Chapter 19
Benjamin unlocked the car, and he and Catalina got in.
“I’m gonna have to do a deep dive on the public defender. But I need to go into the office for that.”
“That’s okay. I need to go home anyway and get changed. I need clean clothes.”
“I’ll drop you off,” he offered.
He drove out of the parking lot and made his way toward Catalina’s apartment building. When he stopped in front of it, he leaned over to the passenger seat and kissed her.
“I’ll call you later to let you know what time I’m done. I’ll see you tonight.”
“See you later,” she replied and got out of the car.
He followed her with his eyes until she reached the entrance door and pushed it open.
When she disappeared inside the building, he put the car in drive and headed toward the Mission neighborhood.
Mid-afternoon traffic was heavy as usual, and thanks to some roadwork on one of the main arteries through the city, it took him almost half an hour until he reached Scanguards headquarters.
He used his access card and his fingerprint to open the gate into the underground parking garage and parked in his assigned spot.
The garage wasn’t busy. Most vampires didn’t work during daylight hours.
However, he noticed Eddie’s car parked in its usual spot.
It probably meant that there were some pressing IT issues that had to be dealt with, and he’d been called in. It happened occasionally.
Just as well—he needed Eddie’s help anyway.
He and his mate, Thomas, were talented IT geniuses who could hack into just about any database or system they set their mind to.
Not that it was always necessary. Thanks to their connections to the SFPD police chief and the California Governor, they had legitimate access to many governmental databases, including the DMV and AFIS (the Automated Fingerprint Identification System), as well as countless others that helped them check out suspects and run down leads.
Whatever they couldn’t get legal access to, they hacked into, and nobody was the wiser.
Benjamin hopped into the elevator and headed straight for the top floor, where all executive offices were located, including Eddie’s, which he shared with Thomas. After a perfunctory knock, he opened the door and stormed in, his request already sitting on his tongue.
He reared back when he realized what he’d interrupted.
Thomas was pressing Eddie against the wall, their lips locked in a passionate kiss, their groins grinding against each other.
This wasn’t the first time that he’d seen them in a passionate embrace.
It was no different than walking in on his own parents making out like horny teenagers.
“Get a room, guys!”
Thomas whirled his head in his direction, his eyes red like beacons, his fangs peeking past his lips, a snarl ripping from his throat.
“This is our room,” Thomas replied.
“Saved by my nephew,” Eddie said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, small drops of blood on his lower lip. “Remind me to return the favor when it’s appropriate.”
Thomas looked back at Eddie, then licked the drops of blood from his lover’s lip and swallowed them. Finally, they severed their embrace. Benjamin made sure to keep his gaze on their faces and not anything lower. He needed no confirmation of just how hot these two lovers had gotten each other.
“Sorry, didn’t know you were both here,” Benjamin apologized. “But I need some help with some financials.”
“Of course you do,” Thomas said, giving a slow side-to-side shake of his head. “Haven’t we taught you enough so you can do that yourself?”
“You guys are so much better at it than I could ever dream to be,” Benjamin said with a grin.
Eddie and Thomas exchanged a look.
“He’s your nephew,” Thomas said. “I’ll get us some drinks in the meantime.”
Thomas headed for the door.
“Make it a double for me,” Eddie demanded. “I’m quite famished.”
Thomas looked over his shoulder. “I know.”
With a smirk, he left the office and closed the door behind him.
“Don’t you guys ever get enough of each other?”
A tender smile spread over Eddie’s face. “Oh, God, I hope not.” Then he motioned to his desk. “So, what do you need now?”
“I’m looking into this public defender, Gloria Evans. I need to see if she’s been getting any unusual payments.”
Eddie raised his eyebrows. “And by payments you mean…?” He left the sentence unfinished.
“Bribes,” Benjamin confirmed.
Eddie sat down behind his computer and began typing.
Benjamin walked around the desk to look over his shoulder.
It was fascinating watching him work with unerring confidence, opening windows to type commands, then hopping to the next program to continue, until the entire desktop was littered with open windows that overlapped each other, blinking and beeping.
“I’m amazed by what you do,” Benjamin said truthfully.
“Thomas is even better. He taught me everything I know.”
There was pride in his voice—and admiration. Eddie didn’t just love his partner, he admired him too. Their bond had made them inseparable. Frankly, he couldn’t imagine one without the other.
“So, what’s she done, this Gloria Evans?” Eddie asked, while he continued to type and click.
“She might not have given somebody the defense he deserved,” he replied.
“Alright, let’s see,” Eddie said with a nod and widened a window.
“These are her financials: bank accounts, investment account—pretty non-existent, which is no surprise at her age. A couple of credit cards. Here’s the student loan statement.
She doesn’t own any property as far as I can see, at least not in her name. ”
Benjamin scanned the rows of transactions on her bank statements and saw various recurring payments. He pointed to a monthly credit.
“What’s this? Her salary?”
Eddie nodded. “Yep. See? Paid by the City and County of San Francisco, since every public defender is paid by them.”
“Okay. Virtually all other entries are debits, expenses, bills… Hmm.”
He didn’t see any big amounts being deposited into her account.
“Can you go back three more months?”
Eddie clicked on a few buttons, then pointed to the screen. “Here. That’s going back to November last year.”
Again, he looked through the transactions.
“Nothing. And no big deposits into her investment accounts either?”
Eddie shook his head. “Nope. Just a few hundred bucks every month. Nothing to write home about.”
“Hmm. So how did she pay for her new car?”
“How much was it?”
“About a hundred thousand.”
“I didn’t see any checks even close to that amount hit her bank account. No other big withdrawals either,” Eddie confirmed.
“Thanks, Eddie.”
“You should check the registration with the DMV and see where she bought it,” Eddie suggested.
“Good idea. I’ll do that. Thanks, Eddie.”
“Anytime.”
Benjamin walked toward the door.
“And, Benjamin,” Eddie added. “Next time, wait until somebody tells you it’s ok to enter. This time you got lucky, but next time, we might be in the middle of something more intimate, if you know what I mean.”
Benjamin looked over his shoulder. “Ever heard of locking the door?”
Eddie threw a paperweight at him, but Benjamin caught it, grinning. He tossed it back at Eddie and left the office.
Back in his office on the second floor, Benjamin booted up his computer and logged into the DMV database.
Thankfully, he’d made a note of Gloria Evans’s license plate number.
He now searched for it and looked up the registration details.
The dealership that had submitted the title records for Gloria’s new car was located in San Francisco.
He noted down the details and found the phone number easily.
He was about to dial the number when he was alerted to a new email.
He looked at the alert and read Anita’s name.
Santiago Vargas video evidence, it said in the subject line.
He clicked on it and read Anita’s email.
This was the security video that had helped convict Santiago.
There was no attachment to the email, but in the body of it, Anita had sent a link as well as login instructions to a secure link where he could watch and download the video.
Finally!
He clicked on the link when his phone rang. He looked at the display, then glanced at the window. It was still daylight. So why was his father up already?
He accepted the call. “Hey, Dad, what’s up?”
“In my office. Now!”
Amaury’s voice boomed through the phone, and he instinctively held it farther away from his ear.
“Are you at HQ?”
“Yes! Now get your butt up here!”
A click, and the call was disconnected.
Fuck! What was wrong now? His father rarely went to the office during daylight hours, and his voice had sounded not just mildly irritated but downright angry.
Whatever it was, it was best to hurry, because every second of delay could turn his mood even fouler.