by Shirl Henke
“My cell’s charged. Let’s see if you can raise her,” Sam said. She’d been watching the console signal as she drove. She handed him her phone and he dialed. After a three rings, Tess picked up. “Are you with Kit Steele?” he asked without preamble.
“Yes. We’re searching Alexi’s racing boat. I tried to call you but you didn’t answer. Matt, I was sure I’d figured out where he hid the information he threatened Mikhail with.”
“And?” Matt prompted.
“I was wrong,” she said in a weary voice. “Kit and I tore the radio apart. He’d said he had a ‘clear channel to Pribluda.’ The Top Gun Cigarette is his favorite, the one he was always tinkering with. I was sure he meant he’d put the material inside the radio compartment. For good measure, we even took apart his big Tiara’s radio. Nothing.”
“Can you get your friend to let us in?” he asked as they drove up the bridge to the security gate where a very stern-looking man in uniform stared at them from behind a window in a brick building that looked strong enough to withstand a direct nuclear hit.
“We’re here to see Kit Steele,” Sam said hopefully into the speaker. “Sheesh, should I have ordered fries with that?” she muttered to Matt as they waited anxiously.
The speaker barked something that sounded like, “Proceed,” and the barrier in front of the visitors’ gate raised. Sam didn’t give the guy inside a chance to reconsider. The Charger’s tires squealed as she took off across the arched bridge and followed the twisting labyrinth to the address Frobisher had given her.
“Some digs,” she said, as she pulled her beat-up vehicle into a circular drive surrounded by palmettos, bougainvillea, lantana and all sorts of elaborate flowering and evergreen landscaping. The house was a stone split-level, with lots of glass and open decks spilling off the sides.
“Yeah, but she doesn’t own it.”
“If everything Tess said about Kit was true, then Mikhail does.”
“Ditto her yacht—” he glanced down at his notes “—a Jag and a Bentley.”
“She must be very good at her job.”
When they climbed out of the Charger, Tess was waiting at the front door with her hostess. Kit Steele was a striking redhead whose naturally pale English complexion had been made golden in the warm, moist tropical sun. Her hair, a deep auburn, was streaked with sunny golden highlights and worn in a sleek French twist that accented high cheekbones and winged eyebrows over wide blue eyes the color of a cloudless south Florida sky.
Her smile was an orthodontist’s dream. No “English teeth” here, Sam thought as she took the beautifully manicured hand of the tall, slender woman. She was a couple of inches taller than Tess, who was taller than Sam.
“I’m ever so happy to meet you, Ms. Ballanger, Mr. Granger,” she said in a crisp upper-class British accent. “Won’t you please come inside?”
“It’s Matt and Sam,” he said as they followed her into a huge foyer with a polished marble floor. His aunt wouldn’t have sniffed at the Oriental area rug lying on it. He never could keep Chinese period pieces straight, but it looked like a Ming vase on the Henredon Circa East table. Either Kit Steele had grown up with serious money or she’d hired one hell of a decorator.
Sam only smelled money as she looked around, unable to put names to the expensive-looking furnishings. Art and interior design were not subjects she’d studied in college. Kit chatted pleasantly as they made their way down a wide hallway past a sunken living room toward a patio at the rear of the house where a servant was laying out breakfast on a glass table.
“Marguerite, please set two more places. You will join us for breakfast, of course?” she offered them as the maid scurried off to do as she was told.
“Some coffee would be good, thanks,” Matt replied with a smile. He turned to Tess. “How’re you holding up?” He hadn’t the heart to scold her for doing something so potentially dangerous. What if Steele had been in on the conspiracy? Tess would be a hostage along with Jenny and her kids now and neither he nor Sam would have a shred of proof that Kit had been within a mile of them.
“We don’t have much time until I’ll have to confront Mikhail,” Tess said tightly. “All I can think of is where he’d keep them. Kit and I talked about it while we took apart the radios on Alexi’s boats.”
Sam looked over at the woman who was politely motioning for the maid to begin serving fresh fruit and croissants. “Did you come up with any ideas?” she asked.
Kit Steele placed her delicate china cup back in its saucer. “A few. He owns some strip clubs in the South Beach area, but I don’t think he’d want the boy to see that side of his business. It’s a bit sordid.”
British understatement? Sam wasn’t sure. “Where else?”
“There are several ways into the house in Aventura that I doubt the police know about. It seems to me that he’d want Steve to feel as safe and at home as possible.”
Sam and Matt both looked at Tess. Had she told Kit about the potential danger from Nancy? Tess answered that indirectly. “We agreed that he’d think it was too risky.”
“Mikhail knows the police and federal authorities are watching him,” Kit said. “He’s admitted as much to me recently. Ever since this dispute with Pribluda’s people began, Mikhail’s been even more paranoid than usual. Losing his son has only intensified it. No, he’d take no chance losing Steve.”
“But he has places, yachts, a condo in Key West, even a beach house on Key Largo. More that we may not even know about,” Tess added, leaning her head in her hand wearily.
“The bottom line is that it would take days to search them all and if he learned what we were about, he’d just have Steve moved,” Kit replied.
“What about Jenny and her daughters?” Sam asked. “I can’t imagine he’d care where he stashed them as long as they were secured.
“The places in South Beach and even up toward Bal Harbor would work for that,” she said, consideringly.
“Is there any chance you could find out—either about Steve or his aunt? I know you handle his taxes and money transfers. Surely that database includes real estate,” Matt said to her.
“Thank you for being tactful, Matt. Yes, I am what you Yanks call a money laundress for a criminal, but unfortunately, Mikhail has always kept his dealings very compartmentalized. I know he has other homes in the vicinity and, indeed around the world, but very few actual addresses unless they’re involved in business cash flow.”
She hesitated, as if considering how much to tell them, then added, “I’ve been looking for a way out for several years. Mikhail was my green card to America and a whole new life. I met him in London five years ago when I was newly divorced and quite down on my luck. He posed as an international import-export dealer and told me he was looking for hard workers who wanted to better themselves. I jumped at the chance when he said he had an opening for an accountant. Of course, I didn’t have the proper certification, but I was fast to learn…”
“And then when you found out the truth you couldn’t quit,” Matt supplied.
“Again, kind of you. But, no, at first the money and benefits—” she gestured around the lavish house and sparkling water beyond the manicured lawn “—made me willing to overlook where my good life came from. I told myself that I was simply transferring funds, not killing people.”
“You’ve never seen Mikhail change from a charmer into a monster. We have,” Tess said quietly.
“I imagine the invasion from Little Odessa didn’t exactly bring out the best in him,” Sam said. “Do you have any idea what kind of information Alexi was going to peddle to Pribluda?”
“I would imagine a list of his contacts in the drug business—Colombians and their intermediaries,” Kit said. “Some Middle Eastern ones, too.”
“Does Mikhail have a guard posted at Tess and Alexi’s house?” Sam asked.
“You mean, could you get in and search the place without him finding out about it?” Kit asked.
“We were already on the premises
to examine Alexi’s boats. Our house is only two doors down from Kit’s,” Tess said. “We just hopped on her Jet Ski and rode over to our dock.”
“Dangerous,” Matt said.
Tess smiled gamely. “I wore a blond wig. No one would’ve recognized me as other than someone Kit knew. She’s in charge of selling Alexi’s toys for Mikhail.”
“I know it sounds frightfully cloak-and-dagger, but I keep disguises here that I use upon occasion when I travel on business.”
“I don’t think it’s such a hot idea to stick around right now,” Sam said. “Who knows if some of Mikki’s goons might not show up after seeing you with a stranger, especially if you were snooping around Alexi’s boats.”
“Even if they’re not on the island, they could be keeping tabs on the place from across the Intracoastal with a high-power telescope,” Matt agreed.
“The boathouse is large and no one could see inside. As Tess said, I’ve been showing his boats, Jet Skis and cars to perspective buyers for the past week or so. But you could be right about Mikhail utilizing high-tech surveillance,” Kit replied.
“The joint could be wired,” Sam speculated as she looked over at Tess, who paled.
“I should’ve thought of that. Mikhail’s ever so devious,” Kit said. Her porcelain English complexion turned decidedly sallow now.
They rose from the breakfast table and everyone moved toward the front door with Sam in the lead.
“We’d really appreciate it if you could think of any possibilities for where Jenny and her kids might be stashed,” Sam said.
“I can access a list of Mikhail’s strip clubs. Just give me a minute to print it out.” She made a quick detour into a room filled with expensive electronic equipment and sat down at a keyboard.
Her fingers flew as she typed and punched in codes, so swiftly that neither Sam nor Matt could have followed them even if the monitor had not blocked their view. Almost immediately the printer started spitting out pages. Kit quickly scooped them up and handed them to Matt.
He whistled low. “One’s only a couple of blocks from where I live.”
“And you think I live in a bad area,” Sam said. “At least no one’s tried to kill me in my own place.”
“Someone tried to kill you?” Tess asked, appalled.
“Several times now,” Sam replied calmly. “We’ll explain about our adventures on the ride,” she said to Tess. Without explanation, she gave the Charger door a karate kick and hopped inside. If Kit was surprised by the demonstration, she didn’t show it.
Tess took Kit’s hands. “Somehow, we’ll all get out of this and see Mikhail behind bars. I swear it.”
“I do so hope you’re right,” Kit replied.
“You think it’s a good idea to stay here?” Sam asked. “I mean, if there’s any chance Mikhail has bugged the joint and knows you’re working with us?”
“Now that I consider it, I doubt he has. My anti-bugging system is pretty sophisticated, but I’ll run a scan just to be safe. If anything’s amiss, I’ll get out quickly and call you.” She looked back at Tess. “Now, get on with you, and do keep safe.”
She stood in the drive as they pulled away, then turned back to her gilded cage and disappeared inside.
Chapter 17
Sam drove quickly to the gate, which lifted without delay. “A lot easier getting off this island than getting on,” she muttered.
Matt skimmed the printout from Kit. “I know most of these places. I’ll attract less attention snooping around than you would,” he said to Sam.
“Yeah, especially if you keep your hands in your pockets,” she shot back. “Let me put in a few calls to some tattoo joints and see what I can come up with on that angle.” She looked in her rearview at Tess in the backseat. “Steve saw an infinity sign? No idea about what those other doodads under it were?”
“I—I don’t think he wanted to look any closer. He was shocked and afraid. Not that Nancy had ever been the least kind to him, but she was married to his grandfather and he really loved the old man. Damn Mikhail! Now he’s destroyed even that illusion for Steve,” Tess said through clenched teeth.
“Tess, I know how high the stakes are for you, but you have to let us handle this and stay where we put you,” Matt said gently. “His goons have orders to kill you. Once you’re out of the way, nothing’s going to keep your sister and her family alive.”
“And he’ll have my son all to himself.” She shivered and bit down on her lip until it bled. “I was frightened when I couldn’t reach you, but you’re right, it was poor judgment to run off on my own. I was so sure about one of those damned boats having Alexi’s papers hidden on it.”
“You took them apart stem to stern?” Matt asked. “Remember, we could be looking for something as small as a computer chip.”
Tess shook her head. “I doubt it. Alexi hated computers. He was always getting ours bollixed up and Steve had to show him how to retrieve whatever he’d lost. He was a genius as an athlete, but he had no patience to sit still.”
“Then we’re talking paper,” Sam said. “Easier to find.”
“Only if you know where to look,” Matt replied thoughtfully.
He and Sam exchanged a glance, trying to decide whether or not to tell Tess that her husband might still be alive. He shook his head ever so slightly. She nodded imperceptibly. Damn, we operate on the same wavelengths. Pretty scary stuff, huh, Ballanger? She was going to get hurt if she wasn’t careful. Who was she trying to fool? She was already in way over her head. The only consoling thought was that Matt seemed to be, too.
Maybe he’d even forgiven her for working with Patowski…maybe.
“I have a friend who owns a Sea Ray at the South Beach Marina. I know she’d let us borrow it for a couple of hours. We could tie up at the Adkins place next door to our house. They’re on vacation in Greece and their home is empty. A caretaker checks on things Tuesdays and Fridays. Then we could slip across and search. Alexi may have hidden the material somewhere inside our house.”
“The cops have gone over that place with a fine-tooth comb,” Matt said dubiously.
“I don’t think your friend will want to get involved in B and E. Technically that house doesn’t belong to you anymore. It’s Mikhail’s,” Sam said.
“Brenda and I have been friends since grade school. She works at the marina to help pay upkeep on her boat. When I tell her what’s happened, I know she’ll let us have it,” Tess replied.
“One other problem. Who drives the boat?” Sam asked.
“Don’t look at me,” Matt said. “I sculled back in college. I sail, but I haven’t a clue about big powerboats.”
“I can handle any kind of boat,” Tess said. “Alexi adored speedboats and big flashy yachts. I learned how to operate every one we ever owned.”
“Okay, looks like we have a plan,” Sam said. “Matt, you use that list Kit gave you and look for Jenny and the girls while Tess and I try scavenging up Alexi’s top-secret list in his house—and we’ll go over that boathouse again, too.”
“What if Mikhail knew his son’s drunken threat was already a plan? He might have found the info and destroyed it,” Matt said. “Or Alexi has it,” he mouthed silently to Sam.
“Yeah, it could be gone,” Sam admitted. “But looking is worth a try. Our time’s running out.”
Tess used her encrypted cell to call Brenda. After a brief exchange, she signed off with a smile. “She’s there and said we can have the Ray for as long as we need it. It’s all gassed up and ready.”
“Tess, how long do you think Mikhail will wait for you to show in Miami?” Matt asked.
“I told him late afternoon. The plane supposedly arrives at five forty-five. If I tried for anything beyond that, he’d have known I was lying.”
As they talked, Sam picked up her newly charged cell and started hitting speed-dial numbers. “Yeah, an infinity sign…no, it’s kinda like a figure eight laying on its side.” She hung up from the third call with a sigh. “There ar
e a few more upscale places but I don’t have them on my list,” she said.
Matt raised one eyebrow. “Why doesn’t that surprise me,” he muttered rhetorically.
“Just look on the backseat floor, Tess. Last time I used this car, I left a couple of yellow-page books. Jorge doesn’t clean up much.”
Tess dug around and fished out two fat, badly dog-eared phone books. “They’re here.”
“Give the J to Z one to the Yalie.” She handed it to Matt who started thumbing through it.
“Try checking under T, you know, for tattooing.”
“Funny, Samantha.” He dialed several numbers as Sam drove to a marina in Bal Harbor. “Zip,” he reported disgustedly. “At least they knew what an infinity sign was, even did a few.”
Sam snapped her fingers. “Look up a number for me.” She gave him a shop name in the Brickell district. When he found the number and dialed, she took the phone, talked for a minute to a guy named Burt, then hung up glumly. “He remembers his shop doing one with some kind of letters around it.”
“And?” Matt prompted.
“It was on a woman, several years ago. He couldn’t remember much since he didn’t do the job. Said she was a knockout blond.”
“Well, that’s a waste of time,” Tess said.
“Maybe,” Sam replied thoughtfully. “Pretty unusual combo. If she got one, maybe she had a friend who got one, too, and Burt didn’t notice. He only pays attention to the chicks.”
“His and hers. Possible,” Matt admitted as she swung into the marina parking lot and stopped the car with an abrupt lurch.
“Sorry about that. I wasn’t paying attention to sliding into second gear. Now, let’s see your friend about a boat,” Sam said to Tess. Turning to Granger, she said, “Be careful with the Charger…and yourself. We’ll meet you back here—” she paused, checking her watch “—say, three.”