by Lisa Harris
“Was she the reason for the divorce?” Nikki asked.
“Not at all. It was a mutual separation that had nothing to do with anyone else.” Claire sat back and folded her arms across her chest. “But what does she or any of this, for that matter, have to do with me?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Nikki said. “Erika Hamilton is missing, and the other woman in the first photo I showed you—a friend of hers—was found murdered this morning.”
“Murdered?” Claire’s jawline tensed. “I don’t understand.”
“We are still trying to find out what happened, but apparently someone wants Erika dead,” Nikki said.
“Someone like you who must have been upset … resentful even, when you found your husband had been unfaithful,” Jack said.
“I—wait a minute … of course I was resentful, angry even, but it wasn’t like she was the reason our marriage fell apart. She wasn’t the first one, and she certainly won’t be the last. Brian’s weakness is beautiful women. And unfortunately, I wasn’t enough for him. But none of this has anything to do with me.”
“I think it does,” Jack said, sitting down next to Nikki. “If your ex-husband is convicted of money laundering and other crimes, the government is going to scrutinize everyone he’s in business with, including you.”
“You’re not actually implying that I had something to do with this?” Claire’s eyes widened as if she’d never heard the same implications from the FBI before. “I have no idea where Brian is, so if you need to know anything beyond that, then you can contact my lawyer. I’m done here.”
“That’s fine,” Nikki said, standing up. “I need you to wait here for just a couple more minutes and then you may leave.”
Nikki signaled Jack to step outside with her before Claire could protest.
“Even if she does know where he is, she’s clearly not going to tell us,” she said once they were in the hallway.
“You think she’s protecting him?” Jack asked.
“Maybe, but even more likely, I think she’s protecting herself.” Nikki glanced down the hallway. “I want to talk to her assistant. Maybe I’ll get more out of her.”
“I’ll find a way to keep Claire here for a couple more minutes,” Jack said, then stepped back into the conference room.
Nikki walked down the short hall to where the young woman sat on a long bench with the briefcase on the floor between her legs. Black-and-white polka-dot skirt, maroon sweater. Nikki grabbed a bottled water from the fridge in the break room, then headed back to where the young woman was sitting.
“Hey.” Nikki handed her the bottle of water. “Sorry to keep you waiting. We shouldn’t take much longer, but I thought you might be thirsty in the meantime.”
“Thanks,” the girl said, taking the offered drink.
“I didn’t catch your name earlier,” Nikki said, sitting down beside her. “I’m Special Agent Nikki Boyd.”
The girl pushed her large-framed black glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Maggie Kemp.”
“Maggie … You said you worked for Ms. Gordon.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Maggie shuffled the water bottle between her hands.
“How long have you known her?”
“She’s my mother’s cousin, actually. They were best friends in high school. So when I graduated from college in the spring and needed a job, Aunt Claire hired me.”
She spoke as if it were an opportunity she should be grateful for but wasn’t.
“And what exactly is your job?” Nikki asked.
“I’m her personal assistant. Which really means I do whatever she asks me to do. Everything from scheduling, to keeping up with her agenda, to dealing with unhappy clients.” Maggie glanced up and winced. “Not that there a lot of unhappy clients, but you know …”
“Sounds as if she’s very lucky to have you,” Nikki said.
Maggie shrugged. “My mother says I should be grateful to have a job, but it’s temporary. I’d like to be an illustrator one day.”
“Sounds fascinating,” Nikki said. “I understand she owns an art gallery downtown?”
“The Moreau Gallery, but she also owns several other local businesses, so I have to stay on top of those as well.”
“You must stay pretty busy.”
“It’s not exactly a nine-to-five job, if that’s what you mean. I end up working a lot of overtime.”
“I was wondering,” Nikki said, pulling out the photo of Erika. “Do you recognize this woman? We’re trying to find her.”
Maggie set her water beside her on the bench and took the photo. “Erika? Yeah, she’s a friend of Uncle Brian’s.”
“And by friend, you mean …” Nikki waited for Maggie to answer.
“I guess it doesn’t matter if I tell you. Everyone knew they were having an affair, even my aunt. But I haven’t seen her for a while.” Maggie unscrewed the lid to her water bottle. “Is she okay? She was always nice to me.”
Nikki took back the photo. “She’s missing.”
“And you think my uncle’s involved?”
“I don’t know, but I’d like to ask him,” Nikki continued, not wanting to scare the girl away. “Do you have any idea where your uncle is?”
“I …” Maggie stared at the water and frowned. “No. I don’t really see him all that much.”
“But you’ve heard from him lately?” Nikki asked, taking a chance that Maggie knew more than she wanted to say.
“No … It’s just that every now and then he calls me and asks me to do things for him.”
Nikki caught the guilt in her eyes. She was lying about something. “What kind of things?”
“Sometimes he would have me set up dates with other women. You know, dinner reservations, or tickets to shows when he was in town. He made me swear I wouldn’t tell anyone. Especially Aunt Claire. And especially before their divorce went through.”
“So she didn’t know he was seeing other women?”
“Oh, she knew. She always told me they had an open relationship and she was okay with it, but I know she really wasn’t. Especially when she tried to butt into my own relationships. She’s pretty protective of me, even though I’m an adult now.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want you to learn the hard way like she did.”
Maggie finally took a sip of her water. “Maybe.”
“We need to find him, Maggie. Anything you can tell me is very important.”
Maggie shifted on the bench. “He’s always been nice to me. I don’t want to get him into trouble. He’s promised to pay for me to go to art school, though my mother thinks that a second degree would be completely frivolous.”
“Maggie, I need you to tell me the truth. When’s the last time you heard from him?”
Maggie’s gaze dropped and she drew in a sharp breath. “He called me yesterday and asked me to arrange a flight from Houston to here for him.”
“A commercial flight?”
“No. He owns his own plane. I just had to make sure the pilot was available on short notice to arrange the details of the flight.” Maggie glanced down the hallway. “He … he arrived here last night. Told me not to tell anyone, especially Aunt Claire. But I haven’t heard from him since. In fact, I tried to call him this afternoon. Usually he has me make hotel and dinner reservations for him too, but he didn’t this time. I’m not even sure where he’s staying.”
Nikki gnawed on the information Maggie had just given her. So Brian Russell was right here in Nashville. Helping to ensure Erika never made it back into the feds’ custody?
“Will you promise me something, Maggie?” Nikki pulled out one of her business cards. “I won’t tell your aunt about our conversation, but if you hear from your uncle, I need you to call me. Please.”
Maggie nodded, but the guilt in her eyes had shifted to fear.
10
8:15 p.m.
Tennessee State Prison
Nikki lengthened her steps in order to keep up with the prison warden who
’d arranged for her and Jack to speak with Erika’s brother. She’d met their escort once before. Michael Weldon was close to fifty, with thick salt-and-pepper hair, and thin as a rail. Though it wasn’t the first time she’d visited the prison, there was something about the thought of continual confinement that always managed to rattle her nerves. She’d much rather be rappelling off the side of a cliff than spending time in the enclosed corridors of a prison.
Trying to shift her mind from their surroundings, she turned back to Weldon. She had her own file on Erika’s brother that Gwen had put together for her, but she wanted to hear from someone who worked in the prison system and knew the man.
“Tell me what you know about Justin Peters,” she said as they made their way down the dreary gray hallway and matching tiled floors.
“He’s in for embezzling a large chunk of money from his boss.”
“Behavior wise?” Jack asked.
“For the most part he keeps to himself and stays out of trouble. He’s up for parole, so barring any complications, he could be out soon.”
“Any family members come to see him?” Nikki asked.
“He’s got a sister who comes by every month or so, I’d guess. I’d recognize her but don’t remember her name.”
“Erika Hamilton,” Nikki said.
“Sounds familiar.”
“Any other family or visitors?” Jack asked. They needed to know where Erika would go when she was in trouble, and so far their list was way too short.
“Not that I’ve noticed, though I can get you a copy of his visitors log to verify.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Nikki said.
Weldon stopped in front of an oversized metal door and pulled out his keys. “Take as long as you need. I’ll have a guard waiting to escort you out when you’re done.”
Nikki nodded her thanks, then stepped into the eight-by-ten room in front of Jack. Beyond a table that was bolted to the floor and a couple of chairs, the room was empty of any furnishings.
A uniformed guard stood near the door while Justin Peters sat on the far side of the table. He had short hair and a hint of a beard, but was clearly more alert than his mug shot taken when he was arrested. When he looked up, Nikki caught the resemblance to Erika in his eyes. And the hint of cold indifference.
Weldon nodded for the guard to step out with him, then shut the door behind them.
Nikki slid into the seat next to Jack. “I’m Special Agent Nikki Boyd and this is my partner, Special Agent Jack Spencer.”
Worry lines appeared across Justin’s forehead as he leaned forward. “They wouldn’t tell me what this is about. If there’s a problem with my parole …”
“This isn’t about your upcoming parole hearing.” Nikki softened her voice. They needed him on their side if they were going to get the information they wanted. “We need to ask you a few questions about your sister.”
“My sister? Wait a minute.” He ran his fingers across the stubble on his jawline, the color seeping from his face. “Please tell me she’s okay.”
“We don’t have a lot of information at this point,” Jack said, “but we do need to tell you that she’s missing, and we have reason to believe her life is in danger.”
“What?” Justin slammed his fists against the table. “No … No, I told her something terrible was going to happen to her, but she wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Wait a minute.” Nikki leaned forward. “Why did you think something bad was going to happen to her?”
“There’s this man she’s involved with. I don’t trust him at all. His name’s Brian Russell.” The coldness was back in his eyes. “I’ve told her over and over to break things off with him, and if she didn’t, she was going to end up getting hurt.”
“We’re aware that your sister was seeing Russell,” Jack said.
Justin splayed his hands against the table and leaned forward. “Then tell me you’re questioning him, because I promise you, if something’s happened to her, he’s responsible.”
“We’re in the process of bringing him in—”
“In the process?” Justin’s voice rose a notch. “So you don’t know where he is.”
Nikki glanced at Jack. “No.”
“And I’m assuming since you’re here speaking with me and you believe her life is in danger, you don’t think they just ran off together.”
“No, but we are doing everything we can to find them both,” Nikki said. “Which is why we wanted to see you. We need to know where she might have gone if she thought he was after her. Any friends or family she’d go to if she was in trouble?”
“We don’t really have any family. We’ve got a stepfather who lives in Idaho. Haven’t seen him for years. A few distant cousins scattered across the country, but Erika and I were pretty much on our own by the time I was seventeen.”
“When’s the last time you saw her?”
Justin shrugged. “She visits when she can. And we talk on the phone a couple times a month. I guess the last time I saw her was about three, maybe four weeks ago.”
“And friends? Any she might go to if she were in trouble?”
“She’s got a few friends here in Nashville. There’s this one woman … Kim … Kim Parks, I think her name is. They’re close. I met her once.”
“Anyone else?” Nikki kept her expression neutral. There was no use in his finding out Kim was dead. “Any place where she might have gone if she was scared?”
“She’s got friends at work, I’m sure, but I’ve been sitting here for the past two years, so it’s been awhile since I hung out with my sister.” His frown deepened. “But wouldn’t your time be better served out there looking for her?”
She caught the anger in his voice as he spoke and couldn’t blame him for feeling helpless. He was locked inside a prison, with no tangible way to help his sister. “We have people looking for both Erika and Russell right now. But the more information we have, the sooner we should be able to find her. And Russell as well.”
“What do you know about Brian Russell?” Jack asked. “We understand you used to work with him.”
Justin leaned back against the seat, his fingers tapping against the table in front of him. “We were actually once friends, believe it or not. Graduated together from Harvard. I was there on scholarship, he came from family money, and when we both finished school, he ended up helping me get my first job with his family business.”
“So what ended your friendship?” Nikki asked.
“Brian was one of those students who claimed he was going to change the world but in reality only cared about his world. I guess I finally wised up.” Justin’s frown deepened. “I’ve seen the articles on him in Time magazine, but there’s another side to him that most people don’t know about.”
“What side is that?” Jack asked.
“Brian has always struggled with addictive behaviors. He started gambling in college. He didn’t need the money but craved the rush of winning. His mother tried to send him to counseling, but he refused to go. Eventually, when his mother’s health began to fail, she had him take over running the business and the dozens of charities they were involved in, thinking it would make the addictive behavior go away.”
“But it didn’t?”
“No. On the outside he remained the poster boy for nonprofits. But he was still gambling and drinking. Then I heard rumors he’d gotten involved with someone in the Russian Mafia.”
“Dimitry Petran,” Nikki murmured, processing Justin’s answers. “And were those rumors true?”
“When I asked him, he didn’t deny it. That’s when I decided I wanted out.”
Nikki frowned. “Why didn’t you go to the authorities with what you knew?”
“Because I didn’t know anything. I didn’t have any proof. Like I said, Brian’s smart. He knows how to cover his trail. He’s been doing it for years. And if I went to the feds, it would be his word against mine, and a string of even more powerful people behind him, making sure I stayed silent. I�
�m sure you can figure out who a jury would believe.”
“Where did he and Erika meet?” Nikki asked. If they knew more about who Brian Russell was, they might be able to determine what his next move was going to be.
“Believe it or not, I was the one who introduced Erika to him, something I’ve regretted ever since. But at the time, she was looking for a job, and he was hiring. I never thought he’d break her heart. Or put her in a situation where her life was in danger.”
“How long ago was this?”
“Five … six years ago. At first she worked for his wife at one of her art galleries here in Nashville, so they didn’t really have a lot of interaction. Then at some employee party, he noticed her and eventually offered her a job in his Houston office. It’s not the first time he’s done something like this. Brian’s a womanizer who goes through women the way most men go through disposable razors. Though I have to say their relationship was unique. He was always coming back to her. Even after he moved to Texas.”
“What can you tell me about him and their relationship?” Nikki asked, scribbling notes on the pad in front of her.
“Like I just said, to the world he’s charming and good looking and knows exactly what to say. It’s his job. His public persona for the family business. He’s on the board of half a dozen charities, so he speaks at fundraisers, and you see his face on their brochures and videos. She’d been working at one of his wife’s art galleries for about two months when he asked her out. They’ve been seeing each other off and on ever since, even while Brian was still married. She thought she’d found her Prince Charming, but while Russell might be charming, he’s definitely no prince. I think she’s finally beginning to realize that.”
“What changed for her?” Nikki asked.
“Besides the fact she finally realized he won’t stay faithful to one woman? About three months ago, she stumbled across something in his house that put up some red flag, and she started doing some digging. She called me but wouldn’t give me any specifics. All I could do was tell her to be careful and hope she was finally seeing the truth for herself. But if Brian knew what she was doing—”