TJ awoke the next morning to a quiet house. He peeked in on Alexis and found her still asleep. The safe house had three full bathrooms and a half bath, so there was no need for him and Alexis to share here.
He set the water to freezing and climbed into the shower.
He’d managed to keep the desire he felt for Alexis every time he looked at her at bay during the day, but he couldn’t stop the erotic scenes that had plagued his dreams during the night. He’d awoken hard as a rock and even grumpier than usual. Hence the cold shower. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working as well as he’d hoped. He couldn’t stop thinking about the hunger he’d seen in her eyes last night when he’d almost kissed her. He’d been with enough women to know that look when he saw it. She’d wanted him as much as he’d wanted her.
Yet he’d still pulled away.
It was the right thing to do.
So then why didn’t it feel right?
He turned the shower nozzle from cold to scalding, hoping the hot water would finish the work of quelling his growing feelings for Alexis.
He’d been right to stop what was clearly going to be a mistake for both of them. Alexis wasn’t a woman he could jump into bed with just for fun, even if she agreed to it. He cared about her, more than he liked to admit, certainly more than any woman he’d ever dated. She deserved the white picket fence, two kids, and a husband whose job didn’t involve living out of a car for days on end so he could catch other married people cheating on their spouses. It was more than he could, or was willing, to give. So he needed to put his libido in park and focus on the task at hand.
He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.
He and Alexis still had a lot of work to do if they had any chance of proving that Mark didn’t steal TalCon’s software program and even more work ahead of them when it came to proving Mark didn’t commit suicide. All of which was made more difficult by the fact that he had almost no idea what he was doing.
He got dressed in jeans and a gray pullover while considering, for probably the hundredth time since he’d agreed to take on Alexis’s case, whether he’d serve her better by letting Shawn or nearly anyone else at West take the lead. He chased cheaters, deadbeat dads, and disability fraudsters. He didn’t know the first thing about software programs and military contracts. And proving that Mark was really murdered?
He stopped himself before his thoughts really began to spiral and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
Alexis had come to him and he wasn’t going to let her down or pawn her off on someone else. This may not have been his usual type of case, but any good investigator knew that information was key.
Which was why he’d emailed Shawn to ask him to pull background reports on Nelson Bacon and Arnold Forrick after Alexis went to bed last night. And after some internal debate, he’d also asked Shawn to pull a background report on Mark, although doing so had left him feeling as if he was betraying his friend. Still, it had been nearly two years since he’d spoken to Mark. And if their last encounter was any indication, Mark’s drinking was worse than TJ had realized. Maybe he didn’t know his friend as well as he thought he did. It was possible Mark had gotten himself into something, wittingly or unwittingly, that he didn’t know how to get out of. Even though checking into Mark made him feel guilty, as if he was betraying his friend, he couldn’t ignore the possibility that the situation was just what the cops and TalCon said it was. Not that he would say that to Alexis unless and until he had concrete proof that her brother was a thief who had ended his own life rather than face the consequences of his actions.
In the kitchen, he popped two of the frozen muffins he’d found in the freezer into the toaster oven and started a pot of coffee before opening his laptop.
He clicked on the email from Shawn that was waiting at the top of his inbox just as his cell phone rang.
“Good timing,” TJ answered the phone. “I was just opening up the email with the background reports. Thanks for doing that, by the way.”
“Not a problem,” Shawn responded. “I told you I’ve got your back on this. Whatever you need.”
TJ skimmed the report. “Has Tansy made any headway on tracing the person who made the posting for Nimbus on the dark web?”
Shawn sighed. “Not so far.”
TJ beat back a surge of frustration and focused on the email Shawn had sent him. “I’m just getting a look at these reports. Is there anything in here about Bacon or Forrick I should focus on?”
“Both these guys are good at what they do. Both ex-military. Both highly decorated. Bacon was a Ranger. Forrick a Marine. Doesn’t appear they knew each other in the service, but they both landed at TalCon about the same time and rose in the ranks pretty much in lockstep. Bacon is the better diplomat, which propelled him to the top seat as CEO, but he brought Forrick along as his right-hand man. Forrick is the heavy. He does whatever Bacon needs him to do, leaving Bacon’s hands relatively clean.”
“Not a bad setup.”
“No, and there’s nothing I could find that suggests either of them is anything other than your typical, sometimes ruthless, corporate executive.”
The toaster dinged. TJ put the phone on speaker and carried it with him while he fixed himself a cup of coffee and buttered his muffin. “I’ve been thinking about the theft of the software. Atwal, the lawyer Mark hired to represent him, said that TalCon’s cybersecurity professionals found an offer to sell the program on the dark web. I don’t think this is the first rodeo for whoever stole this program.”
“You think the thief has done this before?”
“This or something like it. Whoever this is knows way too much about TalCon and this program and how to offload it for this to be the first time they’ve done this.”
“Yeah, but you’d think that if someone were running around stealing computer programs that could be used to wage cyber war, it would make the news.”
“Not necessarily. Atwal said that one of the reasons that Mark hadn’t been charged was that TalCon is still hoping to recover the program without a lot of fanfare. Maybe this kind of theft has happened previously and TalCon, or whatever company fell victim, worked to keep things just as quiet.”
“That makes some sense.” Shawn still sounded skeptical. “I’ll dig around. See what I can find.”
“Thanks. Hopefully, it will generate some much needed leads that don’t point back to Mark.”
TJ let his cursor hang over the third and final report Shawn had attached to the email. Mark’s background report.
“How is Alexis?” Shawn asked.
“Hanging in there. She’s strong. She’ll get through this.”
“How about you? I was surprised to see you asked for a background on your friend. Are you starting to have doubts?”
Was he? He didn’t doubt the Mark he’d known would never have done what he was being accused of. But the Mark who thought he’d ever make a play for his woman. The Mark that was drinking heavily the last time TJ had seen him. He wasn’t sure he knew that Mark at all.
“Just being thorough.” It seemed a safe enough answer, but Shawn was too good of an investigator not to have heard the hesitation.
“I sent the photos of the tracker to our technology team. I’ll let you know what, if anything, they are able to find out.”
“Thanks. Sorry I couldn’t get the actual device to you, but I didn’t want to take any chances.”
“I get it. I don’t want to step on your toes, but have you checked for other devices? That might not have been the only one.”
“I did a thorough check of the car last night. Didn’t find anything else, but you know this kind of investigation isn’t really what I’m used to doing.”
“You’re doing fine. And like I said, I got your back. And to prove it, after I pulled the backgrounds on Forrick and Bacon, I dug around some more.” The laptop chimed with an incoming email. “TalCon’s a juggernaut in the military contracting world, but they have a couple of upstart competitors nipping at their heels. I figured it might be worth looking at who would benefit if TalCon does a very public and embarrassing face-plant with Nimbus.”
The new email contained research on TalCon’s two closest competitors. TJ kicked himself for not having thought of the competition angle himself. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem. I’m also sending you a name.”
TJ’s email chimed again. The name Noel Muscarelli followed by an address. The text also included Noel’s phone number.
“Noel Muscarelli is a former executive at TalCon who abruptly left the company six months ago, even though he’d been touted as one of Bacon’s possible successors.”
TJ was surprised by Shawn’s last statement. “Is Bacon on his way out?”
“Umm... That’s an open question. Bacon has been in the CEO chair for twelve years. At some point, probably in the not-too-distant future, the board is going to have to start thinking about who follows him.”
“What about Forrick?”
“Uh-uh.” TJ imagined Shawn shaking his head on the other end of the line. “Forrick has burned too many bridges getting and keeping Bacon on top. When Bacon goes, Forrick goes too.”
Footsteps sounded down the hall where the bedrooms were. Alexis was awake.
“Thanks, Shawn. This is great. It gives me a few bushes to beat in hopes that something falls out.”
TJ ended the call as Alexis entered the kitchen. She wore a pink T-shirt and pink pajama shorts that showed enough of her tantalizingly creamy caramel skin to have him considering taking yet another cold shower.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
“I made coffee and thawed out a muffin for you.”
“Thanks.” She turned away from him quickly and he saw her cheeks pink. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”
“Shawn. I asked him to do some background research for me.” TJ filled her in on the conversation. “Shawn found a former TalCon employee who worked in the same section as Mark who might be worth tracking down.”
“That sounds great. Speaking of TalCon employees, has Lenora Kenda gotten back to you?”
TJ frowned. “No.” Ms. Kenda was proving elusive, and he didn’t like it. There was no reason for Mark’s assistant to dodge his call unless she was hiding something. She was definitely on his list of people to talk to sooner rather than later. “I think it’s time we try being more forward with Miss Kenda. I want to take a drive by her house today. See if we can’t get her to chat with us. But I think it might be best to reach out to Noel Muscarelli, the former TalCon employee, first. He’s more likely to talk to us since he’s no longer with TalCon, and we still need to chat with Detective Chellel. We also need to track down Mark’s ex, Jessica.”
Alexis carried her coffee mug to the table and sat. “Mark told me they’d broken up a few weeks before he died. I’m not sure she’d know anything that could help us.”
“We won’t know until we ask.”
Alexis frowned.
“I know you didn’t like your brother’s taste in women. But this is part of investigating. Following all the potential leads, even the ones that don’t look as if they will pan out to anything.”
Alexis held up her hands in surrender. “You’re right. You’re the expert. If you say we need to talk to Jessica, we talk to Jessica.”
TJ didn’t feel like an expert, but Jessica was clearly someone they needed to speak to. “Tansy got Jessica’s most recent address. I thought we would pay her a visit this morning before stopping by the police station to talk to Detective Chellel. I’m going to call Noel Muscarelli and see if we can arrange to meet up sometime today.”
“Wow, I’m impressed. You got all that done before I even got out of bed.”
Pride swelled in TJ’s chest at her compliment. “It wasn’t that much, but you better hurry and get dressed if we want to get a jump on this day.”
Alexis downed the remainder of her coffee, then hurried back up the stairs.
He called Noel Muscarelli while Alexis showered and changed. Noel agreed to meet with them at noon at a small coffee shop not far from his home.
After ending the call, TJ’s gaze fell on the email from Shawn that contained the background on Mark. He hadn’t opened it. Yet. Once again, his finger hovered over the keyboard, but the sound of Alexis heading back toward the kitchen stopped him.
He closed the laptop and turned, forcing a smile. “Ready to go?”
Alexis returned his smile with a tepid one of her own. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
They set out for Jessica Castaldo’s apartment complex. The two-story brown boxy building was utilitarian, but it looked well kept.
TJ knocked on the door of apartment 2B and got no answer. He knocked a second time just as the door to apartment 2A was flung open.
“Ain’t nobody there.” A rail-thin woman with gray hair in two braids that stopped just above her buttocks stood in the open door of the opposite apartment.
Alexis and TJ turned to face the woman, who gave Alexis a quick once-over, but her gaze lingered on TJ. A smile, likely meant to be seductive, quirked her mouth up.
TJ noted, with more than a little satisfaction, that Alexis’s lips had taken a decidedly downward turn. She scowled at Jessica’s neighbor.
Thinking it was best that he take the lead, he smiled at the woman and said, “Hi there. We’re looking for your neighbor, Jessica Castaldo.”
The woman smiled back at TJ. “I never knew what her name was, but she doesn’t live there anymore. Moved out a couple weeks ago.”
“Did she say where she was going?” Alexis asked, a polite smile replacing her former scowl .
The woman shot Alexis a disinterested look before turning her attention back to TJ. “No idea. She didn’t exactly leave a forwarding address with me. Like I said, I never even knew her name. A real standoffish little thing, she was.”
“Well, could you tell us how long she lived here?”
The woman waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, about six months. Not long. I know she didn’t give thirty days’ notice like we’re all supposed to do if we’re going to move out. Super was fit to be tied. Asked me a bunch of questions about where she went, just like you’re doing. And I told him the same thing. I didn’t really know Little Miss Thing.”
TJ pulled out his cell phone and put up a picture of Mark. “Did you ever see her with this man?” He turned the phone to face the woman.
The woman squinted at the screen for a moment. “Yeah, yeah. I’ve seen him around here a few times. Not for a few weeks before Little Miss Thing moved out. I think they were dating, but he must’ve gotten wise and broken up with her.”
“What did he get wise to?” Alexis pressed.
The woman jutted her chin in the direction of Jessica’s apartment door. “She was a gold digger. Had a job as a waitress or something. I’ve seen her in her uniform. But no waitressing job is gonna pay for Jimmy Choo shoes and Fendi bags and all those expensive clothes I’d see her traipsing off to the club in on Saturday nights.”
For someone who didn’t even know her neighbor’s name, the woman sure had seen a lot of the goings-on at Jessica’s place.
“Is there anything else you can tell us about your neighbor? Anything that might help us figure out where she moved to?”
To her credit, the woman did seem to think about it for a moment before shaking her head. “Naw, I just told you everything I know about her.”
TJ put his phone back in his pocket and shot the woman another smile. “Thanks for your help.”
The woman smiled back at him. “You’re welcome. Anytime, handsome. If you want to come in, maybe have a drink or two?”
TJ heard the soft growl emanating from Alexis’s throat. If the other woman heard it, she gave no indication.
“Sorry,” TJ said, placing a hand on Alexis’s back and guiding her toward the staircase. “I’m on the clock.”
“Too bad.”
He heard the sound of the woman’s door closing.
“I can wait in the car if you want to get to know your new friend a little better,” Alexis groused.
TJ’s lips twisted into a smile he was sure wasn’t going to make his situation any better. He was right. Alexis’s scowl deepened when she saw it.
He opened the door to the car and slid in behind the wheel. Alexis slid in next to him.
“Hey, I can’t help it if women find me attractive,” he joked, hoping to lighten the mood in the car.
Alexis’s lips quirked up slightly. “I’ll bet. But your attractiveness didn’t do much to help us. We have no idea where Jessica lives.”
TJ started the car. “No, but I’m not about to let that stop us. I’ll give Shawn a call and see if he can dig up Jessica’s new address. But right now, we have a meeting with the detective.”