Athen’s body went cold. He let Paulie take the wheel of his car, which he almost never did, but he didn’t trust his own driving. His thoughts raced as they sped to his house. Paulie activated the blue lights on the dashboard, but not the siren. This gave them clear access to run red lights, without making a sound.
“ETA one minute,” Paulie said.
“Perfect.” Athen called Cricket and got his voicemail. Damn. I don’t have his partner’s number. He left a message for Cricket. “Tyler James is in my house. Can you get back to me?” As if this day could not get more chaotic. He received a text from Sullivan.
Luxury car dealership on Doheny has an ALPR. Owner in Aspen. Will download info and email you ASAP. No official ALPR for the city, but this is great news!
Athen texted back, Yes! and switched over to the activity going on inside his house. “Sullivan found an ALPR,” Athen told Paulie.
“Yep. She texted me too.”
“Oh, right. I asked her to keep us both in the loop.”
“She’s got some awesome contacts, doesn’t she?” Paulie asked.
“Impressive.” Athen watched James standing in his hallway. Athen’s front door was ajar behind him. He was on his cellphone. Man, he’s wearing gloves. What the hell is he up to? Tyler appeared to get somebody’s voicemail. He said a few words, ending the call quickly. He made another call.
“Holy shit. He’s calling me,” Athen muttered. “Should I take it?”
“Oh, my God. I don’t think so,” Paulie said. “Let it go to voicemail. Unless you want to mess with his head a little.”
“I like that idea.” Athen took the call as Paulie swerved around an ancient old lady driving an equally ancient Daimler. “Lieutenant Mavromatis.” He realized too late he’d just made it impossible to view the footage as he talked to Tyler.
“Athen? Oh, hey. It’s Tyler.”
“Hey.” It took some effort to sound casual, but Athen did it. He fiddled with some key functions on his phone and to his shock, the live camera feed popped up on his phone.
Tyler was poking his nose around the hallway, opening the drawer to the hall table. He turned the handle to Athen and Grady’s bedroom. Tyler smiled.
Creepy. “What’s up?” Athen hated when people used this expression with him, but he was beyond aggravated with Tyler. Athen waited for a response, but suddenly his and Paulie’s cellphones went crazy with text message pings.
Paulie glanced at Athen.
“Take it,” Athen said.
“What’s going on?” Tyler asked, opening Athen’s bedroom door. Athen went rigid as he watched Tyler walk inside. Athen and Grady hadn’t put cameras in their room. He caught Paulie shaking his head. He pulled over and showed Athen the text from Sullivan.
Vehicle opposite Deck’s property is a rental car. Was reported stolen yesterday. Dashboard cam is active. Not sure who the car was rented to. Rental agency being stubborn.
“What’s all that noise?” Tyler asked, coming out of Athen’s room.
What the hell are you up to? “I’m working, Tyler. What’s going on?”
Tyler stared at Athen’s bedroom door for a second, then closed it. “I just thought it was time to catch up.”
“Catch up? I’m working on a missing person’s case, Tyler. I’m about to go home. I’ll call you from there.”
Tyler froze, his face a mask of panic. “Shit!” he mouthed.
Athen watched him run. He made it through his front door as Tyler disappeared out the back door, closing it behind him. He blew past the windows facing the back garden. Athen thought about chasing him, but for what? Tyler would have a million excuses and Athen didn’t want to mess up Cricket’s surveillance. I want justice for Allie Madden. His phone rang. Grady. He took the call.
“Despina got hold of her phone. She texted Tyler and told him she and I were out of town.”
“Oh, great. That explains why he was just in here, Grady. He was in our bedroom.”
“Aw, man. This is just getting creepier and creepier. Hold on a sec.” Grady seemed to be moving around. “I took her phone away from her. Sia’s talking about putting her in a reform school. It’s some horse ranch out in Montana, but it’s really a lockdown facility that provides intensive therapy and the staff works on self-esteem and other issues.”
“Maybe it’s not a bad idea.” Athen’s phone kept ringing. Calls and texts were piling up. Paulie was beside him in the hallway. He let Cricket into the house. Paulie pointed to the bedroom and Athen nodded, watching them head in there. Athen’s headache grew worse. He walked to the kitchen and popped a K-cup into the brewer. Just in time he realized it was decaf, tossed the pod aside and inserted a fully leaded one.
Grady went on. “I just Googled the place they want to send Desi. It has a bad reputation for mistreating GLBTQ youth.”
“Shit.” Athen rubbed at his head. Desi had come out to him and Grady, but not her parents.
“Tell Sia to hold off on making any decisions for now. You and I will drive up there when this case is over, and we’ll help Desi tell her parents what’s going on. We both know we can’t take care of her. She’s just getting worse. And please, keep that phone away from her.”
“I will. Just wanted you to know. And something else—”
“Yeah. Like I said, Tyler James was just in our house. Maybe you should check your video. I’m in there now.”
“No. I was going to tell you that Desi tells me Tyler has been texting her for two weeks. He found her on Facebook, and she admits she gave him her key a few days ago. He’s never told her why he wants to come in here so badly.”
“I’m thinking it’s time to move.” Athen looked up to where the drop camera had been mounted discreetly among a row of vintage baking molds Grady had hung above the shelves.
“You’re on top of things then.” Grady blew him a kiss. “Love you. Talk later.”
“Love you back.”
Athen checked the time on the oven clock. Three p.m. Man, this had been a long day with no end in sight. The sandwich he’d eaten earlier seemed like hours ago, and it was. He pulled out the coffee from the brewer and dumped in milk and two sugars. Grady would moan about the sugar, but he wasn’t here and Athen needed the energy. He gave a finger wave to the camera as Paulie entered the kitchen.
“You want a coffee?” Athen asked.
“Yeah. Thanks.” Paulie rifled through the drawer filled with exotic flavored pods. He picked up Athen’s discarded decaf pod and slipped it into the brewer.
“I can’t tell what James was doing in your bedroom. We didn’t find anything at first glance,” Cricket said, coming in, fixated on the coffee maker.
“Help yourself.” Athen waited a beat. “I need to get a camera in the bedroom. Either that or change the locks. Maybe he doesn’t know that I know he was in here.” He looked at Cricket. “What do you want me to do?”
Cricket opened the fridge door and removed a plate Grady had left with two sandwiches on it. “He’s obsessed with this joint. My partner Murph saw James coming here. He walked up your garden path, rang the bell then took off when nobody answered. Then he came back a half hour later. Murph has footage of him walking around, looking in the windows. Made a lot of calls on his cellphone. Murph saw him go around the side gate. He called me, but James must have detoured to his other house two doors down via the backyard.”
“So, you have been watching him?” Paulie asked.
Cricket slid a glance in Paulie’s direction.
“You can trust Paulie. He doesn’t know anything other than the fact James’s been letting himself in here. We think my niece gave him a set of keys.”
“That was nice of her.” Cricket blew out a frustrated sigh as he put the plate on the counter and took a half sandwich. Athen and Paulie snatched up halves themselves before Cricket could demolish them all.
“James came back here just as we were switching out vehicles,” Cricket said. “He’s obsessed with your house, like I said. And your bedroom for some reason.” He picked out a hazelnut flavored coffee pod. Athen hated flavored coffee. Cricket was welcome to it.
Athen’s cellphone rang. A text from Sullivan. I’m outside your front door. He went to let her in. “How did you know I was here?” Man, this chick has some skills!
“Paulie told me via text. Since I’m here, can I come in?”
“Of course. I was beginning to think you were psychic.”
“I am,” she said, straight-faced. She started reciting her lengthy list of updates. Things were okay until he realized Detective Lorne Brand wasn’t with her.
“Where’s Brand?”
“At Cedars with the captain. We’re keeping a watch on Jamie Fahdi. He’s tried to escape from the hospital. Twice. Turns out he has two warrants out on him. FTA’s.”
“Failure to appear? On what charges?”
“Robbery. Turns out he’s part of a ritzy crowd that likes to rob rich people. He’s also got a bench warrant that might take precedence in Nevada. Clark County’s dukin’ it out with LAPD’s sheriff’s department on who gets first crack at him.”
“What’s he wanted for in Nevada?” Athen asked as they approached the kitchen.
“Same thing. He and a few other people targeted high-stakes winners from poker games for their winnings. Followed some to their hotel rooms and roughed ‘em up. Amazing those pit bosses haven’t arranged for his disappearance in the desert by now. Either way, the captain will arrange transfer of custody to the winning bidder as soon as the hospital releases him.”
“Wow. Who knew so much skullduggery was going on in Beverly Hills?”
“Right? I did text you, but I know you’ve been busy.”
“Soup!” Cricket called out.
“Cricket!” Sullivan rushed past the kitchen island and barreled into his arms.
“Soup?” Athen and Paulie asked in unison.
“Girl. You are a sight for sore eyes.” Cricket kissed the top of her head and pushed her back, letting his gaze traverse her trim body. “I always was warm for your form,” he said.
Sullivan just laughed. “You are such a Neanderthal. You and your decrepit old jokes.”
“I take it you two know each other,” Athen said, unable to keep the smile from his face.
“We worked together up in San Francisco on a cross country drug case,” Cricket said.
Athen bit into his sandwich, sliding the remaining half to Sullivan, who mouthed, “Thanks” before extricating herself from Cricket’s grip. Man, it felt good to eat.
“Her old man was the best,” Cricket said between bites.
Sullivan, who’d been smiling, suddenly looked shattered. Athen knew her story but never talked to her about it. Grady had. They’d developed a bond Athen encouraged, but even Grady had been careful to sidestep Sullivan’s devastating recent past. Nobody said anything for a moment. Sullivan and her husband, Alvin Tang, had been a crack team of investigators with the Drug Enforcement Agency. Alvin had been shot two years ago in an undercover meth lab sting that had gone wrong.
After quitting the DEA, Sullivan had, by all accounts, been teaching at a couple of colleges until a chance meeting with Lucy. She recruited Sullivan to the Beverly Hills Police force. That was as much as Athen knew. When Lucy told him she’d hired Sullivan, he’d suspected that the prospect of a more peaceful existence had appealed to her. That, and Beverly Hills’ fabled palm trees. Both aspects of the job had been alluring to Athen.
“So how did you get the name Soup?” Athen asked, wishing he had another sandwich.
She grinned then. “Tang, my last name, is also soup in China. Alvin and Cricket used to eat soup together all the time. So, he gave us both the nickname Soup.” She narrowed her gaze at Cricket. “I’d hoped in time Cricket would get some new jokes and I’d be able to upgrade my nickname.”
“To what?” Athen asked.
Sullivan’s grin grew wider. “I’m thinking maybe gorgeous. Or sexy.”
“I like Soup,” Paulie said, making everybody laugh.
All their phones rang. They checked.
“Lucy wants updates,” Athen said. “Since we’re all here, let’s take this to the table shall we. Refills anyone?” He texted Lucy to let her know the team was in his house and they would join her in a Zoom conference call.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” Cricket said. “I’m gonna go check out the backyard. I’d like to know how he’s getting to his house from the backyard. I also wanna check the bedroom again. Just to be sure our favorite movie star didn’t leave behind any nasty surprises.”
“I appreciate it, thanks,” Athen said, waiting for his turn at the Keurig.
Cricket let himself outside and Soup, because she would forever be Soup now to him, said, “You gonna tell us what’s going on?”
“As soon as we’re done talking to Lucy.” With a heavy heart and a fresh cup of coffee, he took himself over to the kitchen table. He set up his laptop and entered the code for the Zoom session. Lucy was back in her office, sipping her customary green tea, judging by the tea bag floating over the edge of her cup.
“Hit me,” she said. Paulie and Soup had signed in on their phones. It was weird sitting next to them and seeing them on his screen. He always felt like he was The Brady Bunch on these types of calls with everybody’s faces in boxes on the screen. Seconds later, Lorne Brand signed in.
“I’m at Cedars in the waiting room,” he said, a Bluetooth in his ear. “Waiting for that idiot Jamie Fahdi. The hospital approved his discharge and as soon as I get the word, I’ll have to sign off. I’m escorting him to LA Sheriffs. Nevada won the coin toss. They’ll send him over there.”
“Good,” Lucy said. “That gets him out of our hair and off the streets. One less thug to worry about. Athen, please bring us up to speed.”
“So far, we know that Natasha King is Australian, not Saudi, and she arrived in LA approximately a year ago, not November, as her landlord Cameron Deck believes. In October, she began laying down the elaborate princess ruse. She won the green card lottery according to her friend and manager, Maggie Harman. Maggie tells me that Natasha was having trouble living and working here, even with a green card. She not only won the lottery but got a substantial inheritance when her mother died back in Australia. Apparently, she panicked and married a friend of hers, a playwright named Gary Goldman.
“Never heard of him,” Lorne said.
“I don’t think he’s famous. Far from it,” Athen said. “I also don’t think he’s involved in Natasha’s disappearance, because his Facebook page reveals an incessant need to update. He’s been in New York City working on getting an old theater up and running. I haven’t contacted him yet because I, ah, had an urgent personal matter to attend to, but as soon as we’re done talking, I’m going to call a buddy, who’s a Manhattan detective for the fifth precinct. The theater’s right on the south-east edge of the city. He could walk over and have a chat with him. It’s the kind of conversation that should happen in person. It would be easy for him to check if Goldman’s been there the last few days. And who knows, maybe the guy has pertinent information.”
“I like that,” Lucy said, as the others nodded. “Better than calling him. Was this a love match?”
“No. Not romantic love.” That got a smile out of Soup. “According to Maggie, he’s gay, but they’re great friends. I have a feeling in my bones he’s not involved. He’s been posting like nothing’s out of the ordinary. He stands to lose a lot financially if anything happens to Natasha.” He waited a beat. “He relies on the monthly stipend she gives him.”
“Interesting.” Lucy jotted a note.
Athen looked at Gary Goldman’s Facebook page as they spoke. There were no mentions of his wife, but she appeared in two older photos with no captions. He right clicked both images to retain copies of them. Both were taken in September, right before she began the princess charade.
“He’s been in New York the entire time last few days if his timeline is correct,” Soup said, flicking through her phone. “It doesn’t look like he’s posted a single thing about her. Don’t you think it’s strange if they’re married? I mean even it’s a marriage of convenience.”
“No,” Athen said. “Maggie told me that Natasha wanted it kept secret. Being married would detract from her allure. And she had all these guys just hanging off her. I guess she liked to feed them with a long spoon.”
“That’s an interesting expression,” Paulie said. “A dangerous game she was playing. Think somebody found out she was no princess and went bonkers?”
“I think so,” Athen said. “I mean, all the guys we know of needed money. All of them relied on her financially one way or another.”
“Then I’m glad we’re getting NYPD involved,” Lucy said. “Let’s find out what the husband knows. Just quickly from my end, then we’ll cross over to you, Lorne. I’ve checked her packed schedule of appointments and Natasha hasn’t shown up to a single one. It took me a long time to get people to be forthcoming, partly because they were worried about infringing on her personal life, but they all believe she’s a princess. The woman who does her anal bleaching—”
“Her what?” Lorne spluttered.”
“It’s a thing,” Lucy said, blushing. “So I hear.”
“Anyway,” Lucy said, working hard to keep the smile from her lips, “She said Natasha’s become increasingly imperious, demanding discounts and favors.”
“Huh.” Athen thought a moment. “I have no idea what kind of money she inherited, but Maggie said every dime has been going into her career. Maybe she’s been running low, or afraid of running low. If she’s been here for a year and made no income, no wonder she was starting to panic. The imperious thing was probably all an act. She’s probably trying to cut deals so she can keep going.”
“Sounds feasible,” Lucy said. “We need to get hold of her bank records, but we don’t even have ID let alone information like that.”
“Bryce Felton said he was supposed to be the ninja shooter in the sizzler this morning, but he couldn’t come up with his portion. Natasha covered Jamie and that was how he got to get a mangled leg.” Paulie grinned.
Lucy shook her head. “Wish we knew her bank account details.”
“Maggie Harman told me she kept everything in a first aid kit in Maggie’s trunk,” Athen said. “Natasha doesn’t drive and relies on rides and Uber transportation.”
“That gets expensive,” Soup said.
“Right. Well, she told me that Deck snooped in Natasha’s apartment all the time, so she kept nothing of evidentiary value in there. She kept it all in this box in Maggie’s trunk but took it out right before her disappearance,” Athen said. We could start contacting all the Beverly Hills banks. See if we get a hit. See if she’s been using her credit cards.”
“Good idea.” Lorne fiddled with his bluetooth. “Chief, you get the search warrant, and I’ll start as soon as I drop off Jamie Fahdi. Damn. They’re ready to release him. Gotta go.” He signed off the chat.
“Over to you Paulie,” Lucy said.
“I talked to several residents. The apartment building Bryce Felton and Maggie Harman live in is a kind of set. They have every unit wired for filming. The big acting thing that was supposed to happen today turns out to be a super-secret sizzler being filmed at Maggie’s place. They’ve got hidden cameras everywhere. Even in parked cars on the street. I talked to several neighbors while Athen was getting the nitty-gritty from Maggie on Natasha.”
“That ties in with the rental car Sullivan reported kitty-corner to Natasha’s house,” Lucy said. “The vehicle was rented by Jamie Fahdi three days ago. His credit card was declined after an initial acceptance, however, and he somehow managed to disable the GPS. There is an active dashboard camera, but it doesn’t belong to the rental agency and isn’t part of the rental agreement.
“When I talked to Fahdi at the hospital, he claimed Natasha was supposed to pay for the rental as of two days ago. The agency says a woman was supposed to go there two days ago to cover a week’s rental but never showed up. They’re going to let us have the vehicle towed to SID so we can go over it. For all we know, it was used in the commission of the crime against Natasha King.”
“And it will give us access to the dashboard cam,” Soup said.
“Right,” Lucy agreed. “According to Fahdi, it was supposed to be part of the TV show process.”
“I have no idea how she thought she was going to get away with the princess act once she actually nailed a gig,” Athen said. “I don’t think she and Maggie thought that far ahead.”
“I thought she seemed remarkably... naïve about the industry for somebody who’s posing as a manager, and markets herself as a show producer and actress,” Paulie pointed out.
“Agreed,” Athen said. He blew out a sigh. “Soup, what’s your update?”
“Athen, you know about Soup?” Lucy chuckled. “So glad you guys are all becoming so chummy.”
Soup shook her head. “As long as y’all don’t start asking me to make you soup, we’ll get along fine. As you know, I talked to Isla Sanchez. According to her, she and Natasha were the best of friends until Natasha suddenly revealed to her one day that she was a princess. This caused a rift between them because she says Natasha went to her apartment about a week before and stole a red dress.”
“We keep hearing about this red dress. Deck mentioned it. Felton mentioned it.” Athen looked at Paulie, who nodded.
“It’s a classic retro red evening dress. Tom Ford featured it in his two-thousand-twelve collection. Highly prized by the fashionistas, from what Isla told me,” Soup said. “About a dozen were made for different runway shoes. She bought hers online for three thousand dollars. She told me it makes you feel like a woman when you wear it. She said, and I quote, I felt lit from within when I wore it. Anyway, I’ve sent you all photos of both women wearing it. I hate to say so, but Natasha looks amazing in it.”
Everyone grabbed their phones. Athen stared at the images. It was a beautiful dress, for sure. He was surprised that it was a ruby red, off the shoulder floor-length sheath with a matching cape. Isla looked beautiful but... Wow. Natasha just glowed. She looked like a real princess in it. He stared at the photo and realized he’d seen it—or part of it—before.
“Holy crap!” he yelled. “I know what Tyler James is looking for!”
“What?” Paulie responded at once.
“What’s he talking about?” Lucy asked.
“Don’t know,” Soup said.
Paulie said nothing.
Athen almost knocked over his laptop and coffee cup in his haste to rush to the kitchen pantry. Tyler had been a pain in the ass since day one about his private collection of décor in the house. He’d insisted on his paintings being left on the walls and keeping certain art pieces on display.
“Some of his things just give me the creeps,” Grady had said more than once. Together, they had slowly removed things they disliked and stored them in a box in the pantry. Among the items were three photos, that made no sense for them to have in their possession.
Athen fumbled around, pushing aside sacks of rice, potatoes, chilis, and flour. And there it was. He dragged out the box, going through it until he found what he was looking for. Grady had wrapped each picture and weird tchotchke in acid-free tissue paper. One of the packages contained a framed photo of a certain phony princess. Beside her, Tyler James stood, laughing and smiling for the camera.
But that wasn’t why Tyler James had hidden it. Discreetly hidden among the strange jewels glued in one corner of the frame, was, Athen realized now, a teeny, tiny camera.