“What about the murder of Hayley Hendrix? You must have some leads there.”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”
Unless there was something in it for the police. Kali sighed. “That’s why I called. It’s about the poetry books. I know who inscribed them. At least I think I do. Olivia’s brother.”
For a moment the detective was speechless. Then she demanded, “How do you know that?”
“He wrote down his name and phone number for me. The handwriting’s the same, and his signature has the same smiley face in the loop of the y.”
“Her brother, huh.”
“So the books probably aren’t significant after all. He gave one to his sister and one to her friend. It’s not unusual that he’d know his sister’s friends. The only odd part is that when I asked him if he knew Hayley, he denied it.”
“You asked him about her? Why?” Michelle’s interest was clearly piqued.
“I told you, I’m dealing with a wrongful death suit.”
Silence stretched between them. Finally, the detective asked, “Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?”
Even though she was alone in John’s study, Kali felt the detective’s eyes on her, sharp and suspicious. Deceit was damn uncomfortable. “Like what?” she croaked.
“You knew about Hayley You knew she and Olivia had similar books of poetry. You know something about another of Olivia’s friends, Crystal Adams. At a minimum, you recognized her name. Seems to me you know a lot for someone who supposedly knows nothing.”
“I’ve told you what I know,” Kali insisted.
“Then why don’t you tell us about your brother’s connection to these girls?”
“Because I don’t know what it was.”
That at least was the truth.
<><><>
Erling felt like shit. He’d spent a second sleepless night on the living room sofa. After his confrontation with Mindy, Deena had spoken to him only in monosyllables, and Mindy not at all. And then this morning, he’d really done it. Now neither one was speaking to him.
He’d waited until Mindy had arrived at the breakfast table, then tried to reason with her. Just tell him how to get in touch with the boy, that was all. Erling had promised he wouldn’t make a scene. The more he’d pleaded, the more adamant Mindy had become that it was none of his business.
Finally, Erling had lost his temper. “It is too my business,” he’d thundered, hammering the tabletop with his palm and sloshing his cornflakes. “You’re living in my house, eating my food, taking my money.”
“That doesn’t mean you own me.”
“You want to be in charge of your own life or not? You can’t have it both ways.”
“We love you, honey,” Deena had interjected with a warning glance at Erling. “We’re worried. We just want to know about the boy. I’m sure it’s all a big mistake, but—”
“If you’re sure it’s a mistake, then why the inquisition?”
“Inquisition?” Erling had barked. “If we’re supporting you, you’re going to follow our rules, understand? Now tell me how to find this so-called friend of yours, or else.”
Deena had thrown up her hands. “Erling, you’re being a jerk.”
“Fine,” Mindy had yelled. “I’ll move out if that’s what you want.” She had pushed away from the table and run to her room.
Eyes shooting daggers in his direction, Deena had run after their daughter. Erling’s apology, shouted through the closed bedroom door, had gone unacknowledged.
Finally, he’d left the house and come to work.
But not before he’d called Norm Giff, who’d been his partner before Michelle. He had explained the situation and asked Norm to keep an eye on Mindy.
Now he headed to the break room for an aspirin, and that’s where he ran into Michelle.
“Another rough night?” she inquired, giving him the onceover.
“Rough night. Rougher morning.” He filled his cup with water from the cooler and popped two aspirin. “You know the poetry books inscribed to Olivia Perez and Hayley Hendrix?”
“Yeah, I need to talk to you about—”
“Mindy’s got one just like it.”
Michelle’s face registered surprise, and something else Erling had trouble reading. Worry, maybe. “What?” she asked. “Are you sure?”
“Same inscription. Same signature. She’s met some new guy but she won’t tell me who he is.”
“Tony Perez,” Michelle said, rocking back on her heels. “Olivia’s brother. That’s his signature. At least according to the oddly knowledgeable Kali O’Brien.”
Erling’s mind was racing almost as fast as his heart. He wasn’t sure which name caused him the most aggravation, Kali or Tony. But Tony was the immediate problem.
“Remind me,” Erling said. “Was there anything that sparked suspicion when we interviewed him?” He had a vague recollection of a slender, dark-haired man in his twenties. But Erling’s mind had been on other things. Yet another example of how easily he’d let himself become distracted during the investigation.
“He was present when we spoke with the girl’s parents,” Michelle said. “His statement’s in the file. He’s a couple of years older than Olivia. Not the high achiever she was. In fact, he had some trouble with the law when he was younger.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Petty stuff, as I recall. Shoplifting, vandalism. None of it recent.”
Recent or not, that wasn’t the sort of guy Erling envisioned for his daughter.
Michelle was biting her lower lip, a habit Erling had noticed she fell into when she was thinking. “I figured Olivia and her friend, no big deal. So what if Tony gave them books. But Mindy— that changes things.”
Damn right it did. “She won’t tell me anything about him,” Erling muttered. “She won’t even talk to me.”
“Something else Kali said.” Michelle kicked her heel back against the wall. “She said Tony denied knowing Hayley Hendrix.”
How had they missed this guy? Because Erling had messed up, that’s how. Focused on Sloane and John and didn’t run the full and open investigation he should have. And now his own daughter was in danger.
As he dumped his paper cup in the trash, Erling gestured to Michelle and they headed back toward the squad room. “Where can we find him?”
“The case has been reassigned, remember? We should let Bob Morgan handle it.”
“The case may be Morgan’s, but Mindy is my daughter.”
Michelle nodded. “Where is she? Is she safe?”
“Norm Giff is keeping an eye on her. But I’m going to call and alert him, just in case.”
Five minutes later, Michelle was leaning over Erling’s desk. “Tony Perez works at a Logan Foods store near campus,” she said. “But he called in sick today”
Erling’s heart froze. He picked up the phone and punched in Giff’s cell number.
“I lost her,” Giff told him. “She went into the women’s locker room at the gym and that’s the last I saw of her. I was just getting ready to call you.”
Erling’s jaw clenched. Michelle gave him a stricken look. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
He covered the mouthpiece. “Giff lost her.” He told her about the locker room.
“Maybe she’s still there.”
Erling shook his head. In his gut, he knew she wasn’t. “How long ago was this?” he asked Norm.
“About half an hour ago, maybe a bit longer. I’m sorry. I swear, I was watching the door the entire time.”
And realizing that she was being watched, Mindy had no doubt sneaked out a side entrance.
Erling hung up and tried Mindy’s cell. It was turned off. He turned to Michelle. “Find out what kind of car Tony drives and put out a BOLO on him. I’ll try to reach his parents.”
Erling made the call. Tony’s father was home and sounded sloshed, though it wasn’t yet noon. Hadn’t seen his son all day, he said. Erling did get a description of the car
, which he handed to Michelle at the very moment she was printing out the license number from the Arizona MVD.
“Don’t assume the worst,” Michelle said, trying to reassure him.
“Easy for you to say.” It was clear she wasn’t a parent. Parents had trouble not assuming the worst. “Why was Kali O’Brien talking with Tony anyway?”
“I assume it was about his sister.”
Erling muttered to himself. The O’Brien woman was up to her eyeballs in this. She could be the key to the whole thing. They should have put the pressure on her before this.
“I’m going to run Tony’s name through the system,” Erling said. “Can you monitor the phones? Let me know when they locate the car.”
He prayed they wouldn’t be too late.
Chapter 42
Kali nursed a cup of coffee as she studied the pages spread out on John’s dining room table. She’d spent the morning polishing the legal proceedings she’d drafted yesterday. She was feeling frustrated. If only she could figure out what was going on between John and the three girls.
She decided to take one more shot at getting Reed Logan to talk to her. If anyone would know about John’s extracurricular activities, it would be Reed. Rather than call, giving him yet another chance to dodge her, this time she’d go and confront him in his office. As she was grabbing her purse, the phone rang.
“This is Ron Silverman,” the caller announced.
It took Kali a moment to place the name—the porn producer whose number she’d gotten from Larissa LaRue. Kali had left a message for him yesterday.
“Sorry it took me so long to return your call,” he said. “I’ve been so busy I’ve already forgotten the details of your message. Something about our industry event last spring?” Silverman’s tone was imbued with the breezy, self-important air of someone who fancied himself a Hollywood mogul.
“Right,” Kali told him. “I’m interested in a couple of girls. Larissa LaRue suggested you might be able to tell me if they were at the event and whether they have agents or contracts.”
“Hell, Larissa knows everyone in the business, but, yeah, I’d be glad to help. Which studio are you with? Or are you independent?”
Kali realized he’d misunderstood the purpose of her call. She didn’t see a lot of advantage in setting him straight. “Uh, pretty much independent.”
“Tell you what. I’m on the road right now and all the paperwork from the event is at the office. I usually swing by La Cantina after work. Why don’t you meet me there, say, six o’clock?”
“Great.” Kali felt heartened. Between Reed Logan and Ron Silverman, maybe today she’d finally get some answers.
<><><>
It wasn’t until Kali pushed through the wide doors of the Logan Food headquarters that she stopped to wonder: Had she subconsciously planned the trip as a pretext for running into Nash? No, she told herself. Not true. But she wasn’t entirely convinced.
She turned determinedly from the hallway that led to the legal counsel’s office and asked the receptionist for Reed Logan. After a muffled call to Reed’s secretary, the receptionist directed Kali to go on back.
John’s former secretary, Alicia, was seated at the desk outside Reed’s office. She greeted Kali like an old friend.
“I’m just filling in while Mr. Logan’s secretary is on vacation,” she explained. “Did you have an appointment? I didn’t see it listed.”
“No appointment. I was hoping I could just get a few minutes of his time.”
“He’s got someone with him right now, but I don’t think they’ll be long. Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll see what I can do?” She ran a thumb over one of her long, scarlet nails. “I miss working for your brother, you know. It’s hard to believe he’s gone.”
Kali nodded. “I appreciate that you came to the funeral.”
“Well, yeah, of course.”
Kali sat in one of the sage-green side chairs against the wall. “Did you know John well? Outside of work, I mean.”
Alicia gave a little wisp of a laugh. Embarrassed, and maybe a bit flattered, too, that Kali could even ask the question. “No, it wasn’t like that at all. Believe me.”
But Alicia would have liked it to be, Kali realized.
The door to Reed’s office opened just then and he emerged, followed by A. J. Nash. They both appeared surprised to see Kali, but while Nash grinned with obvious pleasure, Reed scowled at her.
“You’re persistent,” he growled.
Nash raised his eyebrows, shot Kali a sympathetic look, then wisely excused himself to head back to his office.
“Please, Reed,” Kali pleaded, “just give me five minutes.”
“What for?”
“Doesn’t your friendship with John mean anything?”
He sighed. “Okay, five minutes max.” He stood back and let Kali enter his office.
“You want to convince me John is innocent, right?” Reed seated himself behind the wide walnut desk. He rested his forearms on the surface, pressed his fingertips together, and regarded her with a mixture of belligerence and quiet resignation.
Kali took a seat in one of the visitor’s chairs. “Not really,” she replied. Now that Reed had agreed to talk to her, she was at a loss how to begin. Finally, she decided to get the worst of it over first. “There’s evidence suggesting John’s death wasn’t accidental,” she said, watching Reed’s reaction. “Evidence that he was murdered.”
Reed recoiled slightly. “What do you mean, murdered? He went on a bender and drowned.”
“But there was someone else at the house that night,” Kali said.
“Do you know who?”
Kali shook her head.
Rubbing his jaw, Reed stood and walked to the window. “And you think this . . . this person is responsible for John’s death?”
“It’s possible.” Kali paused. “I was hoping you’d have an idea who might have been there.”
“Me?” Reed’s expression was puzzled. He looked down at his flat, blunt fingers. Then suddenly he laughed. “What you’re really wondering is, was it me?”
Kali didn’t return the laugh. “Was it?”
He stared at her a moment. “Unbelievable.”
“What is?”
“You are. You have a hell of a lot of nerve.” A vein in Reed’s temple throbbed. He jingled some change in one of his trouser pockets, then returned to his desk. “But I guess that explains why the cops have been back asking questions.”
So Michelle Parker had been telling the truth about taking a fresh look. “What kind of questions?” Kali asked.
“About the company. About John.” Reed ran a hand across his high forehead and over his scalp. “How could you even consider the possibility that I’d do something like that? I’m insulted.”
“You’re insulted?” Kali leaned forward in her chair. “You’ve been ready to blame John for your sister’s death from the start. You weren’t open to other ideas at all. If you don’t think better of John, why should I think better of you?”
For a moment Kali thought he was going to throw her out of his office. Instead, he folded his hands and looked her in the eye. “I assure you, I had nothing to do with John’s death. Of course, if you think me capable of murder, you’re hardly going to take my word for it.”
Reed got up again and poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher on the credenza. “Are you suggesting that whoever killed John, assuming someone did, is the person who also killed Sloane?”
“If it wasn’t the same person, there’s at least some connection. Doesn’t that seem obvious?”
Reed drummed his fingers on the side of the glass. “Interesting theory.”
“Do you have any idea what the connection might be? You were closer to both John and Sloane than just about anybody else.”
He took a sip of water. “Not a clue.”
“What about the girl who was living with Sloane? Did John know her?”
“Olivia?” He drained the glass. “I doubt
it.”
Kali took a breath. “Did you know John was involved in pornography?”
Reed set the glass down and returned to his chair. “He mentioned it. He was kind of embarrassed about the whole thing, but he was raking in the money. After some of his earlier setbacks, he was determined to build another nest egg.”
Alicia’s voice came through the intercom. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Logan, but your two o’clock is here.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.” Reed addressed Kali: “I don’t like thinking John was a murderer any more than you do. I’d be thrilled if the police came up with a different suspect. But I don’t have any information that’s going to help them do that.”
Kali nodded and rose, feeling far from satisfied. “Thanks for seeing me.”
Back in the parking lot, Kali started the engine and flicked the air conditioner up to high. As she started to back out of the parking space, the car pulled to the left and rolled awkwardly. Her stomach sank.
When she got out to take a look, her fears were confirmed. A flat rear tire. Damn. Just what she didn’t need.
Muttering under her breath, she pulled out the rental agreement and her cell phone, then punched in the number for Hertz. While she was waiting to be connected, she examined the tire more closely. The valve cap was missing. How had that happened?
Then she noticed a brown, softball-sized rock under the chassis near the rear wheel. It was similar in size and color to the one that had been thrown through John’s picture window.
Tucson was full of rocks, but there were no others here in the paved lot of Logan Foods’ corporate headquarters. The message was clear: Get out.
And clever, too, because there was no way Kali could prove the flat was meant to be a warning.
But she knew that it was.
Chapter 43
Damn computer. Cursing it was about as useful as shooting the proverbial messenger, but it made Erling feel better. Tony Perez had a clean record. Whatever trouble he’d had with the law, it had happened while he was still a juvenile. He’d managed to keep his nose clean in the four years since he’d turned eighteen.
The Next Victim (Kali O'Brien series) Page 31