Chapter Seven #4
Ivan disappeared into the surroundings to watch and listen like Elizabeth needed. That freed her up to handle this interview.
As they approached, the woman glanced up.
“Yes?” she asked.
Elizabeth and Gene both pulled out their badges, and flashed them. They flipped from the picture to the gold FBI emblem.
“Deputy Director Blackhawk, and Special Agent Gene Cantrell. We’re here to talk to a man by the name of Devon Slater.”
The woman looked confused.
“I’m sorry, but what is this pertaining to? Mr. Slater is a very busy man.”
Elizabeth wasn’t in a bad mood, so she wasn’t going to be bitchy, UNLESS this woman said they were shit out of luck.
Then, she was going to see ‘mean’ Elizabeth. While they had time, she wasn’t playing games.
That just annoyed her to no end.
“A building he owns that’s less than desirable was the scene of a killing today.”
She sighed.
“Let me guess. Was it the Market Street building?” she asked.
Elizabeth lifted a brow.
Uh, how did she know that?
“Yes.”
The woman sighed, and immediately stopped trying to cockblock her from an interview.
“I’ll get him. I’m not shocked,” she said, as she pointed. “Have a seat. I’m sure he’ll want to see you and be cooperative in helping.”
Elizabeth was curious.
Hella.
Curious.
“If he knows it’s a rundown shitshow where people are dying, why doesn’t he do something about it to stop the crazy from happening there?”
The woman just laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
Then, she explained.
“The city council is a nightmare. Mr. Slater has been trying to get the permits to tear it down for a year now, since he acquired it. Only, it’s being blocked by the head of the city council at every turn.”
Well, that said something.
Hopefully, when Alex and Corbin hit that office, they got some good information for her.
“That sucks,” Elizabeth admitted.
The woman agreed there.
“It sure does. The fines alone are ridiculous,” she admitted, and then changed the subject. “Would you like coffee?” she asked. “I can have it ready for you in his office.”
They both could use some coffee.
They ran on coffee, anxiety, stress, and rage most of the time, so they were never turning a cup of coffee down.
Ever.
Taking a seat, Gene began running the man, using his phone. As he did, Elizabeth watched the woman. She called back to the office, and didn’t try to not be heard.
“Devon, the FBI is here. Want to guess which building that you own it’s in regards to?” she asked.
Then, she listened.
“Yeah, good guess. I’ll tell them.”
When she hung up, she got up, and headed over to a coffee area not far away to make coffee. She began putting cups on a cart, and getting ready.
“He’ll see you in a few minutes. Right now, he’s wrapping up a business deal online. How do you take your coffee?” she asked.
“Black for him, Cream for me,” she said.
The woman went about making it.
As she did, Gene lowered his voice, and showed her what he was finding.
“Last year, his father passed away, and he was someone who owned a lot of real estate. He was in Forbes like Callen. That explains this place.”
She checked out his screen.
“Devon Slater was his only son, and he inherited it all. He’s worth about seven hundred million dollars,” he whispered. “We finally found someone who makes Callen look poor.”
Yeah, apparently.
Granted, Chris had that number beat, unfortunately for her.
Now, Elizabeth was curious.
“Why is he in Holladay?” she asked. “It’s a small town with very little going for it. Someone that rich is out of place here,” she admitted.
Her question was his next research mission.
If Elizabeth asked, her team looked it up.
Gene kept looking, and he found what he was looking for immediately.
“He lives in Salt Lake City. That’s where his father used to live. He also has addresses in Europe. Texas. New York City. California…”
She got it.
“But his home base is here?” she inquired.
He nodded, and found the information to back it up.
“He grew up here. His mother died of cancer seven years ago, and his father had a massive heart attack. That’s how he got it all. He’s an only child, and from what I’ve found, he moves around in social settings.”
Interesting.
He showed her a picture.
He looked like every other real estate tycoon, but the man did look familiar to her.
She just couldn’t place why.
The man was shiny and clean-cut. The suit he wore was tailored and expensive. The watch on his wrist was the most pricy Rolex out there, and she knew because it was the same one that Chris, Callen, Ethan, and Gene owned.
Someone wasn’t hurting now that Daddy had left him everything.
“I can’t wait to hear about this building,” she said, knowing what the secretary had said, but she needed him to confirm it.
When he came out of his office, he was wearing dress pants, shiny Italian leather shoes, and a black dress shirt open at the throat.
The man was in his forties, and had that air about him. It was clear he was raised with money, too.
As they stood, he approached them.
Two things stood out.
He behaved and smelled rich.
Now, she had to hope he wasn’t an asshole. Elizabeth had very little time for entitled man behavior.
“Deputy Director, I’m sorry we have to meet like this. I was at one of the President’s parties two years ago, and I wasn’t able to speak with you. Apparently, you had a case.”
She shook his hand.
That explained why he looked familiar—vaguely.
“I always have a case,” she said. “And now, I have one here. We need to talk,” she said, getting down to business.
The man shook Gene’s hand.
“Agent Cantrell.”
Well, clearly, he knew them, but if he was in the same circles with them, and a friend of Gabe’s, there was no shock why. Their faces were everywhere.
“Mr. Slater,” he said.
He waved them toward his inner domain.
“Follow me.”
Leading them back, he pushed the coffee cart himself, not making his secretary do it.
“Thanks, Patty. I’ve got it. Hold my calls until the Deputy Director and Agent Cantrell are done speaking with me.”
She nodded and went back to work.
When they were in the office, it was just as nice as the lobby. It was masculine with the chrome, black leather, and big-ass mahogany desk in the middle of the room. It had super high ceilings and made the place airy.
“Nice digs.”
He smiled.
“Thanks. I got this in an acquisition along with the Market Street building. This one works to better my business, and that one is a goddamn pain in my ass.”
Yeah, she could see that.
She’d seen the fallout at the other one.
As in a body.
“What happened?” Devon asked as he handed them each a cup of coffee, and then, they switched when he got them backward. “I’ll remember for next time. The Director likes light, and Agent Cantrell likes dark.”
They didn’t mind.
They’d drink it any way it was made. They weren’t picky when it came to coffee.
“Well, hopefully, there won’t be a next time, unless we’re at one of the President’s shindigs.”
Again, he smiled.
So, she dropped a bomb.
“I’m here because a vagrant was found shanked in your building.”
He sat with his cup of coffee, and sipped it. The whole time, Elizabeth was watching him. He was handsome, but she didn’t see anything about a family in his information Gene was digging up.
Someone might be single, or he might keep his personal life out of the limelight.
Or spotlight.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Can I help with the burial? I don’t believe anyone should be dumped in a pauper’s grave. I know that’s what will happen.”
She was to the point.
“I’ll find out for you, but there’s more. Tell me about this building, and I’ll tell you the rest. I will say you don’t seem shocked that this particular building is problematic.”
He laughed sardonically.
“That building is the bane of my existence,” he admitted before punching in some information on his computer.
Then, he turned his screen.
“When my father passed, he was working on a deal to help revitalize the city. This building, that building, and two others were in the deal. He got them for a good price. I think the seller conned him, since the city council is a nightmare. He tucked that place into the grouping, hiding it among gems. I know I keep saying this, but Market Street is a nightmare. It bears repeating.”
Oh, he had no idea.
She waited.
“Last year, about three days after he passed, the attorney got the information to me, and I had four buildings here. Normally, I work mostly out of Salt Lake City, but I was raised here. My mother and father divorced when I was seven, and I went back and forth. I lived primarily with my mom, here in this city. This is home to me, and I love Holladay.”
Gene was making notes on his phone, even though MATE was sending information out to the car in real time for Ethan to make his profile.
“At first, I was excited. I saw this place, and the other two buildings, and I immediately saw them as a way to bring more industry into the city. The best part of this city is the proximity of where it is. You can commute into Salt Lake City, and live economically here. So I planned on picking up where my father left off.”
She was curious.
“And you’ve never seen that building?”
He laughed.
“I wish. I drove up last year, and drove away from it as quickly as I could. Immediately, I headed over to the council building, and put in renovation permits. It’s an eyesore, and I don’t want my real estate tied to that.
Only, city council has made me jump through every hoop imaginable.
All I want to do is tear it down, or make it into apartments, but they keep stalling.
I’m to the point where I’m going to hire a fire company to come in and burn it down just to get it gone.
I’ve been fined for drugs there, and for vandalism, and for it being an eyesore—that I can’t fix because they won’t let me. ”
It sounded like he wanted to be done with it.
“Did you lock any doors inside?” she asked.
He looked confused.