Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tristan
M y brain felt sluggish, like it was covered in cobwebs.
Since finding out from Merritt that Warren had known at least three of the victims, not to mention her brother, Harrison and I had started looking for any possible connections he could have had with the remaining ones. We’d gotten a warrant for his financial records, and for the past week, had been slogging through the mounds and mounds of documentation.
It had been slow and tedious, going through the man’s bank records and personal life, and so far, we’d come up empty-handed.
While we hadn’t found any leads on the case, I’d discovered his finances weren’t as well off as he’d led Merritt to believe. In fact, he was on the brink of bankruptcy. His bank account was overdrawn, he was in considerable debt, and the more I dug, the more it looked like the charity work he did wasn’t all exactly above board. He’d taken out a second mortgage on the house and wasn’t paying it back.
Even his consulting company had been leveraged to the hilt, but from everything I’d gathered, I couldn’t figure out where the money was ending up. None of it made any sense.
“Tris, I think I might have something,” Harrison said, pulling my attention away from my computer screen. I’d stared at a spreadsheet and numbers for so long I felt like I was going blind.
Standing up, I moved to his side of the desk and braced my palms on top of it, looking down at the documents he’d been flipping through for the past four hours. “What do you have?”
He ran his pen along the highlighted line. “I’ve come across mention of this Advanced Aeronautics in Bell’s records at least five times now, so I decided to trace it back and see what I could find. Apparently it’s a company that designs and builds luxury aircrafts. Not for commercial use, but for the assholes who prefer to cruise around on private jets.”
He riffled through the stacks of papers on his desk and unearthed the sheet he was hunting for, pulling it out and setting it on top of everything else. “Over the past year, several large deposits have been made into accounts for this company.” He looked up at me, and I didn’t miss the twinkle in his eye. “Curious as to who those checks came from?”
I pushed off his desk and stood to my full height, crossing my arms over my chest. “Let me guess... our remaining vics?”
He tapped the tip of his nose. “Bingo. Four of our ODs made substantial payments into those accounts, including Matthew Wright. The guy Merritt IDed as the guy she saw Bell arguing with at that banquet.”
I looked at the list of names, my brows pulling together. “Okay, but what about Walter Reeves? I don’t see his name here as an investor in Advanced Aeronautics.”
“Ah, and you see, that’s where things get interesting.” Harrison rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I noticed that, despite the large deposits, the money never stayed in those accounts for long. I followed it and found it was being transferred into one single, off-shore account for a totally different shell corporation. “Guess who’s listed as the owners of that shell corp?”
“Warren Bell.”
“And Walter Reeves.”
Letting out a gust of breath, I reached up and dragged a hand through my hair. “Christ. He and Reeves were scamming their friends into investing in a bogus company, then stealing the money.”
“My guess is he’s also been killin’ them off one by one when they came knockin’, wanting to know where the hell their money went.”
A picture started forming in my mind, and finally, everything became clearer. “Reeves was the first victim. I’m willing to bet Warren got greedy and didn’t want to split everything they’d stolen.”
Harrison rocked back in his chair, twirling a pen between his fingers. “That’s not a bet I’d take, since I’m pretty sure you’re right.”
This asshole really was a piece of work. There wasn’t a single honest thing about him. His entire life had been carefully curated to make him out to be something other than what he was. He wasn’t a successful businessman. His own company was barely staying afloat. He wasn’t a man of means, and he certainly wasn’t a great philanthropist. On top of being an abusive piece of shit, he was also a crook and a thief.
I smiled as everything finally came together. “It’s only speculation at this point, but I’m sure it’s enough to get a judge to sign a warrant that’ll basically let us turn his life upside down.”
Harrison folded his arms behind his head and kicked his feet onto his desk. “Only one way to find out.”
“You get started on that paperwork and I’ll fill Cap in on what we found.” I huffed out a breath. “Goddamn, it feels good to have finally figured this one out.” And it was an added bonus that it led back to Warren Bell in a way that would probably lead to some serious jail time.
I was about to head up to Hayes office when a collective groan moved through the bullpen. I didn’t have to look to know who’d just walked in—without permission, once again.
With a resigned sigh, I turned to face Sue Ellen Mayfield as she stomped her way over to me.
“You’ve got to be fuckin’ kidding?” Hayes grunted under his breath. “Does she really not have anything better to do?”
“Apparently not,” I answered right before she closed in. “Ms. Mayfield,” I started, not bothering with a smile or a polite greeting this time. “Now, ma’am, you know you’re not allowed back here without permission.”
“I wouldn’t have to bust my way in here if you people would do your damn jobs. I’ve called three times to complain that my neighbor has planted an azalea bush that crosses the property line into my yard by five inches. Three times, and no one has come out to do a damn thing. You’ve left me no choice but to come here in person.” She stomped her foot and crossed her arms, her hip cocked out as she glared daggers my way. “I am done being blown off. I want to know what you’re going to do about this.”
The answer was nothing. We—or me, specifically—weren’t going to do anything about a bush five inches over an invisible line.
“Ms. Mayfield, if the bush is that big of a nuisance, why don’t you trim back what’s on your side?”
Her chin jerked back as she huffed in affront. “So now it’s my job to handle it when my neighbor breaks the law?”
A headache was forming behind my eyeballs. I couldn’t take it any longer. I’d officially reached my limit where this woman was concerned. “There are no laws being broken. You’re a bitter, miserable woman who spends her day searching for anything under the sun to be angry about. And when you can’t find anything, you invent it! Your neighbors haven’t done a damn thing to you other than exist, but apparently, even that is offensive to you somehow. If anyone has cause for complaint, it’s the people on your block, because they’re stuck having to live next to you!”
“Oh shit,” Harrison muttered as soon as I finished my diatribe.
Sue Ellen’s jaw dropped as she rocked back on her heel. “How dare you speak to me like that? I have half a mind to go straight to the mayor and file a complaint against you for?—”
“Then do it! Christ, please, stop threatening and do it already. At least then you’ll be raining your special brand of misery on town hall instead of here.”
“What in the hell is goin’ on down here?” Hayes called out as he stormed into the bullpen.
“What’s going on is that I’m being verbally assaulted by one of your detectives,” Sue Ellen accused.
I was about to point out that it was her company that was the assault when my cell started ringing.
I twisted away from Hayes and Sue Ellen, who were now trading barbs in front of the entire department, and pulled the phone from my pocket. I swiped the screen without looking to see who was calling and brought it to my ear. “Fanning,” I answered.
“Mr. Fanning?” a voice I didn’t recognized asked.
“Yes.”
“This is Judith from Hope Valley Elementary. We’re calling to see if you would be picking Levi up this afternoon. We have him in our office right now.”
I glanced at my watch and saw that school had gotten out thirty minutes ago. “His aunt is supposed to have picked him up already,” I said as a chill moved down my spine.
“Yes, that was what I thought. But we’ve tried calling Ms. Bell a few times and can’t get through.”
My muscles locked up tight and everything around me faded away. “She didn’t answer?”
“No, sir. And it’s unusual for her to be late.”
It was more than unusual. It just plain wouldn’t happen if Merritt could control it. Levi was her number one priority, and there was no way in hell she would ever be late to pick him up. Unless something was wrong. “Thank you for calling. Someone will be there to get him soon.”
I disconnected the call and scrolled through my phone to Merritt’s number. My heart began racing as it rang and rang in my ear before voicemail kicked in.
“Goddamn it,” I growled, hanging up and trying again. “Come on, baby, pick up,” I pleaded under my breath. “Pick up. Please.” I got voicemail for the second time.
Reading the energy coming off me, Hayes walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Merritt didn’t show up to get Levi.” I looked at him as my heart fell out of my chest, saying the words I never wanted to say. “I think something bad has happened.”