7

Jager

The nights were longer in late fall. The day didn’t break until nearly seven in the morning. I must have shut my eyes at some point because I didn’t feel tired, but couldn’t recall how long I’d slept.

I straightened in the driver’s seat, stretching my back and neck, and blew into my hands to warm them up.

It wasn’t much later when the front door of the small bungalow opened. A man wearing a black hoodie stepped out. He wasn’t wearing a mask, but it was the same guy as the one who delivered the package at Grapevine.

I thought about questioning him myself, but I’d met the detectives assigned to this case and I liked them. I picked up my cell phone from the passenger seat.

“Chaudhary,” the detective said when he answered.

“It’s Jager Payne. Towers’ bodyguard.”

“How can I help you?”

“There’s someone you need to question. I found the delivery guy who dropped off the knife yesterday addressed to Towers.”

“Send me his address.”

“He’s getting in his car now. I don’t think he’ll be here long, but I can ping you my location so you can follow me as I follow him.”

“All right. I’m on my way.”

Gregory got in his red sedan and pulled out of the driveway. After a couple of minutes, I followed. He drove slowly, making full stops and obeying the speed limit. It was hard to believe that someone like this cut the head off of a pig a week ago.

He took the lane leading to the freeway, and I discreetly changed lanes as well. I nearly lost him ten minutes into the drive, but saw his car exit for downtown at the last minute. Cutting across three lanes, I pursued him.

Once in the city, it was easier to track him. He couldn’t get too far ahead of me. I followed closely for the next few blocks and watched him make a right at the courthouse. As I turned the corner, I saw him pull into a parking lot. It was a local courier service.

As soon as he entered the building, my phone rang.

“Detective.”

“I see you’ve parked now. I’m two blocks away.”

“Sounds good.”

I waited in the parking lot until the detectives arrived. They pulled up in a black sedan wearing light gray suits that were at least two sizes too big. “How long has he been in there?” asked Detective Khan.

“About ten minutes,” I said.

Shoving his hands in his pocket, Detective Chaudhary turned to me. “How did you find this guy?”

I handed him the picture from the security camera inside Towers' foyer. “I ran it through some of my programs and got a hit.”

“Mmm…” said Khan, taking the picture from my hand. “I’m surprised you got anything with him wearing a mask. Are you sure it’s the same guy?”

“My programs are never wrong.”

Khan stared at me, and then his eyes roamed across my suit, landing on my Rolex watch. “Looks like the bodyguard business is more lucrative than I imagined. Does it finance all this tech you’ve got, too?”

“I do okay.”

“I think you do better than okay.”

“Perhaps.”

“Mmm…” I held his eyes and stood my ground. If these guys were going to keep me in the loop, I had to earn their respect.

“He has one arrest for marijuana possession, but the case was dropped. Other than that, I couldn’t even find a speeding ticket.”

“How—”

“My brothers and I have a good relationship with the Chief of Police. We’ve been given some liberties.”

He nodded but didn’t seem happy about it. But Khan had to know that I wasn’t someone he could toss aside.

“Are you going to bring him in for questioning?” I asked.

Khan shook his head. “I’m not sure. I guess I’ll know when I speak to him. I get a good read on people.”

I nodded, but wasn’t sure if I agreed with his tactic. But I’d let him lead this for now.

Detective Chaudhary nudged me. “Payne, is that him?”

Gregory walked out of the building and towards the back of the parking lot where the courier trucks were parked. “Yes.”

The two detectives quickly followed him, and I was right behind them.

Khan turned around, narrowing his eyes at me. I was sure he was about to tell me to wait back there, but he stayed silent. Perhaps I’d made a little headway with him earlier.

When Gregory noticed three men in suits approaching him, he jumped and looked around. “Hey, hey, what’s going on?”

“Are you Gregory Spencer?” Khan asked.

“Yeah, man. Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m Detective Khan and this is Detective Chaudhary. We are with the New York City Police Department.” Gregory looked behind them at me, but Khan didn’t explain who I was.

“Can you come with us, sir? We have some questions we’d like to ask you.”

“Am I under arrest?” he asked.

Khan hesitated, but replied, “No.”

“Then, I don’t want to go. I’ve got to get to work.”

Khan sighed and put his hands on his waist. “Did you deliver a package to Grapevine’s head office?”

“Who?”

“135 Trinity Place near Wall Street,” I added.

Gregory looked away and tightened his lips. “I don’t know. I make a lot of deliveries in a day.”

“Well, maybe coming to the station will help jog your memory.” Khan reached for Gregory’s arm, but he moved back.

“I didn’t do anything,” he said.

“Yeah, well, we need to make sure,” said Khan.

Shaking his head, Gregory looked up. His face crumbled, but he fixed it before releasing a sigh. “I swear, I don’t know what was inside that package. Some guy paid me to deliver it to 135 Trinity. That’s it, man. I swear.”

“What did this guy look like?” I asked.

He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Well, try to remember,” said Khan. “Was he tall?”

“Not really. He was shorter than me. So maybe 5’8.”

I pressed on. “Can you describe him?”

Still shaking his head, Gregory thought about it. “I don’t know. He was skinny, white, and had long hair. Maybe to his shoulders, maybe longer. I wasn’t paying attention. He said he was in a rush and couldn’t make it to the building in time. I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Bullshit,” Khan spat. “You didn’t think it was suspicious to deliver a package after some guy you don’t know paid you in the street?”

“Fuck. I know it sounds bad. But crazy shit happens here all the time. That was the least crazy thing that happened to me that day.”

“Okay, Greg. You need to tell your boss you’re coming with us. We have a few more questions and we can either ask them in front of your colleagues or you can answer them downtown. Your choice.”

Gregory dropped his head. “Fine. But I don’t know anything else.”

I believed him.

When Chaudhary and Khan escorted Gregory to their car, I didn’t follow. Gregory was just a pawn. The real criminal behind this was still out there.

At least we had a description now. Not a great one, but it was something.

As I drove back to Grapevine’s offices, I tried to picture the man Gregory described. I hadn’t thought to ask him the color of the man’s hair. Was it light or dark? When I got back, I called Khan and asked him to find out where the driver had picked up the package so I could find the man talking with Gregory.

“Morning, Mr. Payne.”

“Morning, Mr. Travis.”

The foyer of Grapevine was quiet. Since no meetings were allowed, hardly anyone walked about. It was perfect. Dave could keep an eye on any individual who didn’t belong here.

I took the elevator to the tenth floor, planning to brief Mr. Towers on the latest, but when I turned the corner toward his office, I bumped into her.

She wore a black dress today. It hugged her curves and dipped low to her cleavage. My eyes followed the lines until it became difficult to swallow, then I immediately pulled them up to her face.

“Excuse me,” I said and moved out of the way.

“It’s all right. I think I was the one who bumped into you.”

She walked past me, and I should have let her go, but I couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth. “How was your date?”

“Pardon?” She swiveled back and her hair landed over her breasts. The wispy strands framed her body like a painting.

I cleared my throat. “Did you have a good time with Stewart yesterday?”

“Oh. Uh…yeah. Bowling was fun.”

“Bowling? He took you bowling? You hate bowling.”

She smiled. “I don’t hate it. I just like playing pool better. I can still rack them like I used to.”

My grin grew along with hers. “I bet you can. Do you still call all your shots?”

Her lips curled slightly. “If I didn’t, that’d make me a pussy.”

I laughed. God, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed like that. Spontaneously and without any effort.

“Payne, is that you?” Mr. Towers shouted.

She nodded toward Towers’ office. “Don’t keep him waiting. He hates that.”

“So do you, as I recall.”

She raised her eyebrows in appreciation. “Yes, I do.”

She bit her lip and walked away.

Damn. Had she done that on purpose? She knew how much it drove me crazy.

“Payne?”

I sighed and turned toward Towers’ door. “Good morning.”

“Why are you late?”

“I’m not late. I’ve been working all night.”

“Really? What’s going on?”

“I tracked the delivery guy who dropped off the knife.”

“Is he our guy?”

“No, he’s not. But he gave up a description of the man who hired him. He’s a white male, about 5’8, with long hair.”

“That’s it? Well, that could be half of Manhattan.” I thought it statistically impossible that white males with long hair would make up fifty percent of the population, but I understood his frustration.

“We’re getting closer, and that’s what’s important. We’ve also managed to stop any additional deliveries, so our strategy is working. I need you to be patient. We’ll get this guy.”

He dropped his head back. “I know. It’s just not easy when there’s a lunatic out there after you. And being stuck here isn’t helping. I think Bianca is right. We should do that event. Walsh thinks so, too. He says we should send a message that I’m not hiding here in my office.”

“With all due respect, leave the security details to me. They’re working. I don’t want to mess that up now.”

He ground his teeth. “Fine. But I won’t do it for much longer.”

“Give me two more weeks. Then I’ll have the infrastructure in place to screen the people you’re meeting with.”

“Two weeks. Then will I get back to normal?”

I nodded, but I didn’t understand his rush. Why put himself out there when there was someone out there wanting to hurt him, or at the very least, scare him?

I walked over to Bianca’s office to get more information.

She sat at her desk with her glasses on. She’d tied her hair into a messy bun with a pencil sticking through it.

“Hey,” I called.

She looked up. “Hey.”

“How’s that virtual event going?”

She frowned. “It’s not. Everyone’s over the virtual meetings. Only two people RSVP’d. I told Mr. Towers we will have to postpone the launch.”

Ah. That was the rush, then. He didn’t want to keep his business back.

“Can I sit?” I asked, pointing to the chair in front of her desk.

She waved me over. “Please.”

I leaned back and crossed my ankle over my knee. “If the virtual meeting won’t work, and I don’t like the idea of having a bunch of strangers in the office, what else can we do?”

She leaned back and tapped her finger against her lip, and I couldn’t help but stare.

Did she do that on purpose?

“What if we hold the event at a public place like a restaurant?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think a public place makes it any safer.”

She nodded, then grinned. “What if we keep the location a secret from the press? I tell the media the date and time and then send a car to pick them up and drop them off at the event?”

“That could work.”

“Yes, it could.” Her eyes lit up. “Everyone will wonder where the event will take place and all the speculation can be good for publicity, too. It makes it more exclusive.”

“I just need to vet all the invitees.”

“I can get a list of names and publications to you this afternoon.”

“All right. But schedule the event in two weeks from now. I’ll need some time to prepare for this.”

“Of course, me too. But it’ll be great.” She grinned, and the excitement on her face was enough to make all the extra hours of planning worth it. “I’ll go tell Mr. Towers the good news.”

She rose from her desk, and I watched her leave. But as soon as she reached her door, she turned to look over her shoulder. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For coming. I know we didn’t end well…but…it’s good to have you here.”

“Of course.” I forced a smile on my face to match hers and kept it on until she turned and walked away.

I know we didn’t end well …

That was certainly an understatement. I’d left her a note, pouring my heart out to her, and she never bothered to answer it.

Yeah, I’d say it ended pretty badly. At least it had for me.