by M. Z. Kelly
“I know about your feelings, but I just wasn’t born that way,” she said.
“What are you talking about?”
“You got the lady hots for me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re very attractive, but that’s not what this is about.”
Natalie looked at Mo. “Maybe she wants to tell us she’s having homicidal thoughts ‘bout Fred and Nana. You wanna call 911, or should I do it.”
Mo looked at me. “I think Kate’s tryin’ to be serious. What’s on your mind?”
I looked back at Natalie. “I had a brief conversation with Dr. Doris yesterday. She confided in me that Tex wants to have sex with her.”
Natalie stood up and headed out of the room.”
“Where you goin’?” Mo asked her.
She turned back to us for a moment. “I’m gonna give Tex a blow job he’ll never forget.”
It took Mo and me a half hour to talk Natalie out of using her shotgun to, in her words, ‘blow the nuts off Tex,’ before I called it a night and went up to my room. After getting ready for bed, my thoughts drifted to what Leo had said about Joe coming to Los Angeles. The more I thought about that, and him not calling me, the angrier I got. I went over and got my phone off the dresser, dialing his number.
When he answered, I heard the familiar sobriquet for me that he always used. “How’s it hanging, Buttercup.”
I did my best to push down my anger. “Not too bad. Just seeing how things are with you.”
“Driving fast, shooting people, and leaving clean underwear.” He chuckled. “Better make that two out of the three.”
“I’m not going to ask which two you’re talking about.” I tried to choose my words carefully as I continued. “Leo told me that you and the taskforce are headed this way.”
“I guess he also told you Harlan’s dead.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
I heard him exhale. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure about how things were between us, given the way we left things.”
I tried to keep my voice even. “I thought we’d left things as friends, and friends are supposed to stay in touch and confide in one another.”
“You’re right. I just...I guess I didn’t think things through. I’m sorry.”
I gave him a moment, no, make that I gave myself a moment, to keep my anger from surfacing.
“Do me a favor,” I said, “If you find Harlee and take her alive, ask her what she knows about my brother Daniel’s disappearance.”
“It will be one of my first questions, if she talks.”
“Leo told me that Pearl was on a fishing boat that sank when he was trying to evade the Rylands, but he made it to shore. Any word on him?”
“Nothing, but I haven’t given up hope. I suppose Leo also told you about Harlee maybe coming your way.”
“Yeah, so tell me what’s going on with the taskforce. Why haven’t I been included?”
“I’m not exactly sure. All I know is someone on high thinks you’re better on the sidelines.”
“Someone with the FBI or my department?”
“Like I said, I’m not sure. Tell you what, I should be in town in the next day or two. Why don’t we have dinner?”
I was still angry and unhappy that someone had kept me off the taskforce without having the decency to tell me, but realized I shouldn’t take it out on Joe. “Text me when you’re in town and I’ll see how things go with my schedule.”
“Works for me.” He paused. “Are you okay with things?”
“Not really. I’m going to find out who pulled me from the taskforce and give them a piece of my mind.”
“That’s my girl. See you soon.”
After ending the call, I lay in bed awake for a long time. The more I thought about being excluded from the taskforce, the more convinced I was that our new police chief, David Bronson, was behind that decision. Word had it that Bronson and my adoptive father had some past issues, and he’d purposely kept the investigation into his murder closed for years, despite evidence that the Rylands were involved.
As I closed my eyes and drifted to the edge of sleep, I was determined to find out if Bronson had kept me off the taskforce. If he had, I would find a way to pay him back, in spades.”
TEN
After getting ready for work the next morning, I took Bernie downstairs and let him into the backyard. I was fixing myself a bowl of cereal when I saw Natalie. She was wearing her kick-butt PI clothes and swearing under her breath as she got her duffle bag out of the closet.
“You okay,” I said, going over to her.
“I will be, just as soon as I blow the bollocks off Mr. Brain.”
I saw that she had a shotgun in the closet. “You’re not going to do anything you’ll regret, are you?”
She looked at me as she pushed her blonde hair back into a ponytail. “I’m not gonna regret anything, but a certain piece of sludge is.”
“Maybe you and Tex need to talk, work things out.”
“I’m done talkin’ to that bloody knobhead. It’s time for action.”
She stomped off, saying something about her and Mo doing some work for Lance Worman, before she confronted Tex on the Rod the Bod show.
I let Bernie back inside and said to him, “I don’t know about you, but if I was Tex I’d be running for my life.”
After feeding and walking Bernie, we arrived at the station as Lieutenant Byrd was calling everyone into a meeting, including Jenny and Molly. He then asked for an update on our case. We spent the next half hour, going over our interviews with Felicia Darrow and Jason Murray, before discussing the autopsy results.
Jenny spoke up. “We got the tox-screen back from the autopsy. There were no drugs in our victim’s system.”
“The coroner did find there was some irritation to our victim’s nasal passages, indicating possible past cocaine usage, as Murray told us,” Olivia said.
“Did the kid have any idea why she was using?” Byrd asked.
“He just said that Anna was unhappy and the drug helped her forget everything.”
“Meaning?”
“Murray didn’t know, other than saying she missed her home country and didn’t fit in here.”
The lieutenant looked at Leo. “Did we ever find an interpreter?”
“I found someone late yesterday. The mother’s in a different time zone, so she’s going to call later today. I gave her a list of questions to ask about what was going on with her daughter, so maybe we’ll get something back.”
“What else?” Byrd asked, looking around the table.
“The coroner found some faint evidence of bruising on our victim’s thighs and abdomen, possible evidence of prior sexual abuse.”
“That might fit with your prostitution theory,” the lieutenant said, looking at Al.
He shrugged. “Maybe. I think it’s too soon to know for sure.”
I looked at Olivia, my brows lifting. Maybe Leo had gotten the message across to his partner, after all.
“The coroner has a theory about our suspect’s motives,” Olivia told the lieutenant. “She thinks the murder could have been done to send a message to someone, but it also had elements of rage, meaning it was personal.”
“What kind of message?” Byrd asked.
“We’re not sure, but it could be that it ties in with the Game Over message we found in the victim’s bedroom that was written in Russian.”
Jenny then filled us in on the latest with our victim’s cell phone. “I got a call back from the analyst at CCU today. He said it looks like there were several recently deleted messages. He’s going to use some software to try and take a closer look.”
“What about the security footage from the hotel?” Leo asked. “Were they able to enhance the images?”
Molly brushed her auburn hair off her forehead and answered. “Yes, but it’s not much better than what we had. I’ll send the images to your phones and computers this morning.”
“Anything else?” Byrd as
ked. When there was no response, he said, “Let’s go back to the...” He looked at his notes. “...the Allmans, lean on Ben.” He looked at Al, maybe he was abusing our victim.”
Al shrugged, but remained quiet.
Byrd went on. “Since nothing’s breaking, let’s also take another shot at this Murray kid. If he knew our victim was using coke, maybe he knows something more.”
After the meeting adjourned, the lieutenant asked me to stay behind for a minute. After the door closed, he got right to the point. “Van Ness wants you to take some time off.”
Norm Van Ness was our captain, recently assigned to Hollywood Station. “Why?” I demanded.
Byrd patted his fluffy nest of hair. “He said it has something to do with the Ryland woman, possibly coming back here again.”
“This is coming from Bronson, isn’t it?”
“Maybe, but I don’t know for sure.”
“I won’t be intimidated.”
“I have no doubt about that.” The lieutenant took a breath and softened his tone. “It’s a request at this point, but give it some thought. I wouldn’t want to see you reassigned.”
“You think it might really come to that?”
“I don’t know what to think. All I’m saying is that it’s a possible option. We both know our chief is someone who wants things his own way.”
I did my best to control my anger toward our chief. I knew this was personal, Bronson’s way of sending me a message that I was a problem. While, I hated the idea of being forced into a leave, the truth was, I probably could use some time off.
“Can I finish up our case, then make a decision?”
Byrd worked his head up and down slowly. “Yeah, but work fast. I heard the feds may be headed this way. If that happens, it might force somebody’s hand.”
“As in Bronson’s.”
Byrd smiled, a rare event. “You said it, I didn’t.”
***
After leaving the lieutenant’s office, Olivia drove us to Ben Allman’s place of business in the San Fernando Valley. Bernie was taking in the sights as I used my phone to pull up the enhanced images Molly had sent of our suspect from the Crosby Hotel.
After studying the images for a couple minutes, I told Olivia, “It’s just a guess, but it looks like our suspect might be someone young.”
“How young is young?”
“Maybe mid-twenties to around forty.”
She chuckled. “I’m glad you think forty is young, since I’ll be there in a few years.”
“You and me both.” I sighed and put my phone away. “I guess that leaves both Ben Allman and Jason Murray in the suspect pool.”
“Or someone else.”
I looked at her. “You don’t think either of them is good for it?”
She shrugged. “Unless we get something more, it doesn’t look promising” Traffic slowed and she looked over at me. “So, what happened in Byrd’s office after our meeting?”
“Nothing good.” I told her about the captain telling the lieutenant I needed to take a leave. “I also talked to Joe Dawson last night. He said word has it that someone from on high wants me out of the Ryland investigation. I have no doubt Bronson is behind everything.”
Traffic picked up and we moved ahead. “How are things between you and Joe?”
“A little tense. He wants to have dinner when he’s in town.”
She nodded. “Maybe that will help you clear the air with him. What are your thoughts about taking a leave?”
I looked away, considering that prospect. “Honestly, I wouldn’t mind having some time off. I just want it to be under my terms.”
“I think that’s reasonable. I say we solve this case, then you can go on vacation.”
The Allman Marketing Group was located in a business district in Encino. The firm was in one of those high-rise buildings with a huge sign that you could see from the 405 Freeway. We met up with Leo and Al as we rode the elevator to the top floor.
I glanced at Al as the elevator doors opened. He hadn’t said a word since our meeting, giving me the impression he was sulking like a scolded child, maybe the result of Leo’s lecture.
We’d purposely come to Allman’s place of business unannounced. We let Leo take the lead in in showing the receptionist his credentials. “We just need a few minutes with Mr. Allman.”
The receptionist’s name tag read Bessie, something that I found amusing because I associated the name with someone older and she appeared to be mid-twenties. “Mr. Allman’s in our morning SEO Meeting, but I’ll see if he can be interrupted.”
Leo turned to us while she made a call. “SEO?”
“Search Engine Optimization,” Olivia said. “It’s an Internet marketing term.”
Leo’s smile grew wider. “I guess I’m out of my element here.”
After a ten-minute wait, Ben Allman appeared in the waiting room and greeted us, saying, “Please, come back to my private office.”
“Sorry about coming unannounced,” Leo said as we followed him, “but we were in the area.”
If Allman was fazed by our interruption, he didn’t show it. “Not a problem. You got me out of a meeting I’d just as soon miss.”
After settling into his wood-paneled office, we made some small talk about his business. We learned that the Allman Marketing Group was an international firm with customers all over the world, even as its owner tried to downplay his success.
“We’re still in the growth stage, so we have a lot to learn,” Allman told us. “I think we’re lucky to have stayed afloat in a very competitive business.”
It sounds like you’re doing quite well, Leo said, before getting down to business. “We’re here because we’re doing some routine follow-up on Ms. Levkin’s death.”
Allman’s handsome features grew more serious. “I understand. Laura and I are...we’re just devastated by what happened. How can I help?”
“We’ve had conversations with Anna’s friends Felicia Darrow and Jason Murray. They both said that Anna was unhappy and wanted to go back to the Ukraine.”
“Allman’s dark brows lifted. “That’s interesting. If she was unhappy, she never said anything to me or Laura. I think we just assumed she loved children and enjoyed taking care of Misty.”
“What about her drug use?”
His features registered surprise. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Cocaine. Her friend Jason Murray said she used the drug to forget her problems.”
“Wow, I had no idea. Do you think she was using drugs while watching my daughter?”
“I can’t say.”
He shook his head. “It’s hard to believe.”
“Do you think Anna could have secretly been involved with someone who she was having problems with, maybe someone who was also supplying her with drugs?”
Allman rubbed his chin. “I suppose anything’s possible, but she was home most nights. If there was someone, neither Laura nor I knew anything about it.”
I spoke up, deciding to press the other issues. “The coroner who did Anna’s autopsy said there was some past trauma, bruising, and healed injuries to her thighs and abdomen. She thought it was likely the result of her being in an abusive sexual relationship.”
“Oh, my God.” Allman leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. “I had no idea about any of this. I still don’t see how it was possible. Like I said, Anna was almost always home.”
“Do you think Jason Murray could have been sexually abusing her?” Olivia asked.
Allman released a breath. “If he was, neither Laura or I knew anything about it. I think my daughter Brook said she thought they were just friends.”
Al finally spoke up, the tension in the room spiking as he asked, “What about prostitution?”
“Are you kidding?”
“This is a homicide. I don’t kid.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible. Anna wasn’t...she was wasn’t someone who would be involved in that sort of lifestyle.”
/> Al fixed his eyes on him. “Tell us about your relationship with her.”
Allman’s voice pitched higher. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”
Leo’s partner’s saggy features hardened. “Let’s put our cards on the table. Anna was a beautiful young Russian girl. Any guy would have been attracted to her. You saw her every day. Sometimes, one thing leads to another.”
Allman starred hard at Al, not blinking. “If you’re insinuating that I was involved in any kind of relationship with Anna, you’re dead wrong. She was like my daughter. End of discussion.”
ELEVEN
Our meeting with Ben Allman hadn’t abruptly ended. Despite him being upset with Al’s questions and insinuation, he continued to express his innocence and ignorance of his nanny being involved in drugs or sex. Before leaving his office, Allman reiterated that he would do anything necessary to cooperate with our investigation.
After the meeting ended, the four of us met at a small café in a strip mall for lunch where we discussed the interview. As Bernie settled in next to me, I began the discussion by asking Al for his thoughts.
Leo’s partner glanced at him, then looked at me. “I think the Allman family is suffering from affluenza.”
The term was a combination of the words affluent and influenza. It had been used by a defense attorney’s hired psychologist in trial a couple years earlier. The shrink had claimed that the accused had lived outside the typical social norms of social responsibility because of wealth and privilege, and therefore wasn’t entirely responsible for his actions.
“Meaning?” Leo said, looking at his partner.
“Meaning, there’s a lot more going on with the Allman family than meets the eye. They’re typical of a wealthy couple who has secrets.”
“Do you think Ben was involved with Anna?” Olivia asked.
Al shrugged, swirled his glass of iced tea. “If he wasn’t, he sure as hell wanted to be.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked. “His wife is a very attractive woman.”
“So, what? He had a Russian hottie prancing around in front of him every day and wanted a piece of that.”