Accessory: The Scarab Beetle Series: #4 (The Academy) (26 page)

“You’re telling me you’re...what? Twenty-six?”

Was he basing his guess off of my ten year difference comment? He’d thought I was sixteen? “I think the glasses throw everyone off,” I said. I touched the corner of them, trying to adjust them. “Makes it harder to be taken seriously when I’m trying to give an investment report.”

“You handle investments?” he asked. “What kind?”

I pressed my lips together. Wasn’t I supposed to get familiar with him? I was accidentally jumping ahead. I didn’t know what else to talk about. “To be honest, I haven’t done much of anything since Mr. Murdock disappeared. I was invited to this shindig months ago and I’m not even sure if I’m supposed to be here now.”

This seemed to pique his interest. “You worked directly with him?”

I shifted in the loafers and then looked off toward Axel, who was watching me. I needed to get my way out of this. His questions made me uncomfortable and I was walking into dangerous territory. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know why I’m talking. I should get going. My boyfriend might be looking for me.” I flashed a smile. “Sorry. Won’t bother you.”

I started to walk away when Mr. Smith reached out and touched my elbow, drawing my attention. “Now hold on here a minute,” he said. “So you
did
work directly under him?”

My desire to get away and out of the conversation might have made him even more curious. If I didn’t want to talk about it, he might have thought it was a secret. He asked a dangerous question. My reaction was to nod and then it was too late to back down.

“And in investments,” he said. His thin lips twisted into a strange smile. “Now, maybe you and I can talk.”

“I don’t know if I can,” I said. “Like I said, I was going to get out.” Too far. I was taking this too far.

“Because Mr. Murdock owed me a lot of money.” He pointed to his own chest with the glass. “He had me invest a whole hell of a lot. Pretty much every spare dime. I want out.”

“Invest in what?” I asked. “Did he say?”

He shrugged. “You tell me. You’re under him. He didn’t give details. Since he’s disappeared, I thought I was going to have to take a loss. A big one.” He tilted his head, squinting at me. “Why haven’t I seen you around before?”

I didn’t have an answer and I was working myself into a corner. I didn’t know anything about investments. I was setting myself up in ways I wasn’t prepared to deal with. I waved my hand dismissively. “Look, I don’t know if I can help at all. I’m not really supposed to talk about it.”

“Listen, little girl,” he said, squinting at me. “You approached me. Mr. Murdock kept his broker away from us and now you’re telling me you’re it. Or did I not hear you correctly?”

“Excuse me,” Axel’s voice came from right behind me. I turned just as he slipped an arm around my shoulders, hanging onto me. He reached around, picking up one of the orange juice flutes and then held it. “Don’t mean to interrupt.”

My heart was beating a mile a minute. I was grateful Axel was coming in for the rescue, but Mr. Smith did not look happy at all.

“You did,” Mr. Smith said. He put the whiskey to his lips and took a long sip. He licked his lips after. “Are you going to tell me to keep my hands off?”

“I know I don’t have to,” Axel said with a small smile. “She can take care of herself. No, I just missed her.” He hugged me closer and then put his nose to my hair. He spoke loud enough for Mr. Smith to hear. “Why don’t we head inside? I want to check out the amenities.”

Thank goodness. I was in too deep and I needed a break. What had I been thinking? Investor or broker or whatever? Working closely with Mr. Murdock? I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t prepared anything. That was crazy. What was going to happen when someone...maybe Mr. Murdock’s true broker, whoever that was, took one look at me and called me out for the fraud I was? And I was talking to someone with a gun in his pants. I was going to get shot at again at this rate.

I walked away with Axel, although I still felt the heat of Mr. Smith’s eyes on my back. He either hadn’t believed one word I’d said, or if he did, I might be a link to his missing money. Money I didn’t know how to find.

That meant he didn’t know where the money was. He still might not have done anything wrong at all, just made a bad decision in giving money to Mr. Murdock. It could have been personal money. I hadn’t proved anything. Only that Mr. Murdock had taken money from him to invest and wasn’t around to pay him back his investment. And that there was a fund manager broker person.

A fund manager Mr. Murdock kept secret.

Wait.

When Axel and I were in the downstairs lobby, we took to the stairs and hurried along. Axel pulled me up to the third floor and into a room marked Study. Inside, it was just an office with a small bookshelf holding dictionaries and encyclopedias. There was a desk against one wall, not much space, but it was private.

Axel put his back against the door after he closed it. His chest lifted and fell with his heavy breathing after we’d hurried up the stairs. “Are you okay?” he asked. “You looked scared.”

“I don’t know,” I said, catching my breath and thinking of what Mr. Smith had said. I paced in the room, raising the static electricity in me by running the soles of the loafers against the carpet. “No. No, we’re not okay.”

“Why?” He moved to me and grasped my arms into his hands, causing a spark at his initial touch. He ignored it and held strong as he faced me. “Kayli, what did he say?”

Mr. Smith had invested with Mr. Murdock. There’s a chance Mr. Murdock had done the same with other people. Wherever they got the money from, they didn’t have it now. The pieces clicked together. “We can’t do plan C or D or E,” I said in a rush. “Whatever it was.”

“Why?”

“Because Mr. Murdock’s already done it. He’s already got all the money. They don’t have any to give to us because it’s gone.”

JUST GETTING STARTED

S
ilence filled the study after I’d spoken. I was considering what I’d said, but it made perfect sense to me.

“That’s ridiculous,” Axel said eventually. He still held on to my arms. “How do you figure that out in five minutes of talking to one person?”

“Old Mr. Murdock got money from Mr. Smith to join in on investments. Mr. Smith is looking to retire. He wants out.”

“So what makes you think old Mr. Murdock beat us to the punch?” Axel asked. “He’s just one person.”

“Because Mr. Smith now thinks I worked as Mr. Murdock’s fund manager. Selectively. I didn’t mean to lead him to that conclusion, but he kept pushing and he kept talking so I was letting it continue. He was adamant then that he wanted out. I’m guessing he wants me to locate his money and get it back to him.”

“So?”

“Is he that clueless?” Blake said in my ear. “Darling, you’re brilliant.”

I couldn’t respond to that. Instead, I focused on Axel’s dark eyes and when those were too stormy to look at steadily, I looked at the dark strand of hair now stuck behind his ear. “If Mr. Smith had invested in a normal way, he would have gone to...an accountant or whatever? Why would he need one fund manager he’d never seen before who claims to work with only Mr. Murdock?”

Axel released me slowly and then turned in the small space, looking at the bookshelf. His white pants swished a little as he moved. “That might account for some of those secret numbers. He was investing their money. That’s if he got to the rest of them.”

“But investing into what?” I asked. “And does that mean some people individually took money from Nightingale to invest with Mr. Murdock? Or did Mr. Murdock do that himself and this is their personal money on top of that?”

“If Mr. Smith has money that went to Mr. Murdock,” Blake said in my ear, although softer so it was harder to hear him, “and he knew it was secret, then he knew either the investments weren’t legal or he had money to clean.”

“We don’t know the whole story,” Axel said. “We need to step back and just try to get as much information as we can. We can’t make assumptions too soon.”

“I might have messed up already,” I said. “If he thinks I’m a fund manager of some sort...I don't even know what I’m talking about. I was just trying to get friendly and now he thinks I worked with Mr. Murdock directly. I told him I was the one investing their money. He’s going to be looking to me to help him get the money back.”

“We won’t be able to run off like this every time you feel flustered.” Axel straightened. “I’ll have to take the lead for now.”

“You can’t,” I said. “How is it going to look if all of a sudden you’re talking about investments and I’m not? Mr. Smith will wonder why we changed who was who. As it is now, I’m going to have to prove who I say I am. I’ve dug myself into a hole.”

“No,” Blake said. “You’ve done a good job, Kayli. Don’t make any more moves yet. Gather more information now and wait. Try not to talk to Mr. Smith again, but we should find out who he talks to and Doyle will listen to him. See if he spreads the word about who you are. Now I have to go quiet.”

Axel tilted his head, tapping at his ear. He must have Corey telling him something. “Tara Wayward is coming on board now.”

“I don’t know if I can handle any more right now. It’ll become too obvious if I’m doing all the approaching.” I shifted the glasses higher on my nose. “And apparently I look like I’m sixteen. Some of them might not talk to me.”

“I might need to take the lead with Tara.” He sighed. “We can’t stop her from talking to Mr. Smith.” He turned toward the door, his hands curled into fists. “If you’ve claimed to be Mr. Murdock’s fund manager, then we need to get you to continue that role.”

“I don’t know if he believes me,” I said. “At least not completely.”

“Well, we’re going to have to make him believe.” He turned, his eyes a storm, but different now. Sparking. Calculating. He fiddled with his ear again. “Corey, have Avery start spreading rumors about Kaylie being Murdock’s personal fund manager. And we need an ID for Kayli. Something clean, untraceable. She needs to look innocent on a file but she a reputation and educational background, too. Maybe an MBA or accounting. Reliable sources.”

“Blake,” I said.

“Busy,” Blake whispered.

“Huh?” Axel asked.

I pressed my lips together. I was pushing my luck with this, but I was sure of this plan now. “Blake has a reputation,” I said. “He helps people out. He’d have the references and resources to create a background for me.”

Axel tilted his head, frowning. “We could pull it off,” he said.

“Do you have time? As in this afternoon?”

Axel shifted on his feet, unsure. “We can do it.”

“I can be the fund manager,” I said, “but if we’re going to make anyone believe I am who I’ve claimed, then I need at least one person who can make them believe it. Blake is right here on the ship and can vouch for me, and probably knows a few of the people coming onboard, or at least knows the right people to refer them to. You can’t do it because you’re my boyfriend. It wouldn’t be believable coming from you.”

Axel’s mouth flickered the smallest of smiles at this. “Thanks,” he said. “This is getting more dangerous. It might be better if we switch roles, though. I don’t like it. It might not be too late.”

I lifted my hands in the air. “Axel!” I said, exasperated. “I can’t magically change what I’ve already said. It is what it is. We can either run with it or I have to bail on this now and figure out another plan. You can’t go in with Mr. Smith as another broker, or he’s going to think something’s off. He’s already talking, giving us information. We’ve got a lead if we can run with it.”

He touched his brow, rubbing, thinking. “We need more security with you now,” he said. “Brandon and Corey are going to have to run in and out and be very close.” He tilted his head slightly. “No, Corey, we’re fine right now. Hang on a second.”

“Ugh,” Blake said and then gasped in my ear. I heard a
thunk
.

“Blake?” I asked quietly.

Nothing.

“Blake?” I said louder.

“What?” Axel asked.

There was a faint whisper. I put a hand out to Axel, a gesture of silence, and then covered my open ear so I could concentrate. “Blake? Say it again. Are you okay?”

“Fourth floor day room,” he said, quiet, gasping.

Alarm struck through me, right into my bones. Blake was in trouble.

I barreled right at Axel, who was blocking the door. “What’s going on?”

“We need to get to Blake,” I said. Panic forced adrenaline through my veins. I couldn’t hear anything now except for muffled movement. Something was very wrong. “He’s hurt. Or something.” My stomach tightened. Maybe the nausea had been stress, because I was totally freaking out.

Axel hesitated, reaching back to fiddle with the door handle. “We should get Corey or Raven...”

How could he just stand there? If any one of them were hurt, he’d never hesitate like this. I didn’t know what was wrong with Blake and who knew where Raven or Corey was and how long that would take to get them to go. We were close. “Axel!” I cried. “Get away from that door or I’ll rip you apart.” We didn’t have time for his indecision.

Axel’s head rocked back, but his hand shifted and he opened the door.

I didn’t look back. I bolted down the hallway, walking when I came to hallways where there might be other people. Axel followed by my side, quiet, my shadow. No more protesting. He must have caught on to how serious the situation was.

My stomach continued to twist the whole way, but the medicine must have still been kicking in, as nausea was kept to a minimum.

I followed one of the maps until we were on the fourth floor. I hurried, scuffling as well as I could with my badly-fitting loafers. I found a door marked Day Room and went for the handle.

“Wait,” Axel said. He pushed me out of the way, and then put his ear to the door.

“Axel,” I said. “You...”

“You don’t know who might be in there,” he said. He put his finger to his lips. And then smiled widely, and started to laugh before he opened the door. “And then I said to him...I said...”

He was playing the tourist. I gritted my teeth and forced a smile.