A Few Good Women (Lexi Graves Mysteries, 9)

by Camilla Chafer

  Maddox winced. "In a few minutes, you're going to think that's the best news you had all day."

  Chapter Sixteen

  I lost count of the number of times I replayed the day's events. I felt almost grateful when Taylor stepped in and narrated our exploration of the properties. Finally, she summed it up with, "This whole thing is so messed up."

  "Welcome to the wonderful world of Anthony Steadman," I told them, "where nothing is what it seems and reality is utter chaos."

  "At least now we know what he was doing with those properties," said Brian. He folded his arms and relaxed in his chair but I couldn't tell if he were actually relieved or more anxious. "Now we can make sure it never happens again and our clients’ homes are fully protected."

  "I can't believe Anthony actually sold a property he didn't even own," said Taylor. "Actually, I can. He convinced me he had billions."

  "We can assume he was running several operations out of these houses," said Maddox. Taking the chair next to me, he finished perusing the file I pushed across to him and closed it. "You say he's alive?" he asked me.

  "Garrett confirmed it today. The blood evidence wasn't fresh. Something to do with coagulation, which means it was his DNA but he must have siphoned the blood they found out of his body prior to setting up the fake murder scene."

  "So messed up," muttered Taylor again.

  "He probably wanted to fake his death so no one would look for him when he fled with all the money he stole. He probably thought he'd have a quiet life on some tiny island, drinking pina coladas for the rest of his life," said Maddox.

  I shook my head. "He’d be bored after ten minutes. He can’t exist without a scam."

  "We still need to find him," pointed out the agent who entered with Maddox. I'd never seen him or his partner before and neither gave their name. "I hear you know the guy personally. Where is he likely to hide out?"

  "I wouldn't say I know him well enough to answer those details but I expect he might try to contact his mother or his sisters. The mother doesn't seem too upset about his death so I figure she probably knows he's alive and is covering for him in some way."

  "Let’s go rattle her cage," said the agent. "She must know she's an accessory to something. Would she go down to protect him?"

  "I don't know. The idea of prison probably won't appeal to her but she has very little vision when it comes to Anthony’s shortcomings."

  "We can confirm where he was earlier in the day, thanks to security footage and a witness. You can estimate how far he could have traveled from that but we're working on the assumption that he's still in the area. Perhaps he plans to retrieve some of the other cash he stole," said Solomon.

  "There's an unaccounted for two million that his wife claims he stole," I added.

  "And it is not our job to find it," Solomon reminded me. To the agents, he said, "All the information we have is in this file."

  "Mind if we take it with us?" asked the agent.

  "It's my clients’ property," replied Solomon, nodding to the two Booths.

  "Go ahead," said Brian. "We'll be glad to help in any way we can. Gentleman, is there anything else?"

  When no one else spoke, and all the hand shaking ended, the Booths requested Solomon to join them in their office. Taylor gave me a little wave and left for her desk. The FBI agents wished me well before departing, leaving Maddox and me alone.

  "What aren't you telling me?" I asked, knowing there had to be something. Maddox remained tight-lipped throughout the meeting and I could tell he was worried.

  "We're working on an inside man here," he said. "I began helping out on this case when it moved into this jurisdiction. Those guys tracked Steadman all the way across the country."

  "We thought the same thing about the inside man at first. I even suspected Taylor; but her story about being duped is plausible." I glanced at her, hoping it was true. So far, she seemed the only woman involved who managed to remain mostly immune to Anthony's charms.

  "We checked her bank account, which recently was credited with fifty thousand dollars in five deposits of ten grand each. We followed it to another account that was the subsidiary of another... anyway, to cut to the chase, we traced the money back to Anthony."

  "So she did know what he was up to!" I started to look at Taylor again but Maddox stepped in front of me, blocking my view. No wonder he implied the news got even worse!

  "Shhh. Keep your voice down and don't look at her. We want her to think she got away with her part in the scam. The FBI tapped her phones and she's being watched to see if she’ll take us to Steadman."

  "She seemed so upset that she was duped!"

  "Maybe she was. Maybe she had no idea what Steadman was really up to or how far his criminal enterprises extended. All we know is: he got in way over his head and probably thought there was no other way out except to fake his death."

  "When did you know Anthony was involved?"

  "Not until after I saw you. I didn't understand fully until I put your comments together with what I knew from the bureau."

  "Obviously, now I have to ask, are you still with the bureau?"

  "Yes, but I'm formally on temporary transfer. It just happens that this fits right into my area of expertise."

  "Fraud?"

  "You know how much I love a puzzle."

  "And undercover work."

  Maddox smiled and I wondered if he were thinking about the first case we handled, the one that threw us together. Actually, it threw all three of us together: him, Solomon and me. "I'm avoiding undercover these days. Too many complications."

  "Very true," I agreed. "So you were working in Paris on a case of fraud."

  Maddox nodded "You know I can't discuss it, but yes. It was a very interesting case."

  "And you're staying here now? For good?"

  "I don't know. My apartment is here. My family and friends are here." He hesitated and I wondered if he might add more, but he said, "Listen, I know it's none of my business what you do but I'm worried. Steadman already hurt you and it could have been a lot worse. Solomon said your business with Steadman is finished but I know you. You think he could still be nearby; and the money he stole from his wife is just the last part of the puzzle, so I need you to promise me you'll stay away from him."

  "You know a lot more than what you’re leaking to me, don’t you?"

  "I'll tell you but only because I want to make sure you understand why you need to stay away."

  I nodded, waiting.

  Maddox pulled another file from the stack he brought and extracted an eight-by-ten photo. "This man is Patrick O'Connell. Do you recognize him?"

  "No." But I recognized an Irish-sounding name, and Cynthia mentioned the man who visited her had one. Sensing the worst, I listened closely as Maddox continued, "Good. You don't want to. He's Irish mob from a family out of Boston and Brooklyn."

  "What does he have to do with all this?"

  "Your hunch about the card games was right. We think Anthony hosted some kind of illegal casino events that pulled in high rollers. O'Connell was one of them. He loves poker and he loves winning even more. He loses too but he always wins it back so he leaves happy. But he lost big at one of Steadman's games and rumor has it he's convinced the game was rigged."

  "I'm not even going to say Anthony wouldn't do that. How could he be so stupid to rig a game with those kind of people?"

  "Because he is that stupid and that greedy. Our theory is he got carried away with the games, made a little money, upped the stakes, made some more money... wanted more money. Then he ripped off the wrong man."

  "How much?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

  "Two hundred thousand."

  "A lot less than he took from Olivia. So he stole that to pay off this debt and considered it his earned settlement from Olivia, while he was running other scams to… what? Start his new life?"

  "That's what I think too. Which is why I want you to realize how dangerous this is. O'Connell's people are after
Steadman and they don't care who gets in the way! I don't want you getting hurt in the crossfire. He's done enough to screw up your life without getting you seriously injured or even killed."

  I couldn't argue with that because it was true, despite my longing to be involved in bringing Steadman to justice. But even the idea of turning him over to the police or the FBI was pretty satisfying. Maddox continued, "I know you want to find his wife's money but it would be better for you to walk away right now and leave this to us."

  "I know," I said. "We wrapped up the case. I'm not supposed to do anything more."

  "Promise me you won’t be tempted," he said, looking me right in the eye.

  "I can't promise that."

  "Can you at least promise me that if you do get tempted, you won't do anything dangerous? Call me or Solomon or Garrett but do not get in Steadman or O'Connell's way."

  "Are you going to tell Garrett?" I asked, dodging the promise.

  "He's our next stop. We need to clue in MPD now that we have the particulars of the case straightened out. This will end up being a joint task force."

  "I can already imagine Garrett's face when you tell him."

  The door opened and we both turned. "Let's go," said the nameless agent.

  "I'll call you soon," said Maddox. "Hope your head gets better."

  "My headache is already better," I assured him. "Good luck!"

  "We're going too," said Solomon as Maddox left. The two men nodded to each other, a shimmer of awkwardness hanging between them that made me wonder if it would ever lift. Gulping the lump of guilt in my throat, I knew I was the likely cause of it.

  "What did the Booths have to say?" I asked as we walked out of the office. Taylor smiled and waved and I waved back, trying to appear light and normal. Knowing the serious trouble she was in made it no easy feat. In addition, I liked Taylor and even believed her story. Learning she was involved came as a nasty surprise but I had to respect the investigation, and kept mum about what I knew. It was an uncomfortable position, so I wished I wouldn't see her again. Hoping for her innocence was a lost cause; Maddox gave me fifty thousand reasons to confirm her role in Steadman's scam.

  "They're officially engaging us to overhaul their security," he said. "Reinforcing the firewall is number one, but they're pleased with our report and want to progress to the next step. We're talking a total system makeover."

  "I love a makeover," I said.

  "Glad to hear it. What did Maddox want?"

  "Just to congratulate us on a good job," I lied, "and he said the FBI would take over now."

  "Good. This is one case I'm happy to give them. You want to take a few days off? Hang out with Lily? Rest your head and heal? Maybe help your sister with her party or something?"

  "I might take tomorrow off," I replied. "I have a couple things to do."

  "So long as it's relaxing."

  "I won't strain myself in any way," I promised. "I might read some magazines; or I might go out for lunch."

  My phone rang and my first temptation was to ignore it, but I fished it out from my pocket anyway. "It's Garrett," I said before answering.

  "Where are you?" he asked.

  "In the car with Solomon. You?"

  "At the station. Can you come here?"

  "I guess. What's up?"

  "I need to show you something."

  "Is it related to the case?"

  "Yes."

  "We just wrapped it up for our clients. We're officially off it now."

  "You'll want to see this anyway."

  "We're on our way." To Solomon I said, "Can we just stop by the station first? Then I’ll take the rest of the day off."

  "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

  "Garrett didn't sound unhappy," I said, which made me frown. "Maybe it's something good."

  I puzzled over what it could possibly be during the drive but hadn't reached any conclusion by the time we reached the station. Garrett was waiting for us in the reception lobby, and hastily ushered us in. "You want to tell me why the FBI just walked into my office?" he asked.

  "I'm sure they'll tell you," I said. Garrett grunted a response that wasn't polite, then said, "They can wait. Follow me."

  Solomon and I exchanged a frown but dutifully followed him into one of the small interview rooms. Waiting inside were Detectives Turner and Grant. I started to retreat but Solomon was behind me, blocking my exit.

  "What do they want?" I asked.

  "Nothing. I invited them here to listen to a tape, just the same as you."

  I gave them my most suspicious glance and sat on one of the plastic chairs. Solomon rested his back against the wall and crossed his arms, looking down at them. Neither detective moved.

  Garrett extracted a cassette tape from his inner pocket and inserted it into the tape player. "When was the last time you saw a tape player?" he asked. "MPD needs to wake up to this century. I just got this recording back from the technicians. They cleaned it up a little. I want you to tell me if you recognize the voice." He pressed play and we waited as the machine played out.

  A woman's voice informed the caller he was on the line to the police.

  "Uh, yeah, hi," came a male voice. "I want to report a crime, that is, uh, someone has committed a crime."

  "What kind of crime, sir?"

  "A murder. A man was shot and I know who did it. It was Lexi Graves. I saw her use the same gun at the shooting range before she used it to kill a man. He's dead."

  "Do you know who the man is, sir?"

  "His name is Anthony Steadman. They were romantically involved and she shot him in cold blood. He's dead."

  "Did you witness this?"

  "Did you hear me? He's dead."

  "What is your name, caller?"

  There was a pause before the line went dead.

  "Do you recognize the voice?" Garrett asked, turning to look at me. The other detectives matched his expression. I was fairly certain Solomon was looking down at me too. If that weren't enough pressure, I had my own fury to deal with. "It was Anthony," I said, outraged, "and he just told the police I killed him! What a creep!"

  "Obviously, we know you didn't," said Garrett.

  "I know that!"

  "I wanted them to know that," said Garrett, indicating the detectives. "Especially since he isn't dead. We checked the security camera from his building and got a close-up of his face."

  "He tried to set me up!" I said, my voice reduced to an appalled whisper. "What the hell?"

  "He needed someone to take the fall for his murder," said Garrett. "We'll find out how he tried to set you up but I expect he was pissed at you leaving him all those years ago and that’s why he chose you as the perfect patsy."

  "That jerk! I left him because he was cheating on me with my sister-in-law. Why should I be punished?"

  "Because that's who Anthony is. A selfish, egotistical asshole."

  "I don't know why anything he does ever surprises me." My shoulders slumped and the headache began to throb again. Just when I thought the case was done and now this? It seemed so utterly wrong. I couldn't imagine how Anthony would even decide that framing me was the right thing to do but then... Anthony was never fond of doing the right thing. Setting me up as he jetted off to his new life, unencumbered with wives, girlfriends and shady mobsters, must’ve seemed too irresistible to pass up.

  "We'll catch him, don't worry," said Detective Turner, his face moving from suspicion to sympathy. Next to him, Detective Grant nodded.

  "I'm not worried, I'm furious!"

  "You two, get to work on putting Steadman at the shooting range. First, I want to know how he got the gun out; and second, how he knew my sister was there. Go!" The detectives hurried from the room as Garrett pointed toward the door. When they left, I leaned back in the chair.

  "What now?" I asked.

  "Now, you go home," said Garrett. To Solomon he said, "And make sure she doesn't go off looking for Steadman."

  "She won't," said Solomon.


  ~

  "What did you do?" yelled Lily.

  I held the phone away from my ear and frowned at it. My relaxing evening wasn't turning out the way I envisaged. First, Solomon told me he was called back to the office, and now Lily was shouting at me. "What are you talking about? Anthony?"

  "No! Why? What did Anthony do?"

  "I'll tell you another time. What did I do?"

  "Did you tell Jord?"

  "About Anthony?"

  "No! Is he all you think about? You have a hot fiancé, a hot ex, and the only thing on your mind is the ass?"

  "No!"

  "Did you tell Jord that I know about the woman he's sneaking around with?"

  I frowned hard. "No."

  "I just checked his phone when he left it in the kitchen and all the messages are gone."

  "Is that good?"

  "No, it isn't. It means he knows that I know he's sending another woman secret messages."

  "Or maybe it means he thought better of whatever he was doing and deleted them."

  "Or maybe he discovered a better way of sneaking around. Are you sure you didn't say anything?"

  "I definitely didn't. The only person I said anything to was..." I trailed off, wondering what I might’ve done when I asked Solomon about Diane. I told him about Lily's suspicions and my own confusion and he told me not to worry. Had he contacted Jord and warned him for some reason that I couldn't yet fathom? I couldn't see Solomon trying to hurt Lily or me, although my hurt would be nothing compared to the family implosion that would happen if anything damaged their relationship. "I told Solomon," I said, recounting our conversation.

  "Do you think Solomon knows her too?"

  "I don't know. He says he doesn’t, but he also said there was nothing to worry about. So, I don't know."

  "He knows something. Solomon knows everything."

  "I wish he did," I thought, thinking of Anthony hiding out somewhere in Montgomery. If Solomon knew everything, Anthony would have already been caught by now and my problems would have been over. "But he was sure you had nothing to worry about."

  "Pffft! I'll decide that. Before he erased all his messages, I saw a meeting he had scheduled tomorrow. Brunch. Who goes out for brunch?"