Chapter 6
Alexandra Sanders sat in silence at her desk in her Malibu beach house reviewing the latest reports prepared by her staff. A hard copy in a manila folder sat on the desk, but she preferred to have a set emailed to her private account for her personal scrutiny.
That copy was what she transferred to a tablet and walked out on the back deck with. Niles, her house assistant, immediately busied himself making her a drink at the small bar as she walked out to the railing of the deck overlooking the beach.
She expelled a frustrated sigh and sat the tablet down as Niles walked over and sat her Crown and Coke glass next to her. She picked it up and took a sip, nodding with satisfaction. "Just what I needed, Niles. How did you know?"
"You pay me an outrageous sum of money to know these things, ma'am," he said, giving her a wink while cleaning up the bar. His British accent . "And plus I've seen you pour yourself drinks. It's a wonder you have any liquor in the house right now."
Sanders laughed, despite the frustration she was feeling. "Well, you are about to earn your keep, old boy. Fix yourself a drink and sit down. I need some advice."
Once Niles settled into a chair with a tumbler of Crown, she turned to hand him the tablet. "I'm conducting surveillance on several people as a favor to a friend of mine. I started off with a very prominent businessman in L.A. by the name of Josef Kostan."
"Kostan? I heard of him. He has George Lucas-type money." Niles pulled his cigarettes out of his shirt pocket and extended one to his boss who smiled and took it and the lighter he provided. "That's not your style, ma'am. You're usually hired by these kind of people to do their dirty work."
"I know, and if I thought it was going to be this ridiculous I would have declined. Like I said, I'm doing this as a favor for a friend. But this is what my guys at the shop found after two days."
Niles moved his finger across the tablet's screen. "According to this, your techs determined that all information they originally found on Kostan leads to a ... monastery in Tibet? What the bloody hell?"
Sanders took a drag off of her cigarette and nodded. "A Tibetan monastery. Everything I found on Kostan earlier ... gone."
Niles slid the tablet on the seat beside him. "Then he has what they call an eraser working. It's a program where hackers think they're looking at the real thing online, but it's actually something the user can preprogram in the software."
Sanders frowned. "Well that's not right."
"Here's where I earn my keep, ma'am. Kostan has a staff of people that probably matches up with yours in terms of experience and intelligence. I suggest you cancel this ... tech surveillance and hit him with something that he won't see coming."
Sanders considered the idea as she finished her cigarette. "You might be right," she said, putting the butt in the ashtray and holding out her hand for the tablet. "I hired some guys running around following him but I might as well refocus my energies on St. John instead. Let me bring up his file."
She slid her fingers across the screen for a few seconds before stopping suddenly, her eyes widening at an image displayed. She stared at it for several seconds before a smile appeared on her features.
"Oh yes, we will be focusing our attention on Mick St. John," she stated, rising to her feet and sliding the tablet across the table to Niles. "Send an email to my techs with instructions to stand down on Kostan and pull all information on St. John. I need to make a call."
Niles nodded as she walked back into the house. Once she entered, he moved to pick up the tablet and saw the picture that had his employer so enamored.
It was a picture of Beth.
#
"Thanks for coming over on short notice, Detective."
Teresa Novak stood in front of his desk with her arms crossed. "Like I said on the phone before, St. John, this have better be good. Now, what case is it that you have information on?"
Mick nodded as he gestured for her to follow him over into his penthouse. "It'll be better if I showed you. Trust me."
Novak reluctantly walked through the passageway into Mick's living room. "St. John, I didn't come here to take a tour of your apartment. If you have nothing, I can go -"
Novak fell silent when she saw Leni standing by the stairs with Jack in her arms. She cast a bewildered look up at Mick before slowly walking over to the new mother and child.
"Leni? Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" Novak reached to touch Leni's face. "You are supposed to be far away from here."
#
"And that's it. I got out of Phoenix as quick as I could and headed here where I felt I could be safe."
Novak and Leni sat on the couch while Mick stood by his kitchen island. "You're one of the few on the force I know still around who is familiar with the case, Detective. I hope you understand why I'm keeping this close to the chest."
Novak nodded. "I understand, St. John. It's a good thing you two brought me in the loop with this. When the life of a federal witness is threatened, even after her part has been done, there's obviously something going on. My guess is it starts with Amir Fayed."
"Okay, so let's go talk to him."
"Oh no. I'll make some subtle inquiries with a U.S. marshal I know who owes me a favor. See if he heard anything. The little bit of info I do know is there's a hold up in proceeding because of Josh Lindsey's murder."
"Right. So I promised this young woman that she'll be safe. What else can we do?"
The detective mulled the question over. "We - as in I … can do but so much. If the bigwigs in WitSec hear I'm fiddling around with one of their witnesses, it will tip off Fayed or whoever's running things. And after that mess with Kevin, I can't go to the D.A.'s office with this."
"I'm with you there." Mick leaned forward. "Can you assign at least two uniforms downstairs in the lobby? I can get a friend to rig some security cameras from the outside all the way inside here and my office."
Novak pulled her phone out. "I'll make it seem like someone else in the building needs protection but I'd never recommend a place like this to house any kind of witness, especially a WitSec protectee. St. John, is she safe here?"
"I wouldn't have suggested it if she wasn't."
Novak rose from her seat to make her call as Mick heard a rapid knock at the door. He closed his eyes for a second before rising from his seat. "Leni, I think I have a candidate for godmother behind the door."
He walked over and opened the door to admit Beth. She walked past him in a hurried state as she usually did when she has news. "You'll never believe what I witnessed today," she said, oblivious to Novak and Leni's presence as she turned to face Mick while he closed the door.
He quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her back around to walk her further into his dwelling. "Beth? We have guests. Say hi to Detective Novak."
Beth let out a short gasp. She quickly regained her composure and gave the detective a weak smile and wave. "Hi, Teresa."
The smile disappeared when Leni turned around on the couch. "Leni? Leni Hayes?" She walked around to give her a hug and noticed Jack still sleeping on the couch.
"Oh, he is precious," she said softly, kneeling on the floor to get a closer look at his form as Novak walked over to Mick as she finished her phone call.
"I got some uniforms to cover the lobby and one on this floor as a bonus. They'll be here in fifteen minutes. They only know the floor and not which dwelling," she said. "But I can only keep them around for twenty-four, maybe forty-eight hours. I'm gonna start making some calls to some of my C.I.s to see if they've heard anything about Fayed's people and also my friend at the marshal's office. Check in with you later."
Novak showed herself out as Mick walked over to his office entranceway. "Leni, would you mind if I talk to Beth about a few things in private?"
Leni reached for the baby's diaper bag sitting on the floor at her feet. "Sure. This little rugrat probably needs to be changed anyway."
"Well, it looks like you had an interesting afternoon, St. John," Beth said teasingly as she followed Mick into his office. "I leave you with two vampires and come back to find you playing daddy."
"Oh if that could only have been the extent of it," he said. "Cynthia Davis is dead."
"What? How?"
Mick sat down in one of the chairs facing his desk. "I'm sure it was Coraline. I'm also sure she used a stake coated with the compound. Basically ate her from the inside out."
Beth shook her head as she took the seat beside him. "Wow, you think Josef thought that one up yet?"
Mick shrugged. "Who knows? Right now I'm more interested in your news. If I wasn't close by, you would have confessed to everything plus poured me a glass of blood right there in front of Novak and Leni."
"Ha ha ha. But yes, I do have news. I met Alex Sanders today."
Now it was Mick's turn to be surprised. "Where?"
Beth filled him in on her lunch with Allison and the chance meeting. "I don't think she knows me. She strikes me as the type of person who would find out something and then lean back in a chair with an evil grin while stroking a Siamese cat."
"Yeah, but she's bound to find out something sooner or later." Mick sighed as he stretched. "I've been trying to hit my freezer all afternoon but something keeps coming up. And the last thing I want is a repeat episode of the desert with Leni here."
"You delicate flower." She rose and sat down in his lap. "Before you do anything, I want a kiss. A real one, Mr. St. John."
"Well, your wish is my command, Ms. Turner."
- Chapter 6 -
