Swingin' in the Rain (17 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  I hadn’t wanted to involve Tonja in anything to do with Randy but I needed help. She knew all about computers and best of all was in very close proximity. I decided to call her. I looked at the clock. It was only nine thirty and hopefully she was still up. She answered on the first ring.

  “Hey Tonja, it’s Alex.”

  “Oh, hi Alex! How are you? I’m so happy to hear from you. I was afraid. . .”

  “No, no, no. It’s all good.”

  “Really? I just want you to know I haven’t been back to that club. I kind of realized it’s not my thing, after all.”

  “Oh, okay. Well . . . it’s your life. So whatever you need to do. Hey listen. I’m sorry to bother you this late but I have a couple of discs that my computer is having trouble reading. Do you know what I should do?”

  “I’ll come right over.” She started to hang up.

  “No wait! Can’t you just tell me on the phone? I hate to bother you.”

  “No bother. I’ll be right there.” Click.

  Two minutes later I heard a knock at my door. I opened it to Tonja.

  “Hi, Alex!” She gave me a big hug. “Sarah’s sleeping?”

  “Yeah. Thanks so much for coming over. Do you want something to drink?”

  “No.” She spotted my computer on the bar and headed over to it. “Let me take a look.” She popped the disc in and hit a couple of keys.

  “Oh, I get it. You just need to download this software.” She hit an icon on my desktop and something started downloading. Once that was done. She hit another couple of keys and put the disc in again. This time when it started to play you could clearly see what it was. A list of business files. I quickly hit the eject key and took the disc out.

  “What was all that?” she asked.

  “Just some of my business stuff. I couldn’t get it to open.”

  “Really? Where are the other discs? You said you had a few you couldn’t open?”

  “Right. I think I can handle it. Thanks so much.”

  “Are you sure? I’m here. And maybe the other discs will need different applications.”

  “I’ve bothered you too much all ready. I’ve got it under control. Thanks again.”

  I hurried her out the door, thanking her profusely, and headed back to my computer. I picked up the phone and started to call Jakes, then thought better of it. How was our “break” going to affect solving this case? I decided to wait and see if there was anything interesting on the disc first.

  I went to check on Sarah. Gratefully, she was still sound asleep. I pulled her blankets around her and kissed her forehead. I put on my most comfortable robe and got situated on the sofa with a cup of coffee, then put the disc back into the computer.

  There were several files on it. I downloaded, then started opening them. Most had to do with business. It seemed Randy had a few things going for him, and given his history I had to wonder how many were illegal.

  Some of the files were just filled with names and numbers. I assumed they were either partners or clients, along with the amount of money he’d gotten from them. What surprised me was that I recognized some of the names. In fact, I saw a couple of people whose money he had already stolen once before. How he ever got them to trust him again I’d never know. There were some well known names, too. Celebrities, politicians . . . I’d need somebody with a business degree to translate a lot of this, but what I was interested in was The Trois ou Plus Club.

  I kept opening and closing files, scrolling, and finally came to a page with a fleur-de-lis right at the top.

  Bingo.

  It was a 22 page document.

  I went back to the top and started reading and, sure enough, this was the partnership agreement that spelled out the fact that Randy was part owner of the club.

  Halfway through, I found the names of the partners, along with the percentage of ownership. Randy owned 30 per cent of the club, while four other men split the other 70 per cent. However, Randy was the largest single shareholder.

  I didn’t see the amount of each man’s investment listed anywhere. Maybe there was a separate form for that.

  I pulled a pad over and wrote down the names and addresses of the four partners.

  I continued to look through other folders until I found another one connected to the club. It seemed to be a list of members, their real names along with phony names.  There was “Patti Dennis,” with “Vivica” next to it.

  I sat back on the sofa. This was not good. For one thing we had four more suspects in the form of Randy’s partners.  And then, in the other file, we had a large list of suspects which were probably club members.

  I took a second and looked out at the canal. My God! This was huge! With this information Jakes could possibly solve the case. I turned my attention back to the computer.

  And then someone knocked at my door.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  It was after midnight. I had no idea who could be at my door at this hour. I looked out the front window and saw Harry’s Toyota still parked out front. But no Harry. I peeked out the window and saw him standing on my porch. At least I thought it was Harry; he had his back to me. Wait a second. I had never seen Harry’s face. What if something happened to him? What if this was the guy with the cowboy boots? I looked around, trying to find a weapon I could use. There was a poker by the fireplace. I ran over to get it as I heard another knock. This time it was louder. With the poker in hand, I got behind my front door and slowly pulled the curtain away from the window. The man was still there. Then I realized it couldn’t be Harry. Harry was much shorter than this person. I started to panic as he turned to face me. Oh my God! It was Jakes! I opened the door and he stepped in.

  “What are you do--”

  Before I could finish my question he put his finger to his lips and mouthed, “Don’t say anything.” Closing the door behind us he pulled me into a long, deep kiss.

  He broke away from me and still with his finger on his lips, led me across the room. Grabbing a blanket he put it around me, tugging me outside to the dock. After firmly shutting the door, he sat me down in a chair.

  “Okay. Now we can talk,” he said in a hushed tone.

  “What the hell is going on?” I was pissed and confused.

  “Shhhh. Keep your voice down. Someone has been following you, Alex. And I think your house is bugged, and your phone, too.”

  “What? Who?” I was incredulous.

  “I’m not sure but I followed you after you left Randy’s and someone was on your tail. I also think they were listening to your conversation with Wayne the night you went to Patti’s. How else would someone know you were going there?”

  This was a lot of information to take in and I was overwhelmed. And hurt.

  “What’s with the kiss? I thought you said you wanted a ‘break?’”

  “Are you nuts? I don’t want a break. I said that for the benefit of whoever was listening to our conversation.”

  “And what you said at the Farmer’s Market?”

  “Same thing. I wanted it to appear as if we were breaking up.”

   “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

  “I thought it would look more realistic if you didn’t know.”

  Okay so I was relieved, but also a little insulted.

  “I’m an actress, Jakes. That’s my job.” He shrugged. “Are you kidding me? Wait a second. Where’s Harry?”

  “Harry was never here. I’ve been out front the whole time. I want them to think you and I are over and that I had a friend look after you.”

  I couldn’t do anything but stare at him. I had been on an emotional roller coaster because of this man and it was all just pretend? I had to hand it to him, though, he was good. I shook my head. Then I smacked him on the shoulder.

  “Ow! That hurt.”

  “You deserve more than that after what you put me through!” I grabbed him and hugged him hard. “Oh my God!” I said pushing him away. “I told Sarah about Randy tonight.”

  “How did she take it?”

  “She took it well, I mean I guess well. She cried a little and said that Randy and my Dad can keep each other company. That was sweet, huh?”

  “Maybe the fact that Randy had been gone for most of her life took the sting out of it.”

  “No doubt. I know she still feels the loss, though.” I looked around. “Are you sure we can talk out here?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. What is it?”

“You’re never going to believe what I found! I have some amazing information,” I said.

  “I have some, too. You go first.”

  “No, you. Yours can’t be as amazing as mine. What did you find?”

  “There were definitely no cops assigned to watch the Trois ou Plus Club, so there’s some other way that Rockland knew you were there.”

  “What about what happened at Randy’s house?”

  “That actually was a nine-one-one call. There’s a record. It was a woman’s voice that called it in. Now you.”

  “It’s crazy! You’re not going to believe it. Sarah and I wanted to watch a movie tonight. We put in the DVD’s that I took from Randy’s. Two wouldn’t play.”

  “Okaaay. That’s very interesting, Alex, but--”

  “That’s not the news, you dope,” I said, cutting him off. “Sarah fell asleep so I put one in my computer and with a little help from Tonja. . .”

  “Tonja? What does she have to do with this?”

  “Nothing! Everything. I mean she’s a computer programmer and the disc wouldn’t play at first so I called her and she came over and downloaded some software and then it played! And guess what? It’s all Randy’s business files!”

  “What? How did they end up in those DVD boxes?”

“I have no idea. Obviously he didn’t want anyone to find them and thought that would be a good hiding place.”

  “I guess it would have been. If you hadn’t gone over there to get Sarah’s stuff they probably would have been thrown out.”

  “Listen to what I found. It really makes the list of suspects a lot longer. . . ”

  He listened intently, interrupting only a couple of times to ask for clarification.

  “Your ex-husband must have been a helluva con man,” he said, when I was done.

  “Yeah, well, he conned me.”

  “You’re right about the suspect pool,” Jakes said. ”It’s just increased by leaps and bounds.”

  “What do we do?” I asked. “Turn it over to Rockland?”

  “That would probably be the right thing to do,” Jakes admitted. “Probably the best thing to do for you and Sarah.”

  “But what about you?” I asked. “What’s good for you? How do we get you reinstated?”

  “Like I said, it feels personal. If I could solve this case, I’d get reinstated,” Jakes said. “Of course, it’d be even better if Rockland ended up lookin’ like a chump.”

  “Well,” I said, “if we solve this we’ll all get what we want. So what do we do, Jakes? Question all these suspects?”

  “Too many people and too little time. That’d take forever,” he said, “The smart thing to do is pare down the suspect pool.” He was quiet for a moment. “So, what did you find on the other disc?” Jakes asked.

  I couldn’t believe it.

  “Alex, what’s wrong?”

  “I haven’t looked at them yet. I was so caught up in the first DVD I never even thought of the other one! Whatever’s on it can’t be as good as what was on the first one.”

  Really?

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  We quietly closed the French doors behind us. Jakes held his finger to his lips and gestured to the phone. He went over to it and picked up the receiver. He opened up the back of the phone and pointed to a little tiny disc and nodded. I guess that meant he had found a bug. He put the phone back together and walked around the living room looking in the lamps and under the tables. He pointed to one that was next to the sofa by the fireplace and nodded again. I just shook my head in disbelief. Why would someone want to bug my home? What did they think I knew? It was very creepy. I went over to the coffee pot and gestured I would make more. He nodded and grabbed a notepad and pen from the kitchen drawer.

  I’ll put the other disc in. Where is it?  he quickly wrote. 

  I pointed to the counter.

  He grabbed it and pushed it into my computer.

  I wanted to check on Sarah so I pointed down the hall and then put one finger in the air gesturing that I’d be back in a minute.

  She was still fast asleep. I double checked the windows and pulled her blankets up again. On my way back to the living room I stopped in the bathroom to splash my face with water and look at my tired self in the mirror. This whole case was getting out of control. Who had bugged my house? And why? How had they gotten in without me knowing? I checked the window in the bathroom, turned off the light and headed down the hall to the living room.

  The computer was facing Jakes and he was facing me, so I couldn’t see what he was seeing on the screen. He held a coffee mug in one hand, poised halfway between the top of the table and his mouth. Frozen there. His mouth was open and he was kind of squinting at the screen. I ran behind him to take a look and had to cover my mouth so I wouldn’t scream.

  It was a movie, of sorts. Taken on someone’s cell phone from the looks of it. It was dark and the focus was in and out but I could definitely tell where they were. It was The Director’s Room at Trois ou Plus. And it was obvious what was going on. Sex! A group of people all engaged in some form of sexual activity. It was so blurry I couldn’t exactly make out what was happening but got the general idea. The sound was muffled; I could hear people laughing. Jakes quickly hit the sound icon on my computer and brought the volume down. Then the picture went dark, as if the person holding the cell phone had put it in a pocket. The video kept playing. It was pulled back out and panned around the room. And that’s when I saw them. Randy was leaning against a back wall holding a drink, wearing a cop’s uniform, laughing. And right next to him, also wearing a uniform and laughing, was Sam Rockland!