Detective Bettina Blankenship often referred to herself as Ms. United Nations because of the blend of nationalities that made up her heritage. Her exotic features had formed themselves into an angry scowl that, coupled with her black hair and dark complexion, made her resemble an Aztec princess whose wishes had not been obeyed.
“What we know would never stand up in court,” Liz said. “If it even made it that far.”
“And when did you get your law degree?”
“It came in the mail just this morning,” Nick quipped.
The detective shot him an angry look. “Now I know why you’re so popular with the guys downtown, Ransom.” She returned her attention to Liz. “Your mother says this is the latest in a string of thefts, which is news to the police department. That tells me we’re talking about people wealthy enough to never miss a few trinkets. I want to know which of your rich friends you’re protecting.”
“The bastard hit my sister, Blankenship, terrorized her and her children! I want his heart on a stick!”
As the two women glared at each other, the muffled voices and movements from the master bedroom they’d left drifted around them.
“Look.” Nick moved to stand next to Liz. “We saw men in ski masks. Liz identified one based on his eyes. We’ve got suspicious parents and a conversation that could be interpreted any number of ways. We’ve also got enough combined wealth and power to stonewall a court system for years.” He studied Bettina. “In legal terms, we’ve got squat.”
The police officer eyed him for a moment, then relaxed her shoulders and sighed. “They’ll do this again,” she said quietly.
“Bet on it,” Nick said.
“Unless,” Liz said, “we can get one of them to help us make a case.”
Bettina’s eyebrows lifted. “You got a likely candidate?”
“A woman and children!” Margaret Fitzpatrick stared in horrified disbelief. “Blair, how could you?”
“It was easy, Mother.” Blair’s chin lifted in defiance as his jaw set itself. “Nothing to it, really.”
They were in the same room in which Margaret had made her plea for Nick and Liz’s help, but the morning sun was losing a battle with clouds, and even the chintz upholstery could not scatter the gloom.
“Don’t get smart with me, young man.” Margaret’s voice was all flint and steel. “Wanting to strike out at your father is one thing, but using innocent people, children, is contemptible.”
Blair flinched under the cold barrage of words. He blinked rapidly and averted his gaze.
Emerson barged into the room. “What is the meaning of this? What are these people doing here?”
“This is none of your concern, Emerson,” Margaret said with quiet firmness. “I’m sure you have plenty of work to do elsewhere.”
“Mr. Fitzpatrick would not want these people in his home. And I don’t deem it prudent for Blair to be talking to anyone without a lawyer present.”
“Emerson, I didn’t ask for nor do I value your opinion,” Margaret snapped.
“Mrs. Fitzpatrick...” Frowning, Emerson moved toward her.
Nick blocked his path. “Let me translate for you, Emerson. Take your skinny butt elsewhere.”
“You—” Emerson began.
Nick’s face was inches from his. “Now.”
Emerson mustered a narrow-eyed glare before spinning on his heel and stalking from the room.
“He’ll call Hanley,” Margaret said.
“Once your father and his attorneys involve themselves in this, we can’t help you,” Nick said to Blair.
The young man tried to meet the piercing gaze, failed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He blinked rapidly when Nick jabbed an index finger in his chest.
“If you’re staying quiet out of loyalty, it’s misplaced.” Nick’s voice was angry. “Carey Lewis will feed you to the wolves the first chance he gets.”
A spark flared in Blair’s eyes. “You’re wrong.”
“Am I? Where are you storing what you haven’t ransomed back? Whose name can be tied to that?”
A frown started on Blair’s forehead.
“Who supplied and drove whatever vehicle you used? Which of you handled what you stole without gloves?” He leaned a little closer. “I’ll lay odds the name Carey Lewis doesn’t answer any of those questions.”
“He’s smart, he’s careful.”
“One of these days he’ll trip over that big ego of his,” Nick said, “and someone will end up dead. Question is, do you want to be around when it happens?”
“We had a deal.” It came out in a rush. “Only empty houses. That way no one would get hurt.” He looked at his mother and Liz. “No one was supposed to get hurt. Ever! We agreed!”
“Blair.” Margaret’s voice was anguished.
“He said you were daring us.” He looked at Liz. “He said you’d expect us to hit your mother’s house, but never your sister’s. He spent the day learning as much as he could. He said all we had to do was prove we could outsmart you. I didn’t know anyone would get hurt. I swear.” Tears filled his eyes.
Margaret hurried across the room and put her arms around her son. Nick turned his back and walked slowly to Liz. “You okay?” She nodded.
“We’ll go to the police,” Margaret said firmly. “We’ll tell them everything. Blair can testify against Carey.”
“It won’t be enough,” Liz said. “It will be Blair’s word against Carey’s. And the other two will side with Carey. Hanley has a lot of influence, but up against the combined resources of those three families?” Liz shook her head. “Blair won’t stand a chance.”
Margaret tightened her grip around her son’s waist. “So what do we do?”
“We set Carey up.” Nick was quietly matter-of-fact. “Catch him with the stolen property.”
“I still can’t believe you convinced Blankenship to go along with this.” Nick stretched his legs on the passenger side of the generic white van.
“It wasn’t so much me as it was the assistant district attorney. He agreed with us about the merits of the case as it is. We have to put the stolen property in Carey Lewis’s larcenous little hands.” Liz sat behind the wheel of the van. With sunglasses on and her hair tucked up under an Atlanta Braves baseball cap, she was almost unrecognizable.
“I meant this.” He jabbed his index finger downward. “How did you talk her into letting us be here?”
Liz brushed away the ribbon of sweat just in front of her ear. “She owed me a favor.”
“Must have been some favor.”
“It was.”
“Can Blair pull it off?” Nick asked.
His eyes, like Liz’s, watched the street and, more specifically, the narrow cross street that bisected the block. A small jewelry store sat on the corner. Two floors containing two apartments each perched atop the store. Access was gained from an entrance on the narrow street. The building belonged to a corporation owned by Treynor Russett’s stockbroker father. The two third-floor apartments were leased to Blair, who had used his mother’s maiden name.
“All he has to do is tell the truth with a few embellishments. He overheard us tell his mother that we found out about the hooker at Randy’s, and we found out about the apartment from the hooker. She couldn’t remember the address, but she was pretty sure she could find it again. We can’t do that until she gets out of jail, which will probably be late today. He also overheard us say that we really don’t have anything to give to the police unless we can find the stolen art. All they have to do to stay one step ahead is move the pieces they’ve held on to.”
“Lewis might smell a trap, send the other three to do it.”
They had been over everything several times, discussing alternatives, changing and rearranging until they felt they were getting the most return with the least amount of risk.