Authors: Mell; Corcoran
Mia Longo had little else of value to tell them between her sobbing hysteria, belligerent rants and compulsive flirting with Dillon. Once Lou got past her revulsion of the girl, she was a little fascinated at her complete and utter lack of any manners. The girl was the definition of a skank.
They finished up with Longo by lunch time. Lou was in a particularly good mood when the Deputies hauled her off to be booked for assaulting a peace officer and resisting arrest. She was in such a good mood she offered to buy Dillon, Bronx, and Johnson all burgers and milkshakes. They grabbed food and sat in West Hollywood park, across from the station and recounted the morning with great detail and colorful embellishment. Aside from the one name offered up by Longo, Hunny Trainer, they were no closer to a clue on who bashed in Gerald Griffen’s brains, but they were having a good day none the less.
After lunch, they hit things hard, going through every scrap of paper, phone records, personal and business financials. A search through court records showed more than a dozen lawsuits had been filed over the past several years against LMT Talent Management, wholly owned by Gerald Griffen. The various causes of action were breach of contract, misrepresentation, misappropriation of funds and fraud. What was remarkable is how the guy had ever got these people to sign his contract. Basically how it worked was whatever contract his actors entered into with whatever studio, a clause required that all payment be made to LMT. He had full rights to deposit their checks into LMT accounts and would turn around and issue his client a check as a sub-contractor. Griffen’s client got whatever he decided after he took his cut off the top and after expenses, administrative fees, anything he could cook up to make his portion the lion’s share. End of the year he shipped them a ten-ninety-nine, but so would the production company. That was the kicker. The Internal Revenue Service was going after the clients for the whole nut twice. A pretty nice racket if you could get a client base that was stupid enough to go for it. Gerald Griffen had apparently hit the mother load.
While their suspect pool had gotten even larger during their paper dig, they at least had a list of names to start working from, Hunny Trainer being at the top. With the help of a couple of deputies, they had done checks on a good chunk of them to weed out any who had been incarcerated, deceased, or otherwise excludable at the time of Griffen’s murder. They still had dozens of names to work on, and it looked like a lot of them were affiliated with Spank Me productions. Lou and Dillon decided that they would do as much desk jockeying as they could before they hit the pavement. They were also waiting for a call from Caroline to find out when she would be getting to Griffen’s autopsy. No sense in showing up there before she got to him.
The techs had finished going through the computers by mid afternoon. They found some emails that threatened Griffen with various forms of bodily harm, but only a few they flagged as suspicious. After deeper analysis, the techs found that the emails in question had been sent anonymously. It was going to take a little more tech power to trace it down, and Lou knew just where to get some. She thought about going over Vinny’s head and going straight to her Captain since he was in the loop with her special resources. Instead, she dialed Vinny knowing she needed to figure out how to work with him as her immediate superior rather than avoid him. She just hated fibbing to him, even if it was for his own good.
“What’s up kiddo?” Vinny’s chipper voice answered the phone.
“Hey, boss!” She grinned, getting a kick out of calling him that.
“Running into a little hiccup on tracing the source of an email.”
“And you think I can help, how?” He asked.
“I’m thinking we could use our friends at Aegis International’s help on this.” Lou was really grateful that Vinny had used Niko’s help on their last case together. It wouldn’t necessarily be suspicious for her to suggest it again. “They have far superior tools than our guy has, and this might be a way to our only solid lead.”
Vinny was quiet for a moment, which made Lou nervous. “Our guys hitting a dead end?”
“Brick wall.” She told him. “There are a few emails that read as far different from the other threatening trash talk, but our techs say someone used some pretty sophisticated tools to keep their identity blank.”
“Right.” He paused another moment before continuing. “Give me a few minutes to check on something. I’ll call you back.”
Vinny hung up before Lou could ask what he was up to and it made her a little uneasy. Before she could read too far into it, her phone beeped. It was a text message from Caroline letting her know that she had just finished Gerald Griffen’s autopsy and that they could come by anytime. With that, she and Dillon packed up and headed out. They were just crossing Highland Avenue when Dillon’s car began to bark.
“That’s you.” He informed her.
“What’s me?” Lou asked.
“Your phone!” Dillon laughed as the barking continued. “That’s your ringer in my car, answer it!” Lou scrambled to look for her phone, but Dillon just laughed and answered via his steering wheel. “Lou’s phone, you’re on speaker.”
“Cole?” Vinny’s voice echoed through the SUV.
“Yes, Lieutenant, it’s me.” Dillon couldn’t stop laughing at Lou still looking for her phone. “I paired Lou’s phone with my car since I drive all the time. She’s here.”
“Smart idea! Wish I would have had that option in my car. Lou?” Vinny yelled.
“I’m right here! I can hear you! Don’t yell at me!” Lou swatted Dillon on the shoulder. “And you stop laughing at me!”
“I’m not laughing at you.” Vinny quieted his voice.
“Not you, Dillon keeps laughing at me.” She secured her phone in her jacket pocket. “What’s up?”
“I got approval to list Aegis as a consulting agency. They have all of the proper credentials and, I get the feeling we may be using them again in the future.” Vinny paused and thanked someone for something. “Sorry, just got copies of the tech’s report. Anyway, give your contact a call and see if they are willing and we can make it official.”
“You are a genius, Vinny!” Lou couldn’t believe her luck. “I’ll call right away and let you know what they say.”
“Do that and if they are on board, get their fax number. I’ll have the paperwork sent over so we can get all the formalities out of the way.” Vinny instructed. “I just got all of the forms right this second. I’ll fill in what I can from your pal’s business card he gave me.”
“I’ll call as soon as we hang up.” Lou waited for Vinny to respond, but it appeared he already hung up. “Vinny?”
“He is a character.” Dillon chuckled.
“That’s a fact.” Lou grinned. “Man, what luck is that?”
“What?” Dillon wasn’t sure what she was referring to.
“I was trying to figure out how I’m going to justify bringing Aegis back into things all the time.” Lou explained. “Low and behold, Vinny brings them in the loop for me!”
“Why would you have to bring them in all the time?” Dillon asked.
“What am I going to do?” Lou gave him an annoyed look. “Say, Oh hey Vinny, I’ll just use my super secret Principate powers to trace an email better than the NSA or the CIA.”
“Yeah, okay I see your dilemma now.” Dillon conceded. “That does solve that problem. Provided our Dom is alright with it.”
Lou gave him another annoyed look. “The man let us use one of his bazillion dollar helicopters to prove a theory, on the record. I highly doubt he will mind his firm listed as a consulting agency.”
Dillon nodded. “I bet they consult with a lot of governmental agencies.”
“Shouldn’t you know that?” Lou wondered.
“How would I know that?” Dillon seemed a little defensive.
“Well, you have been Sanguinostri for a while now, and I mean full blooded, no pun intended.” Lou tried to explain her logic.
“Lou, before I left Maryland, the extent of my Sanguinostri exposure was Abby.” Dillon informed her. “Yuri helped me relocate to Washington and set up my papers for the Sheriff’s Department up there. Connor came in every two weeks and trained me, then Yuri again, but that was it. I didn’t question Abby’s motives; I was just grateful to be alive. So if you think I have some automatic knowledge, or an in with the Aegis, I don’t. Connor and Yuri are my superiors, I am just a soldier, so to speak.”
Lou had always intended on asking him more about his past and his transition, but there hadn’t been an opportunity to do so. “Sorry, I guess this is still all new to me, so I just assumed.”
“I understand.” He grinned at her. “Until Abby explained things to me after I got the job, that is, I kinda had the same assumption about you.”
“Really?” Lou was very surprised at that. “My general state of disarray and cluelessness didn’t give me away?”
“Well..” He gave her a wry smile and they laughed.
“Who should I call, you think?” Lou wondered.
“Niko.” Dillon didn’t hesitate. “He’s top of the Aegis food chain. Why, who were you thinking?” Dillon stifled a grin, knowing full well it as a great excuse for Lou to talk to Max though she would never admit it.
“I was thinking Niko too.” Lou hid her fluster well. “Either that or Frank.”
“Right.” Dillon was amused. “We’re supposed to go to the Aegis so Frank really wouldn’t be appropriate.”
“Okay, let me see if I can get a hold of Niko.” Lou dialed.
Dillon knew Niko would answer her call immediately. Hell, they all would, it was Lou. For whatever reason, Lou and Max were playing some game but they all knew how they felt about each other, it was so obvious. Abby and Dillon had discussed it, and he knew that it was a bit more complicated than he knew. There were personal things with each of them, baggage as well as hurdles that made it a tricky situation. Lou had a battle-scarred past as far as men were concerned, and Max had his own ghosts. By virtue of Max being who he was, that had to be intimidating for Lou. Plus, she was very new to this world, more so than Dillon when it came down to it. Then there was pride and stubbornness, they both had an ample supply of that. It was highly unlikely for either of them to cave and bare their true feelings to the other, leaving themselves vulnerable. That was not how either Lou or Max worked. Then there was timing. It couldn’t have been worse. Lou was navigating a whole new universe and trying to figure out her place in it. It was a lot of pressure. As for Max, well, he had responsibilities that Dillon could barely fathom. The man was a machine, and Dillon was in awe of how he handled it all with such precision and calm. Knowing what he knew, Dillon was petrified of disappointing his Dominor. He could only imagine how Lou must have felt, with her innate drive for excellence completely compromised by her emotions for Max. Dillon completely understood why Abby had advised him to avoid the subject with Lou like the plague, but he was finding it harder and harder not to ask. He could see the flashes of conflict on Lou’s face, every day. He hoped that she talked it out with Caroline at least. Lou needed someone to confide in; it only seemed proper that her gal-pal was there for her. Dillon made a mental note to figure out some way to broach the subject with Caroline when the opportunity presented itself. For now he would continue to play dumb and follow Lou’s lead on the topic. If she wanted his opinion, she would surely ask.
“How do I put this on the car speaker?” Lou asked.
“I got it.” He told her and pressed the button on his steering wheel. The ringing filled the SUV, and they waited for Niko to answer.
“Yessss?” Niko answered in a slow, lazy manner.
“What are you doing?” Lou inquired.
“Well, if you must know, I just sat down with a half-dozen redheads and was settling in for an early evening.” That explained Niko’s sultry tone of voice.
“You are such a pig.” Lou grimaced.
Dillon and Niko both laughed. “Fireman’s Brew, Lou.” Niko clarified. “I was sitting down to watch the hockey game with a six pack of Fireman’s Brew, Redheads, it’s an amber ale.”
“I’m partial to the brunettes” Dillon smirked.
Lou gave Dillon such a look. “You guys are both pigs.”
“It’s beer!” Niko’s voice squeaked. “It’s really good beer too! I have some blonds and brunettes in the fridge. Come on over and watch the game with me.”
“I wish.” Lou sighed, wishing she could. “The puck doesn’t drop for a couple hours, though. Getting an early start?”
“Yes and no.” Niko sighed. “I have a bunch of reports that came in from our associates overseas. Trying to get a fix on where the other supply lines might be coming from in our Black Blood problem.”
“How’s that going?” Lou felt a bit guilty she hadn’t checked in on that in over a day. It was a huge case and, she was utterly unsure how she fit into that investigation.
“We got DNA results on the bottles you uncovered so we have a general idea of where it’s coming from.” Niko brought her up to date. “Max has us working from another angle on who might be involved up the food chain. The guys are working on ruling out the other Dominors as opposed to looking for ties to it. We’ve been coming up blank that way.”
“That’s the smart way then.” Lou understood Max’s thinking. “Figure out who our good guys are and bring them into the loop?”
“Exactly.” Niko confirmed. “Then we work down the food chain from there, with the clean Dominors help. They will want to figure out who in their Aegis might be dirty more than we do.”
“Understandably.” Dillon agreed.
“Hey, Dilbert...” Niko had taken that as Dillon’s pet name. While Lou thought it was funny, it made Dillon extremely insecure. “I gotta fly out late tonight, can you fill in for me with Liam’s training session? I won’t be back from the Netherlands until Thursday.”
“Not a problem.” Dillon was happy to step in and was a little touched that Niko would even think of him to do so. “Six at the dojo?”
“Right.” Niko confirmed. “Sensei knows to expect you instead of me. I kind of assumed you would be cool with it.” He chuckled.
“You mind coming with, Lou?” It occurred to him that he wouldn’t have enough time to get Lou home, then get back to the dojo.
“Actually...” Niko interrupted. “She needs to go too.”