“Like I said I just graduated the top of my class, I have an engineering degree and an accounting degree, with a business minor. My father doesn’t want to give me a chance. He wants me to work with blue prints in a lower level position. When I heard him talking about what had happened to you after the death of your mother and father, well I want that job so I can prove to him I’m better than a low level flunky looking at blueprints. I have to tell you the other consideration was how much he respected your father and you. That’s all I’ve heard for years, was about Clayton Lewis and what a hell of a man he was. So if you’ll give me a chance I’ll prove to him, and you, that I’m the right person for the job. And Mr. Bennett I don’t know why you’re so angry with me but Miss. Lewis has my complete loyalty.”
“Ok, I like the kid,” Faxon said. “Lyn bring us all another round.”
“You’ve got the job Jason, and just call me Harper, I’m not that much older than you, and just so you’ll know Sam Shepard my General Manager was very impressed with you.”
“Shit Harper,” Jason said. “I never had an interview where I thought I might have my ass kicked.”
Faxon laughed, they drank more beer and had something to eat and eventually Harper explained why she had killed her husband, and about the death of one of her horses. Jason eventually got the picture and realized Faxon was a dangerous guy that had some kind of motivation to make sure Harper wasn’t hurt. But it was obvious to him they were more than just friends. He just wasn’t sure what that was.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The next morning Faxon’s alarm went off at 5:30 am he rolled over and cut it off. Unlike other mornings when he woke up today he could feel Harper in the bed with him. Her warm body was near but they weren’t touching.
“What the hell Faxon, why the alarm,” she asked.
“We need to be in front of the Clark house before Anna leaves, this is the glamorous part of private investigating.”
Faxon pulled on a pair of jeans beside the bed, he could feel Harper get up and walk out of the room in front of him wearing her night shirt. He saw her yawn then scratch her head as he walked out behind her. She went to the bathroom and he went and made coffee. When Harper came out she didn’t bother to go to the bedroom she sat at the small table against the wall in the kitchen. Faxon set the first cup of coffee in front of her and made another one for him-self, he heard her sip the hot coffee.
“Come on, we’ll stop and get something to eat on the way,” he said.
As they walked out the back Faxon carried his bag of private detective stuff, Harper wore her disguise as they called it. Jeans, t-shirt, sunglasses, and her ball cap, Faxon picked up an empty pickle bucket on the way out. Before going down the stairs out the back he turned and locked the door. When they got to the garage he put the stuff in the back and drove the old Jeep to a drive through on their way to the gated community. Harper paid for the two breakfast sandwiches and two large coffees with extra napkins. And when they got to the gate, there were plenty of people going to work. Harper worked on the key pad before being seen, she was very proud of herself. They sat in the Jeep down the street in front of a house for sale.
“Faxon I have to go to the bathroom, you think this house is open? You think you could teach me how to work a lock?”
“What do think I brought the bucket for?”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Just get in the back and drop your drawers, I won’t look. Don’t tell me you never went outside when you were hunting.”
“What about tissue?”
“Why do you think I asked for extra napkins?”
Harper had just got her jeans back up and crawled back into the front when the garage door at the Clark house opened. Faxon started the Jeep as Harper buttoned up, and the small sports car with Anna Clark drove down the street. The Jeep was no match for the sports car and soon she was out of sight.
“We should have driven the GTO,” Faxon said.
“Look over there.” The small sports car was parked in front of an expensive coffee chain. “I never could understand why people would pay seven dollars for a cup of coffee.”
When Anna pulled out they followed, fortunately she didn’t drive far and stopped at a dry cleaners. Faxon and Harper watched while Anna put the bagged laundry across the passenger’s seat. Out of the parking lot they followed nearly losing her again. Harper used the binoculars from the go bag to watch her as she drove ahead of them. She pulled into the parking lot of a women’s spa. Faxon caught up with her and parked in the space at the far end and waited.
“What if she’s meeting someone inside Faxon?”
“How the hell do you figure that? No men are allowed in there.”
“If the owner is a man do you think they wouldn’t let him in? And it would be a perfect cover. Maybe whoever she’s meeting pays off the manager and they get a room. They get to be with each other and eventually Pierce gives up and she gets a generous settlement. I think I should go in.”
“What would you do? No you don’t have any experience, what if the guy gets physical, believe me they often do.”
“Wait a second. You think I can’t handle myself?”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’ll be fine, so tell me what I need to do, take pictures or something?”
Faxon got the digital camera out of the bag. “You have to get pictures of their faces. If you don’t in court they’d just say that it wasn’t them. The only exception is a tattoo, one that’s unique to the investigated person just stick with the picture of their face, and they need to be in the act, so if you see ’em, make sure you wait until, well they’re in the act. Then get the hell out of there.”
“I’ll be fine.” Harper put the small digital camera into her back pocket and walked into the front door.
“Can I help you Miss.” asked the counter girl?
“I was thinking about a massage and maybe some time in the sauna, but this is the first time I’ve been here could someone show me around?”
“Sure if you’ll give me a minute, I’ll go get one of the towel girls.”
Harper looked down the hall and then went down a few doors, she checked the first two rooms and they were empty. The third door was just cracked and she could hear a young woman talking.
“God I am so tired of that son of a bitch,” she said. “I don’t have sex with him at all, and he still tries to kiss me. I refused ever since he cut my allowance. He’ll get tired soon enough and give me the divorce, and then we can be together all the time. But that’s enough about him, now kiss me, and I’ll help you out of that uniform.”
The door closed just as the front desk girl came back down the hall. She had a young Asian girl with her. Harper didn’t hear the door lock.
“If you’ll follow Miss, I show you around,” said the young Asian girl as she smiled. “We have good massage, you like. You very pretty,” the young girl laughed. She showed Harper a room with a large massage table. “I make you feel very good.” The small girl smiled and took Harper by the hand.
“No, I don’t think so.” She was wondering if she had given Anna enough time. “You know I think I would like to see one more room before I make up my mind.”
Harper walked back to the room where she had heard Anna talking, she reached into her back pocket and held the small digital camera in her hand ready to click off some images. When she got to the door she reached for the handle and the small Asian girl tried to stop her.
“This room busy, we go to empty room.”
Harper pushed the door open quickly and Anna was on top of one of the tables, naked, and so was the Asian girl beneath her. Harper clicked off six pictures as they both looked up at the tall blonde that had suddenly interrupted them.
“You bitch,” Anna yelled, realizing the implications of the images. “Stop her.”
The small Asian girl grabbed her arm and Harper walked down the hall toward the front pulling her along with her. By then Anna was
coming out of the room naked and mad, her lover right behind her.
“You fucking bitch drop that camera,” Anna yelled.
Harper was smiling and she put the camera in her back pocket and pushed the small girl that had been holding her by the arm to the floor. Then she looked at Anna.
“Do you really think you can stop me from leaving?”
Her Asian lover, still naked, stepped around her and took a quick step toward Harper and leapt into the air karate style to kick her. Harper caught her foot and pushed up as hard as she could, it sent the girl’s head to the floor and nearly knocked her out. Harper laughed then mockingly bowed respectively and walked out the front door with Anna still yelling at her.
“I got what we needed, let’s go, you’re not going to believe this.”
Faxon drove out of the parking lot and into traffic. They had to go back to the small apartment before going to see Pierce Clark. The images would need to be downloaded to his laptop then onto a flash drive to give to the customer.
“Check ‘em, you need to make sure they’re clear images,” Faxon said as he drove. “How many did you get?”
Harper was still laughing, she hadn’t told him the circumstances yet, but she still felt the adrenalin-rush of breaking into the room where two people were having sex.
“I got six, but they all look good, and don’t worry its plan to see what’s going on, and the faces are clear. They’ll look better when seen on a screen bigger than 1 inch.”
“Only six, crap Harper that’s cutting it kind of close, did the guy try to take the camera from you? Most times I get twice that many. I understand it was your first time, it seems like time stands still, and then they’re yelling and trying to take the camera.”
“Harper laughed again. “It was something like that, but the guy didn’t try to take the camera from me, there was no guy, that’s why no one’s been able to catch her with another man. It was another woman.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me? Show me, come on. Show me one of the images.”
“You’re driving, ok, just a minute, you’re gonna run off the road and wreak just to see two women lying on top of each other naked.”
Faxon laughed, then picked up his cell phone and pulled up Pierce Clark’s cell number.
“Mr. Clark, Faxon Bennett here. You may be getting a call or a visit from your wife very soon. I have the images you need. The way this usually works is they get to you before I do, she may try to convince you to give her another chance, or it’s not what it looks like. I’ll be over to the office right after I make a stop.”
“I’m very surprised Mr. Bennett, I mean when I hadn’t heard from you in a few days, well none of the others had any luck. I’ll be expecting you, oh and Mr. Bennett, will Miss. Lewis be with you? I was hoping to talk to her again about our arrangement.”
“Yes Mr. Clark, she’ll be with me.”
“I don’t know what he was more excited about getting the images, or seeing you again. I think when he looks at you he sees one huge dollar sign.”
They went by the apartment and Faxon downloaded the images onto the laptop while Harper called the production company and an office supply company. She arranged to have the office furniture and all the items she had ordered, contracts, banking information, brochures, large drawings of the buildings and condos, and the model with the cut out, she had it all delivered today.
“Damn Faxon you still looking at those images, you want to take that to the bathroom?”
“I’m ready. I just wasn’t in a hurry. You were on the phone.”
“They drove to the Singleton building and rode the elevator up to the sixth floor, and then they walked down the hall to office six twelve. Jacklyn stood and shook Harpers hand again holding it a little too long.
“Harper you didn’t call me,” Jacklyn said.
“I’m afraid my business keeps me busy.”
“What am I, chopped liver,” Faxon said.
“It’s ok, I understand,” she let go of Harper’s hand. “Can’t blame a girl for trying,” she said. “Mr. Clarks expecting you his wife’s here.”
When they walked into the office Mr. Clark stood and shook hands with Faxon first then Harper, Anna stood behind the desk and over to the side her arms crossed with a scowl on her face.
Harper pointed at her. “You say one word to me and I’ll kick your ass bitch, I didn’t come here to take any shit from you.”
Faxon, Pierce, and Harper still stood. Faxon handed Pierce the flash drive.
“What you do with that is up to you, but we had an agreement.”
“Yes of course Mr. Bennett.” Pierce handed Faxon a check already made out for five thousand dollars. “Miss. Lewis I was hoping to discuss the issue of the presale of the condo units?”
“I can make you an offer but I have to tell you it’s not negotiable. Commission only, I’ll give you .5% on each unit sold.”
“Miss. Lewis that’s quite a bit below real estate standards,” Pierce Clark said.
“Pierce, I don’t need a licensed agent or a broker to presell my own units. I could put a used car salesman in that office. I’ll make the deal a little better, move your office to the one I’m leasing and you want have to pay anything to run your business. And remember half a percent on each unit is five thousand there’s two hundred units, one hundred per building, and they’ll sell in less than a year. That’s over a million dollars in commission. I believe your friendly with Lisa Colman, and she’s successful, attractive and single.”
Anna clenched her fist so tight her knuckles were white.
“Miss. Lewis you have a deal,” Pierce Clark said. They shook hands and Harper explained everything was being delivered today, and they left his office.”
Harper and Faxon walked back to the elevator. They hadn’t said anything to each other yet. Faxon thought about the last time they had been in that elevator. Harper turned to face him and she gently pushed him against the wall.
“So you have my check.” Harper held both his hands down by his sides and leaned against him. He could feel her chest against his.
“How do you figure,” Faxon asked?
“We’re partners, and I got the photos, so we should split fifty, fifty.”
“You don’t have a private investigators license so that makes you an investigator apprentice, and tell me again how we became partners?”
“Well then you tell me am I a client.” Harper asked right next to his ear, her breath on his neck. “You never asked me for a fee.”
“You know the rules. No, you’re not a client.”
Harper gripped his hands tight and kissed him hard on the lips, when the door to the elevator opened she pulled away and walked out, leaving him standing in the elevator smiling. A lady held the door open before it closed.
“Are you getting out sir?”
They really didn’t talk much on the way back to the small apartment. When they got there Faxon opened the small window in the kitchen, Harper had already sat down at the table and he set an open beer in front of her then sat in the other chair. He slid the folded check across the table toward her.
“I was teasing you,” Harper said, “well not about everything, I don’t need the money. Hell I would’ve paid you that much for the experience, I think I’m hooked, it was so much fun, what an adrenaline high.”
She pushed the check back across the table toward him.
“You don’t know the worth of Lewis Construction,” she said. “Or my personal worth for that matter, and I know you don’t care, if you did you would have asked me for a fee.”
“Your right, I don’t care about how much money you have.”
She got another beer for him and herself. “I’m going to take a shower, let’s stay here tonight we can cook those pork chops.”
She was in the shower and Faxon opened the door just a crack. “Hey there’s an old movie on tonight, a John Wayne movie, listen we’re almost out of beer I’m going down to the grocery store you need anyt
hing?”
“Why don’t you let me go while you’re in the shower,” she said. “I need some female things, unless you want to pick them up for me?”
“No way, that’s where I draw the line. You can get your own feminine hygiene products.”
They broiled pork chops and cooked quick rice and watched the old John Wayne movie, they both sat on the couch Harper eventually put a pillow in his lap and laid down. Soon she fell asleep. Faxon’s cell phone rang and he had to get up to get to his phone on the table.
“Faxon Bennett Investigations,” he said. It was 10:30 pm. “Lew, I’m glad you called, I thought you’d forgotten about me.”
“You need to come see me,” Lew said. “And bring some more money, I had a hell of a time, it was challenging to say the least. These guys have good IT people. They tried to hack me to find out who was attaching their system. I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.”
“I’ll come early, see you tomorrow.”
“So he’s got some information for us,” Harper asked?
“Yea and it wasn’t easy, he wants more money. He has an interesting story for us too, seems they tried to find out who was hacking their system.”
“Tomorrow early. I’m going to bed,” she said.
Faxon watched the late news before going into the bedroom and slipping under the covers. The next morning he woke to the smell of bacon. He thought about how much he enjoyed their routine.
“We taking the Jeep today,” she asked?
“Yea I guess, why?”
“I was thinking about buying a car, if you had your choice for the perfect private detective vehicle what would it be? A pickup, a sports car, an SUV, a small car, what,” Harper asked?
“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it, an SUV would give you enough room to carry guns, and supplies, you could pull a horse trailer with it, if you got one with a big enough engine. But you already have a truck.”
“Yea but it’s too big for around the city, so an SUV then, why don’t we go buy one after we see Lew, that way we won’t have to keep borrowing the Jeep, it’s not that comfortable.”
“Is that what you want,” He asked?
FIRST STEP MURDER Page 18