Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Alex stared out the window of Edward’s posh office, waiting to be reprimanded.
He turned to his stepfather. He had his hands folded neatly across his desk, staring intently at Alex. It was ten minutes before the meeting with the detective Edward had mentioned Friday night. The anticipation was killing him.
“Listen.” Edward paused, as if thinking of what to say next. “I know you’re great at what you do. I don’t want to sit here and raise any concerns I have, but I guess I’m just wondering … why?”
“Why?” Alex shook his head.
Edward straightened. “I know there are some complications in your past. I know you don’t like talking about them. Yet, I catch you being unprofessional with the woman I’ve charged you with keeping safe. What am I supposed to do?”
“Ed.” Alex let out a sigh. “I kissed her. It was an in-the-moment kind of thing. I’m sorry.”
“And normally, I’d be ecstatic,” Edward pushed on. “I don’t mind that you have feelings for her. I think that may even help the situation, but now everything is getting steadily worse.”
“I’m sorry if you feel I’ve been inappropriate,” Alex said. “I don’t know what came over me.”
Edward smiled at him. “I want you to be happy, Alex. Please understand that.”
“But?” Alex raised an eyebrow.
“But … not with Scarlet. Not now, anyway. The police seem to think this could be much worse than anticipated.”
“Worse?” Alex asked.
“A detective is taking over, since he’s also following leads with some illegal activity being linked to Frisco Met and, more directly, Balthazar Maxim.”
“What kind of illegal activity?” Alex asked.
“Mostly human trafficking,” Edward said tentatively. “Detective Jackson has reason to believe our ballerinas may be intended targets.”
A heavy pressure settled in Alex’s stomach. His mind immediately began to whirl at the thought of Scarlet being a target for trafficking.
“Heavy.” Alex gritted his teeth.
“Jackson seems to think the police should assist with the security measures. Tighten up some of the loose ends.”
Alex’s irritation spiked. Edward was trying his best to politely tell him that he wasn’t doing a good enough job.
“Ah.” Alex nodded. “You think it’s too much for me to handle.”
Edward shook his head. “No, I think you need to listen to the detective and come up with a better strategy. Maybe allow a few police details to lighten the load and let you focus on the safety of the women here who could be at risk.”
Alex didn’t know much about human trafficking; the entire idea disgusted him, but he couldn’t help but think how targeting young ballerinas was a good possibility. It was a perfect resource, really; have a front at one company, and siphon another for product.
His skin crawled at the thought of Scarlet being the target of such an industry. He let out a slow breath. Edward was right. This could be a lot more serious.
“Let’s talk to this detective,” Alex said. “I’ll go along with whatever he thinks is best.”
Edward got to his feet. “We’re meeting in the large conference room. I still want to keep as much of this under wraps as possible.”
Alex followed him out into the hall, and motioned for Lance and Uly to follow him. The men made their way down the hall to the conference room. Edward made his way inside while Alex turned to Lance.
“Police will be helping us out,” he said. “Apparently, the stakes are a little higher now. Our manpower will be focused on keeping ballerinas safe.”
“Ballerinas?” Lance asked. “As in, only women?”
“Sounds sexist, I know.” Alex shrugged. “I’ll explain later.”
Uly looked back and forth between the two men. “We need to up our firepower?”
Alex glanced at him. The man hadn’t said two words to him before. “You mean something stronger than the nine mil?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Uly said.
“What, like, assault rifles?” Lance snorted.
“Sure.” Uly shrugged. “AR-15s on the cheap. I know a guy.”
Alex threw Uly a look. “I don’t think the situation is that intense.” He peered into the conference room, where Armand and Edward were talking to a man he assumed was Detective Jackson.
“Stay close,” Alex said to Lance. “We’ll talk after I’m done here.” He threw another look at Uly who returned the look with a wide smile.
Once he was inside the conference room, the men all turned to him.
“Alex.” Edward held his hand up. “This is Detective Kyle Jackson.”
The man turned around and smiled at Alex.
He was what Edward would call tall, dark, and handsome, but Alex noted that his baby face kept him from looking like a tough cop.
Kyle’s head of wavy dark brown hair didn’t help his cause either, although his off-set smile was a little unsettling.
Alex wondered how the hell he was already a detective, and not a parking enforcement officer—even the name “Kyle” sounded like he belonged in a little league somewhere.
“First day on the job?” Alex raised an eyebrow.
Kyle chuckled. “I get that a lot. I look young.”
“You look twelve.” Alex tilted his head to the side.
Edward frowned. “Alex.”
“It’s fine,” Kyle said. “I’m twenty-five. I graduated college at nineteen, academy at twenty-one, promoted to detective three years ago after that major drug bust outside Oakland. It happens. I’m good at my job. Are we done questioning my capability, or should I lay my IQ on the table?”
“I think he means his penis size,” Armand whispered to Edward.
Alex rolled his eyes and let out an irritated sigh. “We’re good.”
Edward motioned for them to sit. “Alex is concerned about the safety of our dancers.”
“Well, he should be.” Kyle sat down. “Maxim isn’t exactly on the nice guy list of San Francisco philanthropy.”
Alex sat across from Kyle and leaned on the table. “So why isn’t he in prison?”
“Excellent question.” Kyle pointed at him. “I’m currently trying to make that happen, but the guy is smooth. He keeps his head low, his public business somewhat legit, and I can’t find a single time when he’s making a shipment trade.”
Kyle lifted his hands up. “Granted, I was just put on this case two weeks ago, but when I heard there could be a connection between your two companies, I started to do a little more digging. There’s a big missing piece, and I think it’s a hidden buyer.”
“Buyer?” Armand blinked.
“Yeah.” Kyle shifted his eyes back and forth between the other men. “That’s how human trafficking works. Someone collects, someone buys, someone distributes. Usually isn’t the same person, which would explain why the man we have in custody isn’t connected to Maxim.”
He shrugged. “The more trails you leave, the better, or worse in our case. Anyway, I want to break this open so the feds can take over, and I can go back to regular homicide. These underworlds are a bit too much for my taste.”
Alex raised his eyebrows and looked over at Edward. “So, in regards to the attacks…” Alex glanced at Kyle. “You think that this Maxim guy and his buyer are targeting North Pointe dancers in hopes of kidnapping them?”
“I think there’s more going on than just some sabotage. Could be an insider here promising product, could be Maxim promising product to the buyer and not hitting quota, so he’s outsourcing… I’m here to find out.”
Alex threw a concerned look at Edward. An insider. It wasn’t the first time he’d thought about it, and of course his thoughts went straight to Lyn Delaney—who was noticeably absent from the meeting. It would be a good cover. No one would suspect some high-profile lawyer.
“Scarlet thought she overhead two names while she was being held hostage,” Edward said. “Maxim and… Petra … something.”
“Petrovich?” Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s it.” Edward snapped his fingers. “She wasn’t positive. Does the name mean anything to you?”
Kyle scrunched his lips for a moment, and averted his eyes to the ceiling. “Nope. But I’ll make a note.”
Alex couldn’t help but notice the detective’s face. He knew something about the name, but didn’t want to comment on it.
“Why target the prima?” Armand asked. “It’s just drawing attention. A lot of attention.”
Kyle pointed at him. “I thought about that. Your prima was a corps dancer until just a few hours before she was grabbed. No way they planned a kidnapping in that short a time. I think she was targeted already—just some dancer in the background. They didn’t know she’d been promoted.”
Alex blinked. “Makes sense.”
“The man in custody isn’t talking,” Kyle went on. “With or without his lawyer. So, since it could be literally anyone at this point, I’ll need to do some background checks on your company as well.”
Edward shrugged. “Fine by me.”
Armand whispered something to Edward in Italian, and Edward shook his head before whispering back. Kyle watched them both argue quietly for a moment.
“Problem?” Kyle asked.
Edward cleared his throat, and took a deep breath. “My husband isn’t exactly legal … yet,” he said slowly. “We don’t want that to bring more issues than we already have.”
Because Armand is arrogant about his talents and not so much his citizenship, Alex wanted to add.
“Mr. Onesti, Mr. North…” Kyle got up and buttoned his navy blue blazer.
“Unless you’re selling your ballet dancers to Balthazar Maxim and his sex trade organization, I don’t care about anything else.
I’ll be in touch, and I’ve arranged to have a few guard details watching the building around the clock. ”
He nodded at Alex. “So, your men can focus on keeping these dancers safe. You have the harder job, sir.”
Alex held out his hand. “Thank you.” Kyle cracked a smiled and grabbed his hand. Alex brought him in close.
“Do me a favor, and check out Evelyn Delaney first,” he said quietly. “I need to know she’s on the level.”
Kyle pulled back and let go of Alex’s hand. He nodded in acknowledgement as he opened the door. “Have a good day, all,” he said.
Alex watched him walk down the hall and into the lobby. Something about Detective Kyle wasn’t sitting right with Alex. He seemed to genuinely want to help, but it was definitely for his own benefit, and that meant keeping information to himself.