“Just give me his number.”
“I can’t do that,” Ally said. “He wouldn’t like it.”
“I’ll bet I can make him see the light.”
“The only light you will be seeing is the brake light above your face when he tracks you down and runs over you,” Ally said. “He’s out in the parking lot right now, though. If you’re set on talking to him, you can find him in a black Mercedes.”
“He’s out there right now?” Jim looked intrigued.
“Yes.”
“What’s his name?”
“James,” Ally said. “He’s a real hardass, though. Be careful.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Jim said, starting to move away. “Oh, wait, what are you going to do?”
“I’m just going to wait here,” Ally said, leaning against the wall. “My friend shouldn’t be too long.”
“Okay,” Jim said. “I’ll be back after I talk to this James. Oh, do you have any tips on how I should approach him?”
“Don’t make eye contact,” Ally said. “He takes it as a challenge.”
“Got it.”
“Hey, Jim?”
“Yeah.”
“Good luck.”
Jake waited until he was sure that Jim was gone and then he opened the door and dragged Ally inside. He covered her open mouth with his, drowning out whatever she was about to say with a torrid kiss. When he was done, Ally checked herself over to make sure she was still dressed.
“Wow.”
“You can never dress up like this again,” Jake said.
“But I saved us,” Ally protested.
“I don’t care,” Jake said. “Even the thought of him putting his hands on you … .”
“Oh, he was too scared to actually touch me,” Ally scoffed.
“You’re my angel,” Jake said. “Mine.”
Ally rubbed her thumb over his chin. “You’re so cute when you’re jealous.”
Jake scowled.
“So, what have you found?”
“Nothing so far,” Jake said. “I’ve got the drive copying the computer.”
“What have you been doing in here?”
“Watching you flirt with the witless wonder through the door.”
“You’re so territorial,” Ally teased.
Jake tried to tamp down the guilt washing over him. “I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it.”
Jake laughed. “Focus on our task, trouble. The sooner we finish, the sooner I can find out what you have on under that skirt.”
“Right,” Ally said, snapping to attention. “I’ll look in the bathroom.”
“I’ll go through the suitcases,” Jake said. “Go fast. We’ve wasted too much time … being us.”
“I happen to like us.”
“Right back at you, angel,” Jake said. “You still need to hurry.”
“On it.”
Jake moved to the suitcase sitting on the small stand in the closet. When he flipped it open, he found a myriad of clothing scattered about. He rummaged through them, and when his fingers brushed against a hard bundle underneath, he shoved them to the side.
“There’s nothing in there but makeup,” Ally said, reappearing at his side.
“I think I found what we’re looking for,” Jake said, reaching down with both hands and lifting the bundle of encased cash up so he could look at it better under light.
“Holy crap,” Ally said. “How much is that?”
“At least fifty grand,” Jake said, narrowing his eyes. “I’m guessing closer to a hundred. I obviously can’t count it without tipping Sheila off.”
“Why would she need that much money?”
“I have no idea.”
Ally’s phone dinged. She dug it out of her purse. “It’s Finn,” she said. “They’re on their way back.”
Jake snapped out of his reverie. “Go and take the flash drive out of the computer, and make sure you shut it down. It was off.”
Ally nodded.
Jake put the money back where he found it and tossed the clothing back over it. He waited for Ally by the door. “Do you have it?”
Ally dropped the drive into his hand. “What does all of this mean?”
“It means that Sheila is knee-deep in something,” Jake said. “Hopefully the information from her computer will tell us what that something is. We have to go now, angel.”
“I’m ready.”
“You’re still having sex with me in the truck,” Jake said. “I don’t care how tacky it is.”
“Hey, you’re going to have to stop me from having sex with you in the elevator,” Ally shot back. “This whole thing has turned me on.”
Jake smiled. “That’s really hot,” he said. “I don’t even care that you’re a Trekkie now.”
“I am not a Trekkie,” Ally grumbled as she followed him out of the room. “I’ve seen like two episodes.”
“Beam me up, captain.”
Twenty-Five
“James is going to be mad,” Sophie said, tearing her attention from the busy freeway long enough to glance at Mandy in the passenger seat of her car.
“He’ll live.”
“He won’t yell at you,” Sophie said. “He’ll yell at me. He told me that I was never to take you to Peter’s house again, and yet I’m doing just that.”
“Things are different now,” Mandy said. “Peter protected me after our honeymoon went awry.”
Sophie wasn’t convinced. “Still … .”
“James left me at Peter’s house when they went to save you from Lily,” Mandy said. “He won’t be upset.”
“He’s still going to be upset. That’s what he does.”
“Everyone likes Peter now,” Mandy countered. “Stop being a … kvetch.”
“Kvetch?”
“Some old woman used that word in court the other day,” Mandy explained. “She said that’s what her friend was being, and that’s why she purposely rammed her car into her rose arbor.”
“Nice.”
“Court can be funny sometimes.”
“Too bad it’s also depressing,” Sophie said.
“It is definitely depressing,” Mandy said. “Every time I think I’ve heard the worst bit of human suffering that could ever exist, something else blows it out of the water.”
Sophie cast her a sidelong look. “Have you considered quitting?”
“No.”
“I thought … I thought you wanted to work on your art.”
“I do,” Mandy said. “I’m still a novice. I need to take some classes. I need to get some perspective. I need to … relax.”
“Relax?”
“I’m scared to show my stuff to other people,” Mandy admitted. “I’m afraid it will suck.”
“I’m sure it’s great.”
“I can’t trust you to tell me if it’s good or not,” Mandy said. “You’ll lie.”
“I won’t lie.”
“Yes, you will,” Mandy said. “You wouldn’t purposely hurt me.”
“You’re right,” Sophie said. “I probably would lie. I’ll bet it’s still great.”
“I know. I just need some time to wrap my head around it.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to stay at the courthouse,” Sophie said.
“I need to work,” Mandy said.
“James doesn’t seem to think that.”
“James wants to fix everything,” Mandy said. “He can’t fix this. I need to work until … well … I don’t need to work. He’s just going to have to deal with that.”
“I think he just worries,” Sophie said. “He doesn’t want you to be unhappy.”
“Work doesn’t make me unhappy,” Mandy said. “Work gives me a purpose. It also makes me want to escape. I’ll leave when I’m ready.”
“Hey, I’m not pressuring you. I happen to love work.”
“That’s because you love what you do,” Mandy said. “I admire you. You picked a job you enjoy – and that you’re good at. I
have to ask, though, how did Peter react when you told him what you wanted to do?”
“Peter told me I could be anything I wanted to be,” Sophie said. “Including a princess.”
Mandy smirked. “You’d make a great princess.”
“Peter never once tried to push me toward a profession,” Sophie said. “He always wanted me to make my own choices. When the other kids at school were toting around dolls, he just followed me around the toy store and let me pick out whatever I wanted.”
“Which was?”
“I liked stuffed animals.”
“Me, too.”
“I also liked craft projects, and Legos.”
“Legos? Really?”
“Peter has a whole room full of sets he bought me,” Sophie admitted. “Every time I put one together – I loved the instructions, for some reason – he took it and put it on a shelf.”
Mandy giggled. “Are you saying Peter has a Lego room?”
“He does.”
“I have to see it.”
Sophie grinned. “I’m sure he’d love to show it to you.”
“HAVE you taken enough pictures?” Sophie was annoyed with Mandy’s enthusiastic reaction to the Lego room.
“Just one more.” Mandy lifted her iPhone and snapped one more shot. “I love the little village.”
Peter chuckled appreciatively. “I’m impressed that Sophie even told you about this room.”
“Why?” Mandy asked, lifting her face.
“It’s a secret she’s never told anyone but me.”
“Even Grady?”
“Why would I tell Grady?” Sophie scoffed. “He would make fun of me.”
“I think he’d like it,” Mandy said. “He loves how orderly your mind is. This just proves that you’re a genius.”
“They’re Legos,” Sophie countered. “Kids put them together.”
“Not all kids,” Mandy said.
“Oh, whatever.”
Peter smiled. “So, what brings you two here?”
“Actually, we need information,” Sophie said. “I was going to tell you that right away, but Mandy desperately needed to see the Lego room for some reason.”
“Mandy is delightful,” Peter said. “She’s always welcome in my home. What information do you need?”
Sophie told Peter the story, including the truth behind Emma’s childhood. Peter was grim when she was done. “I was aware of Emma’s childhood through the media reports,” he said. “I was not aware … of that.”
“She doesn’t tell a lot of people,” Sophie said. “She’s embarrassed.”
“She has no reason to be embarrassed,” Peter said. “She was a child. What that animal did to her … .” Peter detested sexual abuse. For a mobster, he had an interesting code of ethics.
“We’ve told her that,” Mandy said. “She’s getting better. She just needs time.”
“Well, I am happy to hear about the baby,” Peter said. “I think a child can help Emma realize that what happened to her does not define her.”
“She’s excited, too,” Sophie said.
“Ally is really excited,” Mandy added.
“But you’re not?” Peter glanced between them.
“Babies scare me,” Mandy said. “I don’t think kids are in my future. James feels the same way.”
“I don’t know either,” Sophie said. “They freak me out.”
“You’re both young. You have time,” Peter said. “On the flip side, I admire people who can admit that they don’t want children. If you don’t want them, don’t have them. Not everyone is cut out for parenthood.”
“You seem to love children,” Sophie said, focusing on Peter. “How come you never had any?”
“I never found a woman I loved enough to share that joy with,” Peter replied. “I did find a child to love, though, and I’ve never regretted that.”
Sophie’s cheeks colored. “I love you, too.”
“If you don’t want children – either of you – that doesn’t mean you aren’t women,” Peter said. “It just means you know what you want. You’re strong enough to admit that you don’t want to bend to societal norms. That doesn’t make you bad. It makes you … spectacular.”
Sophie leaned in and kissed her foster father’s cheek. “You always know the right thing to say.”
“I always know when to let a person be the person they’re meant to be,” Peter said. “That is my gift. Tell me more about Emma’s mother.”
“Well, no one believes she didn’t know what was going on under her own roof,” Sophie said.
“Of course not,” Peter said. “She knew. She sacrificed her children to a monster on purpose. If you ask me, she’s worse than the animal she protected.”
“Why do you say that?” Sophie asked.
“For whatever it’s worth, Lance Pritchard had a compulsion,” Peter said. “It was a disgusting and hateful compulsion, but he couldn’t stop it. Had I known what he was doing before the police got involved, he would have met an unfortunate fate.
“Sheila didn’t care about anything but herself,” he continued. “She knew what was happening. She knew it was wrong. She’s worse. What do we know about her?”
“She married that loan shark out in Vegas,” Sophie said. “Nathan Davenport.”
Peter wracked his memory. “The one who buried a bunch of bodies in the desert but is being prosecuted on racketeering charges?”
“That’s him.”
“Why would she marry him?”
“I’m guessing for money,” Sophie said. “His son approached us in a furniture store the other night.”
“Define approached?” Peter’s body had gone rigid.
“Well, he was watching us, and when he tried to talk to us Mandy kicked him and Ally hit him.”
Peter’s body started shaking with silent laughter. “I love the women you’ve decided to surround yourself with, my dear. They are always entertaining.”
“After he got up from the floor, he told us that his father has been missing for weeks,” Sophie said. “He’s supposed to be on a tether, and the police aren’t convinced he’s missing, but his son is. He wants his inheritance.”
Peter rubbed his chin, pacing. “Davenport isn’t a novice,” he said. “He had to know exactly who he was marrying. He had to know she was a user. So, why would he marry her?”
“Maybe she gave him something he needed,” Sophie suggested.
“Like?”
“Another name to do business under. I’m guessing it wasn’t love that propelled the marriage.”
Peter smirked. “You’re always so smart.”
“I don’t want to be the stupid one in the room,” Mandy said. “How does another name to do business under help someone in Davenport’s position?”
Peter patted Mandy’s arm indulgently. “You’re too sweet to think of evil first.”
“Hey, I can be bad.”
Peter ignored her. “Davenport is hiding money from the feds,” he said. “He must have known an indictment was coming down. That means he liquidated his funds.”
“So, he’s got a bunch of cash in a room somewhere?” Mandy asked, nonplussed. “Ally and Jake found a big brick of it in Sheila’s hotel room.”
“I would assume that Davenport has millions in cash stored away,” Peter said. “He needs someone to move that money. Who better than a woman with no morals?”
“Do you think he’s dead?” Sophie asked.
Peter shrugged. “It depends on what the financial situation in that house is,” he said. “I’m guessing that Sheila Archibald managed to put enough money away that she now needs to clean it.”
“Clean it?”
“Archibald’s money is being watched,” Peter said. “That means what he had is somehow … marked. If he bought jewelry, the feds know what kind. If bought real estate, that can be seized with a paper trail. If he has cash, that’s a whole other problem.”
“How?”
“There are many ways,” Peter said.
“The money needs to be laundered before someone can spend it.”
“That would explain why Sheila isn’t spending it,” Sophie mused. “Who would she go to?”
“You need a legitimate business to launder money,” Peter said. “You need to put cash in that business, and take different cash out.”
“Why wouldn’t Sheila just spend it?”
“I don’t know,” Peter said. “I … let me make some calls. Right now, we don’t have enough information. Let’s see what I can find. Does anyone want tea in the arboretum while we wait?”
Mandy clapped enthusiastically. “I love the arboretum.”
“That’s why I suggested it.”
“OKAY, I’ve found out some interesting tidbits,” Peter said, ambling into the arboretum and smiling at the two women as they sipped tea on the couch.
“What?”
“There’s a new player in the Vegas loan-sharking business,” Peter said. “Her name is Kelly Gilmore.”
“Who is Kelly Gilmore?”
“I’m guessing she’s Sheila’s very-silent partner,” Peter said. “You see, even though Nathan Davenport married Sheila Archibald, all the financial aspects of his business were passed to Gilmore.”
“Who is she?”
“She’s a mystery,” Peter said. “As far as I can tell, she only exists on paper.”
“Oh, crap,” Sophie said.
“Well, I’m going to be the stupid one in the room again, but why is that important?” Mandy asked.
“It means they created a fake person,” Sophie said. “I don’t think Sheila could be doing this alone, but whoever is helping her created an identity to move money through.”
“How does that stop Sheila from spending the money in the suitcase?”
“Maybe that money is a down payment on something,” Sophie suggested.
“Like?”
“Laundering services,” Sophie supplied.
“How does that work?”
“Laundering money isn’t as simple as giving someone a hundred grand and then getting another hundred grand back,” Sophie explained. “Someone collects a fee for laundering the money, usually ten to twenty percent.”
“And that’s what Kelly Gilmore does?”
“That’s what the name Kelly Gilmore does,” Peter corrected.
“And Kelly Gilmore isn’t a real person?”
Peter held out the piece of paper he’d been holding in his hand. “No.”
Deadly Addition (Hardy Brothers Security Book 9) Page 19