Rock Wolf Investigations: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Laurie’s mind reeled with this new information. “No! How is that possible?”

  “Oh, he tells people he didn’t. He says he was a colonel and that he was honorably discharged, but the papers he uses belonged to his father.”

  This news could not have been more surprising. How was that even possible? However, Laurie had never actually seen Josh’s paperwork. He had been interviewed and hired before she had. His qualifications would be a question for Elena and the personnel department. But if Laurie was dumbfounded, Younger was incredulous.

  “No,” Younger said roughly. “That’s not even possible. I called a good contact of mine. They looked up his actual service record.”

  “Yeah, but how did they pull it up?” Hank retorted. “By name? By social? Did they really pay attention to the years? My father was a career military man who ran the motor pool up at Fort Leonard Wood for over fifty years. His son was under his command for a while. That was probably the only time in Josh’s life that he actually worked for a living.”

  “But the Army doesn’t make those mistakes,” Younger argued. “They can tell one soldier from another.”

  “Not when they have the same name and the younger one steals the older one’s social security number. I’ve been telling my wife for years that we need to steer clear of that bastard,” Hank said darkly. “Someday, the Army is going to realize that he’s been collecting a pension for a man who would be a hundred years old by now. They’ll figure it out and they will want that money back!”

  The full implications of what Hank Hornsby was suggesting hit hard. Laurie sat back limply in the overstuffed floral fabric covered chair that smelled faintly of lavender. It was almost impossible to believe this was true, yet there was a certain tactical brilliance that reeked of Josh Bentley. Josh could figure out ways to get things that he did not deserve with an eerie amount of success that absolutely confounded Laurie’s ability to describe it.

  Younger shook his head. He stood up and walked to the window for a moment as though he needed to gather his thoughts. Then he turned and looked at Hank once again. “All right. Your brother-in-law has been collecting an Army pension that he didn’t earn. That’s definitely a crime the Department of Veterans’ Affairs would like to know about. So, tell me about Josh and your son.”

  “Michael is a lazy, no good spoiled brat.” Hank did not pull his punches. “I cannot tell you how many times I tried to teach that boy something good or worthwhile or useful. He doesn’t care. He wants the easy way out. Always. When his uncle came back to the area from wherever else he’d been living, he seemed taken with Michael.”

  Laurie frowned. “That doesn’t seem like Josh. He hates kids.”

  “I suppose. But Michael is good with computers.” Hank made it seem like this was his son’s greatest crime to date. “Michael showed Josh a few ways to take advantage of people over the Internet. I’m ashamed to say my son preys on people when I can’t catch him at it. He sets up these “businesses” over the web. Then he gets people to send him their broken electronics. He fiddles with them and then either charges people for repair or tells them their stuff isn’t worth repairing and then he resells it himself without giving them anything for it.”

  Younger rubbed a hand down his face. “And you’ve let him prey on your neighbors and fellow human beings and never thought to call someone?”

  “What was I going to do?” Hank shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I told the kid to get out. He’s lazy and he’s never worked a real day in his life. But he’s still my son. When he tells me he’s trying to earn enough money or to start his own business, of course you want to believe it. Right?”

  Laurie felt horribly sorry for Hank Hornsby. The man had an awful son. The sort of kid that every parent would dread winding up with. The kid who shuns your values and your work ethic and would rather lie and steal than work an honest job. Laurie was starting to see how this partnership between uncle and nephew had started.

  “So, your brother-in-law apparently decided to make a deal with your son,” Younger speculated. He seemed thoughtful. “Who knows which one of them came up with the idea. That isn’t really the point. What I wonder is what Michael was going to get out of it.”

  “What was Michael going to get out of it?” Laurie exclaimed. She shook her head and thought of Josh Bentley. “What did Josh get out of it? Do you think they’re planning something big? Is this just a buildup to robbing a store or stealing money from people?”

  “I would imagine it is,” Younger said carefully. She could see him working it all through in his mind. “But think about it for a moment, Laurie. Josh thought he was getting your job. He was pretty confident about it, right? He announced that you were leaving and he was taking over. He did take over your staffing decisions. He managed to convince the other employees that you were disgraced and being let go. He just failed to realize that he didn’t have you nearly far enough under his thumb to pull it all off.”

  “No.” Laurie thought about the real reason that she hadn’t just knuckled under Josh’s smear campaign and pushing. “He didn’t anticipate my hiring you to help out. If you hadn’t been there, I would have fallen. There’s no doubt in my mind about it.”

  Hank rubbed a tired hand down his even more tired looking face. “What do you think we should do then? The wife and I. Should we try to keep Michael from leaving the house? What do we do?”

  “Nothing.” Younger looked sympathetic when he took a seat right beside Mr. Hornsby. Younger reached out and laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. “There is nothing you can do. Not really. You need to lay low and just sit tight. When it happens, and it will happen, you have to just let it. I think that’s going to be the hardest part. The kid is nearly eighteen. He’s been conspiring with his uncle and with a huge group of his friends of all ages. I think that it’s about time those kiddos see what happens when you do that.”

  Hank looked doubtful. He scratched his jaw and rubbed his neck. “So, you’re saying that I need to just let the natural consequences take their course?”

  “Exactly. That is the only thing that will get through to a kid like that,” Younger told the father. “It’s sad to say because I don’t think anyone should run the risk of something going on their permanent record just because they acted like an arrogant ass when they were seventeen, but that’s how this is going to have to work I think.”

  Hank pursed his lips. For a few seconds, Laurie was afraid he was going to argue. Like maybe he was going to warn his son and ruin the entire operation for tonight. But he didn’t. Mr. Hornsby began to nod instead.

  “You’re right,” Hank Hornsby informed them. “You’re absolutely right. There is no way that my idiot son is going to learn anything unless someone pushes the consequences of not learning right in his face.”

  Laurie had the horrible feeling that no matter what they did, Josh was still going to get away with this somehow. Like he would just move somewhere else and collect his stolen Army pension. How did you really deal with people like that anyway? Someone who had managed to expunge his own less than great military record and assume that of his father. Just because they had the same name and had been at the same posting. The idea it could be so simple to steal someone’s career and identity in order to claim something you didn’t deserve was awful.

  “We need to go,” Younger said suddenly. “We will call you though once it’s over. I hope you’ll be kind enough not to blow our operation for us. Just pretend that nothing is different. Continue being frustrated with your son and your brother-in-law.”

  Hornsby gave a derisive snort. “Well, that won’t be difficult. I hate the man. He came in here yesterday trying to sell me on some story that he needed money for a wrongful termination suit and that he would pay me back just as soon as he got his promotion or something like that. It was a story about a coworker. I’m sure I can guess who that coworker was now,” Hank said dryly as he looked at Laurie. “I’m sorry he’s been treating you this way.”

&
nbsp; Laurie was touched. The man did not need to apologize for his brother and yet it was good to know she wasn’t the only one who’d had a difficult time dealing with Josh Bentley.

  “I appreciate that, Mr. Hornsby. You just keep your wife safe and happy and we will take care of the rest.”

  Big words. Laurie hoped they could live up to them.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  It was hard to focus on what had to happen right now. Younger’s mind was too busy spinning around and around this idea that he needed to make about a dozen or more phone calls to his military contacts. He felt a driving need to put a stop to this notion that Josh Bentley could pretend to be his father and somehow contrive to collect a pension that he hadn’t earned. It was an insult to every single man who had done his time fair and square and served his country with pride.

  “Are you all right?” Laurie asked as they pulled into the parking lot at the Landing.

  Younger turned to stare at her. Was he all right? He actually laughed at that. “I’m fine. Really. I’m just—there are so many ways I want to take that man down a peg or two that I’m actually feeling giddy.”

  Laurie had driven them to the Hornsby residence in her SUV. Now they were sitting in her designated parking spot and she had her hands on the steering wheel looking as though she didn’t actually want to shut the engine off and face what was coming next.

  “We’ve got this, Laurie,” Younger told her softly. “We’ve got assignments for when the guys are supposed to be in place and where they should wait for the theatrics to happen. Those boys won’t know that their plan has been changed. Until he actually looks, neither will Bentley. It’s all going to work out just fine. We will catch the entire lot of those little bastards and we can explain to them that the police are going to be coming to sort out the adults from the minors and they will all be carted off to a holding cell.”

  “That’s the part I’m not so sure about!” Laurie burst out. She looked over at him with a dubious expression on her face. “Do you know how many times I’ve tried to get the police interested in this case?”

  This was something that Younger and his colleagues at Rock Wolf Investigations had heard before. This whole song and dance about Branson PD not being concerned or interested in investigating. It was all old news. And yet Younger could not fault her for being worried about it. Who wanted to see all of their investigating swirl around and head down the drain just because a bunch of police had some hidden agenda that didn’t make any sense?

  “I told you,” Younger reminded her gently. “Titus called in Detective Lowell. He’s not like Sellers or Sergeant Caprico. Lowell actually cares. He has an honest work ethic and it has nothing to do with Hilary Allenwood at the newspaper office.”

  “If that isn’t a bit unusual these days,” Laurie muttered. She rested her forehead against the steering wheel. “What if I’m a complete failure, Younger? I don’t know if this plan will work. What if I look like an idiot in front of my guys?”

  Younger frowned. He knew that anyone would feel the same way that Laurie did given the circumstances. Someone in her chain of command had been actively undermining her. But the honest truth was that she needed to fire a few people and hire someone else. That had to happen. She just wasn’t ready to see it yet. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel compassion for her though. She was a woman who wanted to have the honest respect of those she asked to follow her orders, a good quality in any leader.

  He touched her shoulder. Just the contact was enough for now even though what he really wanted to do was to take her in his arms and hold her close. Younger felt as though he could watch the entire world go by and not care one bit about anything in it if he had Laurie in his arms. He wanted to bury his face in her dark hair and inhale her scent and feel the warmth of her right beside him. She was such a precious treasure. Someday, he wanted to feel like she truly grasped just how important she was to him.

  “We should go inside.” Laurie said the words but he noticed that she didn’t make a move to put them in action. “We’re going to sit out here for so long that we will…” Her words seemed to trail off to nowhere.

  Younger frowned. Laurie appeared to be staring at the building. They were parked on the same side as the sporting goods store. This was where the security personnel had their parking spots. Somewhere behind them was a golf cart with a little yellow light clashing on its roof. But for now, Laurie seemed to have her gaze locked on something near a bank of greenery near a set of bike racks and not too far from the boats.

  “What’s wrong?” Younger frowned at Laurie. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  She pushed her way out of her SUV. “I think that I have!”

  Younger had to scramble to keep up. Laurie was moving fast, her driver’s door slamming closed behind her as she strode across the blacktop parking lot. He closed in on her with his long strides, but he didn’t try to stop her. She had something very specific in mind here.

  There was a woman talking on a cell phone as she paced back and forth in front of the bike racks. She didn’t look as though she belonged. It was hot out this evening. A true August scorcher. This woman had on a cream-colored business suit complete with high heels. Her shiny black hair was pulled up into a neat chignon at the back of her head and she looked as though she had escaped from an office somewhere. When she saw Laurie approaching, the woman seemed to intentionally finish up her phone call. Evidently, she knew Laurie at least well enough to want an audience with her.

  “Elena, what are you doing here?” Laurie asked with obvious concern. “I spoke to you just the other day and you didn’t say a word.”

  Younger was pretty sure that he’d heard Laurie mention a woman named Elena before. Her boss. If Laurie’s boss was here, it could only mean one thing.

  Elena pursed her lips. She looked concerned. “I got a very interesting phone call,” Elena explained to Laurie.

  “Let me guess,” Laurie muttered. Then she looked thoughtful. “Although, maybe I should ask instead. Were you warned there had been nothing but vandals running all over this mall area and that I fired the only guy who could do something about it? Or was it just the general tattletale nonsense that Josh likes so well?”

  Elena was looking rather concerned. But the twilight was turning to darkness and Younger could not help but think that they were going to wind up missing the most important part of the show.

  So, Younger coughed and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, ladies? If I could please direct your attention to the main stage? The show is about to begin.”

  They needed to walk at least a hundred yards if not more down the promenade in order to make sure Younger and Laurie were in position to assist Detective Lowell and the uniformed policemen he had promised to bring.

  “And you are?” Elena gave him a suspicious once over. Not that Younger could blame her, but they really didn’t have time for a nice one-on-one get to know you session.

  Younger quickly extended his hand. “Younger Adair. I work for Rock Wolf Investigations. If you wouldn’t mind, we’ve set up a nice little trap for our skateboard mafia.”

  “Skateboard mafia?” Elena gaped at him. Then she frowned at Laurie. “Was it really necessary to play into this whole situation like you’re doing? I think you would have been better off to handle it quietly and not assign a bunch of silly names guaranteed to make the paper.”

  “Just come and see what we’re talking about,” Laurie urged her boss. “I’m right about Josh being the one who called, right?”

  “Yes,” Elena managed to keep talking as the three of them began the trek toward the central courtyard where the fire and water show took place. “Josh is very concerned about you. Or so he says. I don’t know what to believe anymore, Laurie!”

  “Well, then maybe this will help.” Laurie was marching toward D-day. At least that’s kind of how she looked. “We can start with Josh lied to us about his military service. Younger and I just got done talking to his brother-in-law. Apparent
ly, Josh assumed his father’s name and social security number so he could steal his military career and his rank and keep collecting a pension.”

  Younger could not blame Laurie for the look of satisfaction on Elena’s face when she heard that. But right now, Younger needed to be somewhere else if this whole plan was going to go off the way they intended.

  Lightly touching Laurie’s shoulder, Younger gave her a nod and left her and Elena both deep in discussion about personnel management and how it had evidently failed. That was good. Somehow it felt as though they had scored a real win if Laurie’s boss was willing to entertain the notion that Josh had actually lied about his past.

  Younger spotted several of the other security guys at different points around the promenade. He made a point of waving to them and getting their attention so they would know and pass the word that Younger and Laurie were back and the plan was still going on as intended. As long as none of them had spilled the beans to the guest of honor, of course.

  The courtyard was already crowded with tourists and shoppers. Some had arrived specifically to see the fire and water show while others were already laden with shopping bags and figured to take a little break from their retail marathon in order to see a pretty sight and rest and relax their feet.

  Kids ran around the sunken central courtyard. Some had water guns or other toys that spun and flashed bright-colored lights. It looked like an idyllic scene from some tourism brochure. And a few moments after Younger had taken his planned position not far from where he had tripped Michael Hornsby on his skateboard, the fire and water cannons cued up and the show was ready to go.

  Younger had not been there the other night. This particular “play” had been in place the night that someone had dosed Laurie with cocaine. But that did not mean Younger wasn’t ready for the first appearance of Michael Hornsby on his skateboard the very second the first water cannon shot off a burst of flame and a one hundred and twenty foot stream of water.