Trey

For the third day in a row, I awaken to the sound of my phone buzzing on the nightstand. There is just a hint of daylight, so it’s way too early to be getting a call unless it’s something urgent. I rub the sleep from my eyes and grab my phone, squinting to bring things into focus. A picture of Nana comes into view, so I pick up immediately.

“Nana, is everything okay?”

“No, it’s not,” she replies sounding more than a bit flustered. “There has been a black car parked out front since late last night. I’ve been trying to reach Silvia, but she doesn’t answer.”

“When did you notice it,” I ask, trying to establish a timeline.

“Well, when I came home from visiting Tyler it wasn’t there.” She pauses for several seconds. “I guess I didn’t notice it until I checked the door before bed. The windows in it are so dark, I couldn’t tell if anyone was inside.”

“So it’s still there now?”

“Yes. I got up to let Misty out and it’s still sitting in the same spot. It’s a car I’ve never seen before,” she adds hesitantly.

“Can you see the back license plate?”

“Yes, but I can’t make it out,” she replies with hesitation in her voice. “There is some kind of covering over it.”

“Okay, Nana. I want you to stay inside and lock the door,” I tell her, suddenly feeling wide-awake. “I’m going to send an officer by to examine the car and we are going to pick you and Misty up and bring you Dad’s place. Mom and Tyler are both staying there for the next few days.”

“But I have a meeting at the church later this morning,” she relents, not wanting to disrupt her schedule.

“Nana, listen to me. The man who owns that car is most likely the one who killed Dad and poisoned Tyler,” I inform her sternly. “So pack a few things and we will be over to pick you up shortly.”

“Oh, good Lord,” she whimpers. “I’ll pack my things.” By the sounds coming from the other end of the line, it’s obvious that she is already scurrying back to the bedroom.

“Just stay inside until I get there, okay?” I reiterate, not wanting her to leave the house for any reason. “If anything needs to be done outside, I’ll do it when we get there.”

“Okay, I just have to figure out what I need,” she replies breathlessly, talking out loud to herself as well as the dog.

“I’m going to hang up now,” I tell her, needing to awaken Anthony and get dressed. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“I’ll be ready,” she says before dropping the phone to unzip a suitcase.

“What’s wrong?” Mandy asks, stretching and cracking her eyelids open.

“There is a black sedan parked outside of Nana’s house, so we need to go pick her up,” I reply, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. “You just stay and relax. She still lives in Queens, so it will take us awhile. You’ll actually have time to get ready today.”

“So, no yoga pants, huh?” she purrs, stretching for a second time.

“You can wear those things anytime as far as I’m concerned,” I reply, thinking about how good her ass looked in them. “See you in a couple of hours.”

Mandy

I hear voices as soon as Trey leaves the room, so it’s obvious that Anthony is already up. I find it amazing how little sleep some people need. I grab my phone to set an alarm to wake me up in an hour. Crap, I missed a call from Harris last night. I didn’t realize my ringer was off. Clicking over to his message, I play it through speaker.

“Amanda, I have been thinking about what you told me. So after work, I did a little digging. Give me a call when you get this message, I’ll be in the office by seven am tomorrow morning. There are definitely some improprieties here that we need to discuss,” he adds before abruptly hanging up.

That’s cool. I feel a little surge of excitement, but it’s another two hours before I can give him a call. So I send him a quick text telling him I’ll call him at seven o’clock his time and set my alarm to go off in an hour. The suite falls silent, so I roll over and relish the fact that I can still smell Trey’s cologne clinging to the ultra soft sheets. This is heavenly.

Trey

Arriving at Nana’s house, Anthony pulls up right behind the black sedan. “Just sit tight for a minute,” he tells me after a quick visual scan. He cocks his 9mm and opens the driver’s side door, pausing briefly to do a quick check over both shoulders. He then proceeds to close the door and moves in behind the sedan. With his gun pointed at the driver’s seat, he moves quickly to the driver’s door pulling the door handle and flinging open the door in one swift motion.

“It’s empty,” he yells back to me, before reaching in and pulling a note from the steering wheel. “What’s done is done,” he says, holding up the note with the words written in bold, red ink.

“Those are the same words that Tommy used yesterday,” I tell him as I open the passenger door and get out. “He said that a bailout from Addison Media is no longer in the cards, so what’s done is done.”

“Driving all the way out here to ditch this car in front of your grandmother’s house was designed to send you a strong warning,” he replies, lowering his head and glaring at me over his dark sunglasses. “Like I said, if you’re going to keep poking the bear, we need to make sure everyone is protected.”

“We’ll drop her off with Mom and Tyler and then I’ll have to figure out if anyone else is at risk.” I do a quick mental scan of who else might be affected. “I don’t give a shit about most of my relatives.” I chuckle as the thought of Margaret and her son, Chester flash through my mind. I’m sure Chester could hold his own, that little fucking weasel.

“Oh thank, God,” Nana gasps, throwing open the front door to greet us. “Misty and I have been so nervous ever since we saw that car still parked there this morning.”

“It appears that someone just abandoned it, Ma’am,” Anthony tells her, leaving out a few crucial details.

“I’m going to have someone from the department come out and take a look,” I add, retrieving Detective Kelly’s card from my wallet. I punch in his number, giving him a quick call while Anthony gets Nana and Misty situated in the passenger seat of the SUV.

“The Ghost abandoned his vehicle at my grandmother’s house,” I tell Detective Kelly when he answers. “I thought you and Agent Mitchell would want to take a look.”

“We’ll do better than that,” he responds boisterously. “If you are sure it’s his vehicle, we’ll have it towed in and forensics can scour it from bumper to bumper.”

“We know it’s his,” I confirm. “He left a note for me.”

“Make sure you leave the note in the car where we can find it,” he replies gruffly.

“Will do. We are taking Nana over to Trump Tower, so she can stay with the rest of the family until this is resolved,” I add. “Have you guys made any progress?”

“Agent Mitchell told me there have been about one hundred and sixteen large transactions between Atlantic International and the United States in the past thirty days,” he explains. “So there is plenty to sort out.”

“Well, I will keep passing along anything we find. Good luck with the car.” I hang up and hop in the back of the SUV. Listening to the conversation between Anthony and Nana I feel bad that I hadn’t thought of protecting her. She hasn’t been involved in any way, so I never imagined that her life would be in any danger. I never would have forgiven myself if something had happened to her.

Mandy

After being awakened by my alarm, I send Trey a text asking how things are going. It has been so long since I’ve sat alone in silence like this, it actually feels strange to me.

Trey: We have picked up the package and it is in transit. ; )

Me: I’m glad she’s ok

Trey: I was just thinking the same thing. Got lucky

My phone begins to ring and Harris’ name comes up on the screen. I click over to take his call, eager to hear what he has to say about the Firefly Media deal.

“Good morning, Harris. You are up early.” I glance at the time and it’s just after six am on the west coast.

“Yeah, I heard my phone when you sent me that text and I couldn’t get back to sleep,” he replies in a gravely voice. “There are several things that we need to look into in that Firefly Media transaction,” he begins to explain. “Right before the buyout, he issued a million shares worth of stock options to a company called Snow International Holdings as well as nearly ten million to T Fowler Worldwide. So he effectively doubled the float going into the transaction.”

“It’s no wonder the stock tanked after the buyout,” I reply, wondering if Bill had any inkling what Tommy had done.

“He should’ve reported this in a separate SEC filing, but instead just buried it in the quarterly 10Q,” Harris explains further. “In addition to that, he failed to disclose the risk of losing the TV contract when he quit as the host of the show. That had to have been part of the media deal, so it was a known risk.”

“How can I move this forward on this end?” I ask, anxious to pin something on Tommy.

“I already talked to an old colleague of mine, Vicky Sterling, who works in the Manhattan office,” he informs me with a hint of excitement in his voice. “She is already compiling a case file on the matter and you will be able to pick up a copy later this afternoon. Do you know where their office is located?”

“Yeah, ironically it’s right next to the North Cove Yacht Harbor,” I reply with a giggle.

“Yes, I have always thought that the SEC chose that site to serve as a reminder to some of those yacht owners.” Harris actually laughs out loud. “Just ask for Vicky and she will have everything together for you by three o’clock.”

“Great! I’ll stop in and pick it up at three,” I confirm, feeling invigorated by the thought of being in possession of some solid evidence for once.

“I assume you won’t be back here anytime soon?” he asks with a hint of resignation in his tone.

“I’m not sure, sir. Let’s just say I’m out on assignment for now,” I tell him, hoping to buy another week or two. “You can take this out of my PTO.”

“That’s fine,” he says with a sigh. “Just pick up the file, review it and we will go from there. I just hope you know what you are getting into with that Addison boy.”

“Well, I believe he is a much better person than his father,” I reply, telling him what I believe to be the truth. “Whom, I know you hated.”

“I wouldn’t say I hated him.” He pauses for another long second. “It was more of a competitive, adversarial relationship. He and I were just on opposing sides in everything from business to politics. I may have thought that I hated him at some point, but I really just hated what he stood for.”

“I totally get that,” I tell him from the heart. “That’s exactly why I chose to come to work for you. I always wanted to fight for the little guy, but right now I want to fight for Bill Gleason’s family. Tommy Fowler screwed them good, even if he has nothing to do with the other crimes that have been going on all around us.”

“Go get ‘em, Amanda,” he says with a smile I can hear right through the phone. “That’s the reason I hired you. Let me know what you find.”

“I will, sir. Have a good day.” Clicking to end the call, I notice the return of some mixed feelings that have been absent for the past several days. Harris is a man who has had a laser-focused mission for the past forty years. At this point, I have to wonder if I will find something to stoke my passion in that way. Not that I want it to be my sole obsession in life, but it would be nice to be excited to get up and go to work in the morning. On that note, I better get up and get ready before Trey gets back.