by Robin Mahle
“He’s waiting for you, Allison.”
She started into the bullpen where she noticed Shane at his desk. “You got Charlie worked up over this?”
“Take a seat, Allison. We need to talk,” he replied.
“Yes, sir.” She folded her arms tightly across her chest as she sat down.
“Relax, I’m not reprimanding you,” Shane said.
“That’s not how it feels from this seat.”
“We need to know more about Finley Dawson before you get too chummy with him. You understand that, right?”
“I know all I need to know. He’s a kid who thinks he knows everything. But I set him straight.”
“You set him straight?” Shane’s brows raised.
“I told him we needed to come to an understanding and work together if we’re going to find Boyce’s killer.”
“Okay, okay.” Shane raised his hands. “I’m going to have to stop you right there. Detective Montoya and Alvarez are responsible for finding out what happened to Boyce. You aren’t a cop, Allison. You aren’t even a private investigator yet. I can’t let you…”
She cocked her head. “How long have we known each other, Shane?”
“A long time.”
“Okay. And in that time have you ever known me to go off the rails? To jump to conclusions or, I don’t know, put myself into situations I can’t get out of?”
“Well, no.”
“No is right. Then why do you think this time is any different?”
“Because of the scope of this thing, Allison. You’ve never dealt with murders before. You handled people who took money from the state when they shouldn’t have. That’s a far cry from homicide.”
“I get that, Shane. But that doesn’t mean I’m careless or ignorant. I know what I’m doing here and Finley Dawson knows something. I’m going to get it out of him one way or another.”
“And what about Charlie and your big plans to start an agency? Is all that down the drain now?”
“I haven’t forgotten it. If anything, I’d consider this my first case. It’s just that no one’s paying me.” She unveiled a wry smile.
“I just want you to be safe, Allison. If anything were to happen to you…”
“Nothing will.” She held his gaze. “Now, do you want to do a background check on Dawson or keep wringing your hands with worry?”
Shane pulled up straight and typed on his keyboard. “I’ll start with his license first and see if there are any complaints against him.” He started typing. “So what did you talk to him about this morning anyway?”
“Well, after I tracked him down at the beach, I got him a coffee and asked him about his relationship with Boyce.”
“What did he say? By the way, how did you find him?”
She smiled. “I can be industrious when necessary. How do you think I found most of my fraud cases? They weren’t always in their homes and so I dug around social media or what have you and figured out a location. Dawson is all over Instagram posting about surfing and whatever one posts about on that site. I wouldn’t know. Point being, he’d posted that he was headed to catch some big waves. So, I checked the forecast and Clearwater was expecting a pretty good surf this morning.”
“She shoots, she scores,” Shane said.
“And you were worried about me.”
“Well, Charlie did mention you went to the guys’ house yesterday.”
“She told you that, did she? Traitor.”
He continued to type until coming across something, Allison couldn’t quite tell. “What is it?” She leaned in.
“He’s fairly new to the game. He’s only had his license for a few years. Oh, and look at this, he mentored under Boyce.” Shane turned to her. “That’s noteworthy.”
“He already claimed to have a close relationship with Boyce. He’s chummy with the family too.”
“Okay smarty-pants, how do you think the two came to know each other?” He asked.
“Something about when Tommy was a cop. I can’t recall exactly.”
“Dawson’s a native. Born in St. Augustine,” Shane continued. “Meaning he’s been around. He must know people. How or why would he attach himself to Tommy Boyce who’d only moved here, what did you say, like 8 years ago?”
“I’m not following,” Allison said. “I don’t get why this is important. I figured Dawson was born here. He had to have come across Boyce like anyone else, through contacts in the business.”
“Maybe. I’ll have to keep looking into that because something’s not right there. But onto the next thing. Let’s see his employment history.” Shane continued to punch in commands on his keyboard until the information appeared on his screen. “He graduated USF in 2010. BA in business. Okay. Not criminal justice or anything like that.”
“He must’ve found his calling later in life,” Allison said.
“Sure.”
Allison waited for Shane to have some sort of a-ha moment. Some major revelation that would set the course for her continued participation in this case, over which she had no authority and neither did Shane for that matter. “I understand you want to know who Finley Dawson is so I don’t get any surprises, but I feel like we’re wasting our time a little, don’t you? The man is who he says he is. It doesn’t matter how he came to know Boyce, just that he knew him.”
“Say you’re right. What is it you plan on using him for?”
Allison cracked a smile. “Why information, of course. What did you think I was going to use him for?”
11
A virtuoso of words and ideas, a confidence man persuaded people with the delivery of said ideas. The more Allison considered Finley Dawson, the more she questioned whether she had been taken in by him. He spoke of his friendship with Tommy Boyce and his daughter, Lucy. She’d seen pictures of them in his home. Yet he hesitated to jump on board with finding Tommy’s killer. Maybe she was a better friend than he had been because if something had happened to Charlie, she would’ve been the first to get to the bottom of it.
Now, as the hour approached 9 pm and the time to meet Fin had arrived, she pushed back her doubts. It was time for her instead to turn the tables on Finley Dawson. To learn more about him and why he withheld fundamental details about Tommy and his history with him.
“I don’t know, Alli, I don’t like the idea of you going alone.” Charlie sat at Allison’s kitchen island toying with her phone.
“I won’t be there alone,” Allison replied.
“Oh, that’s right, a guy you hardly know, a guy who has already mislead you once, will be with you. Sure. That makes me feel a whole lot better.”
Allison studied her. “Then come with me. You and I are going to be partners, right? Why not start now? If you’re worried about this, then we’ll have strength in numbers.”
Charlie appeared to consider the idea. “I could. Do you think Dawson would have a problem?”
“Does it matter? I agree with you. It should be the both of us. What do you say?”
“That we can do anything boys can do.” Charlie laughed.
“You’re damn right we can. Let’s go.”
Allison’s Honda rolled into the parking lot near the front of Boyce’s office which still had police tape across it, but now the front door was boarded up. “Here we are.” They stepped out and Allison searched the lot. “Looks like Fin is already here.” And when her eyes landed on the man with the sandy blonde hair strolling along the sidewalk, she nodded. “Yep. That’s him.”
“That’s Finley Dawson?” Charlie stopped in her tracks. “Wow.”
“You can pick up your mouth off the ground now. Don’t go all googly-eyed over this guy. He knows all too well how attractive he is and he uses it.” She started toward him. “I hope Shane’s wrong about him, though.”
“What do you mean?” Charlie asked.
“You’ll see.” Allison brushed away the beads of sweat that dribbled down her neckline.
Charlie caught up to Allison and leaned in to whispe
r. “He’s looking at us.”
“I know. He looks concerned that you’re here. Good. I want him to know he isn’t controlling the outcome.” Allison led the way toward the door of the office where Fin waited. “Thank you for being on time.”
“Allison.” He nodded. “Who’s your friend? I didn’t know we were bringing friends to this party.”
“This is my partner, Charlie Wells. Charlie, this is Fin Dawson, an associate of Tommy Boyce’s.”
Fin offered his hand. “Charlie. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Right back at ya.” She returned the greeting.
“Partners, huh?” Fin asked. “Good for you. There’s a door around back. As you can see, the cops have this boarded and taped. Follow me.”
Allison nodded to Charlie and they followed him around to the back entrance where a metal door stood. “Do you have a key? Because we aren’t getting in through here otherwise.”
“I do happen to have a key.” Fin pulled it from his pocket and opened the door.
“Can I ask how that came into your possession?” Allison said.
“How else did you think we’d be getting in tonight? I told you Tommy and I were friends.”
She eyed Charlie before they followed Fin inside. The office was still overturned but it was obvious that some items had been removed. No computers remained and any paperwork that had been laying around was gone too.
“Cops did a pretty good job cleaning out the place,” Fin said.
Allison surveyed the office. “If I were Tommy and wanted to protect myself with video surveillance, where would I keep it?”
Fin stepped carefully around the office. “If it was me, right back here, inside this broom closet.” He made his way to the door and pulled it open. “But not anywhere too noticeable. Maybe up here on this high shelf?” He raised on his tiptoes and felt with his hand behind the boxes. “Just a little more.” His fingers stretched out further. “Oh, I think we might have something here.”
“You need a stepladder?” Allison asked.
Charlie approached one of the desks and pushed a chair toward the closet where Fin waited. “This is as close to one as you’ll get.”
“Thanks, Charlie,” Fin began. “That’s a cool name.” He flashed a bright smile at her that highlighted the dimples on his smooth cheeks.
Charlie’s face turned a pinkish hue and she turned away.
Allison noticed the exchange and uttered to Charlie under her breath, “told you.”
Fin stood on the chair and rustled around the top shelf until recovering the server that had been tucked away. “We’re lucky the cops didn’t see this.”
“But you found it right away. I’m impressed.” Allison was more concerned than impressed.
“Tommy and I were a lot alike. He was my mentor. And I’ll bet we’ll find cameras inside the smoke detectors. Probably under the eaves outside. That’s where I would’ve put them.”
“I’m sorry. This must be pretty tough for you,” Charlie said to him.
Fin stepped off the chair with the server in his hands. “Yeah, well. We should get this hooked up to a computer. Anyone bring a laptop, by chance?”
“I don’t want to stay here long enough to get caught.” Allison peeked outside through a side window. “Can we go back to your office and take a look?”
“Smart call.” Fin started toward the door but stopped short. “I don’t know what we’ll find on here, but I think it would be wise to keep it to ourselves.”
“Why would we do that? Whatever it is could help the cops find Tommy’s killer,” Charlie said.
“Tommy had a lot of friends in the department,” Fin began. “But he also had a lot of enemies. I don’t want to risk this falling into the hands of someone looking to cover up what they or someone they know might’ve done.”
Allison furrowed her brow. “Do you really believe that could happen?” Fin was talking about enemies. He had a key. He knew where the video server was kept. Allison was starting to feel like Fin Dawson knew everything.
“Don’t underestimate any of this, Allison. Neither of us has any idea what this is really about.”
Allison wasn’t convinced that was the case. She suspected he knew much more than he let on. Maybe Shane was right to want to look into Fin’s background before she got too close. “We should probably go.”
“We’ll meet back up at my place.” Fin walked to the rear entrance and waited for them to catch up. “Drive safely, ladies.”
Allison and Charlie headed into the parking lot and Allison peered back. “He’s locking it up again.”
“I certainly hope so.” Charlie reached the car and stood at the passenger door.
With the keys in her hands, Allison unlocked the car and slipped behind the driver’s seat and once Charlie was inside, she started the engine and pulled away. “I should call Shane and let him know how it went. I know he’s going to worry.”
“I can see what you mean about Fin. He makes it easy to get you to trust him.”
“Yes, he does. It helps when you look like him too.”
“Was it me or did you think it was a colossal fluke that Fin happened to find the surveillance system in a manner of seconds?” Charlie asked. “Is he that lucky?”
Allison glanced at her. “It was anything but a coincidence.”
“That’s what I thought. Where’s his house, anyway?”
“We’re almost there, actually.” Allison reached for her phone and pressed Shane’s contact. “Better talk to Shane now before we arrive.” She waited a moment until he picked up the line. “Shane, hi. I know it’s getting late…”
“Late for who?” he asked.
“For me, I guess.” Allison watched as Fin pulled onto his driveway and she was close behind. “I said I’d check in with you and well, we just left Tommy’s office. We’re about to go inside Fin Dawson’s house. He found a server connected to some cameras. We’re going to take a look at the files now. I have Charlie with me.”
“Oh, geez. You two are at his house?” Shane asked.
“It was my idea if that makes you feel any better. Fin wanted to look at the videos right there in Tommy’s office, but I was afraid we’d get caught.”
“None of this makes me feel better, Allison.” Shane was quiet on the line for a moment. “Just let me know when you leave there, okay? I won’t sleep until I know you’re both safe.”
“If I didn’t know any better Shane, I’d say you sound an awful lot like a worried parent.”
“You mean, like you?” he replied. “Do what you have to do and get out of there. Call me when it’s done. I hope to hell it’s worth it.”
“It will be.” Allison noticed Fin peering at them as he stood next to his car. “I gotta go. Talk to you later.” She ended the call. “Ready?” She asked Charlie.
“He worries about you even if he won’t admit it,” Charlie said.
“The last thing I need is another man to look after me. Let’s go before Fin thinks something’s up.”
They stepped out of the car and caught up with him.
“What took you so long?” Fin asked.
Allison noticed suspicion had masked his face. “Just getting our ducks in a row.”
“Sure, although it looked to me like you were on the phone.” Fin walked to his door and keyed the lock. He pushed it open. “Welcome to my humble abode.” He walked inside and switched on the lights, illuminating the sparsely decorated bachelor pad.
Charlie looked around the home as if assessing a value to it. “Gee, I can’t imagine why you’re still single.”
Fin turned back to her. “Maybe this place just needs a woman’s touch.”
He might as well have batted his eyes at Charlie. Allison watched the exchange and jumped in with a retort. “A touch, a hit over the head, whatever works.”
Fin smiled at her. “You want to come back and look at this or keep trading barbs?”
“Trading barbs. Hands-down.” Charlie followed Alliso
n and Fin to his office in the back.
Fin turned on the lights and opened the laptop on his desk. “Let’s see if this was all worthwhile.” He connected the server to his laptop and waited for the files to load.
Allison moved behind him and peered at the screen.
Fin looked over his shoulder. “What are you hoping to find on here, Allison?”
“I’m not sure. I guess maybe I thought if Tommy was being threatened by anyone or maybe whoever drove the car I saw that night will show up.”
“What car?” he asked.
“We’re pretty sure it was a Mercedes that flew out of the parking garage where Harlan Goodfellow lived and died,” she replied. “If that’s the case, we might get lucky enough to get a good look this time. And if the Gods are smiling on us, maybe we can pull a plate. I wasn’t able to get it the first time.”
“You’re already assuming that whoever killed Tommy also killed the people he hired you to photograph,” Fin said.
“Who else could it be?” She added.
“Anyone,” Charlie replied.
Fin used his index finger and tapped it on his nose. “Bingo. Although, I suppose we’re all about to find out.”
“Too bad we don’t have any popcorn,” Charlie added. “Sorry, I don’t mean to make light of it.
“Don’t worry about it. I like your sense of humor, Charlie.” Fin opened the files for the previous week’s video. “This is going to take some time. You two might as well get a front row seat.”
Midnight loomed near and Victor Esposito nursed his third gin and tonic from the comfort of his sofa. The anticipated knock on the door arrived. “I’m coming.” He stood in socked feet and shuffled to the door. When he opened it, a tsk rolled off his tongue. “It’s about time you showed up. You’d better have some news for me. I’ve been waiting for hours.”
“Take a chill pill, dude. I’m here now. You want to let me in, or should I tell you out here?”
“Get in.” Victor moved aside and closed the door behind him. “What did your buddy say about the cops having a sit-down with Diaz tomorrow? Is it a go?”
