“We’re good at what we do, our legit customers need our products, and the investigation will show that we’re clean.”
“You’re sure of that?”
He nods. “I’m sure. I had our people go over everything. But things are going to change around here.”
“How so?”
“There will be much more scrutiny, both by the board and by regulators. But that’s okay, that’s how it should be. And I can use all the help I can get; I’ve got a lot on my plate. Just the personnel alone…”
“You’ll make a lot of changes?”
He shrugs. “I’ve got no choice. Gerry Wright and Jason Mathers were a huge piece of this company. They had amazing talent, and in this business talent follows talent. We’ve got to avoid losing our people to other tech companies; these kind of people want to be part of the new, bright, shiny object. We’re a bit tarnished right now.”
“You replaced Mathers from inside the company, right?”
He nods. “Yes, Stacy Mullins. Good, solid, smart guy, but I’m afraid he’s not in Jason’s league when it comes to talent.”
“What about Denise Atkins?” I ask. “Have you replaced her?”
“Not yet, but that will be up to Stacy. Denise’s position reports to him.”
I’m getting nowhere; Yates seems at ease and not on his guard. “Did you follow the trial?”
“I did, especially the technology stuff. I’m not an expert, the people who work for me are the experts, but in the wrong hands it can be very dangerous. It’s a lesson we all need to learn.”
“I’ve given up on trying to keep up,” I say.
Yates laughs. “I’ll tell you, when I heard about how many people had lost all their privacy, even in their own computers, I got worried and had mine checked out. That could be embarrassing.”
I don’t say anything; Yates’s comment has shaken me and I’m wracking my brain trying to makes sense of it.
He takes advantage of the silence to say, “Well, I’ve really got to get back to work.”
I stand up and nod. “So do I.”
I get into the car and call Norman Trell. The first thing he says is, “I was hoping not to have to hear your voice for a while.”
“You sound like Laurie,” I say. “I just have one question.”
“Shoot.”
“During the trial you alluded to the fact that Denise Atkins and Gerald Wright were having an affair. Her friend said on the stand that she was sleeping with her boss.”
“Right.”
“It fit right in with a revenge motive for Brian, but you didn’t push it. Why not?”
“Because we couldn’t pin it down,” he says. “We believed it to be true, but there was no hard evidence. If we went for it, and you were able to shoot it down, we would have lost credibility with the jury.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“Why are you raising this now?” he asks.
“Because I was too dumb to see it before,” I say.
“What are you doing here?” Jason Mathers asks when he opens the door. “You won. Isn’t your job over?”
I walk past him into the apartment, then point to the amazing view of New York through the glass wall. “I just wanted to see that view again.”
He laughs. “Actually, you can sublet the place if you want. I’m leaving.”
“Where are you going?”
“California. Time for me to get back into the workforce … maybe a start-up. The money guys don’t think you’re smart enough unless you’re in Silicon Valley.”
“I also wanted to thank you for testifying. It was a big help.”
“Glad to do it. Brian’s a good guy.”
“That he is,” I say. “But he’s going to be pissed when he finds out you murdered his wife.”
I expect at least a double take from Mathers, but none is forthcoming. “Is that a joke?” he asks.
“If it is, it’s the worst one of all time,” I say. “Killing two people in cold blood, helping a gangster peddle drugs, blackmail … that’s not really stand-up comedy material.”
“You’re dreaming.”
“If I am, it’s one of those really detailed dreams where everything seems real.”
“Let’s hear what you’ve got,” he says, almost sounding amused.
“Okay; I’m actually pretty proud of it. For one thing, Denise Atkins said she was having an affair with her boss. Everybody assumed that was Gerald Wright, because he was head of the company and they were so close, but you were actually her boss within the company. Her affair was with you.”
“Bullshit,” he says.
“You want to hear this, or not? She found out that Wright was doing bad business with Petrone, and she was going to confront him. She told you what was happening; you were her boyfriend, she didn’t know you were part of it, and she thought you’d help. But you killed her instead.”
“This is all guesswork.”
I nod. “Some of it. But when Steven Thurmond was killed, I couldn’t figure out how Petrone found out he was talking to me. But then I realized that I had sent Sam to update you on all the computer stuff the day before. He told you about Thurmond.”
He doesn’t respond, so I continue. “When you were on the stand, you mentioned that Bowie’s, Westman’s, and Denise’s computers were all invaded by the program that let others see what they were doing. But you couldn’t have known about Bowie’s computer. You never saw it.”
“Sam told me about it.”
I shake my head. “Sam never saw it either. None of us did. I just copied the address of the gambling site from it. But you knew it was taken over, because you did it. And that’s how you found out he was talking to me, and that’s why you had Petrone kill him.”
“You’re pretty good at this,” he says.
“Why did you have to kill Denise?”
“She was in the way. She went to Thurmond first, and scared the shit out of that little weasel. Then she scared Wright; he was going to put the brakes on the whole thing because he was afraid of what she might do. So I had to take him out as well. We didn’t need him anymore anyway.”
“You should have stopped when you had the chance,” I say.
“And you should have stayed out of it. There is no way I can be caught.”
“How do you figure?” I ask.
“You know how many identities I have set up? You know how easy that is for me? I walk out of here, and I can be a different person every year for the rest of my life if I want. You exist if computers say you exist.”
“Wow, that’s pretty cool. You can teach computer class in prison.”
He laughs. “What made you think you could come here and get out alive?”
“I’ll show you,” I say, as I reach into my shirt pocket. “See this? It’s a wireless microphone; it’s pretty high tech, so I’m not sure you can understand it. But it has relayed everything you’ve said to the police. They’re right outside, so you might want to hurry up and assume one of your secret identities. Because this conversation will give them probable cause to arrest you, and to search your computers. They might even find specks of blood in here or in your car; it’s really hard to get all of it up.”
The good news is that I can see in his face I’ve finally gotten to him. The bad news is that his face is not my problem. My problem is his hand, which is holding a knife.
He picks up the microphone and throws it through a door into another room. “If you’re telling the truth, and they’re out there, it’s over for me. If you’re lying, then I’ll go on. Either way, you’re a dead man.”
He slashes at my face with the knife, but I’m out of range. I back up and out of the way, as he lunges again.
“Pete, get the hell in here!” I scream. I have no idea if he can hear me, either through the microphone or the door, both of which are in the other room.
Mathers’s stalking me around the room now, taking his time. I grab a small vase from a table as I back up. As scared as I am, a ridiculo
us variation on the old line comes into my mind: “never bring a vase to a knife fight.”
I hear loud noises, but can’t tell what it is. It could just be my heart pounding. Mathers is getting closer; if I don’t throw the vase now, I’m going to die holding it.
It’s not easy to throw a vase; it’s too big to throw like a baseball, and two weirdly shaped to throw like a shot put. But I throw it, as hard as I can, right at his face.
He raises his left arm to block it; the knife is in his right hand. I think I hurt him; he yells in pain. But he keeps coming, and I’m out of vases.
A voice yells, “Freeze!” but I don’t really think Mathers has the time to decide whether that is a good idea before the bullets slam into him. He’s thrown back into the glass wall, but bounces off it. The bullets smash into the glass in two places, but it’s unbreakable, and simply spreads into that cracked mosaic that often happens to car windshields.
Pete is one of the cops who did the shooting. “Glad you could make it,” I say.
He nods. “Happy to do it. You owe me two tickets to the Giants game this Sunday.”
We’ve waited four months to have this victory party. It would have been longer, but I managed to convince the parole board that the one-year additional sentence for Brian’s escape could be disregarded in light of subsequent events. Especially since we were able to provide evidence linking Mathers to the evidence that convicted Brian of embezzlement.
It’s at Charlie’s, of course, and everyone from our team is here except Willie, who promised to stop by later. Even Edna is here; we couldn’t have won the case without her, except for the fact that we won the case without her.
Ted Yates, the recently named permanent CEO of Starlight, has dropped in to pay his respects to Brian. The board determined that Brian was worthy of reinstatement to his previous position, but he declined. He’s going to take some time off, relax, and adjust to life on the outside.
Vince is in attendance because there is free food and beer; he would go to a party honoring the Ayatollah if they were serving free food and beer. Pete is here as well, and displays uncharacteristic classiness by shaking Brian’s hand and wishing him well.
Laurie is here, while Ricky is at home with a sitter. It has been great having them back, and I hope we never have to go through that again. With Petrone certain to live out the rest of his unnatural life in prison, we shouldn’t have to.
We’re going to Disney World next week, and I’m actually looking forward to it.
Willie finally shows up, a half hour into the party. With him is Sondra and another guest, who stands at the end of a leash that she holds.
Boomer.
I walk over to them. “The family that adopted him was you?”
Willie smiles. “Just like I said. Nice couple, no kids, and another dog that Boomer got along with great. A perfect match.”
“And why is he here?”
“Because there’s an even better match over there,” Sondra says, and she takes the leash from the woman and walks Boomer over to Brian.
I try out my stern voice on Willie. “You violated a direct order.”
“Ask me if I give a shit,” he says.
I decide not to ask him, and instead watch the look on Brian’s face when he sees Boomer. He gets down on one knee and hugs Boomer, whose tail is wagging a mile a minute. I can’t tell if Brian is crying, because Boomer is licking his face, so it’s wet anyway.
I look over at Laurie, who is laughing and crying at the same time.
I have absolutely no idea how women do that.
ALSO BY DAVID ROSENFELT
ANDY CARPENTER NOVELS
Who Let the Dog Out?
Hounded
Unleashed
Leader of the Pack
One Dog Night
Dog Tags
New Tricks
Play Dead
Dead Center
Sudden Death
Bury the Lead
First Degree
Open and Shut
THRILLERS
Blackout
Without Warning
Airtight
Heart of a Killer
On Borrowed Time
Down to the Wire
Don’t Tell a Soul
NONFICTION
Lessons from Tara: Life Advice from the World’s Most Brilliant Dog
Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure
About the Author
David Rosenfelt is the Edgar and Shamus Award–nominated author of seven stand-alone books and thirteen previous Andy Carpenter novels, most recently Who Let the Dog Out? After years living in California, he and his wife moved to Maine with twenty-five golden retrievers that they rescued. Rosenfelt’s hilarious account of this cross-country move, Dogtripping, is available from St. Martin’s Press. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Begin Reading
Also by David Rosenfelt
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
OUTFOXED. Copyright © 2016 by Tara Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover photographs: dog and road © V. J. Matthew/Shutterstock; man walking © Warren Bouton/Shutterstock
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rosenfelt, David, author.
Title: Outfoxed / David Rosenfelt.
Description: First edition. | New York: Minotaur Books, 2016. | Series: An Andy Carpenter novel; 14
Identifiers: LCCN 2016008508 | ISBN 9781250055347 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781466859920 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Carpenter, Andy (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Agency (Law)—New Jersey—Fiction. | Murder—Investigation—Fiction. | Escaped prisoners—Fiction. | Animal shelters—Fiction. | Dog rescue—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General. | FICTION / Suspense. | GSAFD: Suspense fiction. | Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3618.O838 O88 2016 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016008508
e-ISBN 9781466859920
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
First Edition: July 2016
Outfoxed Page 23