Chapter 48

Chapter Forty-Eight

I t was one thing to enter Kendall’s house and take what already belonged to Alexandra, and quite another to dismantle hidden cameras to view the contents. It took an hour to arrange for Alexandra’s attorney and the MSP investigators to agree to meet at the Raptor compound.

Aside from Alexandra and her attorney, the meeting with the police included Keith to provide context for Raptor’s role, and Lee and JT as owners of T&D.

They went over the diary—pointing out the original file was on the hard disk currently in MSP evidence. Alexandra, JT, and Lee verified the dates given in the diary were accurate to their recollections.

Next came the videos, which was where Lee came in. “In the days immediately following Drake’s arrest, I made a backup of the entire Bethesda network and archived it, in addition to handing everything over to the FBI, who did their own vetting separate from my own audit. With JT’s permission, I will give you the files that pertain to the projects through which Drake funneled subcontract money to Russ Spaulding.”

“But this isn’t actual evidence of embezzling by Spaulding or Forbes?”

“Unfortunately, no. We can’t prove extortion or that Spaulding didn’t fulfill the contracts—although it was doubling up on work T&D did in-house. But too many years have passed, and Drake is dead.”

“Did the payment structure change when Kendall took over?” one of the investigators asked.

“It appears so. But I’m afraid the only person implicated in the embezzling there is Kendall.”

“She was solidly trapped,” Alexandra said. “But Russ and Brent must be hiding the money somewhere.”

“Neither of them killed Kendall Gordon,” the detective said. “They have alibis for the day she died—yes, we checked. If she was murdered. In the video, only Williams approached her house.”

“Well, he was the man who scared her the most. Makes sense they’d send him in.” Alexandra would never forget the terror in Kendall’s voice as the camera zoomed in. Her own terror at Williams’s unwavering viciousness also remained vivid.

“Okay, then,” the detective said. “We’ll send a forensic team to the house to do a thorough search and collect the cameras if they’re there. Do not enter the house again.”

“Any chance you’ll share the videos with us?” Lee asked.

“Right, as if we’d give them to Mr. Leaky,” the officer muttered.

Alexandra snickered.

“I didn’t leak it. The homeowners did.”

“ This time.”

Clearly, this officer was versed in Lee’s past indiscretions.

“We’ll be in touch if there’s a change in status in Ms. Gordon’s death.”

“As Ms. Vargas’s attorney, I have the right to see any videos you may find in Ms. Gordon’s house.”

“Only if the prosecutor files charges. Depending on what we find, we may decide to close the investigation into Ms. Vargas’s role in the shooting of Officer Corey Williams.”

They were no closer to having proof for who killed Williams, but Alexandra was close to being in the clear.

A fter a long day of Gemma being babysat by a Raptor employee, Alexandra was more than ready for a quiet evening with her newly complete family.

Gemma was out of sorts due to the long day with a stranger babysitting her at the compound and was extra clingy and grumpy. She rejected JT’s attention, wanting only her mom, which was fair considering how much the toddler’s world had been upended for the last week. Even her house had changed, as they’d moved to JT’s better-secured estate the day after Christmas.

It was too soon to try to enforce JT as parent when Alexandra was the only one she’d ever known, so JT retreated to his office while Alexandra and Gemma built with blocks and read books in the library, which they’d set up as a temporary playroom.

For ninety minutes, she gave all her attention to her daughter. She didn’t think about the past or the future. She simply joined Gemma in living in the moment.

Peace settled over her. In all of the vast universe, composed of supermassive blackholes and subatomic quarks with hundreds of billions of galaxies, this was the very best place and time to be.

T wo nights before the wedding, JT’s daily call with the investigators produced results. Kendall’s death had very quietly been deemed a homicide. The detective did not say if the killer’s face was visible on camera, but the fact that no arrests were immediately made meant either no one was identifiable or it was Officer Corey Williams.

In spite of this, the detective’s request had JT grinning.

He hung up and turned to Alexandra, who was feeding Gemma an early dinner. The toddler was strapped into her highchair and making a huge mess of homemade mashed yellow goo and pureed meat of some kind.

“The police think they have enough to get a warrant to search Calvin Moss’s house and offices. They should get it tomorrow. New Year’s Eve at the latest.”

“Interesting timing, given the sale.”

JT had told the police of his intention to appear to move forward with the sale. The last thing he wanted was to tip off Calvin Moss. He’d even sign papers and had his attorney working on language that could nullify the sale in the event of Moss’s arrest. In the meantime, it would serve to tie up Moss’s funding. He had a lot of investors on the hook and would be destroyed financially, which wasn’t justice, but still offered a small amount of satisfaction.

“Yeah. I said that. And we can use it. They wouldn’t mind serving the warrant while they know he’s not at the office or home.”

“Interestingly enough, you have a very important meeting scheduled with him before close of business on New Year’s Eve.”

“Exactly. The paperwork on this kind of thing takes a while, which is why we’re doing it at two p.m., hours before the party.”

“So they’ll serve the warrant while you keep him occupied?”

“Yep. And then we’ll get married—and if all goes well, he won’t be among the guests.”

“If they find anything in his home or office, they’ll serve the warrant for his arrest at the Mayflower?”

“Yes.”

“What a fabulous wedding gift.”

“I aim to please.”

“This gives me an idea. Tomorrow, I’m meeting with Mark to make a video for the wedding reception. What do you say we make a special version for Calvin to preview?”

Kendall’s photographer boyfriend, Mark, had been hired to photograph the ceremony, but this was the first JT had heard of any kind of video.

She grinned. “It was going to be a surprise. Lee’s been helping me find photos—some are on that old hard drive, some in T&D archives.”

JT returned the smile. “I think it sounds great. And I love the idea of fu—” He glanced toward Gemma. “Messing with Calvin while we have his attention.”

“Oh, we’ll have his attention, all right.”

He kissed her forehead. “Rip him a new black hole, Muffin.”