Lois made calming gestures at Temple, who took a deep breath before going on. “I will not be Alex’s girlfriend… period.”
“Really, Temple,” Jobe pleaded, her smile becoming more glistening and fake, “you realize how important these promotional actions are. We all play a part. I have to remind you in your contract you agreed to any and all promotional marketing schemes, we here at the studio come up with, for the good of our movie sales.”
Trish stood up, and guided Temple back into her seat. “Okay, let’s get to it. Young Mr. Winton can’t sing, he can’t dance, and frankly, he can’t act. We know and the studio knows without Temple, there is no Sally Waters movie. She’s not refusing to be in the movie, or demanding more money. She will not have anything to do with Alex Winton behind the scenes involving anything of a personal nature.”
Jobe straightened away from the table, her smile gone. In its place was the arrogant broad I’d met at the studio social gathering. “Just who the hell do you think you are, Ms. Rocha? You don’t dictate terms in this office, not for Ms. Donavan, and especially in regards to the studio.”
Trish grinned. “I’ll tell you who I am sweetie. I represent Madigan and Cantelli Security. Here’s a promise I’ll keep – we will find out every item in your life that makes you susceptible to getting pressured into this idiot maneuver by this no talent midget. When we finish, we’ll take the results to your less susceptible studio heads, and see how they feel about your one woman show. I didn’t just fly in here on pixie dust from Wonderland. I know if the studio really wanted this, they’d have shown up in force, in which case we would let this impasse go to the lawyers. I’m thinking the best resolution is we leave you now to talk sense to this little parasite earning big bucks on the talent of our client. As an added bonus, we’ll fax you over some of the most interesting explanations from your life that got you here doing Winton’s bidding.”
Oh hell yeah! I grinned at Lois, who shook her iPhone at me under the table with a nod, meaning Bone had indeed found some missing links.
“I…I…” Jobe shut up for a moment, then folded her arms. “Perhaps it would be best if we had a cooling off period. If-”
“What?!” Winton jumped up out of his seat again. “You can’t be serious! You were to make this happen. You’ve allowed this-”
“It would be best not to say anything else until Ms. Jobe finds out how little the pressure you’re putting on her is in relation to what we can put on her,” Trish interrupted. “I’m with you, Ms. Jobe. Let’s call it a day. We’ll leave first so there won’t be any unfortunate mistakes made during our departure.”
And just like that, the meeting ended. We left as Winton sat down dejectedly, the only fire in his eyes directed at Jobe. Outside the office, Lois held up her iPhone.
“We got her. Jobe was one of those big shot house flippers, thinking to make a fortune on foreclosures. She bought a few out of her league she couldn’t get fixed or flipped. She’s holding on by her fingernails, in debt up to her eyeballs, and about to get foreclosed on herself.”
“Winton probably found out about her predicament and decided to extort some favors in exchange for him not ratting her out to the studio,” Trish said. “The studios don’t like anyone in debt around them. It looks bad to the investors. That’s why you can squeeze the studio brass when they get into trouble like this. She would have been better off declaring bankruptcy, and taking her chances with the studio. You were pretty good in there, Temple.”
“Thanks, but without you three, they would have rolled me. I’ll do better. You were awesome, Trish. We should celebrate and spend the day at Rick and Lois’s beach house.”
Trish grabbed my jacket as we got in the elevator. “You have a beach house and didn’t tell me?”
“Rick probably didn’t want you to get too comfortable with things in case he had to shoot you in the head, Skipper,” Lois replied for me.
I patted Trish’s hand as she glared over at Lois. “You’re wrinkling my jacket. We’ve only been together for a day. Besides, it’s our firm’s beach house. You had a good start today, Trish. We still have work to do, kid. The beach house celebration will have to wait.”
“Yeah, I’m putting Cantelli on installs for a week for his weekend sins,” Lois stated.
“What? You can’t put me on installs. I have to show Trish around. There were no sins anyway, other than recruiting someone who just made a major client happy.”
Trish and Temple were both laughing at my ‘installs’ outrage.
“Take Trish with you. She needs seasoning,” Lois added.
Trish hugged and leaned into my arm. “I’ll do installs. We’ll blow them off, and go hit the beach instead while Granny thinks we’re doing them.”
Lois pantomimed having a gun with her fingers, and firing it. “Yep, right between the eyes one of these days, Skipper.”
Chapter Six
Complicated Install
At our office, the introductions were short and sweet. T-bone was his now usual outgoing self in welcoming Trish. He and Lois adjourned to her office for preparing a brief on Carolyn Jobe. Shelly acted like someone had shot her dog, which I half expected. Even our success thanks to Trish at the meeting didn’t brighten Shelly up any. Trish grinned after Shelly went back to her desk.
“I see what Temple was talking about. Our first workout’s tonight. I can’t wait to get in with the gang over there. Jadie and Karen will be a real treat to meet.”
“You’re not serious. You can’t be. That would be like putting out a fire with napalm. Couldn’t you settle in for a couple weeks before tearing my life apart, Destructo?”
“Nope. I’m more of a jump in the deep end of the pool type girl. Remember, your conscience is clear. You are not seeing any of them, right?”
“Yeah, except logic and common sense are lacking completely with my business partners, even when they’re married, and in Jadie’s case, living with someone else. I like going over there, kidding around, work out, and come home without any hard feelings.”
“You mean like last Friday, when you beat up a girl and her boyfriend after class?”
Shit! Definitely another Lois. “Thanks for remembering. Is there anything I can say that will keep your ass out of aerobics class?”
“Sure, if it’s held outside.”
“Very funny.”
Lois came out of her office with an install packet. “Here, take Trish with you on the Gibson Tire Company job.”
“That’s a five hour install if we’re lucky. Do we look like we’re dressed for installs?”
“Go home, change, and get your asses over there. I want Gibson on-line before Jadie’s gym time.”
Install doesn’t seem so bad. “We’ll get it done, but we’ll have to skip the workout.”
Lo waved me off. “I want you and Skipper at the workout. That’s final. Now get moving. The install van number four is in the garage.” Lois started to walk toward her office and spun around. “I’m calling Gibson’s in a half hour. You better be setting up. There damn well better not be any passengers on the Hooterville Trolley this afternoon, Skipper.”
“Go hump your broomstick, you old crone!”
Trish’s retort drew a long cackle from Lo as she disappeared back in the office. Trish yanked on my arm. “Let’s get the van and head to your house. I have a ticket to Happy Town, and the damn trolley better get me there.”
“Half an hour, Skipper!”
I smiled at Trish’s furrowed brow. “I’ve been thinking about ordering one of those X-Men thought blocking helmets. I’ll order you one too.”
“Screw it! I don’t care if Granny invades my head. She’ll have nightmares for a lifetime. See if she gets this.” Trish put her fingers to her temples, staring at Lois’s closed office door.
“And your Momma too, Skipper!”
Trish straightened. “Damn… she’s good.”
“Welcome to Cantelli Land.”
* * *
We arrived at
Gibson’s Tire an hour after Lo handed me the packet. Trish and I dressed for installs. We have coveralls in all sizes, and I’d grabbed one for her. Although I mightily resisted, Trish punched her ticket to Happy Town, and the Hooterville Trolley arrived late for its Lois ordered next destination. Mickey Gibson, a stocky, dark haired guy around forty met us.
“Hi, Rick. I didn’t expect to see you doing the install. I liked your presentation, so I decided to go for it.”
I shook his hand. “We do a hands on type service, Mickey. This is my co-worker for the project, Trish Rocha.”
“Lois called twice. I thought maybe you had an accident on the road the way she checked on your arrival. I guess you better call her. Nice meeting you, Trish.”
“Likewise, Sir.” Trish shook hands with our client.
Mickey turned away, and then stopped, stuck his hands in his pockets, swiveling to face us once again. “I know when you came over to estimate the security job, I told you it was just a precaution. I…I wasn’t as forthcoming as I should have been. Since it’s you doing the install, I figure you should know. Our inventory, which is quite large, keeps coming up short. We really pay attention to the numbers, because as I’m sure you know, tires are expensive nowadays. I’m figuring I’m losing in the thousands over a month’s time. We can’t figure it out. I’m hoping your surveillance system will help us to track down what’s happening.”
“It’s an inside job,” Trish said with matter of fact assuredness.
“No way, no how,” Mickey replied with fervor. “We thought of that first thing. Every employee we have has been under intense scrutiny.”
I have no reason to doubt Mick, so this job is going to get uncomfortable. For one, I’ve figured it out. Like Sherlock Holmes said, ‘when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth’. Like Trish already voiced, it was an inside job. What Mickey didn’t know was it had nothing to do with employees. I knew he had partners. Someone with the magic key to all things in the company was in financial trouble. This stuff isn’t rocket science. The problem here is a partner will be well aware of an installation of high tech security gear. What we needed was to make Mickey trust us with a trap.
“Mick. You’re being ripped by a partner. I think the security install is a good idea, and let me make a suggestion for an added feature. Trish and I will get everything installed and on-line right now. You keep that fact to yourself, and announce the security system will not be on-line for a couple of days. If I’m wrong, no harm done. If I’m right, you’ve gotten a free professional investigation.”
Mickey didn’t like it. He was cataloguing his partners, and not liking any of them for it. See, Mickey was the hands on, up front entity in the operation. He worked here. With a huge warehouse of tires Gibson’s supplied many independent shops around the area with tires for their customers, along with doing all tire, suspension, and alignment work in an attached shop. I knew who his partners were, and I had a real good feeling about who was ripping Gibson’s off. Marlo Tennyson owned a boutique clothing chain in the San Diego and LA areas. The other two partners were automotive retailers in alignment equipment, and suspension parts. Bleeding Gibson’s tire franchise dry would border on the unlikely to the insane for the automotive retailers.
“Fine… I know you’re wrong, but I can’t afford to overlook anything right now.”
“May I ask you a couple of questions that will border on the personal?” I had to tread lightly here. Trish seemed fully engaged. She was watching Mick with intense interest.
“Sure… go ahead.”
“Are you and Marlo Tennyson having an affair?”
Yeah, they were. Trish inappropriately chuckled as Mick went through a series of denials even he had trouble mouthing. I walked over and grasped his shoulder.
“That’s enough, Mick. We don’t care. We’re here to solve your theft problem. That’s all. We have no interest in your personal life or making unwanted accusations. We do have to work the most obvious angles to solve the case. Will you let us do it?”
Mickey seemed more concerned with his love life. I didn’t blame him. Hell, when you fondle your way into a thing that makes you happy, the money doesn’t seem all that important anymore. Mick’s common sense side was winning though by the look on his face. His features were sagging as I imagined a thousand clues going through his head, he had ignored.
“When you two leave, I’ll tell everyone the system will be on-line in another day or two. I’ll also announce it to my partners that way too.”
“That’s all I ask, Mick. If I’m wrong, no harm done.”
“What the hell are you going to do anyway, stake the place out?”
Although necessary sometimes, that’s not really needed in this case. “Our cameras will pick up everything. We don’t have to do surveillance physically.”
Mick got a strange look on his face I didn’t like. “How much for an in person surveillance?”
“A lot. Let Trish and I get the install done while you think about it. We’ll catch the perp with only video surveillance. We can then take the evidence to the police, and they can proceed from there. It will help you avoid confrontations. Either way, I’m not sure how much can be recovered.”
“If you catch them red handed though, at least I wouldn’t lose a couple thousand dollars in tires more.”
He had a point. “Think about it. We’ll get the install done according to plan. I’ll call Lois and get her thoughts on it too. I’ll also find out a price for you for physical surveillance.”
“Thanks, Rick. I hope you’re wrong.”
“Me too, Mick… but I’m not.”
After Mick walked away, I called Lois and explained the added detail Mick admitted to, along with my conclusion.
“I like this Tennyson broad for it too, Rick. Bone and I will tear into her clothing boutique business, and see what’s what with her financial standing. Any ideas on how she’s pulling off something like that? It’s not like she could be backing a pickup in there and loading them herself.”
I smiled. I had a good idea of who might be helping her. I was only quiet for a moment, but it was enough for a thought theft from Spock-ella, the mind munch.
“That hamster wheel is spinning in your head again, Hooterville. Give it to me straight before the poor thing collapses again.”
“I have to ask Mick another question and call you back. Go to work on Marlo and get the hell out of my head.”
Cackle and disconnect. Trish is enjoying what she heard of the exchange.
“Her smartass timer is very impressive.”
Can’t argue with that. “Agreed. C’mon and I’ll take you through the install. The attached warehouse is huge, which is why the thefts are pretty easy to pull off. Gibson’s carries every tire size known to man, and nearly every brand. Not a lot has to be taken at a time. For example, a set of some sizes of Michelins can be sold for a thousand dollars retail.”
We walked into the warehouse with the diagram I’d created for our video surveillance. Trish looked around in stunned amazement at the multi-tiered row upon row of tires. “I’m going to get all sweaty doing this shit.”
“Welcome to installs.”
* * *
Nearly four and a half hours later, we completed the final touches, and adjourned to Mick’s private office where I had set up the surveillance center. Because of the warehouse size, I opted for four large screen quad monitors. Trish was impressed with the result. I had a feeling this install had been her first honest labor. She was sweaty, ruffled, and damned attractive. Trish noticed me eyeballing her as I maneuvered our cameras for different looks.
“I sense the steam rising in Hooterville.”
I patted her shoulder. “Let me get Mick in here to check out the system.”
Moments later, Mick was smiling at his new setup. “Rick… this is awesome. You have a monitoring station seeing all of this too, huh?”
“Yep. I have a question for you. Th
ink carefully. Have there been any of your competitors in the area putting on what seem like impossibly low sales?”
It only took him a couple of minutes of contemplation. “Now that you mention it, another wholesaler has been eating my lunch with special sales. We’ve had to cut down on our mounting and balancing labor to compete. They’re Wilshire Discount Tires. Why?”
“Can I answer that in a few minutes after I talk with Lois?”
“Sure, I’m finishing up in the shop. I’ll keep the door in here closed so no one else notices the systems up.”
I FaceTimed Lois as Mick left, giving her a view of the monitoring center. “We’re done. Can you look into connections between Tennyson and anyone at Wilshire Discount Tires?”
“I’ll get Bone on it right away. You called it right on Tennyson. Her clothing boutique is in the tank. She’s closing outlets already. It seems Marlo expanded way too fast after early success. She’s cash starved enough to rob from her own partnership. One of the reasons Gibson wanted the system was to quiet down his insurance company paying for the theft loss. I found out they gave him an ultimatum or they planned to drop him. You can bet Marlo knows all about it since she’s boinking him, as well as partnering in the business. Hey, let me see Trish.”
I turned the phone to point at Trish. Lois laughed. “I just wanted to see you all sweaty and mussed up like you actually did a day’s work for the first time in your sinful life, Skipper.”
Trish grinned. “That’s okay. Hooterville likes the look, and you know what that means, Granny.”
I heard a ka-pow sound, and Lois saying ‘right between the eyes’. I turned the iPhone back around. “We’re heading out. Do you have a price to give Mick?”
“He paid a lot of money for this install and remote monitoring system. I’d like to give him a break, but I’d need you and Bone both on this. I don’t want you cornered over there by three or four guys ripping off tires. I can’t see this for less than a thousand even with a discount.”
“Hey!” Trish hurried around to confront Lois. “Rick and I can handle that.”
Rick Cantelli, P.I. Deadly Liaisons (Rick Cantelli, P.I. Detectives Book 2) Page 8