“Thanks for this, Tommy. All of it.”
Tommy surprised her by grabbing her into a hug. “Please be safe.”
“I will, I promise.”
After Tommy left, she sat down and started reading more of the dossier. Under “notable” characteristics at the bottom was typed: “One thing most notable about Jackson Paine is that although he is a career criminal, he is known to always keep his word.” Tommy or someone had written in pen next to that: “He doesn’t give a shit what the consequences are, if he said it was going to happen, it does.” It listed him as the owner and CEO of Trans-Paine Inc. His father founded the company five decades earlier. Paige knew that much because of her time with him as his step-daughter. It was what her mother claims she thought he did for a living the entire five years they were married…no matter how much her own son told her otherwise.
Trans-Paine is into a lot of different things according to Tommy’s paperwork. They have a trucking business that is the bulk of the company. Jackson’s father established it originally and it now employs several hundred people. According to Tommy’s notes in the side bar, the cops and the FBI know it’s a cover, but Jackson is too smart to get caught. He is an astute businessman and to date he has never been held up on any charges. At any given time he was being watched by at least three different government agencies including Interpol. The trucking company is connected to a shipping port and ships containers to and from other countries all over the world. Again, he’s never been caught importing or exporting drugs or other illegal items…but yet the police “know” that’s what goes on. Paige was beginning to feel her brother’s pain. He’d been obsessed with bringing Jackson down since he was a kid and he often bemoaned the fact to his sister that this guy seemed to be “untouchable.”
Then there were the Kramer’s.
After the funeral, Paige had done some of her own research. A lot of what Tommy gave her, she already knew. Lucas Kramer is the ringleader of that group. Lucas is fifty-two years old and has been married to the same woman for thirty years. Paige had a vague memory of meeting him and his wife Louise at her mother and Jackson’s wedding thirteen years earlier. Kramer was one of those guys who cleaned up well…like Jackson. He looked at home in a three-thousand dollar suit and articulated himself in such a way that he could easily pass for a college professor or a suave politician rather than a ruthless killer who would do anything to get ahead.
Paige learned that he owned Kramer Construction, Inc. which is his cover business. He also owns a nightclub. He is the oldest of five sons and he has one thirty year old son named Caine and a twenty-six year old daughter named Kelsey. Caine and Kelsey both work for their father. The Kramer’s dossier read like something right out of a crime novel. These people were ruthless…and so good at what they did, it was impossible to build a case against them. The police and the FBI believe them to be the second major source of drugs in the city…after her step-father of course. But although Jackson is mentioned in connection with a handful of murders, the Kramer’s have been implicated in dozens. Caine Kramer was mentioned again and again as a “person of interest” since he was a teenager. Somehow for over decades he’d managed to elude being charged with a specific crime.
Caine is the one that Paige meant to get close to. He’s the one that Tommy believes killed her brother. If he’s responsible, she intends to find out…and make him pay. There was more information on the paper…history, physical descriptions. Paige folded it back up for now.
She had a plane to catch.
Paige spent her time on the plane reading through the dossiers once more and going over her cover in her head.
She was Paige Gauthier.
Tommy had kept it close to reality because he said the more lies you created, the more chance there was to forget one of them and blow it. She was twenty-five years old and a native of New York. Her father was dead, a former longshoreman and her mother took off for parts unknown when she was just a kid. She’d never been married, but she had a string of bad relationships with controlling men in her history. She lives alone…and is basically a loner. She started out working as a bartender in a club and over the past four years she has worked her way through the club scene to a management position. She is interested in leaving her current job and working for the Kramer’s strictly because their club is larger and more popular and there would be more of a possibility for her to advance. Paige’s former “employers” if they were contacted, would say that she is “focused and driven” and one of the best manager’s they’d ever had. It was perfect. Tommy came through for her like a champ.
There was an opening for a night club manager at the Kramer’s nightclub and Paige intended to fill that position and spend her summer vacation getting close to these people. She wouldn’t be able to rest unless the people or person’s responsible for her brother’s death paid for it…and dearly. She didn’t just aim to have them arrested…she aimed to destroy them. This family and possibly her step-father as well, would be brought to their knees.
Chapter Seven
A few hours after getting off of the airplane at JFK, Paige was leaving her hotel room dressed to the nines in a white skirt and blazer with a green silk blouse peeking out underneath. She planned on staying at Greg’s apartment while she was in New York…but she knew that going in there would be an emotional endeavor for her and she didn’t want to be overcome with emotion when she met the Kramer’s. She took a cab to the Kramer’s nightclub in Manhattan and with her head high and her shoulders back, she walked in on her five inch white Manola Blahniks, resume in hand. It was early evening, so the place was quiet yet with only a few patrons at the bar. From her online research she knew that as soon as the nightlife picked up, the place would be packed.
This was no seedy night club. It was definitely a place that you’d never suspect was owned by one of the most powerful crime families in the city. It was simply called ‘500 Club’ because it was located on the 500 block of 57th Street. From the street was a private entrance. The bouncer at the door that looked like a completely bald white gorilla in a t-shirt looked at her resume and told her to go on inside and talk to the bartender. The door he opened for her behind him led into a softly lighted area where luxurious VIP booths upholstered in deep red velvet lined the walls. Beyond that was another section, this one had bench style seating with private booths that surrounded the dance floor, but high backs that faced in that direction to allow for intimate seating. To the far left of the club is a large DJ booth and beyond that a large mahogany bar that ran the length of the wall. The glass case that held the decorative and colorful bottles of liquor was lit up with twinkling white lights and a mirror ran the length of it. On either side of the bar was an octagon shaped table with a ring around them like the ones that fighter’s use. Paige knew they must be for the go-go dancers from the research she did online.
Paige made her way up to the bar and smiled at the young bartender behind it.
“Hi, I’m here to drop off a resume.”
The bartender let his eyes take her in…but quickly and not in a creepy way.
“Have a seat. I’ll call Kelsey,” he told her.
“Thank you.”
Paige took a seat on one of the over-sized barstools and looked around while she waited. She saw a copy of the liquor license from the state of New York prominently displayed behind the bar. It was in Louise Kramer’s name. Above that were two framed certificates, one was for “Operator of the Year” in 2009 and the other was “Property of the Year.” in 2013. Along the far back wall on the opposite side of the club from where the dancefloor was, a wrought iron banister flanked carpeted stairs that led in a spiral pattern up to the second floor. Paige could see a small landing at the top and that was where Kelsey Kramer appeared a few seconds later. When Paige read the description of her in the dossier, she couldn’t help but picture her as pretty. She had been wrong. This woman was not pretty, she was drop-dead gorgeous. Kelsey had thick, dark brown
hair that hung to her waist and small, delicate features that were offset by her full lips and the fact that her blue eyes were huge. She was wearing a plum colored pleated skirt that was long enough to look classy and respectable, but short enough to show off a pair of shapely, muscular legs that ended in a pair of plum colored designer shoes with a six inch heel. Her blouse was the same color as her skirt and silk. It was sleeveless and as she came down the stairs towards her Paige could see that she had a colorful tribal tattoo on her upper arm.
Kelsey walked in those skinny heels like she’d been doing it her entire life. “Are you here about the manager position?”
Paige stood up and smiled. “Hello, yes. My name is Paige Gauthier. I’m here to drop off a resume.”
Just then in her peripheral vision, Paige caught sight of someone else coming down the stairs towards them. It was a man and again from his description, she assumed that it was Caine, Kelsey’s older brother.
“Well hello there,” Caine said, all but pushing his sister out of the way. He held out a beefy hand and said, “I’m Caine Kramer…and you are?”
Caine was the male version of his sister. He was at least six foot, maybe six one with the same thick dark hair as Kelsey’s, only his was cut short. His eyes were as big as hers and they both had smooth olive skin that contrasted with their pretty blue eyes. Caine was wearing a two button black Armani suit over a white shirt and charcoal gray tie. Its sleek lines fit him so well that Paige assumed it had been tailor made just for him.
“Paige Gauthier. I’m pleased to meet you.”
Paige glanced at Kelsey. She was giving her brother a smoldering look. “Paige is here to apply for the manager’s position.”
Caine let his eyes rake slowly across Paige’s body. She could almost feel the heat from them. “Are you up for an interview, Paige?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“Now?” Kelsey asked her brother.
“What’s wrong with now, as long as Paige is ready?”
Kelsey looked back at Paige and with a toothy white smile that looked forced she said, “I hope you’ll excuse my brother’s impatience. We’ve been without a manager now for a few weeks. If you’re not prepared today, I’d be happy to set you up with an appointment.”
“Now is fine with me,” Paige said with a smile.
“Perfect,” Caine said holding out his arm. “Let me show you to the office.” Paige tentatively placed her hand on the inside of Caine’s arm. Kelsey rolled her eyes and Caine led them up the stairs. The hallway was decorated with plush beige carpeting and the walls were covered in a paisley print tan and brown, velvet flocked wallpaper. She was led into a spacious office with a large cherry wood desk. “Have a seat Paige,” Caine told her. She sat down in one of the dark green wing-backed chairs and Caine took the other next to her. Their knees were almost touching and she wanted desperately to pull hers away. She willed herself not to. Kelsey went behind the desk to sit down.
Paige handed Kelsey her resume and while Kelsey looked it over Caine said, “So, are you new to New York Paige?”
She silently quelled the nerves in her stomach and said, “No, I’m a New Yorker, born and bred.”
“Nice,” Caine said with another lustful look. Paige was beginning to feel like she was sitting naked in front of him.
Kelsey glanced at her brother again almost disdainfully and then back at Paige. “Your resume is impressive. Tell us a little more about yourself.”
Paige told them about Paige Gauthier. She is single and no children who has a degree in human resource management with a minor in accounting from NYU. Tommy had provided all the needed documents if they were to request them. Paige knew already that Kelsey was an accountant. She did all the books for her father…and according to one last tidbit of information Tommy had given her before she left…there were multiple books for each one of his endeavors. Somehow Greg stumbled up on some usb drives but he wasn’t able to get copies of them at that time. He did however manage to land a copy of a key that he and Tommy believed belonged to a safe deposit box. Greg told Tommy a few days before he died that he was pretty sure there was enough evidence on those drives to not only bring down Lucas Kramer and close down his operations…but they somehow implicated Jackson Paine’s organization as well. The trick for Paige would be figuring out where that box was at and getting to it without getting caught.
Kelsey did most of the interviewing. Paige’s nerves slowly gave way to confidence as she had a satisfactory answer to each one of their questions. Kelsey and Caine seemed to be impressed with her answers. Caine wasn’t trying to make it a secret that he was impressed with her in more ways than her managerial skills. Paige was disgusted and intrigued at the same time. She was disgusted because no matter how good looking and sexy this man was, he was a ruthless killer and very likely the one who murdered her brother. She was intrigued because she wondered how his obvious attraction to her could benefit her cause. If she got this job she was going to have to evaluate just how far she was willing to go to bring this family down.
Paige walked out of the nightclub and sucked in a lungful of the humid, early summer air. Instead of flagging down a taxi, she started walking. She was thinking about Greg…postponing the trip to his apartment. She knew she had to do it. She had to go through it with a fine tooth comb and try and figure out what her brother had hidden there…that was worth dying for.
She passed a poster on one of the bus stops for a movie starring Pauly Shore. Paul Hunt was the name her brother had used when he went undercover according to Tommy. His alter ego was a low-life drug dealer who was willing to do anything to get ahead. That anything included murder…which of course Greg would have never actually gone through with. The hopes had been to become trusted enough so that when someone was pegged for murder, Paul Hunt would be the guy they sent. That worked for both the intended “victim” and the police. The “victim” actually lives, secretly and the police usually ended up with a witness out of the deal.
The more Paige found out about how Greg lived, the better she understood why he would never really tell her what he was doing. He still talked to her a lot about Jackson and how badly he wanted to bring down the Paine organization. Greg’s need to do that bordered on obsession. He had started with the Kramer’s because he believed that would be his gateway to Jackson. Ultimately, in Paige’s mind, Jackson was as responsible as anyone else for Greg’s death.
She wondered around Manhattan for a while, letting these thoughts ricochet around in her head. She finally realized that the day was getting away from her and she hailed a cab. She went back to her hotel room first and picked up her suitcase and checked out. Then she took another taxi to Queens where Greg’s apartment was. She made her way to the manager’s office and found a middle-aged red haired lady with deep blue eyes sitting behind the desk.
Paige smiled and said, “Hi, my name is Paige Gauthier. I was Paul Hunt’s sister.”
The woman’s smiling face suddenly fell. “Oh honey. I’m so sorry. He didn’t have any kin listed on his rental agreement so I wasn’t sure who to call and offer my condolences.”
Paige forced another smile and said, “It’s okay. He was trying hard to do things the right way and on his own, so he’d kind of cut himself off from his family. I missed him a lot then…and even more now.”
“You poor thing. Now that I look more closely, I can see the family resemblance. Paul was a good looking kid before…”
“Before he started using drugs.”
“I’m sorry again. Seems like I can’t keep from stepping in it today. I didn’t know he was using drugs. He just didn’t seem like the type to me. He was such a sweet boy…but then things started changing. Every time I saw him over the past few months, he was a little bit skinnier and he was nervous all the time and he just wasn’t taking care of himself. I’m sorry. I should have known.”
“It wasn’t your responsibility,” Paige said, “But thank you. I am actually here to as
k you for a favor.”
“What’s that honey?”
“I’m new to New York. I would very much like to go through my brother’s things and keep some things to remind me of him. I also need a place to stay. I was wondering if I could rent his apartment just for the month of June, until I can find something else.”
“Oh honey it hasn’t been cleaned yet. The tape is still up. The police just told me I could have it back a few days ago and I haven’t had time…”
“It’s really okay. I’ll be packing his things up anyways. I wouldn’t mind cleaning it while I do that.”
“Are you sure honey? It won’t be too hard?”
Paige gave her a sad smile and said, “It’s going to be hard no matter what.” That was honest. She wasn’t looking forward to it at all.
“Okay then,” the woman said, “I’m Faith by the way.”
“Nice to meet you Faith. Thank you for this.”
Paige filled out the paperwork that Faith asked her to fill out and paid her the rent for the month of June. Faith wouldn’t take the deposit since Paige was going to be cleaning the apartment out. When they finished, Paige slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way up the stairs. She saw the crime scene tape before she reached the landing. She stood there at the top of the stairs and looked at the door for a long time before propelling herself slowly forward. When she got there, she put the key Faith gave her in the door and pushed it open. She stood there again looking inside at the bare walls and minimal furniture. Greg told her before that there were no personal items out because of his work being undercover. It made her sadder to think about him dying in such an impersonal place. With tears already in her eyes, she finally worked up the nerve to break the tape that still blocked the door. When she finally stepped in and closed the door behind her, the first thing she saw was the man-shaped chalk drawing on the floor. She dropped her bag and dropped to her knees. Curling up near the spot in a fetal position, she lay there and cried for her brother. “I love you, Greg. I promise you…your death will not be in vain.”
ASA: BLACK SKULLS MC Page 18