“Do you have any recollection if Fiona was with you guys the night Dennis was killed?” I asked.
“Again I don’t have a clear recollection. But I wouldn’t have met Dennis there without her or some other woman. I’m pretty sure we were there for sex. The three of us had met there before, so I’d say it was likely she was there,” he said.
“Well, that’s a surprise. Hightower gave me the impression Fiona had a problem with Dennis at work and had tried to have him fired,” I said.
That produced a startled look from him. Mary caught my eye and moved her hand, motioning for me to slow down.
“Well, that’s news to me. She’d flirt and tease, but she never put out—” Ryan started.
“Did you socialize with her?” I interrupted, getting confused. Was it sex or flirting, or was she a voyeur at the motel?
“Yeah, dancing, drugs, and dungeons,” he said.
“Dungeons?” I asked.
“S&M, man. We clubbed together. But it got intense at one of them,” he said.
“How so?”
“Some guy she knew from LA showed up and wrecked the whole mood, made Dennis and me on edge. So we stopped going with her. The dude was really intense.”
“Can you describe him?” Mary asked.
He gave us a description that sounded like Jeremy Stamos. Mary showed him a picture, and he identified Jeremy as the guy who’d been hassling them.
“I see. So Fiona and Dennis had no issues?” I asked.
“Well, not at work. But one time at a club Dennis dropped some acid, and he called her some names that were pretty raw and tried to force her to have sex. But he was out of his mind and so wasted he couldn’t get it up. That was the only time, and it was like three months ago,” he said.
He certainly had a selective memory.
“If someone wanted to sell the gene tool information, how would someone do it?” Mary asked.
“Ma’am, I have no idea. I’m in research and development, not sales and acquisitions,” he said.
He had an answer for everything. It was evident if he had the drive we weren’t going to get anywhere with him.
Before I left, I needed one more answer. “You think Fiona and Hightower had a thing?”
“Is that a trick question? Like if I say yes I get fired?” he asked.
“No, it’s just a random question,” I said.
“Then it’s too random to answer, and I need my job,” he said.
The message was clear. Yes.
We thanked him, and his mother walked us to the door.
Once we left, I asked Mary, “Jesus, is everyone lying to us? We haven’t had one story match with another. This guy seemed like he was hiding something with his ‘I don’t remember’ routine.”
“No need to break your brain. Tyler will get us the answers,” she said. “Now find a place to eat; I’m starved. Belle should be done soon, so text her where we’ll be.”
“A bit bossy, aren’t you?” I asked with a smile.
“I’m not getting any younger,” she said.
I was about to answer with a snide remark when I got a text from Belle: Meet me at Crepe de France at Pike Place Market.
I showed Mary the text so she could plug in the GPS coordinates, and she punched the air.
Great, a sugar high was on the agenda.
Annabelle
Having finished the meeting with the Seattle police, I sat a moment longer confirming my plans with Mary and Lee. I finished my text and was putting my phone in my bag when I sensed someone sidle up next to me.
“Can we talk?”
“I’m on my way to meet Lee and Mary for lunch, so make it quick,” I said.
“Take a seat for a minute,” David said as the last person left the room. “What you did, coming out here without notifying me, was both reckless and hurtful. I’ve been your partner for three years now. We’re supposed to watch each other’s backs and share everything. What did you think you were doing, taking off like that without telling me or asking me what I thought?”
I shouldn’t have been shocked, but I was. Little by little David had invaded my personal life over the last year to the point where he called me his work wife, and people just accepted it. At first, it sounded playful and protective. Now it was just plain creepy. As I thought about it, I realized he had no steady relationships and had spent increasingly more off-duty time with me. Rather than confront the problem, I’d allowed it to continue. I’d been afraid to address what was going on, because if I raised my voice or snapped at him it would escalate the issue.
“What I hear, is you want to control what I do,” I said, looking him straight in the eyes to challenge him.
“No, what I said was I was concerned for you,” he replied.
“A concerned person doesn’t use police resources to trace someone’s whereabouts and then jump on a plane to track down the person. I had four days off, and how I use my time is my business. If you can’t see how wrong what you’ve done is, then there’s no amount of talking that will help the situation. I’m not your work wife; I’m your colleague at work and not your partner outside of work. I like you, David, as a friend, and only as a friend. I’m not interested in a romantic relationship with you,” I said, proud of keeping my cool and being mindful of his feelings.
His eyes remained focused on me. Laser focused, to the point it was uncomfortable. He stood and looked smugly down upon me. No, it was an expression of malice that crossed his face. “Well, then enough said.”
“So are we good?” I questioned.
“Belle, we are so not good that there’s a black hole of not good between us,” David sneered. “I’ll make the lieutenant aware of what has transpired. You run along and enjoy your lunch.” He grabbed his keys from the table and left. No goodbye, no looking back.
My exciting news to share with Lee and Mary had been entirely deflated. I’d witnessed David in action when he’d bullied fragile people into doing what he wanted. He’d used physical force without care or consequence. Now he was turning on me because I’d rejected his feelings for me. My mind whirled at the possibilities of what he could do to me, and I realized he was playing a game with me. His game was to make him the focus of my life, wondering what he would do and worrying about when it would happen. David wanted me entirely focused on him and thinking about him every moment of the day. He didn’t care if how I felt about him was negative or positive, as long as my world revolved around him.
The door opened, and one detective who’d been at the meeting entered. “Belle, I’ve got some further information. Can you stay for a moment?”
He sat in the chair next to me and opened a folder.
“You just came from LA. Did you come across a woman named Claire Redson?”
My body stiffened, and my heart rate kicked up a notch. “Yes, we did. She was Fiona’s roommate. Why?”
“Someone stabbed her an hour ago. The assailant’s description was the same MO as the others. So it narrows his location down, and LA is taking the lead on this,” he said.
“Is she dead?” I whispered. Had we caused this? Should we have seen it coming? My gut clenched with guilt. Was there anything we could have done to have prevented it?
“She’s in critical condition and on her way into surgery,” he said.
“If you give me the LA detective’s contact, I’ll follow up,” I said.
“Here’s the file so far; take it with you. I have a copy.”
I shook his hand and left. Should I call David with the new information? Probably. Would I? Unlikely.
Lee texted me to confirm they had arrived and where they were seated, and I made my way to them. Mary had already ordered coffee and what could only be described as a pastry buffet of samples, which took up the center of the table.
“Sorry I’m late,” I apologized. I was out of breath and could feel my cheeks were heated and flushed.
Lee looked at me in an assessing manner. “Take a minute; we’ve got all day.”
I was about to answer him when Mary’s phone buzzed, and she put it to her ear. Someone was speaking to her, and once the person stopped, she disconnected. “Our hot point has now changed to the LA vicinity. Tyler’s working on an exact location.”
It would do no one any good to discuss what had transpired between David and me. David was my problem to deal with, and I needed a plan. But not one hastily put together. So I kept the focus on the murders.
“Because of the fluid nature of the murders, the departments have kept an open channel and assigned a person from each state to be the point person. Each city tapped into their CCTV cameras, and after sifting through the footage, isolated a frame with the full face of the assailant. It’s Jeremy Stamos. He was wearing a wig and trench coat, and posed as a woman. And trust me, his disguise was amazing. He looked like a woman, despite his size and build.”
“I knew it!” Mary exclaimed, banging her hand on the table.
“You did not,” Lee said, rolling his eyes. “He was on your short list of suspects, but so were ten other people.”
Before she could argue, I put up my hand to stop any further discussion. “Stop. There’s more.”
Just then the server came and took my order, a welcome break so I could get Mary to refocus.
“Claire has been stabbed and is on her way to surgery,” I said, and waited for the explosion. They did not disappoint me. “We’re working under the theory it was Stamos, and I’m on my way back to LA after we finish here,” I said, taking a sip of my coffee.
“Then so are we,” Mary responded. “Since Tyler said to go to LA, that’s where we’re going.”
Lee looked at his watch and said, “We have less than twenty-four hours until the auction goes live. Mary, how sure are you that Tyler can pinpoint the exact location of the person controlling the auction?”
“Lee, Tyler’s a magician. There’s no doubt once this goes live, and the lines are open and unimpeded he’ll have a location. The fact he already has it narrowed down to a five-mile radius is huge. We can position ourselves within that radius. When it’s time to move, it won’t take us too long to reach the place where this is occurring,” Mary said.
“People, I’m struggling here trying to decide if we should pull the plug on this and alert law enforcement,” Lee said.
I raised my hand. “Law enforcement, sitting right here.”
“Yes, but will your authority carry over to another state?” he asked.
“Lee, don’t insult yourself or me. Now you’re making excuses to dump the case because it has become a clusterfuck. You know even a private citizen can make an arrest, so don’t go there. Now, if you want to get Jackson’s approval, so be it. But I’m heading south on the murder case, and I’d be happy to do a stakeout on yours,” I said.
He was about to say something, but our crepes and pancakes were served. We waited for the server to leave.
“Leave Jackson out of this,” Mary said with a raised eyebrow for emphasis. “I’m a partner and lead on the case. I’ve just Googled the California statute Belle is probably referring to, and she’s correct. So you can come on the stakeout with Belle and me or sit in a café waiting for the auction to go down. Your choice,” Mary said, forking her crepe and I smiled. God love Google.
She had him. Even without Mary’s confirmation Lee knew we were covered under federal and state law. Once I’d arrested the person selling the information, it would eventually become a federal issue. The feds played by looser rules than the state, so I knew we wouldn’t have trouble with them. Now Hightower, he might have some explaining to do. I might have some as well as to why I didn’t report this ongoing investigation. I’d deal with that later.
“OK. I’d like to err on the side of caution, but obviously, we can’t get law enforcement involved at this point, and we need to take some action. Mary, can’t your contact get in trouble for this?” Lee asked.
“Considering the man is over seven thousand miles away, I don’t think he’s worried,” she said.
Lee and I both swung our heads her way, but before we could ask a question, she put her hand up.
“Don’t ask; don’t tell. That way everyone maintains plausible deniability.”
“Should we ask Hightower to use his jet?” Lee asked.
“Since we haven’t cleared him, I say no,” Mary said. “We don’t want him warning anyone we’re coming.”
“Oh, I forgot to ask. How did your interview go with Ryan?”
“Well, it seems he’s still in bad enough shape that his mom is taking care of him. Or maybe he lives with her. We didn’t ask. Anyway, I didn’t get the impression he was involved. He didn’t have the balls to answer our question whether he thought Fiona and Hightower were having an affair. So I don’t think he’s the mastermind behind a theft and international auction of this magnitude. So again, until we catch someone red-handed, we’re still wide open on the suspect list,” Lee said, pushing his uneaten plate of food forward.
“And you, Mary, what’s your opinion of Ryan?” I asked.
“A follower and not a leader. More like a kid looking for a good time, and I agree, not a mastermind of a heist of this magnitude,” she said.
Lee chuckled.
“What are you laughing at?” Mary asked with a tone that showed she was offended.
“‘Heist.’ Who uses the word ‘heist’?” he said, shaking his head.
I rolled my eyes. I needed to get this back on track. “OK, let’s finish up. I have permission from the lieutenant to buy a plane ticket to LA for myself. Let’s make the arrangements right now. It should only take us an hour to get to the airport. Check to see what flights leave in two hours,” I said.
Once Lee had booked the flight reservations, we paid our bill and left for the airport. Mary rode with me.
I knew the ride would not be a silent one, so I braced for Mary’s inquisition.
“David?” she asked as she raised both her eyebrows.
“What about him?” I asked knowing where she was headed but trying to use diversionary tactics.
“What did he do when he saw you?”
I searched for the best way to answer and decided on the truth. “He’s going to be trouble. Just how much I don’t know. He’s hurt and angry, but there isn’t much I can do about it. He tends to act out when he’s mad. I thought about calling my boss and getting ahead of it. But what if part of this is a bluff or a mind game? Then I would have made a mistake telling my lieutenant for no reason.”
“So you’ll wait to see if he calms down?” she asked.
“Yes, but I always have a plan B,” I said.
“Does that plan B involve Lee?” she asked.
Without even thinking, I answered, “Yes.”
Mary smiled, and the rest of the trip to the airport was silent.
Fiona
The adrenaline rush from last night’s activities made it impossible to sleep or even rest. What the hell was Ben doing there, and where were Lee and Detective Hughes?
I kept remembering that dead woman’s battered body. The image kept floating in front of me, a ghost that would haunt me for life. Who did that to her and why? Ray swore it wasn’t one of his men, and I believed him. Jordy and Law seemed genuinely surprised by the state of Ben and the woman.
This whole project had turned into such a nightmare.
I found my phone in my bag and dialed the number I’d called countless times.
“Hello,” the male voice said from the other end. I couldn’t tell if the slurring was from sleep or drugs, but I needed him fully engaged.
“I need your full attention. Are you on drugs?” I asked.
“Just a few,” he slurred back at me.
“Then I need you to get up, take a cold shower, and call me back in ten minutes with a coffee cup in hand and caffeine infusing your body,” I said. “I need you on your toes and your brain engaged.”
He disconnected without saying if he was going to follow my instructions or if he planned t
o go back to sleep.
I walked to the window to admire the view. A magnificent burst of flowers lined the walkway, and as far as the eye could see bushes with bright flowers covered the area. A large pool was tucked in the corner, and when the auction was finished, I might just take a dip.
The computer screen glared back at me, taunting me to take a peek and see if bidders were lining up like shoppers do on Black Friday, waiting to be the first to enter. One quick peek wouldn’t hurt. I woke the computer up with a tap to the space bar, and the neon green digits flashed in front of me.
The beauty of the dark web was it allowed you to operate under the cloak of anonymity and set up your operation as you wished. Everything was ready for the auction to start in four hours. Each participant had logged on earlier and placed an opening bid. At exactly noon the bidders would have precisely eight minutes to compete for their prize, and the last bid at the eight-minute mark would automatically win. The three final bidders who remained were required to place $110,000,000 in an account as an escrow. If they weren’t in the final bid, the bank had instructions to release the funds.
I decided not to transfer the data to the cloud; recent events had indicated it was too unstable and not secure enough to depend on for my purpose. All the encrypted information resided on a server outside the United States. Once the computer automatically accepted the final bid at the eight-minute mark and the transfer of funds was complete, then the information would be released. I laughed, remembering the look on his face when I’d told him I had transferred the data so there was no way he could screw me over. He’d gone for my throat; I suppose out of anger. But, didn’t he understand when his fingers squeezed my neck I enjoyed the tenuous hold I had hanging between life and death? Couldn’t he tell I fed off the rage in his eyes knowing I bested him? He’d played my games before, and he should have known my pleasures and fears. I suppose I could have done this all by myself, and he would never have seen me again. However, looking over my shoulder for life, waiting for his mercenaries to hunt me down, isn’t the way I chose to live. No, sharing the spoils, but maintaining control over how the sale played out proved satisfactory. He’d get his share but under my terms.
The Last Lie She Told Page 21