Pride, page 11
I stopped fussing with the knife and fork and picked through the packs of jam. “If he asks.”
“You should use him,” David said. “I know how you feel. I agree, he screwed up. But you need protection, or support.”
“I don’t,” I said and made the mistake of looking at him. He was frowning but his anger wasn’t directed at me. “What? Is there something on my face?”
“What happened this morning?”
I shouldn’t have taken my attention away from the jams. Where was our food? Why didn’t the waitress interrupt us? “I met with a contact. He gave me some information.”
“No. You look like you’ve been to the edge of something bad.” He waited for me to speak.
I tried to sort my thoughts into some kind of order. Just blurting out the events wouldn’t end well. I needed to control the flow so David would still listen after the Stick part of the story. I gave up and said, “I’m fine. Nothing happened.”
Now our food arrived, and I could waste more time in adding sauce, salt, and pepper. Not a lot of time, and David didn’t plan to let it go. He watched me as I tried to find another activity to avoid talking.
Nothing, and I reminded myself I wasn’t a five-year-old. An adult dealt with things head on.
“I’m not telling you who my contact is,” I said. “But he’s not exactly law-abiding. No good resource is, right?”
He agreed with me and then picked up his breakfast sandwich.
“So, he didn’t have a name, but he told me to look at the adoption guy. He’s not who he claims to be.” My eggs were getting cold, so I slid them on a slice of toast to capture the yolk and cut off a mouthful.
“And this is why your face is white as a sheet?” He started on his hash browns.
Now that I had to say the words, my appetite slipped away. The eggs looked deflated and sickly, and the bacon smelled like hot lumps of fatty salt. “There was a bit of a problem when I went to leave.”
“If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I can’t support you,” he said.
“I couldn’t bring you along, because he wouldn’t show up. He knows about you, and it already changed the dynamic.”
“I wasn’t suggesting you needed a police escort.” He pushed his plate away; maybe his taste buds were in rebellion too. “We could have set up something to keep you safe without blowing it for you.”
Like having a cruiser pull up if I gave some mysterious signal? “Anything you did might have fooled the guy who threatened me, but I’d lose my contact and I can’t afford to do that. He helps me on cases that don’t involve the Russian Mob. I’m fine. Nothing happened. We handled the situation.”
“What’s your next move?”
His question confused me. What happened to the argument I anticipated only a second ago?
He hadn’t actually said he’d back off, but the subject change was more than a sidestep. “Follow up on the information I found.” I picked up a slice of bacon. The aroma was back, reminding me I hadn’t eaten for a long while. “I guess I’ll go by the hospital first. See if Glenda is awake.”
“What’s the information?” I must have glared at him because he laughed. Not the reaction I wanted from a supportive boyfriend. “I’m not going to stop you. I can’t help if I don’t understand what you need.”
I didn’t believe him. Not because he was a cop, but because I was going to be in jeopardy and he wanted me safe. The minute I started to investigate Viktor, alarms would go off. And not just in Ivan’s world. Andy would find out I was digging into his case. David might think he would let me do what I wanted, but... I guess the only way to find out was to tell him.
“The guy who runs the adoption agency. I didn’t meet him. I saw his picture on brochures and on their website, but it’s a fake. His name is probably a cover too. I need to track down the real Viktor and find out how he’s connected.”
His face tightened and he didn’t answer right away. I gave him credit for not immediately saying it was too dangerous, but I figured that argument was going on in his head.
“If you don’t know what he looks like, or his name, or anything really, where will you start?”
Okay, that sounded like he decided to help. “Well, apparently he does kind of look like the picture. And I’ll be going through Alan’s financial records. The payment for Nora must be somewhere.”
“Any other approaches you can’t tell me about?” He was smiling again. “I know you don’t stick with the usual legal tools. No PI can do their job without some shady help.”
The answer was yes, of course I had access to methods I couldn’t tell him about. I could track Alan’s phone log and try to find Viktor’s number, then track him. Everything up to the last thing stayed within the rules because Glenda agreed to my investigation. Once I got to Viktor, the important part, I was more than shady.
“I have all kinds of tools,” I said. “I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t get involved.”
He looked over my shoulder and nodded at someone. I turned, ready to defend my actions if it turned out to be Andy. It was our waitress.
David paid the bill, and we left the restaurant. As soon as I stepped through to the street my phone buzzed. This time it was Andy.
31
I slid to ignore. I didn’t have the strength or patience to deal with him now. David looked at the screen but didn’t comment. Smart man.
“I’m going to the hospital.” I kissed his cheek and turned away.
My phone buzzed again. Andy. I ignored the call again.
“He won’t give up,” David said. “Better if you just get it over with.”
What I wanted to do was block the number, but he had access to a lot of different phone lines. Law enforcement is hard to dodge even if you are legitimate.
“Stick around,” I said. “I might need you to protect him.”
David chuckled and nodded to his car. “Probably not a good idea to do this on the street then.”
By the time he called again, we were sitting in the car. “What?”
“Good morning,” he said.
I put the phone on speaker. “I’m busy, what do you want?”
“Nothing. I figured you wanted an update.”
“Yes.” I didn’t believe it would come without conditions, but whatever he gave would save me time. “Go ahead.”
“First, your client is out of surgery. She’s in pretty bad shape but will fully recover.”
“Thanks. I’m visiting her today.”
“I’ll let the officer on guard know. But she’s being kept under to allow her body to heal.”
At least they were protecting her, and I wouldn’t waste the time it took to go to the hospital to find out she wasn’t awake. “Will I get a call when she’s ready?”
“Yes. Unless she doesn’t want to see you. I think the best thing is for you to send your bill to the house and walk away now,” he said.
David pressed mute on the phone, and I glared at him.
“Don’t just say no,” David said. “If you can’t make a working deal, he can arrest you for interfering with an ongoing investigation.”
I hit the mute button again. “I still have some loose ends. I’m not going to run away from this. As long as I have a contract, I have a job. So, until my client says otherwise, I’m still looking into what trouble her husband is in.” Maybe I managed to inject a little professional concern past the stubbornness, but I truly didn’t care. David didn’t say anything or stop me continuing the call.
“The daughter, Nora, is settled with the foster parents. No one is in danger; your job is done.”
What happened to the offer to work together? Had his boss, Michel, convinced him to cut ties?
“You aren’t my client. I’m not breaking any laws. I’m not getting in your way.” At least right now when I’m sitting in a cop’s car. “Thank you for the update. How is your case going?”
David grunted and I noticed his eyes roll. He wasn’t angry, so one less wall to kick down.
“We continue to follow leads,” Andy said. “Your job, however, is complete. Your client has all the information she needs to decide on her next steps. We’ll be requesting her cooperation when she is conscious. She has every incentive to take our protection and end her association with you.”
I guess that meant I wouldn’t get any real updates. And I wondered if Glenda was really unconscious. Perhaps it was a lie to keep me from talking to her. Unfortunately, Andy had way more to offer her than I did. He could put her in a version of witness protection. He could stop Child Protection from taking Nora away. He probably had a heap of evidence to convince her that Alan was a real criminal. All I had was a client relationship. If Andy got to Glenda first, I’d take the blame for yesterday, and I’d be lucky to get paid. And I was the only one making progress on the case.
I did know a lot more about Glenda than Andy did, though. The official investigation hadn’t touched her more than a quick dismissal. And she wouldn’t be much help in getting a conviction. There was no point asking her permission to bug the house if Alan was unlikely to return. And he had gone into hiding, so there was no tearful apology and promise to never do that again in Glenda’s future so they could grab him.
“Why the change of heart? You wanted me working with you; you told me to wait yesterday.” I was not going to stop investigating, but knowing the reason I was no longer wanted might be useful.
“My boss doesn’t think it’s a good idea to bring in civilians. And this is too dangerous for you to go further. Putting you in can complicate the prosecution.”
Those were not his reasons. He was following orders. I couldn’t be sure if he wanted my help, or that he’d follow through on the threat to arrest me for interfering. I wasn’t stepping back. Alan knew who I was, and he would tell Ivan if he had any hint it would save him. And I didn’t want RCMP protection. I had a life, and David would be forced to drop a career he loved. I’d dealt with criminals before.
“If I find anything out, I’ll pass it on,” I said. David wasn’t looking at me any longer. He stared out the side window at the street.
“If you get in our way, I’ll stop you,” Andy said. “This is serious, Charity. Forget that these guys will kill you to avoid even the hint of a risk of getting caught. They are powerful. If we don’t pull them in fast, they will be entrenched, and more people will die.”
“And you haven’t made a lot of headway,” I said. “Are you trying to tell me they’ve already infiltrated your organization?” Was Michel on their payroll? Was I supposed to be reading between the lines here? Not one of my strengths.
“I’m telling you to step back,” Andy said. “If I had proof of any corruption, I’d know how to report it.”
“I appreciate the warning.” I stared out of the windshield and past the dead bugs. The street was filling now that people were heading into work. David was still behaving like he wasn’t part of the conversation. No bolt of lightning or ray of sunshine to point the way to the right choice. I took that to mean, be yourself.
“Charity, I know you are still there,” Andy said. “I need an answer.”
He wouldn’t like my decision, and I didn’t want to keep talking about this in case I told him too much about what I learned this morning. “I hear your warnings. Inform me when Glenda wakes up, please.”
I ended the call and turned to David. “Thanks for the help.”
He shook his head at me, but no frown. “You did fine. And you don’t want me to tell you to be safe. I trust you, and I will be there to help.”
32
“You didn’t say much.” Now that I was free to go, I didn’t relish the idea of sitting around thinking. Despite all my resistance to stepping off and leaving things to the professionals, I had nothing immediate to do. Yes, research on Viktor, but spending the day in front of my computer searching for his identity didn’t sound exciting enough. I guess that’s how adrenaline junkies start out. I was crashing from the excitement of a few hours ago and wanting a fix.
“You did fine,” he said, again. “Where’s your car?”
“You don’t want me working on this case, right?” I asked without thinking.
He sighed and turned to me. “Why are you trying to provoke a fight?”
“I’m not.” Okay, I was, and I knew it came from stress; I’m not that self-unaware. Being keyed up wasn’t only from Stick’s lovely threats; the whole situation piled up with emotions. Guilt over Glenda and Nora, frustration that no single clue let me move toward a resolution. A sneaking suspicion no one could get Ivan off the streets, and even if they did, someone else waited in the wings. And not a better citizen. Life didn’t work that way.
The world would continue to spin, the universe would bend to justice the way Martin Luther King promised, but not to individual justice. And none of it was David’s fault.
“What can I do?” David asked. “I said I’m here to help, but I don’t know how you want me to assist.”
“I’m not being fair,” I said. “I’m sorry. I’m having a shitty week and there’s no sign of an end.”
“I can talk to Andy about bringing you back in. I’m pretty sure he’s acting under some pressure from above.”
If he reacted like this, I couldn’t afford to align myself with the investigation. I’d be fighting to keep working every time I took action. I’m terrible at taking time to think things through, let alone asking for permission before jumping in with both eyes closed.
I said all this to David. “And he won’t be happy with me either. He’s right, I might screw the long-term goal up.”
David stared out the windshield again. The scene hadn’t changed much. It was brighter, but that just highlighted the gray of the concrete buildings. More people on the sidewalk, more bikes and cars on the road as people started their day.
He didn’t speak for a bit. The light on the corner turned red, then green and then back to red before he turned to face me. “If he agrees to your terms, will you try?”
His voice was hopeful, and I hated to break it to him that the odds were very long on that happening.
“I’m not going to slam the door in his face,” I said. “And maybe he has information I need. Ways to find Viktor’s real identity, to track Alan down. But he’s not asking, or he’s taking too long to ask. I can’t sit around doing nothing.” I realized I hadn’t listed how I would help Andy, but I didn’t think my preferences would be part of the deal. He wanted to use me and order me around.
“You should have told Andy about that,” he said. “The Viktor thing.”
See, there’s the difference between being a cop and being a private investigator. David’s first, second, and third thought was about involving the authorities. My every thought focused on doing my job by myself so no one could screw anything up. No one other than me, anyway.
“Do you think I had the opportunity? He didn’t want to hear anything I said.”
“I’m not going to argue about it,” David said. “It’s up to him to reach out. I’m not asking you to call him.”
Did that mean he wouldn’t tell Andy about Viktor? “Must you tell him about my lead?”
“No. I don’t have a legal requirement to load him up with every rumor about his case. If he asks, I’m not going to lie. If you disappear, I’m calling him first,” David said. “I will be reprimanded if he finds out, but I get shit all the time.”
“Thanks.” I believed him. He wasn’t going to narc on me. I was safe to continue with my job. “There is one thing.”
He opened the window and put his police light on the roof of the car. “I can’t park here much longer,” he said. “What do you need?”
“Nora. When I talk to Glenda, I want to be able to tell her Nora is doing okay. Can you find out where she’s staying?”
“Yes. But you need to be careful. They won’t let just anyone visit. And if you lie about who you are, they’ll contact the cops.”
It was going to get in my way, but I couldn’t blame them. “Does that apply to Alan? Will they let her dad drop by after almost killing her mother?”
“No,” David said. He started the car. “I’m the contact. He’s on a list of risks. If he shows up, they call 911. I meant when you go there, don’t pull any investigative tricks. I won’t be able to fix it if CPS decides you are a danger to the kid.”
“Where is she?”
“I need to check who took her in. I’ll call you.”
“You are a hero,” I said and leaned over to kiss his cheek.
“Yes, I am,” he said. “Can I drop you at your car?”
I opened my door. “I’m not far. I promise to make it there without causing any problems.”
He laughed and pulled away from the curb as soon as I shut the door.
So, my day was going to be boring. I guess if you start with a threat in an alley in a bad part of town, a quiet afternoon of research should be welcome.
I picked up a few groceries on my way home so I wouldn’t have to stop working to make lunch. I got in the door and the smell of cleaner hit me when I took off my jacket. I needed a shower and clean clothes. I put the coffee pot on to brew and ran upstairs.
I had the address and contact details for Nora’s foster parents before I finished my first mug of coffee. I glanced at my computer, then the clock. Still a bit early to call about the kid. I sat and started poking around the internet for some way to find the real Viktor.
33
I called the foster family and got voicemail. I left a message with my phone number and then decided I had nothing better to do than research Viktor. It wasn’t going to be as easy as stalking his social media, but it was hard to hide yourself completely. Knowing his receptionist was his wife would be a starting point. Cynthia something would help me solve this case.
The website didn’t contain much information, but if they wanted it to look legit to the authorities, she might be on payroll. That meant some kind of audit requirements, and even if it went to another cover business, it would give me something. At the bottom of the home page, I found a link to Our Company. And it became that easy: a law firm, an accountant, and a list of major suppliers.
