Vigilante Investigator Series Box Set

by Eden Sharp

  The back door was shuttered and locked down. It was easy to concede no one was home.

  I made my way back round to the front and over to the Honda.

  'Nothing.' Knox said. 'You?'

  I shook my head. 'Let's give it another hour or so then call it a day.'

  Inspector Dean Ortiz

  Ortiz took the call all the while looking over at Aaron's desk not relishing the task of filling him in.

  'Okay. Back off for now. We'll do it another way.'

  He shut off the call and made a face to Aaron to follow him out of the squad room. He headed for the men's bathroom.

  Ortiz checked to make sure every stall was empty.

  Aaron looked sweaty and pumped. Like a life-sized neon sign that said I got a whole lot of trouble rattling round in this head.

  'Will you try and hold it together?' Ortiz said.

  'What now?'

  'McGlynn's on to Pulido. Jordan was blown but she wouldn't have been able to make an ID.'

  'Oh fucking A. How the hell did she link it to him?'

  'Pulido's so low on the radar she'll never find him and we'll use GPS to check in with her whereabouts instead.'

  'We even need that piece of shit Pulido anymore?'

  'For a little while longer yes. It's not going to be a problem to keep them apart for a few more days. In the meantime, speak to Stuart Kerpen's watch commander and get him in here first thing. We'll set him up with Barstow. I'll call Kerpen and give him the good news.'

  FORTY

  Angela McGlynn

  Nothing was happening but it gave me some valuable thinking time. I was grateful Knox was someone you could feel comfortable with while sitting in silence. Finally he broke it.

  'I feel really bad about what happened yesterday. Will you at least let me buy you dinner? Neither of us has had lunch.'

  There were things I was itching to get on with. I still wanted to have another go at Rawlings’ bank account for one. But I couldn't deny I was hungry.

  'Okay, thanks. How about a steak?'

  'Great.'

  'It's going to take us a little longer than usual to hit downtown though because it's good to be cautious. Every fifteen minutes or so you're going to pull over. If we have a tail they'll drive right past and wait up ahead. So we make a U-turn, retrace our steps a little, then take another route,' I said.

  Knox gave me an admiring glance.

  'Every day something new,' he said.

  Wagyu was serious about beef so it was popular but the cars in the lot were a little more high-end than an aging Honda. The valet took the keys without smiling, maybe not expecting a tip.

  We were heading away when I heard him pass comment to his buddy.

  'Skank ride,' he said.

  I turned back around and smiled.

  'We all want to lead fulfilling and happy lives. But then we're taught that it can only come from what we own. Consumer society has sneaked up on us and written “fuck you” right under our noses and now everyone is left wondering why they feel so empty.'

  The place was busy and we had to wait behind another couple at a mahogany hostess podium. Expensively dressed thirty-somethings were talking earnestly at each other. Some ate in silence, their relationships developed enough for any conversation between them to have long since dried up.

  Both mine and Knox's clothes were crumpled, creased from sitting still in a warm car. I rolled my head from side to side trying to loosen up my neck, bored by standing in line. The couple ahead of us were seated almost straight away then a waiter appeared clutching two menus and asked us to follow him to a table.

  It was cramped in between two larger tables, set-up for two, and wouldn't have been my first choice in terms of observing what was going on in the rest of the place but I was hungry and there was little other option.

  A tall guy with dark hair down to his chin stood up at the next table. The blond sitting opposite turned round to face us. Both were staring. I looked back at Knox. He was breaking in to a vague smile.

  'Hey John, how are you doing?' the guy said.

  'Hi John,' the blond said then switched her attention to me.

  'Angela, my brother Dan and his fiancee Holly. Dan, Angela McGlynn,' Knox said.

  Dan Knox joined Holly in an appraisal and we all exchanged a Hi then I looked at the waiter willing him to continue seating us at my now first-choice table.

  'Why don't you guys join us?' He looked over at Knox. 'Please.'

  They started moving items on the table, creating some spare territory, making it inevitable.

  The waiter seemed pleased to have gained another opening and the potential of additional paying customers in his station.

  Knox slid in next to his brother leaving me to sit, back to the room, next to Holly.

  The waiter hovered next to me. 'Can I take your jacket ma'am?'

  'I'm fine thanks,' I said.

  He didn't seem convinced.

  'Are you sure?'

  I pride myself on knowing my own mind.

  'Yeah, I'm good.'

  Dan Knox gave the waiter a look like he needed to apologize on my behalf then sent him away telling him to give us five minutes.

  'You might regret that, it's pretty hot in here,' he said. 'Why don't you let me-'

  'I'm armed,' I said.

  Everything went quiet. I looked across at Knox. He was smiling at me, a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

  The waiter returned to take our orders. I wished I didn't have to drive. A couple of large glasses of wine and I thought I might be able to make it through playing happy families.

  'How are the wedding plans going?' Knox said.

  Dan Knox started talking about a honeymoon.

  Holly began describing her dress, or maybe the cake. I zoned out, observing the two siblings talking. There seemed little warmth between Knox and his brother.

  I snapped my attention back when I realized I was being asked a question.

  'You know when you're a little girl and you imagine exactly how you want your wedding to be?' Holly asked.

  I really didn't. 'No.'

  'You never dreamed about-'

  'I never wanted to get married.'

  'Why not?'

  Where to start?

  'Because there's no law that says you have to. Because we're taught from an early age that we'll all be completely fulfilled by being wives and mothers. Because it's crazy that we continue to believe that our only role is to be the facilitator of somebody else's life. Because it's an illusion that it's only men who are desperate to avoid being tied down to a life of domestic drudgery. Because I prefer to be alone,' I said.

  Dan and Knox had gone quiet. Everyone's focus was back on me.

  I looked around to see if any drinks were on their way and decided to shut up for the rest of the meal. Alcohol had never seemed more appealing. I began a conversation in my head, arguing with myself about the logistics of driving.

  FORTY-ONE

  John Knox

  The steak was good but Knox was grateful when the meal was over. He went over to the waiter collecting a drinks order from the bar and asked him for the check. The waiter directed him to a manager who shepherded him to a register. Dan appeared at his side.

  'You don't have to get this.'

  'It's okay, really,' Knox said.

  'You like her don't you?'

  'She's different.'

  'She's exactly like you.'

  'Wow, hostile.'

  Dan looked offended. 'What do you mean by that?'

  'You hate her.'

  'I meant she's not exactly the settling down type. But she is a little abrasive yeah.'

  Knox shrugged.

  'At least she's making you happy.'

  'How's that?'

  'You're the happiest I've seen you since you got back.'

  'I'm earning good money. It's interesting work. She's my boss. Period.'

  The manager printed off the check. It was overpriced in Knox's opinion. But then what
did he know? He hadn't paid for food for most of his life.

  'It's a shame. I was going to suggest you bring her as your guest to the wedding,' Dan said.

  Knox wasn't sure he could face going alone. It had to be better than picking up someone in a bar.

  'Maybe I will.'

  'I knew it.'

  'You know nothing.'

  Knox paid up. His brother gave him the same smug face he remembered from way back always, never the one to turn down the opportunity of scoring a point.

  They ran through the obligatory small talk and goodbyes and Dan escorted Holly out to the valet station.

  'I need liquor,' McGlynn said.

  'Sorry about that.'

  'Not your fault. But I sure feel like getting loaded before I head home. We've got another exciting day of surveillance tomorrow.'

  'Sounds good,' Knox said. 'What about the shitmobile?'

  'Ollie will come over and get it. Deliver it home for me.'

  'Great service.'

  'She's a good friend.'

  'You want me to get someone to call cabs?’

  'Great. You do that while I prime the valet about the pick up.'

  Knox wasn't sure if he should order one cab or two. If he was invited for a drink or not. He figured one car then if McGlynn had other plans he could drop her somewhere and take it on home.

  The cab pulled up two minutes later just as McGlynn was headed back his way from squaring things away with the valet. He opened the door for her then followed her inside. The driver glanced back awaiting instruction.

  'Mission,' McGlynn said. ‘3345 Shotwell near where it intersects with Twentieth.'

  She looked across at him. 'We need to stop somewhere for bourbon?'

  'No. We're all good,' he said.

  Knox produced a half-full bottle of Jack and poured two large ones with Coke. They sank both in record time.

  'You want another one?' he asked.

  McGlynn shook her head. 'No.'

  Knox grabbed the lapels of her jacket and pulled her into him. Her lips were soft and pillowy. He slipped his right hand underneath the jacket into the small of her back, released the SIG from its holster and stowed it on the counter top.

  He was surprised at how submissive she was, compliant as he pushed her over to and up against the wall. He pulled off her jacket and lifted her shirt over her head and she reached up to push his jacket up and back off his shoulders. It fell to the floor and he kicked it aside. She offered up her mouth to him again.

  'Okay?' he whispered.

  She nodded and kissed him hard on the mouth. He only drew breath when she pulled his T-shirt up over his head. Her skin against his felt amazing. He unhooked her bra and took her hand, leading her towards the bedroom.

  He kissed her again backing her up to the end of the bed then pulled away and pushed her so she fell backwards onto it. He reached down and took hold of each foot in turn and pulled off her boots then leaned in and unzipped her jeans.

  She lifted her hips up and he pulled her panties off with them. He knelt at the foot of the bed and pushed her knees apart. She tasted good. Gasping she pulled his head towards her. He undid his belt and kicked off his pants then traced his tongue all the way back to her mouth, his fingers trailing across her stomach.

  She cried out when he pushed into her, her muscles tightly tensed around him. He used one hand to grip both wrists above her head, the other to sweep under the small of her back and arch her into him more until eventually he felt her muscles rippling, enveloping around him. He pulled her down harder onto him as he came. Their skin, slick with sweat, adhered to the filmy cotton sheets, binding them together.

  He rolled over pulling her against him, resting one arm loosely around her shoulders, and felt the air from her nose faintly against his chest. He leaned over to look at her and gently pulled her head back to plant a big kiss on her forehead.

  When he woke up it took him a few moments to realize he was alone in the now dim room. The sheets next to him were cold. He flicked the lamp on and sat up.

  'Angela?'

  A voice emanated from the bathroom.

  'It's Angie,' she said.

  'You okay?'

  'Just getting some water.'

  Angela McGlynn appeared in the doorway with a glass in her hand. Her hair was mussed. Trickles of liquid escaped from the corners of her mouth and ran in rivulets down her breasts. She looked sexy as hell.

  She held out the glass. 'You want some?'

  Overcome by a second surge of lust he managed to shake his head. She walked over and straddled him, kissing him with a cool, wet mouth, drawing him into her again.

  She rode him slowly, pushing her tongue deep into his mouth until he threw his head back to suck in a lungful of air as he came.

  They stayed joined for a few minutes then she rolled away and curled up in the space on the far side of the bed. He considered this for a moment then turned towards her and threw his arm across her waist, pulling her gently backwards until he felt the curve of her spine pressing into him. He felt himself begin to doze.

  Sudden alert mode kicked in when he heard noises and made out shadows in the almost pitch darkness. Her outline came into view. She had most of her clothes on and was searching for something. She retrieved a boot and sat on the edge of the chair, pulling it on.

  Knox perched himself up on his elbows and flicked on the lamp on the nightstand.

  'What are you doing McGlynn?'

  'Going home,' she said.

  He checked his watch.

  'It's the middle of the night.'

  'I know,' she said.

  'You don't have your car.'

  'I know.'

  'But-'

  'Bye John.'

  McGlynn pulled the bedroom door closed behind her.

  FORTY-TWO

  Angela McGlynn

  When I called Knox he sounded like he was already up.

  'You ready for another exciting day?'

  'Can't wait.'

  'Ollie is going to drop off the ride at yours. You have Cantrell's address and you know what to do. I'm chasing a few loose ends here at the moment. Call me with anything. I'll be over later.'

  'You okay?'

  'Sure.'

  'All right, I'll see you later.'

  The first thing on the list was to track Pulido online. I logged on to my laptop and into a database I subscribed to, got hold of his social security number and ran a trace. Pulido hadn't applied for any loans, jobs, or apartment rentals, nor were any utilities in his name since leaving jail. Just because he had been careful to stay away from credit bureau checks didn't mean he might not have registered to vote, so voter registration was my next port of call. His estranged wife's location was listed so the information was out of date.

  It was possible he was driving on an expired license but the chances of traffic stops were high so I checked DMV to see if he had renewed. He hadn't. Nor was there any vehicle registration information.

  I ran a general check on relatives, associates, professional licenses, county court records, marriage and arrest records, some of which was redundant but came included as a package in the search. There were some possible leads regarding relatives but nothing with immediate potential.

  Pulido's parents, Jorge Martinez Lome and Amaya Munoz Pulido were no longer living in the US and had returned to Puerto Rico. Spanish naming customs included both paternal and maternal surnames. This showed that for whatever reason he had favored his mother's name only.

  Out of curiosity I ran the name Ortiz, interested to see the heritage of an African-American with Hispanic blood. It was explained by the fact his parents had originally been from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, the first seat of Spanish colonial rule in the New World Americas. Likewise he only used one surname. In combination with his anglicized first name this was probably down to a desire for Americanization on their part.

  I ran another name. Results showed Secora was a medieval surname of Polish or Russ
ian origin.

  My cell vibrated alerting me to an incoming message. The message itself was meaningless. The vibrate pattern had just informed me of a hit on one of my other machines. I had waited a few days but finally Rawlings was online. All I had to do was get myself set up before he logged off.

  Once I was set I accessed his boot files. Right about now Rawlings would be experiencing a recovery event at his end. From my end it meant a whole lot more. I began to reformat his entire system. After I was through I would be able to do mostly anything with his PC. The next time he did any online banking, my machine would hijack the browser session and capture his user ID, password and challenge questions. When I finally executed the cash transfer he would be pointed to a false account screen I would be creating shortly. Not only would it not show the transfer but he wouldn't be able to stop the order until the cash was beyond all retrieval.

  Barstow

  Barstow handed Kerpen another file to scour.

  'So as soon as the captain authorizes the funds we put together the sting,' he said.

  'But I thought you said the junkie cousin was already on side?' Kerpen said.

  'Kind of.'

  'So you're going to make out he's the one stealing from the head of the family?'

  'Looks like it.'

  'But if the cousin's bringing the money thinking he's making the buy how do you turn it around in front of Secora's guys that he's the one with the coke?'

  'I'm not sure yet. The boss is just sorting out the final details, there'll be a briefing soon when everything's set to go.'

  Barstow was pissed. All he'd been doing for the last forty-eight hours was combing through meaningless paper trails in old case files. Now he'd had a uniform foisted upon him to show around and he'd been kept in the dark about the reasons for the guy being there. On top of everything else it was just embarrassing. He knew as little this guy did. At least he now had something to do and someone he could talk to. Everyone else just seemed to be stonewalling.