Chapter 17 Tom
TOM
“What do you mean you can’t figure out how they got the address to the rental she was staying in?” I ask in disbelief as Royce shakes his head on the screen. It’s almost midnight but that’s what happens when you’re in the middle of an investigation with more questions than answers.
“I’m working on it,” my nephew says, brushing his shaggy dark hair off his forehead as he pushes his glasses back up his nose. “It looks like she used the lawyer’s business account to book the rental. There’s nothing in her name at all.”
“How does that work?” Jace asks, his blond hair cropped and his eyes serious as he stares at the screen. He’s older than Royce—in his late twenties—and has been part of my team for the last five years.
“She has a business credit card from his company. She charges it and he sends her an invoice,” Royce says, not looking up. “The email confirmation was sent to”—his voice trails off as his fingers fly across the keyboard—“her personal email.”
“I’ll ask her about it,” I tell them, unsure what to do with that information. Hypothetically, she should have sent the confirmation to her own business account to have for her records, so there has to be a reason she didn’t.
“I’ve mapped out the venue for Saturday,” Grimm cuts in, his impatience clear as he taps his pen on the table in front of him.
He hates meetings but he hates video meetings more.
“According to early predictions, the store is expecting upwards of two hundred people, but online chatter suggests it could be more.”
“Local police?” I ask, knowing the answer before Grimm says it.
“Not likely. They’re more concerned with traffic than anything. I pulled the roster of everyone working that day and gave a couple of guys the heads-up that we might need assistance.”
“Good,” I tell the thirty-something operations lead. While we have several teams running out of Andrews International, I handpicked this one.
We’re the best.
I made sure of it.
“I’m still working on the ex-boyfriend,” Ozzy says, and the strangest surge of jealousy spikes in my veins.
Out of all of us, Ozzy is the most unassuming and possibly the most lethal.
Former special forces, his light-brown hair is always just shy of being too long, and he sports a lazy, disarming smile that drives Grimm crazy but is essential when he needs information in the field.
“Did you get the stuff I sent you?” Royce asks and Ozzy nods.
“Yeah, a couple of recent drunken phone calls with voice messages she never listened to because he’s been blocked since the breakup.
I’m not comfortable eliminating him yet.
He called Kat a week before the fire, and there are several messages on social media.
She has him blocked on everything but one app. ”
“Did she open it?” Jace asks.
“Yeah, she left it on read but didn’t respond.”
“That’s cold.” Jace chuckles and I can feel a headache blooming behind my right eye.
“I spoke to local police handling the fire at the rental. So far there are no leads. We know she didn’t disclose to them her connection to the books, so that’s a dead end as far as they’re concerned.
The houses are spaced far enough apart that no one saw anything suspicious until the fire engulfed the box.
No viable footage from any cameras in the area, and no dark sedans resembling the one from the footage at her house. ”
“Jace, meet up with Grimm to nail everything down for Saturday. Kat said there’s an announcement for an award given by the city and both she and Hazel are nominees. Have we eliminated her yet? And where are we on the other two suspects?”
“Aunt is…weird,” Royce says, flipping through pages of notes. “Very religious. Originally from Alabama but moved to Chicago to be close to Hazel about ten years ago. Never married and nothing remarkable to speak of overall.”
“So, what’s weird?” Grimm says, his pen still tapping.
“The language she uses when referring to Hazel’s books versus Kat’s.”
“Explain.” The word is gruff, but it’s late and they’re used to me by now.
“If someone is looking for a children’s book about frogs, let’s say, and someone recommends Kat’s book, the aunt will respond to that comment with something like that is a nice one but you should try Hazel’s book that instills solid family values and inspires young minds.
She’ll leave a similar comment on the original post itself too. ”
“Passive-aggressive, then,” Jace says and Ozzy nods.
“Maybe jealous that Kat is more successful than Hazel?” Ozzy supplies as Royce points at what I can only assume is Ozzy’s location on his screen.
“Kat is in fact more successful than Hazel. But as far as I can tell, the aunt is more concerned about that than Hazel is. Hazel writes for a slightly different age range so their material is similar, but there’s plenty of room for both of them locally and on a bigger stage.”
“And the other author?”
“Royce sent over the initial information for me to start with. I’ll have more for you in the morning,” Ozzy states as I look at the time.
It’s nearly one, and while Royce will most definitely be up for another few hours, I need sleep before this headache becomes worse.
“Good,” I tell them. “We’ll reconvene tomorrow. I want updates by noon.” And shit, I forgot about Saturday morning. “Ozzy, you and I will accompany Kat and Emerson to their salon appointment before the signing. The place will be rented out so that’s one less thing to worry about.”
“I’ll get with Ozzy to make sure we have a clear plan and path from the first location to the second.” Grimm doesn’t bother to hide his annoyance.
“That plan wasn’t confirmed until tonight,” I assure him, ignoring Royce’s Cheshire cat grin because there’s no way he knows anything.
Unless…
She wouldn’t, would she?
Dammit.
“Fine. I’ll make sure it runs smoothly,” Grimm reiterates and there are nods all around.
“Good, everyone has something to do. Rest when you can. I know this is slow moving, but you know how these things go.”
After a short round of goodbyes, everyone signs off, and my phone lights up immediately with an incoming text.
ROYCE: The salon, huh?
ROYCE: Emerson stopped by and told me all about it.
Of course she did.
ROYCE: You should be proud. I had a whole conversation with her, and I didn’t go catatonic once
TOM: Kinsley deserves an award for making you socially functional
ROYCE: You’re not kidding
ROYCE: But really—you planned a salon day? For a client?
TOM: This is a favor
ROYCE: And?
TOM: And I’m allowed to do something nice
ROYCE: Yeah…sure.
TOM: What’s that supposed to mean?
ROYCE: It means you’ve never done something like this for a client and I think it’s sweet
TOM: It’s not sweet
ROYCE: And she’s pretty
TOM: What the hell are you getting at?
ROYCE: Nothing
TOM: Exactly
ROYCE: But if I was getting at something I’d say Emerson and I are taking bets to see if Kat Harrington is the one that finally pushes you over the proverbial edge
TOM: There’s no edge
ROYCE: Edging can be fun
TOM: For fuck’s sake go do your job and leave my personal life out of it
ROYCE: What good is being your favorite nephew if I can’t get under your skin every once in a while?
TOM: You’re my only nephew
ROYCE: Doesn’t make me any less of a favorite
TOM: You’re fired
ROYCE: I’ll talk to you in the morning
TOM: Fine
ROYCE: Love you Uncle Tommy
TOM: Love you too kid