by Jessica Beck
“Ah ha what?” Momma asked me.
“It’s still an active investigation, which means Agent Blaze here doesn’t believe that Slick Willie is behind this any more than I am,” I said, trying to at least tone down my triumphant response.
“Let’s just say that it all seemed a little too pat to us,” the Secret Service agent admitted. “I decided that it might be prudent to appear to buy the setup and see what happened.”
It must have been hard for her to admit, so I decided to quit while I was ahead. “What happens now?”
“We step back in,” she said. “I’m afraid this will delay your work again. Whatever they were here looking for was evidently important enough to commit an assault, if not a murder.” It was a chilling thought, but I didn’t have any time to comment as she added, “We need more time to do a more thorough examination of the property this time around.”
“You haven’t checked the kitchen area out thoroughly, have you?” Jake asked her solemnly.
“Jackson checked it,” she said as she pointed to her remaining agent. “Why?”
“I didn’t see anything amiss,” the other agent said immediately.
“You wouldn’t, unless you’d been working here earlier. There’s an oversized vent cover that’s not where it was before,” Jake answered.
“Show me,” she said.
The two of them started to walk in, and I tried to follow, only to be shut down. “I want to see, too,” I protested. “If you’re going to contaminate the crime scene, I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to as well.”
“We’ve already photographed the house, but Jake knows where and where not to step,” she explained.
“Fine. The rest of us will wait right here.” I said it as though I had a vote in the matter, even though it was clear that I didn’t.
That didn’t mean that I couldn’t watch, though. I left the front door and walked around to the kitchen window. Once I was stationed there, I peered inside through the muck and the dust. Those windows were in need of a major cleaning, but that wasn’t exactly my priority at the moment. I felt someone breathing on my neck and turned to see that Momma and Phillip had joined me for a better view of the action, though Agent Jackson must have remained at his post up front.
Jake walked directly to one wall and knelt down as he pulled a pair of latex gloves from his back pocket. Clearly Agent Blaze wasn’t even surprised by the move, since she was doing the same thing herself. He pointed, she took some photos, and then after she nodded her permission, Jake carefully pulled the loose cover from the wall. The opening was the size of a briefcase, and I wondered if it might not be the return air duct for the furnace.
Inside a space that appeared to lead to nowhere, I could see that the area between the stud walls had been recently converted into a hiding place. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but one look at the expression on Agent Blaze’s face told me that she was angry with herself and the agents under her that they’d missed it on their earlier search. Jake tried to console her, but she wouldn’t have it, and soon enough he was leaving the house by the front door. We all raced around to speak with him, but once he was back outside, he just shook his head and motioned for us to step away from Agent Jackson so we could talk.
“Did you know that hiding space was there all along?” I asked him in a whisper the second we were far enough away to have a quiet conversation without being overheard.
“I didn’t have a clue, but we would have found it very soon. That’s clearly why it was a priority to break back into the house and take whatever they’d been hiding there.”
“So, you believe it was the counterfeiters, too?” I asked him.
Instead of answering me directly, he turned to Phillip. “I do. There’s just too much evidence to make me think otherwise.”
“I agree. Based on what we know now, I believe that Suzanne is right.”
I normally couldn’t hear that enough in the course of a day, but it was no time to dwell on my small victory. “What could it have been that they were after?”
“Who knows? More counterfeit money? If this was twenty years ago, I’d think it might have held printing press plates, but with the sophistication of laser printers these days, those aren’t necessary. You can get a pretty amazing copy with a little practice.”
“That may be true, but passable paper is still a necessary part of the operation,” I said. “How do you fake those holograms and metallic strips?”
“I don’t think you do,” Jake said, “but what do I know? That was never my area of expertise. I’m guessing that whoever was making these didn’t count on anyone doing even the simplest checks.” Jake hit his head with his hand. “I can’t believe it. I’m an idiot.”
“Don’t talk about my husband that way,” I protested. “He’s the smartest man I know.”
“The discarded bills we found were all of the new design that normally have the precautions built into them,” Jake said.
“So?” Momma asked.
“They were the discards. I’m sure of it. My guess is that whoever made them realized they couldn’t pass the simplest test, so they started making the only bills worth trying to replicate these days, the old-style ones. I’m guessing that’s going to be the real flood of counterfeit bills.”
“It’s all just theory though, isn’t it? Aren’t you giving whoever did this too much credit?”
“No, I’m beginning to think this was their plan all along,” Jake said as he frowned.
“Why go to the trouble of arousing anyone’s suspicion with the new bills if they were planning on making the old ones all along?”
“Think about it. Everyone is going to be looking for phony new bills while the counterfeiter is quietly making stacks of the old design. Plus, what if they’d planned to get rid of any partners they had from the very start? Having those new fakes on hand would be a perfect way to plant them on their co-conspirators without raising too much alarm about what they were really up to. In fact, I’m willing to guess that they are making hundreds in the old design, not twenties. That would further distance what they were really doing from everyone, including the people they were working with.”
“If that’s the case,” Phillip said, “why send Slick Willie in? Surely you don’t suspect him of being part of this ring.”
“No, but what if whoever our master counterfeiter tried to set up wouldn’t take the bait? They still needed the trap sprung, so they went to Plan B.”
“I don’t know,” Momma said. “Jake, forgive me for saying so, but it all seems a bit too farfetched to me.”
“I know,” Jake said as he shook his head. “What’s more, it’s going to be extremely hard to prove.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to go about it,” I said. “Do you?”
“We can ask around for someone who’s missing, or maybe just injured, and see if we can trace it back that way,” he admitted, “but I’m sure Agent Blaze is going to cover that base, especially after missing whatever was stashed in that hideaway yesterday.”
“Do you honestly think that was her fault?” Momma asked him. I’d wondered the same thing myself. She couldn’t be expected to cover every detail, could she?
“Without a doubt. I’m sure she turned the place back over to us prematurely because of our past re...acquaintance.” He’d clearly been about to say relationship, but I had to give him points for at least trying to backtrack.
“So what do we do now?” Phillip asked my husband.
“I’m not at all certain that there’s anything we can do,” Jake said. “It’s out of our hands.”
“Then we go back to what we were planning to do before,” I told them. “Jake, you and Phillip continue your planning until she releases the house again, while Momma and I both go back to work until this all gets sorted out.”
Jake looked at me incredulously. “Do you honestly think you can do that, just walk away and let someone else handle the investigation?”
“Of course not
,” I said as I shook my head. “I’m far too curious a creature to just leave it to the feds. We need to dig into this, but around the edges, not at the heart of the matter.”
“How do you propose we do that? I’m not disagreeing, I’m just curious.”
“When I figure that out, I’ll let you know, but there’s one place we can start,” I said.
“Where’s that?” Momma asked me curiously.
“There’s a man named Lionel Henderson III who offered to buy this place this morning for far more than it’s worth. I believe we should go see him and find out why.”
“I know him,” Momma said guardedly. “If you’re trying to catch him off guard, I’d better not go with you, at least not at first. Besides, the four of us would overwhelm him if we descended on him all at once.”
Phillip said, “You and Jake should handle it, Suzanne. I need to get Dot back to April Springs.”
“Thanks,” Jake said, not hiding his gratitude for the offer.
“That’s not really fair though, is it? Why should Phillip be left out?” Momma asked. She looked at me before adding, “No offense, Suzanne, but my husband is also a trained law enforcement officer.”
I could appreciate the fact that Momma was standing up for her husband, but I wasn’t entirely sure how to answer it when once again Phillip stepped up. “Dot, it just makes sense. He approached Suzanne at the donut shop. It’s only natural she’d bring her husband along to pursue the conversation.”
My mother studied him for a moment and then must have finally decided that it made sense enough given the context, and I mouthed a silent “thank you” to my stepfather. He merely grinned in return, something that Momma caught. “What are you two carrying on about?”
“Us?” I asked her as innocently as I could muster. “Nothing, nothing at all. Why do you ask?”
Clearly unsatisfied with my answer, she turned to her husband. “Phillip?”
Instead of replying, he simply took his wife’s arm. “Let’s get you home, shall we? We can discuss it on the way.”
“Very well,” Momma said, “but you had better believe that discuss it we shall.” There was no playfulness in her voice as she said it, and Phillip clearly heard it.
After they left us, I asked, “Are you okay with it being just the two of us?”
“Are you kidding? That’s my favorite combination. Any chance you know how to find this man Henderson?”
“No, but I have a hunch I know someone who will.” I suddenly remembered that I was nearly out of gas in the Jeep. “How’s your gas?”
“I just topped it off yesterday. Why do you ask?”
“You should probably drive, then. What do you think about going to Napoli’s?”
“I wasn’t planning to stop for lunch first, but I’m game if you are. Are they even open yet?”
“Is that all you can think about, your stomach?” I asked him with a smile. “They aren’t officially open to the public, but I have a hunch Angelica will open the kitchen door in back if she knows it’s us.”
“You, you mean,” Jake replied.
“Us,” I insisted.
“So, let me get this straight. We’re going to what might possibly be the best Italian restaurant in the entire South just to ask questions about a case we’re digging into?” His disappointment was palpable.
“That’s the main reason, but if she offers to feed us, don’t say no.”
He looked at me in shock. “Is that even a possibility in your mind?”
“No,” I said with a hint of laughter. “It’s not. Just remember that eating is not the main reason we’re going to Napoli’s.”
“Hey, as long as it’s any part of the motivation, I’m on board. Do you really think Angelica will know where we can find Lionel Henderson?”
“If she doesn’t, I’m willing to bet that she’ll know someone who does,” I said confidently. “Between her and her daughters, they’re like a secret spy network.”
“A secret spy network that feeds you,” Jake corrected me.
“That, too,” I said as we got into his truck and started toward Union Square.
It was time to call in reinforcements, and I had a feeling we were going to exactly the right people who might be able to help us out.
Chapter 10
“YOU’RE LATE,” ANGELICA DeAngelis said as she opened the door before she even saw that it was us.
“That’s funny, I didn’t even realize that you were expecting us,” I said with a smile.
“Suzanne! Jake! What a pleasant surprise. My supplier, on the other hand, is going to get heartily scolded, that is if he ever decides to show up. Come in.”
“Thanks. Sorry we’re here before you open,” I said as Jake and I stepped inside the kitchen area. The restaurant itself might not be open yet, but the aromas coming from the back were amazing. The youngest daughter, Sophia, nodded in our direction, but she was hunched over a pot of what looked to be marinara sauce, and I was pretty sure she was watching to make sure that it didn’t burn. Sophia might have been the youngest of Angelica’s daughters, but she’d become nearly as good as her mother in the kitchen, which was really saying something. The other girls helped out occasionally, but mostly they ran the front and let their mother and youngest sibling deal with the majority of the work in the kitchen.
“You two are always welcome here. You know that,” Angelica said with a grin. “Sophia, aren’t you even going to look up long enough to say hello to our friends?”
Sophia looked up and grinned at us. “Hello,” she said before going back to her pot.
Angelica smiled softly. “That one is worse than me sometimes.”
“Hey, I heard that,” Sophia said.
“Good, I meant you to,” she said. “Are you hungry?” she asked as she turned back to us. “I might be able to whip something together for you.”
Jake was about to agree when I stopped him. We were there for a reason, and it wasn’t to eat. Well, not just to eat, anyway. “Angelica, do you know a man named Lionel Henderson?”
Her face clouded immediately. “Yes, I know Number Three.”
“Is that what you call him?” I asked.
“Just behind his back,” she assured me. “One and Two come in as well, but Three is a fixture around here. No matter how bad the service we give him is, no matter how close we seat him to the restroom, he continues to insist on dining with us.”
“Why the icy treatment?” I asked.
Angelica looked a little pained. “I know, it’s not like me, but there’s something about that entire family that leaves me cold.”
“I don’t know the father or grandfather,” I said sympathetically, “but if they’re anything like the son, they probably feel entitled to get whatever it is they want, and when you refuse them, they act like petulant children.”
“That’s it exactly,” Angelica said as she laughed and clapped her hands together. She turned to Jake. “You, sir, married very well.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” Jake said with a grin.
“So, where might we find him?” I asked her.
“He’s bound to be in his office, though what exactly he does I do not know. The door says Speculation and Development, but I’m sure it’s just a front for something shady.”
“Why do you say that?” Jake asked her. He was, if nothing else, a student of human nature, and the workings of the mind never ceased to fascinate him.
“He’s always looking to profit from his actions at someone else’s expense,” she said. “I could tell you stories about him if you need proof, but trust me; you can take my word for it.”
“We have absolute faith in you, Angelica,” I told her. “Where exactly might his office be?”
“Do you really have to go see him?” she asked us, a worried expression crossing her face.
“It’s important. At least it could be,” I said, hedging my bets a little. After all, we didn’t know for sure that he’d had anything to do with what had happen
ed at our flip house earlier. Then again, he was just about the only viable suspect we had at the moment, so we honestly had no choice but to brace him in his den, no matter how unpleasant that might turn out to be.
“Would you at least like a bite to fortify you first?” she asked.
I was tempted, especially with the aromas that were enveloping us, but the puritan work ethic was too strong in me. “Would you mind if we came back by after we talked to him?” I asked her.
“Suzanne, what would it hurt to grab a bite first?” Jake asked as he looked around the kitchen like a kid in a candy store.
I couldn’t bring myself to refuse him. “Angelica, are you sure we won’t be in the way?”
“Nonsense. You are family. You can’t be in the way.”
Antonia had walked into the kitchen and had listened to the last part of our conversation. “That’s not what you told me last night, Mom.”
Angelica turned to her daughter. “That’s because you were in the bathroom much longer than you needed to be.”
“There are other bathrooms in our house,” Antonia protested.
“But mine has the best bathtub,” her mother countered.
“Why do you think she used it?” Sophia chimed in, grinning as she spoke.
“Don’t you have some sauce to watch?” Angelica asked her pointedly.
“I can do both,” Sophia said. “Besides, Antonia had a date. She needed a good place to get ready.”
“Not that I approve of the young man she went out with,” Angelica said.
“Mom, is there any man good enough for one of your daughters?” Antonia asked as she kissed her mother’s cheek.
“Now that you mention it, no.” She paused a moment and then looked squarely at Jake. “Why can’t you girls find someone like Jake?”
“Sorry, but he’s spoken for,” I said as I put my arm around my husband’s shoulders.
“Why do I suddenly feel like a piece of meat?” Jake asked, clearly bemused by the situation.
“Stop protesting. You love it and you know it,” I told him.
“I never denied it,” Jake replied with a grin.
“Jacob, don’t you have any friends for my daughters?” Angelica asked him.