by Robin Mahle
“A bribe.” Shane’s tone turned flat. “Why would Boyce have had this? He was hired by Carlos Diaz to get proof to use against his wife. That’s not what we’re looking at right now.”
“Do you think this was why my dad was killed?” Lucy turned solemn. “Did his own client kill him?”
Allison placed her hand on Lucy’s arm. “Oh, honey, I think your dad might have stumbled onto something bigger than what he bargained for. But we can’t jump to conclusions just yet. This is going to take some research.” She turned to Shane. “What do you think?”
“Lucy, I think your dad found something important. What it means yet, I can’t say. However, I’m willing to bet there’s more to this than what we’re seeing right now. It could mean Carlos Diaz was into a shady deal and murdering his wife was someone’s idea of retribution.”
“I know you and Montoya aren’t exactly buddies but what are the odds you can get copies of Mrs. Diaz’s cell phone records?” Allison asked Shane.
“Why hers?” Lucy asked.
“Well, I think the only way your dad would have this was if Mrs. Diaz gave it to him,” Allison replied.
“And so by getting her phone records, you’ll try to find out if my dad was in contact with her directly?”
“Yep. And others who could be important.” Allison turned to Shane again. “Getting Tommy’s phone records would be helpful too.”
Shane nodded. “If Tommy Boyce was in direct contact with Tracy Diaz, that changes everything.”
14
Milo Nash understood that control was slipping through his fingers. His friend was dead, and he shouldered the responsibility. This was his operation. And now the special assistant attorney was at the mercy of outside influences.
He was alone in the office on a Saturday afternoon and had arranged for a meeting. The other person attending this meeting had just knocked on his door. “It’s open.” It was time to navigate this landmine Milo had set for himself and make it to the other side without taking anyone else down with him. He eyed his door when it opened. “Franklin. It’s good to see you. Thank you for coming down.”
“Milo,” Franklin Perry offered a greeting.
“Have a seat.” Nash shook his hand and sat back down. “Franklin, as you know, the Diaz organization is in the midst of troubling times.”
Perry scratched at his thick grey hair and winced, accentuating the wrinkles around his eyes. “That’s a bit of an understatement, Milo. None of this has gone the way we had hoped. I’m not sure how much longer I can protect my people.”
“You’re not the only one with folks to look out for,” Nash replied.
“Then what do you suggest we do to bring this to its conclusion before anyone else gets hurt?”
Nash leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “I should’ve stopped Boyce earlier.”
“How could you have without jeopardizing the operation?” Perry asked. “How long do you think it’ll take for the cops to find out what Diaz was up to? And what if they tie it back to me? The last thing I want to be accused of is obstructing an investigation.”
“It’s not just Diaz we should worry about. You and I both know there are people much higher on the food chain who will do everything they can to shield themselves. Right now, Tampa PD is working a double homicide.”
“Triple,” Perry added.
“Yes. Their focus is on Carlos Diaz and a possible crime of passion. We need to make sure that’s all they focus on in the short term until we can get more details. I also have a very good friend who I know is looking for answers. I’ve offered her crumbs and want to see where they lead her.”
“And if this friend ends up like Tommy?”
“She’s off their radar for now. I’ll keep it that way. Franklin, do you have any idea who was in the driver’s seat that night?”
He shook his head. “I’ve done my best to get you some answers. I wish I had something for you. But I am working on it.”
“You’ll have to work fast. It’s the proof we need to end this. I want it before any more of our people end up in the crosshairs.”
Perry took in a deep breath and pushed off the chair. He stood at a respectable 5 feet 11 inches and was thinner than he should’ve been. “I have to maintain distance between the investigation and my interactions with Diaz. If Carlos gets a whiff of what we’re doing…”
“He’s under a microscope right now and for the foreseeable future. The timing is opportune for him to dig himself a deeper grave. That’s what you should be focused on right now. Let me handle the rest.”
Carlos Diaz traversed his office with nervous energy. His jawline sprouted black whiskers and his eyes were weighed down by heavy bags underneath. “I didn’t kill my wife. Detective Montoya doesn’t believe me. I could see it in his eyes. He’s already picturing me in a 6 by 8 cell.”
“Just calm down, Carlos.” Franklin Perry took him by the arms and captured his gaze. “I’m here to help. You’re innocent and the evidence will show that.”
“I’m not so sure the cops care about evidence right now. I hired Tommy Boyce to get proof of Tracy’s infidelity. That’s all. I didn’t kill her or Harlan. I swear it. And now Tommy’s dead too.” He returned to a small heather-grey sofa in his office and sat down. “I’m losing it, Franklin. What am I going to do?”
Franklin sat down in the chair across from him and leaned over with his elbows on his knees. “Carlos, you’re doing everything in your power to cooperate with the police. They see that. You can’t worry about the other stuff. They aren’t looking at your finances, your business dealings, nothing like that.”
“They’ll have my phone records in a matter of days, if not sooner,” Carlos replied. “And Tracy’s.”
“All they’ll find is a man desperate to understand why his wife was cheating on him,” Franklin replied.
“Can you guarantee that? I think that might be beyond even your reach, Franklin.”
“If you show Montoya that there’s something to worry about besides Tracy, we all lose. We can’t afford to let that happen.”
Carlos twisted his face in anger. “I realize that, okay. Jesus!”
“Flying off the handle isn’t the sign of a man who’s keeping his shit together. I’m going to need you to calm down and then we can talk rationally about a solution.”
“Yeah, okay. I’m sorry. I’m just…” His eyes welled and tears spilled down his hollow cheeks. “My wife’s dead. Tracy’s dead.”
“She was cheating on you, brother,” Franklin replied.
“That doesn’t mean I didn’t love her.” Carlos swiped at the tears. “What do I need to do, Franklin? How do I keep the cops away from the business? Harlan was the only one I could rely on. Now he’s dead too. He would’ve made sure the cops didn’t see anything they shouldn’t.”
“Here’s what you’re going to do,” Franklin began. “Move the money to some offshore account.”
Carlos scoffed. “Are you serious? There’s no such thing anymore. All those so-called ‘off-shore’ banks are cooperating with the US and have been for some time.”
“Then cash out. Get the money and put it someplace safe. Close the account. So far, no one knows about that personal account and we’re going to keep it that way.”
Carlos eyed him with suspicion. “And what about the money they gave you?”
“I’m not the one under investigation, Carlos. This isn’t about me.”
“Not yet.”
Franklin’s eyes narrowed and the muscles in his face tensed. “Is that a threat?”
Carlos retreated. “No, man. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything. I’m…”
“You’re under a lot of stress right now. Just do as I say. Hide the money however you can. If the cops find it, then you’re screwed. Like you said, they have no evidence you killed Tracy or Harlan.”
“That’s because I didn’t.”
Franklin raised his hands. “I know. But if they find the money, they�
�ll follow the trail. And you and I both know that will direct them to the one we believe is the real killer.”
“I don’t know who did it,” Carlos insisted.
“Oh, I think maybe you do. I think we both do. But it’s too late now. First and foremost, we get you out of Montoya’s crosshairs and then we’ll fix everything else. We’ll make sure the ones responsible pay the price. But remember, Tracy died because she knew what you were doing, and she was going to use it against you. Harlan was dumb enough to try to play the knight in shining armor and help her find a way out. Except that he was caught in the crossfire. Asshole shouldn’t have been screwing your wife in the first place.”
Carlos dropped his head into his hands. “I’ll move the money.” He raised his sights to Franklin and continued, “you’re going to have to get me a name. I need to know who killed her. I have to know if it was them.”
Allison walked Lucy to her door. “I want you to call me if you need anything, you understand? Day or night.”
“Thank you, Allison.” Lucy opened her door and hesitated, finally turning back. “I’m afraid.”
“I know you are. But I want you to know that you’re not in any danger.”
“Someone broke into his office. This seems like the next logical place to look, doesn’t it?” Lucy added.
She reached for Lucy’s arm. “Detective Sullivan and I wouldn’t leave you here if we thought, in any way, there was a chance you might be in danger. I think your father was a casualty of something else. I think he got in the way and they wanted to silence him. But that doesn’t mean anyone will be after you. In fact, it’s a good idea to keep doing what you’re doing. It’s best if no one suspects anything’s changed.”
“Except that my dad’s dead. How am I supposed to keep that a secret?” A stray tear skimmed down Lucy’s cheek.
Allison embraced Lucy as though she was her own daughter. There was nothing more she could say to this girl and her words of reassurance were hardly founded on solid ground. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. We will get to the bottom of what happened to your dad. Today was a good day. We learned a lot. There’s more work ahead of us and both Shane and I and a couple of my closest friends will do what’s necessary to assist the police and work to find Tommy’s killer. In the meantime, you know how to get hold of me.”
“You’ll keep in contact, though, right?”
“You know I will.” Allison started to walk away. “Just take care of yourself. Let me handle the rest. Goodbye, Lucy.”
“Bye, Allison.”
Allison returned to Shane’s car where he waited. She stepped inside and closed the door.
“Is she going to be okay, you think?” he asked.
“No. Not for a long while. Let’s go.”
“Where to?” he asked.
“Back to my place.” Allison turned to Shane. “We opened one hell of a can of worms. And I think we’ve only scratched the surface.”
“You got that right.” He started the engine. “So, what are we going to do now?”
“I think you should turn in the laptop to Alvarez. But I might leave out the fact that we already looked at it. Don’t point anything out. He has a team of forensics people for that and I’d prefer if we stayed just a step ahead of him for now.”
“I have no intention of telling him we copied the files,” Shane replied.
“And I think I need to see Finley Dawson.”
“You’ll be getting that video back, right?”
“I will and I’ll see if he found anything else.”
“I’m sure he’ll be very forthcoming with information,” Shane huffed.
She turned to him. “Jealousy doesn’t look good on you, Shane.”
“Jealous? Of what? That wannabe cop-slash-surfer? Look, Allison, I don’t trust the guy. Sorry, but I don’t. I know you think he’s the be-all-end-all, but I don’t. And I’m not so sure he wasn’t trying to set you up to take the fall for the break-in at Boyce’s office.”
“That’s a stretch and you know it. You’re looking for reasons not to trust him. I don’t think he’s the all-important lynchpin to this investigation and you’re wrong about him, Shane. I know he’s arrogant but he’s smart. Fin has something to offer. He can be of value. And besides, we need all the help we can get. Which reminds me, I need to call Charlie.”
“We’re getting too many fingers in this pie. The more people who know, the more danger those people might end up in.”
She held her phone, ready to dial up Charlie. “Well, that puts me at ease.”
“I’m not trying to ease your conscience. If this is what we think it is and there are people willing to kill to keep their secret, then make no mistake, this is dangerous.”
Allison pressed on. “I get it, Shane. But you and I alone don’t have the resources necessary to delve into this the way it should be. Montoya will keep you placated by tossing you scraps and nothing more. He has no reason to keep either of us in the loop. You might be able to buy a favor from Alvarez, but we’ll see.”
“I’ll use what we know now to get what we need later,” Shane said. “Boyce’s laptop will come in handy.”
Allison was in her kitchen with the phone to her ear when the knock came. “Hey, Charlie, hang on a second, would you? Shane just dropped me off and I think he’s at the door. I’ll bet he forgot something.” She pressed the mute button and opened the front door. “Shane, what did you…. Oh, Milo, what are you doing here?”
“Allison. You mind if I come in?” Milo could often be too humble for his own good and right now, he carried that humility in spades.
“Not at all. Please come in.” She closed the door and returned to the call. “Charlie, I’m going to have to call you back. Milo just showed up.” Allison ended the call and turned to him. “You arrived just in time.”
“Is that so? By the sound of it, I interrupted a phone call.” He continued inside.
“I’ll call her back.” Allison started into the kitchen. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“I’ll take a coffee if you got it.”
“So long as you don’t mind it being reheated.” She reached for a mug in the cabinet.
“Not at all. Listen, I’m sorry to just drop by. I normally would’ve preferred to call but this was something I needed to discuss in person. And it couldn’t wait.”
Allison placed the re-heated coffee in front of him. “In person, huh? That sounds alarming.”
“How is everything going with Finley Dawson? Was he able to offer help regarding Tommy’s caseload?”
“He was. We’ve been putting our heads together. Why do you ask?”
“Obviously, with what happened to Tommy and of course the people he hired you to photograph…”
“Uh-huh.” She watched him stare at the mug with unusual intensity. “What’s going on, Milo? Cageyness isn’t your style.”
He looked at her with notable concern. “There are details I omitted when I passed along Tommy’s contact information. At the time I thought it was unnecessary and unrelated to address your goals.”
“Don’t lawyer up on me now. Just say what you mean to say.”
“I knew Tommy needed help,” he continued. “He was getting buried in some of the more mundane aspects of his work and I thought, why not see if he could use your skills. I gave him a heads up and he said, ‘great, send her over.’ Nothing more than that. But…”
Allison’s face hardened. “But…”
“I also knew if things went south you were, hands-down, the best person to handle it.”
“Oh, I don’t think they could’ve gone any farther south. Milo, what do you know about Tommy and his involvement with Carlos Diaz other than investigating the affair?”
“I knew Diaz hired him to get evidence he could use in a divorce, yes. But what I didn’t know, evidently, was that Tommy would end up dead because of it.”
Allison detected a sense of foreboding and it drove her pulse higher. “You’re talking i
n circles now.”
“What I mean to say is that I knew Tommy was working on something big. What I couldn’t possibly know was that it would end up ensnaring you.”
“But it did,” Allison replied.
“You’re tough as nails. I’ve known that since we first met in the courtroom that day.”
“Enough, Milo. What did Tommy get himself tangled up in? I have to know. I found out a few things...”
“Things?” he asked.
“Tommy’s daughter, Lucy. She asked me to take a look at some files she found on her dad’s laptop. That was just this morning. There was something on there that we don’t know much about yet. But by the sounds of it, maybe you do?”
“The money,” Milo replied.
Allison shook her head. “So you did know?”
“I suspected it. Tommy was working on getting proof of a bribe of some sort. It must have happened fast because he would’ve come to me with it straight away. Allison, if you have that proof it’s important that you turn it over to me.”
“He hadn’t told you about it?”
“Like I said, I can only guess that he’d just received it. We were supposed to meet up the day after...” Milo trailed off for a moment. “He was probably planning on telling me then. Where is this information now and what exactly did you find?”
“I’ll be happy to tell you what we found if you give me everything. Look, I’m in up to my knees, Milo. You have to tell me everything.”
15
Milo had laid it all on the table. All the events leading up to this moment and it was now on her shoulders to decide if she could continue. “You know I love you, Milo, but how could you do this? How could you get me involved in something like this? Forget that Tommy’s dead. Forget that he has a daughter. What if I was killed? Nolan, Micah? At the very least, you should’ve told me what I was getting myself into. It should have been my decision to make.”
He closed his eyes in regret. “There was no way I could have foreseen what happened that night, Allison. It wasn’t even in the same ballpark as what we knew Tommy was doing at the time. You have to believe me. I would never put you in harm’s way. And I didn’t think Tommy was in that sort of danger either. The arrangement was Tommy was going to continue working for Carlos Diaz and do exactly what he asked regarding his wife, Tracy. And in the background, I, along with another, would continue to build a case against Carlos. There was no reason Tracy or Harlan Goodfellow should’ve been in the crosshairs, let alone Tommy Boyce.”
