04 - Shock and Awesome (2 page)

 
   
Solomon waved a hand at the chair closest to the door and perched on the edge of the desk, my side, his long legs utterly distracting to anyone but a consummate professional like me. Instead, I focused on his chocolate brown eyes framed by skin the color of a licked peanut butter cup.

 
   
"I have a case for you," he told me without preamble.

 
   
"I'll do it."

 
   
His eyebrows edged together and the corners of his lips twitched upwards. He licked his lips, and I got the impression that he wanted to smile. Or laugh. "You don't know what it is yet," he pointed out.

 
   
I blinked. "Oh! it's optional?" Yeah, there might have been a touch of sarcasm in that, but if I didn't ask, I'd never know. Much like his meeting with Maddox. Argh! I really wanted to know!

 
   
"No. You're definitely doing it."

 
   
I wasn't going to let something like a cast-iron demand dampen my enthusiasm. "Great! I'll take it!"

 
   
"There isn't much by way of a bonus," he continued.

 
   
On second thought... not much of a bonus? I would soon be homeless. I needed money for a roof, along with walls and windows; and practically speaking, I needed a new purse too. "I'm sure it'll ease me back into work," I countered, wrinkling my nose a little.

 
   
"But it won't be too taxing, especially with your arm."

 
   
"My arm feels great. Never better!" I nearly added “Tax me!” but I wasn't that stupid. If it were an easy job with a little bit of a bonus, maybe Solomon would assign me a better case next time. I just had to show him that I was still made of awesome, even though my arm did still ache a little from the break.

 
   
"Okay, then." Solomon shrugged. "The agency has been asked to consult on a case for the MPD."

 
   
"Oh?" I kept my face still, impassive. In my eagerness for something to do, I forgot to connect the dots between work and Maddox's visit. Of course. MPD knew Maddox and Solomon were acquainted. It would make sense to send him to check the lay of the land. I bet they didn't give two hoots that I worked for Solomon either, though everyone in MPD knew I did. That was mostly because my family passed the information around faster than an unlabeled gift at Christmas.

 
   
"You may have noticed Maddox here earlier."

 
   
I shrugged, hoping it came off as “Nah, maybe, whatever,” enough that Solomon didn't think it bothered me. "I saw him leave your office," I admitted, because we both knew I did. I didn't, however, know Maddox was here when I returned from my lunch break. although the partition blinds were shut, so seeing him was a surprise. That is, not exactly an "ooh, fifty percent off shoe sale!" surprise, but more the cotton-mouthed, dry palmed, heart skipping a beat surprise. Thing was, until then, I hadn't seen Maddox in a little over a month, not that my brothers — his fellow MPD officers — didn't keep me filled in on his movements. But it wasn’t like I exactly asked them to. They just took it upon themselves to not shut up about it, though they did stop pranking him (to my relief), but I was sure they were still giving him a hard time. A part of me wanted to ignore it, but the hurt ran deep and I was glad my brothers cared more about me.

 
   
"Maddox will be our liaison with the department," Solomon explained as he ignored my inner crisis, which I disguised by inspecting my pearl pink manicure. "Will that be a problem?" he asked abruptly.

 
   
"Uh, no. No problem," I wheezed, looking up; it was only half a lie. Truth was, I had no idea if it would be a problem until we started the case; and once started, there would be no option, but to see it through. That's what professionals did. There would be no walking off this job and asking my temp manager for a new assignment. No, if Solomon wanted it done, I'd do it. If seeing Maddox every day was painful, or happy, or anything in between, I simply wouldn't know until it happened; but, I reasoned, Solomon wouldn't have taken the case if he didn't think it would be okay. He may not have called me on a personal level since the conclusion of our case at Fort Charles, but he wasn't an unkind man. I truly believed he would never cause me pain.

 
   
"The agency needs to develop its relationship with local law enforcement," Solomon added, effectively popping my optimistic bubble that this one case would be it. "This could be a good move for us."

 
   
"Right. And Maddox just happens to be point man." I tried to say it evenly, but honestly, there was a tinge of a whine in there.

 
   
"We've worked together before. It made sense for him to read me in."

 
   
I nodded. Yeah, but... hold on! That's what I initially thought, but something clicked inside me. Wasn't I related to a chunk of MPD? Any one of them could have pointed out their connection to me and taken point. Solomon must have thought of that too. The only logical explanation left was it must have something to do with Maddox's department and Maddox came because he wanted to. He worked both homicide and financial crimes; and as far as I knew, stuck with the latter. Although a smaller department, it was one that carried less risk of smelling like corpse and dumpster, but often was just as dangerous. The last job he worked undercover was the one that split us up. Since getting over the initial hurt, I still wasn't sure how I felt about it all. "Cross" probably covered it pretty well. Also, it was smart not to send Blake, in case I accidentally shot her.

 
   
"So, what's the case?" I asked, my voice sounding like a sigh. After all, murder was on my mind and I hadn't even read the brief yet.

 
   
"Theft."

 
   
I frowned. "What does that have to do with the financial crimes unit?"

 
   
"Fraud squad. Anyway, the case, at its most basic description, involves stealing. The thief, however, is creative and targeting Montgomery's super wealthy. Not only does he steal cash, but art and jewels too. He's also smart enough to make off with passwords that enable him to hack the bank accounts of his victims. Over the past few months, he's apparently made a fortune across the country. That's just for the cases we think we can join together. It's likely there are more, but I don't know how far back they go. Maybe ten years. This fraudster could have made off with millions."

 
   
I frowned as I connected the dots. "So, MPD know the target victim group and I'm guessing what's already been stolen but... they can't catch this guy?"

 
   
"That sums it up,
Lexi
. They just can't get close. He's too good."

 
   
I ignored that. There was no one too good, except, maybe Solomon. It was a good thing he was on the good side; I couldn't imagine how successful he would be as a criminal. "And they think we can?" I finished. "How?"

 
   
"For one, we aren't as bound by the book as they are. Two, we have resources at our disposal that they don't have, and a network that we can use to our advantage who might not be so keen to work with uniforms. Three, they have jurisdictional problems, as the crimes here have been linked to those in eight other states. The cross-jurisdiction taskforce they put together is co-operating so far, but it's only a matter of time. Plus, they just don't have the resources to devote to a ghost. If he turns to murder, that's another story, but so far, no one's gotten hurt. And four..." Solomon trailed off and smiled.

 
   
"What's four?"

 
   
Solomon's smile widened. "They don't know who the hell the guy is."

 
   
That didn't sound positive to me. That sounded like a problem. Way to go MPD dumping it on us. "Great. So we waltz in, solve it, and MPD is super happy?" I asked, sarcasm tainting my voice.

 
   
"That's the idea."

 
   
Numbers jumbled in my head beside flashing dollar signs. This sounded like a big, complicated case. "Can they afford us?"

 
   
"Not on this scale. I've agreed to a fixed fee; plus, if we do well on this case, they put out feelers to their partners, and we get more business." Solomon shrugged like it was no big deal, but it was. This wasn't the first time he hinted at expansion plans. The sudden clatter of hammering that started up directly above our heads was only another reminder that it had already begun. Solomon had big plans for his agency and I wasn't privy to them. Yet. I could still bug his office.

 
   
"I want you to co-lead on the case," Solomon continued after a minute, when the noise stopped. "I'll be working closely with you. All the guys will pull their weight on this one with surveillance. MPD will continue to work the case their end and we'll compare notes to close in."

 
   
"Okay, I get that. Hey, you keep saying this is a guy. How do they know that if they don't know who ‘he’ is?" I asked, adding bunny ears in the air with my fingers.

 
   
"The profile gives the highest probability towards the perpetrator being a white male between the ages of thirty and forty. He's smart, charming, gives the impression of being successful, and women like him. This is based on all of his reported targets being women. Aside from all of these women being rich, there's only one other common denominator, which I'll get to in a minute."

 
   
I relaxed into my chair. Okay, I knew what the case was, and it intrigued me. "Why do I think asking them for a description of the man is a stupid idea?"

 
   
"It isn't; and several states have tried. However, every case we think is linked describes a different man. All we know is, according to the victims, he's white and aged somewhere between twenty-five and fifty-five. An FBI profiler friend of mine took a look and narrowed it down to give us a better lead."

 
   
I gave him skeptically raised eyebrows. "That narrows it down to, oh, only a matter of thousands in Montgomery."

 
   
"It's not much, I agree, but it's a start. Now, while each case describes a very different person, it's the crimes that indicate it's the same man. Evidence suggests he doesn't stay in town long, targets a few women, makes his move and disappears. MPD are scared that if they don't catch him within the next couple weeks, he'll go underground, move on, and the case will go cold. Once he moves across state lines, there's little we can do, but wait for another jurisdiction to get suspicious and raise concerns. Compounding that, there are bigger gaps between each time he appears, not to mention the women are often too embarrassed to come forward. They were duped and robbed. They might not get another opportunity to catch him. MPD are desperate."

 
   
"Why does he only target women?" I wanted to know.

 
   
"We don't know for certain that he doesn't target men, too. At least, none have come forward, but they could be embarrassed. Each case interview with a victim describes the
perp
as charming and dashing. He knows the psychology of women, how to get under their skin, and steal what he wants: their money. He knows how to disappear, and has an exit route planned from the moment he hits town. My profiler guy has yet to work up a full profile, but he's sure he's attractive, and can pass for different ages. He's also smart, knowledgeable of both people and technology, very comfortable in his own skin, and a terrific actor. He has no problem committing crimes. He's never hurt anyone that we know of, so we don't think he's violent, but then, he's never been cornered. We need to stay on alert."