Chapter 41
"What do you want?" Kenzie asked, her voice crackling through the speaker in the video doorbell.
JD and I hovered in the hallway outside her apartment with Daphne at the Nautilus. The concierge had let us into the building.
"We need to talk to you about Hayden," I said.
"I don't want to talk to you about anything. My mom told me you think I had something to do with the break-in. That's ridiculous. How dare you suggest something like that at a time like this?"
I stifled an eye roll. "I know you were involved. It's only a matter of time before I can prove it. So, you either help me now, or things are going to get bad for you."
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"You're probably right," I said, playing along. "But I think you’ve got bigger problems than you realize. Somebody killed Hayden. I think that somebody was Levi. I think he's coming for you next."
Kenzie went silent.
With a quivering voice, she said, "Hayden's dead?"
"I'm afraid so. How about you come to the door and talk to us? Help us catch Levi. Testify against him. Maybe you can avoid 30 years to life in prison.”
Kenzie sobbed, then the line crackled with static as she disconnected.
I looked at JD, unsure if she would come to the door. Maybe she was done talking to us.
I rang the video doorbell again, but she didn't answer.
We waited around for a few minutes, but Kenzie never responded.
I left a card in the weatherstripping, even though I knew she already had one.
We left and took the elevator down to the lobby and stepped outside. The valet had kept the car upfront. He pulled it around. The three of us hopped into the Porsche, sped away from the carport, and drove into the lot across the street. From there, we had eyes on the main entrance.
I called Isabella and asked her to track Kenzie‘s phone.
With a few taps of the keys, she told me, “Her phone has made and received several calls from a prepaid cellular. That burner was also at the convention center earlier today.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say that phone belongs to Levi.”
“There is something else you should know. That phone was also at Hayden‘s apartment earlier.”
It solidified my theory.
Levi had slipped up by leaving it on.
“Does it ever appear at Levi’s apartment?”
“Not that I can tell.”
It was too bad we couldn’t use any of the information she provided. It would take a while to get it legitimately.
"Hang on. Kenzie is getting another call from the burner. I'll see if I can tap into the call and record the conversation."
I thanked her for the info and ended the call.
A few minutes later, Isabella texted an MP3 file.
I clicked play. JD and I listened intently.
“Did you think I was playing around?” Levi asked.
“Why did you do that?” Kenzie cried.
“I told you, if you don’t hand over the Codex, I’m going to kill everybody you know. Your mother is next.”
“You might want to think twice about that,” Kenzie cried. “The cops just showed up at my door. They’re onto us. They know what happened.”
“They don’t know shit, and they can’t prove anything. If you keep your dumb mouth shut, we’ll stay out of prison”
“I wish I’d never met you,” she said.
“You’d be broke and bitching about your parents.”
“You didn’t have to shoot my dad. He might die. You didn’t have to kill Hayden.”
“Your father was going to kill me. I had no choice. Besides, you hate him anyway.”
“I don’t hate my father. We just don’t see eye to eye.” She paused. “You didn’t have to kill Hayden.”
“What did I tell you earlier? I said, hand over the Codex or Hayden dies. What did you do? Nothing. You let him die. This is your fault. Now that you know I’m not screwing around, I’m gonna tell you one more time.
Give me that book. If I don’t get what I want, I’m going to kill your mother.
Then I’m gonna come for you. But I’m not gonna kill you right away.
I’m going to make it as excruciatingly painful as possible.
Before it’s all over with, you’ll tell me where that book is.
I risked my ass for this. I’m not walking away empty-handed. ”
Kenzie said nothing as she contemplated her options. “How about I just go to the cops? Tell them everything. Tell them you shot my father.”
“You planned and coordinated this. If you think you’re going to get off with a slap on the wrist, you’re sadly mistaken. You’re gonna spend the rest of your life in prison, just like me if we get caught. Don’t lie to yourself.”
There was an uncomfortable silence.
“I’m going to come by the Nautilus in half an hour. You better have the book ready for me.”
“It’s not here.”
“Where is it?”