Tim asked, 'You work for the catering company?'
'No, I'm full-time here. I'm usually in charge of the cars, you know? But they have a party, I help out. Pays me good and leaves me free for auditions.'
Bingo. 'You see some other car come from that direction?'
Speedy lit up another cigarette and discharged a cloud of smoke off the balcony. 'Just you guys.'
'Us guys?'
'A security truck, you know?'
'Not sure I do. Bel Air Patrol? LAPD? What?'
'I don't know, I'm not so hot on security. I just notice the decals and watch my posture.' A laugh that didn't get returned. 'It was a pickup, like, for one of those shitty family communities out in, say, the West Valley. Shady Hills. Pleasantview. You know the type. I thought it was gonna give pursuit or whatever, but it just kept going all slow.'
Tim turned to Guerrera. 'Contact all local law enforcement and security companies, see if we get a bite.'
'It was kinda weird. I mean, I saw the truck, but then no cops showed up for, like, another ten minutes.'
'That's because it was probably this guy'-Bear brandished Walker's scowling booking photo again-'after he switched vehicles around the corner.'
Speedy let out a stoned laugh. 'No way. Smart dude.'
The curtains snapped and disgorged a rounded yet powerful man in his late fifties. Chest hair overflowed the notched collar of an expensive Hawaiian shirt, and a faint sunburn colored his cheeks and the flat end of his nose. An East Asian ideogram was tattooed in faded blue on his forearm. The wind wafted a blend of cinnamon and rum off him, cologne-strong, and pressed his shirt to his distended belly, outlining a pistol handle.
He offered Tim a firm grip. 'Percy Keating, head of security. We're glad you're here. If you have a minute, Dean Kagan wanted to thank you in person.'
They followed him down the sweep of the stairs, up a dim wainscoted corridor decked with dour oils in frames stained to match the molding, and into a study with mallard green walls, a pair of distressed leather club chairs, and knotted slab desk. Percy made introductions from the doorway as if announcing titled nobility at a ball, and no one exchanged salutations beyond slight nods.
Even under the circumstances, Dean Kagan was impeccably put together, the thirty-two-tooth CEO smile, every hair fixed in place despite the rotor blades overhead. 'I wanted to let you know we appreciate your quick response, and I give you my assurance that we'd like to cooperate in every way.'
'Thanks, that'll help,' Tim said. 'Can I get your contact information?' The three Kagans produced business cards in short order. 'If you wouldn't mind writing your home and cell numbers on the back?'
As Tim collected the cards, Bear asked, 'Do any of you know this man?' He handed off Walker's photo to Dolan, who stiffened and passed it to Chase, who finally glanced up from his BlackBerry.
Of the two brothers, Chaisson was more at home, leaning back in his club chair. 'This is the guy who-'
Dean's smile firmed.
Chase glanced over the top of the picture next to Percy, who gave a nearly imperceptible nod. 'This guy broke into our lab offices today.'
Tim knew better than to be surprised. 'What happened?'
Chase filled them in. Dolan offered a few embellishments to the story but largely deferred to his brother's version.
'Do you have security footage?'
'In the lobby, yes,' Dean said. 'But not within the lab. A damn fine idea, though.' He nodded at Percy to look into it. So the guy wasn't just house detective after all.
Dolan tipped the photograph to the light. 'Who is this guy?'
'Walker Jameson,' Tim said. 'He broke out of prison last night.'
'I read about that,' Chase said.
'Do you know Tess Jameson?'
'Doesn't ring a bell.'
'You might go through your records.' Tim pulled an ivory business card from his pocket. 'She had your business card in her bedroom.'
'I give away hundreds of business cards a week.'
Tim flipped it over. 'With your home number written on the back?' He fanned out from behind it the matching card Chase had just jotted on. 'In your handwriting?' From the corner of his eye, he saw Kagan the Elder's gaze intensify.
Chase's lips seemed stuck to his smile, but then his hand raised and clapped to a knee. 'What can I say? I meet a lot of people, and I don't always remember names.'
'How about you, Dolan? Ring a bell?'
'She's the mother of a kid we were going to use in our trial.'
Chase snapped his fingers. 'That's right. She had a different last name than the kid.'
'Had?' Bear asked. 'Not has?'
'Killed herself,' Dolan said.
'Hold on,' Bear said, 'you don't remember this woman, but you remember that she killed herself?'
'Walker's her husband?' Dean Kagan broke in.
'Brother.'
Dolan was flushed, but the other Kagans' milder reactions of surprise seemed feigned.
'You mentioned her son,' Tim said. 'Sam Hardy. You used him in your commercials, a KCOM news segment. Why did his name leave the trial list?'
'Ours is the only trial in the world this year for children suffering from AAT deficiency,' Dean said. 'Every AAT parent wanted in. We had over eight thousand applicants. Sadly, we could only accept a small percentage of the kids.'
'But the Vector poster boy?' Tim asked.
Dean pursed his lips thoughtfully. 'The selection of trial participants is scientific, Deputy.' He paused. 'I wish public relations were as well, but it's not.'
Tim pressed forward. 'Do you know Ted Sands?'
Dean's eyebrows quivered contemplatively, and he looked at Percy.
'He was a former Beacon-Kagan security worker,' Percy said. 'I hired him myself. He left about a year ago to pursue freelance options.'
Dean asked, 'Is he the mess in my front yard?' At Bear's nod he said to Percy, 'Get to the bottom of this. And quickly. These officers will need all the specifics of his employment with Beacon-Kagan and anything else on him you can assemble.'
Already on the job, Percy moved to the door, earnestly but awkwardly poking a handheld.
'A fugitive and a former security guard?' Chase said. 'Why's this ending up here?'
Bear said, 'We were hoping to defer to your greater knowledge.'
'I haven't the damnedest,' Dean said. 'I run an international conglomerate. That's a lot of employees, and each one of them steps on some toes for the bottom line now and again. I've had threats originating from every state in the union, and quite a few not of this union. Percy can acquaint you with our file of disgruntleds, if you'd like.'
'We'd like,' Tim said. 'And we'd also like the guest list for the party.'
'We need to proceed with discretion. To protect the company-and my guests. We're about to launch a product that's a major breakthrough for tens of thousands of kids. It's lifesaving. I don't want us to do anything to threaten it.'
'So that's a…?'
Dean smiled. 'A gentle no. I don't know about this killer, but our guests are not connected to him. There were some important people here this evening.'
Tim and Bear looked at each other. Tim nodded. Bear cleared his throat and said, 'In addition to being a deputy marshal, I've been admitted to the bar. So let me explain, since your own legal staff are not in attendance, the legalities of where we're at: Your house, while a private and sumptuous residence, is also a crime scene that figures in a federal investigation. You, your family, and your companies are going to cooperate with that
