Tyron slammed his fists down on the table. “And meanwhile the guy who actually killed Teresa is still out there? Yeah, I see how this works.” He shook his head. “He might have taken my business but not my money. I’ll want my one phone call so I can call my lawyer. I’ll be out of here in a matter of hours.”
Harvey nodded and got up to leave but Skylar wasn’t done with the questioning.
“You say Teresa was a friend of yours. How did you meet her?” He looked down at the table then back at her. “You used to date her, didn’t you?”
“And what if I did?”
“For how long and when did it end?”
“A year ago, detective. I moved on. She moved on, but we remained good friends.”
“And so that must have really burned you when you found out she was dating LaSalle?”
“It was a tough pill to swallow but like I said, I had moved on. My only problem is with Elite and I know that LaSalle isn’t the one pulling the strings behind the curtain. He’s just a puppet, as is Ricardo. They are all just playing a game.”
“Of?”
“You’re the detectives. Figure it out!”
With that said he cast his eyes down and sighed. Skylar scrutinized him for a moment or two and then exited the room, following Harvey out. As he closed the door behind him he smiled.
“Well we know who he’s referring to, don’t we? Callum Jackson.”
“What do you think about the rest?”
“I think he’s jaded.”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
Harvey scoffed. “Big city businesses are showing up here all the time, Reid. This isn’t any different. For all we know he’s using this to get back at Elite.”
“But even if LaSalle goes down. The company would still keep operating.”
“You heard him say it yourself. They’re a business that deals in trust. Once you take that away, you take the legs out from under the business. If it came out that he’d killed his girlfriend, the entire company wouldn’t be able to bounce back from that even if they had a different face on the flyer.”
He turned and marched off leaving Skylar chewing over everything Tyron had told them. Anyone was capable of killing her, the question was who?
Chapter 7
Later that evening as the sun began to wane behind palm trees, Skylar and Harvey sat in an unmarked car across the street from Elite Matchmaking.
“I can’t believe I’m spending Valentine’s Day with you. No offense.”
“None taken,” Skylar said popping a Cheetos chip in her mouth and then offering him one. He glanced at it and shook his head.
“Had this been any other guy, he would still be in the holding cell. You see, that’s what I’m talking about. Callum Jackson will always remain one step ahead of the law.”
Skylar put her boots up on the dashboard and leaned back, sipping on a bottle of pop.
“You mind not doing that? The department just got this cruiser detailed.”
She slipped her feet off.
“Harv, you’re too tense. Ease up. These things have a way of working themselves out. Back when I was in the task force we spent over one year hunting down a guy who worked for the Mexican mafia. Every time we got a lead, we’d arrive too late. He remained one step ahead of us. You got to have patience with these things.”
“Well I’m all out of patience.”
“It’s to be expected,” she said casting a glance at the building across the street.
“And by that you mean?”
“You’re getting old. It comes with the package.”
“Old?”
“Yeah, first it’s your patience, then your memory, then bits start dropping off and before long you’re sitting in a wheelchair in some old folks’ home being spoon-fed apple sauce.”
He twisted in his seat. “Whoa, whoa, I think you are getting a little head of yourself there. All my faculties are in pristine working order.”
“You sure? What does Elizabeth say about that?”
“She’d back me up.”
She cocked her head. “If you say so.”
There was silence, and he returned to looking out.
“What the hell are we doing here, Harvey?”
“Davenport wants us to keep an eye on the place. With it being Valentine’s and after what Tyron said about their operation being all smoke and mirrors. He thinks we’d be better off keeping our distance.”
“Uh, I don’t know about that.”
“You know, Reid, you say one thing and then do another.”
“What do you mean?”
“You talk about patience and yet you’re the one that doesn’t want to sit here.”
“Nah, there is a big difference. I just think we can learn more by being in there.”
“Well that’s not happening. We blew that chance,” he replied.
Again there was a long amount of silence, just the sound of Skylar chomping on chips.
“Do you have to do that?” Harvey asked.
“What? I’m hungry.”
He grumbled.
“You know Scot is going to be here tonight.”
“I hope you cleaned up that craphole of a boat. The poor guy’s going to have a heart attack if he sees it.”
“Haven’t had a chance. By the way, did you leave a card at Vagabond?”
“Card?”
“Come on, Harvey.”
“I haven’t a clue what you’re on about.”
She looked at his face. She felt she was pretty good at figuring out if someone was lying.
“Valentine’s card.”
“Someone gave you one?”
“Yep.”
He started laughing.
“Is that so hard to believe?”
“No, I just think they don’t know what they are getting themselves into.”
She was about to respond to that when she saw a black limo pull up down the side street. A few seconds passed and a side door opened and Ricardo came out of the building with a younger woman and placed her in the back of the vehicle. By the way he was gripping her, it didn’t look as if she was going of her own accord. But it wasn’t that which caught her attention, it was who the woman was — Taylor Hall.
She leaned forward in her seat. “You see that?”
“See what?”
“Harv, have you ever been on a stakeout?”
“Of course.”
“Did you ever catch anyone?”
“Of course.”
“Likely story,” she said. “Follow that vehicle.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
He started up the vehicle and waited until the limo pulled away before they began to follow. It slipped through the back streets and then onto the main stretch heading for Water Street, which fed down to the marina. Harvey kept his distance making sure to not draw attention to them. They followed until the limo reached the marina and parked. A tall guy dressed in a suit and tie got out of the passenger side and went around to the back and Ricardo stepped out and escorted the young woman in a red dress down to the dock to a moored mega yacht. The steady beat of music seeped from it as Ricardo led her onto the boat to join a host of people that were partying away.
Harvey parked and they remained there observing intently.
“Okay, so what’s the deal here?”
She pulled out her phone and got online and did a search for their website. She navigated to special events and pulled up a list of the events they had planned for Valentine’s. The main one for that evening was called “The Masquerade.”
“I need to get on that boat.”
“Why?”
“Because we aren’t learning anything by staying here.”
“Davenport said—”
“I know. But it’s time to bend the rules a little.”
“Why do I get a feeling this is about to go south on us?”
“Have a little faith.”
“And how do you expect to get on there? They
know what you look like.”
“It’s a masquerade party. She paused. I have an idea.” She pulled up her phone and brought up the contact number for Ben Walker. She tapped it and it began ringing.
“Skylar?”
She cleared her throat. “I wondered if you’re free?”
“For?”
“I wanted to take you to a party.”
Harvey’s eyes went round and he shook his head. She waved him off.
“A party?”
“On a boat,” she said.
“On a boat?”
“Look are you free or are you just going to repeat everything I say?”
She heard him chuckle. “Is that how you ask everyone out?”
“Ben?”
“Sure. When?”
“Thirty minutes and wear something spiffy?”
“Spiffy? Thirty minutes…? But I’ve…”
“Excellent, swing by the harbor in Apalachicola, I’ll meet you there.”
“But…”
Click. She hung up. “Okay, time to get a dress.”
“Hold on a minute, Reid, this is not happening. Davenport will go nuts if he finds out that you—”
“Harvey, relax. I’m just going to nose around a bit.”
“But you need a membership and I doubt those are cheap.”
She flipped her phone around and showed him the invitation online, which said that tonight was free, and that the first drink was on them. “How does a crack dealer get you into crack? By offering the first hit for free.”
She glanced at her phone. “Still time to buy a dress, let’s go head into town.”
Harvey looked like he wanted to have a go at her but instead he just shook his head, put the vehicle into reverse and they pulled out. Ten minutes later she was slipping into a black dress. She pinned up her hair and came out and walked over to the mirror to get a better look.
“So what do you think?”
Harvey looked speechless. “That’s uh…” He cleared his throat. “Promising.”
“You don’t think it sends the wrong message?”
“Reid, everything about what you are planning on doing is sending the wrong message. Just buy the damn thing and let’s get going.” He ran a hand over his head and went back to glancing at his phone. After she purchased the dress, she visited a local costume shop in the town and picked up two masks before heading back to the marina. Before they even arrived, her phone rang. It was Ben.
“Where are you?”
“Had to pick up a few things. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Five minutes later she arrived at the marina and got out and put the mask over her face. She handed one to Ben and he stared at it like it was some kind of foreign object.
“Put it on.”
Harvey leaned across to the passenger side to make eye contact. “Reid. What am I supposed to do?”
“Just wait here. If things go bad, I’ll text you.”
“And if you can’t text?”
“Give me a half an hour. If I’m not back by then, come get me.”
“Reid—”
Before he could say anything else she closed the door and slipped her arm into Ben’s.
“You want to fill me in on what this is all about?”
“Just follow my lead. Tell them you’re here for the masquerade party.”
She smiled as they walked down the wooden dock and got closer to the large yacht named St. Catherines. A large ramp led up to the boat, and at the top were two heavyset bouncers.
“Shouldn’t we have invitations?” Ben whispered, as they got closer.
“It’s free. I think.”
“You think?”
The bouncer frowned as they approached. He blocked off the way and looked them up and down. “This is a private party.”
“But we have invitations,” Ben said.
“Not to this you don’t.”
Ben glanced at Skylar and she cleared her throat. “I think what he means is that Elite Matchmaking listed a special event on Valentine’s Day on their website. They said it’s free.”
“That’s not on this boat. It’s back at the company’s office.”
She could tell they weren’t going to be allowed on board and no amount of kicking up a fuss was going to get them in, besides, it would only attract attention and that was the last thing she wanted. “That’s fine. Thank you,” she said turning away with Ben and heading back to the parking lot.
When they got back she opened the passenger side and Harvey had this big grin on his face. “How was the party?”
“Hilarious,” she muttered. “Look, we’ll head back to their office and go there.” She glanced over to the boat. “Whatever that party is, it’s not open to newcomers.” She hopped back in and told Ben to follow them.
“Come on, Skylar, give it up. We aren’t getting in.”
“Please tell me you don’t use that approach to every case you work on? No wonder you haven’t solved many.”
“Who said that?”
“Hanson,” she replied.
He clenched his jaw and started the car. Ten minutes later they arrived and were staring at the two bouncers across the street. Ben got out of his vehicle and came over. He gave a knock on her window. She brought it down.
“You know, Skylar, I think you should fill me in on what’s going on.”
“I’d love to but it’s a private matter.”
“What she means by that is our boss doesn’t know and she intends to keep it that way,” Harvey said leaning across. Skylar narrowed her eyes and shook her head as she got out of the vehicle.
“How about this. You head in first, I’ll follow after. It’s meant to be open to those looking for love. I don’t think showing up here together is going to cut it.”
“Do we still need these masks?”
“Yeah.”
“Great,” he mumbled not looking impressed. He nodded and jogged across the road. She watched while she smoothed out her dress. The two bouncers muttered something to him and then let him in. She leaned down. “See, Harv, if it fails, try, try again,” she said in a joking manner.
He waved her off. “Yeah, right, just hurry up. Oh, and Skylar. If this goes belly up, I’m not taking the flak.”
She nodded and headed over. As she approached the two bouncers they looked her up and down and said something to each other. She felt like meat on a stick.
“Invitation?”
She fished through her bag and pulled out her phone and flashed them the invitation listed on the website. The largest of the two thumbed over his shoulder and they parted like two iron gates. She slipped inside and was greeted by the sound of light music and the sight of muscular waiters in bow ties with no shirts but wearing black pants and shiny black shoes. They carried silver trays offering champagne and hors d’oeuvres. There was a large array of people inside, everyone smiling and some looking nervous watching others from the sidelines. She scanned the room looking for Ben and spotted him on the far side getting a drink. As she made her way through the crowd of people, some of whom were dancing to the music, she felt a hand grab her arm and turn her. A tall man in a black suit with his eyes covered by a mask flashed his pearly whites. “Would you like to dance?”
“Actually I was just going to get a drink.”
“Okay,” he said releasing her but keeping his eyes on her as she continued on her way. She pulled up alongside Ben and acted as if she didn’t know him. “You getting a weird vibe in this place?”
“Actually it’s not bad,” he said filling his glass with punch.
“Let me guess, you go to one of these every weekend.”
He chuckled. “Oh, only when I can fit it in between crochet and bird watching.”
She filled her drink and turned to observe the crowd. By any measure everything appeared normal. The room was separated up into sections. On the far side were tables where people could go through a series of speed dates. A timer gave them one minute to introduce themselves, then p
eople would swap over. There was dancing in the middle of the room, food and beverages and a bar on the other side for those looking to mingle and converse. The overflow could go up to the roof where the pool was.
“You think you could do me a favor? You see that man over there?” Skylar said nudging towards Joshua LaSalle who was in a deep conversation with two suits. “Ask him about what other services they offer. Those who have a unique taste.”
“Skylar, when you phoned me I actually thought you wanted to go out for real.”
“Really?”
“And now I can see this is all part of some stakeout. Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Would you have come?”
“No.”
“Then that’s why.”
“I had plans this evening.”
“No you didn’t.”
“Actually I did. My sister and her husband were bringing over a friend of hers.” He glanced at his watch. “In about an hour for dinner.”
“Late supper?”
“Not exactly.”
“So she is trying to do some matchmaking?”
“Something like that.”
“Is that your thing? You like to get set up by others?”
“I don’t think that matters. The point is, I have a life. Why can’t Harvey be doing this?”
“Well…”
“Look, just forget it. I’ll go ask this guy what you want and then I’m out of here, okay?”
“But we’re…”
“No, we’re not. You are.”
With that he put his drink down and slipped through the crowd. She continued to watch him as he walked up to LaSalle and tapped him on the shoulder. LaSalle turned, smiled and shook his hand. She noticed them talking but was unable to make out what they were saying over the music and chatter in the room. He must have hit a nerve with LaSalle as he placed his arm around Ben and walked him towards the rear and led him into a separate room. Ben cast her a glance and she placed her drink down and was about to follow when she felt a hand on her again. She turned to find the same guy who’d stopped her on the dance floor.
“Now, how about that dance?”
“Actually I was…”
“Come on, it’s Valentine’s. Unless you’re spoken for.”
“Maybe another time.”
She pulled herself away and was about to walk when he grabbed her and pulled her in close. “Is that any way to treat a stranger?”
Death Match Page 6
