Chapter Seven
MIGUEL
Henry McNulty’s office was in a two-story brick building in the heart of Westwood, right next to the UCLA campus. I could remember coming down here with my parents on Friday nights when the place was busy with nighttime revelers, mostly college students, out for a good time. That was back when vinyl records were still a big thing; if there was anything my parents loved more than each other, it was a nice piece of vinyl. I’d grown up listening to them sing and watching them dance to all the disco stars of the late 70s and early 80s on those records. They’d been played so much by the time I was a teenager, that the turntable’s needle tended to skip over the scratches, landing on a whole new track.
Even so, my mom hadn’t let my dad throw them away. She’d just laughed and started dancing to whatever song the needle landed on. She’d told me that those old records were better than a bag of M&M’S. You never knew what you were going to get. I’d just rolled my eyes at her, walked out of the room, and turned on my own favorite band at the time… The Spice Girls . I’d thought the band of five British girls was the hottest band ever, and decided right then, that my parents were crazy. The familiar pang of regret I felt every time I thought of how I’d treated them as a teen, made my heart hurt.
As luck would have it, we found a parking space right in front of the building and Raven fed quarters into the meter before we walked upstairs to the second floor. The look of the office building was average, which made me feel like perhaps Flores had hired a decent company to handle his security. If the building had seemed very high tech or extravagant on par with the mansion we’d just come from, I might not have trusted the security guy or his firm. When we walked into the modest office, Raven and I were greeted by a pleasant, older woman who asked if we had an appointment.
“Hi there. I’m Raven Mathis and this is my partner, Miguel Huerta. We’re here to talk to Mr. McNulty,” Raven said, smiling back at her. “We don’t have an appointment, but we just left Benedict Flores’ attorney who recommended we come and speak to him about the late man’s property.”
I let my better half schmooze with the secretary while I glanced around the room. There were shelves with several makes and models of security cameras on display as well as several photos of commercial buildings and high-end residences. None of them were quite as fancy as the one we’d just come from, but they were close. I could only assume the photos on display depicted buildings belonging to McNulty’s clients. If security were my business, I might do the same thing. What did I know about marketing? I left all that to Raven, my brilliant partner in business.
“Certainly, I’ll let Mr. McNulty know you’re here.”
I turned back in time to see her reach for her phone when the closed door to an office opened. A short man stood in the doorway. He wore a pleasant smile, looking well-groomed and friendly, dressed in casual khakis and a cream-colored Polo shirt. “I’ve got this, Augusta,” he said to the secretary. He came forward, holding out a hand. “I’m Henry McNulty. You must be Mr. Mathis and Mr. Huerta.” We took turns shaking his hand. “Gregory Aston just called to let me know you’d be stopping by. Won’t you please come in?”
“Thank you,” Raven said. The two of us walked into the office as McNulty leaned out. “Please hold my calls, Augusta.” He spun back, pointing between us. “Can I get you anything? I have soft drinks, water, and Augusta makes a mean cup of Joe.”
“No, thank you,” Raven replied pleasantly. I echoed the same. We waited in front of McNulty’s desk as he shut the door and walked around the desk, waving at two chairs in front of it.
“Please, have a seat. I understand you had some questions about the Flores jewelry heist?”
Heist? I coughed to cover up a laugh. Who was this guy?
“Yes, the pigeon’s blood ruby,” Raven said with a remarkably straight face. I envied him because I had to bite my lip to keep my composure. I could almost feel the prick of the daggers I was sure Raven was sending my way.
“You said heist. Was something besides the ruby stolen the night thieves broke in?” I managed to ask with newfound composure.
“ Uh , no.” He seemed to hesitate before going on and then his words came out in a rush. “Are you convinced the pigeon’s blood ruby was stolen? Because if that actually occurred, it didn’t happen at a property where I outfitted a security system,” McNulty said, sounding slightly defensive.
“We’re not sure what happened to it so please consider this a fact-finding meeting, Mr. McNulty,” Raven said. He turned to glance at me before looking back at him. “Miguel and I have no idea what happened to the pendant…whether it was stolen, misplaced, or whether it’s in a location other than the house. We were hired to recover it,” Raven said, opening his hands in that, “what do we know? ” gesture.
“So, you can understand we’re only here to learn about the security at the Flores estate the last time it was seen. Since Mr. Flores is no longer around to ask, we only have Mrs. Flores’ accounting of the last time she saw it. She says she witnessed her husband putting it into his safe in the bedroom closet along with a pair of diamond cufflinks.”
“Yes.” McNulty tented his fingers, resting them over his belly as he leaned back in his office chair. “That was the night she wore the pendant to an art gallery opening last summer.”
“Yes,” I said.
McNulty frowned a little. “I’ll reiterate, though. If it was stolen, it didn’t happen at the Flores estate.” He sat forward and reached for his keyboard. “I’ll show you what I’m talking about.”
We exchanged a glance, though, Raven said nothing, he sent me the smallest nod as McNulty typed.
“Here.” McNulty swung the monitor around so we could see a graphic layout of a property with several red circles as well as other markings drawn on it. “This is a bird’s eye view of the Flores mansion.” He tapped the screen in several places. “Front lawn…house… Backyard—tennis court and pool. Guest cottage…greenhouse…gardener’s shed.” He ran his finger around the edge of the entire property. “Perimeter, front and back.” He glanced over at us.
“Every inch of this property is covered by security cameras. That’s how I saw you drive up today.” He tapped a few more times on the keyboard. When a photograph came up, he zoomed in on a familiar black truck idling at the front entrance. The angle was expected. The still photo of Raven face-on, showed him leaning toward the box, speaking to McNulty. It had been taken from the camera located on the box itself, not the overhead camera which had been looking down at us from its perch above.
When McNulty tapped more keys, a second picture came up. Raven’s truck traveling up the drive toward the gate before it got to the box. It had been taken from the security camera which had swept one hundred eighty degrees left and right to see the entire street where Tawny Flores lived. McNulty brought up the bird’s eye view of the property.
“Every red dot denotes the placement of a camera. There are twenty-four on the perimeter walls of the property alone. I can see every inch of it.” He tapped several other dots on the house itself. “There are cameras here…here…here…and so on. They’re located on every corner of the mansion as well as both the front and back doors.” He finally twisted the monitor back to face him and leaned back in his chair. “So, as you can see, nothing, including the tiniest rodent can escape the scrutiny of the cameras on the exterior of this property.”
“ Hmm…” Raven said. “It sounds like a bug couldn’t escape the scrutiny.” He smiled to soften the joke.
McNulty let out a satisfied grunt of approval as he nodded. “All true.”
“And the interior of the property?” I asked. “Does it also have cameras?”
McNulty shook his head, sighing. “I suggested that be part of the contract. It was my opinion, that if a thief knew about the artwork in the house, the property would become a target, regardless of the excellent alarm system I installed at each and every window and door, including the garage door. I even installed an alarm on the guest cottage out back, so Mr. Flores could assure anyone staying there that they were safe.”
“You suggested cameras for the interior of the house?” Raven asked.
McNulty nodded. “Yes. Mr. Flores was in favor of them because of the artwork.”
“Why weren’t they installed then?”
“Well, that’s a tricky question,” he hedged. “Actually, there were cameras already inside the property when Mr. Flores contacted me to come out and bid for the job. One of the questions he had was whether they could be turned on again or whether new equipment needed to be installed to get the coverage he wanted.”
I exchanged a glance with Raven before turning back to McNulty.
“What did you tell him?” I asked.
“I told him that frankly the system was antiquated when he bought the house, and that yes, I could see that they got turned back on, but his best bet was to have me install new cameras with updated technology which would integrate seamlessly with the exterior cameras I was installing.”
“I see,” Raven said. “What did he say to that?”
“He was in favor of it. He loved his artwork, and wanted it protected, which I appreciated. You don’t own a collection like that without taking care of the security around it.”
“So, why didn’t you replace the system?”
He flattened the palms of his hands on the desk as he leaned forward. “Because Mrs. Flores vetoed the idea. She said she didn’t like the idea of anyone being able to monitor the interior of her property. She felt like someone would be spying on her.” He made impatient hand gestures as he frowned. “I told her that during the day, I’d make sure the system was turned off inside the house, that no monitoring would be going on during the hours she set.
“I suggested that the cameras would only be turned on when Mr. and Mrs. Flores were away or were turned off at whatever hour Mrs. Flores chose. That’s the option most of my residential clients insist upon whenever I install interior cameras, and the suggestion was made from my extensive expertise, not out of the blue. Commercial properties and businesses are a whole different thing, of course.”
I nodded. “Of course.” Personally, I hated the very idea of being monitored with cameras. It gave me the creeps. Then again, my Recon experience had taught me to live and work in the shadows, the exact opposite of what we were talking about here.
“See, this is the thing,” McNulty went on. “Mr. and Mrs. Flores didn’t spend all their time in Bel Air. Though they list the house as their primary residence, Mr. Flores has several other residences. One in the Caribbean, and one out in the desert near a casino he has…had an ownership interest in. The couple spent a lot of time away, so it made perfect sense that Mr. Flores treat his Bel Air property where all his art is kept, like I do commercial properties with high-value assets. I have a client who collects cars and the garage where he stores them, is covered with interior cameras.”
“Well, a garage isn’t a house where someone might want to walk around in the nude,” Raven said, “but I get your meaning. It sounds like you gave them good advice.”
McNulty nodded, smiling. “Thank you. Would you like to discuss the alarm system I installed?”
“Is there more to it than the fact that you installed it on all the doors and windows?” I asked.
“No, I just thought you might want to know the details in case you wanted to check on everything,” he replied. “I can print out a list of each and every time the alarm was tripped if you’d like.”
“Was that a problem? Were they constantly setting off the alarm?” Raven asked.
“Not that I recall.” He turned back to his computer and typed while we waited. He nodded. “In fact, after I was hired, the alarm was set off twice and both on the back door which is located in the kitchen. The report states that their maid, Maria, set it off once when she was taking out the trash, setting it off when she returned to the house and forgot to reenter the passcode. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Flores were at home at the time. Another time Mrs. Flores opened the back door to go out to speak to the pool man. She stated that she forgot to turn it off before exiting the house.”
Raven nodded before looking over at me. “What other questions do you have?”
I dragged my gaze away from him and looked across the desk. “Could you give me the specifications of the safe in the closet so I can take a look at the model? It might help to determine how easy it would be for a thief to bypass the fingerprint keypad.”
He chuckled. “Sure, I’ll give it to you, but I will say, it’s the top-of-the-line vault for personal valuables available on the market.”
A top-of-the-line vault which I’d no doubt broken into before.
“Of that I have no doubt,” Raven said with a smile. “Oh, I forgot to ask. Who monitors the cameras?”
“HoSecMo.”
I frowned. “Who’s that?”
He grinned. “HoSecMo stands for Home Security Monitoring. I own the patent on it,” he said, puffing up his chest. “HoSecMo is a program I wrote myself.”
“I see,” I said. “It’s a computer monitoring system then…not manned by live human beings, like you did today at the front gate?”
“Well, I happened to be working at my desk when you drove up, so I answered. Mr. Aston called prior to your arrival to tell me you’d be stopping by, so I had the house pulled up on my screen. But even if I hadn’t been watching,” he rushed to add, “HoSecMo would have called the owner or the occupant of the property to ask if I should let you through.”
“Okay,” I said.
“So, you could say that today was a one-off. Still, live monitoring is available to a client if they want it. We are a full-service security provider, though, most of the time, my residential clients are happy with a computer monitoring their system. HoSecMo was one of the things which sold Mr. Flores on my company but as I said, Mrs. Flores vetoed the very idea of being watched. She even went so far as to make me take out the old cameras.” He frowned. “Between you, me, and the lamppost, it was sort of insulting, if I have to be honest. It was like she didn’t trust me not to turn them on to do as you said…watch her in the buff.” He shrugged. “To each his own then.”
“Oh, one last question. Was that the only safe…sorry…vault in the house?” I asked.
McNulty lifted an eyebrow. “It’s the only one I installed and the only one Mr. Flores mentioned. If there’s another one, he didn’t tell me about it, though, I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s a very large house…nine bedrooms if I remember. Sometimes, owners of these mansions want a safe or vault in every bedroom. Go figure. It keeps me busy.” He laughed.
Raven stood and I followed suit as McNulty reached for one of his business cards. He held it out with a smile. “I wouldn’t normally ask for referrals but since you’ve seen my work and you’re in the recovery business, no doubt coming into contact with people who might need my services now and then, I’d really love it if you sent business my way. I offer 20 percent in referral fees to anyone who refers me.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to point out that a safe he installed had been broken into. It was a good thing I was a nice guy. I took the card, nodding at him. “Will do, Mr. McNulty. Thanks for all your help today.”
“Yes, thank you,” Raven said. “Would it be okay for us to call you if we think of any additional questions?”
He smiled. “Absolutely.” He came around the desk and held out his hand. We took turns shaking.
“We’ll see ourselves out,” Raven said. “Thank you again, Mr. McNulty.”
“My pleasure.”
We left his office, smiling at the secretary who watched as we headed out the door. We walked to the end of the hallway to the same stairs we’d come up, but the moment we were through the door at the top of the stairs, I felt something that raised hairs on the back of my neck. I reached for Raven, stopping him in his tracks as I turned toward a dark corner of the landing.
A tall man stood in the shadows only ten feet from my right side. I sidestepped, moving almost unconsciously as I deliberately put my body between him and Raven. The man stepped forward and my eyes dropped to the gun in his hand. It was pointed at the center of my chest. My hand automatically reached for my own weapon, only realizing that I had locked it in the Ram’s glove box before going into the building.
“Nice try. It’s not there, Trigg.” He let out a low chuckle. “John told me you’d probably still have good reflexes,” the man said.
The low growl in his voice sent shivers running up my spine but it was probably the use of my nickname that made my blood run cold. I could feel Raven practically vibrating at my back and I cursed not strapping on my weapon. Aston had warned us. I inclined my head, turning it only a little to speak to Raven. I knew my reflexes were faster, if this guy attacked. “Stay where you are.” I glanced back at the man. “It seems you know me, but I don’t know you.”
The man laughed, taking a step closer until his whole face was illuminated by the dim bulb in the dark stairwell. He was older and a couple of inches shorter than me, white, about forty, with gray hair at his temples. His hair was styled even shorter than mine, in a severe military buzz cut. “My name isn’t important.” He waved the gun to the side, looking beyond my shoulder. “Come on out from behind your boyfriend, Raven,” he said, sounding amused.
Raven moved to stand beside me, and it took every ounce of strength in my body not to step between him and the man holding the gun. The very idea of him getting shot again sent dread flooding through my body.
“What do you want?” Raven asked.
“The same thing you want, Raven.”
I hated the way he said his name. “Why don’t you put the gun away and tell us,” I growled.
“Since you clearly want it spelled out, I’ll tell you. I want the ruby. It didn’t belong to Flores, and it doesn’t belong to you,” he said, offering a forced smile which looked more like a sneer to me. The look in his black eyes conveyed no humor at all. He was a killer and even though he said he knew John, I wasn’t convinced. I didn’t care how badly John blamed me for leaving him in the desert, he wouldn’t wish me dead. He’d mourned the innocents who’d been caught in the crossfire on our missions. We all had. Raven was an innocent who’d never hurt a fly in his life. And this bastard was threatening him.
“We don’t have the ruby,” I said.
“I know…not yet, anyway. This is…let’s just say, this is a friendly warning. Oh, and by the way, it’s the only one you’re going to get.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out an old flip phone, dropping it on the carpet between us. “There’s one number programed into it. Call us when you have the ruby.”
I glanced down at the phone, desperate to pick it up and go immediately to Judy who could probably crack its encryption. I needed to know where the phone had been. If he’d been with John…if there was a place my brother was holed up, I needed to talk to him…find out what the fuck was going on. I glanced back up when the man chuckled.
“John took out the tracking chip, so don’t even try. It’s booby-trapped anyway.” He made an exploding motion with his free hand as the gun hand never wavered. “If you do anything other than hit one button to call us on the single number programed on speed dial…BOOM!” He laughed, looking directly at Raven before looking back at me. “To keep him safe, you know what you need to do, Trigg.” What an asshole.
“Fuck you!” Raven hissed.
“Thanks for the offer, but no. I don’t swing that way, sweetie.” He motioned to the stairs with the barrel of the gun. “Go on then. You have a job to do.”
I felt the weight of Raven’s stare as he glanced over at me, but I couldn’t drag my eyes away from the man as I mapped every freckle on his face. “This isn’t over,” I growled.
He chuckled, stepping back into the shadows. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say, Trigg. Now, be on your way,” he said, motioning with the gun again.
I took a few steps forward and bent, picking up the phone and tucking it into my pants, before backing up to where Raven stood. I reached over and touched him lightly on the back as I stepped toward the stairs, relieved when he moved in front of me and began descending. I followed right behind, feeling the gun at my back the whole way to street level.