Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows) (24 page)

“Alright. We have Carlos Vargas’ niece and the owner of the hotel’s niece as one in the same. What are the odds Carlos Vargas had no idea Angela Boone was really his niece?” Lou could hear Caroline sigh on the other end.

“Well, two months ago I might have said slim and none but with everything I know now...” Caroline chuckled. “Plus the fact that she had all that plastic surgery done? Maybe he was clueless. I honestly don’t know, Lou.”

“Yeah but you and I both know there are no such things as coincidences.” Lou’s head still hurt from thinking. “You send off the results to Dillon already?”

“Yeah, while I was waiting for you to answer the phone.” Caroline lowered her voice. “You keeping him?”

Lou grinned. “Yeah, I told Vinny yesterday to go ahead and make it official. He’s trainable.”

Both women laughed for a few minutes before Lou caught a glimpse of the clock. Vinny was due to pick her up any second and although she had been dressed and ready to go for a couple hours, she wanted to get her things together and formulate how she was going to suggest they proceed with the case.

“I’ll catch up with you later, OK?” Lou asked.

“You bet.” Caroline answered. “I gotta get all this paperwork done. We matched all the heads to the bodies so I have to coordinate with Interpol on what I am supposed to do with them.”

“That sounds like fun.” Lou wondered if there was next of kin to claim the bodies of Esterhuizen and the Salazar brothers. “See ya later.”

It only took a few minutes for Lou to get her things and head downstairs. Her mother and Joe had been gone since 8:00 a.m. and Marta had errands to run so there was no one but Angus to say goodbye to. After setting the alarm and locking the door behind her, Lou waited on the porch for Vinny to arrive. She marveled at the magnificent morning after two days of nearly non-stop rain. Everything was fresh, crisp and green. The sky was a brilliant robin’s egg blue with only a few puffy white clouds floating by, making the sky all the more vibrant. Lou loved the Spring and expected to start seeing baby bunnies and squirrels popping up any day now. It was that time of year again.

Vinny pulled up a few minutes later and they were on the road. During the drive to Homicide she filled him in on the identification of the fake Angela Boone and her relationship to Carlos Vargas. What their next move should be was the topic of discussion for the remainder of the trip. They needed to find out what Carlos’ relationship was like with his father and brother. It seemed a little far fetched that Carlos Vargas didn’t know his own niece if he was even remotely close to his brother Ernesto. It also seemed odd that Carlos’ father, Francisco Vargas, a known drug smuggler who had already been deported once, was able to purchase such a high profile piece of property in Malibu and not raise any flags with the DEA. There were so many questions and holes that both Vinny and Lou were praying that Dillon had come up with some answers when they finally pulled into the parking lot of the bureau.

“Lou...” Vinny stopped her halfway to the door. “Are you sure Dillon is a right fit? I need you to be sure because I have to tell the captain this morning.”

She gave him a reassuring smile. “I meant what I said yesterday. Go ahead and tell Davidson.” She tugged him by the lapel of his jacket. “Now let’s get to work you worry wart!”

“Alright.” Vinny sounded relieved. “You head in and see what Dillon’s got and I’ll catch the captain before he heads to some ass-kissing event.”

Lou snorted. “Watch it. The way you’re moving up in the world you’re going to need to start carrying some lip balm yourself!”

“Very funny.” He frowned at her. “I’m not planning on climbing that high kiddo.”

“You say that now.” She poked him in the ribs as they came to the fork in the hall where they would split ways. “But you could get a taste of that power thing and turn into a monster!” She turned right, leaving him standing there with his hands on his hips. Lou couldn’t help but laugh.

Dillon was waving at her as soon as she walked into the office so she headed straight for him. “Got something?” Lou asked, plopping her bag down on her desk and taking a seat.

“Francisco Vargas was killed five years ago in an explosion in Bogota.” Dillon started referring back to his notes. “One of Barnes’ contacts at the DEA called me this morning and told me that Francisco and Ernesto were estranged after a falling out several years ago. While Francisco was pretty much retired after years of working his way up to a pretty top level position in the Jacinto drug cartel, Ernesto was still struggling to make his bones. It sounded like daddy was stifling Ernesto’s advancement opportunities and Ernesto was not liking it one bit.”

“Anyone think Ernesto had something to do with the explosion?” Lou asked as she found this new information very interesting.

“There were some rumors but if he did have something to do with it, that probably got him the advancement he had been looking for. Cartels reward ruthlessness after all.” Dillon flipped the pages of his notebook and continued. “The house in the Colony was paid for, in cash ten years ago, by Francisco Vargas but the Social Security Number he used was fabricated. The fact that he paid cash though, they never had the need to look into it. Plus, he had a couple of bank accounts that had balances in the six figure range so no one involved in the sale raised any eyebrows.”

“What happened to the assets when he was killed?” Lou considered out loud. “No one bother to tell anyone here that the guy was dead? Why did we just find that out now?”

“I was wondering the same thing. His death is barely a blip on the radar but people were told.” Dillon smirked. “In fact, Francisco had a few high priced lawyers on retainer here in the U.S. who immediately went into action when he died. They made sure his will was followed to the letter and in record time, if you ask me. Carlos inherited everything north of the border but I can’t see what happened down south. We would need a copy of the will and that was never made public record.”

“Interesting.” Lou spun around in her chair as she listened.

“Very interesting, especially since the word around the DEA water cooler is that Carlos cut all ties with his father and brother six years ago, when he was made lead corporate counsel for Arcano Imports’ U.S. division.” Dillon waggled his eyebrows. “You think daddy dearest and big brother did something to piss Carlos off?”

“And then daddy tried to make up for it by leaving him a sweet house by the beach and a few million in cash?” Lou liked that she and Dillon were on the same page.

“I bet big bro was pretty pissed at that too.” He drummed his pen on the rim of his mug. “You think they were trying to use Carlos to get access to Arcano shipments? Carlos’ loyalty to the Arcano family ran a hell of a lot deeper than it did to his own. He doesn’t seem the type to risk everything he’s worked his whole life for on a father and brother he only established relationships with after his mother died.”

“I think that’s the closest we have to a real reason for Casius Arcano getting set up.” Lou told him and furrowed her brow, wishing Vinny would hurry up with the captain. “But why target Casius? That’s taking a big risk. Why not target someone lower on the food chain with easier access to the shipments?”

Dillon tried to make sense of it. “Give me a few minutes to look something up.” He started typing away.

“Carlos is married, right?” Lou asked but got no response.

After twenty minutes of waiting for Dillon to speak, Lou saw Vinny and Captain Davidson walking in to the office with serious expressions on their faces. She tried to think if she had done something wrong but since Lou had been back she had kept completely out of trouble. At least that she could remember.

“Crap.” She muttered under her breath, causing Dillon to look up from the computer screen.

“Shit.” He said when he saw the captain and Vinny heading towards them. “I’m sorry.” He said to Lou.

“For what?” She asked him.

“For letting you down.” Dillon pulled all of his papers together in a neat pile. “It was an honor working with you, Lou. Thank you for the opportunity.”

She snorted. “You think they’re coming for you?”

“They have to be. They don’t look happy.” Dillon stood up and straightened his tie, waiting for his superiors to address him.

“Fifty bucks says I’m the one who’s busted.” Lou said quietly as she stood up.

“You’re on.” He stuck his hand out and they shook on it before Davidson and Vinny stepped in front of them.

“Afternoon Captain.” Dillon greeted the man and offered his hand but the Captain just looked down at it then looked back up at him with a scowl. Dillon cleared his throat then whispered out the side of his mouth to Lou. “I only take cash.”

“What’s that detective?” Davidson demanded.

Once again Dillon cleared his throat. “Nothing, sir.”

“By the smirk on Detective Donovan’s face I don’t think it was nothing.” Davidson was practically yelling and the entire room fell silent.

“Sir.” Dillon stood stick straight. “Detective Donovan and I just made a wager on the subject matter that would have you coming down here.”

Davidson took a stepped closer to him. “Is that so?”

“Sir, yes sir.” Dillon replied as if he were a military cadet.

“So I gather from the fact that you only accept cash, you think yourself the winner of said wager?” Davidson leaned in a bit more.

“Sir, yes sir.” Dillon noticed that Vinny’s face was a tad on the ashen side which to his mind meant he was in deep shit and there was no way out.

“Please enlighten me as to what won you this bet, detective.” Davidson demanded.

“Sir...” Dillon swallowed hard. “I bet Detective Donovan that I was in trouble. She insisted that it had to be her, thus we wagered.”

Davidson leaned back and glared. “Is that so?”

“Sir, yes sir.” Dillon knew it was coming now. He braced himself for it.

“Well then today is your lucky day detective.” Davidson reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Do you know what this is detective?”

“Sir, no sir.” Dillon desperately wished he could skip over the dressing down from his captain and just head home.

“This is an email I received this morning. A very surprising email from a very surprising person, regarding you.” Davidson unfolded the piece of paper. “Then, I get Detective DeLuca coming into my office, telling me something that I wasn’t quite prepared to hear. Would you like to know what is in this email and what Detective DeLuca told me?”

“Yes sir.” Dillon’s mouth was so dry he could barely answer the man. He wondered what he had done and to whom. What would warrant emailing his captain with a complaint and then what had he done that pissed Vinny off on top of everything.

Shaking the paper out for apparent dramatic effect, Davidson began to read the email out loud for everyone in the room to hear. “Please allow this email to serve as my formal evaluation of Detective Dillon Cole. I have been pleasantly surprised by his efficient and forthright work ethic as well as his polite and accommodating manner.” Davidson looked at Dillon to see if it has registered yet before he resumed. “Although there will never ever be anyone sufficient to replace my current partner, Vincenzo DeLuca, Detective Cole runs a close second and I would be honored to have him permanently assigned.”Dillon blinked, unsure of what he was hearing as his captain continued. “Now we come to Detective DeLuca here.” Davidson folded the paper and stuffed it back into his pocket. “He tells me that after seven seriously unsuccessful attempts at finding a suitable replacement, he has determined that you, Detective Cole, are his requested choice and that I should not delay in making it official. Do you understand what I am saying to you?”

Dillon realized that everyone in the room was now staring at him, and smiling. “Sir, I think...”

“You think?” Davidson shouted at him. “Well no wonder they approve of you! You think! Let’s keep it that way shall we?” Davidson finally cracked a smile and offered his hand to Dillon. “Congratulations Detective Cole. Welcome to Homicide. Now don’t piss Lou off.”

“Sir?” Dillon was stunned though he was able to take Davidson’s hand. He looked at Lou and Vinny and both of them were laughing.

“Sport, you better toughen up or you ain’t gonna last long.” Vinny told him as he patted him on the back.

The room erupted in applause and the other detectives all came up to shake Dillon’s hand. Lou simply sat back down in her chair and grinned. She liked him, there was no doubt about that. He was definitely no Vinny but she knew no one could ever be. Dillon was entirely different and they would have to go through their own growing pains. Vinny would be around but it was never going to be the same. Lou had to remind herself of the greater good and swallowed the lump in her throat.

After all the congratulations were done, Davidson excused himself as he actually did have a meeting to attend. Vinny and Lou chuckled as he left. When Dillon finally sat back down, Lou could see that he was rather shaken and that made her wonder. He really must have thought that he was on his way out the door which made the hazing all the more hilarious.

“Lou...” Dillon finally spoke to her. “Thank you.”

“What for?” She asked.

“For having faith in me.” He smiled. “You didn’t have to write that email. Thank you.”

“Oh you will earn it, my friend.” Lou gave him an evil grin then spun around in her chair. “Oh how you will earn it!”

“I look forward to it.” Dillon took the first deep breath he had taken in days and it felt good.

“OK, back to work kids!” Vinny ordered with a clap of his hands for emphasis. “Where are we at?”

Lou and Dillon brought Vinny up to speed on everything they had discussed while he was working on his little practical joke with the captain. Somewhere in the middle of the briefing Vinny handed Lou a one-hundred dollar bill.

“Really?” Dillon asked when he saw the pay-off.

Lou laughed. “He bet me you would never think Davidson was coming for you.”

“You are too by-the-book!” Vinny grumbled. “Why the hell would you have been in trouble? Lou on the other hand...”