Act Normal, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 9

by William Manchee

feel."

  Bart raised his eyebrows but didn't respond. I got up and went to Stan's office. He wasn't in yet, so I asked Maria to tell him to come see me when he made it in. She said she would. While I was waiting I started flipping through a dozen or so newspaper stories Jodie had dug up about the rivalry between Almatech and TI for the stealth technology contract. The reports were all pretty general and didn't provide much useful information, but I did notice that there was one reporter, Simon Barber, who seemed to know a lot about the competition between the two companies. I decided it wouldn't hurt to talk to him. I figured he might have information he didn't put in his stories for one reason or another. Maria got him on the telephone for me.

  "Hi. Mr. Barber. Thank you for talking to me."

  "Is this the Paula Waters, the attorney?"

  "Yes, with Turner and Waters. I'm defending Walter Stanley in—"

  "The Brown family murders. Wow! So, how can I help you?"

  "Well, this is strictly off the record, okay?"

  "Off the record? he replied tentatively. "How can I agree to that without knowing something about what you want to talk about?"

  "Fair enough. As you can guess, we're trying to come up with alternative theories as to who might have killed the Brown family."

  "Okay, that makes sense."

  "I've seen some of your stories about the TI and Almatech competition for secret government contracts, and it seems you are the expert on that topic."

  "Not everyone would agree with you, but let's assume that's true. Why are you interested in TI and Almatech?"

  "Before I answer that, let's come to an understanding, okay?"

  "All right."

  "I've been investigating a possible link between Almatech and the Brown murders. I know it may seem farfetched that Almatech would be involved, but I have some evidence to suggest it. If you agree to help me with our investigation and keep it off the record, I'll give you the exclusive story should we be able to prove that Almatech was involved. I just don't want Almatech finding out that we're taking a close look at them."

  "That sounds intriguing, but what you've told me already would make a nice story.” Anger began to well up in me, but Barber didn't let it come to a boil; he hastened to add, "But, you'd deny it and then where would I be? . . . Okay, count me in."

  "Good. Hopefully I'll be able to prove what I suspect and get my client off and you'll get a Pulitzer."

  He chuckled. "I like you, Paula. You think big."

  Barber agreed to meet me the following day for lunch. There was far too much to talk about by telephone. When I got off the phone there was a note from Maria that Stan had made it in. I got up and immediately went to his office. He was sipping a cup of coffee when I walked in.

  "Stan. Good morning," I said.

  He put his cup down and smiled. "Hi. How you doing?"

  I sat down across the desk from him and replied, "Not too well, actually. I woke up this morning and realized the Brown murder trial was coming up on us fast."

  Stan nodded sympathetically. "You could probably get a continuance."

  "Yeah. I could, but I wonder if that wouldn't just help the prosecution shore up their case. I like going to trial quickly. It usually favors the defense."

  "True. So, how is your defense coming?"

  I brought Stan up-to-date on our theory that T. Robert Stout and Almatech wanted to torpedo TI's stealth technology contract with the government. He liked the theory and said it would play well with the jury and the press.

  "So, you need some evidence that Stout ordered Brown's murder," he said.

  “That would help,” I said. “We’ve got some circumstantial evidence, but it’s not enough.”

  “Have you checked into terminated employees? A lot of times, after an employee has left a company, they’re not as protective of their employer’s secrets. Sometimes they're even eager to give up the dirt on them, particularly if they've been fired or mistreated."

  "Yeah. I think Paul’s already talked to a few ex-employees. That’s how we found out the contract involved stealth technology.”

  “Hmm. Did Brown have a secretary or personal assistant? They usually know what’s going on. You might want to talk to Mrs. Brown’s friends too. Women are usually more open than men. She’s probably got a friend who she’s spilled her guts to. Chester Brown probably knew who wanted him dead and told his wife. I doubt she’d keep that kind of information to herself. Try her parents too. They may have heard something.”

  “True. I’ll look into that,” I said feeling a little stupid since these were things I should have thought of on my own.

  “Has anyone looked at Brown’s computer or checked his email?” Stan asked.

  “The police did that already and I’m supposed to have access to it in a week or two when their experts are through.”

  “Good. You might find something there. Did Brown have a calendar or diary?”

  “Not to my knowledge.”

  “What about other competitors? They’ll have someone watching TI and I’m sure would share any information they’d gather if it would help bring down one of their competitors.”

  “Maybe. I’m not sure how cooperative they’d be.”

  Stan sighed. “Well, it’s just a thought. . . .What about General Accounting Office?”

  “Huh?” I said.

  “Don’t they have to keep track of government contractors?”

  “Ah. I don’t know. Do they?”

  “I think so. You may want to find out how they were keeping track of things. There may be reports that Almatech and TI had to provide them each month. No telling what you’d find in those reports.”

  "Thank you, Stan,” I said standing up. “I knew you'd have some good ideas."

  Stan smiled. "I'll give your case some more thought tonight," he said. "If I think of anything else, I'll let you know."

  "Great," I said and left.

  Stan’s long list of ideas for getting more evidence left me feeling a little overwhelmed. How could I possibly do all those things? They were all good ideas but I’d never have time to follow through with them. I’d have to assign some to Paul and others to Jodie. Despite the enormity of the task ahead, I felt a little hope for the first time in weeks. Stan always managed to give me hope when I was feeling depressed and discouraged. Now, all I had to do was plow ahead and hope I’d stumble onto more evidence that would incriminate Stout and his security team.

 

  33

  Civil War

  Stan Turner

  My relationship with Tehra since Hillsboro had been strained, to say the least. Everything had been in such turmoil since that night, I hadn't had an opportunity to sit down with her and sort things out. I had put off helping her move into her new apartment too, but the time had come when it could be put off no longer. I met her at her hotel on Saturday morning for breakfast. Our plan was to eat and then go shopping for furniture and appliances. In the afternoon we'd move her things from the hotel into the apartment and put everything away. Some of the furniture we purchased would be delivered that same day, but most of it would come on Monday or Tuesday; but she could live in the apartment without it until it arrived.

  She was sitting on a chair in the lobby when I got there. We had made it a practice to leave our tracking chips out of earshot when we were together. Mine was in the car. I assumed hers was still in her room. I walked up to her. "Good morning," I said cheerfully.

  She stood up. "Oh. Hi. You made it."

  "Yes. I promised you I'd help you move, so here I am."

  "You didn't have a problem with Rebekah, did you?"

  I shrugged. "Well, a little. She didn't like the idea of me helping you move in, but she’s beginning to trust me again."

  I couldn't tell Tehra that I'd told Rebekah about the aliens and that Peter was alive. I wasn't sure yet if I could trust her. I thought I could, but the consequences of being wrong were too great to take any chances.

  "You told her you were
helping me move?" Tehra asked seeming shocked.

  I sighed. "Yeah, lying to her wasn't working. I figured I just better tell her the truth. It's not a crime to help your legal intern move into a new apartment."

  "But, I thought she was the jealous type."

  "I didn’t say she was happy about it, but we've been through a lot together, so she cuts me a little slack now and then."

  We went into the restaurant, leisurely filled our plates at the buffet, and took them to a corner booth to eat. A young waitress brought us coffee. Tehra dug in immediately and had cleaned her plate before I was half finished.

  "You were hungry," I observed.

  She laughed. "Yeah, I'm eating for two now."

  My mouth dropped. "Two? You're pregnant?"

  She smiled broadly. "Yes, isn't it wonderful?"

  I just looked at her in shock. "But, I don't remember—"

  "Yes, that's one of the side effects of the venom. It gives you a nice buzz but it also blocks any memory of the copulation."

  I swallowed hard. "You knew I didn't want to have sex with you."

  "What do you mean? You kissed me."

  "But that didn't mean I wanted you to have my child."

  She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I thought the kiss meant you would give me a child. I was so happy I didn't think to ask for clarification."

  I took a deep breath. "You're right. Kissing you was a mistake. I don't know what I was thinking."

  "You weren't thinking. You were reacting to your feelings."

  My head was starting to throb. I rubbed my temples not knowing what else to do. What had I done? The worst part of it all was that I had no memory of it. The closest I had to a memory was the dream. How could this have happened? Did Mo and Kulchz