by Nadirah Foxx
“Are married,” Debbie said, setting the cups down and taking a seat. “Before you say anything, I found out last night.” I simply stared at her. “I don’t stop working just because I go home. Besides, Jackie is out of town on business. Plenty of time for me to work.”
Good to know. The next time insomnia kicked my ass I knew who to contact.
Swallowing, I asked, “What else did you learn?”
“Genetti’s businesses are under the name Gena S. Genetti.”
Gena Simpson Genetti.
“You would think she’d do a better job of disguising her involvement.”
Debbie shrugged. “It would be hard to truly hide it. Her bank accounts are pretty substantial for a mayor. I’m guessing she’s running her husband’s businesses.”
Bank accounts?
“How many?” I asked.
“Three. Two are under her maiden name. The other is listed as GSG Enterprises.”
Why did GSG sound familiar? Had I run across it while at Sentinel? Or maybe it was at the precinct?
Josh bit into his sandwich and said around a mouthful, “GSG Enterprises is a client of Covert Technologies.”
Did that mean Adam was in bed with the mayor too?
I wiped my mouth. “One more news flash. Did you know Genetti had a casino in Victoryville?”
Josh nodded vehemently. “Yeah, I know the place. It’s called the Lucky Lady.”
Thanks to my inability to sleep, I had some thoughts about Walter and Genetti.
Lifting my coffee cup, I said, “Here’s my theory. Walter Puckett is a gambling man, but not a good one. He went to the casino, racked up a massive amount of debt, and Mayor Simpson made him an offer. She needed him to be her eyes and ears around town. In turn, she’d reduce the amount he owes. Whenever he brought her something worthwhile, she’d cancel another portion of his bill.”
“Since we’re speculating…” Debbie tapped on her tablet.
When did she bring that in?
“I don’t think Mayor Simpson asked Walter to be her informant. Walter was hard-pressed for a worthy project. He either had a hand in Ryan’s murder or the man knows who’s responsible.” Debbie looked up. “I see the scenario this way. Walter figured he’d get his hands on the prototype subsequently saving his ass at work. He’d then leak the technology to Mayor Simpson. It would be worth a fortune. Possibly enough to cancel his debt entirely.”
“What about the burglaries?” Josh asked.
Picking up the trash from my desk, I stood and said, “I think the killers are on Genetti’s payroll.” I walked over to the wastebasket across the room. “What if Walter and the mayor were in on it together? He told her about the prototype, and she figured out a way to make it available.”
“A possibility.” Josh reached for his cup. “We need to do some investigating.”
Debbie began tapping on her screen. “I can tap into the Lucky Lady’s network. See if I can find an account for Walter.”
“Did we ever put names with the faces from the pictures?” I asked.
“We did but nothing conclusive. They were two-bit thugs.” Debbie stopped typing. “We’re still waiting for confirmation from Detective Da Silva.”
Josh stood. “I’ll talk to Lidia.”
“Get me a home address for Walter.” I headed for the bunker. “I want to do a little snooping.”
It was time to find out everything I could about the man.
“I’ll text it to you.” Debbie headed to her office.
“Kerrie, got a minute?” Josh followed me to the closet.
“What’s up?” I ducked through the door and began my descent down the stairs. Our footsteps echoed in the narrow space.
“We should consider bringing in the Feds. This situation is bigger than just finding a couple of murderers.”
“True, but we have yet to gather any real proof.” I entered the code and then the door slid open. “We only have speculations. As soon as we learn anything of value, then we’ll go to the authorities.”
Josh cut off my forward motion. “You don’t plan on doing it.”
Thankfully, my phone buzzed. Peering at the screen, I saw it was the address. “Can you contact Walter? Tell him you’d like to meet with him at his office?”
My friend gave me a wide-eyed stare.
“I need to make sure the man is at work. If you’re worried, I’ll take Debbie.”
He crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels. “Yeah, that makes me feel more comfortable.”
“She’ll get me inside. I’ll do a quick search while you’re at the office with Walter. No problem.”
Josh shook his head. “Problem. It’s broad daylight. How are you going to go in and out of his house without anybody noticing?”
I grinned. “We’ll handle it. Just make the call.”
Taking out his phone, Josh looked up Walter’s number and clicked on it. “I don’t like this, Kerrie.” Seconds later, the executive answered. “Hey, Walter. Josh Reynolds here… Yes, I know she refused… Hey, man, she’s a grieving widow. The woman thinks holding onto the company is preserving his legacy… Sure, let’s sit down and talk about it… No. I’ll come to you. I can be in Golden Harbor in say…an hour? Good. I’ll see you then.”
“Thank you. I owe you dinner.” I turned away from him.
Josh grasped my upper arm. “I don’t give two fucks about dinner if anything happens to you.”
“Nothing will—”
“I’m contacting Lidia. She can at least be your backup.”
Rolling my eyes, I agreed. Hell, I would have agreed to bring along a trained gorilla if it would keep Josh off my back.
35
Veering Off Course
I thought I was set to head to Walter’s house—minus my suit—when Debbie ran into the tech lab. As usual she was clutching a tablet to her chest, but she wore sneakers and jeans instead of her usual high heels and skirt. Plus, her glasses sat on top of her head.
“Is there something wrong?” I asked.
“If we go to Walter’s, there will be,” she said in a breathy tone.
“Why?”
“Going there will be a waste of time. Plus, I checked out the security cameras in the area. He doesn’t have any guards, but there are dogs. Pitbulls to be exact.”
Not good.
Debbie waved her hand in the air. “It doesn’t matter if we have the proof we need to tie Walter to Mayor Simpson’s company. Or should I say her husband’s?” Debbie scrolled through her tablet and then walked over to the monitor hanging from the ceiling. The screen flickered and multiple documents appeared.
Folding my arms over my chest, I asked, “What am I looking at?”
“Walter’s financial records.”
Knowing Debbie’s history, I didn’t have to ask how she acquired the information. I was just grateful she did.
“Dear old Walter wasn’t as smart as he should have been.” She made the displayed page larger. “Do you see the number I highlighted?”
“Yeah.” It was for over fifty-thousand dollars. “What about it?”
“That’s the amount of Walter’s debt before Ryan and RJ were killed.” Debbie tapped her device and the page changed. “The figure I circled is how much Walter owes as of today.”
“Ten thousand. What happened?” I glanced at her.
She lowered her tablet. “I’m guessing he earned a substantial finder’s fee. According to the numbers, his balance decreased when Walter made the offer to buy Sentinel.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” My gut told me not to trust the man. For my mother’s sake, I wished I’d been wrong.
“Although I never met the man, I had the same thoughts.”
I squinted at my assistant. “You haven’t met Walter?”
“Nope. Ryan was the only one in touch with the man.” She tapped on her tablet, and the monitor went black.
Walking over to a desk, I perched on the side of it. “But those records don’t prove Walter’s
involvement with the murders. Remember, I saw him with those men at the warehouse?”
“We’re going there instead of Walter’s.”
“If we’re doing that, I need the new suit.” It wouldn’t hurt to have a little backup too.
“Follow me.” Debbie swung around and headed toward my apartment. She didn’t stop until she reached the small workout space I used.
“It’s in here? Where?”
With a smile on her pretty face, she made her way across the room and stopped in front of a wall. Debbie tapped a spot in the upper-right corner, and the barrier rolled back revealing a recessed space. Hanging side by side were the original prototype and the newly crafted suit. The changes made the suit pretty awesome. The garment no longer looked like a superhero costume. Instead, it was a sleek, black one-piece design that zipped up the front. On a shelf, to the right, were the gloves and boots I requested. Gone was the balaclava. Instead, a hood was built in, and I’d wear a mask. A lower shelf held the holster.
“Will this do the trick?” Holding the mask, I turned to Debbie. “Won’t people see my face?”
“No. It’s been constructed differently than the original. As long as the hood and mask are in place, the stealth mechanism kicks in.” Debbie leaned against the wall. “Pleased?”
“Very much so, especially if bullets can’t penetrate it.”
“Good. Get dressed. I’ll meet you in the garage.” She headed to the door.
Whirling around, I said, “Oh, and Debbie—”
“I’ll phone Lidia and have her meet us at the site.”
◆◆◆
Rather than take my car, I rode in the van with my assistant. A few blocks away from the warehouse district we pulled over.
“Problem?”
She pointed to the dark car parked on the side of the road. “Lidia’s here.”
I moved to the back of the van as the passenger door opened, and Detective Da Silva hopped in.
“This had better be good, ladies,” she said as she buckled up.
“It is.” I leaned forward. “We have evidence tying Walter Puckett to GSG Enterprises.”
Lidia turned in her seat. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Nope. Debbie found his financial records.”
“Why are we going to the warehouse district?”
“We have to find those men I saw. One of them pulled the trigger the night my family was killed. This is my chance to get a little justice.”
The detective eyed me for a long uncomfortable moment. “I can appreciate what you want to do, but I can’t allow it. We do this by the book. Understood?”
“Sure thing,” I lied.
Too bad she didn’t realize we didn’t read the same damn book.
◆◆◆
Debbie parked the van just shy of entering the warehouse district. Lidia wanted to do things according to the rules, which meant identifying where the men were and then getting a warrant. That required time we didn’t have. She was obligated to play lawfully. I wasn’t.
While Lidia and Debbie discussed strategy, I slipped off the sweats covering the suit. It didn’t matter if they saw me leave the vehicle. Neither of them could find me unless I wanted to be discovered. So I opened the rear door and stepped out.
“Don’t you dare!” Lidia screamed.
A door opened and closed, and then her feet collided with the pavement. I smiled to myself. The detective had no idea how the suit worked. I floated right by her, sticking out my tongue as I walked.
Carefully, I retraced the steps we took the last time we were in the district. Whenever I crossed paths with someone, I moved around to keep them from bumping into me. It took some doing, but I finally made it to the warehouse operated by the Martin Company.
The area was fairly busy for that time of day. Workers moved boxes while others prepared items for shipment. With so many people on the premises, I had to be careful not to let anyone walk into me.
I ducked around a corner and tapped the comm in my ear. “Digital Pirate?”
“Not Digital Pirate,” Lidia snapped. “Where the hell are you?”
“At the warehouse.” I glanced left and right. “You can watch from outside. I’m going in.”
“Don’t you—”
I yanked the device out of my ear and tucked it into my bra. Listening to Lidia bitch at me was the last thing I wanted or needed.
Before I moved, I pulled out my phone and tapped the recording app I installed the other day. Once it was activated, I pushed off the wall and sauntered past a crew unloading a truck—two heavyset men in plaid shirts and jeans and a younger man with blond-streaked brown hair. Then, I heard the one voice I was searching for.
“Boss said to get this shipment on the road. We have another job tonight.” Mr. Average, the one with the streaked hair, was preoccupied giving orders. It was the first time I got a good glimpse at him. Unfortunately, nobody wore name tags.
Once the truck was loaded, the driver pulled off, and the criminal headed inside the building. He climbed a set of stairs leading to an office—the only room on the level. Thankfully, he left the door wide open, and I slipped in behind him.
Paper covered every available surface in the small room. Somewhere in that clutter was a desk. The man made himself comfortable behind the pile and pulled out his cell phone.
“Hey, Joe here…”
Good. I had a first name.
“About tonight’s job… What do you mean you haven’t heard from Puckett? … No. No. I get it, but… Yup. I’ll get the crew together and meet you in Arcadia… Genetti said what? … Okay. Then, we need to take out his wife. If she’s dead, who else is going to run the company?” Joe disconnected and tossed his phone on the desk. He stretched and then went to the door. “Yo, Mikey!”
Shit, shit, shit.
Heavy footfalls collided with the wooden stairs. In a matter of seconds, a short and fat guy with dark hair appeared on the landing. “What’s up?”
Could it be the guy who shot Ryan and RJ?
“Get in here,” Joe spat out and returned to his desk. “Shut the door.”
Mikey closed it and then perched his ass on a wooden crate. “You hear from the boss?”
It sounded like him.
“Yeah, but we got a problem. That dude and his kid you popped a while back?”
“What about it?”
Confirmation.
“We gotta take out his wife.”
My heart hammered against my chest so loudly I was sure they heard it.
Mikey wiped a hand over his face. “Naw, man. Nobody said anything about killing a woman.”
Gee, a murderer with a moral turpitude? He had no problem killing a father holding his son but drew the line with women. Strange.
“It’s not a choice. Apparently, she’s not going along with the program. Puckett made her a generous offer for the company, and she turned it down.”
“So?”
“Genetti wants the company. His old lady told him it would make them look like a legitimate business. Possibly keep the feds off their tails.”
Mikey blew air through his cheeks. “Okay. What do we do?”
“Find the chick. According to Puckett, she looks like a fucking beauty queen,” Joe said, curling his upper lip.
“Blonde hair? Blue eyes?”
“Close. Puckett said he’ll send us a photo. Once we find her, we stay close. Then, it’s just a matter of cornering her in a nice dark alley.”
“Shady Corners would be best. We kill her there and the cops just think it’s another homicide in the neighborhood.”
Joe bobbed his head. “I like it.”
Mikey rose to his feet. “Personally, I think Puckett should have to do it since this is his fucking mess.”
“Yeah, yeah. But you know that fucker won’t clean up shit. Last time he shot someone, we still had to take care of it.”
I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep from gasping. Who the hell were these people?
“Let’s play it right, Joe. You keep working. I’ll head over to this broad’s business. Keep an eye on the place. Maybe I can scare her into submission. Know what I mean?”
“I do. But brother, if she doesn’t fall in line, you’re going have to kill her.”
Mikey chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“Since she’s as good as dead, maybe we can have a little fun with her first? It’s been a while since I got laid.”
Joe tossed a baseball at Mikey, who caught it like a pro. “That’s not part of the job. Just take care of her.”
The door opened, and Mikey stepped out. “Meet you tonight?”
“Yeah. The Lucky Lady. We’re supposed to meet with Gena at nine.” Joe pushed to his feet. “Come on. I’ll walk you out.”
Thankfully, they left the door open. I couldn’t wait to get the details to Debbie and Lidia.
36
In the Crosshairs
“Wait, a minute!” Lidia shouted over Debbie and me. “The same fools who killed your family are now after you?” She dragged a hand through her thick, dark hair.
Technically.
“Yes, but—”
“No buts!” She reached for her phone. “I swear you people are nuts! None of you are cops. Nobody’s trained to do what we do. I’m putting my foot down. Beauty Queen, you’re done. You’re going into protective custody asap.”
“Hell no! We’ll never catch the killers that way,” I protested. “We have a golden opportunity to apprehend them.”
“Do you hear yourself? You’re not the fucking law!” Lidia shot back.
“Can I say something?” Debbie interjected.
“What?” both Lidia and I barked.
My assistant, holding up her palms, looked at the detective and then me. Debbie raised her eyebrows and gave us a questioning gaze. “What if we could do both? Keep Kerrie protected and catch the bad guys?”
“How?” the detective asked before I could.
Debbie said, “If you’ll allow me…”
Lidia pressed her lips together, crossed her arms, and remained quiet.
