by K C Gillis
Jordan’s patience gave out. She touched MacGregor’s phone number in her contacts list. Just as it started to ring, Jordan saw the chief enter the marina grounds. He walked right to her.
“Waiting for someone?” the chief asked.
“As a matter of fact, I am.”
“He won’t be coming.”
Jordan did a double take. “What? Who won’t be coming?”
“MacGregor. That’s who you’re waiting for, right?”
Jordan considered denying that statement but concluded that the chief knew exactly what was going on. She ended the call. “How do you know?”
“He committed a crime this morning. Stole some confidential material. I picked him up, and now he’s in one of my jail cells.”
Jordan felt like a beach ball that someone had poked a hole in. She didn’t want to give the chief the satisfaction of seeing her reaction, but the smile on his face told her she hadn’t succeeded.
“So you know what he stole?” Jordan said.
“I do. And those two samples aren’t getting into your hands. They’re already back with NeuSterone.”
“Did you take care of that yourself?”
“Not a chance. I won’t touch anything from that site, no matter how safe anyone says it is. I’ll let Emberly deal with that.”
Emberly must have the samples. There’s got to be a way I can get them.
“I guess you’re pretty pleased with yourself,” Jordan said. “First you dispose of the dead fish before anyone besides your son could see them. Then you try your damnedest to keep me from getting one of the dead fish tested. Hell, you almost succeeded. And now your masters at NeuSterone have you arrest someone who was trying to do the right thing. What a disappointment you are to your fellow police officers.”
The smile on the chief’s face vanished. He replaced it with a look of pure hatred. “You don’t know the first thing about me, or the history of this shitty little town. Nobody here is perfect. Yeah, they killed some animals. So what? But if NeuSterone is successful in what they’re trying to do, a lot of people will benefit.”
“Yourself included, I assume.”
“Come back in a few years and see for yourself.”
“I’ll go out on a limb and bet you won’t be here in a few years. But I might come see you in jail.”
The chief moved close to Jordan and spoke quietly. “Consider yourself lucky you’re not in jail with MacGregor. I’ll let you stay here and enjoy tonight’s fireworks, but you’d better be gone by tomorrow.”
“That’s one thing we both agree on. I can’t wait to put this place in my rearview mirror. But I’ve got something important to do later today. Make sure you stick around.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” the chief asked.
“It’s a surprise. But I can tell you it involves lots of people you know.”
“Go to hell.” The chief turned and left.
44
Jordan went to see Mike in his office. He was sitting in his chair and looking out a window.
“Having a tough time focusing?” Jordan said.
“You could say that. After what you told me about Malone and the chief, I think we should tell the state police.”
“I get it. But I recommend waiting, at least through today. Right now, Robbie Vitali’s not directly implicated in the accidents. We have a chance to tie him to what the others have been doing. If we confront him with the recording from Malone, he might react.”
“Do you think he’ll actually incriminate himself? He could just walk out when he hears it.”
“He could. And then we’d give everything to the state police. My bet is that nothing would stick to him. But if you can make him mad, he might say something that implicates him.”
“I’m not sure I can pull that off. I’m not great at confrontations.”
“You don’t have to do much. First, tell him you have no intention of selling the marina. You’ve done that before. At least to his lawyer. Then tell him you know he’s behind the accidents. That’s when we play the recording from Malone. If he’s not able to control his anger; he won’t be able to keep his mouth shut. Especially if you give him some attitude. We can set up a small camera and record the meeting.”
“That seems possible. How do we pull it off? Will I play the recording from your phone? I think it would be better if you were here to do that.”
Jordan sensed Mike wanted extra support more than anything else. “I can. It might help agitate him. But you still need to piss him off.”
“OK. To record the meeting, we have a small surveillance camera at the bar. It’s magnetic, so we can stick it on a filing cabinet.”
“That should work. We just need to make sure Travis can access it, and he’ll take care of the rest. Can I tell him to swing by the bar and get it?”
“Sure. I can stay here and make sure he has what he needs.”
“Thanks. There’s one more thing. I just had a little run-in with the chief. You probably don’t know, but he’s involved in protecting a company called NeuSterone. Near as I can tell, it’s an agriculture tech company that involves Senator Chisholm and his chief of staff, Francis Emberly. Anyway, the company has been doing some illegal animal testing not far from here, and I’ve been trying to get enough evidence to expose the company. I’m close, but the chief keeps getting in the way.” Jordan paused to let Mike process the information.
Mike’s face was one of disbelief. “Is this related to the dead fish Kasey told me about?”
Jordan had no idea Kasey had told Mike. But if she was going to tell anyone, it would be her dad.
“It is. Looks like the chief has been working hard to keep everything secret. It’s been almost impossible to move forward. But there have been enough weak links for me to get almost everything I need.”
“Are you sure about the rest of it?”
“Which part? What this company is doing? Or that Chisholm is involved?”
“Well, I guess both. It sounds far-fetched. Why here?”
“The ‘why here’ part is easy. As you know, Chisholm is a state senator and grew up here. There’s also a hell of a lot of state land. It looks like he helped facilitate a land lease to a holding company that in turn leases the land to NeuSterone. It took some digging to figure that out.”
“That covers the Chisholm piece. Why is the chief involved?”
“The real answer is I don’t know. But from what I’ve seen since I’ve been here, either Chisholm is paying him or has something on him as leverage. Or he just wants to stick it to you. Maybe a combination of all that.”
“I can’t argue with that. Especially the part about sticking it to me. He still holds Alice dumping him against me. Hell, he can have her back if he wants.”
Jordan smiled at that. “I’ve seen the tension between you two. I guess it’s real.”
“Oh, it’s real. Personally, I think she’s having an affair, but I don’t have any proof.”
“Shit. I’m sorry to hear that, Mike. But you’ve got a great daughter.”
“A great son too. If I could only convince one of them to take over the marina one day.”
“Give them time. They probably don’t realize what they could have here.”
“True. But back to what we were talking about. What are you thinking we can do about Chisholm?”
“I want to leverage your meeting with Vitali to put more pressure on the chief and the senator. I’m not exactly sure how I want everything to play out, but I’m working to get everyone here around the same time. Lighting a fuse under Vitali while having all the different stakeholders nearby should make for a different kind of fireworks display. With a little luck, we can put an end to the marina accidents and get that company shut down.”
Mike smiled and shook his head gently. “You have some pretty high expectations.”
“It’s no slam dunk, but I’ve still got a couple of hours to line things up.”
“Let me know if I need to do anyth
ing. Anything besides trying to piss off someone who is the son of a crime boss.”
“I’m sure there’ll be more you can do to help. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Derek had been in the pro shop for the last hour, helping marina customers size and select wakeboards. The first couple of weeks of July were typically good sales months. People wanted to buy whatever new equipment they needed for the summer so they’d have time to get the most out of it.
What should have been a busy but enjoyable day was tainted by the Vitali situation. Derek knew Robbie Vitali was on his way here to meet with Mike. Derek also knew Mike selling him the marina would be a long shot.
If Mike did sell to Vitali, then Derek’s reward for being his eyes and ears would be a top job at the marina. Derek had some regret about undermining Mike. But he was old school, someone who’d never let a young guy like Derek advance ahead of others who had more experience. No matter how good he was. By helping Vitali, he could get what he wanted much faster. And he could move out of his dad’s house.
Derek had just finished with a customer when Nicky Carlucci entered. Their eyes met. Nicky gave a short, quick nod toward the outside. Derek felt his pulse quicken. They had never spoken at the marina before. They had either talked on the phone or met off-site.
Derek left the building about fifteen seconds after Nicky, who had walked toward the boat launch at the far end of the property. With all the marina boats already in the lake for the season, the boat launch was devoid of people and activity.
“Is there a problem?” Derek said as he caught up to Nicky.
“Yes. I need to get something from Jordan Reed, and she won’t want to give it to me. It’s too busy here for me to grab her. I need you to get her to someplace quiet.”
“Why me? I don’t know how to do that.”
“Relax, kid. I’m not asking you to whack her. Just tell her you want to talk to her privately and take her to whatever place you think won’t have company for a little while.”
“Like where? Do you need a certain kind of place?”
“Damn, you think too much. Don’t you have some kind of maintenance building or toolshed or something? A place not likely to get much traffic?”
“Uh, there’s a storage shed we could use. It’s for cleaning equipment we need when we pull boats out of the water at the end of the summer. The staff doesn’t go in there often, especially in season.”
“That’ll work. Where is it?”
“At the far end of the parking lot.”
“Good. Get her there.”
“I’ll try. When?”
“In ten minutes. One more thing. Is her sister still hanging around?”
“I think so. Why?”
“I may need her. Make sure you know where to find her.”
45
Jordan had great faith in Travis’s technical skills and Rachel’s problem-solving skills, so she left them to the task of prepping Mike’s office for the Vitali meeting. At the last minute, Travis had suggested bringing in a flat-screen TV. Just in case they played back the meeting for Vitali. Travis would make sure everything worked.
Jordan had blown well past lunchtime without eating. She headed to the bar to grab a quick snack.
Kasey was on duty and came over when she saw Jordan. “The usual?” she asked.
“Not right now. I really need something to eat. What would be quick?”
“I could get you a quesadilla in five minutes.”
“Perfect. Just cheese.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Kasey was right about the timing. She was back in minutes with a quesadilla and a glass of ice water. “Here you go. Cheese only.”
Jordan grabbed a slice and took a huge bite. “Thanks, Kasey. This is perfect.”
Jordan noticed Kasey look past her.
“Hey, Derek,” Kasey said. “Do you need something?”
Derek came to the bar and stood beside Jordan. “No, thanks. Actually, I came to grab Jordan for a few minutes.”
“Oh. What do you need?” Jordan asked.
“It’s about my dad. There’s something I want to ask.”
“Sure. Do you want to talk here?”
“Private would be better.”
“All right. Just give me a minute to eat another one of these slices.”
“Take your time.”
“Are you feeling all right, Derek?” Kasey said. “You look a little off.”
“I’m good. It’s been busy. I guess I’m just distracted a bit. I’ll be fine by tonight.”
“OK, babe. Just checking.”
“I’m all set,” Jordan said. “Lead the way.”
Jordan followed Derek as he left the main marina grounds for the parking lot. He appeared to be heading for a small building at the far end.
“I guess you really don’t want to be overheard.”
“Yeah. It’s always quiet up here. Only a few of us use this maintenance shed.”
“What’s so important that we had to come out here?”
“There’s been a development.”
Jordan wasn’t sure what Derek could know that she didn’t. If anything, Jordan had to update him.
“Really? Fill me in.”
Derek opened the door, letting Jordan enter first. Waiting inside was Nicky Carlucci.
His presence made no sense to Jordan. Her brain struggled to process what it could mean.
“Jordan Reed,” Nicky said. “I hope you remember me.”
“I remember. Nicky, right? I’m not sure why you’re here.” Jordan looked at Derek. “What’s going on?”
Derek just looked at Nicky, not saying a word.
“I see he’s at a loss for words,” Nicky said. “Why I’m here is pretty simple. I need something from you, and I’m pretty sure you won’t want to give it to me. So a private chat is required.”
Jordan continued to press Derek for some explanation, a small wave of fear building. “Derek, please tell me you’re not helping him?”
Derek broke his silence. “Sorry, Jordan, but I have to look out for myself.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I want more responsibility at the marina. A better job. But Mike will never promote me ahead of all the older guys. I’ll have to wait forever. But if Mr. Vitali buys the marina, he promised me a better job with higher pay. Plus, I’ll get a bonus.”
“So, for that, you’re doing what exactly?”
“I’ve helped share some information about the marina. Plus, I’ve introduced him to some of the other landowners in the area. The ones who keep a boat here. A few have already sold their property to him.”
“You’ve been helping the Vitalis. Great. But what are we doing here?”
“I’ll take that one, kid,” Nicky said. “I think you made a recording of a little piece of shit last night. I’m pretty sure what he said wasn’t very flattering to some people, myself included. You’re going to give it to me.”
Jordan started with the obvious response. “You’re wrong. I didn’t make a recording of anyone. And which piece of shit are you referring to?”
“Don’t play stupid. You and Punch Malone had a nice little conversation last night. One where he made some accusations about certain recent events. He also named some individuals. That recording needs to leave your possession.”
Jordan considered continuing the denial game, even though it had little chance of success. But as she played back the previous night’s discussion, one key fact explained why Nicky was so confident in his assertion.
Dammit, Derek. You told Nicky.
“Let’s say I have such a recording. Do you think I’m just going to hand it over to you?”
“Yes. Maybe not right away. But you will. I’ve done this sort of thing long enough to know how it always turns out.”
Jordan turned to Derek again. “Are you really going to be a part of this?” Jordan almost asked him what his father would think, but given what she already knew about the chief, she kn
ew it would be a wasted rebuke.
“Look, if you give him the recording, then you can get out of here,” Derek said. “You really don’t want to go and publish anything about the Vitalis anyway.”
“Does your father know you’re involved in this?”
“Mr. Vitali didn’t want him to know. At least not until it was necessary. He thought it might compromise what my dad was doing for him.”
“Let’s get back to business,” Nicky said. “Are you going to cooperate and give me the recording?”
Jordan was defiant. “Cooperate? No.”
Nicky reached into a pocket and pulled out something long and black. Jordan didn’t immediately recognize it, but as Nicky came closer, she could see it was some kind of zip tie.
“Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
Jordan didn’t budge. She remained standing tall with her arms crossed.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I’m pretty sure the two of us can hold you still long enough to tie your hands. Just cooperate.”
Jordan weighed the options and concluded that Nicky was right. With Derek to help, they’d be able to tie her up. “Fine. But only because I’m outnumbered.”
Nicky quickly zipped her hands together.
Nicky spoke directly to Derek. “Kid, you need to run that errand. Be quick about it.”
Derek hesitated. Either he didn’t know what Nicky wanted, or he didn’t want to do it.
“You want me to get, um, that thing?” Derek asked.
“Yes. Now.”
Derek hustled out the door.
“What was that about?” Jordan said.
“Be patient. Derek’s getting me something to help our negotiation.”
This situation wasn’t winnable for Jordan. Nicky held all the cards. Eventually, he’d search her for her phone and take it. The real problem was that the recording had already been automatically backed up. In multiple places. Someone would have to go in and manually delete them. Only Travis could quickly access the backups.