Dead Broke (Lana Denae Mystery Series Book 1) (10 page)

“Any particular place you’d like to go?” Lana asked, realizing her passenger, having lived in the area most of his life, would be just as familiar with the restaurant choices as she. He hadn’t been home for nearly a year, and he might have a place in mind; someplace he’d been missing.

“Anywhere, as long it’s not a French restaurant,” he said with a touch of distaste.

Lana laughed out loud. “Paris not treating you well?”

“It was great when I first arrived. But after three months, it’s getting a little old. Every restaurant, every
café
, serves
French
food. Wasn’t exactly my favorite before, and now...”

“There’s no American food?”

“There is, at least what they
call
American food, but—let’s just say I’ve been craving a real cheeseburger for quite a while.”

Pulling into the parking lot of a local sit-down restaurant, Lana said, “Is this okay?”

“It’ll do fine.”

As soon as they were seated, Kurt said, “So, I assume you haven’t found the killer or you would have told me by now.”

“No, we haven’t. Not yet.”

“You mentioned you wanted to fill me in on where the investigation stands,” Kurt said. “Do you have any suspects?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Lana confessed. “But we are definitely making progress.” She brought him up to date on the case while they waited on their order and they continued talking as they ate.

By the time they’d finished their meal, Kurt knew everything—except for a few key details Lana chose to keep to herself.

“Is it okay to start clearing out my aunt’s things?” Kurt asked as they walked back to the car.

“I don’t have a problem with it. I think we’re all finished there but let me check with the District Attorney to make sure.”

Kurt nodded.

“Do you have a place to stay while you’re in town?” Lana asked, pulling onto the road. “Or were you planning to hang out at your aunt’s apartment?”

“No, I won’t be staying at the apartment. I’m not usually the squeamish type but I’m not sure I could sleep there knowing that’s where she was murdered. I have reservations at the
Hotel Vintage
. If you could drop me off there that would be great.”

As Lana turned in the direction of the hotel, Kurt noticed the sudden awkward silence. “Thanks for dinner,” he said. “And for picking me up. But I have a sneaky feeling that our little get-together was more for your benefit than mine. Certainly you weren’t that eager to fill me in on all the non-essential details of the case.”

Lana glanced briefly at the man but remained silent.

“I think it was all so you could size me up and see what kind of person I am, so you would have a better idea if I had something to do with my aunt’s death.”

Looking him in the eye, Lana smiled. “Pretty intuitive aren’t you? Then after a short pause, she nodded. “You’re right. I was evaluating you. I wouldn’t be doing my job to find your aunt’s killer if I hadn’t.” She smiled slightly then. “I’m a better judge of character in person than on the phone.”

“So I passed?”

“I didn’t arrest you,” the detective pointed out.

“True.”

Bringing the car to a stop in the hotel entryway, Lana announced, “Here we are.”

Kurt opened the door. “Thanks,” he said. “And if there’s anything I can do to help in your investigation, you just need to ask.” Stepping from the car, he reached into the back for his suitcase.

Lana sat with a preoccupied look on her face, lost in thought. As her passenger was about to close the door, she abruptly said, “Actually, there may be something you can do to help.”

Kurt paused, holding on to the door. “Sure,” he said. “Name it.”

“I’ll have to check to see if it’ll work, but I may have a job for you, possibly tomorrow. I should warn you up front though, it could be dangerous.”

“Well, I’d like to say danger is my middle name but looking at me, I’m sure you can tell that’s not exactly the case. However, I am willing to do whatever is necessary to bring my aunt’s killer to justice—dangerous or not.”

“That’s the spirit,” Lana said. “I’ll get a hold of you in the morning and let you know.”

As she watched her “date” disappear into the lobby, an amused Lana pulled back onto the road and headed for her house. The clock on the dash read ten minutes ’til ten and she wondered if Devin Holloway was still up. Hesitating only a moment, she reached for her phone. The man was either up or he wasn’t. If he wasn’t, he was going to be.

Chapter Ten

“I talked to the Captain,” Lana announced, walking into the precinct war room. “He’s agreed that I should take the lead on this case.”

Jamie glanced pointedly at the clock. “And here I thought you were just an hour late.”

Lana gave him a half smile but offered no comment.

“No witty responses this morning?” asked Damien. “Date night go a little long?”

Lana made a face but still chose not to answer.

“She’s too busy plotting to steal our case,” Jamie said. “You know, the one we’ve been working on and are close to solving?”

“The one we’ve all been working on, you mean?” Lana asked. “And for your information, I insisted that if I were going to take the lead, when we solved the case, both of you should be recognized and given credit for the win, not for just one murder but all of them.”

Jamie blinked in surprise, caught off-guard. “You really tell him that?”

“No,” Lana confessed. “But I could. And I will, as long as you cooperate.”

“I think I can see why you don’t have a partner,” Jamie commented.

Lana chose to ignore the jab. “I’d love to continue this discussion but we’re late.”

“Late for what?” asked Jamie.

Damien just raised a questioning eyebrow and waited for Lana to explain.

“Well,” she began, “first, we need to pick up Kurt Stabler at his motel and then we’ll be stopping by Cascade Global. Once everything there is taken care of, I need to prepare for my Television debut.”

Jamie looked at Damien. “You have any idea what she’s talking about?”

“None whatsoever,” Damien said.

Lana shook her head. “Follow me.”

She had outlined what their activities would be but Jamie and Damien were still lost as they followed behind Lana in their own car. Stopping at the
Hotel Vintage
, they watched a man they assumed was Kurt Stabler come out and get into Lana’s vehicle. Then they were on the move again.

On the way to the Cascade Global Investments offices, they tried to guess what she was up to. Nothing they came up with made any sense and they finally had to admit they were at a loss as to what Lana had in mind—or, what role they were to play.

Jamie summed up his take on things. “All I know for sure is Miss Lana is apparently scheduled for a TV interview, which means the dummy account to lure our killer out must be finished.”

“But why did she pick up Kurt Stabler?” Damien wondered. “You think he was her date? And why are we going back to Cascade Global?”

Jamie shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine—on all of it. I once heard there are two types of people you’ll never figure out; women and detectives—and she’s both.”

“That she is,” Damien agreed.

Their questions were soon answered.

Inside his private office, Devin Holloway explained it all for them, although quite unintentionally, as his comments were directed to Kurt Stabler.

“When Lana called me last night with the suggestion of making you our bogus investor, I must admit I didn’t think much of the idea. I was afraid you’d look too much like a cop—I guess because my mind associated you with them.” Holloway gestured toward the detectives. “But after seeing you, I think you’ll fit the part well.”

“I hope so,” Kurt said, not sure if he’d just been insulted or not.

Holloway turned to Lana. “I called my IT guy after we hung up last night. He had already created a name for the account but said it would be no trouble to change it. He came in early this morning and finished it up.”

“So everything is all set?”

Holloway nodded. “We just need to take a headshot of Mr. Stabler for his profile page, which is why I had you bring him down.”

While Holloway and his people were busy with Kurt, Jamie took the opportunity to speak to Lana privately.

“You think this is a good idea, having Kurt play the fall guy?”

Lana frowned. “That’s not really the definition of a fall guy.”

“Right,” Jamie said. “When the killer comes after him and tosses him off the Steel Bridge, I think ‘fall guy’ is exactly what he’ll be.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“And what makes you so certain of that?”

“Because you and Damien are going to be there. As soon as our guy shows up, you’ll arrest him.”

Damien had sidled over to listen as his partner and Lana conversed in low tones. “Sounds good on paper but things rarely go that well in the real world.”

“I’ll admit there’s a chance things could go wrong—a slight chance. But Mr. Stabler knows the risks,” Lana said.

“Did you specifically tell him he could be thrown off the bridge? And become fish food?”

“I explained it all to him this morning, on the way here,” Lana answered. “He wants to do this for his aunt.”

“That’s another problem,” Jamie said. “He’s too personally and emotionally involved in this case. What if he freaks?”

“Or, freezes?” Damien asked. “He could be on his way to the bottom of the Willamette before we have time to respond.”

Lana frowned. “Have you seen the size of this guy? I don’t think anyone is going to be throwing him anywhere.”

“And what’s to say the killer won’t change his MO?” Jamie asked.

“We could play ‘what if’ all day,” Lana said. “This is our best shot. Mr. Stabler won’t be alone. You guys will be there and we’ll have a few plainclothes on hand as well.”

“Okay,” Jamie said. “It’s your call, after all.”

“Actually, it’s not,” Lana told him. “I ran it by the Captain earlier this morning and got his approval.”

Their conversation ended abruptly then as Kurt and Mr. Holloway rejoined the group. Holloway handed Lana an eight by ten photograph of a smiling Kurt Stabler. “For your TV appearance,” he said.

“Speaking of your budding television career,” Jamie said. “What channel will you be on?”

“I’m doing a taped interview with Kristen Falorni from Channel Two, but all the local stations have agreed to cover it.”

“How did you get that set up so fast?”

Lana shrugged. “I made a few phone calls earlier this morning.”

“Exactly how long have you been up anyway?” Jamie growled. “That’s like the fourteenth thing you say you did ‘earlier’ today.”

“It’s hard to get up if you don’t go to bed,” Lana told him.

“You stayed up all night?”

“From dusk ’til dawn.”

“No way!” Jamie spluttered in disbelief. “You get no sleep at all and still you look like that?”

“Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to freshen up,” said Lana, keeping a straight face.

“You don’t need to freshen up,” Jamie spouted. Shaking his head, he added, “I stayed up until four o’clock and it took me most of the next two days to recuperate. You stay up all night with no signs of, well, anything. You don’t even look tired.”

Lana smiled, eyes twinkling. “Some have it, some don’t.”

Jamie shook his head again, muttering under his breath.

Damien wisely stayed quiet.

Seeing the time, Lana’s eyes widened and she was suddenly all business again. “Could you guys head back to the precinct? There are a dozen officers waiting to see me. Try to keep them occupied for a few minutes until I get there. I’ve got to talk to Mr. Holloway before I leave.”

Damien and Jamie nodded. “Will do,” Jamie said.

“Do you need anything else?” Damien asked.

Lana frowned slightly. “Actually, yeah. If you could take Mr. Stabler with you that would be great. I need to make a phone call on the way and would prefer he not be listening in.”

“Okay,” Damien agreed.

As the two went to inform Kurt of the new arrangements, Lana set out in search of Devin Holloway. It took only a couple of minutes to locate him, hidden away again in his private office.

The man looked up when Lana pushed open the door with a soft knock. “Sorry I disappeared,” he said. “Little bit swamped today. With all that’s going on I haven’t had a chance to get much done. A lot of what we do here is time sensitive and there were a couple of things that needed my immediate attention.”

“No need to apologize,” Lana told him. “I understand. Which makes what I’m about to ask a little awkward but I’d like for you and Davie to join us for a briefing at the precinct—if you can spare the time.”

Holloway sighed and frowned slightly. “With two hundred fifty thousand dollars on the line, I’ll make the time.”

“Great,” Lana said. “I thought it would be best to introduce you to those who will be assisting us, and them to you. Besides, I’d like to have everyone together to go over the details of our plan. That way if there are any questions we can figure them out together.”

“Sounds good to me. We’ll meet you at the precinct in say, twenty or twenty-five minutes?”

“That will be fine,” Lana said.

Hurrying from the man’s office, she walked quickly to her car. There was one last detail to get in place—somewhere for Kurt Stabler to lie low. Somewhere close, yet someplace he wouldn’t be seen. She knew such a place. The perfect place. Whether Nellie Langstrom would agree remained to be seen. Turning onto the road, she reached for her phone.

Chapter Eleven

“Okay everyone, listen up.” Lana had climbed up on a box of office paper so she could see each of the faces of those in the room. All eyes turned on her as the noise quieted down.

She spoke in a strong voice that commanded attention. “Thank you. I’m going to go through a quick rundown of the plan so we all know what to expect.”

Clearing her throat, she began. “First, I want to thank Devin Holloway for his cooperation and for allowing us to use his company, Cascade Global Investments, for this operation. We are going to be using a dummy account his team has set up to lure our suspect into the open—hopefully. This account has a payout of a quarter million dollars, that’s more than twice our suspect’s largest take, so as I said, hopefully, that will attract his attention.