Chapter 42
ALEXA
First thing in the morning, I called an old acquaintance, and when I said “first thing,” I meant five o’clock. London was eight hours ahead of California, so I figured I’d probably catch him at lunch.
We’d first crossed paths six years ago when we realised we were investigating the same CEO—Jay and I were curious to find out which politicians he was bribing, and Cash was trying to find out just how dirty the company was so he could decide whether or not to invest his clients’ money there, and most likely some of his own as well.
Yeah, yeah, I know that sounds bad, but Cash wasn’t a typical investment banker. No, he was a short seller. One of those sneaky little fuckers who made money when everyone else lost it.
Anyhow, once we realised we had a common aim, though not the same ultimate goal, we saw that working together would give us an advantage.
I was able to access data that Cash couldn’t, and he was better at unravelling complex financial transactions than I was.
So, we’d formed a tentative alliance. Trust didn’t come easily to either of us, and we’d spent several months dancing around each other as we tested the limits of each other’s morals.
Cash would lie when it suited him, and so would I.
We kind of understood each other. And in the years since, we’d traded information and favours from time to time when the need arose.
A loose friendship had grown between us, and although he could be a smooth-talking jerk at times, at least he had enough self-awareness to admit that.
Helborg Benson & Co had offices in London, Paris, New York, and Hong Kong.
Cash had started out in New York before one too many indiscretions saw him exiled across the Atlantic, and when I’d expressed surprise that he hadn’t been fired outright, he’d drunkenly confessed that blackmail might have been involved somewhere along the line.
These days, he and his small team of ethically challenged colleagues occupied a third-floor office that overlooked a statue of some British politician, a view made worse by the fact that the statue was permanently covered in pigeon crap.
A lady with grey-and-purple hair came every day to feed the birds, and Cash’s colleague Lewis told me that Cash gave her fifty quid a week to spend on birdseed.
“Alexa, I’d say it was good to hear from you, but I have a feeling I’d regret that. What do you want?”
“Who says I want anything?”
“You always want something.”
“Okay, fine, I have a proposal for you. Are you familiar with Cranston Asset Management? It’s a hedge fund headquartered in Sacramento.”
“Can’t say that I am.”
“The guy who runs it is a scheming bastard.”
“Sweetheart, every guy who runs a hedge fund is a scheming bastard.”
“Well, this scheming bastard tried to steal from me, well, from my boyfriend actually, but that’s practically the same thing.”
“You have a boyfriend?”
“No need to sound so surprised.”
“You’d better tell me his name so I can send a sympathy gift.”
“Ha-ha, very fucking funny. Anyhow, Cranston Asset Management is run by Everett Cranston, and among other things, his wife tried to set fire to a friend of mine because my beloved was dragging his feet over selling them a piece of land. Obviously, I want to prevent any similar incidents from happening in the future, and it seems to me that the easiest way to do that is to remove their purchasing ability.”
No money, no land. Simple.
Cash chuckled. “So, you want to bring down a hedge fund?”
“Exactly.”
“And you want me to help you?”
“Yes.”
I pictured him with his feet propped up on his desk, smiling. “Okay, I like it. Where do we start?”
* * *
After I’d given Cash an outline briefing on Cranston Asset Management—the investments they held, the main players, and where I thought the weak points might be—I checked my messages and saw Noah Weekes had called. Just what I needed at six a.m.
I’d tried to get him replaced by a more experienced agent, but Branning said Weekes had an edge when it came to an investigation in Roxboro, North Carolina.
He’d spent part of his childhood there. He knew some of the people, and he could nose around without spooking GutterMuse into moving on to another state right away.
Please, say he hasn’t blown it already.
I made myself a double espresso—appropriately caffeinated this time—then sat at the kitchen counter and dialled.
“Tell me you have good news?”
“I guess that depends on your definition of good news.”
“Well? I’m waiting.”
“There’s a dead guy.”
“A dead…guy? Not another girl?”
“Sure looked like a guy, and the ME concurs.”
“Okay, so…”
“So I was staking out the Howling Hog, and nothing much was happening. Real classy place, by the way, and full of hard drinkers. When I told the bartender I was working my way through the twelve steps, she said she’d pray for my soul.
Anyhow, there was a commotion at the bar across the street, so a bunch of folks ran over there and found the dead guy in the bathroom. ”
“Alcohol poisoning?” I asked hopefully.
“Single stab wound to the heart.”
“Interesting.”
A stab wound to the heart screamed “GutterMuse.”
“Yeah, that’s what Branning said.”
“What size was the knife?”
“I don’t have the autopsy report, but it looked to me as if a narrow blade was used.”
“Has the dead guy been identified?”
“Not yet, and his prints aren’t in the database. We were hoping you could take a look, see if you recognised him from any of those dark-web sites.”
“Nobody’s putting their face on the dark web.”
“He has a tattoo of an eagle on his shoulder. Kinda distinctive.”
Thanks to my accidental career path, I’d seen enough dead people to last a lifetime, so what was one more?
“Okay, fine, send it over.”
Strangely, Weekes’s call felt like a return to normality.
Nolan’s tormentor had been unmasked, the reasons behind the sabotage were clear, and I could put that stress behind me.
It was easier to be the nameless, faceless hacker who flitted through the dark web like a wraith than to watch the man I loved consumed by anxiety and worried for everything he’d built.
Yes, I did love Nolan. I was convinced of that now.
There was just one loose thread to tie up: Marielle. And I had absolute faith that Ari would manage to solve that mystery too.