Shadows of Doubt (17 page)

“Oh don’t even worry about it! That wasn’t my phone.” She gave an impish grin. “That was Frankie’s second line. He’s in our room talking to a stripper named Jiggles, if you can believe that.” She made a shimmy attempt that had Max grinning despite himself. “He said he’ll be in to update you as soon as he gets the four-one-one. You look very handsome, by the way.” It nearly brought tears to her eyes when she watched Max fluster and blush then try to hide it by looking down to straighten his jacket. In all the years she had known him, and they were many, she had never seen him fluster or blush. Max could be gruff or intense, but always in complete command of any situation.

“Uh... Thanks I guess.” He paused a split-second as though something occurred to him. “Do I normally not look handsome?” He looked up at her with an expression that made her think she could almost imagine what he looked like as a little boy.

“No no! You do always look handsome. You just look extra handsome tonight!” She was so moved by the man she could barely stand it. “I’ll go see what’s keeping Frankie.” She hurried off the terrace and out of the suite before he could notice her emotions spilling over. She waved Frank off as she passed him in the doorway and went straight to her room.

“Everything alright Boss?” Frank approached warily, not noticing that Niko had come in and was following behind him.

“Carpesh says that Devereux took her own samples of the saliva and the fingernails. He cannot find where she stashed them.” Max turned back to look over at the strip club but he couldn’t see his detective or her partner any longer. They must have gone inside or left. “Which means Donovan and her partner are over there asking about Winslow, not another case.”

“Well I happen to know where she stashed them.” Frank held a hand up when Max tossed him a death look. “Hey I just got the call! She sent them to a friend of hers at Quantico. Fortunately he passed them to one of our people for analysis so we have it covered.”

Niko sat on the edge of a chaise and proceeded to light one of his fancy cigarettes. “I can handle the detectives.” He said coolly.

“No!” Both Frank and Max said at the same time. Frank’s face flushed and he took a step back, deferring to Max’s orders. “Forgive me, my Dom.”

“No, its alright. It’s Devereux that’s the key on this. Those two are thick as thieves so if we can pull Devereux back I think she can get Donovan to back off as well.” Max considered for a long time while the two men watched him pace back and forth. It was a huge decision to be made but it was a little easier in knowing that Caroline Devereux’s lineage was Sanguinostri and her family had intended on initiating her before she came to Los Angeles. Better late then never, Max supposed. “Call Richlieu and her parents. Get them out here immediately. Get two bungalows next to each other here at the Chateau.” He wasn’t going to let his plans for the evening get disrupted over this. “Frank, you stay here tonight and make sure all of this is handled. Niko, can you make yourself available to Richlieu and the Devereuxs while they deal with their daughter?”

Frank interrupted immediately. “I can handle that!” He caught himself after it left his mouth and realized he had spoken out of turn, but he may as well run with it. “I have dealt with these types of things countless times and am familiar with the whole Devereux Donovan deal so it only makes sense not to bother Niko with this when he’s got the whole replacement counsel to deal with, among other things.”

“It’s not a biggie to handle but Frank has a point.” Niko laid back in the chaise. “I really wouldn’t give this the delicacy that it deserves.”

Max nodded, agreeing with all points presented. “Right, good call Frank. Make it happen.” He looked at his watch and had a few more minutes before the car would be waiting to take him to dinner. “Follow up with our people at Quantico and make sure those samples are dealt with properly. If Devereux is initiated this weekend, then we don’t really have to worry all too much. Find out who her ‘person’ is over at Quantico so that doesn’t backfire.”

“Right away.” Frank bolted to his own suite to make the calls and get Abby up to speed.

“I hate to throw another wrench into the works but there’s this whole matter of protocol that we need to address.” Niko pulled out a cigarette for Max and held it out to him, then offered a light once he accepted.

“You’re a bad influence.” Max said while blowing out a thick stream of smoke. “Alright, elaborate with the protocol. Given what we are into here that could mean at least a thousand things.”

“Protocol dictates certain things when you, being the Dominor, arrive on scene. A sort of ‘I have arrived’ dinner, banquet, ball, whatever. Remember when we came to the U.S. back in the day? Although I am sure everyone and their dog knows you’re here by now. It’s still proper form for you to make a formal appearance as the head honcho of all things cool and fruity.” He crushed out his cigarette and continued. “The word around the water cooler is that the blue-bloods are already scoffing at the fact that you haven’t sent a formal invitation yet. Given the fact that you’re planning on asking the Senatus to install a West Coast counsel, it would be wise to follow protocol to the letter so they have no excuse to deny you.”

“I had thought about that but was hoping we could get construction done so we could hold a formal banquet at the new house, but you’re right. That would be serious bad form to wait that long. The sneers and snickers are already starting. We can’t delay on that. There is some sort of gala that Albert von Massenbach is throwing next weekend. We’ll need to have invitations sent before then if we’re to follow proper form.”

“It will be tight but if anyone can make it happen...”

“Its Abby.” Max finished Niko’s sentence for him and grinned. “You want to ask her or shall I?”

A wide smile spread across Niko’s rakishly handsome face. “Please allow me the pleasure of seeing Abby’s face light up when I tell her she has to plan a party.”

Max snorted and passed his barely smoked cigarette to Niko. “Have at it. Tell her to make sure she does it up so that all the snobs won’t have any critiques to pass abroad in their gossip sessions. Make sure she invites our Canadian delegation too.” He checked his pockets to make sure he had everything, then started to head for the door. “I’ll be back in a few hours, you have the comm Number One.”

Niko chuckled at the Star Trek reference. It was a little known fact that Max and Niko would on occasion spend hours watching marathons of the old sci-fi series, reciting the dialogue as it went. Niko finished the cigarette then headed in to give Abby the good news.

As decided, the doors to the suites were propped open and two large men stood to either side of the elevator, securing the entire floor of the Chateau for the counsel’s private use. The problem was that Niko was the stealthiest damn person next to Max and walked into Abby and Frank’s suite without detection. He arrived just in time to hear Abby asking Frank how they were going to get “her in his face again” and that had Niko wondering. When the two conspirators turned to see him standing there, he quirked his brow and watched both of their faces turn an ashy white.

“Oh this is going to be good.” He snickered and plopped himself on the couch. “Spill it. All of it. Now.” He ordered.

“Shit!” Was all Abby could say while Frank stammered, uttering nothing intelligible.

“If you don’t tell me and get me in the loop now, I am going to ruin whatever it is you are up to by cluing Max in and you know it. So spill it all. Bring me in and we go from there.”

Frank and Abby looked at each other with desperate expressions. They knew they were caught, but for the life of them neither could come up with anything to bullshit Niko and cover themselves.

“Ah, hell, just tell him Abby.” Resigned, Frank sank down into one of the arm chairs.

“Me?! You’re the one that called the Code Pink! You do it!” Her face rose in color, making Niko grin.

“Code Pink?” Niko sat up as the words registered in his brain. “Who?!”

Frank and Abby looked at each other with more desperation and a wash of shock. “How do you know Code Pink?” Abby demanded.

“Abigail, it’s my job to know everything. Especially when it comes to anything that directly involves the fate of my Dominor. Besides, you two need to turn lights on and clear rooms to effectively invoke any cone of silence. I was sitting in the library when you two came in like little girls to make your pact on the Code Pink like a hundred years ago.”

“Ah, hell.” Frank repeated himself and looked back at Abby for guidance.

“You didn’t tell anyone did you?” She gave Niko a threatening look.

“Who are you talking to?” Niko tilted his head sideways at Abby’s ridiculous question. He was the soul of discretion and more secretive than the entire counsel and the Senatus combined. “Now tell me who and every last detail before I shut you two down without any consideration.”

Pondering briefly, Abby knew it would only be to their advantage to have Niko on their side and working with them on their little conspiracy. Now it was just a matter of telling him everything in the proper way so that he would be sold. “Frankie, lock the door and get us all a real drink. Has Max left for dinner?”

Niko nodded to her. “He left before I came in.”

“Alright then, but you have to swear by blood that either way you go with this that you will never reveal it to Max.” She walked over to a silver tray on the coffee table and picked up a small knife and held it out to him. He rolled his eyes but took the knife and slashed his palm without blinking an eye. Abby took the knife from him once he was finished and slashed her own palm and then the two locked hands.

“I swear by the Blood of the Ancients I will not reveal what you tell me about this Code Pink to Max under any circumstances...” He smirked at her. “Until you tell me I can.”

“Fair enough.” Abby smirked back at him. “Alright then...”

Frank returned to the table, carefully balancing three crystal wine glasses and their crimson contents, offering one to Abby, then one to Niko. He sank back down into the arm chair and drank deeply as Abby began telling Niko the sequence of events that led them to this point in time. She recounted everything down to Max’s facial expressions that had Abby welling up with tears again as she had earlier in the evening. Emphasis was put on the ironic connections to the Sanguinostri, Joe’s family connections, the Devereuxs, right down to Lou standing on the corner a little more then an hour ago. Frank watched Niko’s face for any telltale expression but his face was stone as he listened intently to it all. When finally Abby was done, Niko sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees, apparently digesting everything he had just heard.

“Hmm.” He grunted and sat for a good while longer until he finally scrubbed a hand over his face. “How are we going to get her in his face again? It has to be soon.”

The strip club
where Janine Winslow was previously employed had recently undergone a makeover after a rather convenient fire toasted the place. Unfortunately the decorator must have been blind. The place was an assault on the eyes even with the lights down, and the overall vibe was pretty damn sleazy even as strip joints go. It always struck Lou funny that given the law of no alcohol in an all-nude establishment, management would instead serve energy drinks to the customers. The whole visual of wired perverts flicking out dollar bills in rapid succession like a speed-freak just cracked Lou up. Even while they waited to talk to the manager, Lou noted at least seven guys tapping their feet like hummingbird wings, completely out of time with whatever it was that was being pumped out of the sound system.

The manager was the final person they needed to speak to about the last night Janine worked. None of the other dancers had seen anything out of the ordinary or anyone unusually creepy. Given the nature of the beast, it was hard to expect anyone to actually identify anyone as being creepy, unusually so or otherwise. The bartenders that were on duty hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, either. The only thing they remembered was a large group of college guys that the bouncers had to deal with several times before they finally asked them nicely to leave. Lou figured it would have been easy to go unseen with a bunch of frat boys drawing all the attention. Very convenient to say the least. When the manager finally arrived he had little more to add to the consensus that Janine was a nice girl who worked hard and kept it clean and professional. He gave her plenty of leeway with her schedule to accommodate her schooling because she was a big draw and brought in a lot of faithful customers. It seemed that Janine was rather popular because she actually danced, rather than just jiggle, fondle herself and do the splits over and over again. The one thing that the manager did add that was of interest was that security usually walked Janine out to her car but that night, because of the unruly frat mob, they had their hands full and Janine opted not to wait, leaving alone. Janine also parked her car regularly in the parking lot across the street rather than in the back alley which was reserved for staff. She took a chance of being towed but she preferred blending back into the Hollywood shuffle, or so the man recalled.

Lou and Vinny left the club and walked to the corner to trace Janine’s last exodus from the club. They stood a while watching the continuous throng of traffic pass by.

“No way in hell he could have nabbed her here. Way too many people and it only gets worse at that hour.” Lou turned and looked from all angles but paused after a moment. She knew it was ridiculous but she couldn’t help but feel she was being watched, which was entirely likely because there were a bazillion people driving by.

“That’s a well lit lot over there.” Vinny had to shout over the din or cars. “Manager said she parked smack under the light too, every night. All those businesses in there are closed when she’s on so easy peasy to get that spot regularly.” He walked to the curb and surveyed the area with her. “Pretty smart if ya ask me.”