There was something about her that made Ted want to trust her. She seemed sympathetic, but she also seemed confident, in charge. “How’d you find me here?”
“I had to visit one of my clients. I thought I’d drop by while I was here.” Her voice had a husky tone to it. Like someone who had spent a lifetime sucking on cigarettes.
“Clients, are you a lawyer?” This time he remembered to keep his teeth clinched while he talked.
“Not exactly.” Catrina had little dimples when she smiled. Her eyes sparkled.
He liked that.
“The police apprehended one of your attackers. He has a long rap sheet. His name is Phil Sturdevan. Among his many other accomplishments, he joined the Aryan Brotherhood at Walla Walla.”
Neo-Nazis. Racists. “The son of a bitch had swastikas tattooed on his eyelids.” Ted’s anger focused his mind. Who the hell do they think they are? “How come you’re so interested in this? How do you know about his rap sheet?” He sat up straighter in bed. His ribcage felt like it was going to explode.
“I guess I really didn’t introduce myself.” Catrina reached into her pocket and produced a business card, which she handed to Ted. “I own Flaherty and Associates, Private Investigations.”
Ted looked at the card, then looked back at Catrina. She wore crisp Navy slacks and a cream-colored blouse under a Navy sweater. Gold earrings matched the gold chain around her neck.
“I guess I should introduce myself too. I’m Ted Higuera.” Ted held out his hand. His heart leapt as she made contact. “I’m sorry. I haven’t said ‘thank you’ yet. Thanks for saving my ass.”
She gave him a funny look.
He tried to smile. It hurt. He wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. “So what were you doing at that strip club anyway?”
“Do you mind if I sit?” Catrina pulled the chair closer to Ted’s bed. “I was working on a case. I do a lot of divorce work. I was tailing a wayward husband. His wife thinks he’s cheating on her. My partner and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”
“Women pay you to follow their husbands around?”
“That’s part of my business. I do a lot of work on women’s issues. Battered wives, divorces, sexual harassment, custody cases. That sort of stuff.”
Ted pulled himself up a little bit in his bed. He winced as his rib’s shrieked in pain. He hated the gown, hated being helpless in front of this good-looking woman. He had to get out of here.
“I don’t get it. You follow cheating husbands and you take on eight racist thugs? What are you, Wonder Woman or something?”
Catrina laughed. “I used to be a cop. I knew the odds pretty well. I’d already called 911; a car was on the way. I needed to get those jerks to stop beating on you, before they killed you. I figured that we wouldn’t be exposed long enough to get into any real trouble.”
Ted took a deep breath. He winced, it burned like hell. “I couldn’t see much of what happened. I just saw you drop one of those guys. He must have been twice your size.”
“I got lucky.” She smiled at Ted. “You held your own pretty well, too. So, how’re you feeling?”
“To be honest, it hurts like hell. I have a dislocated jaw, a concussion and two cracked ribs.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t have stopped them sooner. What are you going to do now?”
“I’ve got to get out of here so I can go back to work. I just started a new job, I don’t have health insurance yet. I can’t afford to miss a lot of time. I still have to pay the rent.”
Catrina stood and reached for her coat. “What do you do?”
“I’m a security analyst for YTS Security.” Ted admired her knockers as she put her coat back on and sat down again.
“What was a security analyst doing at the Dirty Bird?”
“I was delivering the results of our tests to Mr. Caglione.’
“You were working for Caglione? He’s bad news.”
“I don’t think my mother would approve.” Ted felt the temperature rise in his cheeks. “My company got a contract to do the Caglione job and I was the bottom man on the totem pole. No one else wanted to touch it.”
“What kind of contract was it?”
“I’m a hacker-for-hire. I had to try to hack into Caglione’s network. See if I could get in; see if I could get to confidential data. It’s pretty standard stuff.”
“Well, Mr. Higuera, you certainly seem to have a marketable talent.” Catrina smiled and leaned back in the chair. “I may need to get to know you a little better.”
****
The ballroom at the Olympic Hotel reeked class. High ceilings and Art Deco décor seemed suitable for a gala event, even if the evening’s topic was depressing. A huge crystal chandelier dominated the room, sending sparkly light throughout the space.
Catrina wasn’t really into the social scene, but as a member of the board of directors of Jackie’s House, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, she was required to attend this annual event. Once a year, she dressed up and rubbed elbows with the rich and famous.
She had been a cause célèbre herself a few years ago. Her sexual harassment lawsuit against the Port of Seattle Police Department had been ground-breaking. Eventually expanding to a class action suit encompassing seven other PoSPD employees, she received a three-million dollar settlement. After extensive counseling and soul-searching, the money allowed her to pay off her one-hundred-year-old Capitol Hill home and found her agency. Now, she was a role model for other abused women. It was her responsibility to pay her good fortune forward.
Catrina had no problem wearing heels, the sturdy leather boots she normally wore made her feel empowered. At five-nine, four-inch heels gave her the feeling that she was looming over people. It was the frilly dress shoes with stiletto heels that bothered her. How could she kick ass in these sissy shoes?
Her low-cut black satin cocktail dress showed off her long legs and full bust. Twenty years ago, she would have been the belle of the ball. Now she felt like the matron.
“Ms. Flaherty?” A middle-aged brunette woman with a martini in one hand and a gold cocktail purse in the other approached Catrina. “I was hoping to meet you here. I’m Alison Clarke.”
“Ms. Clarke, I know about you.” Catrina extended her hand. “One of the first female CEOs of a Fortune 100 company. Pleased to meet you.” Alison had a firm, cool handshake.
“The event is lovely,” Alison said. “It just seems to get better every year.” Alison wore a red cocktail dress that flattered her thin figure.
Girlish figure, pretty face, CEO of a major corporation, I think I already hate her. “This is our fifth ball. It’s our major fundraiser for the year. I’m glad you could come. Is Mr. Clarke here too?”
“He found some golfing buddies to talk to. He’ll be with them for the rest of the night.” Taking Catrina’s elbow, Alison moved her slowly away from the crowd.
“I’m glad he found something to keep him occupied. This is a pretty high-estrogen event.” Catrina allowed Alison to steer her to the edge of the ballroom.
“Like I said,” Alison’s voice dropped, took on a conspiratorial tone. “I really wanted to meet you. You have such an interesting reputation.”
“I really haven’t done anything to deserve that.”
“I know about the lawsuit, how you were kicked out of law enforcement. Your agency has tremendous standing in the women’s scene. I’ve heard you talked about at all sorts of networking events. They all say that if you have a problem, Catrina Flaherty is the person you want on your side.”
What was this woman after? “I hardly think anyone would say that.”
“I’ve heard stories.” Alison continued. “You helped a girl that was raped. After the rapist was acquitted for lack of evidence, the police found him in an alley with a broken kneecap and ruptured testicles. They say that he wouldn’t or couldn’t identify his attacker to the police.”
Catrina felt ice water running in her blood stream. She didn’t like where
this was going.
“There were rumors,” Alison went on. “That he wouldn’t identify his attacker because he was embarrassed that he had been beaten up by a woman.”
“I really don’t know anything about that.”
“I heard another interesting rumor.”
Oh God. What else does she know?
“I heard a story about one of your clients who was going through a messy divorce. I heard that her husband drained his business dry of cash and declared bankruptcy. Then somehow, his wife, who knew nothing about finance, discovered that he had an offshore account. It seems that mysteriously, someone transferred half of his cash from that offshore account to a numbered account in the Bahamas. I always thought it was interesting that she only took half his cash. I would have bled him dry, wouldn’t you?”
Catrina gulped. “I don’t know. It seems fair to me. She was entitled to half of his estate. It wouldn’t have been fair for her to take everything.”
“That’s what I like about you, Ms. Flaherty.” Alison tilted back her head when she laughed. “You have an exaggerated sense of justice. I think this is going to be an interesting evening.”
****
Donna Harrison didn’t know if she was more angry or terrified. She had been tied up and gagged, with a hood over her head for God knows how long. Her wrists throbbed. Her mouth was dry. Who were these people? What did they want?
They clearly weren’t Millennium Systems security staff. The security people would have just called the cops. Donna’s lawyer would have posted bail and she would be home with her family by now.
She was in deep shit. She had to find a way to get out.
But get out of where? The hood over her head kept her from seeing anything. She knew she was sitting on a cold hard floor. Probably concrete. She was leaning on a wall. It felt rough, not like the textured or smoothly painted wall of an office. A few minutes ago, or was it hours ago, she heard what she thought was a diesel horn on a truck. Then she heard machinery. What did that mean?
How long had she been here? She had been hungry for some time now. Her bladder felt like it was going to burst. She had to go to the bathroom soon or she’d wet herself.
“Good evening, Mrs. Harrison.” There was that gravelly voice; it reminded her of a freight train in the distance. It was the only voice she had heard during her ordeal, although she had felt several pairs of hands shoving her around.
“I hope you haven’t been too bored waiting for me. I had a little business to take care of.”
That voice, it couldn’t be real. Nobody really sounded like that. Was he faking it?
“I think it’s time we had a little chat. Gentlemen, where are your manners? Get Mrs. Harrison a chair.”
Donna heard feet moving around, the rattle of a chair being moved.
“Please, sit down.”
Rough hands grabbed Donna under the armpits, lifted her to her feet. She was moved a short distance and deposited on a chair. She sat, grateful for a more comfortable place.
She tried to talk. To ask who these people were, what they wanted, but the gag in her mouth made it come out jumbled.
“Gentlemen, remove the gag.”
The hood was whipped off of her head. She saw an empty room. The men were all behind her, out of sight. The bare room had windows high up on its walls, some sort of warehouse.
Before she could react, a blindfold was tied over her eyes, once again plunging her into a world of darkness.
“I find that being in the dark, not being able to see what’s happening, puts a subject on edge. Makes them more likely to be honest with me. Don’t you agree, Mrs. Harrison?”
So that was it. This was some sort of game to this fiend. He kept using her name. He wanted her to know that he knew all about her, that he had power over her. That was his edge. Well, Mrs. Harrison’s little girl could play that game too. They didn’t dare really hurt her. She had too many friends, too many resources.
She felt the gag being removed from her mouth. She spit, tried to salivate. Anything to moisten her mouth.
“Water.”
“Of course. We want you to be comfortable for our little chat. Gentlemen?”
Donna felt a glass being held to her lips. She sipped, then gulped. It was good, fresh, cold water.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
“I don’t think so, Mrs. Harrison. Let’s chat first shall we? Then, after you’ve told me everything I want to know, you can go.”
She had to think of a way to get out of here, to get home to Bill and the kids. Oh God, the kids. Billy, Tammy. She needed to be home.
“I want my lawyer. You can’t treat me like this. Anything you get from me will be tossed out of court.”
Gravelly Voice laughed. “I see that you don’t realize the game that we are playing yet. Mrs. Harrison, we don’t care about courts. We have no intention of prosecuting a case against you. We just want to know who you're working for. What they’re after.”
Oh shit. These aren’t the cops? Of course not. No cops would dare bring her to an out-of-the-way location like this. They wouldn’t dare blindfold and gag her. Then who were these thugs? She felt he knees shaking.
Hold it together. Her breath came faster. She had to keep her wits about her.
“Let’s get started, Mrs. Harrison, I want you to talk to me. Let’s start with who hired you.”
“Fuck you.”
Donna expected a smack to her face. She was met with silence.
“I am not a patient man, Mrs. Harrison.” Gravelly voice spoke after a long pause. “I won’t play around and waste my time. Either you answer my questions, or things are going to get very unpleasant for you.”
Who was writing this guy’s dialog? It came right out of an old Humphrey Bogart movie. “Fuck off and die, asshole.”
Donna heard a soft click and footsteps, then felt someone’s presence right over her. She felt his breath on her neck. Hands reached out and grabbed her cleaning woman’s uniform. With a single pull, all of the buttons were popped off. She gasped for breath.
“I was hoping that you would make this pleasurable for me.”
She felt something hard and cold press its way between her skin and her bra. With a swipe, her tormenter cut her bra free from her body. He pulled down her dress. Donna felt cold night air on her bare skin.
“Any time you feel like talking, we can stop this little game. But I have to say, I would prefer it if you took a little more persuading. This can be so much fun.”
“You won’t get away with this. Aich!” Donna screamed in pain. Something cold and sharp bit into her nipple. Then it bit her other nipple. Both nipples throbbed in pain.
“Do you want to talk, or do you need a little more persuasion?”
“You can’t do this. I’ll sue your asses ‘til you’re blue in the face.”
She was beginning to get used to whatever was biting her nipples. It was the initial shock of having them clamped on that hurt.
“All right. Let’s have a little more coercion here.”
Donna heard an electrical sizzle, the pain coursed through her body. She lost control of her bladder. She stiffened and arched her back, saw a flash of light, lost consciousness.
Chapter 11
Catrina looked around at the crowd in the ballroom. How was she going to ditch this woman? Alison Clarke showed no signs of letting up.
“I presume you know a little about me?” Alison sipped on her dirty martini.
“Everybody in Seattle knows about you,” Catrina replied. “I read the Time magazine article on you and saw you on News Front. First female CEO of a Fortune 100 company. You rescued Millennium Systems when it was on the brink of bankruptcy during the dot com crash.” There was no one in sight that she could pawn Alison off on.
“I’ve worked hard all of my life to get where I am.” Alison swirled her olives around in her martini, then ate one off of the skewer. “The only reason they made me CEO at MS was that they wanted a convenient whipping
boy, or whipping girl as it were, when it crashed. No one expected me to save it.”
Catrina could see the fire in Alison’s eyes when she talked about her business. At least she has passion for what she’s doing. But Catrina couldn’t bring herself to like Alison. She was still an authority figure.
“MS was an old, brick and mortar business.” Alison spat out the words like they were curses. “They were an early adopter in the computer revolution, but they were mired in old technology. They weren’t ready for the Twenty-First Century.”
“You changed the company’s name, didn’t you?”
“Yes, it had been an old family company, Dunn and Metcalf Business Machines. I thought that part of our new image had to be a new name, a name for the Twenty-First Century.”
Catrina reached for a glass of champagne from a waiter’s tray, then pulled her hand back like it had been scalded. “I’m always glad to see a woman be successful. It sounds like you’ve achieved your dreams.” Catrina started to turn away from Alison. It was time to break free.
“I came looking for you because I have a problem.” Alison took on a serious tone. “The kind of thing that someone like you can help me with.”
“’Someone like me?’” What did this woman think she was? What kind of problem could a high flyer like Alison Clarke have? Matrimonial problems? Was her husband stepping out on her? Did she need to get the goods on him for a messy divorce?
“Let’s step outside, Cat. I can call you Cat can’t I? I understand that all of your close associates do.”
Overwhelmed by Alison’s charisma and assertive personality, despite her desire not to like her, Catrina didn’t respond. Alison took Catrina’s arm and steered her towards the door. In the hotel’s lobby, Alison led Catrina out the main entrance.
“I don’t want anyone overhearing this conversation.” Alison’s kept her voice low.
The cold night air bit at Catrina’s bare shoulders. What kind of whack job is she to drag me outside in this weather?
“We have an internal problem at my company,” Alison began. “Someone is leaking highly confidential information. I hired an outside consulting firm to do a little digging around for me. Find out where the leak was. The consultant was making good progress, getting access to all sorts of information, then she disappeared. No one has heard from her in over a week. Her company can’t find her. Her husband and kids are going out of their minds. I feel terrible. If something happened to her because of me, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Hacker For Hire (Ted Higuera Series Book 2) Page 9
