At that moment, Bowie would swear he heard Agent Dolores Cliff sigh. He nearly sighed himself, reminded that her brain was temporarily off the planet. He rose and walked over to Agent Kesselring. "I'm assigning Agent Graham Painter to work with you whenever you are in need of assistance. Agent Painter will get you settled at our local B-and-B." Bowie heard Dolores make a small distressed sound, but didn't acknowledge the sound or Dolores. He was going to keep Dolores and Kesselring as far apart as he could. As for Graham, he was a perfect foil, a good old boy from Little Rock, so easy in his manner and speech you'd think his IQ was about as high as that of the hamburger he was eating. But Graham was sharp and steady and wouldn't get taken in, like Dolores. He could get along with Godzilla, if he had to, and might even get a kick out of Kesselring. Better still, he would keep Kesselring out of their hair.
Bowie said to the group, "I'll be back shortly, after I introduce Agent Kesselring to Agent Painter. He can tell Agent Painter how he wishes to proceed finding this psychopathic mugger. Agent Cliff, you will remain here."
Dolores looked like she was going to say something, but under Bowie's cold eye, she slowly nodded.
When the conference room door closed behind the two men, Sherlock said quietly, "This isn't good, Dillon, not good at all. Do you think it's possible Kesselring is in Schiffer Hartwin's pocket? Here to sweep whatever he can under the rug?"
"Oh, no," Agent Cliff said, sitting forward. "Andreas feels so badly about all this. I know he wouldn't-"
Sherlock said, "Get it together, Agent Cliff, or I'll have to deck you."
Dolores jerked back. "I don't think you have any right to say that to me." Her surprise gave way to insult and then to sheer mean. "You don't look all that tough. I don't think you could do it."
Sherlock couldn't help it, she laughed. "Keep that attitude, Agent Cliff, really, you need to, particularly around Kesselring."
"Easy for you to say, married to him."
Sherlock had to agree. "You got me on that one."
Savich, who'd been on MAX again, looked up. "There's a French pharmaceutical house, Laboratoires Ancondor, that owns the patent on an oral chemotherapy drug called Eloxium. It appears to have different side effects from the usual 5-FU with Culovort. Some of the side effects of Eloxium can remain with the cancer patient for life.
"Here's the kicker-if an oncologist has to switch the patient to the new oral medication, even if Culovort were to subsequently become available, there's no switching the patient back, at least from what I've read. And the oral drug is very expensive since it's not off patent like Culovort."
"Hmm," Sherlock said. "Makes you wonder if there might be some sort of collusion going on between Schiffer Hartwin and Laboratoires Ancondor? Shutting down Culovort production so patients are forced to Eloxium? Remember Carla Alvarez talked about a windfall profit. You don't think-"
Savich said, "I don't know but I'll call Mr. Maitland, have him contact Dice, see what she can dig up."
Dolores Cliff said, "I know drug companies do crappy things, but to stop producing a drug for people with life-threatening cancer to force them to another, very expensive drug? That would be disgusting."
Savich said, "Yeah, it sure would. So please take your blinders off, Dolores. We need to know how to play this. I've got to say from what I've heard this morning, and what I've read on MAX, this doesn't look good to me."
Dolores Cliff didn't say a word. She popped her gum and began chewing viciously.
21
Tuesday afternoon
Erin looked down at her orange Day-Glo watch, a gift from her nephew. She had another hour before she picked Georgie up from school. Then it was back here to straighten the apartment and make sure both she and Georgie looked decent, since Bowie was coming over with take-out Chinese for dinner and bringing along two visiting Washington, D.C., FBI agents. Three FBI agents in her apartment. Three. And here she was, a freshly minted criminal. What had she done in life to bring three FBI agents to her dining table?
You took in Georgie, that's what, idiot. When life gives you lemons, add vodka. No, no, make lemonade.
She'd deal, no choice. If she was smart, they could be three major-league sources for her.
She also had to decide what she was going to say to Dr. Kender at lunch tomorrow. He had to be in agreement with whatever she planned to do with the files from Caskie Royal's computer. He was, after all, the client, and she couldn't be certain she could keep his name buried deep if the files went public. The feds would be all over her about Helmut Blauvelt's murder.
Erin could almost see the doomsday tsunami rolling toward her.
The doorbell rang. She slipped her cell into her shirt pocket and glanced through the peephole to see a woman she'd never seen before, a woman who'd make any breathing man grab his heart. Long streaked blond hair, wide brown eyes-ah, maybe a new client?
"Yes?" she said as she opened the door.
"May I speak to you, Ms. Pulaski?"
Lovely low voice, honey smooth.
"Yes, of course. Did you call my office?"
"Office? No."
So not a client. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm a friend of Bowie's and I would like to see Georgie."
Erin looked at the female treat with her buttercup yellow sundress, high-heeled sandals, pretty French pedicure, and lovely thin nose. Her very nice social smile disappeared as she stepped into the apartment and looked around.
"I'm Erin. And you are . . . ?"
The woman turned back to face her. "I'm Krissy Canter. As I said, I'm a friend of Bowie's."
"I see," and Erin did indeed see. She was facing one half of a couple. So why hadn't Bowie asked her to take care of Georgie?
"Actually, I'm here to take Georgie back to my apartment."
"Have you spoken to Bowie about this?"
"Yes, of course. Well, not precisely about that, but she'd want to be with me, Bowie would want that as well."
"Georgie's still in school."
Krissy looked down at her watch, frowned. "I forgot the school hours. I'll go pick her up, take her back to my place."
"I can't allow that, Ms. Canter, not unless Bowie tells me this is what he wants. It's his decision."
And everything went downhill from there.
When Bowie showed up with his married FBI agents in tow, delicious Chinese food smells wafting from two big brown bags with Feng Nian emblazoned on the side, Erin was wearing nice black slacks and her favorite pale blue cashmere sweater, Georgie standing beside her, in a clean pair of jeans and a pink polo shirt.
Krissy Canter had, mercifully, left after speaking tersely to Bowie on her cell phone. When she rang off, she'd said to Erin, "Once Bowie and I have a chance to talk this over, I'll be back for Georgie." She strode out of Erin's apartment without another word, looking as mean as a mud wrestler in beautiful sandals.
Bowie gave Erin a quick once-over. "You look really nice, Erin. Thanks for having us over. Savich and Sherlock here-" He didn't get out another word because his daughter launched herself into his arms. He laughed, hugged her close, kissed her ear, and set her back down. "Okay, kiddo, put on your company manners. I want you to meet Agent Sherlock and Agent Savich."
Sherlock came down on her knees, took the little girl's hand between hers. "You can call me Sherlock. And this big guy is Dillon. I'm married to him. He and I have a little boy, younger than you. His name is Sean. Unlike you, Sean can't dance."
If there was any ice that needed breaking, that broke it. Erin stood back, watching the four of them. Bowie looked over, met her eyes.
"Sorry I didn't give you any warning about Krissy, but I wasn't expecting her back for another couple of days. We've been dating when she's in town, but she's never taken care of Georgie before, and when she asked me where Georgie was, I didn't think, I ju
st told her. I've told her Georgie needs to stay with you this time."
"Krissy was really steamed at Erin," Georgie said, sounding very pleased, which made Bowie frown. "She was at school when Erin came to pick me up. She gave me a big hug and told me I would stay with her soon. I could tell she really wasn't happy when we left. She gave Erin the evil eye."
Erin said, "Everyone come to the table. I'll get the wine and warm up the Chinese."
"Krissy said she was going to talk with you again, Daddy. She said she was going to be in town for three days before she has to fly back to London."
Bowie said carefully, "Did you tell Krissy you wanted to stay with her?"
Georgie shook her head. "I told Krissy Erin was my ballet teacher and I want to get on her good side." She turned and gave Erin a huge smile. "I told her Erin even ironed my clothes for me."
"I did not iron your clothes, just a light press. You're a brat, and a player-and you're only seven years and six months old."
"Okay," Bowie said. "I'll call Krissy, tell her again it's best if you stay where you are, to sweet-talk your teacher."
Married FBI agents, Erin thought, looking across the table at the dark tough-looking man and the sweet-as-a-daisy woman with her vivid red hair and beautiful blue eyes. She imagined their little boy Sean, if he looked at all like them, would be a heartbreaker some-day. She knew she'd have to be on her toes, really careful how she wormed information out of them. It was going to be difficult to even get a word in edgewise since they were already telling Georgie stories about Sean and his best friend Marty, a little girl who could shoot more free throws than Sean could. Then Georgie told them a story about that jerky boy Aaron at school who tried to steal her lunch. Georgie said, "Today I had to eat the peanut butter and banana sandwich Erin made me really fast, because Aaron sniffed it out from six feet away." She followed that with ballet class stories where Erin was featured prominently-stuff she'd said, stuff she'd done. The kid remembered everything. It was scary.
". . . and then Erin told Molly Heckler to get her sucker out of her sneaker and stand it up against the window."
As the adults looked over at her, Erin said, "It wasn't a totally happy ending since I was the one who had to clean sucker-sticky off the window. You didn't tell them that, Georgie. You want another moo shu pork pancake?"
"Daddy calls them moo burritos. Can I fill it myself, Erin?"
Sherlock watched the easy camaraderie between the woman and Bowie's little girl. She said, "You guys have known each other for a very long time, right?"
"Just about forever," Georgie said. "Erin's been teaching me since I was a little kid, not even five. But she just met my daddy yesterday."
Interesting, Sherlock thought. "I've never met a ballet teacher before."
"I'm from a long line of dancers and teachers," Erin said as she handed Georgie the bowl of moo shu pork. "Both my grandmother and my mother are beautiful dancers, both of them still teach ballet, my grandmother in St. Petersburg, Florida, and my mom in Grand Haven, Michigan."
Sherlock rolled up a moo shoo pancake. "Is your father also in the arts?"
"No, Dad died of cancer three years ago. He couldn't dance a step even after a dozen Arthur Murray dance lessons with Mom. She finally gave up. He was a Navy SEAL." And he could pick locks and strategize how to break into places where you shouldn't be. He taught me everything he knew- "Well, that's enough about me, isn't it?"
Bowie bit into an egg roll. "Erin's primarily a private investigator."
"Whoa," Savich said. "That seems an odd combination. How did you pick investigation as a field, Erin?"
"I'm good at finding out things," she said, "always have been. As a kid, my friends would ask me to help them find missing candy bars, video games, schoolbooks, whatever. I got better and better at it. Dad was always giving me hints on how to track things down. Then their folks started coming to me when they lost something or they had a problem with their kids, like a fight at school or something, and they needed information, or wanted to know what really happened. I could usually find out what they needed. And they'd give me a buck. My mom was embarrassed."
"And your dad?" Sherlock asked.
Erin laughed, couldn't help it. "He was very proud of me, said I was earning my college fund."
"What exactly did your dad do?"
"He was a security consultant," Erin said. "By the time I went to college, I knew what I wanted to do. My degree was in forensic science, lots of options there. I moved to Stone Bridge five years ago, got my license, and set myself up in business. I've supported myself very nicely, at least after my first two years or so in business. Most of my income came from teaching ballet in the lean years. Now, it's become more a hobby, something I enjoy and it keeps my hand in. Or my feet," she added and gave them a fat smile.
Georgie said, "Erin found my house key once. I looked and looked. I nearly called you, Daddy."
"That wasn't a biggie," Erin said. "You'd stuffed it inside your sock and tossed your sock in the waste basket because you found a hole. My dad told me all about how to find where missing keys were hiding."
Bowie waved his glass at her. "Thanks."
Erin grinned at him, waited a beat, and gave the agents a bright interested look. "Enough about me. Bowie told me you guys were sent here to assist him in his investigation into this Helmut Blauvelt's murder."
Sherlock shot Bowie a look, saw that he was concentrating on helping his daughter stuff moo shu pork into her burrito. Well, Erin was a professional, and she seemed smart and savvy. Evidently Bowie thought so. Why not use her brain? Sherlock said, "We've got a witness who saw our girl wriggle out of Caskie Royal's bathroom window, land in the bushes below, bounce right up, and take off running into Van Wie Park."
22
Erin nearly fell off her chair in a dead faint. She cleared her throat. "Did the witness give you a description?"
"Yes, he did. Longish hair flopping up and down out the back of a baseball cap. Probably brown, like yours, Erin. She was tall and rangy, the guy said. Slender. He said she didn't look like a runner, but he was struck by how gracefully she moved. Fluidly, smoothly, he said. Isn't that interesting?" And Sherlock held her eyes.
She can't know, she can't know, she can't- Erin laughed to keep the terror out of her voice. "That is an odd thing to say. I wonder who she is."
Bowie said, "Whoever she is, she's got Caskie Royal's fate in her hands, and he knows it. His lawyers sure know it, and I'll bet now his bosses in Germany know it. He's scared, but not enough to let us help him yet, the idiot."
Sherlock added, "We also had a gorgeous German agent added to the mix today. Dolores Cliff, one of Bowie's agents, thinks he looks like Adonis. He's not Dillon, but I've gotta be honest here-he's a pretty close second."
Bowie said to Georgie, "You remember Agent Cliff ?"
"Oh, yes, she kicked my soccer ball clear out of the field. It took Coach and a bunch of parents to find it. She showed me how to do the splits. I'll bet Erin does the splits better than anybody."
"Don't kiss up," Bowie said. "Yeah, that's Agent Cliff, a real hardnose. Only thing is, she's acting like you'd better not act when you turn thirteen, kiddo, and discover Y chromosomes."
"What's Y chromosomes?"
"Y chromosomes give fathers nightmares." He ruffled his daughter's hair. "Boys," he added.
Erin said, "You mean this guy, this Adonis, bowled her right over?"
"Yeah. I had to team him up with a guy who wouldn't care what he looked like."
"Why does he look like Adonis?" Georgie asked.
It was left to Sherlock to describe Kesselring, and she did him justice.
Georgie thought about this as she took another bite of her moo shu pork burrito. "I bet Krissy would really like him."
Bowie blinked. "Why do you think Krissy would like thi
s foreign agent, sweetheart?"
"I heard Krissy tell you that she really likes your sexy stomach muscles. I'll bet this guy has sexy stomach muscles like you."
Bowie looked appalled. Erin thought he looked like his heart had seized.
Savich said easily, "This makes me wonder if Sean has passed along any phone conversations he's overheard. Scary, isn't it, Sherlock?"
Sherlock laughed. She leaned over to Georgie. "Do you know, I've probably said the same thing about Dillon. Hmm. I have to say that Agent Kesselring does look like a real dish. But you know what? Even though he looks like a chocolate sundae, I don't like him much. He isn't a straight shooter like Dillon or your dad, and that's something super important. I don't think he's got much respect for us women, either."
"A woman's got to be honest too," Bowie said. "Even if the woman is still a kid," he added, looking at Georgie.
Georgie spooned on some more sauce and took a big bite of her burrito. "Daddy's always honest except when he lies to Krissy."
Another heart stopper.
Bowie eyed his daughter. "I don't lie to Krissy. Why'd you say that?" Why had he asked that question, he, the well-trained FBI agent?
All the adults watched Georgie chew and swallow, and take a drink of her water. "I heard you tell her once that you were head-over-heels with work and couldn't see her. Then you took me out for pizza and a movie."
"Okay, but it wasn't a lie, not really," Bowie said. "I worked after you went to bed." Talk about lame. Well, he had checked his e-mails.
"What about when she wanted to give me a movie-star Barbie birthday party and you told her my birthday was going to be at Grandma's?"
"That was very nice of her, but something came up. Hey, I threw you a party, remember?"
Georgie said to Sherlock, "I was Wonder Woman. I looped all my friends with my lasso of truth so they'd be forced to tell me what was written on the card in their hand-Daddy wrote down stuff-and they had to tell me if it was a lie or not. It was totally fun although the lasso didn't work very well. Well, Billy Bennett did tell me he'd stuck his finger in the frosting on my birthday cake."
The FBI Thrillers Collection: Vol 11-15 Page 110