Wanted (A Private Investigator Series of Crime and Suspense Thrillers, Book 1)

by Nick Stephenson

  Chapter 38

  GERARD FELL TO his knees, blood pooling on his shirt. The German brought the gun up again, aiming for Leopold this time. Gerard grunted and lunged forward, shoving the smaller man back against the wall.

  “I’ve got this,” said Gerard. “Get out. Now. Take the car and get the others away. Go!”

  Leopold blinked hard, still dizzy from the pistol-whip to the head, and got to his feet. He felt a little shaky.

  “Now!”

  The German recovered, knocking Gerard back to his knees. Leopold rushed toward the door, slamming it shut behind him. Mary and Sophie were crouched a few feet down the hallway. He heard another shot and ducked, half-expecting a bullet to punch through the wood above his head.

  Then silence.

  “We need to get out of here,” he said, breathing heavily. “Follow me to the car.”

  “What about Gerard?” asked Sophie.

  Leopold felt a pang of remorse in his chest. He shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do. Please, we need to get out of here.” He broke into a jog.

  “How the hell did that guy find us?” said Mary, following close behind.

  “Is that the man from the parking lot?” asked Sophie.

  “Just keep moving.”

  The trio reached the stairs and Leopold grabbed the railing, taking the steps two at a time. They hit the ground floor without breaking stride and Mary reached the front door first. Her hands a blur, she slid open the chains and locks, throwing the door wide open.

  The light was dazzling. Now fully risen, the sun bathed the streets in a white glow, making Leopold’s eyes sting as he jogged out into the road. The Mercedes was parked nearby, just across the street. They reached the car and Leopold fumbled under the wheel arch, locating the spare key. He opened the doors and climbed inside.

  “What are you waiting for?” asked Mary, buckling up in the front passenger seat.

  “How the hell did he track us here?” said Leopold. “Unless he got to the computer back at the apartment…” He pulled out Mary’s cell phone from his jacket pocket. “But that would have been impossible with the GIPN in the building.”

  “Unless one of Rousseau’s men is involved?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.” He dialed a number on the phone’s keypad and hung up almost immediately. He opened the car door and tossed the cell phone onto the sidewalk. “Hey, what the hell?” said Mary. “That’s a brand new phone.”

  “I’ll get you another.” He started the car and turned around, heading away from the river. “Just trust me.”

  “Trust you?”

  He turned to face her. “It’s just a phone.”

  “You just left Gerard in there to die.”

  “There’s nothing we could do, Mary. He used whatever strength he had left to get us out of there. We’re alive thanks to him. I’ll make sure the person behind this gets everything they deserve.”

  “And I’m supposed to just trust your judgment on that? You don’t even know what’s going on in your own company. How can I trust that you know what’s going on here?”

  “Is this really the right time?” asked Sophie from the back seat. “I think I can hear police sirens. Maybe we should –”

  “Stay out of this,” said Mary. “I’m serious,” she continued, turning back to Leopold.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “My sister called.”

  “Your sister? I thought you two didn’t speak.” He turned a corner and hit the main road.

  “Well, she’s taken it upon herself to stick her nose into my business. And that means sticking her nose into your business, it seems. You know anything about a chemical research division at Blake Investments?”

  He looked at her. “Sure. Why?”

  “The WHO are looking into it.”

  Leopold didn’t reply.

  “You really don’t have any clue what’s going on?”

  Leopold put his foot down and changed lanes. “I get a quarterly report. What’s this got to do with anything?”

  Mary sighed. “You don’t think it’s strange that someone would go out of their way to stage such an elaborate way of keeping you out of the picture? They could have just hired someone to pick you off. Why do you think that is?”

  “Because maybe it’s just not enough to kill me.”

  “Listen, Leopold. My sister told me she’s got someone on the inside. Someone working at your chemical research division. She said they’ve discovered something that could prove to be very dangerous in the wrong hands.”

  “What else did she say?”

  “She said the WHO first noticed issues after the division shut itself off from the public. They thought the researches might have discovered something they didn’t want anyone to know about.”

  “When was this?”

  “Three years ago.”

  Leopold gripped the steering wheel a little harder.

  “What is it?” asked Mary.

  He turned to look at her. “Three years ago, after nearly half a decade of zero progress, I was forced to step back from the division. The EU passed new regulations making it illegal for any private organization in the research sectors to have any ties to military suppliers.”

  “And Blake Investments owns a few of those, I suppose?”

  “I was allowed to own shares in the company, I just wasn’t allowed to run it. Apparently, it was supposed to prevent any conflicts of interest.”

  “So?”

  “So, I had to sever all ties with the company and hand the reins over. That included preparing a trust deed that allowed for an executor to use my shares to vote on my behalf if anything ever happened to me.”

  “Let me guess – like if you were killed?”

  “Or found unfit to act. Which includes –”

  “Getting arrested for murder,” said Mary.

  “Potentially, yes. The board only needs a reasonable excuse to trigger the transfer of my voting rights to my executor.” He slapped his palm down on the dash, making Sophie jump. “Find the motive, find the killer.” He turned to Mary. “It’s been staring me in the face all this time.”

  “It’s circumstantial, at best,” she said. “We’ll need proof.”

  Leopold undertook a slow-moving van ahead, eliciting a series of enraged blasts from the driver’s horn. “What about this for proof? How do you think the German managed to track us to the apartment and then to Dubois’ house?”

  “Maybe there’s a leak in Rousseau’s unit,” said Mary.

  “Not likely. Remember what Gerard told us? About if we needed extraction?”

  “His agency can track him via his cell phone. You think it’s someone at the agency?”

  “Think about the motive,” said Leopold. “What if someone intercepted Gerard’s cell signal and sent it somewhere else? It would be easy enough to do, if you knew what you were doing.”

  “But how would they know which signal to trace?

  “There is one way,” said Leopold. “If you already know which cell phone to look for.”

  Chapter 39

  “WHAT DO YOU think he wants with us?” Rose’s voice was a whisper, barely audible over the background noise from The Thanatos’ engines. “Do you think he knows anything?”

  Following their impromptu sleepover, James had suggested they grab a bite to eat from the ship’s mess hall before the breakfast rush. Before they could even grab a slice of toast, one of the stewards had shown up and ordered them to report to the Director’s office. Immediately.

  “It’s probably nothing,” said James, leading the way down the long corridor. “Maybe one of the projects I’ve got you and your team working. You’ve turned out some pretty impressive results recently.” He wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment after last night,” she said, nudging him, any trace of concern now gone.

  “Speaking of which, don’t let anybody know about us,” he said. “You know the
policy.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. Kinda makes it more fun though, right?”

  James pulled open the door at the end of the hallway. “You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you? I can tell.”

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” She breezed through. “Boss.”

  James shook his head and followed, catching up with a few long strides. Rose increased her pace too, taunting him. He laughed, a little louder than intended, and tugged at her arm. She turned, and James pushed her up against the wall.

  “Don’t tempt me,” he said.

  “Now’s probably not the best time.”

  “I guess not,” he pulled away.

  “I’ll come visit later.” She leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Just so long as you behave yourself.”

  “Deal.”

  They rounded the corner and made their way up the narrow staircase to the top deck, where a set of double doors manned by a pair of security guards blocked their path. The doors were double height, as were the guards, and one of them held up a giant palm as the two operatives approached.

  “Arms out to your sides, please.” The slightly larger of the two stepped forward and patted James’ clothes, apparently checking for weapons or recording devices.

  “Ma’am.” The other guard repeated the process with Rose.

  Satisfied, the larger guard swiped a key card across a magnetic reader and the doors slid open. He beckoned them forward and led them through to a cavernous office while the other remained on duty outside. The doors slid closed.

  “Wait here,” said the guard, disappearing into a side room.

  James looked around. The Director’s office was easily the largest on the ship, with high ceilings and plate glass windows that looked out across the bow toward the horizon. In the early morning sunlight, the view was breathtaking. Aside from an expansive desk, a drinks cabinet, a few chairs, and a number of wall mounted LCD monitors, the room was empty. The soft carpet, a rich blue color, matched the hue of the ocean almost perfectly.

  “This place gives me the creeps,” said Rose. “God only knows what goes on up here.”

  “Relax, we’ll be out of here soon enough.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  James looked at Rose, registering the note of concern in her voice. He squeezed her hand. “We’ll be back below deck in no time. You better start thinking about our next sleepover.”

  She squeezed his hand back. “I’ll try not to get too distracted.”

  Rose let go as the guard re-entered the room, followed by a tall man in a dark suit. James recognized him as the Director, although he seemed a little thinner than James remembered. The Director took a seat behind the desk.

  “Please, sit down,” he said, as the guard brought over two chairs. “Do you know why you’re here?”

  The two operatives obliged, settling into their seats. James felt the shadow of the security guard fall across his back, making the hairs on his neck stand on end.

  “No, sir,” said James. He glanced at Rose.

  The Director leaned forward. His face was hard and angular, as though sculpted from rock. His eyes were dark, almost black, and there were faint scars around his forehead and chin.

  “No, sir.” Rose shook her head.

  “You spoke with one of the technicians yesterday. Asked him to trace some electronic payments for you.” The Director paused. “Why?”

  James coughed. “Just following up on a lead, sir.”

  “I trust you got the results you were looking for?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Rose. “We’re getting really close now.”

  “Good, good.” He nodded at the security guard who was standing somewhere near the back of the room. “Although the technician in question had a slightly different story.”

  James felt movement behind him and tensed up. The security guard crossed the floor and positioned himself behind Rose’s chair. He grabbed hold of Rose’s head in both hands and twisted hard, wrenching her head backward. James heard a sickening crack as the guard snapped her neck like a twig. He began to hyperventilate.

  “Disloyalty is a cancer that can spread quickly,” said the Director. “One has to destroy it at the source before it gets chance.”

  James’ instinct was to jump to his feet, but his muscles weren’t responding. He was rooted to his chair, unable to move. The guard let go of Rose’s head and her body fell forward, toppling from the chair and onto the floor. James felt his stomach lurch.

  “You really should have known better, Mr. Cullen,” the Director continued. “I had high hopes for you.” He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a large syringe, laying it down in front of him. “Do you know what this is?”

  James shook his head, unable to speak.

  “It’s something we’ve been working on. In small doses, it can be used as a muscle relaxant. In slightly higher doses, test cases have been known to experience feelings of euphoria. We anticipate quite a market for this one.” He held the syringe in one hand and studied it. “In heavy doses, it causes the body to shut down. Unfortunately for our animal test subjects, this ultimately resulted in death by asphyxiation. We’ve not been able to secure any human trials yet.”

  James felt the security guard grab hold of his arms, forcing him to keep still.

  “Which is where you come in,” said the Director. He stood up, syringe in hand, and stepped over Rose’s body. Taking hold of James’ sleeve, he rolled it up to expose the skin. “This might hurt.”

  A jolt of pain shot through James’ arm as the needle punctured his flesh and the Director emptied the contents of the syringe into his blood stream. The security guard let go. James tried to get to his feet, but his legs wouldn’t respond.

  “How are you feeling?”

  James couldn’t have replied, even had he wanted to. He felt gravity take hold and toppled forward, his abdominal muscles unable to keep his torso upright. Slipping off the chair, he hit the carpet and rolled onto his side. Unable to move his head, he could only look ahead. Rose stared back at him, her eyes dull and empty. He held her gaze.

  “I’m sorry it had to come to this,” said the Director, his voice somewhere above. “But I trust you’ll both be very happy together.” The voice trailed off.

  Although all life had left Rose’s body, in the moments before James died he was certain he saw her smile.

  Chapter 40

  “HERE,” SAID SOPHIE, handing her cell phone to Leopold. “Please don’t throw this one out the window.”

  He thanked her and turned his attention to the Mercedes’ onboard computer. Punching in a code, he synced the phone to the car’s hands free system and dialed a number from memory.

  “And you’re sure it’s him?” asked Mary.

  “It can’t be anyone else,” said Leopold. The call connected and began to ring through. “This ends now.”

  A voice answered. “Bonjour, comment puis-je vous aidez?”

  “I’m afraid to report we’re still alive,” said Leopold. “And your options are running out. Call your man off.”

  “Leopold? Is that you? Are you okay?”

  “Drop the act, Harris.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You must have known we’d figure it out eventually,” Leopold continued. “Otherwise you’d have let the police take us down.”

  “I don’t know what –”

  “You were the one who sent Gerard. You knew he’d activate the tracer, so you arranged an intercept.”

  “What are you talking about? Why would I want to –”

  “I know about Chemworks,” said Leopold. “With me out of the way, you get full control. I trusted you.”

  “What about Chemworks? That business is a dog. I’ve barely heard from them in months.”

  Leopold turned to Mary and nodded.

  “Not according to the WHO,” she said. “Oh, and by the way, next time you send someone after me, tell them not to follow so close. You think I can’t smell a ta
il?”

  “I have people looking into your movements over the last few months, Harris,” said Leopold. “They’ll find something that ties you to this. You can’t run.”

  The line was silent.

  “Let’s end this now,” said Leopold. “You’ve got nowhere left to go.”

  “They won’t find anything,” said Harris, “because there is nothing to find. And who are they going to believe? Me, a respected member of the business community, or a disgraced playboy billionaire who’s wanted for murder? I doubt the board will have any issues in following my recommendations.”

  “What recommendations?”

  “You handed the company over to me three years ago. You gave me this worthless job, on top of my regular duties, which, by the way, you don’t pay me nearly enough for. Well, Chemworks has a real shot of making some actual revenue. We just need some outside investment, that’s all. And I’m the one who’s going to make it happen.”

  “Harris, what are you doing? You can’t let that research fall into the wrong hands,” said Mary.

  “There’s nothing more to discuss,” said Harris. “I’m recommending the sale of the company, including Leopold’s shares, to an outside investor – for twelve times their current value. Given the circumstances, I doubt the board will refuse.”

  “Don’t do it,” said Leopold. “You don’t know what will happen. They’ll have full control.”

  “I know. I’m the one who drafted the contracts,” said Harris. “Perhaps if you hadn’t gotten yourself arrested for murder… I wouldn’t be forced to take such drastic action.”

  “Bullshit,” said Mary.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, there’s nothing you can do about it now. All I need is the board to vote on this. I’ll have an answer within the hour.”

  “We’re coming for you, Harris,” said Leopold. “I’m not going to let this happen.”

  “I look forward to seeing you,” he replied. “You know where to find me.”

  With a burst of static, the line went dead.

  “We need to get to the La Defense office,” said Leopold, planting his right foot to the floor. “We’ve got less than an hour. If Chemworks has found something that valuable, it can’t be anything good.”