Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows) (27 page)

“Like it was never accurate and there was no biological?” Lou asked, wanting to make sure they were on the same page.

“Exactly.” He confirmed. “It will take some coordination with all our agents but I think with you being Principate, you could get your people to pull it off.”

“Someone has a lot of faith in me.” Lou chortled. “You think I have that kind of pull? Seriously?”

“I do.” He was smiling again. “Especially with your Dominor fully supporting you the way he does.”

“What exactly does that mean?” Lou sensed a subtext to his statement.

“It means that it is well known among the Sanguinostri hierarchy that Maximilian Julian never chooses someone for such an esteemed post without his full faith and support behind them.”

Lou was a little embarrassed. “Well, that’s good to know.”

“I will keep you informed of developments as they happen.” Dunhill was apparently in need of wrapping up the conversation. “I will shoot you off an email to your secure address with all of my contact information. If you could please let me know what your Dom says once you have filled him in on my problem here?”

“I’ll talk to him this evening.” Lou reassured him. “Thank you for all your help Inspector.”

“It is my honor, Detective.” He was very sincere in that simple statement. “We will talk again soon.”

“Definitely.” Lou agreed then ended the call.

It was a lot to wrap her head around but Lou needed to get in touch with Max immediately. She needed to tell him everything Dunhill had just told her and he needed to know fast. She tried calling the hotel but Frank said that Max would be out of communication for a while. She pressed him to tell her where Max was but he simply asked how he could help her instead. Lou was running out of time. She needed to get back inside before Vinny or Dillon came looking for her.

“I need to see him tonight, Frank.” Lou insisted.

“I can see if I can have him at your house after work?” Frank was purposely not telling Lou that Max was already at her house with her parents and her uncle. Max had insisted no one tell her pursuant to Shevaun’s request.

“That will work.” Lou conceded. “Promise me?”

“I’ll text you as soon as I confirm it with him.” Frank reassured her.

“OK, thanks.” Lou hung up on him and headed back inside. It was all she was going to get for now so it had to be enough.

When Lou got back inside she was relieved to see that neither Vinny nor Dillon even looked up. It felt like she had been gone for an hour but when she checked the time, it had only been half that. Lou could have easily gotten stopped by someone welcoming her back and sucked in to chatting a while. A simple enough explanation if she had to give one.

“OK!” Vinny shouted as he hung up the phone, startling Lou in the process. “I think I have something!”

“What?” Lou asked as she focused on lowering her blood pressure.

“I got a civilian outfit called Onus Global.” Vinny took a gulp of his coffee before continuing. “They contracted with the air base at the beginning of the year to use one of the hangars to house a few helicopters that they stated were being refurbished to run humanitarian aide operations.”

Dillon hung up from his call and was catching up with what Vinny was saying. “Onus Global you said?”

“Correct.” Vinny confirmed.

“No such animal as Onus?” Lou was guessing.

“Oh there is but it’s a private company and I can’t find one legit name attached to it.” Vinny raked his fingers through his shoe-black hair. “The contracts manager at the air base is faxing me a copy of the contract but she said the person she worked with was named Bob Smith.”

“Hey, at least he didn’t use John.” Lou snickered.

“True, points for originality I guess. Anyway, she said he was a pleasant enough man but her description of him hits the average Joe meter in every way shape and form.” Vinny referred to his notes. “Average height, average looking, brown eyes, normal brown hair, generic haircut, non-descript suit. The guy sounds like he was spawned from the plain-wrap gene pool!”

“Any shot at getting prints off the contract?” Lou thought it was worth asking.

“Contract was done via fax.” Vinny grumbled some more. “She only met him when he came to pick up his credentials and the keys to the hangar.”

“Just one guy?” Dillon frowned. “There was no personnel that needed credentials to get in and out of the base?”

“Oh there was!” Vinny smirked. “John Brown, Joe Green and Tim White.”

“And no one raised an eyebrow at that?” Lou was stunned.

“Unbelievable!” Dillon tossed his pencil across his desk.

“Hey!” Vinny held up his hands. “They had the proper identification! Thumb prints and all!”

“Seriously?” Lou was at a loss.

“Only problem with that is she can’t find the extended file.” Vinny took another gulp of his coffee.

“What does that mean? Lou was blinking rapidly now.

“It means that the file with the prints and copies of any identification documents was removed.” Dillon guessed correctly. His irritation over the situation causing him to get up and pace.

“How the hell does that happen?” Lou was visibly angry now. “At a naval air base no less!”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Lou.” Vinny really meant that. “Apparently shit happens at every level and all we have to go on is this Onus Global.”

“I’ll dig into that.” Dillon told them as he sat back down and began typing. “There has to be something somewhere with a real name on it.”

“Good luck with that.” Vinny chuckled. “I’ve been looking and I got nada. Oh and call Vera. She sent me a text. Something about the perfect place and you needing to jump on it.”

Dillon looked up at him apologetically. “Sorry about that. Let me call her back then I’ll get on Onus.”

“Take your time.” Vinny got up out of his seat and stretched. “I’m gonna go raid the vending machines. I ain’t staying here all night so I’m working through lunch.”

Dillon shoved his hand into his bag and fished out a fist full of change. “Grab me a bunch of crap, will ya?”

“Sure.” Vinny scooped up the coins. “You want anything Lou?”

“I’ll come with you.” Lou pulled her change purse out of her bag and followed Vinny out.

Getting the lead on Onus Global was a serious break for Lou. It being a bogus company would buy her time with all the digging until she could talk to Max about what she learned from Inspector Dunhill. It occurred to Lou while Vinny was filling them in on Onus that one of the Rojas brothers had never come back from Cuba and was still off the grid so to speak. It was no coincidence that Esterhuizen went off the grid in Cuba too. The Rojas family connection was looking to be where her primary focus needed to be, but as Principate. As Detective, she needed to keep the focus on the cartel angle until she had some of the blanks filled in.

As Lou watched Vinny inspect the stale wares the vending machines were hawking, Lou’s cell phone alerted her to an incoming text. It was Frank informing her the meeting with Max was confirmed. Now all Lou had to do was wait a few more hours before she could get there. She walked over to the vending machine on the end and proceeded to stuff coins in. By the time she was finished, Lou had purchased anything in the machine that contained even the smallest amount of chocolate. Maybe the chocolate fix would take the edge off, raise her serotonin levels snapping her out of her bad mood or, better yet, put her into a sugar coma. At least the latter would kill some time until she could get the heck out of there.

After four hours of phone calls and searches on every database the
Sheriff’s Department was tapped into, they had absolutely nothing on Onus Global. The primary address listed on all of the business filings turned out to be a donut shop in Century City. Lou was sure that was meant to be a joke for law enforcement if they ever got on Onus’ trail. The same colorful characters were listed throughout the documentation. Bob Smith, John Brown, Joe Green and Tim White, none of whom really existed. The hangar that Onus leased was, of course, now empty and not one person at the air base could say when they left or even the last time any Onus personnel, ever. Security cameras had picked up a generic black sedan coming in and out on a few occasions but the license plate linked back to a rental agency and of course Onus struck again with Bob Smith and his bogus identification being the renter. Lou almost popped a vein in her head when she was told that although someone did make a copy of his driver’s license, it was just a black square and hadn’t come out properly. Of course the manager assured Lou that the clerk who handled the transaction would be severely reprimanded, but what good did that do Lou now? They were nowhere.

“Lou.” Vinny snapped her out of her enraged trance. “I hate to do this to you but I swore to Vera that I would make it to Lamaze class tonight. It’s some special thing that the fathers are required to attend otherwise I would make her sister go with her.”

Lou looked at the time and couldn’t believe it was already 4 p.m. “Go!” She insisted. “It’s as good a time as any for the new guy to start hauling me around.”

Dillon looked up, realizing she was referring to him. “I already planned on taking her home so no worries.”

“You sure you don’t mind?” Vinny looked at them both.

“Not at all” Lou grinned. “Go be a good daddy.”

“Have fun.” Dillon smiled then went back to his search.

“Alright. See you two tomorrow.” Vinny gathered up his things and headed out.

“Night! Good luck!” Lou shouted after him but he just waved as he walked out the door.

“We are going to have to drag Carlos Vargas in.” Dillon peered at her from over his laptop. “No way we are gonna get around it.”

“I know, but not today. I want warrants executed at the same time.” Lou had to talk to Max first and she knew circumstantial evidence wasn’t going to get her the warrants. “It amazes me how easy it is for some jackass to set up a bogus company.” Lou said as she shuffled through the mountain of faxes she had accumulated through the day.

“I know.” Dillon grumbled in agreement. “Those mailbox rental places? People write the box number as the suite number, leading people to think it’s an actual office.”

“Yeah!” Lou pointed at him. “Why is that legal?”

Dillon shook his head. “I do not know.”

“Homeland Security had no clue our beheaded bad guys were in the country.” Lou was glaring at her notebook. “Now we got a bogus company leasing a hangar at an air base. This is not making me feel all warm and fuzzy over here about our National security.”

“There is no record of Onus bringing in any equipment in to the hangar let alone an aircraft.” Dillon was drumming the rim of his mug again. “I mean there has to have been a record but there is nothing now. No hard copies, no computer logs, no surveillance footage. They had to have boots on the ground and one hell of a hacker to sterilize things this clean.”

“Agreed.” Lou was nodding. “But why? If this was some sort of terrorist plot, there would be chatter and we would have feds crawling all over the place.”

“Even if it’s some sort of drug operation we would have DEA trying to yank the case from us.” Dillon added but couldn’t figure it either.

“We need sleep.” Lou knew she hadn’t had more than ten hours sleep since the case started so Dillon surely hadn’t either. “It’s almost five. Let’s cut out and get some rest. Maybe we will spot something we missed in the morning.”

“Yeah. Sleep wouldn’t suck.” Dillon hit a few keys before closing his laptop. “Hey Lou, would you mind stopping off to look at this house with me? It’s on the way.”

“Not at all.” Lou was actually curious to see what Vera had found for him. “You gonna be able to look inside?”

“Yeah.” He explained as he packed his things into his bag. “Her sister left word with the painters that I’d be stopping by. They are there until seven.”

“We better hurry!” Lou raced to gather her things. “They might be painting it a crap color.” Dillon chuckled at her as he strapped his bag over his shoulder.

They pulled onto the street of Dillon’s prospective new home about twenty minutes later. Huge mulberry trees canopied the street and to the west a white picket fence and gravel horse trail took the place of a sidewalk. The yards were perfectly manicured and although it was an equestrian neighborhood, there wasn’t a horse or enclosure to be seen from the street. Long driveways led up to ranch style houses with fresh white painted siding and dark forest green storm shutters that framed french window panes. Dillon slowed the car as they came to the fifth house on their right. It was a long ranch style single story home painted the same crisp white as many of the others. Velvet green lawn was guarded by a classic white picket fence and rose bushes that ran the length of the yard. Though it was still early in the season, several of the bushes already boasted brilliant yellow and coral colored blooms. Dillon pulled behind the painter’s truck and turned off the ignition and the two just looked at the house for a few minutes. The path to the home had a large arched arbor that framed the gate and was swathed in some sort of lacy leaved vine. It was not an enormous or grand house but it was something straight out of a storybook.

“Well this doesn’t suck.” Lou finally broke the silence.

“I wonder what the catch is.” Dillon could only imagine.

“Let’s find out, shall we?” Lou grinned at him then got out of the car. “Maybe the backyard is like three feet deep and all concrete.”

Dillon snorted as he followed her up the path. “Yeah or there is a 1968 Camero stripped in the living room.”

Lou laughed at him as they came to the open front door. Dillon knocked several times but when no one answered they stepped in cautiously.

“Hello?” Lou called out but there was no response.

“Maybe they are in back.” Dillon speculated.

Upon walking in the door they were faced with a tall stacked flagstone wall with a heavy looking rustic wood and iron console table perched against it. A huge heavily framed portrait hung above the table and it made both Lou and Dillon pause. It was an amazing landscape done in what appeared to be pastels, muted peaches, browns and mossy greens. What looked to be a giant Magnolia tree monopolized the landscape with heavy limbs draped over a pathway through a garden. Something about it was just captivating to them both.

“See if that’s included in the sale.” Lou suggested.

“No kidding.” Dillon agreed. “That is amazing. I wonder where that is.” They were faced with the decision of having to go left or right so Dillon chose to head right.

“Probably somewhere in Georgia. Where they sit on porch swings sipping fresh squeezed lemonade all day.” Lou jested as she followed him.

When they came to the end of the hall they were struck by the amazing open floor-plan. A large living area filled the far right of the house and flowed almost seamlessly into the kitchen and dinning areas. The earthy hues of the stacked flagstone walls were warmed by freshly painted ones in a rich caramel tone. The back wall of the house was a series of french doors and picture windows that looked out into the back yard. When Dillon and Lou stepped in to take a closer look they both were taken aback by the fact that the backyard was the subject of the portrait in the entry way. The same huge magnolia tree sat just passed a stone patio and was to the right of a pathway that wended through the magnificent garden. In the distance they could see past the garden where a small pasture sat and to the left of it was a horse enclosure, minus the horse. It was a small slice of heaven, no two ways about it.

“How much is this place?” Lou asked him as she looked out over the garden.

“Do I really care?” He answered. Dillon was in love.

Lou grinned at him. “Let’s make sure the rest of the house isn’t rat infested, OK?”

Dillon looked at her like she was crazy. “That’s what exterminators are for.” He fished his cell phone out of his pocket as he headed past the kitchen and down another hall.

Lou understood his enthusiasm completely. The place was perfect. Though it was probably at most three-thousand square feet of living space, there was everything anyone could really need. Stone and hardwood floors, modern yet rustic furnishings that were clearly top of the line designer pieces. The kitchen was open and spectacular with chocolate colored granite counter tops, antiqued cafe au lait colored cabinets and brand new stainless steel appliances. Lou wondered why anyone would want to move from such a warm and cozy place. Dillon came back into the room looking panicked.

“What’s wrong?” Lou asked him.

“The owner of this place died in some freak skiing accident in Colorado. He never moved in! Everything in here is brand new! He was having it totally remodeled and was going to move in next week! His brother is selling it, totally furnished, as is for a freakishly low price!” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Lou, this is too good to be true.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Lou didn’t want to be a party pooper. “The guy did die after all.”

“I told Vera’s sister to make an offer.” Dillon confessed.

“Already? Are you sure it has in-door plumbing?” Lou understood his wanting to jump on the place but thought she should be some sort of voice of reason.

“It’s exactly what I want. I could live here forever! You gotta see the rest of the place!” Dillon dragged Lou by the arm through the rest of the house and Lou had to admit it was perfect. If she didn’t love where she lived she would have put an offer on the place herself. They had found the painters in the master bedroom finishing up the trim on the french doors that also led out into the garden. There, Lou could see a small pool tucked back to the left of the yard done up in a way that it looked like part of the landscape. Dillon was right, it did just get better and better.

Twenty minutes later, Doris, Vera’s sister arrived with papers in hand. She went over everything with Dillon, got his signature and was off like a shot to submit the offer. Dillon was freaking out with both panic and excitement as they headed out to the back yard to get a closer look. Once past the garden, the yard opened up to a somewhat narrow but deep pasture with brand new horse enclosures standing off to the left. There was ample room for two horses to easily romp and roam and several huge trees that provided amazing shade.

“You gonna get a horse?” Lou asked him.

“Oh I don’t know about that.” Dillon chuckled. “But it’s nice to have the option if I ever want to.”

“Keeping my fingers crossed for you.” Lou smiled. “There wasn’t any for sale sign out front was there?”

“No. Vera got a tip from a friend that this was about to go on the market.” Dillon leaned up against the fence of the corral. “Doris doesn’t even know if the brother will accept an offer without it being formally listed. She’s just going on what Vera said they were looking for price wise. I guess the brother doesn’t really care much about it.”

“Lucky for you!” Lou snorted.

“I hope!” Dillon laughed. “Lou, while we wait, I need to tell you something.”

Lou noticed Dillon’s expression grow serious and grim. “Ah crap, here it comes.” She wasn’t really sure what was coming but she braced herself.

“I need you to understand how important this was to me.” Dillon was struggling with how to begin. “I need you to understand that it was critical for me to do this on my own merits, and by Vinny and your choice. No outside influences.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Lou was starting to get annoyed but figured this was probably the thing she couldn’t put her finger on with him.

“Before I say anything else will you please promise me to keep that in mind?” He looked at her pleadingly.

“Yeah, I promise now tell me what the hell you are talking about!” Lou demanded.

“I’m Sanguinostri.” He told her, finally.

Lou raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh?” Max, Niko and Finn had all met Dillon and acted as though they had never met him before. Niko had dealt with him on multiple occasions and not said one word to Lou. If they didn’t know Dillon, there was something wrong.

“Abby is my progenitor.” He explained. “She hand picked me and got special dispensation from our Dominor and the Aegis Council to have me enter the running as your partner. She was very firm that it had to be you and Vinny’s decision and that no influence would be used to get me in. I know what you’re thinking.”

“I highly doubt that.” Lou scoffed.

Dillon sighed. “No, I do. Why didn’t anyone say anything? You need to understand that our Dominor and most of the Council had not seen me since my turning. That was a very brief encounter and long ago, so they really wouldn’t remember me. I guess you could say I was Abby’s pet project.”