Animal Instinct Rosenfelt, David (free books to read .TXT) 📖

more it was a feeling I had. And there was nothing missing.”

“Except the clothing,” Laurie points out.

“I have a bunch of hooks on the inside of my closet door. I hang sweatpants and sweatshirts on those hooks; there are always three or four of each. There is no way I would have noticed one set missing; it would never have entered my mind that they would be stolen. And I probably have five pairs of sneakers on the closet floor.”

“This certainly explains the quick arrest,” Andy says.

“What do we do now, Counselor?”

“We deal with it. We’ve known all along that they had something that caused them to move so quickly, and now we know what it is. Our job hasn’t changed; we need to figure out who is behind this and why.”

“Okay. I’ve seen my share of frame-ups; it’s just particularly disconcerting that it’s happening to me.”

Laurie nods her understanding. “We’ll get where we need to go.”

“I spent a half hour at a seminar this afternoon. Gerald Kline’s partner ran it; her name is Stephanie Downes. She is apparently not mourning in seclusion.”

“What did you learn?”

“How to apply for a job in the medical services industry, and that it’s a huge help to have computer skills.”

“Well, now we’re getting somewhere,” Andy says. “What made you go there?”

“Because Gerald Kline met Lisa Yates at one of these seminars, and he may well have placed her in a job. That connection could be important, and this could somehow be tied to their work.”

“They didn’t work at the same company,” Laurie says. “He just got her hired there. I’m not saying we discount it, but we have no indication their work life was even connected after that.”

“They had a romantic relationship, and who knows what else,” Andy says. “For all we know they were selling bazookas and hand grenades in their spare time.”

They are both right, but my instinct says otherwise. “Don’t forget that Lisa Yates quit her job not long before she was killed. Her coworkers were surprised by it and she apparently never gave anyone a reason. That could be significant.”

Andy nods. “Yes, it could be.”

“One thing we know for sure is that they were somehow linked, and I don’t mean just romantically. And whatever it was killed them both.”

“It was something they knew that made them dangerous,” Laurie says. “That’s where you came in, Corey.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you showed up at Kline’s the first time, it signaled that you were digging into his life. But you were looking at him for Lisa Yates’s murder, based on the domestic violence incident.”

I nod. “Which must be why he almost seemed relieved; it was because I wasn’t looking into something else.”

Laurie nods too. “But you must have said something which spooked him, or more likely spooked whoever he was working for. Think carefully, did you say anything that could have set them worrying?”

I think for a while and then it hits me. “I told him I knew about the cash he withdrew.”

“Bingo,” Andy says.

VIRTUALLY everyone has someone they report to.

It’s simply a fact of life; just a handful of people are technically at the top. But even most of them have someone overseeing them, be it a board of directors, or shareholders, or “the American people.”

The man who called himself Carlos was certainly not the exception to the rule. He was very much aware of that and literally called his boss “boss.” It didn’t matter; Carlos knew that names meant nothing with these people.

Carlos had a good amount of autonomy in his job. He had talents that his boss admittedly lacked, and up to this point Carlos had used good judgment in utilizing them.

He did not for a second believe that he was not always in competition for his job. Months ago his boss made a slight slip of the tongue that seemed to reveal that the operation included other people on Carlos’s level, perhaps in different areas of the country. Carlos knew that he could be moved out if the boss so desired.

So far the boss had not so desired, but Carlos was also certain that his boss was not alone at the top either. He would occasionally allude to some colleagues that he would consult with.

Carlos thought this conversation was going to be relatively pleasant. He believed that he had simultaneously solved two problems successfully: Kline was permanently out of the picture, and the ex-cop, Corey Douglas, was effectively eliminated. The damage, if any real damage was done at all, was completely contained.

The boss had a different view: “You’ve made matters worse. Kline was never a real threat; he had too much invested in this. And the cop cared only about the domestic violence garbage. Now he knows it had nothing to do with that, and we have a lawyer and more investigators trying to get him off. And there will be a public trial analyzing every piece of it.”

Carlos was taken aback and worried. “It’s manageable.”

“Everything is manageable; it is just now infinitely more difficult.”

“I’ll come up with an effective strategy; I always do. You know that.”

“I do not know that; this incident is the very definition of a bungled approach. You will clear any future steps with me before you take any action.”

“If that’s what you want…”

“That’s what I want.”

“MY name is Corey Douglas. I’m a private investigator. I’d like to speak to Ms. Downes about a personal matter.”

“Just a moment, Mr. Douglas.”

This is me taking a wild shot; I would be very surprised if Stephanie Downes is willing to see me. If she doesn’t recognize my name, then she’ll say no because she wouldn’t want to take a meeting with a stranger about an unspecified topic. If she recognizes my name, then there’s that little problem about her thinking I killed her partner.

It takes about sixty seconds, and I’m surprised when Stephanie Downes’s voice comes on the line; I’m good at voices and I recognize it from the seminar. “Good morning, Mr. Douglas. I understand