Sativa Strain

by Alexi Venice

  Amanda jolted awake to the buzzing of her phone on the night stand. She scooted away from Jen’s comforting embrace and grabbed it. The screen indicated that Frank was calling her. She hit the green button. “Hello?”

  “Hi Amanda. Sorry to disturb, but I have some video that I think you and Tommy should see right away.”

  “What time is it? Where are you?”

  “It’s 3 a.m. We can meet wherever you want. I have it on a jump drive.”

  “Have you called Tommy yet?” she mumbled.

  “No. I wanted to ask you first.”

  She strained to think logically. “What’s the video of?”

  “Probably the person who killed Carlisle.”

  “Ryan?” she asked.

  “No.”

  Amanda blinked her eyes and sat up. “Really?!”

  “That’s why I’m waking you. It’s important.”

  “Come over here. I have a laptop around here somewhere that we can watch it on.” She looked around Jen’s bedroom but couldn’t see anything in the dim, orange light from the street lamp.

  “Are you at Jen’s?” he asked.

  “Yeah. On second thought, meet me at our new house. I don’t want to wake Jen and Kristin.”

  “Got it. I’ll pick up Tommy on my way. See you in 30.”

  “Call me if there’s a problem. I’ll make some coffee.” Amanda hoped there was a coffee pot at the new house.

  “What’s going on?” Jen mumbled.

  “Breakthrough in a case. I’m meeting Frank and Tommy at our new house to discuss it.” Amanda patted Jen’s shoulder. “No worries. Go back to sleep.”

  Jen sighed and closed her eyes.

  “Quick question,” Amanda said. “Have you seen my laptop? Not my iPad but my laptop?”

  Without opening an eye, Jen said, “In the living room. On the floor between the sofa and end table.”

  Amanda leaned down and kissed Jen’s temple. “Thank you. Love you.”

  She threw on some clothes and left the apartment as quietly as possible, snagging her cherished bag of coffee on her way out. And the container of cream. And the sugar bowl. And a banana. And her bottle of Zantac pills.

  By the time Frank and Tommy rang the doorbell at her new house, the coffee pot had finished its brew cycle. They gathered at the kitchen island, and Amanda served cups of strong coffee with plenty of cream and sugar for herself. Her laptop was open and waiting for the jump drive.

  “Did you catch up Tommy in the car on the way over?” she asked Frank.

  “Yeah.”

  “Investigating behind my back, huh Amanda?” Tommy asked.

  She smiled over her cup. “You were busy supervising your detectives. I wanted to pursue a different angle, and if it didn’t pan out, then no one had to know.”

  “Try not to make it a habit,” he said.

  “This is very good coffee,” Frank said.

  Nice diversion. “Do you have the jump drive?” she asked.

  Frank set it on the counter, and she inserted it into her laptop. The men watched as she clicked open the file, which was a video.

  “Do we need any background info before we watch it?”

  “Sure. This is exterior surveillance video from the Scarlet Huntington. It was taken on same night as our other video from the Scarlet, when Kara Montiago and Vincent Voss were staying in the Passion Suite.”

  “The night of the murder?” Amanda asked.

  “Yes. Go ahead and hit play,” Frank said.

  Amanda clicked, and the video began. Typical of night surveillance, the image was grainy black and white. There wasn’t any movement—just a metal door in a brick wall with ivy framing it.

  “The camera is motion-activated, so it’s in photo mode, staring at the fire exit door,” Frank said. “Look at the time stamp in the upper righthand corner.”

  The time indicated 9:01 p.m.

  Suddenly, the door opened, and a man quickly exited and walked outside of view. The door closed, and the camera went into still mode again.

  “Wait a minute,” Amanda said. “Who was that?”

  “Vincent Voss,” Frank said.

  “What?” She moved the cursor back and paused the screen on his face when the door opened. They were looking directly at Voss. Unmistakable.

  “You’ve gotta be shitting me,” Tommy breathed. “He didn’t stay in the Passion Suite with Kara? He left?”

  “Probably to go kill Carlisle,” Frank said. “You’ll see that he returns about two hours later, using a key to enter this door again.”

  Amanda clicked on the second video, which was a clip of Vincent returning at 11:18 p.m., according to the time stamp.

  “Holy shit,” Amanda said.

  “Nice to know Ryan isn’t the only suspect,” Tommy said.

  “Then why did Ryan show up at the Passion Suite?” Amanda asked. “What did he give Kara?”

  “That’s the million dollar question,” Frank said. “My guess is that he was returning something to Kara—at her request—so he’d be caught on surveillance video. I think she and Voss framed him.”

  “Do you think she and Voss framed both Carlos and Ryan, so we’d chase those leads?” Amanda asked.

  "I think that’s a possibility,” Frank said. “It never made sense to me that Ryan would want to help Kara frame Carlos for Carlisle’s murder. If Ryan resisted her overtures all these years, why would he agree to help her now? For money? I don’t think so. If he’d been interested in money, he would’ve hooked up with her earlier in his career.”

  “He would’ve left Rebecca for Kara,” Tommy said, “but we have to find out what he set in Kara’s hand.”

  “Who should we ask first?” Amanda asked. “Kara or Ryan?”

  “I say we wake him the fuck up and show him the video of him walking to and from the Passion Suite,” Tommy said. “I want to hear his explanation.”

  “Me, too,” Amanda said. She sipped her coffee. They sat in silence for a minute, considering the possibilities.

  “Whether you interview Kara or Ryan first, you can expect one to warn the other,” Frank said.

  “Unless we quarantine him or her,” Tommy said.

  “I wouldn’t advise taking Ryan to an interrogation room and locking him up,” Frank said.

  “Maybe we should interview them simultaneously,” Amanda suggested. “That way, we don’t have to arrest either one of them.”

  “We could do that,” Frank said.

  “How should we split up?” Tommy asked.

  “I want to sit in on Ryan’s interview,” Amanda said.

  “I can do Kara’s interview,” Frank offered.

  “Okay. Amanda and I will interview Ryan, and Frank, you interview Kara,” Tommy said.

  “Let’s shower and dress for work. Meet in my office at 5:30,” Tommy said.

  “Okay. Frank, did you have anything else to report?” Amanda asked.

  “As a matter of fact, I do. The background on Voss. He was accused of sexual assault in undergrad at Dartmouth and was almost expelled. I have a feeling his daddy, the lawyer, pulled a rabbit out of the hat to keep him in school. He went to law school then worked at a New York firm. As best as I can tell, he was fired from that firm then returned to San Francisco to work in his father’s firm.”

  “Money trail?” Amanda asked.

  “My sources confirmed that he has an account in Cayman, but I don’t know how much is in there,” Frank said.

  “Need help getting that?” Tommy asked. “I know someone.”

  “If you can expedite it, sure,” Frank said.

  Amanda looked at Tommy. “You’re going to call Roxy, aren’t you?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Any objection?”

  “No. I just hate turning to her every time we need something.” Amanda pictured Jen’s angry face, and a dash of fear spread through her body.

  “Nonsense. She’s happy to help,” he said.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Amanda said.
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br />   Chapter 39

  Hall of Justice

  Tommy and Amanda knocked on Ryan’s door. He was meeting with a detective, but when he saw them, he waved them in. “What’s up?”

  “We need to talk,” Tommy said. “Right now.”

  “Okay.” Without breaking eye contact with Tommy, Ryan said, “Sorry, Lonny. We have to cut our conversation short. Catch up with you later.”

  Lonny nodded, rose from his chair and acknowledged Tommy and Amanda on his way out.

  Tommy made sure the door was closed then sat next to Amanda. They all stared at one another, the uncomfortable silence intensifying. Despite taking a Zantac, Amanda’s gut was churning so hard she was sure the men could hear it.

  “I’m sorry, Ryan,” Tommy said, “but we have you on video at the Scarlet Huntington giving something to Kara Montiago on the night Carlisle was murdered.”

  Ryan didn’t flinch. “Yeah?”

  “Care to explain?” Tommy asked.

  “Where was the video camera that caught me?” Ryan asked.

  “In the hall on the twelfth floor. Happy to show you.” Tommy teed it up. “Here.” He handed his phone to Ryan.

  Ryan let out a long sigh. “I can see how that might look suspicious.”

  “Ya think?” Tommy said.

  “I can explain.” Ryan reached for his desk drawer, but Tommy leapt from his chair and covered Ryan’s hands.

  “What the—” Ryan protested.

  “Keep your hands where I can see ‘em,” Tommy said.

  Ryan put his hand to his chest. “Jesus, Tommy! You’re givin’ me a heart attack! I was about to get a handwritten note from Kara out of my desk drawer.”

  “Sorry,” Tommy said. “Why don’t you let me get it?”

  “Be my guest.” Ryan pushed back from his desk and pointed at the middle drawer.

  Tommy maneuvered in and opened the drawer to a mess, but he saw a teal-colored envelope with Ryan’s name printed neatly on the front.

  “That’s it,” Ryan indicated.

  Tommy grabbed the opened envelope and returned to his chair, where he removed a Thank You card. He and Amanda read it together.

  Dear Ryan,

  Thanks for helping me out when I most needed it. I think you’ll be pleased with what’s inside.

  Kara

  The surface was raised where Scotch tape had once held something to the card but had since been removed.

  “What’s this about?” Tommy asked.

  “There was a key to a safe deposit box taped in there. I didn’t want anything to do with it, so I texted her, telling her I wanted to return it post-haste.”

  Tommy quirked an eyebrow. “What did she say?”

  “She texted me back that she was at the Scarlet for a few hours, so I could drop it off at the Passion Suite.”

  Tommy and Amanda looked at each other. She raised her eyebrows, indicating Ryan’s explanation was plausible.

  “Do you still have the text?” Tommy asked.

  “Yep. I figured you’d want it if you ever stumbled onto the trail. I even took a screen shot of it.” They watched while he thumbed his way to the right screen. “Here.”

  Tommy held out his hand for Ryan’s phone. He and Amanda read the text exchange together. It was as represented.

  “Don’t mind if I keep your phone, do you?” Tommy asked.

  “Of course not. The password is Rebecca2018.”

  Amanda’s heart clenched for Rebecca. Maybe he didn’t commit a crime after all.

  “What did you see or hear while you saw Kara at the Scarlet?” Tommy asked.

  “Nothing,” Ryan said. “I didn’t want to know what was going on in the room. We had a short conversation.” He pointed his finger at his phone in Tommy’s hand. “I recorded it on my phone.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Let me play it for you.” Tommy gave the phone back to Ryan, and he navigated to a recording.

  They heard Ryan say, “Here’s your key. I didn’t look in the safe deposit box.”

  “There’s a shitload of money in there,” Kara replied. “Just a gesture of gratitude for keeping a lookout and giving me the heads up.”

  “I called you because you’re the mother of our daughter,” Ryan said, “not because I expected or wanted money from you. I’ve never accepted a dime from you, and I’m sure as hell not going to start now.”

  “Suit yourself,” Kara said in a snippety tone.

  “I will.”

  The recording stopped.

  “Where was your phone?” Tommy asked.

  “In my shirt pocket, like this,” Ryan said, demonstrating.

  “Well done,” Tommy said. “Got anything else on there?”

  “Related to Kara and this investigation?” Ryan asked. “No.”

  Tommy held out his hand, and Ryan dropped his phone in it.

  “Are you keeping anything else from us?” Amanda asked. “We’re tired of getting your story in dribs and drabs. Tell us everything there is to know—now.”

  “You’ve got it,” Ryan said, holding his palms up. “What else can I do to help?”

  Tommy scratched his beard. “Would you be willing to wear a wire?”

  “Of course,” Ryan said. “If you want me to trap her, that’s a tall order. She’s clever.”

  “Oh, I know,” Tommy said. “She’s a smart one, but I have a plan.” He paused and thumbed a message into his phone.

  “What are you doing?” Amanda asked.

  “I’m texting Frank to stop him from interviewing Kara this morning.”

  They watched and waited a few seconds.

  “Did you catch him?” Amanda asked.

  “Yeah. Just in time. He’s in Palo Alto. Wait a minute, he says that, as long as he’s down that way, he’s going to make another drive over to Chris Galindez’ house to see if he turned up yet.”

  “Good luck with that,” Amanda sneered. “He probably went the way of Jared Carlisle.” She didn’t share that she asked Frank to investigate Galindez.

  “Let’s hope not. If he’s still alive, I’m sure he has something to say,” Tommy said.

  “Who’s Chris Galindez?” Ryan asked.

  “Another Tyche executive,” Amanda said. “Probably an ex-lover of Kara’s.”

  Ryan scrunched his face. “That woman.”

  “What’s your plan, Tommy?” Amanda asked.

  “Chat her up, and see what we get.”

  “I’ll need an excuse to meet with her,” Ryan said.

  “Then we’ll have to manufacture one, won’t we?” Tommy asked.

  Chapter 40

  Hall of Justice

  “That went well,” Tommy said after he and Amanda left Ryan’s office and hit the dirty stairwell, the skid marks and coffee stains lined by lint balls along the edges. They made their way down to Navarro’s floor, bursting through his door with vigor despite being awake since the middle of the night.

  “Hey guys,” Navarro said. “Good timing.”

  Ignoring Navarro, Tommy thrust Ryan’s phone at him. “This is the Chief’s phone. We need some info off it.”

  “As in ‘Chief Delmastro?’” Navarro asked.

  “The one and only,” Tommy said.

  “Does he know you have it?” Navarro asked.

  “Of course,” Tommy said. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to steal the Chief’s phone?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past you, Vietti. What am I looking for?”

  “Just a text and a recording.” Tommy showed him what they needed.

  “Got it.” Navarro set Ryan’s phone aside. “I’ll do it today.”

  “Like, in the next hour?” Tommy asked.

  “Sure. While you’re here, there’s something I want to show you.”

  “What?” Tommy asked.

  “I reconstructed that text exchange between Kara Montiago and Vincent Voss the night of the murder.”

  “Let’s see.”

  Navarro pulled it up on his flat screen, and Tomm
y and Amanda gathered around to read it. Unlike an original text exchange, there weren’t time stamps or bubbles. It was just straight dialogue, leaving them to guess who was who.

  What time?

  8:30

  See you there

  You’ve been gone a long time. R you okay?

  Don’t text. I’ll be back soon.

  “The first three lines simply establish that they’re meeting, and we know it was at the Scarlet,” Amanda said.

  “The last two are curious, though,” Tommy said. “Do we assume Kara is reaching out to Voss after he left the hotel?”

  “That would make sense, considering we know that Voss left the premises by the fire exit. If we had a time stamp on this exchange, it would corroborate that,” Amanda said.

  “I’ll see what we can do,” Navarro said, “but it was hard enough to recover the text.”

  “What about city surveillance cams of the Mustang traveling between the Scarlet and Goat Hill Pizza?” Amanda asked.

  “Both Carlos and Kara told us she occasionally drives his cars. If we assume she took the Mustang that night—perhaps unbeknownst to Carlos—then we know it was Voss who killed Carlisle,” Tommy said.

  “My team is working on the city cams,” Navarro said. “There’s a lot of footage to scroll through.”

  “I’ll bet,” Tommy said. “Thanks.”

  Tommy and Amanda left Navarro’s office and walked back up to their floor.