Diamond Lilly
Page 24
She called Liam.
“Hey love, you sound tired,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve been through the wringer today. Want to go to the beach?”
“Sure thing, when?”
“How does right now sound?” she asked.
“I’ll be right there.” he said.
Chapter Thirty-One
He parked down the block from the Doll House, and sat in the car as Maggie Randall scampered down the sidewalk. Suddenly she stopped, swiveled on her high heels and gave him the finger, then resumed her walk as if nothing happened. Seething with anger, Hakim shook his head. A couple of times in the past, he had considered getting rid of the two women after the attack. Neither Maggie nor Jenna knew their place in the new Islamic world, showing their disrespect almost on a daily basis. Now Maggie’s behavior confirmed it once again. However, for the time being, he had to exercise patience. He still needed them.
This morning, after Zherdev called to tell him the passports were ready, Hakim decided he was going to send Maggie to pick them up. Exposing his weakness to the Russian had left him feeling dirty. He wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of humiliating him again.
At first Maggie acted flattered when he said he had a job for her. Then, when he picked her up in front of her apartment building and told her about getting the passports at the Doll House, she suddenly got mad. “You’re kidding right? A damn strip joint? They treat women like dirt in those,” she spat out.
“Do you want to be a part of this operation or not?” Hakim shot back.
“Yeah, I do. If you make me go in there, I’m not letting those filthy Russians grope me.”
“No one will touch you,” Hakim assured her, trying to keep his voice calm. “It’s business. When you go in, you tell them you’re there to see Ivan Zherdev. They’ll take you to him. You say I sent you to pick up the passports, he’ll give them to you and you leave. I’m telling you, it’s easy.”
“Then why don’t you do it?” she riposted.
Hakim waited until she was out of sight, then got out and glanced around. Other than a white van parked on the other side of the Strip Club, there was very little going on. It was a fairly quiet area, a mixture of residential and a few businesses. It was still early, and the traffic was scarce. On his side was a boarded up two-story red brick building. A barely legible sign indicated it was a gym at one time. He leaned against the building and checked out the empty soccer field across the street, right next to a huge old oak tree and a Baptist church. A lone kid was kicking a soccer ball in the dirt, raising dust clouds all around him. Nearly an hour went by. He was getting anxious. He went back to the car and sat glaring through the windshield, thinking maybe he should go check on the damn woman. The white van hadn’t moved, but now there was a man stepping out of the back. He stretched his legs a couple of times, and Hakim could see he was talking on the phone. Pretty soon, another man got out of the passenger side of the van, then the driver joined them as well. They stood looking around for a while, then they all climbed back inside. Hakim stiffened. He had a bad feeling. His mouth was dry and he swallowed hard, not knowing if he should leave or wait for Maggie. Then suddenly, she appeared, walking toward him, her long blond hair flowing behind her. She barely had a chance to get in. He was already backing up into the driveway next to him.
“Hey, hey, wait a minute!” she yelled at him.
“What took you so long?” he muttered.
She pulled out a packet from her handbag, shoved it at him. “Here. First, the son of a bitch tried to talk me into stripping for him, then when I told him to go to hell, he kept me waiting forever.”
Hakim slowly drove away, his sight fixated on the rear-view mirror. The white van wasn’t moving. He turned at the next street.
“Is it all here?” he asked.
She shrugged. “How should I know? I only picked them up, you can check them. If you’re not happy with them, I’m not going back. You can tell him yourself.”
“Did he say anything else?” Hakim asked.
She glared at him. “He asked why you didn’t come.”
Hakim didn’t answer. He drove on and kept checking the mirror. Still no one behind him. Just ahead was the access ramp to I-95. He accelerated.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“So did they put on a surveillance team on the strip joint?” Sam Perrone asked Jessie, seated next to his desk. She had dropped in unexpectedly, hoping he would be able to give her some insight.
“As far I know they did. It’s been five days now, and when they say no news is good news, I don’t think it applies here,” Jessie answered.
Perrone shook his head. “Things are different with the FBI.”
“Have you heard anything?” she asked.
“Nada. Not that they would share with us, mind you. But if they had nabbed Hakim, they would have arrested Zherdev as well, and we would have found out. To my knowledge, the club is still up and running.”
“I left a couple of messages on Agent Estrada’s phone. So far, she hasn’t called me back. I wonder if I should try calling Williams,” Jessie said.
“I don’t know. They’re probably just ignoring you and will continue to do so until they get their man.”
“I could go back to the club, see if Oksana is there,” she pondered.
“Not a good idea, Jessie. It’s too dangerous for both of you. One of these days, you’ll have to learn to be more patient.”
She sighed deeply. “I don’t think I was born with that gene.” She glanced at him sideways, and noticed he was suddenly focused elsewhere. Jessie turned to see what was holding his attention. A young woman stood at a desk nearby going through some paperwork. She was short, a few pounds overweight, and had curly black hair.
“Excuse me for a moment.” Perrone got up and headed toward the desk. “Jenna. Can I help you with something?” he asked.
The women nearly jumped out of her skin, her face suddenly flushed. “Oh, you startled me. I thought I left a piece of paper here earlier,” she stammered.
“Were you working on this computer?” Perrone asked.
“I was, this morning. I’m done now.”
“What was it? Maybe I can help you find it,” Perrone said.
She shook her head. “No, no. I already checked. I must have left it somewhere else.”
Perrone smiled. “Okay then, good luck.”
“Thank you, Detective,” she said.
He waved at her as he walked back to his desk. “No problem.”
Grinning at Jessie, he sat back down. “Sorry. Jenna works in the I.T. Department.”
“Where is Boyd today?” Jessie asked.
“Had to go to court this morning. An old case of his is being retried. He has to go back to testify. Some of those retrials are a real pain in the ass.”
“I’m sure it happens more often than you like,” Jessie said.
He shrugged. “Yeah, we have to try to keep the bad guys in jail, right?”
He checked his watch. “Hey, it’s lunch time. You want to go get a bite?”
Jessie hesitated.
“Come on. How can you say no to a Cuban sandwich, plantains and Cuban coffee? I’ll even share a flan with you. Deal?”
“Where?” she asked.
“I’m thinking Las Vegas in Plantation.”
“Sounds good.” She got up. “I’ll meet you there. I want to go see Lilly afterwards.”
“How is she doing?”
“It’s hard to say, Sam. She’s just a little girl trying to cope with the loss of her parents. How can that be easy?”
On the way out, they walked past the young woman. Jessie waved at her and the girl waved back.
They were half way through the flan when Perrone’s phone rang. He answered and Jessie noticed his face changing. Listening to the one-sided conversation, she soon became excited. She could hardly wait for him to disconnect.
“I got some of it. They arrested the Russians?” she said anxiously.
“What about Hakim?” Jessie asked.
Perrone shrugged. “Nothing on him as far as I know. Either they got him and are keeping him under wraps, or they gave up on him coming back to the strip joint.”
“If they got Hakim, they were supposed to let me know,” Jessie said.
“Come on, Jessie, you know better. Keeping you in the loop, or us for that matter, is not part of their strategy.”
“And if they didn’t get him?”
“They have the Russians. If the gun pans out, there’s enough evidence to go for a murder conviction. Should be sufficient to persuade at least one of them to try and make a deal.” Perrone ventured.
“What kind of deal?” Jessie asked.
“My guess is taking the death penalty off the table for one.” He leaned in. “Now, Jessie, this is just me talking. Plain speculation, none of it on record.”
She frowned at him. “Sam, you know me better by now. I appreciate you telling me what’s going on. I would never get you in trouble.” She tapped her head. “The information is going to stay right here until I’m given the go ahead to print it.”
He nodded, somewhat embarrassed. “I know, I know, just have to say it.”
All of a sudden, Jessie’s eyes widened. “What about Oksana and the other girls? Did your friend mention them?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
“I hope she got away. You know they would have her killed if they suspected she gave them up.”
He patted her hand. “It sounds like she’s a pretty smart girl. She had a plan and you were part of it. She told you about Hakim and the diamonds, hoping it would lead to the Russians’ arrest. I’m guessing she was actually counting on it. I bet she took off with the other girls as soon as she could, and they’re somewhere safe right now. At least that’s my opinion.”
Jessie nodded. “You’re right. It makes sense that she was laying the groundwork for their escape.”
They parted in the parking lot and Jessie drove to Annabelle’s house. The woman greeted her with a warm smile.
“Jessie, I didn’t expect you. Mary Gilmore took Lilly for her session.”
“With a psychologist?”
Annabelle nodded. “Her second one. So far, so good.”
“Does she talk about it?” Jessie asked anxiously.
“Not really. She’s a little more relaxed, playing with the girls again. For a while she wouldn’t have anything to do with anyone. Hardly came out of her room.”
“She had to find out sooner or later. I don’t think it ever gets easier to learn your parents are gone. She loved them so much, and I’m sure they reciprocated her love tenfold. It must be awful to deal with the emptiness. Hopefully the therapist will help her cope with it.”
“Do you want to stay for a cup of coffee or tea?” Annabelle offered.
“No thanks. I just had Cuban coffee with my lunch. I’m still wired. Tell Lilly I came by. If it’s okay with you and with her, I’ll come and get her this weekend, take her to the beach.”
Annabelle smiled. “She’ll love it. You are the one person who means the most to her right now.”
“Did you hear from her Aunt Emily?” Jessie asked.
“I talked to her yesterday. Unfortunately, her husband is still in the hospital, so she probably won’t be here for another couple of weeks.”
“In a way it might be better for Lilly. It will give her a little more time to adjust. Too many drastic changes in a short period of time could even be harder on her.”
They hugged and Jessie left. On her way out, she phoned Liam. “Where are you?” she asked.
“I’m doing a surveillance on an errant spouse. Would you like to join me?”
“A tryst of some kind?”
“A seedy Motel Rendez-Vous. This guy’s not a big spender either. The girl friend should be offended,” he snickered.
He gave her the address, and twenty-five minutes later she pulled up next to his car at the Windy Pines Motel on 441 north of Commercial Blvd. The building desperately needed a facelift and a new coat of paint. A few scrawny shrubs dotted the landscape, with no pines in sight, windy or otherwise. Weeds thrived everywhere. Jessie jumped into Liam’s passenger seat. “Lordy, you’re right. This is more like a place to make a drug buy than a love nest.”
He grinned wickedly. “Well, something must be going right. They’ve been in there for more than two hours.”
“Maybe it took a while to check out the linens and root out the bed bugs. Did you check the register?”
He raised an eyebrow. “For what? I followed him here and she was waiting in front of the motel door with the key card. They couldn’t hold off a minute longer, so they groped outside for a while, gave me a chance to snap some pretty telling pictures. Then finally they went in to pursue their passionate encounter.”
“Wow, you should have been a romance writer,” Jessie said.
“His wife will feel less than romantic when I give her the prints,” he scoffed.
“Can’t be pleasant to be the bearer of bad news, especially when it concerns someone the person loves.” Jessie shook her head.
“I don’t think love is a factor here, Jessie. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s more about money.”
“If they have money, what the heck is he doing bringing his squeeze to this place?”
“I told you, he’s a cheapskate. He also believed he was being smart when he asked his wife to sign a pre-nup. Guess what? This little caper will nullify it, so wifey will walk away with a pretty tidy nest egg.”
Jessie sighed. “What a world.”
He leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek. “I’ve missed you.”
Jessie arched an eyebrow. “We were together last night.”
“I know. I missed you since then.”
She smiled. “I’m amazed. Even after witnessing such relationship betrayals, you’re still a dreamer at heart.”
“What can I say? Told you I was an optimist. Plus I grew up in a home where there was plenty of love, so I believe in it.”
“Well, that announcement deserves some good news,” she said, patting his hand.
“What?” Liam asked.
“The FBI is now officially in possession of the diamonds.”
His eyes widened. “What? When?”
She told him about her conversation with Perrone.
“Heck, as soon as I’m done here with Mr. Infidelity, I’m going to see them,” Liam exclaimed.
“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea right now.”
“Why not? I have a right to claim the diamonds for my client,” he protested.
“If you contact them, I doubt if they’ll even admit having them.”
“So what do you suggest?” he asked.
“First let me see how forthcoming they are.”
“You mean Estrada and Williams?”
She nodded.
“Okay, I’ll wait—” The love birds emerged from their room, looking flushed and somewhat exhausted. The man was lean and tall with an elaborate comb-over to hide creeping baldness. The woman was a redhead, short and pudgy, wearing a too-tight dress and dangerously high heels.
“Poor darlings, this little encounter must have zapped all their energy,” Jessie whispered.
The couple descended the stairs and after another passionate embrace headed for their separate vehicles, without as much as a glance in their direction.
“Lost in love,” Liam sighed.
“Are you still g
oing to follow him?” Jessie asked.
“No, I think I have enough to sink the bugger. I’m meeting the wife in a couple of hours. Then I’ll be free for the rest of the day. Can I tempt you with dinner at my house, spaghetti ala carbonara? Seven o’clock?”
She laughed. “I don’t know what carbonara is, but I trust you, and when it comes to food, I can easily be persuaded.”
****
She didn’t have to call the FBI. Her phone chirped as she pulled into her driveway. “Agent Estrada, so good to hear from you,” Jessie said.
The woman didn’t seem to share her good humor. “Ms. Milner, has Oksana called you back?” she asked tersely.
“Why do you think she would?”
Estrada paused for a moment, and Jessie held her breath, hoping she would tell her about the raid.
“Last night we arrested Zherdev and his accomplice Gorev at the Doll House. Several women were rounded up as well. Oksana Yudin was not among them. One of them led us to the house where they lived. It was empty. We think they probably got a phone call warning them about the raid and took off. We hoped she would get in touch with you.”
Jessie closed her eyes, relief sweeping over her. “No, I didn’t hear from her.”
“If she does call, you must emphasize she should turn herself in. Let her know in exchange for her testimony, we will provide her with protection and a new identity. As long as she remains out there, the Russian mob will be after her,” the woman said.
“Did you get the diamonds?” Jessie asked.
Silence on the line.
“Agent Estrada?” Jessie repeated.
Finally she spoke. “We did. Once again, this information must remain unpublished, understood?”
“Yes, I’m aware. However, Liam Donovan was tasked with their recovery by the insurance company, so when will he be able to get them?”
“Not at this time. Frankly, it might take a while but they will get them back.”