The Harry Starke Series Books 4 -6: The Harry Starke Series Boxed Set 2 (The Harry Starke Novels - The Boxed Sets)

by Blair Howard

  “I don’t have to. She is.”

  “What do we know about her?”

  “She the middle daughter of three. Thirty-seven years old, married to Jonathan Greene, lawyer and lobbyist extraordinaire. She has a Master’s in political science from Harvard. Greene, her husband, is handling Little Billy’s appeal.

  “Wow,” I said. I was absolutely flabbergasted. “Little Billy Harper.”

  “It’s not really so surprising if you think about it,” Tim said. “He was, still is I suppose, into all kinds of shady enterprises, even though he’s in jail: Stanwood, Goodwin, Nickajack, Green Tree, and the list goes on, many of them local ventures. This one, Kalliste, is right up his ally.”

  I nodded. “That it is, and it ties right in with his other enterprise, Mystica. We closed that down, but the corruption involved ran deep, all the way to Washington.”

  My thoughts began to wander. How’s Linda doing, I wonder. Haven’t heard from her in more than a year.

  I’d followed Senator Linda Michaels’ career with more than passing interest, but…. I dragged my thoughts back to the subject at hand.

  “What do we know about the Greenes?” I asked.

  “Not much. He’s one of those really mysterious people, a shadow man, someone you don’t see coming until he has you by the balls. He took an active role in Harper’s defense, and was directly responsible for him getting off as lightly as he did. Fifteen years in a white-collar facility… well, if it had been you or me….”

  “If she’s running things now, we need to go see Mrs. Greene. Where can I find her?”

  “She, or I should say they, have taken over Harper’s suite of offices in the Tower Building.”

  “That figures. I think we’ll pay them a visit. Kate, you’ll need to take the lead. You up for it?”

  She looked up, blinked, then shook her head, obviously stunned by what she’d heard. “Damn. Who’d have believed this? Yeah, I’m up for it. We’d better take Lonnie with us. When do you want to do it?”

  “Good idea. The more the merrier. As soon as we can, but we can’t go in there half-cocked. We need to figure out our approach first. And then there’s the sheriff to consider. Where does he fit into all this? I guarantee that the minute we approach the Greenes, he’ll know about it.”

  We talked about it for the next twenty minutes or so, and we got nowhere. The depth of the new situation was virtually unfathomable. The Harper Foundation was a cavern of murky dealings and shadow companies, corruption, bribery, blackmail, and God only knew what else. Why the Feds hadn’t shut it down was beyond me. Eventually we decided the best approach was the simplest one. We would appear unannounced on their doorstep, and hit them hard. I couldn’t think of any other way.

  If past experience was anything to go by, and if Kathryn Harper was anything like her father, she wasn’t to be underestimated, and that, so I assumed, would apply to her husband as well.

  “No time like the present,” I said, glancing at Kate. “Where’s Lonnie?”

  “I left him at the office. I’ll call him, get him to meet us at the Tower Building in fifteen minutes.”

  I nodded and stood up. “Tim. You hold down the fort here. Kate, if you’ll give me a minute, I’d like to change clothes.”

  I went to my bathroom, where I kept a full wardrobe of clothes for all occasions. This one I wanted to look good for. I changed into a pair of light tan brushed-cotton pants, and a navy, long-sleeved sport shirt by the same designer, then returned to my office, where Kate was waiting.

  “I see,” she said, smiling.

  I didn’t answer. I slipped into my shoulder rig, checked the M&P9, cranked the slide and put one into the chamber, slid it back into its holster. Then I went to the closet, grabbed my black leather jacket and put it on. It hid the rig nicely.

  “Here,” I said, opening the desk drawer. “Use this.” I gave her the small digital recorder.

  She nodded and slipped it into the breast pocket of her blazer.

  “You ready?” I asked.

  She didn’t answer, just rose to her feet and walked out the door.

  Chapter 28

  Lonnie was already waiting for us when we arrived at the Tower. The old shit-eating grin was back. Lonnie was a confrontational type of police officer, never happier than when he was in a “situation,” as he called it, and he looked like he was really looking forward to this one.

  We took the elevator to the top floor and, as we travelled upward, I couldn’t help but remember similar rides of a time now long past, and it was the same when I pushed open the outer door to what had once been the heart of Congressman Gordon “Little Billy” Harper’s empire.

  The décor was different, but the reception desk was the same. Terry Hamlin, Harper’s receptionist, had been replaced by a beautiful young lady.

  Kate, followed by Lonnie, took the lead. She flashed her badge and asked to see Kathryn Greene.

  “Do you have an appointment, Lieutenant?”

  “Please just tell her we’re here.”

  The young lady rose from behind the desk, knocked on the inner door, opened it, and went inside.

  She returned a minute or so later. “Mrs. Greene will see you. Please enter.”

  And enter we did.

  She was standing behind her desk, flanked by two men, one on either side, who stood with their arms folded and their backs to the wall. Her feet were apart; her hands, curled into fists, were knuckles-down on the transparent desktop, causing her to lean forward slightly. She was lovely. Billy must have been proud of her.

  She wasn’t as tall as Kate. I put her at about five foot nine, but she couldn’t have weighed more than 125. Yeah, she was slim, but her figure was full and alluring under the navy business suit. Her dark brown hair was cut very short at the back, almost like a man’s, but the sides were longer, layered and shaped to frame her oval face. Her eyes were brown with long black lashes and accentuated by pale pink eye shadow. The lips were full and the pink lipstick she wore matched the eye shadow.

  “Hello, Harry,” she said, looking up at me through her eyelashes. “I can’t say I’m glad to see you, but I was anxious to meet you. I’ve been hoping to run into you at the club, where I could throw a glass of something special in your face, acid, maybe. But you were never around. Now here you are, and accompanied by the inimitable Kate Gazzara.”

  She looked at Kate and did something with her face. It wasn’t so much a smile as a baring of teeth. “Oh yes,” she said, “I know who you are. I’ve been waiting to meet you too, for a long time. And now here you are. They do say that everything comes to she who waits.” She glanced at Lonnie. “Who’s the suit?”

  For a long time I thought Lonnie was a dumbass, but I was wrong. His apparent stupidity was a persona he’d built for himself over many years. He was deceptively slow, both physically and mentally. The extra weight he’d once carried did indeed slow him down, but not anymore, and those bursts of brilliance he was so famous for were the mere tip of the iceberg.

  “Detective Sergeant Lonnie Guest, at your service ma’am.”

  I almost laughed. Damn, right out of Mayberry.

  “Hmmm,” she said. “So, Harry. What brings you to my world…. Oh, I’m sorry. I should introduce you to my husband: Harry Starke, Jonathan Greene.”

  She looked around at the man standing behind her and to her right.

  I’d already known who he was. I’d seen him talking to my father on several occasions at the club, her too, but I’d never thought anything of it.

  He was sharp. A typical high-dollar defense lawyer. The suit, a weird shade of medium gray, must have cost at least five grand, and with his arms folded the way they were he was able show off a solid gold Rolex Yachtmaster.

  I grinned at him. The vacant look in his eyes was something I was sure he’d cultivated, but I was also sure that his brain was in overdrive.

  “Hello, John,” I said as I gave him the deadeye. He didn’t answer. In fact, he might well have been fro
zen in place. I’d known men like him before: powerful and corrupt. I’ve had to deal with them almost since the day I graduated college. Men like her father, Little Billy Harper, who have the ability to hide the truth, manipulate those they come in contact with, and make people disappear….

  I looked at the other guy. This one was different. His eyes were dead, dark pools devoid of expression, and he was big, six foot two and maybe 250 pounds. A gorilla: muscle—protection—if ever I’d ever seen it.

  She turned, looked at Gorilla, and nodded.

  He took a step toward me.

  “Whoa,” I said, taking a half step back as he reached out to pat me down. “Back off. You don’t touch me unless I invite you to, and that ain’t happening.”

  We stood for a long moment, eyeball to eyeball. It was one of those “he who blinks first, loses” moments. I won.

  He turned and looked at Kathryn, who nodded again, and then he backed away and looked at Kate.

  “Don’t even think about it,” she said, her voice low and threatening. At her side, Lonnie tilted his head and smiled at him, very benignly.

  Gorilla slowly backed away across the room, until he was standing against the wall behind her desk again, then he folded his arms and stared at us.

  “Well, that was entertaining,” Kathryn said dryly. “But I don’t have time to fool with you, Starke, so let’s get on with it, shall we? What do you want?”

  I turned and looked at Kate. She didn’t give me so much as a sideways glance, but she knew.

  “Tell us about Zeus,” she said, “…and Kalliste.”

  The color drained from Kathryn’s face, and she sank slowly into her chair.

  I grabbed two chairs and brought them forward, one for me, one for Kate. Lonnie grabbed another for himself. And so we sat and watched as she… well, she almost panicked.

  “W—what?” she said. Then silence.

  “You heard me the first time.” Kate’s voice was low, threatening. John Greene shifted against the wall.

  Then she seemed to gather new strength. “What the hell are you talking about?” Now she was angry. “Zeus, Kalle—what?”

  “Not good enough, Kathryn,” Kate replied. “You gave it away. We know that both companies are part of one of your father’s enterprises, Nickajack Investments. I’m surprised that’s still going. I’d have thought it would have collapsed by now.”

  Jonathan Greene stepped forward, “My wife will not be answering any more questions. The affairs of the William J. Harper Foundation, which I represent as attorney of record, are confidential. And to answer your question, Lieutenant, I have no idea what you’re talking about either. Now, we have things to do, so please,” he gestured languidly with his right hand toward the door.

  “I see. So that’s how it is,” I said as I rose to my feet. I took a couple of steps toward the open door, then I did the Colombo thing. I stopped, as if I’d had a sudden thought, and turned and looked at her.

  “By the way, Kathryn. How’s your cousin, Israel?” I asked. “Staying on the straight and narrow, I hope. It would be a shame to send him off to join your dad.”

  Again, the color left her face. I smiled and, one behind the other, Lonnie leading, followed by Kate, and finally by me, we filed out through the reception area where, once her office door closed, we all burst out laughing.

  Was it funny? No, not really, but we had what we’d come for, and the look on Kathryn Greene’s face when I mentioned the sheriff was priceless. Now all we had to do was figure out how it all fit together, if at all.

  Still smiling, I looked at Kate, then Lonnie. “Let’s go get some lunch.”

  We grabbed a table at the Flatiron Grill on Walnut Street. Kate had a burger; Lonnie, bless him, settled for a cob salad, and I wasn’t hungry, so I just had coffee.

  “Okay,” I said, once we’d all more or less finished. “So now we know. But does it really matter? How does it affect our case? As far as we know, the Greenes, and the foundation, are clean. Maybe there’s money laundering going on still, but we don’t know that. There’s nothing illegal about Kalliste—that we know of. Maybe Hands is covering up for the Greenes, Kalliste, whatever, but we don’t know that, and we certainly can’t prove it with what we have now.”

  I looked at each of them, but neither of them had any answers. Neither did I. It was going to be a long day. Hell, it was going to be a long weekend.

  Chapter 29

  Jacque was the only one at the office when I walked in. I looked at Bob’s empty desk as I passed, and I had one of those moments. You know the ones, when your heart seems to drop into the pit of your stomach. I shook my head, grabbed some Dark Italian Roast from the Keurig, went to my office, and plonked myself down in one of the easy chairs in front of the fireplace. I felt like crap.

  We need more, I thought. A whole lot more. We need to talk to some of those girls….

  “Jacque,” I called, too lazy to get up.

  The door opened and she came in. “Yes, boss?” she asked sarcastically.

  I just grinned at her. “C’mere. Sit down.”

  She did. She took the easy chair next to me. Looked at me expectantly.

  “So tell me about Wendy,” I said.

  She was immediately on her guard. “Tell you what?”

  “Does she know who you are?”

  There was a long pause, then, “Ye-es.”

  “How much does she know?”

  “What’s going on? Why do you want to know?”

  Hell, I could only be honest with her. “I need to talk to her, about Kalliste, and… well, I need some answers. She’s the quickest and easiest source… sorry, Jacque.”

  “I damn well bet you are,” she snapped. “I asked you not to screw this up for me, Harry.”

  “Okay. Look. You know her, at least a little. If you told her who you are, what you do and… why you met with her last night, do you think she would…. Christ, I don’t know. You tell me. If you think she’d blow up in your face, forget it. We’ll find another way.”

  “I already told her all that. She was not happy, but she appreciated my tellin’ her.” The accent was strong, which meant she was pissed. She jumped to her feet and walked out of the office, slamming the door behind her. I sighed, lay back in my chair, and closed my eyes.

  Life’s a bitch and then…. Damn it!

  Five minutes later, the door opened again and she stuck her head in.

  “A’ll be back. Answer duh damned phones while A’m gone.”

  She was gone for almost an hour. When she walked back into my office, she wasn’t alone.

  “Wendy Tanner, meet my boss, Harry Starke.”

  I rose quickly and shook her hand. To say I was surprised would be more than an understatement. They made a great-looking pair. And Wendy, in the flesh…. No wonder Jacque had fallen for her. And, from the way Wendy looked at her, the attraction was mutual. She truly was a goddess in every sense of the word.

  She was wearing jeans and a pale blue short-sleeve shirt. The long blonde hair, still in ringlets, fell over her shoulders almost to her breasts. She wore no makeup except a hint of pale pink lipstick.

  “Oh my,” I said. “This, I was not expecting.”

  I looked at Jacque. “Wendy has agreed to talk to you. Why I don’t know.” She wasn’t smiling. I wasn’t sure I blamed her.

  “Well, please, sit down. Jacque?”

  “I’m stayin’.”

  I put my hands up.

  The both sat together on the sofa. Jacque, I could tell, was very uncomfortable; Wendy, not so much. She sat with her hands together in her lap, her knees together, feet crossed at the ankles.

  “Wendy,” I began. “I can imagine how difficult this must be for you, and I thank you for it.”

  She nodded. “I know who you are, Mr. Starke. You’re quite famous. I also know that Jacque trusts you, so I trust you too. What do you want to know?”

  “I want to know how Kalliste works, who runs it, and how, but first I want to know
about you. What makes a woman like you do… do… what you do?”

  “You mean why am I a hooker? Oh don’t look so put out, Jacque. It is what it is. I hate it. I don’t do it by choice. I do it because I’m forced to. I’m only thankful that I only have to deal with women… most of the time. Kalliste is a lesbian site. That’s what I am.” She shrugged.

  “How old are you, Wendy?”

  “I’m twenty-seven. And your next question is how I get involved with Kalliste, right?”

  I nodded.

  “At Belle Edmondson, of course. I thought when I graduated four years ago that they would let me go. Hah, that was a wild dream. They still have me firmly under their thumbs.”

  “They?”

  “I’m not entirely sure… the chancellor. She was the one who made me become a member, not that I had a choice. Someone recorded me with another student. It was quite… graphic, shall we say? I am a very active and hungry lover, Mr. Starke. She came to me one day, Chancellor Mason-Jones, and showed me the footage, and then she told me what was going to happen.”

  “Go on,” I said.

  “It’s actually not as bad as you might think. The women are all well-to-do, wealthy, clean, nice-looking… most of them.” She lowered her eyes and looked coyly at Jacque. “And, as I said, I don’t have to deal with crass, uncouth men, and their groping, and their filthy body parts….” She sounded very bitter, and she was holding something back.

  “So,” I said. “Jones coerced you into the system. Who shot the compromising video, do you know?”

  “No, but I can guess. The damned cockroach.”

  “You mean Captain Rösche?”

  “Yes. The son of a bitch was—is—everywhere, during the day, at night, when we were there, when we weren’t. He has master keys to every room. You have no idea how much of my underwear went missing during my four years there.”

  “Who else is involved?”

  “With the blackmail or Kalliste?”

  “Both.”

  “Rösche, for sure. We have minders when we go on dates. Protection, it’s called. His men do that. One of them always accompanies us. Sometimes it’s one of his guards, sometimes it’s a sheriff’s deputy….”