Stolen (A Diana Hunter Mystery Book 3)

by Alison Golden

  Diana’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? They made an oversized deodorant dispenser?”

  Tina laughed. “Precisely. It uses the same principles, with liquefied gas as a propellant. They made a concentrated scopolamine solution using alcohol, put it in the canister, and then sealed it.”

  Diana responded, “Then all they have to do is activate the pumping mechanism remotely and the liquefied gas is forced out, dispersing the scopolamine solution as a very fine mist.”

  “Precisely. What I found interesting is that they added another compound. At first, I thought I’d made a mistake, but I triple-tested it. It’s liquid air freshener. Why do you think they’d add that?”

  Diana had to give it to the mastermind behind this operation. The guy was good. He obviously thought of everything. “I’m guessing the air freshener was designed to mask any strange odor the scopolamine might have given off. Since it’s a mist, someone might have noticed something, but with the addition of the air freshener, no one would think anything of it.”

  “Oooh, that’s a good idea.” Tina’s eyes sparkled. Like Diana, she was obviously fascinated with the mechanics and the thought process that had gone into creating the delivery mechanism for the drug.

  Diana continued, “You know, to create something like this aerosol can, they’d need special equipment. Maybe we can track them through their purchases. Do you think you can get me a list of the items necessary for something like this?”

  “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll email it to you.”

  “What about the scopolamine itself?” Diana asked.

  “As far as I can tell, it’s pretty pure. It hasn’t been cut with anything, which means there’s a good chance that it’s being obtained straight from the source.”

  “Maybe a pharmaceutical company?”

  Tina shook her head. “No, this is much more potent than the grade of product used in pharmaceuticals.”

  “So, he’s importing it directly, then?” Diana posited.

  “I think so. But here’s the catch. If they’re not careful with the dosage, they could end up with people going around for a few days without realizing what they’re doing.”

  “So, how do they determine the right dosage?” Diana was curious.

  “The only way I can see is through trial and error. Maybe he tried it on his own people first. It’s not like they’d know,” said Tina.

  “Hmm, nasty. If you could send me that list of equipment, I’ll get on with some research. Maybe we can find an address. Thanks, Tina.”

  “No problem. I really hope you catch this guy soon. I hate the thought of a drug like this being freely available. I checked out some stories online as well as a documentary about what goes on in Colombia. It’s terrifying.” The scientist looked worried and with good reason. Countless atrocities had been committed with the aid of this particular drug. Vancouver and beyond would become very scary if it found its way into the wrong hands.

  Diana left Tina and went back to the conference room where she had left her things. She pulled out her laptop and turned it on. She planned to do some research and then make some calls.

  Before her laptop loaded completely, Peter walked in. He stood there, eyeing her with a very strange look on his face.

  “What?” she snapped.

  “You asked Finn Cavanagh for help?”

  “Yes,” she said, looking at him expectantly. “So?”

  “Then you went to lunch with him?”

  “I thought we already established that I did. Is there a point in there somewhere?”

  Peter’s jaw was twitching. His gaze had narrowed dangerously. So dangerously that she was surprised he could see anything. His nostrils flared. Wait for it. The explosion will start in … 3…2…

  “Are you insane?” he whisper-shouted at her. She had called that one, though she’d expected him to be a little more expressive. Louder.

  “Why are you whispering?” she asked, completely ignoring his absurd question.

  “Because Donaldson told me that—” he groaned. “Forget why I’m whispering. Just answer the question.”

  Diana sighed. “No, I am not insane. In fact, I’m in complete and total possession of all my faculties.” She was talking to him like he was an idiot again. Diana glanced back at her computer screen. “Unlike some people I could name,” she muttered under her breath.

  “Do you enjoy putting yourself in danger?”

  Diana looked up at him quickly. “What are you talking about now?”

  “Finn Cavanagh,” Peter ground out.

  “Having chicken and mushroom pie is dangerous?” She knew what he meant, but she was feeling obstinate. And he was being a jerk. Again.

  “No, but the company you keep seems to be,” he snapped.

  Diana opened her email. “Mmmhmmm,” she said, paying little attention to him. Tina had sent the email she promised. Good.

  She opened it and had a look over the list of equipment. Time to find out who sold this stuff in Vancouver. “Are you even listening to me?” Peter barked.

  “No,” she replied honestly. She heard Peter sputter next to her.

  “You are the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met in my entire life.”

  “That’s good,” she replied. She was sure that if she looked up, he would be quite red in the face. But she didn’t dare or she would ruin the charade.

  “Good, she says,” he muttered. “What are you doing, anyway?”

  At that, she glanced up at him. “Working on the case, of course. You know, like you should be doing,” she said sweetly.

  He glared at her. “And what are you working on?”

  “You’re interested, are you?”

  “Of course.”

  “Tina gave me a list of equipment these guys would have needed to make those canisters. They are oversized aerosol cans. As soon as I get some peace and quiet, I’m going to see who sells this type of equipment and contact them to see if they’ve made any recent sales of this specific combination.”

  “I see. Good idea,” Peter said, tightly.

  “You think?”

  “I guess.”

  “Well, would you be so kind as to leave me alone so I can get on with it?”

  Peter didn’t move.

  “Want some help?” he said, eventually.

  “Aren’t you busy with Krantz?” Diana asked.

  He shook his head. “Rutledge and Ericson have gone to bring him in.”

  Diana shrugged. With his help, she would get through the list much faster. “Okay, I’ll email you half the list and we’ll go from there.”

  “Okay, cool.” He paused for a moment. “About Cavanagh, I want you to stay away from him. He’s bad news.”

  Diana glared at him. “What makes you think you have the right to tell me what to do? I’ve known Finn for a lot longer than I’ve known you, and I’ve managed just fine, thank you very much.”

  He opened his mouth to say something more. Diana held up her index finger. “Don’t,” she warned before he could say anything. “Get used to the idea that you have absolutely no authority over me or my life. Otherwise, we’ll have a problem.”

  Peter clearly wanted to say something more but swallowed his words. “Fine. I was just trying to look out for you,” he grumbled.

  “And I appreciate it, but I was doing well enough on my own before I met you. I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine from now on, too.”

  He stared at her. “I’ll go get started on that list.”

  “Good,” she said, and he turned and left.

  Diana rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. What was it with this guy? One moment he was all charming and courteous and the next, he was acting like a buffoon. Did he really think she couldn’t handle herself?

  You did get your butt kidnapped and almost had your organs removed. It was true. She had been kidnapped, but she had been out of the field for a while. Her radar for danger had been rusty. And now? Now she was on full alert. Her training would kick in.
She wouldn’t be caught out like that again.

  She growled in irritation. Peter didn’t know a lot about her, and she had bungled things on their previous case, but that didn’t mean he had the right to treat her like a child. She would make sure he got that fact through his thick skull, even if she had to beat it into him with a hammer.

  But for now, she had work to do, and she couldn’t keep focusing on Peter. They had a case to solve.

  CHAPTER 7

  TWO HOURS LATER, Diana had almost finished with her half of the list. Finding suppliers for the various canister parts hadn’t been difficult. It was the sheer number of them that was the problem. She scanned the list again. She decided to start with the more sophisticated parts the thieves needed. Fewer companies supplied those. She would speak to Donaldson, too. An official communication from VPD to these companies would make her life a lot easier when it came to talking to them.

  Someone cleared their throat. Diana looked up quickly and smiled. “Hi, Diana.” It was Nik Ericson. “We brought Krantz in, and the boss would like you there when we interrogate him.”

  Diana jumped to her feet. “You found him? That’s great!” She shut her laptop down and rushed to follow Nik through the maze of the VPD building.

  “Yeah. He wasn’t at home or at his place of work, but we put out an APB on his car, and a patrol spotted him near the industrial area.”

  “I wonder what he was doing there. Heading to wherever they’ve set up their lab, you think?”

  Nik came to a halt outside a door to the interrogation area. “I have no idea, but he was pretty far away from his work and home.”

  Diana nodded. “Let’s find out what Mr. Krantz has to say for himself, shall we?”

  Nik opened the door for her. She walked into a dark corridor that was separated from the interrogation room by a one-way mirror. Donaldson and Peter were already there, watching.

  “Diana,” Donaldson said by way of greeting.

  “Superintendent.” She ignored Peter and glanced into the next room, studying Krantz. The guy looked like an upscale lawyer. “He probably paid more for his suit than I make in a month,” she said.

  “Yeah, it seems Mr. Krantz here is a partner in a law firm.” Peter looked at the file. “Thomas, LeFavre & Blackman. Their client roster is made up of some of the richest people in the city.”

  “Interesting,” Diana said under her breath. “I wonder why someone with such a cushy job would risk it all by getting involved in a scheme like this.”

  “Greed,” Nik said, his tone matter-of-fact. “I know his type. They never have enough. It’s always more, more, more. He probably figured he could make a ton of cash and then disappear. And if he got caught… Well, look at him. He’s so calm and relaxed. Most likely figures he can get himself out of this mess easily. He’s done it a thousand times for his clients, I’ll bet.”

  Diana kept studying Krantz. “Maybe,” she said softly.

  “You don’t sound convinced,” Donaldson said.

  “I’m not,” she replied. “Do we know anything else about Andrew Krantz?”

  “You mean beside the fact that he’s pretending to be an upstanding citizen while actually being a scumbag?” Nik asked.

  Diana levelled him with a glare. “Yes, besides that,” she snapped. Nik darted a surprised look at her. She took a deep breath. “I’ve learned never to take anything at face value. There’s always more to the story. And Mr. Krantz isn’t quite as calm as you think. In fact, he looks decidedly uncomfortable to me.”

  “Probably because he didn’t think he’d get caught,” Nik said.

  “According to the file we compiled on him, which is pretty thin, mind you,” Peter said, “Mr. Krantz is forty-two. He’s married and has a sixteen-year-old daughter. He made partner about two years ago and earns an obscene amount of money for the privilege. He has no priors, so on paper at least, he looks like a model citizen. That’s about it.”

  Diana turned to look at Krantz again. Something was bugging her. He wasn’t as relaxed as Nik thought him to be. His shoulders were stiff, there was tension around his eyes, and a bead of sweat was running down his temple. He kept throwing uneasy glances at the door, and every now and then he would take his hands off the table and hide them beneath it. She couldn’t see them, but his motions indicated that he was fidgeting.

  Most would assume he was guilty with the signs of nervousness he was exhibiting, but there was more to it than that. This was a man used to extreme levels of stress. He was a lawyer, after all. One that had made partner relatively young, considering the firm he works for.

  It didn’t make sense for him to throw away all his hard work on a deal like this. Scopolamine would fetch a pretty good price on the market, but he would be constantly looking over his shoulder. He was taking a huge risk. Something else was going on, she was sure of it. But she had to make certain.

  “I don’t think money is the issue,” she said.

  “What do you mean?” Peter asked, looking at her curiously.

  “As far as we know, he’s the middleman, right? That means he’ll be getting chump change, at least when compared to how much he earns from his day job. The bulk of the profits will go to who’s in charge. So, why would he put everything on the line for maybe ten—twenty thousand dollars, if he’s lucky?”

  “If he’s getting that much every week, he might think it’s worth it,” Nik pointed out.

  Diana cocked her head. “I don’t think so. First of all, he has no way of knowing how much product they’ll be able to move. This isn’t like a retail store where you can draw up a projected cash flow based on previous sales. There are many more variables involved. Plus, if he was in it just for the money, he’d be much calmer than he is.”

  “He looks pretty calm to me,” Nik said.

  Diana glanced at him and sighed. “Trust me on this—calm, he is not.”

  At that moment, Scott opened the door. “Coming?” he said to his partner.

  “Wait,” Donaldson said. “Take Diana with you instead.”

  “Diana?” Scott asked.

  “Yes, Diana. She’ll be able to get a better read on him if she’s in the room with you.”

  Diana walked toward the door. “Don’t worry, Scott,” she said, “I’ve taken part in an interrogation or two before. I can handle myself.”

  Scott opened his mouth but then nodded. “Come on, then. Let’s see what this guy knows.”

  “Just a sec.” She turned to Peter. “Is there a picture of his daughter in that file?”

  Peter opened the file and looked through it quickly. “Yup, here it is,” he said, holding out a photograph.

  “Give me the whole file, please.” Without a word, Peter gave it to her, and she followed Scott out into the hall.

  Scott opened the door to the interrogation room, allowing her to walk in first, and then closed it behind them with a little more force than was necessary. Krantz jumped. Scott walked over to the table and sat down. Diana opted to remain standing. She opened the file as though scanning it, but she kept her eyes firmly on Krantz.

  Peter watched Diana curiously through the one-way. Her remark about taking part in an interrogation or two before had struck him. Once again he wondered. What had she done for CSIS?

  In the interview room, Scott was introducing himself.

  “Hello, Mr. Krantz, I’m Detective Scott Rutledge. I’ll be asking you a few questions. I’d appreciate it if you could save us both some time and be completely honest. The more cooperative you are, the less trouble you’ll be in.”

  “Why am I here?” Krantz asked, his voice wavering slightly. His head was turned, and his eyes kept flying to the left trying to catch glimpses of Diana who was standing slightly out of his line of sight. Krantz fidgeted again.

  “It has come to our attention that you might be involved with some less than reputable people who are responsible not only for a number of robberies that have taken place over the last month, but also for bringing an illegal drug
into the country,” Scott pressed.

  Krantz blanched and fidgeted again, trying to see what Diana was doing.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Krantz said quickly.

  On the other side of the wall, Peter, Nik, and Donaldson were all watching carefully.

  “Why is she just standing there? Why doesn’t she sit down?” Nik asked.

  Peter smiled. “She’s making him extremely uncomfortable. He can’t see her properly, and it’s making it hard for him to focus. It means there’s a better chance that he’ll let something slip.”

  Nik bobbed his head, looking impressed.

  Diana huffed. Krantz glanced back at her. “Mr. Krantz,” Scott continued, “I strongly recommend you stop wasting our time. We know for a fact that you are involved. What happens from here on out depends on how cooperative you are. You help us find who’s responsible, and we’ll let the prosecutor know how instrumental you were in helping us. However, if you keep quiet, I can guarantee you will be spending a very long time behind bars.”

  “Look, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Krantz repeated, turning slightly to look at Diana. She smiled at him encouragingly. “I swear. I wouldn’t get involved with people like that,” he said, straight to her. She nodded, the smile still firmly planted on her face.

  “Why’s she smiling at him?” Nik asked. Peter kept quiet. “Sir?” Nik prodded.

  Donaldson looked at him. “She’s establishing a connection with him. Making him feel as if she’s on his side.”

  “Why?”

  “Wait and see,” Donaldson said, his tone irritated.

  Back in the interview room, Rutledge was doing a good job of appearing bored and frustrated. He sighed and shook his head and said, “Fine. What were you doing in the industrial area?” he asked suddenly.

  Krantz swiveled back to him. “I was going to meet with a client.”

  “Really?” Scott asked. “That’s strange. Your secretary told us you had taken a few vacation days and wouldn’t be back at work until next week.”