Cole blinked. Interesting. Flaxx talked about him in the present tense. Was that for Lamper’s benefit? Or was it possible Flaxx knew nothing about his shooting?
“Whatever the story is with this Bennet woman…” Flaxx said.
Lamper frowned. “Her name’s Benay.”
“Whatever. It has nothing to do with us. So you forget about it and enjoy the day. You’ve certainly made mine, Earl my man! Way to go!”
Lamper sat up straighter, beaming.
If he had a tail, it would be wagging in ecstacy, Cole reflected. He patted Lamper on the head. “Good dog, Earl.”
Then leaving Lamper reaching up to his hair with a startled look, Cole raced for Flaxx’s office. He wanted to see Flaxx’s real reaction to Lamper’s report. Bursting through Flaxx’s wall, he felt a zing down his spine. The cheerful voice on the phone had been replaced by a grim-faced Flaxx punching an in-house number into his phone.
“Get in here.”
Cole sat on a corner of the desk to see who came.
When the door opened, he straightened in surprise. A woman strolled in — mid to late twenties, wiry, a model’s bones, short-cropped blonde hair, junior exec skirt and jacket. She seemed familiar, although he could not remember seeing her around here before. Maybe her long, thin hands reminded him of his daughter Renee’s? No…it was something about her face.
She settled into a chair, crossing her legs. “So…what’s giving you a wedgie this morning?”
Cole cocked a brow. Interesting. A junior exec with attitude, and Flaxx just frowned. Someone else had been less tolerant, though. Bruises on her left cheekbone and jaw showed under her makeup. Recognition clicked. She had the same jaw line as Flaxx, and similar eyes…despite hers being baby blue and his an improbable aqua. How were they related? Both his daughters were younger.
Then Cole remembered that when he went to Razor’s ex-wife Jessie at the Chronicle for dirt on Flaxx, her information included a half-sister twenty years Flaxx’s junior, the product of Papa Flaxx’s trophy marriage. Cole dug into his memory for the name. Iris? Irene? No, Irah…named, according to gossip Jessie had, for the trophy wife’s own dear Daddy because they thought she was going to be a boy.
“My headache,” Flaxx said, “is cops! This place is starting to crawl with them. It was bad enough with that bastard Dunavan hounding me. Then we got the arson cops, then homicide cops because of that firefighter. Now…” His nostrils flared. “Well, I’ve just had to sooth Earl because today he had a new set of homicide cops asking questions.” He gave her a terse version of Lamper’s report on Hamada’s visit.
Cole listened with growing dismay. Listening to Flaxx, it was clear he knew nothing about Sara disappearing or the supposed affair until Lamper told him. Making it unlikely he knew about the hit, either. Which meant he never ordered it.
So who did?
A rising heart rate caught his ear. He stared at Irah. She appeared to be listening calmly, not even surprised at the story about Sara and him. But mention of the security tape had sent her heart into a jog.
Mental flags shot up, bells jangling. Cole came off the desk and over to the chair. “Were you here?” He did not remember seeing her among the group leaving, though the only faces of interest at the time were Gao’s and Sara’s. “Did you sabotage the tape?”
He bent down for a close look at Irah’s bruises. One advantage to being a ghost, he reflected. It let him come inches from her face while she remained oblivious.
The bruises looked recent, no more than a few days old. The bells started clanging. She also had scratches on her wrists, just visible under the edges of her jacket cuffs. Sara’s message said: “The bitch tortured me into telling her everything. She held my- ” Remembering the anger mixing with Sara’s fear, Cole expected she had clawed at the restraining hands.
He jerked back upright. Damn. He needed another look at that tape.
Irah’s lack of reaction finally registered on Flaxx. “Is this old news to you?”
“No.” Her heart slowed. “I’m just not surprised about Benay and Dunavan. I’ve overheard her and her cronies in the break room. A cop is someone she’d go for. I’m disappointed at her lack of company loyalty, though.”
Flaxx’s eyes narrowed. “So you didn’t know she was shacking up with Dunavan?”
Hers went wide. “Not until now.”
Cole frowned down at her. Could he be wrong? If she caught Sara, surely she would have told Flaxx.
Irah pursed her lips. “It must have been great sex to turn her. Maybe Dunavan has the same staying power in bed as he does for trying to pin burglary and arson on you.”
Flaxx sucked in an sharp breath…only to release it an exasperated sigh when a corner of her mouth twitched. “Damn it! Why are you always yanking my chain?”
She shrugged. “A girl’s got to have some fun.”
“Didn’t you have enough for a lifetime in L.A.?” Flaxx grimaced. “I keep hoping you’ll grow up.”
What was it Jessie told him about Irah? Mommy wanted to make her a beauty queen like herself, but the trophy daughter ended up with more appearances in juvenile court than pageants. Due to stunts like taking off in Daddy’s Ferrari at age twelve and leading the CHP and assorted other law enforcement agencies on a forty mile chase down Highway 280 at speeds nearing 150 miles an hour. According to Jessie, at sixteen she ran away with a waiter at the country club. Daddy Flaxx finally said to hell with her after he spent a small fortune having private detectives locate and bring her home, only to have her run off again to the boyfriend.
Now, apparently, the prodigal had returned. Not necessarily as penitent as the Biblical one. Cole wanted to know a lot more about her.
Her expression went contrite. “I’m trying, Donald…really. Is that all you want with me?”
“Not quite. I want you to find this bookkeeper. I want to know how much she found out…and just to be safe, how much it will cost to give her amnesia.”
Irah nodded.
“And…” Flaxx’s voice turned to a snarl. “…think of a way to get rid of these cops…especially Dunavan. I want him the hell out of my life!”
Cole turned back to the desk and leaned across it toward him. “Ain’t gonna happen, dogshit. I’m out of my life, but you’re unfinished business, too, so while the first job is finding Sara and putting that situation right, I’ll also keep working on taking you down.”
“Dunavan may not be a problem anymore,” Irah said. “I hear he’s disappeared.”
Cole listened for her heartbeat. It remained steady.
Flaxx blinked. “Heard how?”
She lounged back in her chair. “It was a big topic Saturday night in my favorite cop bar.”
Flaxx’s neck reddened. “What the hell were you doing in a cop bar!”
That interested Cole, too.
“Spending a…” Her eye brows wiggled. “…stimulating evening checking out the shortarms of the law. It isn’t fair for you to have all the fun screwing the cops.”
Flaxx closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
Cole grinned. She knew just how to yank that chain.
By the time Flaxx opened his eyes again, however, she had wiped her expression clear of amusement and sat straight and sober in the chair. “If Dunavan does show up again, I’ll make sure he’s in too much trouble to bother you. I’ll file an assault complaint against him…pretend to be Benay and say he attacked me.”
Flaxx perked up. “Will they buy it?”
“Me as Benay?” She snorted. “No sweat. As for the cops turning up here…you know you don’t have to see them unless they have a warrant. I’ll tell Gina to notify you, no matter who they ask for, and you can decide if they’re welcome.”
Flaxx considered that for a few moments, then nodded. “Do it.”