by Paris Morgan
A spirit shot up out of the body and grabbed my arm. “Help me,” it rasped.
“I’ll try,” I answered the seemingly empty room. “What happened?”
“A ninja with a sword thing attacked me. She chased me for a little while, and then I was dead,” it whispered to me.
If anyone had looked into the room, they’d have seen me talking to myself as I held a hand out over the dead body.
“Did you see what she looked like?”
“Yes. She wore a traditional outfit, like the woman from that comic who was named after her sword, the Katana.”
Astonished that a dead spirit could remember a comic book character, I asked to make sure, “Did she have a white mask with a dot in the center?”
“Yes, but she wasn’t a normal looking ninja. Her skin was the wrong color.”
“Wrong color?” I frowned. “She wasn’t Asian?”
“No, she was more of a dark brown or black. It was hard to tell in the dark with her head thingy and long hair.”
“Okay.” That was good information, and would help us narrow things down a bit. “Anything else?”
“She was condescending, like she was better than me, even though she was a killer. I think I’m supposed to go now. The light is getting brighter. I hope that helped.”
He was gone, just like that.
When I opened the door, Adam looked up.
“I’ve gotten all I can from the body. We need to head for the airport.”
“Wait,” the officer protested. “You didn’t find the killer. What are we supposed to do with the body?”
“Find his family and let them bury him. The killer isn’t in this state any longer. We’ve been tracking killers in this case for quite a while, and they like to move around a lot. They never stay in the same area after the bodies have been discovered.”
“So you’re just going to leave?”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry we couldn’t be more helpful. When and if we can catch this killer, we’ll notify you and send you the information that you need to close the case.” I held out my hand. “I wish there was more we could do for you, but we’ve got to stop them from killing again. I’m sure you understand.”
“Not really, but I guess that’s the best I’m going to get from the two of you.” He scratched his head in bewilderment.
“Thank you,” Adam said as we started for the door, then paused. “Listen, I’m sorry we weren’t more help. Hopefully, the prints will get a hit in the system and you can identify him so his family won’t be wondering what happened. At this point, we’re still building a case against this serial killer.”
“This was done by a serial killer?”
“Yes, sir, which is why there’s not much we can tell you yet, but we’ll get back with you when we have more information.”
I waited until were outside before I told Adam what I’d discovered when talking to the dead.
“All right, I found something that’s going to help us. She has dark skin, but isn’t of Asian descent. Which means, if we do a little digging at the airport, we might find her. I’m going to ask to see their security films for the past week while you get our flight information taken care of.”
“I do believe you’re getting the hang of this.” Adam smiled in approval.
“Well, I do what I can.”
The airport security videos weren’t all that great, and it appeared they didn’t take as many precautions about who was flying where as we did in the rest of the U.S. Still, it gave us a place to start.
We had a female killer of unknown origins, but it narrowed down who we were searching for.
Now, all we had to do was get together with Homeland Security and see if they would let us run a search based off women who had flown several times in the past week. We were going to find out who the killer was before the month was over with. I could just feel it.
***
Since we’d caught up on all the bodies that had been found, we headed straight back to Texas, anxious to start work on identifying our killer.
I went home since it was closer to midnight, and my schedule was completely messed up.
Adam planned to update Ryan in the morning, and I’d join them for a meeting away from prying eyes and ears.
I was in for a surprise when I arrived. Ryan and Adam were sitting on the front porch of their temporary home, drinking coffee.
“Are we taking the day off?”
“Nope. But Ryan’s got some pretty interesting information to share with you. He didn’t come straight home when he left us. He took a detour to California.”
My eyebrow quirked up at his deception. “Let me put my phone inside so we can’t be overheard.”
While inside, I helped myself to a cup of coffee before rejoining them and taking a seat in one of the rockers.
“All right,” I began as I got comfortable, “start from the beginning. Why mislead us?”
I didn’t need someone else that I couldn’t trust, and I was hoping he could help alleviate my fears.
“Yeah, about that, I’m sorry.” He frowned. “I kept having these thoughts in my head about Agent Watson and whether or not we could trust him. What happened out in California was bothering me with Agent Perez suddenly relieved and Agent Watson taking her spot.”
“He was the one who brought me in, so I didn’t find it unusual that he was the agent in charge. I’ve done a little digging since we had this thought, and he’s risen up very quickly through the FBI ranks. I still have seniority, but he has someone who is covering his back, someone higher up,” Adam confirmed.
“Which is why I went out there and didn’t tell you. I had a hunch that I would find something. Since we have a leak, I didn’t tell you, thinking it would be harder to trace and I might actually be able to find something.”
“Okay, it was an omission and not a lie, so you’re forgiven, just this once.” I used my fingers to show I was watching him.
“So I thought I was going to have a panic attack when I got on that plane and you weren’t there to calm me down, but this gorgeous woman talked me through it.” Ryan glanced inside, hoping that Shea wasn’t listening. “She hit on me, but I told her I was engaged. It did help to keep my mind off of takeoff, though.”
“Mmhmm, I’m sure it did,” I giggled.
He ignored me and continued. “At first, I was certain that I was looking for Agent Watson’s roots, or something that could have happened that would make him work with the enemy. Then I got to thinking about how we met, and Agent Perez’s situation came to mind. I went to her house because I was hoping to talk to her away from the FBI, but she was home. She’d been fired, and the reason was that she’d offended you.”
Shocked and bewildered, I waited to hear how this was possible.
“Evidently, you’re a very important person, and they couldn’t take the chance that she would do it again. They told her to look for a different line of work.”
“How awful. I’m nobody important. Why would they do that to her?” I protested.
“Because someone inside the California FBI was, or is, still working for the Zodiac Master,” Adam interjected.
“Exactly. They didn’t want Leslie to come to harm, which is exactly what the Zodiac Master is telling his recruits. Anyway, I was able to get a little information out of her that Agent Watson used to be the bodyguard for a club called the Black Tie Club of L.A. He’s also the owner/manager of some apartments in the area.”
I whistled loudly. “So that’s the connection. He’s been okay working with us as long as we left the clubs alone. Now that we’re investigating the Urban Energy Corporation, he’s reporting to whomever is in charge.”
“Correct, but I think the Zodiac Master is either monitoring their involvement, or working with someone for information.”
“Hold on. The Zodiac Master has been giving us dirt on the Urban Energy Corporation from the beginning. Why would he be working with the person who’s involved with the club as well?” I trie
d to think about this new connection, but it wasn’t making sense.
“From what I can see, the Zodiac Master is trying to shed light on the wrongdoings of the Urban Energy Corporation so that we’re focused on that instead of him. He may be using the same information to blackmail Agent Watson as they are for his cooperation.”
“When I was out there, Ava mentioned that he had a bunch of buildings and was looking for a contractor. We pulled stuff on Agent Watson, and didn’t find anything about properties he held. Those are going to be under a family member’s name, or under a corporation that is loosely tied to him,” Ryan concluded.
“I think with a little help, we can find exactly where to look for him and pin his outside activities on him. These kinds of things aren’t looked kindly on by the FBI.” Adam pulled out a flip phone and put the battery in. “I know just the person.”
Dialing a number, he waited for the call to connect. “Mac, can you find me some information about anyone in Agent Watson’s family that might own some properties or have shares in a company that owns some out in L.A.?”
Adam nodded at something Mac said. “Yeah, Leslie and Ryan both say hi, by the way. I’ll check in tomorrow and see what you’ve come up with.”
“At least we have somewhere specific to start working from. If we can tie him to the illegal operation, then maybe we’ll have a better chance of finding our suspects.” Ryan smiled at the thought.
“Yeah, now you can concentrate all of your energy on the baby shower.” I couldn’t help but get one last jab at his impending fatherhood.
Chapter 8
Ryan
Knowing that Kevin was on a short leash as far as what he could be told over the phone, I had to find a way to contact him without using any technology.
Out of options, I wrote out what we needed about possible connections of Agent Watson and the Black Tie Club. While I knew he could figure out what we needed, I didn’t want to give too much away in case he wasn’t the only person that was around and someone else found it.
He was the tech person that we could trust. If we played our cards right, we’d have what we needed to arrest Agent Watson.
***
Two days later, I was on my way from the building to the parking garage when my phone buzzed.
Check your car. Important information delivered.
That was all it said, but I knew that Kevin had something that we would need to look over.
Already tired from a long day of poring over documents, I hurried to the car and was happy to see a folder sitting on the passenger seat.
I was certain that I’d locked my vehicle because it was second nature. When I approached it, I clicked the automatic lock. How on earth had they gotten that inside a locked car?
Trying to act like nothing was out of the ordinary, I got my stuff settled and flipped open the folder for a quick look.
A whistle escaped my lips. This stuff was important, and we needed to meet ASAP.
Starting the car, I hit the call button. “Call Leslie.”
“Ryan?” She sounded out of breath.
“Yeah, we need some help with baby shower stuff, and I forgot to ask you earlier. Shea is going to be so mad at me if I don’t get this done.”
“Um, okay.”
“It’s all those little things we have to do that I thought weren’t urgent, but to a pregnant woman, everything is urgent.” I tried to convey how pressing this was, but I wasn’t sure she was getting it.
“Yeah, she does have an expiration date, doesn’t she?” Leslie laughed. “Should I pick up something for all of us to eat? Will Adam be there as well?”
“I think he and Flora have been roped into helping as well, and yes, bring fried chicken.”
“Is that you talking or something the pregnant lady will eat?”
“The pregnant lady. She’ll eat anything that has chicken in it. I’m afraid that if she had to do it again, she’d marry chicken instead of me if she could.”
“Well, we shouldn’t disappoint her then. I’ll swing by the chicken place and be there in a few. See y’all in a few.”
“Later.” I pushed the end button and debated on whether I needed to call Adam or not. I was pretty sure he’d already headed toward our temporary headquarters.
I wanted to look inside the folder again so badly, but couldn’t take the chance while I was driving. I hoped that Leslie hurried because I didn’t want to wait for her to get there.
***
The folder sat untouched through dinner, and while I really wanted to get to it, I knew that spending time with these friends was important. Life was way too short to ignore moments with family.
These guys were really my family. I’d never considered other members of my team family before, but each and every one of the people sitting around the table would help with anything I needed at the drop of a hat.
“Hey, about that project, did we want to get started before it gets too late? I’d like to go home at a reasonable hour tonight since we’re actually home at the moment.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of a front porch project, and I couldn’t think of how to explain it.” I cringed at the look Shea gave me. “It’s important, babe.”
She sighed. “It always is. Come on, Flora, maybe you can show me that new stitch while we see what’s on.”
With the folder in hand, I waved them out onto the front porch.
“This was sitting in my locked car when I got there this evening. I got a text that said it had been delivered.”
“From Kevin?” Adam questioned, pulling up a seat to the small table so he could see.
I opened it and we took out a sheet of paper.
“OMG!” Leslie squealed. “This is the link we’ve been looking for. It ties both of the clubs together, and Agent Watson is their go-between. Look at all the dates he flew back and forth between L.A. and here before our case started.”
“He had to be assigned to our case, and then when Agent Perez made a mistake, they used that to get closer to us.”
“If these can be backed up by what Kevin outlines that he has proof of, then we can do a multi-sectional raid on all the places at once.” Adam tapped the paper in his hand with satisfaction.
“Won’t they catch wind of it and move everything before we get there?” Leslie frowned at the implications of having multiple moles in our organization.
“I have a few connections to get this started. I’ll have everything ready, and all we’ll need is a phone call and the paperwork from Kevin. There are ten clubs, one in each of these major cities, so it will take some coordination.” Adam smiled. “With my people working on it, they can stay under the radar and make everything fall into place.”
“This will take hundreds of people. How can we keep it on the downlow?” I shook my head, not wanting to be the negative Nancy of the group, but this seemed impossible.
“All the agencies will be informed of a pending human trafficking ring that’s going to be broken up, but we’re going to feed them a couple of bogus groups. Ones that are under investigation, but we don’t have enough proof yet.”
“Then, at the last minute, only the judges will know what the true targets are, and we can move in without our targets finding out.” Leslie started bouncing in her seat. “This is genius.”
“I have enough people that can take charge of the teams, and only my people will know the exact address until we arrive there. We’ll have them scoping out the other places. While it’s a small waste of manpower, it’s more important for absolute secrecy.”
“When do we want to plan this for? It’s going to take some time,” I pointed out, knowing how hard it was for an intercity workforce to do something like this.
“Unless Kevin was just blowing smoke at us, I’m going to have everyone on alert for this weekend. We want them to be at ease Friday night, and then we’ll go in on Saturday.”
“Adam,” I protested, “that’s the day of the baby shower. I can’t be gone for that.”
“It’s going to be in the evening, but from this point on, I don’t want either one of you to speak about this. I’ll contact Kevin tonight and set this in motion.”
“Whew. I’m on thin ice as it is, but this would be the last straw.” I wiped my forehead in relief.
“So it’s finally coming together. May justice win.” Leslie raised her tea glass.
“Agreed.” We both echoed.
Saturday was going to be a busy day.
***
The baby shower was just ending when I received the call.
“Hey, you know that club you were looking at back in January? The Black Tie Club that caters to the rich and famous? Well, I’ve got all the necessary information we need to make a bust,” Kevin informed me, acting like this was the first I’d heard of it.
“Really? Who have you told?” I questioned him.
“No one yet. I’ve scheduled a meeting with a judge and wanted to have you, Adam, and Agent Watson there when I talked to him. Did I do something wrong?”
“I’m not sure. What did you tell Agent Watson? I believe he’s in bed with John Reed and won’t do anything with your evidence once it’s there. He may even try to stop you from arriving and giving the judge the proof,” I warned.
“Yeah, I’ve known something wasn’t right for a while, but I didn’t want to make him think I had something too big. I’m already in the courthouse with a friend who’s got my back, just in case. How fast can you get here? The judge on duty this weekend isn’t going to stay past five.” Kevin sounded anxious.
“We’re leaving right now.” I motioned for Adam and Leslie to join me.
“Hurry. We need to get this done today. The evidence will be gone by the end of the night.”
“Okay. We’ll be there.”
“What’s up?” Leslie asked, breaking away from Shea and Flora.
“Kevin just called, and he has an urgent tip about the night club in Dallas. Evidently, he’s got enough proof for a judge to sign off on and for us to serve the warrant. There’s only one problem, he’s at the courthouse waiting on us, and he’s told Agent Watson as well.”
