Shadows of Doubt (11 page)

“We have all our crime scene photos packed up already, yeah?” She took the grunts as a yes. “All our sketches and everything are in your car, Jack, we put them there when it started to rain earlier. Forget they are there.”

Jack turned his head to look at her with wide eyes.

“I’ll get them from you later and turn ‘em over like the captain ordered, but I want to look into a couple things first.”

It was Vinny that looked at her now. “What you got going on in that messy head of yours?”

She gave him a solid stare before she spoke. “Follow my lead on this will you?”

“Sure but...”

“There are things I didn’t fill you in on last night that will make all this clear. Just take off. Get my coffee and cake and meet up at my place in an hour.”

The LAPD detectives approached them and civilized introductions were made. They made halfhearted apologies but got to the meat and potatoes real fast and demanded all data handed over. Max knew this was where Lou would show her true character. How she reacted to being booted out of her own case. He looked through the binoculars so as not to miss every expression that would pass over her face if she did what he was hoping she would.

“Hate to take all your grunt work and run, but, protocol dictates.” The one named Pearson said in a not so subtly smug tone.

“How many times you think he practiced that on the ride over, Lou?” Vinny’s smug tone wasn’t meant to be subtle.

“Four, maybe five? What do you think Jack?”

Jack yawned and shrugged. “Don’t really give a shit.”

Lou snorted, then, with a good bit of dramatic flourish, fell into a professional persona. “Well, would love to help you boys out but we basically haven’t done shit. We don’t get to work until after the donuts arrive and...” She looked at the watch she wasn’t wearing. “Deputy Fife hasn’t come back with them yet.”

“Oh! He called!” It was hard for Vinny to keep a straight face.

“He did?!” Lou went overboard with the look of surprise.

“Yeah, he called and said Aunt Bee burned the first batch so it was gonna be a while longer.” Vinny spit to his left, then walked straight through the men, patting one on the back as he slipped through. “Good luck y’all!”

Both Lou and Jack followed Vinny to Jack’s cruiser and ignored the shouts and threats that the LAPD boys were tossing at them.

“Jack, get directions from Vinny and get up to my place as soon as you’re officially off duty. Bring everything. Don’t say a word to anyone. Got me?” Lou looked at him sternly, waiting for his response.

“Roger that! This is the most fun I have had in a long time. See ya!” Jack grinned from ear to ear as he got in his cruiser and took off.

As Lou and Vinny walked to his car, she started to consider everything that Caroline had told her. “Vinny, you go get my cake and coffee and then get back to my place.”

“I got it! Cake and coffee! I don’t welch on a bet and you know it, But...You gots some splaining to do Louseeeee.” He loved using his Ricky Ricardo imitation on her whenever he got the chance. “Lets get you home and warm.”

“Nah, I’m gonna walk.”

“Walk? Its like ten miles! Nobody walks in L.A.!” Vinny’s face was aghast.

“There’s a trail back up through Santa Susanna. Its not that bad. Besides, I have to think some things through first.”

He blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t like it. What if you get eaten by a mountain lion? You know I can’t bring rum cake home. Vera will kill me.”

She rolled her eyes at him and started walking up the embankment. “GPS on my cell is active. If I’m not home by the time you get there, track me.”

Max watched his spitfire detective disappear into a gap in the hillside with a grin plastered on his face. The Mayberry references almost made him laugh out loud. She was quick, and smart, and she sure as hell was not going to let this case go. It was going to be a major fly in the ointment dodging this woman while trying to put an end to his rogue. But he had a very strong feeling he was going to get a kick out of it.

Frank had tracked
the motorcycle to an abandoned barn but there was no Max in sight. He knew he was close, though. The crime scene was about 400 yards to the east so doubling back was the best course of action. Frank parked the SUV down the canyon then hiked up to the peak where he could get a decent vantage point. He had brought his Steiner binoculars and his Phantom IR Thermal Binocular, so if Max was in there, he would find him. Frank started to hum the Mission Impossible theme again and had to admit he was having fun.

He watched the detectives and the uniform do their thing but he couldn’t see any sign of Max at first glance. He slowly and methodically scanned the landscape with the binoculars to try and spot his man. The clothes Max had worn were made for this terrain. He would be blending in perfectly. Tricky bastard. But then Frank saw it. A faint flicker in a boulder formation on the hillside above the scene. Confirming with the thermal, it was Max. He was so perfectly wedged between the rocks that Frank could have walked right by him and never seen him. The watch cap Frank had tossed him was a brilliant touch, he had to admit. So what the hell was Max doing? This was seriously covert for just surveillance on a couple cops. What was the big deal? Frank watched Max carefully through the binoculars, zooming in as close as possible to try and read his expression. Was Max grinning? Frank scanned over to try and figure out what could possibly make Max grin. It took only a second for the scene to come into focus. Frank zeroed in on the woman. Donovan was laying across the railroad tracks as her partner walked up to her, then the uniformed deputy. They appeared to talk a bit but there was nothing overtly amusing. It was then that it hit him. It wasn’t what they were doing, it wasn’t even them, it was her! Max was grinning at her! It all made so much sense now, even the odd concern over her name and the cat thing. Max was sparked! Devout to being the lone wolf tough guy. Refusing any semblance of an advance for what everyone thought was the sake of his position. Max had the great wall of no-romance-whatsoever built so thick and high around him for as long as Frank could remember. There was absolutely no way in hell he was letting this opportunity slip by.

Frank scrambled from his perch and reached for his cell phone while he sprinted back to the SUV. He hit speed dial, tossed his gear into the back of the truck then hopped into the driver’s seat. Someone finally answered on the other end.

“Invoke a Cone of Silence and call me back immediately! This is a code pink!” He clicked off and burned rubber hanging a U-turn to head back to the hotel. This was going to take a lot of finesse but he wasn’t going to get another chance like this again so he had best make it good.

While he drove he propped open his laptop in the passenger seat and started issuing it verbal commands. Naming files, transfer locations, then his cell phone rang and he hit speaker.

“You clear?” Was how he answered.

“What the hell? Code Pink?”

Frank was nearly humming with excitement. “You heard me right, girlie!

“That’s our secret joke, not a real code Frankie.”

“Abby, its a real code now! You will not believe what I just saw! But you need to make sure this is all secure. Plausible deniability if it goes south.”

“Again I say, what the hell?” Abby was more confused then ever with Frank’s cryptic ramblings.

“Listen to me!” He shouted at her. “We have very little time to pull this off so I need your genius, like now. Get a pen and take notes on what I am about to tell you and make sure no one can hear you! Use your secret encrypted shorthand or whatever it is.”

Abby was really curious now, and a little excited, she had to admit. Code Pink was a joke she and Frank had come up with ages ago when they were trying to play matchmaker for Max. Max refused even the slightest attempt at any matter of the heart after his betrothed had died eons ago. But it had been way too long and Frank and Abby were worried for him. Max deserved love and happiness more than any of them. At least that’s how Abby and Frank felt. So Abby and Frank made a pact that if ever there was a glimmer of hope to get Max hooked up, it was a Code Pink and took priority over everything.

By the time Frank was pulling up to the hotel valet, he could hear Abby literally bouncing up and down with excitement. “Focus and get it done Abby. I gotta go and get my end set. Keep your fingers crossed and your mouth shut, you hear me?!”

“You have so got it, Boy Wonder! This is gonna be awesome!” Abby clicked off before Frank could so he knew she was going to go mach five to get her end set up. He handed the keys to the valet and noted it was only half past one in the afternoon so getting what he wanted set up was entirely doable. He just had to do it before Max got back. With that thought, Frank literally ran for the elevator.

The drive from the crime scene was roughly ten miles to the McAllister
compound whereas the hike through the hills and into the hidden valley of estates was about half that. By the time Lou made the descent into the backside of their property, she was less livid over having the case yanked away than she had been. It was still freezing but the hike had done her good, warming her up and bringing her focus back. Had it not been for the feeling that she was being followed by a hungry mountain lion or something, it would have been a perfect hike home.

When she hopped off the last boulder, it wasn’t the all-terrain golf cart that startled her her so much as the two uniformed men who stood crouched with their weapons trained at her head. It took her a second but she soon recognized them to be the roaming security detail for the estates.

“Hey Lou! We thought you were some creeper sneaking around.” The security officer she knew as Bob, holstered his weapon and smiled pleasantly. “What the heck are you doing coming in this way?”

“Sorry guys, I had a crime scene local so I decided to hike home, since it’s such a lovely day.” Lou smirked and the two men laughed. “Have you guys spotted a mountain lion around recently?”

“Not in a couple months.” The other officer Lou knew to be Jose answered. “It probably headed to Florida for the winter! Hop on and we’ll give you a ride the rest of the way before it starts to rain, or snow, or whatever the hell it’s planning to do.”

“Thanks! This weather is starting to get to me.” Lou noticed she still had Vinny’s gloves on and was grateful for it.

“It’ll be spring before you know it. Hang on tight, ride is a little rough heading back to the road.” Bob strapped himself in then started the engine of the stout little vehicle.

Lou grabbed on to to the crossbar and gave it a good hug as the man put it in gear and they started the haul through the dirt. When her cell rang she was surprised to hear Caroline on the other end.

“What the hell Lou?!” the southern drawl on the other end exclaimed.

Lou rolled her eyes. “So you heard?”

“I heard! LAPD took over our case! I don’t want to deal with them on this! This was our thing! Why did you let them take it?”

“Like I had a choice! The captain came to the scene himself to drop the bomb.” Lou’s voice shuddered a bit because of the bouncy ride.

“Where are you?” Caroline could hear the engine in the background.

“Security is giving me a ride home. As soon as you can get out of there, head up to my place. Oh, and if copies of all your stuff on Winslow could manage to find its way up here too...”

“Already in the works.” Caroline cut her off because she had been planning the same thing Lou seemed to be. “They’ve bumped me for Carpesh on this but easy-peasy to snag duplicates. I am just waiting for the tox report, then I can be outta here.”

“See ya when I see ya then” Lou stuffed the phone back in her pocket and got a better grip on the monster truck of a golf cart. It really was very clever for security to have the sturdy vehicles, given so much of the area was still undeveloped and would hopefully stay that way.

The rain had just started to come down when they pulled up to the McAllister steps. Lou thanked the guards then headed inside. She noted it was almost three in the afternoon and heard her mother’s voice coming from her office. Before heading upstairs she popped her head in to see Shevaun on the phone scribbling furiously in a notebook. Her mother looked up briefly and waved at Lou but was obviously on an important call given she waved her daughter off. Lou would find out what was up soon enough, so she decided a long hot shower was in order before her co-conspirators arrived. One of them with rum cake and coffee.

It was half past
three when Max walked into the suite. Abby and Frank had spent the last hour and a half working magic and it was all lining up brilliantly. All Frank had to do was keep his composure until the mouse went for the cheese. The mouse being Max of course. Abby spent the last twenty minutes lecturing Frank about remaining calm and not giving anything away or blowing it. That was easier said than done. But when Max walked in, Frank was cool as a cucumber and had everything in play. All he had to do is get Max to take the bait.

“Hey. How’d it go?” Frank looked up casually from his papers to greet Max.

“Hey. Ah, was a dead end. Whats going on around here? Anyone check in?” Max removed the watch cap and jacket, then plopped down on the couch.

Dead end my ass, Frank thought to himself and tried with all his might not to grin. “Yeah everyone did. Abby expects to be here by tomorrow afternoon. Niko may be here in the morning.”

“Good. What about Finn and Yuri?”

“Finn just secured the last Piaculum Sanguineus and is preparing the transport. Once he’s made sure they’ve been received by the Registrar, he’ll be on his way.” Frank double checked the file to make sure it was all in order before he got the show on the road. “Yuri is having some minor issues with one of our Congressman so he’s going to get that cleaned up and should be here by Monday.”

“Good. Things are coming along then.” Max felt a slight twinge of guilt that he had allowed himself to become distracted while everyone else had been following through on orders so diligently.

“Actually...” This was it. Frank got up and set the file in front of Max. “They are coming along a little faster and smoother then I expected. You’re going to need to change, we have a meeting.”

“A meeting?” Max reached for the file. “About?”

“Well, after you took off and during my research, I came across the perfect location for a permanent residency here. The problem is that in order to meet our specs, we need to merge four separate lots, which normally wouldn’t be a problem...”

“But?” Max really could have cared less about all this.

“But it’s in a very exclusive and guarded area and the Association has to sign off on the reassignment of the lots.”

Max set the folder back down without looking at it. “You handle it, I trust you.”

“Well that’s real sweet and all but you are the principal and they need to meet with you, personally. I think they want to be assured you’re not going to build a pig farm or a porno amusement park or something.

“Christ Frank, I can’t be bothered with this trivial bullshit.”

Frank tucked his hands in his pockets and crossed his fingers. “It won’t take long. Its a perfect set up, you just need to schmooze for an hour, then we can come back. Its only about 10 miles north-ish from that crime scene we were at today. There is another industrial zoned area within your preferred range for a build to suit tech-ops. Really a perfect situation if we can get it.”

Max quirked his brow, grabbed the folder and started flipping through pages. When Frank saw Max close his eyes as if recalling something, he knew he had him. “What time is the meeting?”

It took everything Frank had not to grin. “Seven. So put on a spiffy suit and polish those pearly whites so we can get this deal done and get on with things.”

“Alright. I’m going to check my messages, then take a shower. I’ll be ready in time.”

“Sounds good.” Frank grinned from ear to ear the second Max was safely out of the room.

By the time
Vinny got there, Lou had showered, dressed and gotten plates and mugs set up for her guests in the family room. The room was cavernous but cozy in its tones and décor. It made you feel as if you were in some grand Tuscan estate with its cathedral ceilings, old stone, distressed hardwood floors and massive iron candeliers. Two giant chocolate chenille couches, heavily laden with overstuffed pillows, flanked each side of the majestic fireplace that was currently ablaze. The coffee table between the couches was equally massive and was constructed of a similar cocoa colored wood as the beams in the ceiling and iron as the chandeliers. It was a soothing ensemble of earthy taupes, rich browns, creamy ivory and dashes of burnt umber for good measure. It was one of Lou’s favorite rooms in the whole house.

Not only had Vinny come through with the coffee and cake, but he had brought two pizzas loaded with nearly everything as well. Lou set up both work and food stations on the coffee table while Vinny took off his coat and got comfy.

“Okay Lou, so what the hell have you not been telling me here? Vinny eased himself down on the couch opposite Lou and waited for her to spill the beans.

“Caroline is on her way over. I would kind of like to wait until she gets here so that we are all on the same page.”

“Same page?” Vinny proceeded to remove his shoes and wiggle his toes. “I ain’t even in the same bookstore as you! Ya gotta give me a clue here kiddo.”

“Alright, well you remember the saliva that was found on Angela Talbott?”

“Yeah, the stuff was too degraded to even get an animal, vegetable or mineral type off it.”

“Right. Well...” The sound of the doorbell cut Lou off. “That’s gotta be Caroline. Here, take a look at this while I get the door.” She handed Vinny the file on Marjorie Scott, then headed for the door.

By the time Lou got there her mother was opening the front door to reveal a completely sopping Caroline Devereux.

“Its raining, in case you were wondering.” The sarcasm dripped off Caroline almost as much as the rain.

“Good lord Caroline! You are soaked to the bone!” Lou’s mother ushered her into the house and shut the door behind her.

“Yeah well I ran out of gas three blocks from the damn gas station just as the skies decided to pee all over me!”

Lou snorted. “Its been one of those days all around I guess.”

“Come with me dear...” Shevaun took Caroline’s hand. “We’ll get you some dry clothes and dry that hair, then you can be comfortable while you kids take over the planet.”

“Thanks Momma. We’re in the family room when you’re cleaned up. Vinny brought pizza, too.”

“Oh cool! I’ll be down lickity split. Thanks Mrs. McAllister.”

Lou listened to her mother scold Caroline for not calling her Shevaun all the way up the stairs. Looking out the window Lou thought about what her mother had told her about the possibility of snow tonight. The way it was looking, she may very well turn out to be right. She gave a little shiver then headed back into the family room to see Vinny scratching his head.

“You seeing it?” She asked him.

“Well, I think I see what you think you’re seeing. If that makes any sense.”

“Yeah it does.” She copped a squat on the floor and flipped open one of the pizza boxes, inhaling the delicious aroma deeply. “Man you get the best pizza.”

“I’m Italian, what do you expect? Pass me a slice while you’re in there.” He continued looking at the Scott file while she put a massive slice of the pizza on a plate for him.

“Caroline spotted the same anomaly on Scott as she had with Talbott.” Lou handed him his plate and a napkin.

“Yeah but with Scott it could have been duck spit. You ever have a run in with those ducks? Those guys are mean suckers!”

Lou rolled her eyes. “You sound like the captain. He said the same thing about the ducks.”

“See! I’m not the only one who knows how vicious those buggers can be!”

“Oh Vinny...” Lou’s mother came into the room, pulling on her coat. “... babies are only vicious until they are done teething.” She grinned and leaned down to kiss Lou on the top of her head.

“Oh great, I was talking about ducks and now you toss that at me!” Vinny paled a little as he considered Shevaun’s words.

“I was kidding you.” She grinned and winked at Lou. “Okay I will be back in about an hour or so.”

“Where the heck are you going in this weather?” Lou was obviously not pleased. “I thought Joe had a car bringing him from the airport?”

“Its an emergency Association meeting at the Gould’s.” Shevaun sighed. “Some God knows who wants to buy the five lots adjacent to the west of us, consolidate them into one lot, then build God knows what.”

It was Lou’s face that paled now. “Are you serious? I thought Joe was going to buy those and keep them natural? For the animals?!”

Shevaun patted her daughter on the head. “I know baby but Joe isn’t here is he? So Momma’s gotta go and scare the mean man away.” She smiled sweetly, then turned to leave. “Don’t worry, it should only take an hour. Save me some cake!”

Caroline came into the room as Lou’s mother was going out. She looked like she was ten years old wearing a pair of Lou’s pink sweats and oversized fuzzy bunny slippers.

“I’m staying the night. And maybe forever.” She declared as she plopped down on the couch behind Lou.

“Fine with me. But you take a guest room, ya ain’t sleeping in my bed. Angus barely lets me sleep in it.” Lou was referring to her highly territorial cat.

“Yeah I could see how that would be a problem. He was sprawled out on the comforter when I went in there. How the hell does he stretch out so long? He didn’t even bother to look up when I said hello.”