Dead Wrong (A Cal Murphy Thriller Book 7) Jack Patterson (good beach reads .txt) 📖

Cal left Hale’s office and checked his watch. It was late and he hadn’t heard from Kelly yet.

He was starting to get concerned.

His phone buzzed. It was from a number he didn’t recognize, but during investigations like these, he didn’t hesitate to answer.

“Cal Murphy,” he said.

“Interested in learning how the Wizards acquired Kyle Hutton?” a man asked.

“Who is this?” Cal demanded.

“Are you interested?”

“Of course I am—but who is this first?”

“That’s not important. But what is important is what kind of man Nikolay Gavin is.” A pause. “And he’s a bad man, Mr. Murphy. A very bad man.”

CHAPTER 36

KELLY PULLED INTO THE parking garage and turned off her car. Cal remembered a recent feature story one of The Times’ columnists wrote about Scott Perry, which had a picture of him standing by his Aston Martin Vanquish Carbon edition convertible. He sent her a link to the story so she could see the car. And she recognized it the moment she arrived on the first level and scanned the area for it. Cal told her she “couldn’t miss it”—and he was right.

With a black matted sheen, it stood out next to its counterparts parked haphazardly throughout the garage.

She found an ideal location to scope out his car without being seen. With a large pillar to serve as a makeshift blind, she slipped the car into the parking spot and slumped in her seat. She repositioned herself so she could see Scott Perry’s car, while she remained nearly undetectable.

After about an hour of waiting, she contemplated calling Cal and telling him that this was a waste of time. If truth be told, no matter how much she enjoyed joining her husband on his investigations, a stakeout was not her thing. But then a car roared into the garage, tires squealing as it wheeled around. Kelly scooted up in her seat to gain a better perspective.

What in the world?

She pulled out her camera and attached the zoom lens.

That’s better. And who are you?

The two men got out and leaned against their car for several minutes. They didn’t do much besides talk and shell what appeared to be roasted peanuts.

As she reached for her phone to call Cal and ask him if this exercise was really helpful, she heard the door to the stairs slam shut. She sat up and saw somebody she recognized: Scott Perry.

Perry looked around to make sure nobody was watching before meandering over to the two men. Then they struck up a conversation.

Kelly rolled the window down slightly to see if she could hear what they were saying.

Nothing.

At least, nothing discernible. She strained to listen for a few more moments before giving up.

Then she picked up her camera and was able to capture the conversation.

From Kelly’s perspective, Perry seemed upset. His arms flailed. He stamped his feet a couple of times. She figured he was trying to be discreet; otherwise Perry would’ve definitely raised his voice.

Then she zoomed in for a close-up shot. She watched for a few more moments until the men parted with Perry. They climbed back into their vehicle and drove off. Kelly made sure she snapped the license plate of the car.

She glanced back at Perry, who stood by the door to the stairwell, holding it open with his foot. He scanned the garage for signs that someone saw him. Satisfied that no one had, he disappeared into the stairwell.

Kelly slumped back in her seat and uploaded the pictures to her phone so she could send them to Cal. As soon as the first picture was sent, it didn’t take more than thirty seconds to get a call from her husband.

“How closely did you look at these photos?” Cal asked.

“I did the best I could with the screen size I had available.”

“Recognize anything about the tattoo on one of those guys’ arms? Look familiar to you?”

“Are they Bratva?”

“Appears that way. But why don’t you send these to Corliss and let him verify that for us.”

“What do you think about Scott Perry now?”

“I think he’s a stronger suspect than ever before.”

Kelly began disassembling her camera and placing everything carefully into her camera bag. “So, what are we gonna do about it?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“You heard me. Just get outta there. Let’s wait on Corliss before we move forward. These aren’t the kind of people I want to make a false accusation against.”

***

CAL STOLE ACROSS the newsroom to Hale’s open office, knocking on the doorframe as he entered.

“Got anything else for me?” Hale said without looking up.

“I think so. But I need to talk to a few more people. Don’t worry though—it’s shaping up to be a good story. But I’ve also got something else.”

“Oh?” Hale said as he looked up for the first time.

“I got an anonymous tip tonight on how the Wizards were able to wrangle Kyle Hutton away from Orlando in a trade.”

Hale put his pen down and leaned back in his chair. “This I’ve gotta hear.”

“A source told me that Gavin caught a man with ties to the Orlando Magic sneaking around the Wizards’ practice facility. When the Wizards’ security team cornered the man, they found urine samples on him—samples tainted with drugs. And according to this source, they were targeting Ford, not Jameson.”

“Interesting. So, this is a tampering case?”

“In more ways than one.” Cal paused. “Doesn’t look like Gavin is all that innocent.”

“Or safe,” Hale said as he looked back down at his paperwork. “Be careful, Cal.”

“Always, chief.”

CHAPTER 37

CAL CALLED KELLY as he descended several flights of stairs on his way to his car. He waited for her to pick up. By the third ring he was getting concerned. Then the fourth.

“Cal?” she finally answered.

“Thank God. I was beginning to worry,” he said.

“Don’t be so jumpy. You always think everyone is out to get you.”

He chuckled. “It’s that fear that keeps me alive.”

She sighed. “What are you so worried about? It’s not like Perry or those two guys