Girl Undercover 8 & 9: Traitor & The Smiley Killer

by Julia Derek

  “Thank you. Did you guys have a nice dinner?”

  “Fantastic. You’re here late. You’re not training someone this late, are you?” I felt like she was using a magnifying glass, she was studying me so closely.

  “No, I’m just here to pick up something that I forgot in my locker. Are you going to be in town for a while?”

  “Unfortunately not. I’ll be leaving for D.C. early tomorrow morning.” She placed a hand on my shoulder. “I so wish we had time for another session. Please do send me a workout that I can do on my own until I see you again. That would be so helpful.”

  “It’ll be in your inbox before the end of the week.”

  “That sounds great. Have a great night.” She gave me a nod and then walked out through one of the glass doors, Burt trailing immediately behind her. He didn’t even look at me, not to mention say goodbye.

  “Likewise,” I said to the senator, not sure if she heard me. Burt’s behavior had me so transfixed that I’d spoken a couple of beats too late.

  As soon as they had disappeared from my view, I found my phone in my purse and dialed Ian.

  Chapter 2

  Ian picked up the phone right away. “Gabi. What’s going on?”

  “A lot more than I assume is going on for you,” I replied dryly. “Still no sight of Jonah then, I presume?”

  “None whatsoever, I’m afraid. I’ve thumbed through this newspaper so many times now I could recite all the headlines by heart. Which is good because it just started to rain, so the ink’s beginning to bleed.”

  “Well, I have lots of news for you.”

  “Shoot.”

  “For one, I just bumped into Burt, the trainer, again. He went to Nikkei to meet up with one of the membership directors. Guess who came out of the elevator right as he was trying to tell me something that sounded important?”

  “Don’t tell me you just saw Stenger…” Ian’s voice had gone from light to tense.

  “No, I wasn’t that lucky. It does seem like Burt knows who Stenger is, though. What’s more, I’m having the distinct feeling he might tell me about it, too.”

  “Really? Let’s hope you’re right. Who did you see coming out of the elevator?”

  “Janine Eastwood suddenly appeared as we were talking and Burt totally freaked. It was like he turned into a wooden doll at the sheer sight of the woman. She then ordered him to come with her to have dinner at Damon Chatterly’s house. The two of them just left to go there.”

  “Hmm,” Ian said, sounding pensive. “At the governor’s house, you say? Where are you right now?”

  “Still in the downstairs lobby at Nikkei. That’s where I bumped into Burt.”

  “Let’s continue this discussion at my house, okay? I’ve had enough of waiting around for this anger-challenged youngster to appear and the rain’s picking up. Soon, it’ll be pouring. There’ll be plenty more opportunities to find Stenger now that we know he’s Jonah’s father and likely in the city.”

  “Yeah, if he hasn’t left by now, he’s probably not going to. Or already left a long time ago. Are you heading home now?”

  “Yep. I’m about to get into a cab.”

  “All right. I’ll be there soon then.”

  We said goodbye and disconnected. Two minutes later, I was in a cab myself, on my way to Ian’s house. Wiping away the raindrops that had fallen on me as I’d waited on the street, I watched nighttime New York zip by outside the car window. An image of Burt’s face when Janine demanded that he come with her flitted through my mind. Why had he been so uncomfortable and still gone? Burt was no small man, measuring about six foot three inches, and while his body was on the leaner side, he was certainly strong. Janine might be taller than the average woman, but she was not exactly muscular. Yet, given Burt’s reaction to the senator, it had appeared like she could easily subdue him, using her physical power.

  She must have something on him. Something big.

  I couldn’t wait until I got a chance to ask Burt about his reaction, not to mention found out what it had been that he’d wanted to tell me. As soon as I saw him tomorrow at the club and he wasn’t with a client, I’d march right up to him and put him on the spot, albeit discreetly.

  The cab came to a halt outside Ian’s brownstone, so I paid and got out. I had barely pushed his buzzer before I sensed a familiar vibration in my purse. Someone had sent me a text. At first I wasn’t sure which of my cells it was since I now had two—my regular one and my disposable that I got renewed every couple of days. That’s the time Ian and I had assumed it was safe for us to use them until people at Adler might have figured out our numbers.

  The text was on my regular phone. And it was from Jonah.

  Hey Jamie, so sorry to kick you out of the house when we were doing so well… I didn’t have to go see my dad in the end, so am at home. Wanna come over and continue what we started?

  The text was followed by three vulgar emoticons, the kind an immature man like Jonah surely thought were awesome.

  My stomach twisted as I thought about having to kiss him again, in addition to anything else that he seemed to have in mind. Gorgeous or not, that childish, possessive streak he kept displaying was a major turn-off, reminding me of someone I used to date in L.A. years ago who’d ended up working for Cardoza. I sighed. I couldn’t believe I had insinuated to Ian I was looking forward to sleeping with Jonah even as a joke.

  I didn’t have to consider my feelings regarding Jonah for long, though, because the shrill sound of Ian buzzing me in interrupted my thoughts. Opening the heavy door to his brownstone, I ran up the long, steep stairs and reached his floor within short. He was standing in his doorway, waiting for me.

  At the sight of him, I sprinted up and embraced him, burying my head in the crook of his neck as I caught my breath. His arms were soon around me, returning the embrace.

  “Gabi,” he said softly after having given me some time to get my breathing back to normal. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” I murmured into his neck. “Well, as okay as it can be considering the circumstances…”

  He removed my head from his neck and, cupping my cheeks, he looked into my eyes with those ever-changing ones of his own, a deep blue right now. Not saying a word, he picked up a damp piece of hair that had stuck to my face and placed it behind my ear, smiling warmly. The gentle action was similar to what Jonah had done as we’d embraced only hours ago. A wave of unpleasant sensations rippled through me, cutting the moment between me and Ian short.

  I grabbed his hand. “Don’t do that.”

  “What? Tuck your hair behind your ear?”

  “Yes. It brings back bad memories.”

  “Okay. I’m sorry. I won’t ever do it again.”

  I removed his hand from my face and leaned into him again, closing my eyes. I was suddenly feeling exhausted. All I wanted was to lie down and sleep, forget about everything that was happening, pretend I was back in L.A. and that Nick was still alive. But I couldn’t do that, at least not yet; Ian and I had lots to talk about. We needed to plan our next step based on what we had learned today. When that was done, I could allow myself to get lost in dreams of what life used to be like, uncomplicated and comfortable yet exciting due to my job as a detective.

  I decided that I did have time for a quick shower, though. Pulling myself together, I let go of Ian and said, “I feel disgusting after all the running around.” Not to mention after making out with Jonah, I thought, but I knew better than to bring that up. “Mind if I clean up in your shower?”

  He stepped aside, opening the apartment door further. “Of course not. Go right ahead.”

  I expected him to add that he’d be happy to join me the way he had done on a couple of other occasions. But he didn’t; he just waited for me to pass him and enter his house.

  “Great, thanks,” I said and walked into his bathroom at the other end of the hallway, ignoring that faint but distinct dull ache that had suddenly materialized in my chest. Well, I’m only getting wha
t I deserve, I thought as I closed the door. Besides, the ache would go away soon enough.

  When I was done showering, I put up my hair that I hadn’t bothered to wash in a ponytail and wrapped a towel around myself, naked underneath. I wasn’t worried about tempting Ian as I left the bathroom since he seemed to have lost interest in me anyway.

  He was sitting before his two big computer screens as I entered his living room. Out of the corner of my eye, I noted Massimo lying on the vintage brown leather sofa, cleaning himself while regarding me with watchful eyes.

  “Hey, can I borrow a T-shirt and a pair of shorts?” I asked Ian. “I don’t feel like putting on my sweaty, wet clothes again.”

  He pointed at one of the barstools next to the marble island that separated his small kitchen from his living room. “I put a sweater and a pair of shorts there. I thought you might want some fresh clothes.”

  “Thanks,” I said and walked over to the stool. Picking them up, I walked back to the bathroom where I changed into the soft blue cashmere sweater and the checkered cotton shorts he’d gotten for me. I wasn’t surprised that they matched when I threw a glance in the hallway mirror—Ian had chosen the clothes and he always dressed well.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked when I returned to the living room. He was no longer behind his computer screens but had moved into his kitchen. “I have some leftover take-out that I can heat up. Some tasty Italian dishes.”

  “Sure, that would be great.” I slid onto one of the barstools beside the marble island. I had only eaten part of the pizza Jonah had bought me at Patsy’s, so hunger was catching up with me now. “Want me to help you?”

  Ian smiled and shook his head. “No, I’m good. Would you like some wine?” He extended me a glass of red that he had produced out of nowhere. “You seem like you could use some alcohol tonight.”

  “I’d love some,” I said, taking the glass and giving him a grateful smile in return.

  “Now tell me more about this Burt and what the deal is with him,” Ian said as he put a couple of dishes loaded with food into his big microwave. “And what happened during your date with Jonah. You guys did meet up tonight, correct?”

  I nodded and had a sip of my wine, savoring the delicious black pepper and plum notes as it lay on my tongue for a moment before swallowing.

  “What else did you learn besides Stenger being his dad? Anything useful?”

  “Yes, plenty. Apparently I’m supposed to know what The Adler Group is up to and that Stenger is Jonah’s father because Burt at some point told me. Except, Burt never told me anything. Since I didn’t want to appear like I was clueless, I couldn’t ask Jonah exactly when Burt was supposed to have told me all this. And why Jonah didn’t do it himself.”

  Ian stroked his chin, looking pensive. “Yes, that is very curious. Why not tell you directly and instead rely on Burt?”

  “Yeah, I wish I’d been able to ask him that without making him suspicious. But this guy has some serious anger issues, so I let it go.” I gave Ian a vivid description of the scene inside Patsy’s when Jonah had pounded the table so hard our pizzas had trembled, and how I’d been convinced that he would throw himself at me when I’d dared to question his words.

  “Blood has always been and will always be thicker than water, huh?” Ian repeated when I finished. “That’s what he said?”

  “Yeah, and because he’s Stenger’s son, he’s an untouchable by default, apparently. Though he didn’t seem all that confident about it, which must be why I felt prompted to ask him if he was sure. About being an untouchable, I mean. Which was a mistake.” I grimaced to emphasize my words.

  The microwave beeped, so Ian removed the dishes and placed them on the marble island next to me. Silverware and napkins followed.

  “So what made him not throw himself at you in the end?” Ian asked.

  “Closing his eyes and taking deep breaths. His father’s psychiatrist has taught him techniques to help him control his anger.”

  Ian laughed. “Really? How very Zen of them. You’d think Stenger would have drugged him instead.”

  I grinned. “Yeah, that seems to be more efficient.”

  Coming around the island, Ian sat down next to me and we both spread the napkins over our laps. “And after the pizzeria, what happened?” he asked.

  I looked at Ian, remembering how I’d quickly concluded that the best way to squeeze more information out of Jonah was to bring the promise of sex into the mix. Again, because of the tension this had created between me and Ian before, it was better not to mention that, however. There was no need for me to bring up the fact that I had kissed Jonah to grease the wheels, either. So I just said, “He suggested that we go to his house and watch a movie.”

  “Ah.” Ian nodded and dug into his food. “Smooth move,” he added, the sarcasm dripping.

  “Um, yeah. Anyway, we did go to his house. I hoped that I’d spot something there that would tell us where to find Stenger, or at least learn more about him. I didn’t see anything, not even a photo of the man. The only thing I learned was that Jonah and his twin sister are using their mother’s maiden name because Stenger is a very private man.”

  “I didn’t know he had a twin sister. I wonder if she has anger problems as well.”

  “No, she’s actually very nice. Quiet. Hangs out with this mulatto trainer girl most of the time. Anyway, their last name is Green.”

  “Green…” Ian narrowed his eyes. “Green. Why does that sound familiar?” He shrugged. “Well, it’s a common enough name, I suppose. How long were you at his house?”

  “About forty-five minutes. Luckily, his cleaning lady was there, so he didn’t try to make out with me or anything. It was right after she left that I bumped into Burt—literally. We crashed into each other as he exited a room I mistook for the bathroom.” I was definitely not about to give Ian any details about how I’d teased Jonah, challenging him to catch me as I’d dashed toward what I thought was his bedroom.

  “A room? His room?”

  “Yeah, Burt’s bedroom. They’re roommates, remember? They were supposed to go out drinking with some guys tonight, but Jonah blew them off to go out with me and Burt needed a nap before going. Anyway, after we recovered from slamming into each other, Burt told Jonah that his father wanted to see him.” I grabbed my fork and stuck it into some pasta. “It was obvious from Jonah’s reaction that, if his father wants to see him, he’s going. So he told me we had to resume tomorrow. As I was about to leave, Burt grabbed my hand and gave me the oddest look—like he wanted to tell me something and that I needed to be quiet—then he told me that I was a team player and how one could always count on me.”

  Ian frowned. “Team player? What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

  I tskd. “I’ve no frigging idea. All I know is that we’ve got to get hold of Burt and talk to him as soon as possible. I’m planning on talking to him when I see him at the club tomorrow. I should be able to find an opportunity. He’s usually there. Can I have some more wine?”

  One of my phones sounded with an incoming text as Ian went to get me more wine. I bent over to my purse that I’d dropped on the floor to see who was trying to reach me.

  I couldn’t help but letting out a sigh when I saw. It was Jonah again.

  Hey, not sure if you got my last text. I wanna see you tonight. Call me.

  “Here you go.”

  Ian’s voice right next to me made me jerk and I let out an uncharacteristically loud, “Oh!”

  “Everything okay?” he asked as he handed me the glass. He peered down at the phone in my hand. “Who texted you? Don’t tell me it’s that text stalker again.”

  “Yes, in fact it is the text stalker. And I know who the person is now, too.”

  Ian’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he took a seat on the stool. “You do? Who is it?”

  “Jonah. I totally forgot to tell you about that part.”

  Ian looked incredulous. “Jonah? Really? How do you know?”

  �
��I told him I would have let him know how I felt about him a lot sooner if he hadn’t texted me those nasty texts. He immediately owned up to it.”

  “Wow… That was quite bold of you.” He smiled and ran a knuckle along my cheek. “Not that that should surprise me when it comes to you. You’re a risk-taker.”

  “If you consider that I already had a pretty good idea he might be behind it, it wasn’t so bold. I’m not sure I ever told you, but Jonah was at Nikkei the night I was supposed to meet up with my text stalker. Sleeping in one of the beds in the trainers’ lounge. And when I found out he also had my number in his phone already, I just put two and two together.”

  “You never told me he was at the club that night. Why was he sleeping in the lounge?”

  I shrugged. “I guess he came early and decided to take a nap before meeting up with me on the sundeck. Then he just overslept. The point is the security people told me he’d been there.”

  “Right. Makes sense.” Ian snorted and shook his head. “This bloke’s getting crazier by the second… Why did he text such texts in the first place?”

  “I’m not one hundred percent sure about that since I had to pretend like I already knew so much about what Adler is up to. So I didn’t ask for details. He basically told me he did it because he wanted to get rid of you.” I gazed at Ian sincerely, taking his hand. “This guy really, really hates you, Ian, so you must be careful around him. Not that you don’t already know this, but it doesn’t hurt to stress it again.”

  Ian chuckled. “Yep, I’m aware. Thanks for reminding me, though. What did he want to tell you on the sundeck?”

  “That I would have nothing to worry about if I became his girlfriend. I wouldn’t die like so many other people soon will. He thought that if I heard it directly from him, I would take it more seriously. Since I’ve spent so much time with you already, I’m already considered a threat and all threats will be eliminated eventually. Even if things have changed somewhat.”

  Ian looked confused. “Changed somewhat? What’s that supposed to mean?”