Chapter Fourteen
Tora’s Apartment
Monday Evening
Time To Work
After getting to her place, she let her dog out, and then she met her partner on the couch. It was time to get some research done, so that they endear themselves to Elizabeth Blackhawk, and make it onto her team.
That was, after all, the end goal.
As she joined her partner, he didn’t even look up from the research he was doing, but he did give her a heads-up.
“I ordered a pizza for snacks during our marathon research. I know we ate at the restaurant, but you have a tapeworm, and will need more food. It’ll be here shortly.”
That worked for her.
It wasn’t like he was wrong, or that she’d ever say no to pizza. It was her favorite food. Someone was always trying to feed her.
“I’m running a background check on Bill Farmington, the owner of the security company. I’m going deeper to look at his employees, like Elizabeth wanted,” he offered.
Getting comfortable, she crisscrossed her legs, and sat on the other side of the couch, facing her partner, to do some research too.
“Okay, well, then, I’ll keep digging into Sundown Real Estate, to see who is behind it. There has to be someone who owned that building prior to Devon Slater.”
Together, they worked.
It didn’t take long for Mac to glance up in frustration at not finding anything.
“Bill Farmington is clean on paper,” Mac admitted.
“He doesn’t even have a speeding ticket.
He’s single, has a condo, and makes a damn good living, but there’s nothing scary in his background.
His social media is non-existent, but then again, he’s older so, you know how that age group tends to shun social media. ”
She understood what he was saying.
“How about his employee size. How many are there?” she asked.
He was on the website that promoted the security agency, and skimming through all the people there.
Thankfully, there weren’t many.
“He has three people who work for him as security guards. Two are women, and one is a man. The dude’s name is Ernie Kotile. I’m about to run him.”
As soon as he said that, there was a knock on the door that got their attention.
Well, that and her dog started barking.
He, too, liked pizza.
Apparently.
“Dinner,” she said.
Since that was his cue, Mac got up, headed toward the door, and paid the man. Then, he brought the pizza in, and placed it on the coffee table, out of the reach of Tora’s small dog.
While he’d paid, she grabbed paper plates, napkins, and two beers for them. She’d like to say this wasn’t a customary dinner for them, but it was.
They did this a lot, especially when they were working a case.
Mac handed out slices, and they both settled down again to work, in silence.
In the next twenty minutes of research, they did what they did best, and for a while, it seemed like they weren’t going to find anything.
That was until Mac hit paydirt.
Hot.
Damn.
“I have something,” Mac admitted.
Immediately, that had Tora’s attention.
“What?” she asked.
He explained.
“I ran Ernie Kotile’s name through the BOP system, and the Bureau of Prisons had a hit. I opened it up, and the picture is the same as the one on the website.”
She was giddy.
That meant they had someone who had a run-in with the law, and had spent time doing hard time in a prison.
“What was he incarcerated for?” she asked.
He smiled.
“Homicide. He killed someone.”
Oh, well, that was interesting.
“Who, what, where, when, and why?” she asked, wanting all the details.
Mac Googled the man’s name, and a plethora of articles came up. Then, he skimmed them and shared what he found.
“His best friend, out of anger, here in Holladay, and because they were fighting over a woman.”
She rubbed her hands together.
“Well, well, well. He clearly did his time, but you can’t hide from your past.”
Mac agreed there.
“Yeah, he did twenty-three years. Guess when he got out?” he asked, knowing that would be her next question. If anything, he knew her thought process.
“When?” she asked. “Please say three years ago, right when this crazy exploded.”
He simply nodded.
It looked like they found someone to focus on. This man had access to the building if he did the security patrol.
“Who called it in?” she asked next. “We know it was someone from the security company who found Jonathan Miller. Did they give a name?”
Mac cued up the call, and together, they listened.
‘Hey, I’m with Farmington Security, and my patrol is a building on Market—the old dilapidated one.
I thought I saw someone sneaking out in the dark when I drove by, so I investigated.
I found a body. It looks to be a homeless man.
I chased away his dog, but he’s just lying there.
Can you send an ambulance? I’m not sure if he’s dead or not. Oh, what’s my name? Ernie, Ma’am.’
And there it was.
“Hot damn! Elizabeth is going to be giddy when she hears that. Maybe he hates women after that fight with his friend, or he has some mental issues.”
Mac didn’t argue that.
“Or he is punishing them because he killed his best friend in an act of violence.”
Oh, well, that was a good point. It wasn’t easy to take someone’s life, and that changed you.
Now, though, Tora wanted one more detail.
“How did he kill his friend all those years ago?” she asked.
That was when he grinned at her.
“A knife. He stabbed him during a fight. The only reason he didn’t get a life sentence was because they couldn’t prove it was intentional. He said it was self-defense. The girlfriend testified against him, though according to the news articles.”
Tora thought about it.
“I mean, that would give him a lot of time in jail to think about hating women, and to learn how to commit the perfect crime.”
She was absolutely correct.
This was a good find.
“I’ll write up a full report for Elizabeth,” Mac said. “I’ll send it over. She’ll want to see this.”
They were on a roll, and Tora wanted to keep the momentum going.
“I’ll start working on Larry Springer,” she said, “as I’m peeling back the layers of the real estate company. That might be easier and make me feel like I’m not wasting my time.”
On that, he agreed.
She began researching him, and honestly, there wasn’t much there. Elizabeth said he was twitchy, but he appeared to be on the up and up.
He wasn’t online for any questionable things, and he also didn’t have social media.
Which wasn’t all that odd.
Some professional people didn’t.
What she did know was that he’d been practicing for twenty years, and the only client she could find for him was Devon Slater.
He had to be making a lot of money from that one particular client. The only other one she found for him was Devon Slater’s father. Apparently, he inherited that mess, too.
“He’s pretty clean,” she said, focusing on Mac. “I don’t see any skeletons. This might take a deeper dig—one that only the Feds can do. They have to have access to bigger databases. From what I’m finding, he’s clean.”
Mac considered it.
“If he was twitchy, there’s got to be something there. Put it in a report, so you can let Elizabeth know. She’ll decide how much deeper she wants to go. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, but ultimately, that’s her call.”
Yes, yes, there was.
Speaking of fire…
“You know what’s sexy?” she asked.
He lifted a brow.
“What?”
“Smart men,” she stated.
It made him laugh.
Why?
Oh, he had his reasons.
Reaching out, he grabbed her hand, and pulled Tora into his lap. His empty pizza dish fell to the floor, and he wrapped his arms around her.
“Does it now?” he asked.
She nodded, and his mouth found hers. Together, they melted together in a very hot, searing kiss.
Slowly, he broke it.
“I feel bad that we lied to Elizabeth,” he whispered. “She would have let us work together when we become Feds.”
Oh, she understood.
Only, they had one rule in their relationship. They didn’t let ANYONE know. There was no doubt they’d get broken apart, and that would ruin the mojo they had together if their boss found out. If, for some reason, they didn’t get hired by Elizabeth, she couldn’t risk that word would slip out.
She had to protect what they had.
They worked well as a team.
“I know, but we have to be sure we’re safe. You know we might not become Feds, and that could get back to the captain.”
He knew she was right.
“What if she finds out?” Mac asked. “We literally lied right to her face. I don’t like doing that. That tends to piss people off and make them not trust you.”
She didn’t either, but some things had to take precedence, and her relationship with Mac was the most important thing there was to both of them.
“Well, then, I guess we can’t let anyone find out,” she said, turning to straddle his lap. “Want to take a break from work?”
He grinned wickedly.
Oh, she didn’t have to ask twice.
“Detective Quinley, certainly you aren’t suggesting we fool around while on the clock,” he said.
That made her laugh.
“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting, Detective Yardley. Interested?”
Oh, he absolutely was.
Spending all day with Tora was a pleasure, but not being able to act on his desire to hold her hand, or kiss her took a lot of control.
“Breaktime?” she asked, getting up.
He followed, and the whole time, he grinned.
Yeah, there was no place he wouldn’t follow her. Thank God they were getting out of the police force here. Then, maybe, they could tell the Blackhawks they really were a couple.
Because Mac wanted the world to know.
He was in love with the girl.
* * * The Blackhawk Family * * *
Saint Mary’s
Cemetery
After Dark
Now that she had two IDs on two eyeballs, she was going to be able to start piecing this together. What she needed to do was see the location of the graves, and to figure this out.
Something was definitely going on in this town, and it seemed to be tied to one place.
Saint Mary’s Cemetery.
Once she got a bead on it, she’d be able to ensure that she was able to get more focus on this person.
But that would entail a profile.