The Color of Greed (Raja Williams 1) (17 page)

A mile from the coffee shop, Raja said, “I
don’t understand what just happened. Is it possible she knows
we are on to her?”

“Could be.” Vinny showed him a picture
of the homeless woman. “I checked every possible angle around
that shop. That bag lady is the only person unaccounted for who could
be Sue Storm.”

Raja studied the photo. “She is good.”
He wondered why Sue took the chance of being discovered. The answer
came later that night, after Vinny and Raja had returned to the
Studio City loft. Vinny’s iPad lit up, and a live message
appeared on the screen. Vinny grabbed her iPad.

The message read, “Hello, Vinny.” The
sender was identified only as IW.

“Who is this?” Vinny typed in return.

“The invisible woman. Let’s leave it at
that. I thought we might have some things to talk about.”

It was Sue Storm. “Raja, come here. Quick as a
bunny.”

“Now what are you doing?” asked Raja,
without moving. He wasn’t in the mood to fool around.

“Talking to Sue Storm,” Vinny said
calmly.

Two seconds later Raja was at Vinny’s side,
peering over her shoulder. “Is it really her?”

“No doubt, boss. I’d bet your left nut
on it.”

“Why am I not reassured.”

“Seriously, it is her. What do you want me to
say?”

“Let me see. We better ask her what
she
wants.”

Vinny typed the question.

Sue responded, “The same thing you
want—justice. By the way, is Raja Williams there with you?”

“Yes. He wants to meet with you.”

“Never going to happen. I’m sure you’ve
noticed the body count is rising. I’d rather not contribute, if
you don’t mind.”

“Okay, good point,” said Vinny. “So
what do we do?”

“I have been watching you. And gathering intel
on my own. I think we can help each other.”

“Help is good,” typed Vinny.

“Let’s start by sharing some
information. I’m going to send you some files. Then we can
talk.”

The live message ended. Several compressed files
arrived on Vinny’s iPad. She forwarded them immediately to her
new computer. A few flicks to the touchscreen opened a list of the
files. Vinny extracted them all. The largest file centered on a solar
battery company called Solex Industries, and its dead CEO John
Smiley. Much of the information was technical in nature.

There were also other documents about SEC filings
having to do with stock options, IPOs and a number of companies,
including several lists of investors. The last file was a list of
federal grants.

It was a massive amount of information that would
require sorting and analyzing. Vinny’s tongue stuck out of the
corner of her mouth like it always did in anticipation of an exciting
or challenging task. “Raja, I think we have hit the mother
lode.”

“Anything on the judge or the governor?”

“I don’t know. I’m just getting
started. Do you want me to run a trace on Sue? She thinks I can’t,
but I can trace her, boss.”

“No, let’s not spook her now that she
has made willing contact. Let’s figure out how she fits into
our puzzle.”

Chapter Thirty-one: Claus

Vinny went to work extracting and organizing files
and data. One thing was clear. Sue Storm’s story centered
around John Smiley, one of the people vaporized in the Starbucks
bombing. It was safe to assume that he was the target in the bombing.
Vinny started a broad internet search of him and his company. While
her program was running, the doorbell rang.

Vinny opened the door. A tall serious-faced man with
short blond hair stood in the doorway looking down at her. He didn’t
blink.

“Claus,” said Vinny, and threw a bear
hug around him. He didn’t return the affectionate gesture, but
tolerated it, the way a large family guard dog tolerates small
children who insist on petting him or pulling on his ears.

Vinny didn’t care. “Come in, come in,”
she said, dragging him by the hand. The blond man followed
obediently.

“Look who is here,” said Vinny.

Raja had been rightfully concerned about Clarice,
and so he had sent someone to watch out for her. His name was Claus
von Rachen. Claus was a strange Frankenstein of different cultures.
He was an Israeli Jew of Nordic German descent who smoked Syrian
cigarettes. His grandfather had been a high-ranking German officer
named Otto von Rachen who traced his ancestry all the way back to
Charlemagne. Otto married a Jewish woman prior to World War II, and
kept his wife’s status hidden as the persecutions against
Jewish citizens in Germany grew violent. Then, when she got pregnant,
he sacrificed himself to get her out of Germany safely. After the
war, she settled in the newly formed State of Israel, and raised
Claus’s father on a kibbutz outside of Ashkelon. Claus himself
served in the Mossad after training as a sharpshooter in the
military, and rumor was that he had killed a sizable number of
Hezbollah and Hamas extremists before leaving official service. Of
course, rumor was all there was, as Claus never talked about his
past. In fact, Claus rarely spoke at all, which was one of the things
Raja liked most about him.

The two had first met in Switzerland during an
investigation into stolen art and jewelry dating to the Nazi Third
Reich of World War II. Raja had been instrumental in recovering
personal artifacts that belonged to Claus’s German family.
Claus had said only thank you, only once, and then handed Raja a
phone number. After that, all Raja had to do was call and Claus would
immediately come to his aid. Whenever Raja completed a case he was
working on, Claus would mysteriously vanish without so much as a
goodbye. Where Claus went and what he did between the times Raja saw
him, Raja didn’t know or care to ask. His trust in Claus was
beyond compromise.

Claus smoked a cheap brand of non-filter Syrian
cigarettes, a habit he had picked up while on covert missions against
Hezbollah agents in the Middle East. The cigarettes were as harsh as
they come, but well suited to Claus’s stoic nature.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” said
Raja. He knew the English idiom would be lost on Claus.

True to form, Claus wondered why Raja referred to
Vinny as a cat. Claus said nothing. Raja immediately walked to the
bar and poured three shots of Ouzo, Claus’s favorite beverage.

“Skol,” said Claus. He, Raja and Vinny
knocked the drinks back in one tilt.

“You killed the assassin, Claus,” said
Raja.

“Yes.”

“Now I can’t ask him who he worked for.”

“You told me only to protect the woman.”

Raja could never kid with Claus. He took everything
literally. Raja suspected that Claus had no sense of humor. He had
never even seen Claus smile. That made him a predictably reliable
associate, but not much fun for conversation. “And you did the
right thing, of course,” said Raja. “Good work.”

Claus nodded curtly. “Thank you.”

“Please, sit,” said Vinny, pointing to
the tan leather couch. Claus sat down, and Vinny crowded right next
to him.

“By the way, Claus, I understand the man was
in full police uniform and you shot him in the back,” said
Raja. “How did you know he wasn’t an actual policeman?”

“The way he walked.”

“The way he walked?”

“Yes.”

“I’m very glad you are on my side,
Claus. Thanks again.”

“Welcome.”

A call came in from Detective Rafferty.

“Yes, Tommy, it’s Raja.”

“I have some follow up on the shooting at
Clarice Hope’s ranch. Thought you should know. They found a
dead patrolman in the bushes a mile away from the ranch. One shot in
the head. Stripped of his uniform. He might be another victim of the
mysterious blond man.”

Raja looked over at Claus sitting on his couch.
“From what you told me, I doubt it,” said Raja. “I’d
be willing to bet the ballistics will match the gun from the guy you
found in the ranch house wearing the police uniform.”

“And I’m sure I won’t take that
bet,” said Rafferty. “You seem to know a lot about this
Santa Barbara case.”

“Only what you have told me.”

“Uh-huh. Ask you no questions and you will
tell me no lies.”

“Sometimes a wise policy.”

“I figured as much. You should know, there is
an APB out on the blond man, whoever he is.”

“I don’t see that as a problem, but I do
appreciate your concern.” Claus was as good as they come at
blending in and being invisible. He reminded Raja of the performance
artists in Europe who are painted to blend into the environment, the
ones you never know are there until they move. Without changing his
appearance, Claus had the uncanny ability, honed over years of
dangerous undercover work, to operate in any environment undetected.

After the phone call ended, Claus was nowhere to be
found. Raja looked at Vinny. Although Vinny had suggested Claus stay
the night at the loft, she knew it was mere gesture. As expected,
Claus had declined with a simple no. And now, like the ghost he was,
he disappeared leaving no trace or indication of where he was going.

“Gone,” she said.

As little as Raja actually knew about Claus, he
trusted him like a brother. Claus never asked for money, and he
always showed up when Raja needed him.

Raja did not know who had sent the killer after
Clarice Hope, but it was an overt move that smelled of paranoia and
panic. Panic was a good sign in a case like this. It meant he and
Vinny were on the right track. Now it was only a matter of time.

Chapter Thirty-two: Fool’s Gold

The next morning Vinny found more files waiting for
her on her iPad. After loading them onto her computer, she continued
her systematic search and collation of data from the files. When Raja
woke up she had already discovered new facts relevant to their case.

“No breakfast?” asked Raja, sleepily,
after he stumbled down the staircase. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“No time, boss.”

“I see you have been busy,” he said,
noting the pile of printouts she had already made. “I meant to
ask you how Sue managed to find us.”

“She mirrored my iPad signature,” said
Vinny.

“Vinny, are you telling me she hacked you?”

“Hell to the no. Not hacked. She just copied
my pathway so she could use it to ping communication back to me
without being easily traced. She must have accessed it by using a
Bluetooth scanner when we were close to her.”

“How close?”

“Less than one hundred feet.”

“When we went to the coffee shop?”

“That would be my bet. I can track her down,
if you would like.”

“Let it go, girl.”

“Okay, what ev. But I’m just saying.”

“I know you are, Vinny. What did you find out
so far?”

“This is about money—large quantities
of. The company Sue was investigating was an integral part of a host
of green energy companies vying for billions in government grants and
loans. Not only that, it appears the Chinese have been lining up to
invest.”

“That explains the Chinese nationals who were
at the governor’s party,” said Raja.

“Sue had just begun to look into campaign
finance, as well. You think the Chinese were backing the governor?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me. It would be a
good way to hedge their investments.”

“I thought that was illegal?”

“Tomayto, tomahto. It’s all about
finding daylight in a decidedly poor excuse for campaign finance law.
Or skirting the law altogether. Asking or expecting politicians to
bite the hand that feeds them is a fool’s errand.”

“So far, what Sue had uncovered was fraudulent
technical results from Solex that were used in green energy grant
applications. She is convinced there is a deliberate conspiracy at
work that she and others have threatened.”

“Others who are dead, like Randy Hope.”

“Yes, and the guy she calls Solarman. She is
genuinely scared, and needs our help.”

“And help her, we shall,” said Raja.
“But, we need more than a theory. You need to find us a trail
to follow. And, I need to think.”

What Raja meant by think was really the opposite.
During a case he was like a dog worrying a bone. Once he got his
teeth into something, he wouldn’t let go. It was a good thing.
However, sometimes he got so close he would get myopic. Then he would
step back away from the case and let go of his thoughts. Like someone
doing a jigsaw puzzle, he would visualize the big picture and let all
the pieces fall into place.

Listening to music helped him let go of the details
of a case. He sat down in his listening chair and put on the
headphones. Pressing the remote raised a small screen in front of
him, and he scrolled through a list of musical pieces. Something
spacious and dynamic would do the trick. He stopped on Mussorsky,
pressed play and settled back into the chair.

While Raja made space with the music, pictures of
the victims and suspects floated in and out of view. There was a
correct pattern where they all came together, if he could just see
it.

Meanwhile Vinny sifted through page after page of
documents. She took key data and names and did expanded internet
searches looking for relevant ties to their victims.

While she was working, Vinny’s iPad lit up.
There was a message coming in from Sue Storm. It said only, “Check
this out.” There was an attached file.

Vinny tried never to interrupt Raja when he was
listening to music. However, after opening the file from Sue Storm,
she felt compelled to break in. She stood over Raja, hesitating only
a moment.

“Yes, Vinny,” said Raja, feeling her
intention. He removed his headphones.

“The latest file Sue sent is amazeballs. You
have to see this.” Vinny opened a video file onto the full
computer screen. It showed a man and woman engaged in foreplay.

“Is that who I think it is?”

“No doubt. Governor Black and his favorite
porn star, Cherry Long.”