Athen checked in with Paulie who said the crime scene analysts were still processing the apartment.
“Sullivan’s got a funny feeling about one of the residents, but I don’t know. I thought they were all pretty clammed up. Sullivan thinks they’re all intimidated by Cameron Deck.”
“I’m not surprised.” Athen thought about how intrusive the guy seemed. In his mind, Deck had just moved up to the top of the list of suspects. Not that he had any others right now. “Which resident was this?”
“Felice Farmer. The one who thinks if you blink that you want her.”
Despite the circumstances, Athen grinned. “Oh, her. Maybe we can have Sullivan try her again away from the building.”
“She works in a cigar bar doing bottle service.”
“Those girls make great tips,” Athen said.
“Yeah. Apparently, Natasha worked there first and got Felice and her friend Isla jobs there. Felice was very closemouthed about all that. Oh, the girls are getting restless. Can we let them go?” Paulie asked.
“Yep. I need you to come with me to talk to Maggie Harman.” Athen told him quickly about Lucy’s call.
“Wow. A mystery on top of a mystery.”
“I’m heading back to you. I’ll call Lucy for extra help. I want to keep a uniformed officer on Natasha’s front door.”
“Want me to call her?” Paulie asked.
“Do that. Please. And let’s get a squad car here. They can start going door to door and asking neighbors if any of them have security cameras. Maybe somebody saw something.” Having Paulie organize things gave Athen a few extra minutes to call Grady. He had to warn him about his conversation with Cricket.
“Love of my life,” Grady said, his voice warm and sincere sounding as soon as he took the call.
Athen was about to ruin his day. “What I’m about to tell you remains between us.”
“Of course. What is it?”
Athen weighed his options. He would tell Grady only essentials. He needed to know Despina was lying to them and sneaking out of the house, on top of all the other drama she’d brought into their lives.
“Please don’t let on anything to Desi.”
“Oh, God.” Grady sounded instantly distressed. “What’s she done now?”
“She’s been sneaking out at night.”
“Yeah. I just figured that out. She gave me a hug—”
“She hugged you?”
“I know, right? Anyway, she was in a great mood until it was time for breakfast. I could smell cigarette smoke on her hair and skin.”
Athen blinked. Tyler James smoked. They could get his DNA off his butts. But if he wasn’t discarding trash, what the heck was he doing with them?
“I can’t check the security cameras with Desi hanging all over me,” Grady said. “Whatever’s going on, we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“I’m coming home,” Athen said. “I need shoes.”
“What happened to the ones you left in?”
“Covered in blood.”
An intake of breath on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry I asked. “You coming alone?”
“Paulie’s gonna be with me.” Athen would have Sullivan talk to Felice Farmer again. On her own she might extract some information from her.
“Oh, he called me, but I was on the other line talking to your sister and didn’t click over.”
“Is Sia okay?”
“Yeah. She just misses her big brother. You need to call her.”
“I will.”
“Since you’re bringing Paulie with you, I guess there’s no time for a quickie then.”
Athen grinned. “Later, gator.”
“I just made some rosemary bread. I’ll have a couple of sandwiches and coffee waiting for you.”
“We don’t have time for sandwiches—”
“Athen, Paulie’s diabetic. He has to eat.”
“How do you know that?”
“His wife told me. Newly diagnosed. Don’t you two talk about this stuff?”
“Er. No.” Athen would never tell Grady they liked to gripe to each other about family life. Athen’s overly full one, and Paulie’s desperate efforts to create one with his wife.
“And you need to eat, too,” Grady scolded. “Giving half your food to the dog doesn’t count as any type of meal.”
“Roger that.”
“When you get here, keep Desi distracted so I can check the security tapes. I hate what she’s doing to us. I don’t trust her and that makes me somebody I don’t like very much. I’m afraid to let her out of my sight. How’d you find out Tyler James is in town, anyway?”
“I’ll explain later. See you in a few.” Athen reached the apartment building and ended their call. Neighbors were streaming out of the building as though they’d been let out of jail. A squad car pulled up out front. Athen gave the guys a wave and nodded to Paulie. “We’ll take my car. I gotta pick up some shoes. Any word from the crime scene analysts?”
“Nothing. We have her prints, well, we assume they’re her prints. We’re checking AFIS and Mike will forward them to Homeland Security once we have a positive ID.”
“Right.” Athen knew he’d have to enlist help from other officers. He approached Sullivan who caught his gaze. She inclined her head away from a still-crumpled Cameron Deck. In Athen’s opinion, the guy was laying on the act a little thick.
Athen moved over to where she stood, in a far corner of the iron fence. “Sullivan, Paulie tells me you think Felice Farmer’s holding out.”
“I do.” She cut a glance toward the entrance to Natasha’s unit where Mike’s team was still dusting for prints. “She works at a cigar bar. Fabulaire’s.”
“Oh. I know of that place. Up on Doheny,” Athen said.
“That’s the one. She will only talk to you. Said she’d be there at four to get ready for her five o’clock shift. You must have made an impression on her.” A slight smile from Sullivan. “Did you blink at her?”
Athen and Paulie laughed.
“Yeah.” Athen shrugged. “Guilty as charged.”
“She’s expecting you,” Sullivan said. “I’ll text you her number. And, sir?” She held his gaze for a moment. “That Cameron Deck... I’ve seen him somewhere before. Not in person. In a connection with a drug case. I’m certain of it, but I can’t place him. With your permission I’d like to forward his photo to the DEA. My former boss there can be trusted, and we’ve got state of the art facial recognition programs we don’t have access to here. Can I send it to him?”
Athen stared at her for a moment. “And you trust this guy?”
“Jesse Davis is the best. Give me the word and I’ll text him right away. I’ll have him contact you directly.”
“I really just have to say thank you,” Athen said. “I appreciate the suggestion and your eagle eye. I’d like to keep you in the loop, and Paulie too, of course. Anything he sends to me should go to both of you as well.”
“Thank you, sir,” she said.
“Don’t call me sir. Athen’s fine. I’d like you to stay and keep an eye on Deck. We’ll put up yellow tape right now, but I still don’t trust him not to go into Natasha’s unit and poke his nose in things. We have a squad car out front. Any problems with him, arrest him. Once the guys are done here, I’d like you to help me and Paulie check out some leads.” He caught a glimpse of Mike waving to him.
“Great, sir. Um. I mean Athen. We’ll stay in touch.” Sullivan moved back over toward Deck who sat with his head in his hands.
“Landlord’s prints are all over the joint,” Mike muttered to Athen. “Talk about hands-on. This guy must be in here all the time. By the way, I’d like to go over the bedroom some more.”
“Whatever you need to do.”
“There are prints on the wall heading up to the ceiling.” Mike held his gaze.
“That’s unusual.”
“He might have installed a hidden camera. I’ll holler at you once I know more.”
“Great, thanks. You’re running her prints through AFIS?”
“Yep. I want to run the landlord’s prints too. They’re in the bedroom but stop near the bathroom. His prints aren’t the ones near the ceiling.”
“Huh. Okay. Paulie mentioned Homeland Security. If you can contact them with her prints, I’ll have Lucy check for video of her arrival at LAX. Landlord says she moved here in late November, but he wasn’t firm on the date, and who knows if that’s when she really landed here.”
“Most people come on six month visas these days. Maybe her time was running out,” Paulie suggested as he and Athen made their way to his car.
On the drive back home, Athen weighed his options. So much to do, and without a clear identity of his apparent victim, it made his job harder. He called Maggie Harman who answered the phone in a breathless, seductive manner that suggested phone sex as an alternate source of income.
“Maggie?”
“Oh, yes, this is Maggie,” she said, her tone turning business like.
“My name is Lieutenant Mavromatis. I’m with Beverly Hills Police. I was wondering if my partner and I could come by and talk to you. I know you’re busy, but it’s about Natasha King.”
A beat. “Okay. But I have a class at two. I just got an extension for me and Tash, in case she can still make it. I’m assuming you’re calling about her. Have you heard from her?”
“Not as such. Can I have your address, please?”
“You want to come here?” Her voice turned into a squeak.
“Yes. We won’t keep you long.”
“Okay.” She sounded reluctant but gave it to him and he recognized Spalding Drive as one of the most elegant streets in the heart of Beverly Hills. He longed to ask her who she’d contacted at the Saudi consulate but preferred to do this in person.
“We’ll see you in twenty minutes.”
“Okay,” she said. “Gives me a chance to tidy up a little.”
“Zillow the addy for me, will you?” he asked Paulie as they waited for the lights on the corner of Pico.
“Building’s worth nearly four million. Nineteen-twenties. Four apartments. Wow. This is some classy joint. One of the units just rented out for four grand a month. What’d you say she does for a day job?”
“No idea. But pretending to be a manager for non-working actors can’t be paying the bills.” Athen parked outside his house on Arnaz Drive and slapped his official neighborhood parking permit on the rearview mirror. The grey ghosts as locals called the parking enforcement had no respect for Athen, even though they knew his vehicle. They liked to fine him as though he had time to waste in the courthouse.
He led Paulie inside the house, sniffing appreciatively at the lingering scent of warm rosemary bread.
Grady came to greet them, Bella rushing toward them like a furry bullet. Despina stood behind Grady, a scowl on her face and her arms folded across her chest.
“I want to go to the mall,” she announced by way of a greeting.
“We’ll discuss that later.” Grady sounded exasperated. He turned to Paulie. “Hey, Paulie.”
“Hey,” Paulie responded.
Athen leaned into Grady for a kiss and got one. He had no qualms about kissing his man in front of Paulie.
Paulie, meanwhile, tried to hug Desi, who took a couple of steps farther away from him. Oh, boy.
Grady scowled at her then glanced back at Paulie and Athen. “I have blueberry muffins in the kitchen. No sugar. You can have one of those without raising your blood sugar,” he told Paulie. “There’s also homemade rosemary bread sandwiches. Bottled water in the fridge. Twyla said you should take an apple and a piece of string cheese with you for a snack. You gotta have at least half a sandwich here. You can take the rest with you.”
“My wife called you?” Paulie looked shocked.
“She’s my new best friend.” Grady gave him a smug smile. He glanced at Athen. “I gotta call the office. Mind holding the fort a moment?”
Athen knew this was code for checking the cameras. It astounded him that for her relentless criminal activity in their home, Despina seemed unaware that they’d installed cameras every place they could think of. She’d stolen a few pieces of makeup she didn’t need from a beauty supply store at the Beverly Center—twice. Athen and Grady had been mortified the first time and grounded her after the second incident. At least three times a week she still stole their credit cards and would try to buy stuff online. They got camera alerts when she went into Athen’s office, otherwise known as the perpetual scene of her crimes.
They’d viewed the footage and she seemed unaware she was being watched. Or, as Athen had begun to suspect, she just didn’t care.
Maybe she didn’t know he and Grady had wired up the house. Their security specialist had hidden them in light fixtures and inside the eyes of a couple of antique cat statues that belonged to Tyler James. He needed to consider the question of what to with her next. He wasn’t sure he should let her stay here with Tyler James’ new involvement in her life. On the other hand, he knew if he and Grady tried to extricate her from him, she would rebel.
There was also the issue of Tyler James possibly bolting and wrecking Cricket’s case against him. Tyler had always been a low-key guy in Grady’s opinion. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. At the mere thought of that made Athen turned on his heel as Grady slipped away. Athen walked into the kitchen. He and Paulie sat at the kitchen island and threw down a couple of sandwiches. Athen made coffee with the Keurig and passed a cup to Paulie who sipped at the hot liquid the second he received it.
“That feels better. I was feeling a little dizzy.” Paulie shot him a guilty look.
“You should have said something.” Athen pointed at the coffee cup. “Are you allowed to have that?”
“According to me, yes.” Paulie grinned and sipped.
Despina stood beside him frantically typing a text message. Athen didn’t bother asking who she was talking to. He had access to her texts since he paid for her phone. He and Grady were forced to spy on her because she kept lifting their credit cards to make online purchases. They’d caught text messages requesting her to verify purchases they would never have otherwise known about.
Suddenly, Athen’s phone pinged.
A text from Cricket. File emailed to you. I’m watching Tyler James’ house. He’s driving a yellow Porsche. Hard to miss. He just got food delivered. Maybe he’ll chuck out empty bags.
Athen texted back K. For okay. He and Grady had been mulling over what to do about Desi. Her school was out until September and she refused to adhere to the structure of home schooling, even though they’d hired a tutor for her.
His phone pinged again. Paulie drained his coffee and glanced at him. Athen blew out a sigh. Grady had texted him. She’s out of this house today. We’ll talk later. I’m driving her back to Santa Cruz. I’m taking Bella with me. You can tell your sister.
“Despina!” Grady bawled from somewhere in the house.
Can you handle her? Athen quickly texted.
Watch me, came back the reply.
Athen hated leaving his life partner to deal with Desi but it was the best solution. He called Grady from the kitchen. “You okay? You sure you want to do this?”
“She had people in our house last night,” Grady said with a hiss. “People. In our house,” Grady repeated. “At two a.m. While we slept.”
“How did we miss that?” Athen asked.
“She must have disabled the alarm. I’m gonna text you. Hold on.” He ended the call and Athen received a string of texts. I’m taking her home. Taking the dog for company. I don’t want to talk to you right now, Athen. I am so damned mad at you. I’m gonna stay somewhere for the night and head back tomorrow. Oh. And while I’m away, change the damned locks. Tyler James was in our house last night. Touching things. At two a.m. he was outside our bedroom door! He tried to open it!” Grady stopped texting him.
These words chilled Athen to the core.
He tried calling Grady who wouldn’t answer. Damn. He left a message. “I love you. And I’m sorry.” He blew out a sigh. Maybe Tyler drank from a glass or something. Nah. Even if he had, Grady is so fastidious he would have washed it by now. Still, it more than rankled to know that Tyler had been in their home, uninvited. Athen and Grady slept with their door locked, Bella tucked away with them. Their bedroom was huge, and she tended to be restless if she wasn’t with Athen and Grady.
Man, I’m gonna sleep alone tonight. He put on fresh running shoes then drove away with Paulie beside him. “I hate to ask you to do a personal errand for me, but can you check my security cameras for me on my phone?”
“Sure.” Paulie took hold of it. “Problems?”
“Teenagers. She’s been sneaking out at night. And our landlord just moved in two doors down. Grady says he was in our house at two o’clock this morning.”
Athen took Olympic Boulevard all the way to Spalding. It was faster than Wilshire, which had lengthy traffic lights at each corner. He gave Paulie his security code. He’d change the locks when he got home tonight. The burden of Grady’s anger toward him sat heavily in his gut. Grady was all the missing parts and pieces in Athen’s heart and soul. Athen worshipped him. He’d never wanted to compromise his relationship with the most amazing man he’d ever met.
“You’ve got excellent security footage,” Paulie muttered. “It’s in color. I wasn’t eavesdropping, but it was hard not to hear it. Grady was screaming. He said people were in your house. Tyler James was in the house. I see him here. He let himself in. He has keys.” He paused. “He took his time going through your house. Jesus. He’s one hella sneaky landlord.”
“Yeah.”
“You just got a text.”
“Is it Grady?” Athen turned right on Spalding.
“Uh, yeah. He said he confiscated Desi’s phone so she couldn’t warn Tyler that she’s leaving.”
As Athen made his way to Maggie Harman’s apartment, Paulie made a weird sound in his throat. Athen glanced at him.
“My niece was so jealous when she found out Tyler James was your landlord. I mean, you know. Hot movie star and all.” Paulie shook his head. “There’s something real creepy about this guy, boss. The way he’s roaming around your house. Despina following him and giggling. He’s got a predator vibe. Is he messing around with her?”
“I don’t think so.” Athen’s gut felt like he’d eaten pebbles for lunch. My life sucks at this moment.
“He doesn’t seem interested in her. It’s like, I dunno...”
“What?”
“He’s looking for something. Maybe he has secrets.” Paulie tried to add a chuckle to his words, which only made Athen’s heart sink farther. Yeah. Tyler has secrets. Damn. What if there’s something hidden in our house? And oh, crap. How did he get hold of our keys? The thought hit Athen like a tidal wave. Despina gave them to him. She’d told Grady she’d lost her set a few days ago, but I bet she passed them onto this idiot. Athen needed to get those locks changed. Now. With Grady and Despina gone and Athen clearly not home, Tyler would have free access to their family home.
“I just realized something else,” Paulie said.
“What?”
“He’s wearing disposable gloves. This is really shady behavior.”
“Tell me about it.” Athen digested this nugget of information. “We’re here,” he said, hating the fury surging through his body.