
Her eyes grew round. “From Blaine? ”
“From Richard, most likely,” I replied. “Blaine was just the means, like you. He may or may not have known what it was. Not sure yet.”
“What? Why would Richard do such a thing?”
Sloan spoke up. “To monitor his interactions with his new assistant, is our best guess. Did this show up here about the same time she did?”
Hannah nodded, looking dumbfounded.
“Well, by what you’ve told us, I doubt he got anything useful.” Sloan turned to me, her annoyance clear. “Looks like he was hedging his bets. Trying to make sure there were opportunities inside the office, too. In case I didn’t catch anything.”
“Catch anything . . . like what?” Hannah was getting nervous. “Is Walter a criminal?”
“Not Walter,” I said. “But his brother is making a pretty good case for himself.”
Hannah shook her head in confusion. “Richard? I don’t understand. Why would Richard trick me into planting a camera in here?”
Time to let her in.
“He’s trying to get photos of Walter in a compromising position,” Sloan answered. “That’s why he hired me, under the ruse of protecting the company from scandal.”
“And we think that’s why he hired that new assistant,” I added. “She just screams ‘sleep with the boss to get ahead.’ She may not even know why she’s really here, either. Just another useful pawn.”
“No way,” Hannah said. Her voice was lacking the conviction of her words. “I don’t believe it.”
A male voice rang out from behind us. “Unfortunately, it seems to be the truth.”
Our heads spun toward the sound. To my relief, the voice belonged to Walter, not Richard. I suddenly realized the insecurity of having this discussion here, without safeguards to prevent the wrong person from overhearing. We would have to be more careful. I moved to close the door behind him.
“Well, you have me convinced.” Walter looked defeated. “The woman from the party, the one I gave a ride home to . . . I think you know who I’m talking about. I checked out her story. She doesn’t even work for the company she talked to me about. They’ve never heard of her.”
Sloan nodded solemnly and held up the dragon for him to see. “And we found a camera hidden in this.
He’s been keeping an eye on you in your office the past week, too.”
Walter took the figurine from her and examined it wordlessly. He then placed it carefully back on his desk in its former position, his face grim.
Hannah gaped at Walter. “You knew about this?”
He grimaced. “The possibility has recently come to my attention. Thanks to these industrious young ladies.”
“I’m still confused. Why would Richard do all this?”
Walter sighed. “He wants me out of the way, apparently. Once he gets the deal with Quandom through, he can sell off the firm and fix all his financial problems.”
“Sell off the firm?” Hannah’s voice was now alarmed. “Will we still have jobs?”
Walter looked at her sadly. “No way to tell for you. But I’ll probably be the first one shown the door. I won’t have any control anymore to stop it.”
Hannah absorbed the information in silence before her eyes darted back to the figurine. “Wait, is Richard watching us right now? Can he hear us?”
Sloan shook her head. “We have a jammer running interference. The feed’ll be blank for the time we’re in here. Not that I expect him to ever take a look, anyway. He’s already gotten what he’s looking for.”
Walter turned to her. “I take it you gave Richard the photos?”
She nodded. “He didn’t do a very good job of hiding his glee, either. Told me to send him an invoice, then fired me. Said my work here is done.” Her voice became acidic. “Another satisfied customer.”
“Well, clearly you won’t be able to bill him when all this is over,” Walter said. “I’ll take care of the costs.” He looked between Sloan and I, serious. “And I really appreciate how much you’ve put on the line here. Both of you. I know this is not how things are supposed to work.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Sloan said. “I don’t appreciate being used to set up innocent people.”
“I just hope we finally get to the truth,” I added. “This was a lot more than I bargained for.”
We heard a ding. Walter retrieved his phone from his pocket and checked the screen.
“My brother just called for an emergency board meeting for day after tomorrow,” he said. “And he wants to meet with me in advance. Looks like he’s not going to waste any time trying to get rid of me.”
Sloan smiled confidently. “Guess we’ll have to move our private little meeting with him up to tomorrow, then. We’ll be looking forward to it.”
Twenty-Three
I couldn’t decide if anxious or exhilarated was a better descriptor. I paced the floor of Walter’s office in silence, wishing things would just get going already. What in the world was I doing here?
But everything so far had led up to this. We were finally going to get some answers.
I rechecked the office door for the tenth time, making extra sure it was locked. The last thing we needed was to spoil the surprise with an unannounced entry. As long as we stayed in silent mode, Richard would have no reason to try to come in. He was busy getting ready for what he thought was a masterful coup. And he would be oh-so wrong.
Sloan peeked her eyes open at me from her position on the floor. She smirked at my obvious nervousness and closed her eyes, returning to her Zen-like state. Now, I’m no stranger to yoga and meditation, but I was awed at her ability to be so calm and collected at a time like that. I was far from discovering inner peace. Maybe that was actually the secret to her cool.
A low beep sounded from the speakerphone on the desk, followed by Hannah’s whispered voice. “Here we go, guys.”
Sloan sprang up, following me to the chairs we had gathered in front of the phone. The input changed and we heard male voices. Walter had just entered Richard’s office and they were concluding their greetings. A little chit chat about golf, with Walter playing along nicely. I was impressed at his ability to fake geniality with his backstabbing brother. I would be tempted to strangle him.
With pleasantries taken care of, Richard teed up. “So listen, Walter, we have a little situation here.”
“I’m all ears.”
“It’s come to my attention that there has been some, shall we say, unseemly conduct on your part.”
Walter hesitated. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about your ‘extracurricular activities.’ At the conference.” Richard paused, letting his words hang a moment. “Now, I take partial responsibility here, because I did send you to that hotel and I cancelled our dinner meeting, leaving you there by yourself. But you’re going to have to take responsibility for your own actions, too.”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about, Richard.”
“The woman at the bar. The one you followed to her room. I know.”
Walter didn’t respond right away. When he did his tone had altered. “What could you possibly know about it? And just how would you know about her?”
“Let’s just say it was brought to my attention. The specifics are not important. What is important is what we’re going to do about it.”
“I’d say the specifics are pretty damn important.” He injected just the right amount of outrage into his voice. “What business is it of yours?”
“Look, I’m not judging.” Richard tried to sound conciliatory. “I agree, your marriage is your business. But the fact that someone could get this information, to bring it to my attention, is the whole point. Anyone could have access to it.”
“I can’t believe this. What if I told you nothing happened?”
“I’d believe you, of course. You’re my brother. But unfortunately, these things are out of my hands. You know how it is.”
“What is that supposed that mean?”
“It means we set up rules to protect the image of the firm, Wallie. So it doesn’t matter what the truth is. You could’ve gone in there to give her tutoring on the stock market for all I know. But you broke the rules. It looks bad. It leaves room for all sorts of speculation we don’t need, especially now. We’ll have to take action before this damage spreads.”
“What sort of action?” Walter’s voice increased, beginning to sound frantic. “Is that what this emergency meeting is about? Just what are you up to, Richard?”
“Only doing the best for the firm,” Richard replied calmly. “You’d do the same in my shoes.”
“So you’re, what, calling a vote? Going to force me out? Based on what? You have no proof.”
“I’m sorry to say you’re wrong, little brother.”
We heard the sound of a drawer scraping open and shut. I knew he was proudly presenting the staged photos of me and Walter looking chummy as he left the hotel room. We had left little room for interpretation. There was a pause for Walter’s silent reaction.
“Regardless of what happened,” Richard continued, “we both know this doesn’t look like tutoring. And if I have these, so could someone else. We can’t take any chances. I’m obligated to turn this over.”
“So that’s it then.” Walter sounded flat, as though resigning himself to his unemployed fate. But I knew it was really a sad acknowledgment of the end of their relationship. He gave him one last chance. “You’ve decided, and I’m out.”
“I’m sorry, Walter.” Richard’s slimy voice actually had the nerve to sound genuine. It made me sick.
I began to tense. It was nearing time for us to jump in. The men sat in silence for a full minute, tension crackling between them for very different reasons. I almost felt bad for what was about to happen.
Finally Walter broke the silence, his voice now acidic. “Well, there’s just one catch here, big brother.”
Sloan raised her eyebrows at me in question, and I replied with a nod. She reached to unlock the office door.
“Oh yeah?” Richard sounded like he was humoring him. “And what’s that?”
Silently we crossed the hall, past Hannah intently listening in from her desk. She gave us a nervous thumbs up as we reached Richard’s office. Sloan flung
the door open with a flourish, crashing the handle against the wall. The girl knows how to make an entrance.
Richard startled at the sound. Walter didn’t turn around, didn’t even flinch. He kept his eyes trained on his brother. He was going to enjoy this.
Richard was instantly alarmed at the sight of Sloan in the doorway. “What are you doing here?”
Sloan stalked into the room, a smug grin on her face. “There’s just one little thing I left out, boss. Thought you might want to know.”
That was my cue. I waltzed into the room and straight toward Richard. He eyed me with confusion for a moment before his eyes widened with recognition. He snatched the photos from the desk and the confirmation played out on his face. I was dressed identically to the night in the photos, so there would be no mistaking. He glared at both of us with suspicion.
Sloan gestured toward me. “I think I forgot to introduce you to my good friend. Quinn. Of course, you’ve seen her before. She does do a little modeling. But I think it’s time you two finally met.”
I gave a little wave, barely suppressing my grin.
Richard slammed the photos on the desk and jumped to his feet. “What the hell is going on here?”
Sloan and I turned to Walter, looking relaxed in his chair. He sat forward and cleared his throat, taking his time before speaking.
“Richard, you should know that those photos of yours are faked. Unlike you, I’ve never cheated, or anything close. And you know that. But that didn’t stop you from trying every way you could to fabricate evidence that I have.”
Richard’s mouth gaped as he fumbled to find a response.
Walter waved his hand. “Save it. I obviously know about the investigator here. And we all know about the other women you tried to involve in your little scheme. Your plan to hand over our firm, leaving the rest of us hung out to dry. We know everything.”
His brother only stared, the color fleeing his face as quickly as it had come.
Walter continued. “So all I have to say to you right now is . . . why?”
Impulse Spy (Sonic Sleuths Series) Page 13