Chapter 25
Ford
I returned to Christopher’s hospital room to figure out a game plan once Violet came back out to the lobby. The minute Christopher laid everything out for me, and confessed what he’d been told so far, I knew what we had to do.
One of the biggest problems the security firm ran into with clients, and the reason they hired us instead of relying on the police, was simple.
The police couldn’t stop a crime that hadn’t happened yet.
You couldn’t arrest someone for planning something, and until they crossed that legal threshold, law enforcement’s hands were tied.
Right now, Christopher had a very compelling story. A crew with a history of petty crime was escalating. They were targeting his workplace. They were talking about robbing the museum where he worked.
But talking wasn’t enough. Suspicion and speculation wasn’t enough. Even their criminal pasts weren’t enough. None of it was actionable without proof.
If Christopher could provide something concrete, something credible, the security firm could possibly coordinate with law enforcement to intercept them when the time came.
The issue was these guys weren’t stupid.
There were no texts or phone calls about their intentions.
No emails. Everything was delivered face-to-face which meant no evidence trail.
And while we knew they were behind the attacks on Violet, we couldn’t prove it.
“There’s nothing we can use to prosecute them,” Christopher muttered, pressing back against his hospital pillows, sounding defeated.
“Not yet,” I said, thinking ahead. “Unless we get someone on the inside to help us out.”
He gave me a skeptical look. “Don’t suppose you’ve got one of those people at your security firm?”
“Not at my firm.” I pulled out a business card from my wallet, surprised that it had actually come in handy. “But I think I have an ace up my sleeve that might work.”
I called Charles Hayward, the prosecutor I’d met at a recent gala after saving his daughter from a potential assault. His secretary was a bit protective of a random man calling, understandably, but once I explained who I was, she put me through.
“Mr. Hayward,” I said as soon as he picked up the line. “This is Ford Perish. You may not remember me, but I’m the security detail who helped your daughter at the gala a few weeks ago.”
“Oh, of course,” he said warmly. “What can I do for you?”
I chose my words carefully. “I have a friend with knowledge of a crime about to be committed, but we don’t have hard evidence to take to the police.
I was hoping there might be another way to prevent this crime.
Considering you’re a prosecutor, and I know you have an in with the DA’s office, I thought maybe you might have advice on how to move forward. ”
He chuckled. “You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. You’re asking if I can convince the DA to get the police involved before a crime has been committed?”
“I have it on good authority that this place is about to get cased. It’s a local museum,” I told him. “They’re receiving millions of dollars’ worth of Spanish royal jewels in the next few days.”
“Is that a fact?” Hayward asked, his tone infused with unmistakable interest.
“I’ve been protecting a woman from these people for weeks now,” I continued. “Her brother works at the museum. And he’s currently in the hospital, beaten pretty badly for refusing to cooperate in the robbery.”
“Let me guess,” Charles said with a sigh. “He’s got nothing beyond his testimony.”
“That’s correct, sir.”
He made a thoughtful noise. “Normally, I wouldn’t use my influence based on the word of a stranger…”
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” I said quickly. “But you did say that I could contact you if I needed anything. Feel free to call my boss and ask him about me. Or look into our entire firm, Noble and Associates, if you want. We have an excellent reputation and I stand by my work.”
He hesitated, then gave a low laugh. “You did protect my daughter, and I don’t make empty promises. Let’s meet at my office and go over this issue and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you, sir. It means a lot.”
We set the meeting for that afternoon. What I didn’t expect when I walked into his office was to find the district attorney and the chief of police sitting there waiting for me. That kind of turnout meant influence, and it meant this would either move fast or die slow. We needed this expedited.
I was glad the hospital had kept Christopher overnight for observation. If he’d been allowed to leave and accompanied me, only to be faced with law enforcement, the risk of him bolting because of panic was too real. I had to present this carefully for these men to take the situation seriously.
I’d had Tate in our IT department run Christopher’s records for me, just as a precaution.
He didn’t have any kind of record, just as Violet had told me.
Not even a sealed juvenile one. He had never been caught for his part in any petty crimes his friends from back in the day committed, so that at least helped in terms of his credibility when I laid out the entire story for the two attorneys and chief of police.
“How did it go?” Violet asked when the meeting was over and I gave her a call.
Chase was still with her, allowing me to get everything situated and put in place to intercept the burglary. “They’ll do it,” I told her. “I can’t tell you more than that but I wanted you to know that we’re a go on the plan.”
I could feel her wanting to ask more, but instead she released a deep breath and said, “Okay.”
According to Christopher, the crew was a textbook three-man operation. A driver and two inside men to do the actual pilfering. Christopher only knew two of them from back in the day, David and Lewis. The third guy, Shane, was new and apparently the mastermind behind the robbery.
I sat in Christopher’s hospital room with him while he called David and told him if they would lay off his sister, he would help them by making sure the security system was shut down during the time they planned to lift the crown.
“I knew you’d see reason,” David said, and set a day and time three days from now. “Do your part, and your sister will be just fine.”
“And remember,” Shane warned, “even a whiff of cops…”
“I know, I know,” Christopher said irritably, and hung up the phone.
Christopher went into work as usual on the designated day, handling security for the new exhibit, his boss already briefed on what would happen after closing.
I dressed casually, grabbed my laptop, and set up at the café across the street well before the museum shut down so I could keep an eye on things as they unfolded.
The museum was open from ten to five, which wasn’t unusual hours, especially for such a small place.
Once it was closed, Christopher would stay on-site and monitor the security all evening.
He didn’t have the graveyard shift, but that was a part of the plan.
Most people tried to rob a place late at night, but this crew was actually going to try and rob it pretty early in the evening.
With Christopher “helping them” by erasing over the video tapes and unlocking the security systems, the trio would be able to stroll in, take the valuables, and stroll back out, without attracting attention for hanging around at an odd hour.
“My boss got this extra fancy security to protect the crown,” Christopher explained while we’d been discussing the details of what would happen. “But I can still override the system with a code.”
I could see why having this position and knowledge put Christopher in such a bad predicament. He had been told by Shane to shut the system down, and try to pass it off as a glitch. But Christopher wasn’t a total idiot. He knew they were setting him up to take the fall.
Any halfway decent cop would immediately know that Christopher had been involved.
While the other three undoubtedly had plans to get out of town scot-free, the police would focus on Christopher and prosecute him in absence of the other men, and he wouldn’t even know where they had gone.
It was a no-win situation for Christopher, but at least now he had a fighting chance of getting exonerated by helping the police catch the true robbers.
I played Solitaire on my computer until the museum closed. About an hour later my phone finally pinged with a text from Chris: they’re coming in.
Hit record, I texted back.
One advantage to using our security firm instead of the police?
We had better toys and cool gadgets. Tate had outfitted Christopher with a set of micro-cameras that fed directly into our firm’s secure cloud.
Once he activated them, they’d start recording automatically.
The main security system would be down, just like the crew wanted, but our cameras would still capture everything. Faces, voices, the plan, the theft.
And because we’d already gotten a judge to sign off on a warrant in advance, every second of footage was admissible.
I signed into my company account, pulled up the live feed, and slipped on my headphones. A moment later, I saw and heard them.
Two men walked into the museum with Christopher after he’d let them in. One of them stepped forward immediately, taking control without hesitation. That had to be Shane.
“Everything’s off?” Shane asked, glancing around. He jerked his chin at the other guy. “Double check.”
The second man—either David or Lewis, I wasn’t sure—went over and examined the security panel, then the display cases holding the crown and other artifacts.
They were both wearing ski masks over their faces, which was smart of them, but it wouldn’t help in the end. Not with the audio we were recording.
A moment later, he returned. “Yeah, everything’s off, just like he said.”
“I knew you’d cooperate.” I could practically hear Shane’s grin through the mask. “You’re stubborn as hell, kid. You’d be a solid asset to the team if you’d learn to listen and take orders without the attitude.”
Christopher glared at him. “Just take the damn thing and go.”
“All right, all right.” Shane put his hands up. “I’m just saying, the boys told me lots of fun stories about you back in the day. You’d fit right in if you ditched this place and came with us.”
“No, thank you.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
The three of them headed into the main exhibit room.
The driver stayed posted outside, while the two men inside went straight for the crown case.
With the security system disabled, cracking it open wasn’t hard, but they still needed tools.
The museum didn’t exactly design the display cases for easy access, with or without security protocols in place.
Christopher stayed out of their way, doing nothing but watching them. Exactly like I told him to so they wouldn’t suspect that he knew what was coming next. He needed to look as though he was cooperating, and nothing else.
Once the two men were fully committed to the heist—tools out, glass open, hands on the crown—I made the call.
“All right, sir. They’re in position.”
“Much obliged,” the police chief said, and hung up.
Outside, the police cars that had been waiting in strategic positions around the area moved in and blocked every exit. The street was sealed off in seconds. Once the perimeter was secure and traffic controlled, the specialized robbery unit rolled up to the building to take over.
I kept my eyes on the live feed. The two inside had the crown free and were grabbing smaller pieces of jewelry and other artifacts, too.
They were just about to head out when the first officers apprehended the driver, and it gave me a deep sense of satisfaction to watch the other two assholes walk out only to have the police waiting for them.
“Hands up!” the officers ordered, guns drawn.
The two men froze, but knowing there was no way out, they did as they were told.
Christopher hung back as the two men were put into cuffs, and gave them a one finger fuck you salute as they were led off. I couldn’t help it, I smirked at his attitude, just like his sister.
Violet was right. He wasn’t a bad kid. He just needed guidance and direction.
As I watched those three lowlifes get read their rights and shoved into squad cars, the pressure that had been sitting on my chest for weeks finally eased.
It was over. Violet was truly safe now. And I was going to make damn sure no one ever hurt her again.