highway, glancing in the rearview mirror every few seconds.
Once we made it back into Huntingford, I pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot so I could calm down and catch my breath. “Just give me a minute, guys.” I laid my forehead on the steering wheel. Pulled off the bow tie and unbuttoned the top button on the white blouse. It occurred to me I left behind my gray hoodie and my second best pair of jeans. Damn.
“So Manny’s the guy who called Packard and they were both in the old school tonight. That can’t be a coincidence, can it?” Ma asked.
I raised my head and looked at her. “No. And we told the woman in charge that NorthStar hired us.” Just then my phone buzzed. I dug it out of my pocket with trembling hands and glanced at the text.
“Eric wants me to come over. He has something on Sullivan.”
Chapter 20
Ma yawned and stretched in her seat. “Tell me again who this Eric person is. You’re not dating him, too, are you?”
“He works with Axton. He’s helping me find information on Sullivan and NorthStar,” I said as I pulled back on the road.
When we got to Eric’s, I introduced him to Ma. “Nice to meet you,” he said.
“I need to use the little girls’ room. Would you like some Chex Mix?” She held up the plastic container.
“Yeah, I love this stuff.” After setting down the beer he’d been holding, he lifted the lid, grabbed a handful of cereal, and popped it in his mouth.
Ma walked down the hall and Roxy flopped onto the loveseat in front of the TV and began flipping through the channels. While Eric munched, I felt amped up and antsy.
When Ma stepped back in the room he asked, “You guys want a beer or something?”
“I’ll take one,” Ma said, settling down next to Roxy.
Eric scooted off to the kitchen and came back with a long neck, handing it to her.
“Thanks. What are all those for?” She pointed to a pile of controllers on the floor in front of the TV.
“This is a wireless control. I play these,” he pointed to a shelf full of video games, “on this.” He pointed to a console.
“Can I try one?” she asked.
Eric looked a little pleased. “Sure. First-person shooters are good. Let’s start with…” He studied the games and plucked one from the shelf. “This one. Do you guys want to play, too?”
“I will,” Roxy said.
I shook my head. “No thanks.” I’d been playing enough games lately.
Eric showed the controller to Ma and Roxy. “This one is to shoot. You move like this. If you need help, let me know.”
He picked up his bottle and pulled me aside. His dining room — more of a dining area really — was separated from the living room by an arched wall. Desks and card tables were cluttered with computers, laptops, and motherboards. “Are you ready to see what I found out about your Sullivan?”
“He’s not my Sullivan, and yes, more than ready.” I sank down on a desk chair, sore and weary.
“I dug through the county records for personal property taxes. I figured that would be the best place to start.”
I held up a hand. “Wait, can you do that?”
“Of course.”
“No, I mean, isn’t that illegal?”
“Nope, it’s a matter of public record. I found tax records for one Thomas Malcolm Sullivan, thirty-four years of age. He was the most likely candidate, and after doing a deed and title search, I found out he owns a ton of property. Mostly office buildings and strip malls.” He handed me a stack of papers. “Here you go.”
I scanned the pages. “He owns the old school.” I slapped the paper with one hand. “We followed Packard tonight and he went to this old school building out in the country. It’s on the list.”
“What was in an old school?”
“A gambling club. Pack was losing and they wouldn’t extend him credit.”
“How did you find this out?”
I wagged my thumb over my shoulder. “Rox and I went undercover.”
I continued to read the long list of properties. Sullivan owned the strip mall that housed Sun Kissed Tanning and the Pour Femme boutique building. Like Ma said — bingo. “Oh my God, this is amazing. Evidence, Eric. Real evidence.”
My enthusiasm was intoxicating. “Okay, let’s walk through this,” I said. “Axton gives me his backpack. I see Sullivan in the park and he’s looking for Axton. He finds Axton—”
“Kidnaps him,” Eric said.
“Yep, Sullivan kidnaps Axton to get his hands on the hard drive. But I have the hard drive. On that hard drive is a list of people with a number next to their name. I think we can safely assume it’s money—”
“Money they lost gambling,” he said.
“We know Sullivan has Axton, we know Packard has a gambling problem. I saw a poker game in the back room at the cigar bar and Manny’s running something in the back of that tanning salon. And I saw Manny tonight. He and I had a little smackdown.”
“Are you all right?” Eric sat on his haunches and touched my knee.
I winced and jerked my leg to the side. “I fell. I’m okay. Anyway, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Sullivan leases his property to NorthStar businesses.”
Rubbing his head, Eric narrowed his eyes. “And Axton went to a club the night before he was taken. It was a NorthStar club, wasn’t it? And Axton took the hard drive?”
“Probably stole it from Sullivan. We know there’s gambling in some of these places, and Sullivan must be in charge, right?” Oh God. It finally dawned on me, if that was the case, I’d put Eric in a very dangerous situation. I clutched his arm with my free hand. “What if they figure out you have the hard drive? What if they come for you next?”
“Hey, Rose.” He took the papers from me and laid them down on a keyboard. Then he took both my hands in his. “You have enough on your plate, kid. The last thing you need to worry about is me, okay? I can take care of myself. Let’s concentrate on rescuing Axton.”
“Okay.” I nodded and took a deep breath. “Sullivan told me he would do anything to protect his interests. The gambling, the people on this list, the properties — he’s in charge of it all.” Sullivan was the big cheese, the head honcho, the Kaiser Soze. I didn’t call him the Bossy Jackass for nothing.
I dug the list of NorthStar businesses out of my purse and compared it to the sheaf of papers Eric gave me. “Not all the businesses Sullivan leases to are NorthStar businesses. There’s a barbershop in the same strip mall as the tanning salon. It’s not owned by NorthStar.”
“Maybe he rents to other businesses to make it seem legit.”
“Packard got a call from the tanning salon and he was gambling in one of Sullivan’s properties tonight. We have a real connection. Yes!” I threw my fist in the air, jumped out of my seat, and did my little happy dance. Eric laughed, but I was too excited to care. We finally had a real trail to follow.
Eric smiled and high-fived me.
I reached out and hugged him. “Thank you so much.
He planted a big smacker on my cheek. “You’re welcome.” He gestured to the stacks of papers. “Can you take this to the police?”
My happy fled the scene. “All I have are theories. And NorthStar is a shell company. Dane says it could take years to unravel, and I can’t prove Sullivan is in charge of anything. And besides, the Chief of Police, Martin Mathers, was on the decrypted list.”
He scratched his stubble. “You can’t really prove anything.”
I flopped down in the chair. I went from elated to deflated in under thirty seconds. “I guess not.”
