“Just get on with it,” Jeremy said. “What do you want?”
I looked at Spike. “Who helped you rob me?”
“Spike doesn’t know—”
Jeremy’s thin wrist twisted easily behind his back as I guided him first to his knees and then facedown on the floor. I pinned his arm with my knee, then took a zip tie from my pocket. Once I had both his wrists fastened together behind his back, Jeremy began shouting. That prompted me to shove my jacket sleeve into his mouth and hold it there long enough to extricate my arm before properly securing the gag. Sitting on the back of Jeremy’s legs, I caught my breath while linking together a few more zip ties. Spike leaned back in Jeremy’s steno chair and put his feet on the desk. I said, “Show a little respect. It’s his office, after all.”
“It’s just laminate crap,” he said. “My desk will be big old solid wood planks. Not this particleboard shit.”
I smiled. “You mean like wood from an old barn?”
Spike nodded slowly with his eyes closed.
I returned my attention back to Jeremy. “This is for your own good,” I said while fastening Jeremy’s ankles together. “You shouldn’t be conversing with criminals like Spike. Right now he’s sitting at your desk, laughing his ass off.”
Jeremy had lost the will to fight, preferring instead to focus on sucking adequate air through his nostrils.
“I’m not a barbarian, Jeremy. Relax while I chat with Spike and everything will be just fine.” I crawled to the couch opposite the desk then climbed up. “Okay, where were we?”
“Dropping that cop’s name was chickenshit,” Spike said. “But I like your style, Landau. Maybe one day you’ll work for me.”
“Having fun playing gangster?” Spike didn’t appreciate my laughter.
“Gangster! What a joke. It’s business. And a guy like you could make a lot of money in this business. Trust me. I know.”
“To be so cocky at your age, you must have a powerful friend watching your back.”
“I lucked out. So what? I was born into this business. That’s the best way to get in. Why should I go get an MBA when I can learn on the job from pros?”
“MBAs usually don’t hurt as many people on the road to success.”
“Nobody gets hurt that doesn’t deserve it. Not where I work.”
“The ‘innocents’ are unharmed.”
Spike nodded. “Yep. That’s how we work it. If it can possibly be helped, innocents don’t get hurt. That’s the goal.”
Cooper was branching out all right, franchising his business model. Spike must have been expecting me. I kind of admired the punk, even though I didn’t like him. He had a sort of smart-ass charisma I envied.
“Apparently, Margot and that guy on the floor are afraid of something you’ll say.”
“Yep.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I know a lot.”
“This being information about Margot, I’ll betcha.”
Spike grinned.
“You set me up the other night. You double-crossed Margot.”
Spike shrugged. “I made my move.”
“Who hit me on the head?”
“Just a guy needing some easy money. We only wanted to daze you with a thump to the back of the head. A mild concussion at worst. By the way, flashing your gun at the wine bitch there? Pretty amateur.”
“Yeah, I know, but it worked. Golly, I could learn a lot from you. Do you know why I’m here?” Spike shrugged again. I took out a picture of Tanya. “You recognize this girl?”
“Yeah.”
“You know where she is?”
“Nope.”
“You know where Doug is?”
“Nope.”
“He’s dead,” I told him. “He died last month in a car crash in New Mexico.”
“No shit? What was he doing there?”
“I was hoping you’d tell me. Anyway, I was hired to find Tanya.”
Spike perked up. “Find her? She’s missing?”
“For quite a while now. That’s the only reason I’m here. Anything I find out on the way, I don’t give a damn. You’re building a little empire of thugs? Good for you, but I don’t really care.” I leaned down toward Jeremy. “You hear that, Jeremy? I don’t care!”
“What makes you think I know anything about Tanya?” Spike said.
“Well, you know about Margot’s stolen wine. I’ll bet you know Doug stole it. Tanya and Doug ran off together. Doug’s dead. You have the wine.”
Spike put his feet back on the floor. “You almost got it right. I took the wine using Doug’s card—”
“Ahhh! You double-crossed Doug
first,
then set up Margot! I never thought of that. But—do you know what the wine is worth?”
“A lot more than the five grand I took off of you.”
“What a greedy piece of shit you are! To think Margot worried about your welfare, and insisted I deliver the cash. She had complete trust in you—”
“I didn’t think Margot would pay full price for her own wine, so I thought I’d squeeze a little money out of her before suckering in the big bucks. I didn’t have to sell it back to her, after all.”
I thought about how Jeremy fit into the story. What did Jeremy have that Spike needed?
“What do you know about wine, Spike?”
He smiled. “I don’t know shit.”
I knelt beside Jeremy. “I’m going to take my jacket out of your mouth. You have no reason to shout because we’re all getting along. Okay?”
Jeremy grunted. I liberated my sleeve. “Cut me loose,” he said. “Scissors in top drawer.”
Spike tossed them on the floor in front of the desk. “Soon,” I said. “Spike knows you through Margot. He must’ve made you an offer you couldn’t refuse.”
Jeremy said, “What does this have to do with that woman you’re looking for?”
“I don’t know. But while we’re all here together, I might as well find out as much as I can.”
“How do I know you won’t go to the police?”
“And tell them what?”
Jeremy groaned. I cut him free. “Y—you said you knew what we were up to—”
Spike cut in. “And when he lifted his hand you ran like a scared little girl. He played you.”
I said, “I guess the cops might care if I could get them to question you about murder or kidnapping. But I don’t think I have quite enough info.”
“Murder?” Jeremy said. “You’re crazy!”
“Shut up,” Spike said. “What are you talking about, Landau?”
“Guys, chill. I’m sure the surveillance video will show Spike arriving then leaving with ten cases of wine worth a ton of cash. But dead men can’t press charges. And although Tanya’s body hasn’t been found, the motive is pretty obvious, don’t you think?”
“You’re making up stories,” Jeremy said. “I don’t know anything about murder.”
“But Spike might, which could make you an accessory. Are you connected enough to beat a murder rap, Spike?”
Spike had sobered somewhat. “You got nothing, Landau. But what the hell, I’ll tell you. When Doug found out Jeremy was bangin’ Margot—”
“Shut up!”
“It doesn’t matter!” Spike shouted. “We didn’t
kill
anybody, remember?”
“He’s right,” I said. “I’m just looking for the girl.”
Spike continued, “When Doug found out about Margot and Jeremy, he became really pussy-whipped on Tanya. I’m thinking when I ripped off his wine and she realized she wasn’t gonna get the big payoff, she probably dumped him.”
Margot had shared some of his theory. I said to Jeremy, “You still screwing the woman you’re screwing over?”
“I don’t want to talk anymore.”
“You’re right. I don’t need to know what your plans are for Margot or her wine—unless it has something to do with Tanya Maggio.”
“It doesn’t.”
“You better hope not. Because if the cops stumble over some kind of racket while looking for a body, you’re both in it up to your necks. I don’t care who did the killing.”
Jeremy got to his feet. “See? He’s going to the cops!”
Spike deftly rolled a quarter back and forth over his knuckles. He looked at me then back to his knuckles.
“Jeremy, you are really annoying me,” I said. “The police aren’t paying me and I don’t give a damn about rich people paying big bucks for fake wine.”
“Fake wine?” Jeremy said, laughing. He almost looked happy. “Now you’re definitely making stuff up. I’m not involved in anything—except what you know.” He looked at Spike.
“Sorry, Jeremy,” Spike said, “but you knew Margot’s wine hadn’t been verified as authentic.”
“But I wasn’t involved! I had nothing to do with it!”
I said, “It’s not just about stealing expensive wine and selling it. It’s also about selling fake wine back to the victim. Wine counterfeiting is a burgeoning industry. Right?”
Spike said, “Landau doesn’t care that you knew where I was keeping the wine, and that you told me how to store it and that you would’ve gotten more money—”
“And I would’ve told you to go to hell! Even if I was only
suspected
of being involved in something like that, I would be ruined! All my years of training, all my accomplishments, worthless!” Jeremy sat shell-shocked on the other end of the couch. Spike continued rolling the quarter over his knuckles.
“You’re going to cut Jeremy loose, right?” I said. “As long as he keeps his mouth shut? You’re not going to pull some blood-in–blood-out crap as if you were a real Mafioso, right?”
Spike frowned. “I’m a businessman, not a terrorist.”
“What about Daddy at corporate?”
Spike cocked his head. “What are you talking about?”
“I just spent two days in Irvington. All these bruises on my face? I barely escaped with my life. Don’t pretend Cooper didn’t warn you.”
Spike gave me a long, hard look, then smiled. “Nope. That’s not his style. He’s into testing people, to see if they got what it takes. He’d let me deal with whatever came my way. No micro-managing. I gotta know—how did you figure it out?”
“An educated guess that you just confirmed. Lieutenant
Landon
Cooper. I know your first name is Landon, as in
Landon
Spike McFadden. But I won’t tell anyone. You and Cooper both like desks of old wooden planks, and you both have this idea that corruption is cool as long as
innocents
don’t get hurt. How sweet that your deadbeat father is now your mentor. Now tell me something. How did you find Margot as a mark?”
Spike rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Tanya told me.”
Chapter 31
Spike showed remarkable poise for a junior outlaw barely beyond a teenager. His cover having been effectively blown, he showed no panic or worry of consequences. Was his coolness a reflection of Cooper’s backing or a sign of calculated intelligence?
“You have a wine tasting to prepare for, don’t you?” I said to Jeremy.
He gave me a vacant look, stood, then left the room. Spike put his feet back on the desk.
I said, “So you’re going to hang around and talk to me more?”
“If you want.”
“What do
you
want?” I asked him.
“I want you to work for me one day.”
“You think Jeremy’s life would be worth two cents in Irvington knowing what you just told him? Knowing his state of mind?”
“All exaggerations. That whole thing about escaping with your life? C’mon.”
“What do you know about Daddy, Spike? Just a nice guy who plays rough? You ever met Ahmet?”
“He’s a goon, so what? But they don’t clip people. Why would they?”
“Avoiding twenty years for fraud might get a few people clipped. When did Tanya tip you off about Margot’s wine?”
“I don’t know. Last fall sometime.”
“You worked at Doug’s pub. Tanya shows up looking for a job. Hard to believe it was just a coincidence. I’m thinking maybe you had been in touch with Tanya. Did you know she was moving here?”
“I didn’t know shit about her.”
“Your daddy told me he only knew Tanya from a distance. And I suppose you didn’t know anything about Eddie either.”
“I grew up
here,
Landau, not that piss-pot Irvington. Cooper talked about Eddie and sometimes mentioned Tanya. I got to know Tanya after she arrived, but I never met Eddie.”
This confused me. “Eddie never stopped by? Just to ask about Tanya?”
“Eddie Byrne’s here, in Chicago?”
“You didn’t know?”
“Why would I?”
“Because Cooper knows Eddie came here to find Tanya! Eddie
hired
me. That’s the reason
I’m
here.” Spike had no comment. I said, “I’m going to assume Daddy—”
“Stop the
daddy
shit or we’re done talking.”
“Sorry. Cooper knew Tanya at least well enough to direct her to where you worked. Didn’t that make you think she had some kind of relationship with Cooper?”
Spike chewed on my words a bit. “Yeah, he told me she was coming. But all he said was that Tanya was Eddie’s girlfriend. Eddie is Cooper’s boy, you know. He probably knows all about your Irvington visit.”
“Probably. But he paid me in advance, so I win no matter what. Why would Cooper lie about knowing Tanya?”
“You want me to call him and ask?” Spike took his cellphone off his belt and held it up as if threatening me.
“All of a sudden, you’re a stupid kid. Great idea! Go ahead.” Spike contemplated his next move. I don’t think he liked me anymore. I said, “Why are you really talking to me? And don’t say because you like me.”
He returned the phone to his belt. “I like Tanya.”
“So you knew her pretty well?”
“Eventually, I got to know her. I live in a big apartment Cooper rents. She moved in for a while.”
“You had a thing for her?”
“Everyone did.”
“What’s Cooper hiding?”
Neither of us spoke until Spike said, “Let’s get something straight about my old man and me.”
“Please straighten me out.”
“First of all, I don’t work for
anybody
. Got it? This is about setting up
my
business. Making money. Yeah, he’s helping me, but it’s just an investment for him. I never had a dad. He told me he feels some responsibility. So he wants to help—help his guilty conscience probably. But what do I care? If he’ll help me make it in business, I’ll take it.”
“You and Cooper are all about career, opportunity, networking—I get it. Now what about Tanya? You think she might have dumped Doug and then he lost it? Maybe choked her to death then dumped her body before splattering his torso all over the dash of that nice BMW when it hit the tree?”