by Stone, M. T.
“Well, if it isn’t my rogue agent,” he answers informally, something highly unusual for him. “Are you coming in soon or do I need to send someone out to retrieve you?”
“Good evening, Sir,” I reply, letting him know that it’s a professional call. “I’m actually calling in regards to Tommy Fowler. He recently sold his company Firefly Media and we have reason to believe that the books were cooked,” I tell him, sharing my suspicions.
“Was it a publicly traded company?” he asks, which I was anticipating.
“Yes, it was publicly traded,” I reply, hoping to peak his interest. “More importantly, he was recently hired as the new CEO at Addison Media based on his successful track record. He had a big argument with the Chairman of the board yesterday and later in the day he was found dead.”
“Bill Gleason is dead too? This whole thing is starting to sound like something out of a novel,” he replies with his usual disdain. “Do you suppose I should reverse course and start protecting the Addison Empire?” he asks in a snarky tone.
“Well, not exactly. I just thought you could use your connections to see if there were any suspicious stock transactions leading up to the sale of the company,” I clarify, hoping for some quick dirt on Tommy.
“Umm, I’m sorry Amanda but I’m gonna have to pass,” he groans. “You know we’re understaffed and I have three stacks on my desk that you should be helping me with.” He pauses, letting those last seven guilt-ridden words soak in.
“I understand,” I mutter, disappointed by the lack of cooperation from him. “I’ll have to go another route.”
“Make sure you come see me by the end of the week,” he adds, apparently sensing the end of our call. “Maybe we can scan the database once you’re here.”
“Okay, I plan on getting there soon,” I reply with waning enthusiasm. “I’ll text you.”
I simply stare at my phone for a few seconds after hanging up. Trey is right. I need to tell him I’m finished, but I want to wait until after I’ve gathered everything I can in regards to Tommy. I’m not going away empty handed.
Trey
Tyler’s room is actually crowded as I step inside the door. Dr. Novacek, an FBI agent, Detective Kelly, Vanessa and Mom are all standing around his bed interacting with him. The broad smile on his face hints that he is thrilled to be the center of attention. It reminds me of how things were after his knee was shattered. Unfortunately, back then, once he was released from the hospital he sat home and grew increasingly bitter with each passing day. Hopefully he won’t follow the same pattern this time.
“Hey, it’s my twin,” he says cheerfully as I poke my head around Dr. Novacek to greet him.
“Hey Tyler, you’re looking good, man,” I reply, before walking around to an open spot on the other side of the bed. “How’s he doing?” I ask, turning to the doctor.
“As you can see, his short term memory appears to be functioning normally,” he replies looking down at his chart. “Give him time and he should rebuild a functional memory at the very least.”
“Will he start remembering what happened to him?” Detective Kelly interjects with the FBI Agent looking on inquisitively.
“That’s far less certain,” Dr. Novacek replies, shaking his head. “I can’t imagine he will ever remember the night that he had five hundred milliliters of propofol in his system. He may get some sort of faint, partial recall but nothing complete that’s for sure.”
“What the heck happened that night?” I ask, thinking out loud.
“All I remember is waking up here and finding out that I’m engaged and I have a twin brother,” he replies still marveling in the fact that I look exactly like him. “I’m hungry,” he says, completely changing the subject.
“Then you should eat,” Dr. Novacek says, flipping his chart closed and giving him a pat on the leg. “This is your first day back on solid food, so just take it slow,” he adds, looking over the top of his glasses. He then cracks a smile before turning toward the door.
“We should step outside for a minute too,” Detective Kelly says, before looking back at the FBI Agent. “This is Agent Mitchell.”
“I’m Trey,” I reply, holding out my hand to shake his. I’m not sure exactly what to say when meeting an FBI Agent. Pleasure to meet you? Not really. “There is a family room down the hall where we can have a little more privacy,” I tell them before leading them down the corridor.
“This is better than the hallway, I guess,” Detective Kelly says while hitting up the coffee machine and glancing over at Mandy who is still on the phone.
“She’s actually talking to her boss at the SEC to see if he can shed any light on this case,” I state as Agent Mitchell and I grab a seat at a small white table in the corner. “She’s an attorney,” I relay to the agent.
“So, what’s going on?” Detective Kelly asks upon joining us. “You said you have details that can shed light on this case.” He takes a slurp of his coffee and stares at me intently. All he needs is a doughnut to complete his stereotypical guise.
“I hardly know where to begin,” I say, running my hands through my hair and letting out a sigh. “It’s all been so crazy. But Mandy and I believe that somehow Tommy Fowler, who is the new CEO of Addison Media is at the heart of all of this.”
“Tommy Fowler, from the TV show?” Agent Mitchell asks furrowing his brow.
“Yes. When Tyler called me on the night he was poisoned, he said that Tommy was a fraud. He also mentioned that he had told Dad, which leads me to believe that’s why they were the first two victims. Even though Tyler lived, he can’t remember anything because Dr. Potaturri fed him a pile of drugs that basically wiped out his memory. And now the doctor is dead as well!” As the words pour from my mouth, I find it hard to believe how much has happened in such a brief amount of time.
“Yes, we were briefed on Dr. Potaturri. Is there a connection between him and Tommy?” Agent Mitchell asks with a glimmer in his eyes.
“There is. Tommy is the one who told Vanessa that he would be able to help Tyler,” I relay as Mandy hangs up the phone and walks toward us. “This is my girlfriend, Mandy,” I tell the two men who are now both completely distracted.
“Hi,” Mandy says, pulling another chair over to the table. “Harris isn’t going to do a thing for us. The SEC doesn’t have any spare resources to devote to it and he doesn’t feel he owes me any favors.” She adds with a snicker.
“What are you looking for?” Detective Kelly asks her directly.
“Anything unusual.” She shrugs. “I’m thinking the best way to get to the truth is by uncovering the money trail. There has to be one somewhere,” she reasons while both men nod their heads in full agreement.
“Well, here is your man,” Detective Kelly says, slapping Agent Mitchell on the shoulder. “If anything over ten grand has moved between two bank accounts, he can track it down.” He grins and motions for him to take over.
“I’m intrigued by what you are telling me,” Agent Mitchell tells us. “But since there is no concrete evidence, I’m hoping there is a clear money trail somewhere.”
“With all that is going on, believe me, there has to be one,” I tell him with the utmost conviction. “That reminds me, there was a shady looking guy talking to Dr. Potaturri the first time we met him.”
“Can you give me a description?” Agent Mitchell asks, ready to jot it down.
“He was about five foot ten, I would guess one hundred and eighty pounds,” I tell him, thinking back to search for more details.
“He had spiky blond hair and crystal blue eyes,” Mandy adds.
“Oh, and a switchblade tattoo on the back of his neck.” I vividly remember.
“Is this him?” Detective Kelly asks, holding up his iPad.
“That’s him!” we both exclaim simultaneously.
“It’s the ghost,” Detective Kelly says to Agent Mitchell. “He occasionally shows up in a random surveillance video or a potential witness sees him, but we have never been a
ble to track him down.”
“Potential witness?” Mandy asks seeking clarification.
“Yeah, they always end up dead,” he replies flatly.
“That’s the kind of guy Tommy would hire to do the heavy lifting,” I add, trying to make sure the investigation stays focused on him. “He’s too smart to take any chances getting caught.”
“You already have him tried and convicted, don’t you?” Detective Kelly smirks at me, shaking his head from side to side.
“If you get a chance to talk to him, you’ll see why,” Mandy adds. “He’s very arrogant about everything. Show him the text message,” she says, nudging me.
I pull out my phone and click to my messages. “He claims he never makes mistakes,” I say, showing both of them the exchange between Tommy and I. The eyes of both men grow dark as they read his reply.
“If he’s behind this, we’ll find a mistake,” Detective Kelly says, shaking his head and staring at Tommy’s words. “Thanks for showing us that.”
“Oh shit, I forgot to call Dad back,” Mandy says with a shudder as her phone begins to buzz. She gets up and scoots across the room before answering. She stands silently, staring at the floor and appears to be listening to whatever Ray has on his mind. She might be there for a while…
“One more thing,” I add as both men rise from their chairs and gather up their things. “Someone in a black sedan was following us earlier and actually rammed our bumper as we turned the corner in front of the hospital.”
“You’re sure it was intentional?” the agent asks with a steely look in his eyes.
“It was definitely intentional. Our limo driver went around the block before stopping and they followed us all the way around. He was making the same corner for the second time when they came up and hit us.” I cross my arms, still feeling uncomfortable with everything.
“It was probably a warning,” Detective Kelly speculates. “Where are you staying tonight?” He asks, with growing concern in his eyes.
“I’m not sure yet. I’m expecting a call from a security guy and I thought we would figure it out after talking to them,” I explain, beginning to wonder why he hasn’t called me yet. “He’s part of the Alpha 9, maybe you’ve heard of them.”
They both laugh and nod their heads. “Yeah, we’ve definitely heard of them,” Agent Mitchell replies. “They are the best money can buy.”
“Trey has a habit of that,” Detective Kelly says with a smirk. “He put Perry Walters on retainer just in case we pursued a case against him.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we have another angle to pursue then.” Agent Mitchell laughs and pulls a business card out of his jacket pocket. “I think we have everything we need for now. You give me a call right away if you don’t hear from your Alpha 9 contact. You and anyone else who is intimately involved could definitely use some protection.” He stares at me intently while Detective Kelly nods his head in full agreement.
“Hey, I totally agree,” I tell him throwing up my hands and reaching over to take the card from him. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. If I don’t hear from him within the hour, I’ll give you a call.”
The two men turn and head back into the hospital corridor, so I go over to Mandy who is still on the phone with her dad. She has taken a seat in the corner on the couch and seems to be much more at ease. I bend down to give her a kiss on the forehead. “Tell him everything is under control and I’m sorry about the front page story,” I whisper. “I need to go make a list of people who need protection.”
Just as I turn toward the door, Mom enters the room. “She’s talking to Ray,” I tell her, thinking that she would probably want to know.
“I need to talk to him too,” she replies. “He’s called me a couple of times, but I wanted to wait until we could have a little privacy,” she adds with a sigh.
“I’m sorry again for the newspaper article,” I tell her, shaking my head and throwing an arm around her.
“You know, at this point I don’t really care,” she says with watery eyes. “I just want everyone to be okay. I want our lives to get back to normal.” She lowers her head and leans into my shoulder.
“You and me both,” I reply, giving her a kiss on the top of the head.
Chapter 2
Mandy
I knew that I was in for an ass chewing when Dad popped up on the screen of my phone. He has gone through a lot with Mom lately, so it’s understandable that he doesn’t want anything bad to happen to me. At this point, I am acutely aware that danger is all around me, but I’ve never felt more alive.
“Either you come home until things cool off or I’m coming out there,” he says after making little progress trying to talk some sense into me.
“Let me know when your flight lands and I’ll be there to meet you,” I reply defiantly. “By the way, your girlfriend just walked in. Do you want to talk to her?”
“Why do you have to be so difficult, Amanda?” he asks seeming exasperated. “Let me talk to Silvia, I’m obviously not going to get anywhere with you.”
“Dad wants to talk to you,” I tell Silvia, holding my phone out for her to take. “I’ll go with Trey and give you two some space.”
“How’s life Ray?” she asks with a giggle after taking the phone. “Oh Ray, we might as well have a sense of humor about it.” I hear her say as Trey and I exit and head back toward Tyler’s room.
“Mom is taking everything way better than I ever imagined,” Trey says with an astonished look on his face. “I thought she would completely lose it.”
“I think she’s probably just glad that both you and Tyler are safe for the moment,” I reply, knowing that nothing else truly matters in the end.
“For the moment is right, I’m getting anxious about hearing from that Anthony guy,” Trey replies, checking to make sure his ringer volume is turned up. “I’m giving it a few more minutes and then I’ll have to call Brandon back.”
“What the hell?” I ask as we approach Tyler’s doorway. The voice coming from inside is eerily familiar.
Trey
“You’ve got to be shitting me!” I blurt out upon reaching the doorway. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I would stop up and see for myself how he was doing,” Tommy replies, backing away from Tyler’s bed.
“Tommy says we’ve been friends since high school,” Tyler declares with a big smile crossing his face. The innocent look on his face is almost scary, like he’s had a chemical lobotomy or something.
“Yes, we have both known Tommy since high school,” I affirm, purposely dropping the word friend. I make a snap decision to refrain from making any derogatory comments in front of Tyler. Hopefully now that Tommy sees his mental state, he will simply leave him alone. “Where is Vanessa?” I ask, a little concerned that Tyler was left alone with him.
“I haven’t seen her.” Tommy shrugs. “I literally just walked in and he was here alone.” He comes around the bed and places a hand on my shoulder. “You and I need to have a little talk,” he says squinting his eyes.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell Mandy and Tyler before leading Tommy down the hallway to a quiet area in front of Dr. Novacek’s office. We both move down the corridor in silence, each of us knowing that our conversation is probably not going to be pleasant.
Tommy is the first to break the silence after looking around to ensure our privacy. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asks; his eyes grow instantly dark and his nostrils even flaring up a bit.
“What the hell am I doing?” I step toward him and give him an equally intense glare. “After all you’ve done, you have the balls to ask me what I’m doing?” I can almost feel the crash of my tightly clenched fist colliding with his arrogant face.
“What have I done?” He steps back with a puzzled look on his face. “That’s the whole thing… I don’t understand what you think I’ve done.”
“Really? You’re going to play innocen
t with me?” I ask as my phone begins to buzz. “I’m sorry, but I have to take this,” I tell him, stepping back and answering.
“What the fuck?” he yells at me. “You’re not going to just walk away from this, are you?” He looks completely flabbergasted.
“Sorry.” I mouth to him. “I have to take this call.” I point to the screen, turn and begin walking back to the main corridor. “Hello, this is Trey,” I answer, actually feeling a bit of satisfaction from leaving Tommy standing there with a dropped jaw.
“Is this Trey Addison?” a deep voice on the other end of the line asks.
“Yes, it is.” I pick up my pace back to Tyler’s room, not wanting to have this conversation in the hallway.
“Jack Ryker asked me to give you a call,” he explains. “He tells me you need some protection.”
“Yeah, that’s putting it mildly.” I jog the last hundred feet to Tyler’s room. “Let me get to where I have some privacy before I explain things to you.” I pull the door shut behind me. Both Tyler and Mandy look at me with wide eyes, probably wondering if someone is chasing me. “It’s Anthony,” I whisper to her while heading for a chair in the opposite corner of the room.
“Jack tells me that a couple of people have already died, one of them being your father?” he continues in a very business-like manner.
“Yes, that’s correct,” I confirm, still feeling a pang in my heart upon his mention of Dad’s death. “Today they found my brother’s former doctor dead, as well as the chairman of our board. The chairman’s was made to look like a suicide, but I highly doubt it.”
“So there have been three deaths that you know of in addition to your brother being poisoned,” he recaps.
“Correct. And tonight a black sedan followed us on the way to the hospital and when we slowed down to turn the corner they came up on us and rammed us from behind,” I add feeling a flutter of anxiety in my chest. “It scared the shit out of our limo driver.”
“Okay, as of now, I’ll be your new driver,” he says with a lighter tone in his voice. “Are you still at Bellevue?”