Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows) (8 page)

Max squatted down next to her, panicked that she was in pain. “I assumed you heard me come in, or at least your mother and I chatting down the hallway. Are you alright? I am so sorry!”

Lou lifted her head and turned to look at him. The utter horror on his face sent a pang through her heart. He was indeed dreadfully sorry, it was clear to see by his expression.

“I’m fine, really.” She placed her hand on his shoulder to calm him and had to chuckle. “Really! I swear.” His expression started to soften. “Now pull up a chair and tell me everything you know about this helicopter.”

“As you wish.” The fact that Lou wanted to get down to business reassured Max that she was alright. He pushed an ottoman over to the desk and sat down beside her. “What do you want to know? Oh and hello.” He grinned.

“Hi.” She grinned back. Every time Lou looked at the man her heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t help herself. It had been that way since the first moment she laid eyes on him.

While Lou was sure it hadn’t been her imagination all those weeks ago, or even still, she did not want to rest her hopes on Max having any romantic feelings for her. He was the most important person she had ever met and was responsible for all Sanguinostri on the entire continent. Lou was just a piss-ant in his world and she knew it. A girl could dream though, couldn’t she?

“So why are we looking at this? And are you finding the system easy to use?” Max was referring to the ultra encrypted super computer system that Frank and Niko had outfitted for her. It was ultra slick, state of the art, cutting edge technology. As was most everything in Max’s possession.

“I liked Windows XP better.” She held her serious expression for a few solid seconds before she cracked and burst out laughing. He had actually thought she was serious for a moment.

“Very funny.” He nudged her with his shoulder, nearly knocking her out of her chair. “Oh shit!” He caught her before she fell.

“Hey!” Lou laughed harder.

Max was a solid foot taller than Lou and easily outweighed her by a hundred pounds. Despite being built like a forward hockey player, Max was an elegant, gentle man. He often forgot his own strength and it bothered him immensely when Lou was at the receiving end of that forgetfulness. Like now.

“Dear God. Lou, I am so sorry!” He was mortified.

“Would you stop saying you’re sorry!” Lou finally caught her breath and stopped laughing. It was so funny to her when he got flustered. “I am perfectly fine. That was hilarious!”

“I’m so glad my buffeting you around is so entertaining.” He was not amused in the least.

“Oh knock it off! I am fine and it was funny.” She nudged him back with her shoulder just as he had. “Ya big lug. Now let’s get back to work. What do you know about this?”

“I know that they are an amazing piece of machinery. Very quiet and very efficient. We have four of them.” His answers were precise and matter of fact. “Why? Do you need to borrow one?” He turned his gaze from the screen to see Lou staring at him with her mouth agape.

“Do you ever hear yourself?” She continued staring at him.

“Of course, yes.” He thought he did. “Why do you ask?”

“Normal people don’t just rattle off things like that. Like it’s no big thing.” She waggled her finger at the picture on the computer. “That is not a BMW or the new Mercedes! It is a highly top secret, classified, super sophisticated military helicopter.”

“I see your point.”

“You don’t just let people borrow something like that!” Lou found herself blinking a lot again. Something she found herself doing frequently as of late.

“I don’t just let people borrow things like that.” Max looked slightly insulted. “You are not people.”

“I’m not people?”

“Absolutely not. You are family.” He meant it. Max had left himself critically open and bare over the past several weeks because of his feelings for Lou. Something that was totally out of character for him. He really had no filter where she was concerned but he was not about to ruin their relationship by professing his feelings to her when he was certain she did not feel the same. At least he didn’t think so. A guy could hope though, couldn’t he?

“That is so sweet.” She placed her hand on his cheek without thinking then froze, catching herself. Fortunately a thought suddenly occurred to her and she whipped her hand away as fast as she could. “Hey! You serious about that offer?”

“Of course. If you need anything, you know all I have is at your disposal. May I ask why?”

“Vinny caught a case...” Lou turned her chair to better face him but he cut her off before she could continue.

“Lou, you are still on medical leave. You are not released to go back to work yet.” He knew she was dying to get back to work but it was still so soon since she nearly died. It made him sick to his stomach whenever he thought back to her sitting in that chair bleeding to death. The pressure from his hands the only thing to keep her alive until help arrived. Then, the endless days of not knowing whether or not she would pull through. He would never forget for all of eternity.

“Yeah yeah, blah blah.” She mocked him. “Stop talking to my mother. You two are making me crazy!” She got up from the chair and began pacing. “You promise me this instant that you will not influence the doctor in any way to stall on signing off on me going back to work. Not you or any of your minions, promise me right this instant.” She stabbed her index finger in his direction. “Promise!”

He blew out a breath in resignation. “Lou, I am not going to influence your doctor in any way. I promise. I know this is driving you crazy and I am so sorry for that!”

“Oh. My. God.” She glowered at him. “Didn’t I ask you to stop saying you are sorry? Why are you so sorry for everything?”

“Because I am, dammit!” It was Max that stood up and began pacing now. “Ever since I came into your life I have done nothing but cause you harm and I am just flat sorry for all of it!”

“Are you serious right now?” Lou stepped in front of him and glared up at him.

“You’re damn right I am serious!” He stared down his nose at her.

“Now that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard you say. Ever.”

“Well I am so glad that I can be so humorous and ridiculous for you. Any other critiques you’d like to get out of your system before we continue?” He was scowling now. It was amazing how such a little thing could be both a source of ire and joy for him at the same time.

“Now that you mention it, you’re too damn tall!” She stood barely inches from him now. “You make my neck ache! Now apologize for that too!”

“I sincerely apologize you are so bloody short!” His scowl turned into a smirk.

“I am not short! You’re just a freakish giant!” In her observation, Lou suddenly thought of something else. Another giant. She leaned back on her heals and softened her tone as if a switch had been flicked. “Hey do you know someone named Dillon Cole?”

“Not that I can recall, no. Why?” Max sat back down on the ottoman as she sat back down in her chair.

This was them in a nutshell. A palpable intensity that was obvious to everyone but them and the ability to swing into work as easily as breathing air.

“He may be my new partner. Vinny brought him by today. He’s a giant too so I kinda thought maybe he was one of you.”

“One of us, you mean?” He smiled softy at her.

“Yeah, whatever.” Lou considered that a moment. “I sort of expected you guys to filter one of us in as Vinny’s replacement.”

“That would have been my choice.” Max hesitated a moment before he continued. “To be perfectly honest with you, I am not allowed to have anything to do with that.”

“What do you mean?” Lou was confused.

“My Council has barred me from having anything to do with the vetting of any prospective partners for you.” He looked a little uncomfortable relaying this information to her. “It was suggested that my standards would be impossible to meet and that I would alienate you entirely if I imposed my personal opinion into the equation. It will be your partner, not mine and I am to butt out.”

“Whoa.” Frankly, Lou was shocked. “You agreed to that? That from the guys? Frankie and Abby?”

“All of the above. So if you have any questions, they would best be directed to Frank or Abby. I am out of the loop.”

“Alrighty.” Lou was seriously impressed they had gotten Max to agree to staying out of it. “That answers that then.”

Given this admission, it was still next to impossible for Max not to know the name of a Sanguinostri vying for the position as her partner. Lou decided that Dillon must be a civilian and that was going to be touchy if Vinny picked him before Frank and Abby checked him out thoroughly. Lou would have to follow up on that later but for now she had bigger fish to fry and hopefully it would land her back at work if she played her cards right.

“So do you still want to borrow the MH-X or not?” He interrupted her plotting and brought her back to the matter at hand.

“Yes! Well not me. Let me start over without you interrupting to lecture me this time.” Lou began where she left off.

When she had finished filling Max in on the murders, the empty house without a trail, the lack of forensics and the scant forensics they did have, Lou came back around to her prospective partner and his theory on the helicopter. When she was done, Max looked at her for a long moment then pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed.

“Arcano, Casius. Full search. Send the results to the West Principate.” He hung up and resumed staring at her. “You will learn to use our people the same way. I was just cutting out a step for you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He shifted in his seat as he thought a moment. “So, I am going to take a wild guess and say that you want our people to test the helo theory by landing at the crime scene in the manner in which you believe it occurred to rule the theory either in or out?”

“Can you do that?” Lou was not blind to that fact that the logistics of playing out a hunch such as this were going to be a nightmare. “Do you think we can pull it off without setting off any alarms? Raising the eyebrows of people we don’t want to be asking too many questions?”

“Well, you know it’s not my side of the fence we need to worry about. It would be your people that might let the cat out of the bag, so to speak.” Max chose his words carefully. “If you keep this on a need to know basis within your ranks, that should limit any leaks. As far as actually pulling it off without anyone noticing the helicopter, I know it can get in and out virtually undetected since that’s how I got here the other night. Any alarms go off then?” Though he smiled sweetly there was a tinge of smugness to it.

“Are you shitting me? You flew here in one of those stealth helos?” Lou tried to recall which night this could have taken place but she simply had no idea. “Where did you land? How could you do that?”

“They dropped me off in the meadow between our houses. I was on my way back from a meeting in Victoria.” Max’s cell phone beeped several times.

“Victoria? As in Canada?” That clarified the distance capabilities for her.

“Yes, British Colombia.” He studied his cell phone intently as her mind boggled.

“I guess flying coach is totally out of the question for you then.” She snorted then got up to find her mug. “OK so it is doable but can we do it to prove Dillon’s theory so we can move forward on the case?”

“When do I get to meet this Dillon?”

“I guess whenever you want. Especially since you’re letting us use your bazillion dollar helicopter.” There was never going to be a normal conversation with Max, Lou knew that.

“Right. Well then, Niko will be contacting Vinny and this Dillon fellow to make the arrangements.” Max got up as if he were about to leave.

“Just like that?” She resumed gawking at him.

“Yes, just like that. Of course we will need to set up things in a classified civilian manner. Standard company non-disclosure agreements for public consumption if you are going to require expert testimony to support your findings once its done.” He looked at his watch before he continued. “Your doctor should be arriving in an hour and your physical therapist with him. Should they find you are indeed completely well, to my standards that is, they will sign off on you returning to duty. Be nice and do what they say. After all, I am dragging them in on a Sunday for you.”

“Uh...” A loud beep came from Lou’s computer before she could gather her thoughts.

“I suspect that will be the data on Arcano.” He waved as he exited the room. “See you next Sunday.”

“Sunday? What’s Sunday?” Yet again, he left her completely baffled.

“Golf, my dear. Golf!” And with that, he was gone.

The corporate office Arcano Imports was located on the twenty-fourth
floor of a gleaming highrise in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. Vinny and Dillon had been escorted to a conference room that overlooked the city and it’s fluffy blanket of smog. The offices were bright and shiny with lots of chrome, glass and glossy people buzzing about. The woman that had lead them to the conference room looked more like some exotic Brazilian supermodel then a simple receptionist and the beautiful people theme continued with every person they passed on the way.

“You must feel right at home here, sport.” Vinny teased.

“Why do you say that, sir?” Dillon asked.

“Pretty boy in the land of pretty people. Who knew the coffee business was so glamorous.” Vinny gazed out the window trying to catch a glimpse of the city below but the grayish brown haze was just too thick.

“I’m not sure I understand your meaning.” Dillon looked genuinely clueless when Vinny turned to look at him.

“You really don’t, do you?” Another mark in Dillon’s favor as far as Vinny was concerned.

“Perhaps if you...” Dillon was cut off by the door swinging open.

“Gentlemen!” The first of three men entering the room greeted Vinny and Dillon exuberantly. “My apologies for the delay but as you can imagine, with the absence of Mr. Arcano and it being a Sunday, things aren’t moving as quickly as we would like.” The man approached Vinny and extended his hand. “My name is Carlos Vargas, chief counsel for Arcano Imports. This is Alonzo Cabrillo our Chief Operations Manager and Peter Taylor, Mr. Arcano’s personal assistant whom you spoke to this morning.” Vargas moved to Dillon to shake his hand and the round of handshakes continued with the other two men.

“Thank you for taking the time to see us on such short notice. I’m Detective DeLuca and this is my partner, Detective Cole.”

“Please, let’s have a seat.” Vargas motioned to the long conference table and the men all sat down. “Now, how may we be of assistance?”

“You mentioned Mr. Arcano’s absence. Have you been in touch with him recently?” Vinny wanted to finesse the situation as best as possible. Getting as much information either directly or otherwise was critical.

“Actually, no.” Vargas answered then looked to Arcano’s personal assistant to continue.

“As I eluded to during our conversation this morning, the fact is that no one has been in contact with Casius since Friday afternoon.” Peter Taylor looked perplexed but appeared to be genuinely forthcoming. “He left early, around noon, and told me that he was taking the entire weekend to relax. I wasn’t to bother him unless it was a life or death emergency. I haven’t spoken to him since.”

“Other than to say goodbye, he spoke with no one else when he left.” It was Alonzo Cabrillo who interjected. “I left here shortly after he did. My wife and I took our kids down to the San Diego Zoo. Carlos called me this morning and told me what happened. I rented a car as soon as I could and headed straight here.”

“The offices here have tight security, I assume?” Vinny could see Dillon taking meticulous notes while never taking his eyes off the men.

“Absolutely. We use the same security company for our residential services as we do here. It’s all integrated and monitored at all times.” Vargas, the corporate attorney took over. “As you undoubtedly noticed when you were escorted from the elevator, we utilize biometric locks on every door here. Even the lavatories. It’s extremely secure. It’s also far more convenient for our employees to scan their thumbs rather then slide a card every time they move from one place to another.”

“Every door?” Dillon spoke up.

“Every door. Coffee is a serious commodity, gentlemen.” Vargas made himself very clear. “Fortunes have been won and lost based on the success and failure of a coffee harvest. Since Arcano Imports began developing beans outside of Colombia, we have been under strict scrutiny by multiple governments. We take no chances.”

“Outside of Colombia?” Vinny wanted to get details on this little revelation by Vargas.

“Luis Arcano, Casius’ father, foresaw issues coming with the Colombian government.” Cabrillo picked up the question. “What role exactly the government was going to take was unclear at that time. There were even worries that they would take over coffee production entirely, removing property from the owner’s hands. It’s not unheard of in our country but in this case that turned out to be pure paranoia. Regardless, Luis wanted to secure Arcano Imports so he purchased multiple plantations and production operations from small farms in Ethiopia, Kenya and Indonesia.”

“That had to have been a drain on the company finances.” Dillon made his observation aloud.

“Of course!” Vargas sounded a little defensive. “But it turned out to be a shrewd move and the investment paid off in spades. Arcano was able to elevate production on each of those acquisitions to a level the previous owners could never have imagined. It didn’t hurt that it was an economic boon to the surrounding villages. More jobs, more product, more sales, more profits. Every penny spent was recuperated within the first two years. The sustainability factor boosted Arcano Imports’ popularity in the court of public opinion exponentially. The reward blew the risk out of the water.”

“But then Luis Arcano died. How did that affect things?” Vinny let Dillon continue with the questions. It was a golden opportunity to test the kid’s chops.

“You need to understand that from the moment he could walk, Casius was his father’s rising star. Luis loved his son more than anything and he wore his pride on his sleeve.” It was Vargas who answered yet again. “When Casius was a very small boy, Luis had a little desk made for him, a replica of Luis’, and sat it right next to his. Casius sat in that chair next to his father and learned everything straight from him from the moment he could walk. As Casius grew, he would leave directly from his studies and head straight for that desk to work with his father. He picked up exactly where Luis had left everything upon his death, hardly skipping a beat.”

“In other words...” Cabrillo took the liberty of clarifying. “It had no effect. Aside from the great sense of loss to the company, Arcano Imports experienced no adverse effects from Luis’ death.

“When exactly did Luis Arcano die?” Dillon knew the answer but wanted to see the men’s reaction.

“Last December. Two days before Christmas.” Vargas replied.

“And the cause of death?” Again, Dillon already knew the answer.

“I am not sure how that is relevant to your investigation.” Vargas sounded defensive.

“That’s why we are the detectives, Mr. Vargas.” Vinny explained pointedly. “We
are
sure how it’s relevant.”

“Now, detective...” Cabrillo started running interference. “We are being cooperative here. There is no reason to get snarky”

“Snarky?” Vinny chuckled and looked over at Dillon. “We gotta remember that one and use it on Lou. I like it.” He looked back at Cabrillo and all humor drained from his expression. “I am not being Snarky, as you call it. I have three as yet unidentified bodies parked in your CEO’s personal residence and said CEO has miraculously vanished into thin air. I’m trying to get to the bottom of this and I’m more than certain you want me to do that very soon. I would assume stockholders get a little nervous when CEO’s go missing.”

There was a long and awkward moment of silence in the room as the Arcano men all exchanged glances and composed themselves.

“We will need your security logs for the past week and access to Mr. Arcano’s computer.” Dillon informed them.

“We would be happy to provide you with the security logs but Mr. Arcano’s computer is another matter.” Vargas straightened his sleeves, attempting to appear as if he were starting to lose interest in the conversation “It contains proprietary information and I am afraid we cannot allow that data to get into the wrong hands.”

“The warrant that’s on the way should ease your concerns.” Dillon barely let Vargas finish his sentence. “Actually, you might want to have Miss Brazil check the fax machine.”

Vinny had to hide his grin. Dillon had played the attorney perfectly and not backed down an inch. They were lucky as hell to find a sympathetic judge on a Sunday morning so they were not about to leave the office without exactly what they came for, lest everything vanish just like Casius Arcano. The men had started to squirm, visibly.

“You want to escort us to his office now or let us roam around until we find it?” Dillon was scoring major points with Vinny.

“Uh, let me show you the way.” Taylor stood up, looking for some direction from the other two men.

“I really must object to the manner in which you are handling this. We are the victims here...” Once again Dillon cut Vargas off before he could finish his sentence.

“No, sir, no you are no victim. The three dead men in Arcano’s house are the victims, Casius Arcano is a victim.” Dillon walked around the conference table as he spoke, coming to a stop only when he was looking down his nose at the man. “It is I who object to the manner in which you are stalling our investigation. Unless you have some as yet unshared information as to where Mr. Arcano is, you are preventing us from finding him and that, sir, makes me wonder about you.”

There was a long, awkward pause that seemed to last an eternity until the woman whom Dillon had previously referred to as Miss Brazil entered the conference room. She was holding what Vinny could only guess was the warrant Dillon had mentioned. Vinny took the document from the woman who was enthralled by the sight of Dillon standing up close and personal, looking almost straight down at the very pale Mr. Vargas.

Vinny walked over to the men and made note of the fact that Dillon had yet to blink. “You want to take us to Arcano’s office now, Taylor?” He patted Dillon on the back then followed Peter Taylor out of the room. With one last glare at Vargas for good measure, Dillon followed Vinny’s lead and exited the conference room.

They headed through the glass lined hall and noticed the eyes that followed them as they went. Vinny figured no one had expected them to get this far so soon. When they reached the end of the corridor, Taylor scanned his thumb on the circular pad that secured the double doors. Arcano’s office was ultra modern stainless steel and glass everywhere. There were a pair of siren red leather chairs in front of a rectangular slab of glass that served as Casius Arcano’s desk as well as a red couch perched against the wall opposite the spectacular view of the city. The chair that sat behind the desk and the telephone were siren red as well. Other than that, there was no color whatsoever. Vargas and Cabrillo had stayed behind in the conference room, no doubt to scrutinize the warrant, and Peter Taylor positioned himself off to the side of the room as Vinny and Dillon tended to business. Vinny noticed immediately that there were no files or papers on the desk at all, it was neat as a pin.

“Has anyone touched this desk since Arcano left on Friday?” Vinny inquired.

“I will have to check the log for the door to make sure but I would say it is highly unlikely. Everyone usually stops at my desk, unless they have an appointment or meeting on the books. Besides Casius, I’m the only one who comes in here regularly. No one is even supposed to be here today but we called everyone in to deal with the crisis.” Taylor started fiddling with his cell phone. “Security is gathering all the logs you requested but I just asked them to check the entry data for this office. I’m waiting for a reply.”

“Thank you.” Dillon could tell that Taylor was stuck between a rock and a hard place. For all intensive purposes he appeared to want to help. “How was your relationship with Arcano?”

“My relationship? I’m not sure I understand.” Taylor needed elaboration.

“Well, was it strictly business? Did you socialize outside of work?” Vinny clarified for him. “Did you get along well or was he a bastard to work for?”

“Oh, I see. No, not at all. Casius was an exceptional employer. While his standards were exacting, he was very considerate and always remembered personal things like my birthday, even my partner’s birthday.” Taylor appeared to be recalling events fondly. “He always invited us to his parties and he never made me work when I attended. Well, that is unless he specifically asked me to work them but that was very rare. Even then he always asked me way in advance, so there was no misunderstanding.”

“Your partner you say?” Vinny remembered Jane mentioning she was starting to think that Arcano might have been gay. This was a perfect opportunity to find out if Taylor knew for sure.

“Yes, my life-partner. I’m gay.” Taylor had no problem laying it out clearly. “Jeremy Taylor, he took my last name. We were married in Vermont at the end of the summer but had a ceremony here, in Santa Barbara, last fall. Casius and a few others from work were there. He was very supportive.”

“Is Casius also gay?” Dillon helped Vinny get to the bottom of it.

“No.” Taylor was matter of fact.

“You seem certain of that? Can I ask why?” If Casius was seeing someone, Vinny wanted to know who and fast.

“Casius had a very specific type.” Taylor walked over to a cupboard on the back wall of the office to retrieve something. “He was a sucker for athletic women. Tom-girls so to speak but they had to be smart. He couldn’t handle air-heads and he avoided the supermodel type like the plague.”