"I should have listened to Olivia." I checked my phone again, noting she called four times but didn't leave a message. With no time to call her back, I doubted I could answer her questions.
"Don't think about that now. Lucas, can you hack the security cameras in his building?"
Lucas nodded. "Sure, give me two minutes."
"What about the man Cynthia spoke to?" I asked. "What if we found him?"
"Based on a very sketchy description without a time frame? That's almost impossible to find, plus, from what you told me, I don't think we can be sure Cynthia was telling the truth."
"She didn't look devastated that he was dead. She looked much more upset when she came in here to ask for our help when he was still alive."
"Is there any reason why she might be pleased about him being dead?"
I shook my head. "None at all."
"Then we should probably conclude she's either in absolute denial or she knows he's alive. Lucas, get phone records for Cynthia Steadman. I want to know whom she called or who called her in the last few days."
"No problem, boss. I got the security feed for Steadman's building. They scrub the tape every twenty-four hours so today's tapes are still intact. There are three cameras. One covering the front door, one covering the rear service entrance and one in the stairwell with access to the street. How far back do you want me to rewind it?"
"Take it to when Lexi arrived. It doesn't matter what time Steadman, if it's him, got there. We want to see what happened when he left."
"Got it." Lucas tapped the keys and three black-and-white images appeared on the screen. I saw myself walking in the front entrance of the building and crossing to the elevator before stepping inside. The doors slid shut. Lucas set the cameras into fast forward. Ten minutes after I entered, Olivia arrived at the front doors and was buzzed in. She seemed to have some kind of conversation with the doorman, then she crossed to the elevator. The other two cameras remained empty.
"I was in there around ten minutes. Maybe fifteen," I told Lucas. "Wait, what was that in the service entrance?"
Lucas paused the tape, then rewound it and we watched it again. An older lady with two large dogs stepped out of the service elevator and opened the door. I let out an exasperated sigh.
"Patience," said Solomon. "Fast forward."
The cameras remained empty for twelve minutes before someone darted in front of the stairwell camera. Lucas stopped the tape and rolled it forwards in slow motion. The face never turned towards the camera but I caught a glimpse of white skin; and the clothing appeared to be the same as my assailant’s. "That's him," I said. "Turn around. C'mon, turn around!"
The figure turned around and glanced upwards as he pushed open the door to the alley. He eased the zipper of his jacket down and my jaw dropped. "That's Anthony," I said with absolute certainty. I watched him climb into a car before the door clicked shut.
"Get this footage burned to a disk and find someone to take it to MPD and make sure it gets into Garrett's hands," instructed Solomon.
"I could email it?" suggested Lucas.
"I don't want the hack coming back to us. Garrett's team can requisition the official footage and make sure it's admissible in court."
"Booth Realty didn't want to go to court. They preferred to settle things themselves," I reminded him.
"This isn't about the clients, this is about you. He attacked you."
"I know that now but I'm not sure I want to go to court either. I've wasted enough of my life on this jerk and now he's got me running around chasing him again! I want him out of my life for good!"
Solomon stared at me a long time until I had to wonder what he was thinking. Finally, he said, "Okay."
"We still don't know where he is. Olivia still doesn't have her money," I said. "We need to find that money. We proved he's our burglar, we know he faked his own death and we know he's on the run. It's not such a stretch to expect that he has her money too and plans to use it to fund his new life."
"So much for getting him out of your life," said Lucas.
"I can't get rid of him until we find him! I don't want him popping up again!"
"Can you zoom in on the car Steadman got into?" asked Solomon.
"Let me see... no..." said Lucas as he paused the tape and zoomed in as the service door opened. "There are no identifying features."
"Zoom in a little more," I told him.
"There's nothing to see..."
"There!" I pointed to the corner of the screen. "He got into the passenger side and the driver is a woman with thick, curly, dark hair. I think that's his girlfriend, Chloe."
"You can barely see her," pointed out Solomon.
"I know hair and I've seen that hair before. She’s definitely Chloe. We need to interview her."
"We have three hours before Booth Realty get here."
"You already called them?"
"I called them the moment I knew there was enough information to conclude their case. If we locate Steadman, we can tell them and they can decide what to do next."
"You wouldn't just hand him over?"
"No. Human delivery service is not our job. If you prefer, we can just call the police when we have his precise location."
"Maybe he's staying with Chloe?"
"Maybe. Lucas, stick with this and find out if Steadman was seen anywhere else in town, anywhere that he could have hidden a lot of money. We have to assume he'll eventually go there to pick it up. I'll find the girlfriend and grill her for whatever she knows."
"What about me? I'm going too."
"You need to rest. Your headache is getting worse. I can see you wincing."
"I'd rather be useful. I'm coming too. Chloe knows me. She'll speak to me."
"If I thought there were any point in arguing, I would. Let's go."
~
Chloe was staying at a motel on the outskirts of Frederickstown, a rundown neighborhood that had long spiraled downwards due to poor infrastructure. It wasn't the nicest area but very cheap.
"Going somewhere?" I asked, noticing her open suitcase on the bed.
"You!" She narrowed her eyes at me and started to close the door. I stuck my foot over the threshold, stopping her from slamming the door in our faces. "What do you want?"
"It's about Anthony."
She froze. "Did you find him?"
"No, but we think we know someone who did."
Chloe glanced from me to Solomon, letting her gaze stay on Solomon, which wasn't really surprising. I would have done the same. "Who?"
"You," said Solomon as he gave the door a push. Chloe stepped back, loudly protesting when we came inside. Solomon executed a quick sweep of the room, opening the closet door and stepping into the bathroom. "He's not here," he said on returning to the bedroom.
"How could I find his body?"
"You don’t have to because you know he isn't dead."
"He is definitely dead. Someone killed him," she said, absent of the tears and sniffling that she demonstrated so effusively before. "You said so!"
"Apparently, we were all wrong. He staged the crime scene and you're an accessory." I hated to play hardball with her but I had the feeling Chloe would give us the runaround before she cracked. Why she remained loyal to Anthony was a mystery I couldn't fathom. He seemed to have that effect on women, right up until he pushed them too far. I wondered if she hadn't gotten to that point yet, and what she would do if she had.
"An accessory… to what?"
I ignored her, principally because I wasn't sure what crime she was an accessory to. I just hoped that applying enough pressure would make her crack. Anthony had to know we were onto him now. There was no way he could be sure I didn't recognize him; or that no one else took Olivia seriously. "I think you're planning on running away with him and spending the money he stole. That makes you a thief and a... a..." I struggled to think of something suitably awful.
"An accessory to theft and attempting to pervert justice," supplied Solomon. "On the pl
us side, I think you'll look nice in orange coveralls."
"Orange?" she whimpered, stepping back and clutching her white sweater.
"It's the new black," I said. "We know you picked up Anthony from his apartment building earlier today. Where did you take him?"
"I... I... Oh, what the hell! I don't know why I'm covering up for him anyway! Yes, I picked him up when he called me and said he needed help. He told me he faked his death so we could be together. I asked him why he didn't just leave Olivia and he said he couldn't because it was too complicated and everyone had to think he was dead. Someone was really after him!"
"Did you believe that?"
"Of course I did! Right up until I picked him up. I told him we could get out of town that minute and stay at my place and he said no, he couldn't. I said we didn't need the money, we'd have each other and he gave me the weirdest look like he was..."
"Incredulous?" I offered.
"Yes. He said I was nuts if I thought he would be happy living in my shoe box of an apartment. I said it would just be temporary, and then he said sure, whatever. I said he could get his divorce or just disappear and then we could start a new life. I have family in Kentucky. They own a duck farm."
"Sounds enticing," said Solomon. "What happened next?"
"He said he needed to pick something up and was giving me directions when I realized I was running out of gas so we pulled into a gas station. I got out to pump the gas and pay and when I came back, he wasn't there. I went to look for him and found him in the restroom on the phone. He was talking to some girl and telling her that just as soon as he got the money, they would run away together. He kept calling her darling. He never called me darling!"
"Where did you take him?"
"Nowhere. I left his lying ass at the gas station and came back here to pack. I can't believe he cheated on me! I have way too much self-respect to run after a guy who's so low he’d cheat on me!"
I didn't know whether to tell her she was right or point out that as the mistress, she should have already deduced he was a cheat. I doubted if Chloe had even thought any of it through. At least she realized Anthony was using her before it got any worse for her.
"Where did he want to go?" I asked.
"I don't know! He never gave me the address, just directions. Am I in trouble?"
"You've been very helpful," I told her. "I think you'll be excused."
"What about my job?"
"What about it?"
"I'm Anthony's assistant."
"I don't think he needs an assistant anymore, do you? He's trying to disappear."
"But he owes me three months’ wages!"
"Consider it an expensive lesson," I said, startled by her appalled expression.
"An expensive lesson?" asked Solomon as we left the motel. He opened the car door for me and I climbed in, relishing the cool interior. My headache finally eased and despite stifling a huge yawn, I was starting to feel a lot better.
"Sure, she'll never take a job that doesn't pay by the week again."
Solomon’s reply was interrupted by his cell phone. "Lucas," he told me, then to the phone, "What do you have?" Solomon listened and hung up. "Steadman was spotted at a bus stop an hour ago. Lucas notified MPD and they're on their way."
"I hope they catch him."
"He's probably already gone." Solomon switched on the engine and checked the clock on the dash. "We have to get to our appointment. Do you want to sit in?"
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Except, maybe, Italy."
"Italy?"
"It's always sounded so romantic."
"Honeymoon romantic?" asked Solomon, glancing at me.
A broad smile spread across my face at the concept. That would definitely be something to look forward to. "Naturally. I've never been to Europe. Have you?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Those are stories for another day. Let's go."
I tried to press Solomon for the stories, but he adamantly refused so I gave up and focused on collating my thoughts. The Booth Realty case had been a lot of work to solve, but we'd done it! So what if we didn't have the perpetrator yet! Plus, there was a neat case completion bonus that would certainly help fund the wedding and honeymoon. Not that we'd even started planning. The engagement dinner was awkward enough. I just hoped Serena wouldn’t try to overshadow my wedding too. But those thoughts weren't relevant. I I had to focus on the clients and hope the police were closing in on Anthony thanks to our hard work.
The clients weren't waiting for us when we got to the agency but Delgado was. "Booth Realty just called and they want you at their office, stat," he said.
"Did they say why?" asked Solomon. "We're supposed to meet here."
"No, just that they needed to move the meeting forwards and you should meet them at their office."
"Strange," I said as Solomon and I exchanged confused looks.
"It is. Let me grab the files from my office and we'll go over there. This doesn't sound good."
"What happened to you?" said Delgado, noticing my forehead.
"Just a bump," I told him.
"She got jumped," said Solomon, returning with several files in his hand. "Anthony Steadman."
"The dead guy?"
"No, the very much alive guy."
"He's dead, he's alive, he's dead, he's alive again," said Delgado. "Can't he pick which one?"
"Don't tell anyone about my head," I warned him as we left, just in case he thought telling Serena might be a good idea. Solomon drove and I spent the time skimming through the files he placed in my lap. He included my report and Lucas's photos along with the timeline of photographic evidence in accordance with the timeline of break-ins. My report was also in there as well as Solomon's summation and all the evidence I gathered. Solomon also had a plan for improving their security and a detailed agenda as to what their next steps should be. The final sheet of paper contained Anthony's last known address, his recent previous addresses and any other pertinent details.
"I didn't have time to complete this," I told him.
"We'll tell them it's a draft because we're awaiting some final information before we turn over the file."
"What if they don't like it?"
"Not our problem."
"What if they turn it over to the police?"
"I don't care either way."
"I'm sorry we took this case."
Solomon didn't speak for a long time. When he did, we were turning into a guest space in the Booth Realty lot. The big, square building was artfully bordered with a neatly clipped hedge and huge blown-up photos of happy families in front of their new homes. "No one could have predicted any of this. I'm just sorry you got hurt."
"Only my head," I said, pointing to it. "The rest of me is fine."
"Next time you want to visit a suspect’s home, call me first," he said, the look in his eyes belying the simplicity of his words. I swallowed my guilt with a gulp. I really scared Solomon.
"I promise," I said, meaning it.
"Let's wrap this thing up."
The co-owners of Booth Realty waited in the boardroom. I could easily identify them as brothers. Both had the same narrow, green eyes and broad noses but Brian was older and his nose was slightly broader while Jeff looked more athletic. Solomon breezed in first, shaking hands and making introductions. When we finished the pleasantries, he slid a file in front of each of us. "The good news is: your problem is over," he started.
"Actually, we have another problem," said Brian Booth. "That's why we called you."
Jeff Booth continued, "We already know who’s behind this and why they broke into our houses."
I raised both eyebrows, wishing again I could raise just one, and waited. Solomon waited too, but without any eyebrow action.
"The FBI contacted us two hours ago. They've been tracking a couple posing as real estate agents across four states and we were tipped off they targeted high-end houses in this area. They haven't told us why yet, or how the
y found them, but in another state, they managed to set up an appointment with the fake realtors and negotiate a purchase. Take a look." Brian directed us toward the white screen on one wall. With a click of a button on the small device he held, a photo filled the screen.
It would have been impossible not to recognize the pair. Anthony and his latest girlfriend, Brynn. Not much of a stretch to assume this was the woman Chloe overheard him speaking to. She, too, was strangely quiet for a grieving girlfriend.
"This is interesting," said Solomon. "We have the same perpetrator. Anthony Steadman. We're aware of the woman but we didn’t know she was part of the fraud."
"We have evidence that he broke into several of your properties; and we believe he was holding high stakes card games," I told them. "It's all there in the file."
"Like I said, there's another problem," Brian repeated, pressing the button again. "After the FBI called, a man came into the office claiming he came to pick up the keys to his new home. He seemed to think he bought the property for three million."
"It wasn't for sale?" I guessed and Brian shook his head.
"Did he pay for it?" asked Solomon.
"Wire transfer. We assisted him by calling the police station but he's understandably very upset."
"Did you notify the FBI?"
"We did once we got a description of the man posing as the realtor. Seems like it could be the same guy. The Feds are sending someone over who deals with fraud cases. They thought it was a slam-dunk when the pair accepted the offer on tape. They set up the wire transfer for the deposit before losing sight of them," explained Jeff. "Apparently, this guy is dead but there's still a warrant out for the woman."
"He's not dead," I told them, turning to see who Brian waved inside.
In stepped Maddox, followed by two other agents and Taylor. I started to stand up but the pain in my head throbbed again with full force. I could almost imagine cartoon birds dancing around my head as I slumped back into my seat. In an instant, Solomon was next to me and Maddox was kneeling at my side. "What happened to you?" said Maddox.
"I found Anthony," I said. "Then I lost him again. Sorry."
A Few Good Women (Lexi Graves Mysteries, 9) Page 17
