by DK Cassidy
Grant looks at both of us with skepticism, then nods and starts to jog toward the building. We follow.
“What floor?” Grant asks Lucien, who looks shocked at the note of urgency in his voice.
“222.”
Since it’s only on the second floor, we decide to run up the stairs rather than wait for an elevator. Once we’re in front of her place, the three of us stop, unsure whether to knock or kick in the door. We hear a muffled shriek, so Grant chooses the latter. It takes him a few kicks to bust down the door. The sound of splintering wood echoes down the hallway.
“Jennifer!” Lucien yells in a panic. “Where are you? Are you all right?”
The living room is empty except for two piles of discarded clothing.
“This way to her bedroom,” Lucien says, walking down a hall.
Grant and I follow Lucien. The bedroom door is closed, and we can hear noises coming from the room. I can’t tell if the noises are in pleasure or pain. Grant kicks in this door as well. Shrieks and flashes of naked flesh follow.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Jennifer is furious. We’ve just interrupted her and the alien in a rather involved lovemaking session. He’s tied to the bed with the red scarf. She was naked and straddling him.
“We… we thought you were in danger,” I mumble.
She glares at me, then turns, her eyes widening in shock. “Lucien? Why are you here? I told you I was leaving town for a few days.”
No one speaks, each of us looking confused and embarrassed.
“Uh, ma’am,” says Grant, “would you please put on a robe and come into the living room? I need to ask you a couple of questions.”
Jennifer angrily slips into a black silk robe and follows Grant into the next room. Lucien and I stare at the alien, then suddenly we both burst out giggling.
“So, how’s your day going?” I ask the alien, unable to resist. He doesn’t seem amused.
Moments later, Grant and Jennifer return to the bedroom.
“We need to leave now,” says Grant. “You have our apologies, ma’am, and that of the department. If there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to call.”
“You can start by fixing my door,” Jennifer shouts, still ticked.
Grant hands her his card. We slink out of the apartment. In the lobby, Grant turns to us, his face impassive, but he’s radiating anger.
“We need to talk. Now. Your choice: your office or the police station.”
Chapter Six
We follow Grant into the police precinct, wondering what he is going to say to us. We don’t have to wonder for long.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he yells. “She could sue us for busting into her apartment like that!” He stabs a finger at me accusingly. “I thought I could trust you to know better. From now on, leave police work to the professionals.”
I don’t say anything. I do think to myself that I never asked him to bust down any doors. That’s on him.
“Come with me to the interrogation room right now.”
Lucien and I follow without a word. Grant opens the room and ushers us in, instructing us to sit across from him. Lucien speaks first.
“Grant, we’ve been friends for a long time. How could you think we’d call you out on a bogus crime? You know me better than that.”
“Chill out. I know you thought something was going on,” says Grant. He looks much more relaxed now. “I just had to make a scene for the sake of the other guys. I’m one of the few in this precinct who doesn’t take bribes. There are maybe five of us who are still good cops. Five. In this entire station. The rest are rotten to the core. Yeah, they’ll help you out, but there’s always a cost. We don’t want any of them sticking their noses into this case.”
I look over at the two-way mirror. “Can’t they listen and watch us? Someone could be spying on us right now.”
“They can see us, but this is the one room with a broken sound system. So I’m going to pretend to be yelling and maybe rough you up. Just play along?”
I frown, thinking that doesn’t sound the least bit okay. I look at Lucien.
He shrugs. “This could be fun?”
Grant gets up and begins pounding his fist on the table, causing me to flinch. He takes his chair and throws it against the wall. Then he motions for Lucien to pick it up. I have to suppress an urge to giggle at Grant’s performance.
“Hey, you should have been an actor. This is better than television,” says Lucien.
I laugh at Lucien’s observation, but realize I’m blowing the deception.
“Sorry, Grant, I’ll try to look scared for the rest of this interview.”
Lucien plays his part and picks up the chair, putting a realistic scowl on his gorgeous face. He slams the table with an open palm, then sits down.
“Enough playacting, Grant. Why are we really in this room?” asks Lucien.
Grant dusts off his chair, then put his uniform jacket on the back of it. After rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, he sits down. He’s quite good at this bad-cop thing, and I’m impressed by his commitment to his role. I look at the two-way mirror and wonder if anyone is behind the glass.
“Here’s the scoop,” he says, looking at me. “The body you tripped over wasn’t the first. There have been three other women killed in the same manner all over the city. All with a similar look.”
“You mean strangled with a red scarf?”
“Yes, but that’s not all. The women were also exsanguinated. Emptied of their blood.”
I can feel the color in my face draining. “Hold up just one damn minute. Did you know about this, Lucien?”
From the look on his face, he did. He confirms the fact by nodding.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I demand.
“It wasn’t my place. That’s why I kept telling you to call Grant.”
Now I’m angry. This bit of information could have been useful to our inquiry, plus I’m pretty sure I would have turned down the case. Investigating murders is one thing, but freaky murders is definitely not something I planned to be involved in.
Lucien looks like he has something to say.
“Spit it out,” I tell him.
“Okay,” he says. “You’re right. I’ve been holding back. Jennifer used to work at my company, PharmiCor. In fact, she was one of the researchers. We were working on a new drug when suddenly she quit.” Lucien’s expression turns sour. “At first I thought it was because we were dating, but then after doing a bit more research, I realized she was involved in something dark and disturbing. I don’t want to go into it now, although you’ll both be a little frustrated, but I need to talk to a couple more people before I accuse her of anything. But I do think that her life is probably in danger.”
Grant looks at Lucien with exasperation. “If you can’t tell me, who can you tell? Come on, just give us the rest and it won’t go any further than this unless it has to. I mean, if she’s involved and people might get hurt, then I have to bring in the captain, who by the way, is one of the five good cops in this precinct. Otherwise I’ll keep it a secret, and I’m sure your employee Lily here will do the same.”
I don’t like being called an employee but clarifying that I’m more of a “freelance investigator” is probably not good timing.
The three of us agree to meet again in two days. Lucien and I are going to investigate further, and Grant will keep an eye on Jennifer. I hope we’ll be able to keep her safe, but I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this.
We’re back in his car, getting ready to drive to my office. I turn to him. “Lucien, don’t you think we should tell Jennifer about the danger?”
He looks thoughtful, rubbing his chin, trying to figure out how to answer me.
“The problem with telling her is, she may be involved in something else. I wasn’t ready to tell Grant, but since we’re working on this together, I suppose you need to know. Let’s wait until we’re back in your office, though.”
&
nbsp; I shake my head. What else is he hiding? There are multiple layers to this case. I just hope I can keep them straight once I peel them back.
Judy greets us at the door with a look of suspicion. It’s obvious she still has her doubts about me working a case for Lucien.
“So, is the case closed? Can I go ahead and bill Mr. McAvoy?”
Lucien smiles at her. “Please, won’t you call me Lucien?”
“No, thank you, Mr. McAvoy. I don’t plan on knowing you long enough for it to matter.” Judy always says what’s on her mind.
He places his hand on his heart, pretending to look wounded, then walks into my office.
“Judy, would you please get us a couple of sandwiches from the deli down the street? Did you brew a fresh pot of coffee? We’re going to be here for a while.”
“Yes, the pot is fresh, and there are lots of sugar packets for you.”
She turns to leave but not before giving me her opinion about the mistake I’m making. She motions me to follow her out the door.
“I’d never try to interfere with your business, but—”
“Uh huh. Must be a different Judy I grew up knowing.”
“Oh, stuff it.” She jabs her finger toward my office. “He is trouble! I can tell when someone is a snake, and he fits the bill. No one is that charming without a hidden agenda. Be careful, girlfriend.”
I appreciate her advice, but I have this handled. I think. The eviction notice is still on the front door, I pull it off and rip it up.
“Don’t worry, seriously. I can take care of myself. But thanks for caring.”
We hug, then she leaves on her errand. Taking a deep breath, I’m ready for whatever comes next.
I enter my office and sit behind my desk, trying to look like I’m still in charge. It doesn’t feel that way because there is so much I still don’t know, but I put on a good show.
“Okay, so what’s the big secret? What have you been keeping from me and Grant?”
There’s a bit of awkward silence, so I stand and move to the window, my favorite spot for thinking. There’s a police hovercraft outside my building, not moving. I suspect it’s Grant’s doing, and I silently thank him. I’m feeling pretty vulnerable after hearing about the way the other victims died. But I won’t admit that to Lucien. He already has enough leverage on me, knowing I’m desperate to make money.
“As I told you earlier today,” he begins. “Wow, have we only known each other for one day? I feel so… comfortable around you.”
Oh my god. Here we go again. “Enough about that, keep going.”
“We’ve been working on a new drug to cure a disease you’ve never heard of,” he says. “I won’t bore you with the name, but it’s a bad one. Jennifer was the chief researcher of that group.”
I can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. Beautiful and brainy.
“The group was about to make a breakthrough when she suddenly quit. Remember I said I thought she quit because we were dating? That was a lie.”
My head jerks up. He lied to me? I sit down so I can see his face. My own is red. I know because I can’t hide it when I’m angry at someone.
“A lie?” I say, leaning forward and glaring. “How can I work for you if you lie to me? And how do I know what you’re about to tell me is the truth? This is not a great basis for a working relationship, Lucien. No more lies or I quit.”
Now it’s his turn to look uncomfortable. He shifts in his chair and gets very interested in a speck of dust on his shoulder.
“Yes, it was a lie, but I had a good reason. I needed to be sure I could trust you. Now I do. Although we’ve only known one another for a day, something about you makes me feel that you’re trustworthy. Can’t explain it, but that’s how I feel.”
“I’ll take the compliment. But that doesn’t automatically go both ways. I still don’t trust you completely; you’ll have to earn that back. Once someone lies to me, it’s hard to believe them again. It may take a while.”
“Duly noted.”
The door to my office opens, and Judy walks in with a bag full of sandwiches. After she sets them on my desk, she hesitates.
“Is there something else, Judy?”
“Yeah, there’s a cop car floating in front of the building. They asked if this was your office, and I told them yes. Then I asked for the officer’s name, and he said to tell you Grant sent him.”
So I was right. Grant is protecting us. I’m thankful he thought of this.
“You did the right thing. It’s good to know there’s someone looking out for us. Thanks, Juds.”
Lucien stands up to look out the window to confirm for himself the presence of the police car. From the window, he continues telling me about Jennifer.
“I knew she didn’t leave because of me. What we had was a dalliance, and we both knew it. No love involved, just a convenient liaison. When she quit, my suspicion about what she was up to grew.”
I’m getting impatient. I don’t want to be up all night while he slowly gives me bits of the big picture. “Get to the point. Suspicion about what?”
“I thought she might be giving information about our new drug to a competitor.”
“Wait, you’re saying she was, or rather, is involved in corporate espionage? Then how do the murders tie in? I’ve never heard of a corporation killing for trade secrets.”
Lucien begins to pace, clearly agitated. “That’s the thing. I didn’t think they were connected until a couple of nights ago. A friend of mine, we’ll keep his name out of this, gave me some disturbing information. Have you heard of the drug maxxolonium?”
“Of course I have. It’s been all over the news.”
“I think it’s being made using part of our formula. The crazy thing, though, is the ingredients. Human blood, specifically Type-O blood.” He pauses. “And alien blood from Jaxiolis.”
“That’s Jupzi’s planet!” I blurt out. Lucien looks at me curiously. “The guy who was here yesterday,” I explain.
Lucien nods. “That explains why she was with another alien from Jaxiolis. What I don’t know is if she is a part of the murders or is about to be killed. It’s easy enough to get human blood by paying people. Murder doesn’t fit in. I’m missing something, but I don’t know what it is.”
“Have there been any strange murders on Jaxiolis? A pattern that might tie in with the ones here on the Moon?”
“No, there haven’t, not as far as I know. That’s where I’m stuck with my theory, and it’s part of the reason I hired you. Grant says you see things differently from most people. You pick up on clues or patterns that the average person misses.”
“Let me make some notes about what you told me. I think we should meet again tomorrow after I’ve had time to think about everything.”
He frowns. “Are you asking me to leave?”
“Yes. I need to be alone to concentrate.”
He looks disappointed, and I pretend not to notice.
“Whatever you say, lovely Lily.”
My comm rings, and it’s Grant. When I answer, he begins to speak urgently.
“Jennifer is gone. The officer watching her decided to check on her because he hadn’t seen her leave the building all day. When he knocked, the door opened. Her apartment was a mess, and she was gone.”
I put him on speaker and start to get dressed. “I’ll meet you there in a few minutes. Have you called Lucien yet?”
“I wanted to call you first. Do you need a ride?”
“I’ll ask the cruiser in front of my building to take me to Jennifer’s place.”
Not wanting to worry Judy but knowing she’ll be furious if I don’t tell her what’s going on, I give her a quick call. A groggy-sounding Judy answers.
“Judy, sorry to wake you, but I want you to know there’s been a new development in the Jennifer Spion case.”
“Glad you called. You know I like to keep up with your cases. What’s going on?”
“She’s missing again, and I’m heading over to her apa
rtment. Go back to sleep. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
Chapter Seven
The cruiser drops me off in front of 66 Park Avenue at 2 a.m. Despite the time, I feel energized by a rush of adrenaline. I’d called ahead to speak with Sarah, and she’s waiting for me at the front desk in an overcoat. It’s obvious she came straight from bed.
“Hey, I really appreciate you coming in for this,” I tell her. “I know it’s your day off.”
“Anything for you, Lily. What’s up?”
We walk over to one of the unused offices so we can speak privately. The lobby is empty, but I’m still worried someone might hear us.
“Did you notice anything suspicious about Jennifer Spion the last couple of days? Was she acting strange, or did she change any of her habits? Anything of note? It doesn’t matter how insignificant it might seem to you, I want to know about it.”
Sarah rubs her eyes, trying to be more awake before she answers. “I don’t think there were any changes. But there are so many residents here with guests coming and going. I wish I’d known you wanted me to keep an eye on her. I can be quite observant when necessary.”
“You’re right, it would have been better if I’d given you a heads-up. It’s just that we were worried that she’d find out.”
“You know me better than that. I wouldn’t have said a thing to her.” She made a pouty face at me. “I think I’m offended.”
I put my arm around Sarah to reassure her. “Look, I trust you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I was up to. Please think again. Did a new man show up, or was it just the regulars? Also, did she get any packages or more mail than usual? This is really important. Take your time.”
Sarah shook her head. “No packages, but I don’t know about the mail. There were no new men, but the guy you used to go out with showed up. What was his name again?”
“You mean Jupzi?”
“Yeah, him. He showed up earlier tonight, right before my shift was over. I was surprised to see him. But then, you two broke up, and Jennifer seems to like aliens from Jaxiolis, so I suppose that isn’t too weird, right? Oh, and one other thing I’ve noticed is she’s been having some female visitors as well. I’m not saying that means anything, but I wanted to tell you.”
