“I’m in danger?” Lance laughed, then stood up and began walking toward Basil.
As Lance came closer, Basil could feel the negative energy emanating from Lance’s body. Even his breath told a story of horror; the wine had settled on his palate and further fermented.
“Yeah, right, I’m in danger. Look at me. I’m sitting here with you of free will. Now my wife, on the other hand — that’s a different story. She’s somewhere being held against her will. No telling what they have done to her. No, Dr. Rhodes, it’s not me in danger. It’s her.”
When Teddy awoke early, she was surprised to see Basil already in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. “Good morning, Basil. How did you sleep?”
“I slept just fine and how did you sleep?”
“I was a little restless, but other than that, I slept fine. How was your time alone with Lance?”
“I have some concerns,” Basil said as he continued to eat his cereal. “I’m worried that he may not be committed to what it is we are risking our lives for.”
“Oh, really?” she said, somewhat surprised. “Why do you think that?”
Basil shared with Teddy the events of the evening and his concerns. He informed her that despite sharing with Lance that he thought he was in danger due to his affiliation with the FSA program, it hadn’t fazed him.
“I wasn’t able to give him the full picture, Teddy,” Basil said, “but I believe that, even if I had, Lance would have blown it off.”
“I heard that, Dr. Rhodes,” Lance said as he entered the kitchen. “And I apologize for my outburst last night. By now I should know that booze, even wine, is not good for me. I want both of you to understand that I am here for a reason. I have a duty to help you because I believe that if I do, it will help me get my wife back safely. Despite what you may think, Dr. Rhodes, I’m committed to the work that lies ahead of us. I’m just trying to work through my own issues and it’s not easy. Every day I am here with you and Teddy, I’m reminded that it’s because my wife betrayed me.” He turned toward Teddy. “And she did so with you. Surely, Dr. Rhodes, you can understand my mood swings.”
Teddy and Basil sat silently as Lance completed his presentation. Teddy accepted the fact that he had a right to be mad and he had a right to grieve his loss. She was prepared to go through it with him every time he had one of his moments, as long as it didn’t interfere with what he needed to do. Basil, on the other hand, looked at the situation differently. As long as Lance felt that Teddy was responsible for Kennedy’s abduction, she was in danger, too. To Basil, Lance was just as threatening as the Velvet Mafia and he wouldn’t take his eyes off him, ever.
After Lance had said his piece, the mood in the safe house changed. Lance and Teddy seemed a little uncomfortable around each other and that became immediately apparent when Lance chose not to sit down with them for breakfast. Instead, he went for a walk, something he’d been doing more of lately.
“Wow, that was interesting,” Basil said as he grabbed Teddy’s hand. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m all right. I’m used to it. He blames me and he’s right. It is my fault. Kennedy was abducted because of me.”
“So, how long will you continue to blame yourself, Teddy?” Basil asked, sensing her pain and discomfort.
“Until we get her back safely, Basil,” she said without hesitation.
Sensing that the current subject was now shut down, Basil decided to revisit his plan about disappearing. “Hey, now that we are alone, I was wondering whether you’d had a chance to think about my plan.”
“You mean the plan where you fake your death?” she said.
“Yes, that’s the one. To my knowledge, that’s the only plan we’ve discussed.”
Basil could tell Teddy now had a little steam under her collar. Apparently, the guilt regarding Kennedy’s kidnapping was wearing off and she was beginning to feel somewhat teed off.
“Stay focused, Teddy,” Basil said. “I know what Lance said will bother you for the rest of the day, but it shouldn’t. We have too much to do to stay captive in an emotional state. Now, again; what do you think about my plan?”
“I’m not bothered, Basil,” she answered. “I just wish he would get over it so we can move on. Trust me, I do a pretty good job at punishing myself. But, back to the point, I did think about your plan and for a brief moment, I thought it was a good idea. Then I changed my mind. After you told me the scientists were targeted, I started to realize Lance couldn’t do what we are trying to do by himself. And if I figured that out, so did the Velvet Mafia. They know you are working with me, Basil. They have to know. We just don’t know what they want yet.”
“So the plan to fake my death is out?”
“Yes,” she said. “The plan to fake your death is out. You just need to let your colleagues know you will be out of commission for a while.”
Councilman Grey Jeffries was intrigued by the murder of Taylor DuBois. In his opinion, Taylor’s death was too convenient. As he prepared his morning coffee, every channel he turned to was covering the story. Even Good Morning DC with McKenzie Bauser was scheduled to do an exclusive with Commander Miles Racine, something Jeffries was determined to watch.
As he continued to follow the news coverage, he was surprised to learn that Taylor had not been killed in her home. He became even more interested as he listened to reporters describe how she had been found wrapped in a rug, as he watched images of Taylor being removed from her home, along with brown paper bags of evidence. They had also seized her computer and various other things including, of course, the rug. Jeffries thought there was something familiar about the rug. He’d seen it before, but just couldn’t place where.
“Good Morning, DC! This is your host, McKenzie Bauser and today we have with us Commander Miles Racine. Our topic is the highprofile murders taking place in the District. Commander, what can you tell us about the Stan Lewis and Taylor DuBois murders? Are we any closer to finding their killers?”
“Well, first thing I want to say is that the city is safe. We apprehended the two suspects involved in the Lewis murder last evening.”
“That is good news,” she said, obviously pleased.
“And there’s more,” Racine continued. “We also believe that Stan Lewis’s and Taylor DuBois’s murders are connected.”
Jeffries dropped his cup of coffee on the kitchen floor. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Moreover, he knew that if what Racine was saying was true, Yeager had to be involved.
“So let me get this straight,” she said. “You really think the two cases are linked?”
“Yes, we do,” Racine replied without hesitation.
“That’s an interesting position. What makes you so sure the two crimes are related?”
“I didn’t say I was absolutely positive, but I can say there is enough evidence to suggest that Ms. DuBois and Mr. Lewis were working on something together and a large sum of money was involved. We have identified two suspects in the death of Mr. Lewis and have ascertained that their motive was robbery. We also know, based on their confessions, that the robbery was never intended.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that the suspects hadn’t targeted Lewis as was earlier thought,” he said. “They were not waiting for him as he left the restaurant. Instead, they overheard Ms. DuBois talking to someone on her cell phone about Lewis having six thousand dollars in his car and that is when they decided to rob him. It was a crime of opportunity.”
“I see,” she said. “So, if I’m following you correctly, you believe it was Ms. DuBois who inadvertently provided the suspects with the incentive they needed to rob and subsequently, murder Stan Lewis.”
“Yes!” Racine said. “I believe Ms. DuBois provided the suspects with enough information to motivate them to act. Since he was already in his car preparing to depart, the robbers had to act swiftly if they were going to steal his money and because they were on foot, they could not afford to let him drive off. It would have b
een a missed opportunity.”
“Do you know why Lewis was carrying six thousand dollars on him?” the anchorwoman asked. “Or where he got the money?”
“At this point, we don’t know why he had the money, but we believe the money was given to him by Ms. DuBois.”
“Wait a minute, Commander. Are you saying that Taylor set Stan Lewis up?”
“No! What I am saying is that she tipped the suspects off. The question is whether she did so knowingly and with the belief that the suspects would be true to who they were and seize the opportunity.”
“That is a tremendous claim. Can it be confirmed?”
“I wouldn’t have said it if it couldn’t, Ms. Bauser.”
Chapter 14
THE BUZZ AROUND the district was about the interview between Commander Miles Racine and McKenzie Bauser. Everybody — including Grey Jeffries — wanted to know if there was any truth to Racine’s assertion. Now he had to find out what Taylor and Stan had been working on. Jeffries wasn’t sure but something was telling him that Guy Yeager had hit a new low.
“Good morning. Councilman Yeager’s office,” the receptionist said.
“May I speak to Adrienne Tenney, please?”
“Who should I say is calling?”
“Councilman Grey Jeffries.”
“Yes, Councilman. Please hold.”
“Hello, Councilman,” Adrienne said. “I’m so sorry I haven’t reached out to you sooner, but I want you to know that I believe you and once this whole indictment thing is over, I know you’ll be vindicated.”
“Well, thank you, Adrienne,” Jeffries said, somewhat taken aback by her compassion. “I appreciate your faith and your concern. But, listen, I was just calling to see how you were doing. I know you and Taylor were close. This news about her death and now the allegation that she had something to do with Stan Lewis’s death has to be troubling you.”
“It is,” she said. “You know, Taylor didn’t have any family and she and I were becoming very close. In fact, it was me who notified the police she was missing and since I had a key to her place, I let them in. I even had to identify the body. It was terrible.”
“I’m so sorry,” Jeffries said as if he actually meant it. “So how are you holding up?”
“I was better until I watched Good Morning DC.”
“I know,” he said. “It was terrible. You know, if anybody can vindicate your friend, it will be you, Adrienne.”
“Oh, thank you so much, Councilman Jeffries. I really appreciate your kind words.”
“Have the police talked to you about their theory?” he asked.
“Yes, they have,” she said. “In fact, I’m scheduled to meet with them again this evening after I get off work.”
“What will you tell them?” Jeffries asked.
“I don’t know,” Adrienne said. “All I can tell them is what I’ve already told them.”
“And that was?”
“I told them that Councilman Yeager was looking for her the same day she had her meeting at police headquarters to go over her statement regarding what happened to Mr. Lewis. The councilman told me she had never called him or showed up. But, when I had finally heard from her, she gave me the impression she was going to contact him.”
“Did she?”
“I guess not.”
“Why do you say that?”
Adrienne answered, “The next day Councilman Yeager called me to say he hadn’t heard from her. He asked me if I had talked to her and if I had given her his message. And when I told him I had, he seemed mad at me because I didn’t call him back to let him know that she and I had talked.”
“I see,” Jeffries said. “Go on.”
“Well, Councilman Yeager saying she hadn’t called him … that’s when I started to get worried. I called and texted her all day, but she never responded. So I finally called her private number. Since she didn’t know I had the number, I thought, once she saw it was me, she would pick up and chastise me for using her personal number. But she didn’t respond. That’s when I decided to go by her house. Since I had her key, I was going to let myself in and look around. But, when I got there, her car was in the driveway and then I really got scared.”
“Why was that?” Jeffries said. “What scared you about seeing her car in the driveway?”
“Taylor never parked in front. She said it drew too much attention.”
“Let me ask you this,” Jeffries said. “Was Taylor working with Stan Lewis on a project?”
“I don’t know, Councilman. All I know is that she was working on something big, but she didn’t keep me in the loop.”
“I see. Have the police said anything to you about the evidence they collected from her house?”
“The only thing we talked about was the rug and that it wasn’t something she’d had in her attic. It looks like whoever killed her did so somewhere else and then brought her body back to her house. Actually, Councilman, in my opinion, finding Taylor was an act of God.”
“Why do you say that?” Jeffries asked with surprise.
“Because whoever put her body in her house didn’t know anything about Taylor’s habits. She never parked in front because she loved her privacy too much and since she was Councilman Yeager’s go-to person, she realized that when people saw her car, they took it upon themselves to ring her doorbell — something she loathed. So, in my opinion, if the killer had parked her car in her garage like she did, I would never have thought something was wrong and wouldn’t have called the police.”
“I see,” he said. “I’m really sorry you have to go through this and I want you to know that, if you need to talk about anything, you can call me.”
“Thank you, sir,” Adrienne said. “I appreciate you looking out for me. It’s strange though. You’re taking more interest in Taylor’s death than her own boss is. If anyone should be in the thick of this investigation, it should be Councilman Yeager.”
“Interesting. Why do you say that?” Jeffries asked, surprised at her candor.
“That’s easy,” she said. “Look how much she did for him and how loyal she was to him. But, ever since this hit the press, he’s been like a ghost.”
“All right, Adrienne,” the councilman said. “You take care of yourself. And remember, if you need to talk, just give me a call.”
“I will, sir, and again, thank you.”
After talking to Adrienne, Jeffries was convinced she didn’t know what Taylor was working on, but he was glad he had taken the risk and called her. She had given him a lot of information and he needed it. After all, he knew that indirectly, he was connected to Taylor in such a way that a reasonable person might believe he could have had something to do with her death.
The last time he had reached out to her was the day he’d been arrested on the steps of the Wilson Building. Although he hadn’t talked to her directly, he had left her a very incriminating message on her personal cell phone — one that could make the police think he had reason to do Taylor harm.
Now he had to find out if Taylor had kept the message as protection. After all, he would have if he’d been her. However, if Taylor had kept the message, by now the police would have listened to it and contacted him. But he hadn’t heard from the police, so … either Taylor had erased the message or the police didn’t have her phone.
Like Adrienne, Jeffries was surprised that Yeager was not actively using his influence and contacts to help in the investigation. If anything, he would have thought Yeager would want to show the public he was incensed that someone would harm Taylor, considering the type of public figure she had become. So why wasn’t Yeager out front on this? Knowing the answers to his questions could only come from one source, Jeffries decided he would ask Yeager himself.
Jeffries arrived at Yeager’s home only to find it apparently under surveillance. As he pulled into the driveway, he was surprised to see Yeager standing at his door.
“What are you doing here, Grey?” Yeager asked.
“I just cam
e to see how you were doing! Believe it or not, people miss you at the office, so I decided to just come out to see for myself. And based on what I see, you’re not sitting at home alone.”
“What does that mean?” Yeager asked.
“Well, from the looks of things, you are either under surveillance or under protection. So, which is it, friend?”
Yeager was surprised by Jeffries’s analysis, but when he began to survey his surroundings, he saw what Jeffries was referring to. There was an unmarked car sitting near the end of his driveway. Realizing that Jeffries had been correct in his assessment, Yeager became even more agitated.
“What is it you want, Grey?” Yeager asked.
“Well, friend,” Jeffries said, “in light of your current predicament, don’t you think it would be prudent if we went inside to talk?”
“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Yeager said through clenched teeth.
“Loving what?” Jeffries said sarcastically. “Anyway, why are you acting so paranoid? And why haven’t you done any public announcement regarding Taylor’s death? To some, that itself may seem suspicious. That’s why I came out here. I wanted to check on you. I thought just maybe, you were mourning her loss.”
“Mourning!” Yeager said. “You have got to be kidding me if you think I believe you came out here to see how I was doing. I know all about you and Taylor working together to bring me down.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Jeffries said, now trying to add to Yeager’s obvious paranoia. “You know as well as I do, that’s bull and before we go on, don’t you really think we should go inside? The last thing I want is your surveillance team catching you and me discussing Taylor’s murder. So, can we go inside now?” Jeffries said as he slightly nudged his way past Yeager.
Once inside, Jeffries could tell Yeager had been very busy working on something. Papers were everywhere and his place looked as if his housekeeper had not been there for a while.
“So, is this what has kept you preoccupied?” Jeffries said as he pointed to the piles of papers in Yeager’s den. “I mean, look at you! You look as if you haven’t bathed in days.”
Velvet Mafia Page 30
