“That had to have been a drain on the company finances.” Dillon made his observation aloud.
“Of course!” Vargas sounded a little defensive. “But it turned out to be a shrewd move and the investment paid off in spades. Arcano was able to elevate production on each of those acquisitions to a level the previous owners could never have imagined. It didn’t hurt that it was an economic boon to the surrounding villages. More jobs, more product, more sales, more profits. Every penny spent was recuperated within the first two years. The sustainability factor boosted Arcano Imports’ popularity in the court of public opinion exponentially. The reward blew the risk out of the water.”
“But then Luis Arcano died. How did that affect things?” Vinny let Dillon continue with the questions. It was a golden opportunity to test the kid’s chops.
“You need to understand that from the moment he could walk, Casius was his father’s rising star. Luis loved his son more than anything and he wore his pride on his sleeve.” It was Vargas who answered yet again. “When Casius was a very small boy, Luis had a little desk made for him, a replica of Luis’, and sat it right next to his. Casius sat in that chair next to his father and learned everything straight from him from the moment he could walk. As Casius grew, he would leave directly from his studies and head straight for that desk to work with his father. He picked up exactly where Luis had left everything upon his death, hardly skipping a beat.”
“In other words...” Cabrillo took the liberty of clarifying. “It had no effect. Aside from the great sense of loss to the company, Arcano Imports experienced no adverse effects from Luis’ death.
“When exactly did Luis Arcano die?” Dillon knew the answer but wanted to see the men’s reaction.
“Last December. Two days before Christmas.” Vargas replied.
“And the cause of death?” Again, Dillon already knew the answer.
“I am not sure how that is relevant to your investigation.” Vargas sounded defensive.
“That’s why we are the detectives, Mr. Vargas.” Vinny explained pointedly. “We are sure how it’s relevant.”
“Now, detective...” Cabrillo started running interference. “We are being cooperative here. There is no reason to get snarky”
“Snarky?” Vinny chuckled and looked over at Dillon. “We gotta remember that one and use it on Lou. I like it.” He looked back at Cabrillo and all humor drained from his expression. “I am not being Snarky, as you call it. I have three as yet unidentified bodies parked in your CEO’s personal residence and said CEO has miraculously vanished into thin air. I’m trying to get to the bottom of this and I’m more than certain you want me to do that very soon. I would assume stockholders get a little nervous when CEO’s go missing.”
There was a long and awkward moment of silence in the room as the Arcano men all exchanged glances and composed themselves.
“We will need your security logs for the past week and access to Mr. Arcano’s computer.” Dillon informed them.
“We would be happy to provide you with the security logs but Mr. Arcano’s computer is another matter.” Vargas straightened his sleeves, attempting to appear as if he were starting to lose interest in the conversation “It contains proprietary information and I am afraid we cannot allow that data to get into the wrong hands.”
“The warrant that’s on the way should ease your concerns.” Dillon barely let Vargas finish his sentence. “Actually, you might want to have Miss Brazil check the fax machine.”
Vinny had to hide his grin. Dillon had played the attorney perfectly and not backed down an inch. They were lucky as hell to find a sympathetic judge on a Sunday morning so they were not about to leave the office without exactly what they came for, lest everything vanish just like Casius Arcano. The men had started to squirm, visibly.
“You want to escort us to his office now or let us roam around until we find it?” Dillon was scoring major points with Vinny.
“Uh, let me show you the way.” Taylor stood up, looking for some direction from the other two men.
“I really must object to the manner in which you are handling this. We are the victims here...” Once again Dillon cut Vargas off before he could finish his sentence.
“No, sir, no you are no victim. The three dead men in Arcano’s house are the victims, Casius Arcano is a victim.” Dillon walked around the conference table as he spoke, coming to a stop only when he was looking down his nose at the man. “It is I who object to the manner in which you are stalling our investigation. Unless you have some as yet unshared information as to where Mr. Arcano is, you are preventing us from finding him and that, sir, makes me wonder about you.”
There was a long, awkward pause that seemed to last an eternity until the woman whom Dillon had previously referred to as Miss Brazil entered the conference room. She was holding what Vinny could only guess was the warrant Dillon had mentioned. Vinny took the document from the woman who was enthralled by the sight of Dillon standing up close and personal, looking almost straight down at the very pale Mr. Vargas.
Vinny walked over to the men and made note of the fact that Dillon had yet to blink. “You want to take us to Arcano’s office now, Taylor?” He patted Dillon on the back then followed Peter Taylor out of the room. With one last glare at Vargas for good measure, Dillon followed Vinny’s lead and exited the conference room.
They headed through the glass lined hall and noticed the eyes that followed them as they went. Vinny figured no one had expected them to get this far so soon. When they reached the end of the corridor, Taylor scanned his thumb on the circular pad that secured the double doors. Arcano’s office was ultra modern stainless steel and glass everywhere. There were a pair of siren red leather chairs in front of a rectangular slab of glass that served as Casius Arcano’s desk as well as a red couch perched against the wall opposite the spectacular view of the city. The chair that sat behind the desk and the telephone were siren red as well. Other than that, there was no color whatsoever. Vargas and Cabrillo had stayed behind in the conference room, no doubt to scrutinize the warrant, and Peter Taylor positioned himself off to the side of the room as Vinny and Dillon tended to business. Vinny noticed immediately that there were no files or papers on the desk at all, it was neat as a pin.
“Has anyone touched this desk since Arcano left on Friday?” Vinny inquired.
“I will have to check the log for the door to make sure but I would say it is highly unlikely. Everyone usually stops at my desk, unless they have an appointment or meeting on the books. Besides Casius, I’m the only one who comes in here regularly. No one is even supposed to be here today but we called everyone in to deal with the crisis.” Taylor started fiddling with his cell phone. “Security is gathering all the logs you requested but I just asked them to check the entry data for this office. I’m waiting for a reply.”
“Thank you.” Dillon could tell that Taylor was stuck between a rock and a hard place. For all intensive purposes he appeared to want to help. “How was your relationship with Arcano?”
“My relationship? I’m not sure I understand.” Taylor needed elaboration.
“Well, was it strictly business? Did you socialize outside of work?” Vinny clarified for him. “Did you get along well or was he a bastard to work for?”
“Oh, I see. No, not at all. Casius was an exceptional employer. While his standards were exacting, he was very considerate and always remembered personal things like my birthday, even my partner’s birthday.” Taylor appeared to be recalling events fondly. “He always invited us to his parties and he never made me work when I attended. Well, that is unless he specifically asked me to work them but that was very rare. Even then he always asked me way in advance, so there was no misunderstanding.”
“Your partner you say?” Vinny remembered Jane mentioning she was starting to think that Arcano might have been gay. This was a perfect opportunity to find out if Taylor knew for sure.
“Yes, my life-partner. I’m gay.” Taylor had no problem la
ying it out clearly. “Jeremy Taylor, he took my last name. We were married in Vermont at the end of the summer but had a ceremony here, in Santa Barbara, last fall. Casius and a few others from work were there. He was very supportive.”
“Is Casius also gay?” Dillon helped Vinny get to the bottom of it.
“No.” Taylor was matter of fact.
“You seem certain of that? Can I ask why?” If Casius was seeing someone, Vinny wanted to know who and fast.
“Casius had a very specific type.” Taylor walked over to a cupboard on the back wall of the office to retrieve something. “He was a sucker for athletic women. Tom-girls so to speak but they had to be smart. He couldn’t handle air-heads and he avoided the supermodel type like the plague.”
Peter Taylor showed them a digital picture frame that had been put away for some reason or another. When he flipped a small switch on the back, it began cycling through a series of digital photos of Casius with various women. They seemed to run the gambit of sporting activities. There were several pictures of Arcano with a healthy looking blond, both of them in snow gear. A series of snap shots during a mountain climbing excursion with a petite but muscular brunette. Arcano with another blond on the beach donning snorkeling equipment. There were a dozen or so more photos with two other women, a red-head and another brunette partaking in everything from hiking to lounging on a race car. Five women in total, all who were very pretty but not stunners by any means.
“How far back do these go?” Vinny asked Taylor.
“Kelly Mills is the first woman, the brunette mountain climber. Those were taken about eight years ago. Casius was rather sentimental.” Taylor manually flipped through the photos by pressing a button on the back of the frame.” Angela Boone was his most recent but that ended last summer. She was a race car driver and apparently turned out to be a sex addict. She broke Casius’ heart when he caught her cheating on him while they were vacationing in Costa Rica.”
“That had to piss him off.” Vinny muttered.
“He wasn’t angry. He was devastated.” Taylor returned the picture frame to the cupboard. “He was starting to think that she was the one, you know? He flew home alone, leaving her with the cabana boy or whoever it was and that’s when he put the frame away. He hasn’t dated since.”
“Ouch.” It was clear to Vinny that Taylor cared for Arcano. “So where do you think he is now? Any ideas?”
“I cannot even imagine.” Taylor sat down on the couch and thought for a moment as if measuring what he should or shouldn’t say. “I’ve called him at least fifty times since I heard. I even tried to check the GPS on his phone but it’s been disabled.”
“The security manager mentioned that this morning.” Dillon began disconnecting the cables from Arcano’s computer system so they could bring it back to the technical unit. “Are all the company phones integrated into the security system?”
“Yes. It’s standard given a lot of our executives and their staff travel to rather unsavory regions. Kidnapping by disenfranchised locals is not unheard of.” Taylor looked genuinely worried. “It takes effort to disable the GPS chip on our phones. Serious effort. You have to have knowledge of how our system works to even identify the chip in the guts of the phone.”
“Do you happen to have a spare phone we can have our techs take a look at? It could be extremely helpful in locating your boss.”
“Given the circumstances I don’t see why not.” Taylor fiddled with his phone again then paused a moment, evidently waiting for a response from the person on the other end. “I’ll have security include an inactive unit with the logs. It will be a little longer for them to get the phone. It’s Sunday, we are on a skeleton crew.”
“We understand, thanks again.” Dillon appreciated Taylor bypassing Vargas and his legal obstacle course. “You guys use a remote network. Your own cloud? Did your boss have a laptop?”
“He had a tablet, not a laptop. That and his home unit.” Taylor confirmed. “They all are connected to our system and sync automatically on boot up.”
“Do you know if your individual systems have GPS as well?” Dillon knew it was common for corporations to install GPS capabilities on company laptops and tablets. It served as an invaluable tool in recovering stolen equipment.
“That sounds like something we would do but you would have to ask our techs about that.” Taylor looked at his phone once more. “Our I.T. department head is bringing the logs and the phone so you can check with him directly.”
“Great, I’ll do that.” Vinny told him.
By the time Dillon had Arcano’s computer wrapped up, Vinny had gone through all the drawers and cupboards and found no tablet. It, as well as Arcano’s home computer, were missing right along with Arcano himself. But why?
“You have no idea who the dead men at Mr. Arcano’s house are yet?” Taylor asked as he slumped back in the couch.
“Not yet.” Vinny wished he did. “Anyone else not show up for work today, Mr. Taylor?”
“No, and I checked as soon as I found out about the three bodies. I cannot even imagine who they would be.”
“Can you get us a list of all Arcano employees outside of the U.S.?” Dillon knew international information about the company was outside of their purview but he thought that Taylor might be willing to help them out.
“Vargas will have a coronary.” Taylor grinned after he thought about it a moment. “Give me an email address and I’ll have it to you by the morning.”
Vinny handed Taylor his business card with all his contact information. It was very clear to both he and Dillon that Taylor was their only source of cooperation at Arcano Imports. They needed to keep it that way.
“I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to Mr. Vargas or Mr. Cabrillo. It’s not their fault, they have to think of the company first.” Taylor got up from the couch and walked over to the window. “But I work for Casius. Without him, I have no place here.”
“Sure Mr. Taylor. We understand the position you are in.” Dillon looked to Vinny for reinforcement.
“Absolutely.” Vinny nodded in agreement just as the doors to Arcano’s office began to beep.
“That will be our I.T. manager.” Taylor walked over to the doors and scanned his thumb.
When the door opened, a tall man who looked like he hadn’t seen sunlight in a decade handed Taylor an electronic tablet that reminded Vinny of the ones the delivery men used. Once Taylor signed the tablet, the man handed him a box the size of a book.
Dillon took the opportunity to step out of the office and question the man about the tracking of company equipment while Vinny finished up with Taylor. They had gotten more than they had hoped for with a lot less fuss than expected. Taylor escorted them personally to the elevator and passed them his business card just before the doors closed. On the back he had written two additional numbers which Vinny and Dillon both expected were his cell and home phones. There was little doubt to either of them that Peter Taylor was concerned for his boss and was willing to help them despite company protocols. It wasn’t lost on Vinny that they never saw Vargas or Cabrillo again after the conference room exchange. He expected they were up to their necks covering their company asses.
After Max had left, Lou made a list of all the things she needed to do on the Arcano case. She only had a little time before her doctor and physical therapist showed up so she wasted no time. When the doorbell finally rang, Lou had already checked off several items one of them being calling her friend the medical examiner for an update on the forensics and identification of the victims. Caroline had covertly sent Lou the fingerprints to run through the super system and Lou expected to have results by the time she was finished being poked and prodded. Once Lou figured out who the men were, she could tip Caroline off on which civilian database to use so that the identification would be admissible. Having Sanguinostri resources at their disposal was proving to be more helpful than Lou could have ever imagined. The identification alone was going to save them days.
>
As expected, Lou’s doctor and physical therapist put her through the ringer. They indeed poked and prodded but they also gave her a full stress test, ultrasound and took more blood than she would have liked. Shevaun never reared her head during the entire process which spoke loud and clear that she was not happy about the prospect of her daughter returning to work so soon. It didn’t seem soon to Lou, it seemed like years. Now, as she watched the two men whisper and mutter as they looked at her EKG, she wondered if her mother would get her wish and be grounded even longer.
“Well, Lou...” Doctor Cantor was the first to speak up. “I have to admit I am very impressed with the results you have achieved with the help of Miles.”
Miles Rabin was Lou’s physical therapist. He had relocated to the valley upon Max’s request with the sole purpose of her rehabilitation. Lou was embarrassed at the fuss Max had gone to at first but now she was exceedingly grateful.
“You have done remarkably well.” Miles beamed a smile at her. “You are by no means one-hundred percent, but you are well within a normal range as far as your job goes.”
“I agree.” Cantor added. “We’ll need the lab work before I can give you an official verdict on my end, but it does look promising.”
“How long will that take?” Lou was nearly bouncing in her seat with excitement.
“I’ll drop them off myself, straight away when I leave here.” He grinned at her. “It will take a minimum of twelve hours though. I should be able to call you with a definitive answer by tomorrow night.”
Lou cringed at the thought of having to sit out for another day but if that is all she had to wait, she could live with it. The most important thing was that she was alive and whole. She needed to remember that rather than pout about another day of waiting.
“But you are good with it, Miles?” Lou had her fingers crossed behind her back.
“I want physical exertion kept to a minimum!” He waggled his finger at her. “If I had my way, we would keep you on a desk and stick to training for another few weeks but I know you are going to sneak regardless. Just like you have been!”
Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows) Page 8
