Kiss of death

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“I ATE WAAAY TOO much,” Whitney told Adam. “I should have skipped the chocolate soufflé.”

“That’s the first chocolate soufflé I’ve ever ordered. When I was trapped over in Iraq, I promised myself I would have one the first chance I had. I’d eaten one before and really liked it, but someone else ordered it.”

She assumed he meant a woman but didn’t ask. Dinner had been perfect. She’d never been to Chive. The sophisticated restaurant was in one of the Gaslamp’s most historic buildings. The old Royal Pie Company had been transformed from a brick warehouse to a sleek minimalist restaurant with awesome food.

They’d enjoyed a leisurely dinner and talked about Rod Babcock. They decided the attorney couldn’t help them solve Miranda’s disappearance. Adam had complimented Whitney on discovering the Corona del Mar signs on the talapa. He doubted Miranda was hiding out at the upscale resort but believed there was a good chance her cousin was somewhere in the Cancún area. She must have gotten into Mexico with a phony passport. Or she might have hitched a ride over the border and taken a flight from a Mexican airport.

“At times like this, I wish they had sidewalks in these hills,” Whitney told him. “I’d take Lexi for a long walk. I’d feel better after all I’ve eaten.”

“We could walk along the trail.” He pulled into the driveway of his uncle’s home.

“It spooks me a little. I’ve been jumpy since the fire. Before I wouldn’t have thought twice about hiking along the trail. With a flashlight, it’s not hard to see where you’re going.”

Except for Jasper, the dogs were waiting for them inside the back door. He came scuttling out of the living room when he heard them greeting Lexi and Da Vinci. No doubt he’d been sleeping under the coffee table again.

Adam’s cell phone buzzed. “Who can it be at this hour?”

They’d talked and lingered over coffee for so long that it was nearly eleven when they’d left the restaurant. It had taken them over half an hour to get the car and drive out to Torrey Pines. Whitney thought it was time well spent. They’d fallen for each other so quickly that they needed the opportunity to get to know each other better.

Whitney let the dogs out on the side yard and watched them closely. After Lexi’s disappearance, she refused to take any chances. She could hear Adam talking and realized something was going on with his business.

“I hate to say this,” he told her, snapping his cell phone shut. “I have to go into the command center.”

“A problem?”

“I’m not sure what’s going on. Tyler insists he needs me. He took care of everything all by himself while I was overseas. I need to help-”

“Of course you do. We’re fine right here.”

Adam started toward the door, then hesitated. “Don’t go for a walk alone. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought I saw someone sitting in a car just down the street. It was a little far away to be watching the house, but you never know. I’m going to take another look when I drive out. I’ll call you from the car to let you know what I see, but I want you to keep the alarm set until I return.”

She went over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He hauled her into his arms and his mouth closed over hers. What she’d intended as a little parting peck suddenly became wholly carnal. One hand cupped her bottom and squeezed gently. He kept kissing her, then his body stiffened and he pulled back.

“Hey, if I’m not careful, I’ll just say to hell with Tyler.”

“You can’t do that. He must need you or he wouldn’t have called so late.”

“Right.” Adam brushed her moist lower lip with the pad of his thumb. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Adam left and Whitney set the alarm and stood in the kitchen for a moment. Should she go upstairs to his room? Or should she climb into bed in the maid’s room? It seemed a little presumptuous to go upstairs so she walked into the maid’s room.

She caught her reflection in the mirror over the dresser. Aaargh. The dress from hell. She yanked it over her head and dropped it onto the floor. She found the bags that Ashley had used to bring her castoffs to Whitney. She was packing all of them for Goodwill when the telephone rang.

“It’s me,” Adam told her. “Must have been my imagination. The parked car is empty.”

“Great. I’ll see you later.”

She hung up and finished putting the clothes in the shopping bags. Her cell phone was on the nightstand next to her bed. She hadn’t taken it with her because her only purse was too big and clunky looking for the outfit. The LCD display indicated she had voice mail.

“This is Betty Spirin,” the voice said when she pressed the message button. “My daughter’s been in an accident. I have to go to L.A. immediately. Grey’s had his dinner. I need you to walk him tonight and again first thing in the morning. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know what’s happening.”

The woman sounded nearly hysterical. Whitney could only imagine how frantic she must be after learning her daughter had been in an accident. Whitney had never walked this particular pet but did recall Miranda telling her about a dachshund named Grey Poupon. The dog was a regular and Miranda had given Whitney the key to his home. It was on the key chain at the bottom of her purse.

She consulted her BlackBerry and found additional information. She’d remembered correctly. The dachshund lived in a condominium complex not too far away. A quick check of her watch told her it was just after midnight. The message had been left a little before five. The poor animal needed to go out immediately.

Whitney changed into jeans and threw on a T-shirt. She knew Adam wouldn’t want her to leave, but she didn’t have any choice. He would be gone at least an hour and by then Grey might have an accident. She thought about calling Adam but decided to leave a note instead. With any luck she would be home before he returned.

THE SECOND ADAM SNAPPED his cell phone shut, it buzzed. “Yeah?” he said, expecting it to be Whitney. Instead it was Max Deaver. “Working a little late, aren’t you?”

Max chuckled. “Banks are just opening in Zurich. Diamond traders are busy in Antwerp. London’s setting the price of gold. Paris-”

“Okay. I get the picture. It’s morning somewhere just like it’s always five o’clock somewhere.”

“True, but I’m not kidding about banks opening in Zurich. There’s been another transfer of funds.”

Adam groaned. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, but this should make you happy. The funds have been transferred to pay off debts against the property you and your uncle owned as joint tenants.”

It took a second for Deaver’s message to register. “What in hell?”

“Don’t know. The money’s coming from a numbered account.”

“Is it one of my uncle’s?”

“Not unless it’s one I didn’t come across when I was checking.”

Adam pulled into HiTech’s parking lot and stopped the car. “What do you make of this?”

“Haven’t a clue, man, haven’t a clue. I thought you might have some idea.”

“Could it have been something my uncle set up before he died? You know, arrangements can be made with banks to transfer funds on certain dates. Hell, every credit card company in the world will be happy to zap money out of your checking account on a specified date.”

“It’s possible,” conceded Deaver. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”

Adam thanked him, hung up and sat in the car, thinking. He’d been stunned that his uncle had made him joint tenant of several properties. Then Calvin Hunter had saddled those properties with debt. He must have known Adam didn’t have the capital to repay those loans. Before he died, Calvin had set up a payment schedule.

“What’s up?” Adam asked Tyler when he walked into the command post adjacent to HiTech’s offices.

Tyler was sitting beside Butch at the post’s computer terminal. Red lights on the screen indicated the stations where guards were still working. Most closed at midnight while a few remained open until one-thirty.

Tyler stood up. “Let’s go into my office.”

Adam’s sixth sense had kicked into gear the moment he’d heard Tyler’s voice on the phone. He wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Quinten Foley sitting in Tyler’s office when they walked into the room.

“I trust I didn’t take you away from anything too important,” Quinten said in a general’s imperious tone.

“Not unless you count my girl.” It was obvious that Tyler’s father didn’t give a damn about Whitney. He would have walked straight out the door except for all the hard work Tyler had done while Adam had been overseas.

“I needed to talk to you tonight.”

Tyler shrugged and smiled apologetically at Adam. He couldn’t be angry with his friend. What would it have been like to grow up with Quinten Foley? Adam had been lucky. His dad had always been there for him. It had been over three years since his death but Adam still missed him.

Adam pulled up a chair. “You couldn’t discuss this on the phone?”

“You know how my father is,” Tyler told him with a touch of sarcasm. “Phones can be tapped. Anyone with the right equipment can listen in on cell calls.”

“Okay, I’m here. Shoot.”

Quinten Foley frowned at his son. “I need to have a private conversation with Adam.”

“Fine with me. My girl’s waiting for me, too.” He left, shutting the door behind them.

“I had a few thoughts about the disc I’m missing.”

Adam was too pissed to ask a question. How could a man treat his own son like a scumbag? Why did Tyler take it?

“Calvin may have transferred it to another format,” Foley said. “That’s why we couldn’t find the disc.”

“Such as?”

“Another type of disc, or it may even be disguised as a book. It might even be in some unusual place like the freezer.”

“There was nothing in the freezer except Rocky Road ice cream. I ate it.”

“It’s possible it’s disguised as a music CD in his car.”

Under his breath, Adam cursed himself. He’d neglected to inspect the CDs in his uncle’s car. When Quinten had first come looking for the disc, Adam had told him some of his uncle’s financial records were missing. He didn’t say he believed it was a single line of information containing a bank code. For all Foley knew, Adam was after reams of paper. He didn’t trust Foley enough to tell him the truth. He hadn’t confided in anyone-not even Whitney.

“Did you search the discs in the sound system around the pool?”

Aw, hell. Screwed up again. He hadn’t played the music outside and didn’t even know where the CD player that serviced the barbecue and pool area was located.

“I’m positive the info is somewhere in the house or car. Those are the only places it could be.”

Adam thought a second. “What about the plane he leased or the villa on Siros?”

“We’ve checked. It’s not at either location.” A cold smile played across his lips. “We’d like to thoroughly search your uncle’s home.”

Adam’s thoughts whirled inside his head like the Milky Way. Who searched the plane and villa? “It’s my home, too. Check the records. We owned it jointly.”

“I have. That’s why I’m asking your permission to allow experts to thoroughly go over the home first thing in the morning.”

“Why the rush?”

“There’s info on the disc that I need now,” Foley replied, but there was something about the way he said it that made Adam suspicious.

He opened his mouth to tell Foley to go to hell. On the way over here, he’d decided to take Whitney to Cancún. There was a good chance they’d find Miranda there. If not, a little vacation couldn’t hurt them. He decided not to shoot himself in the foot. He’d had absolutely no luck locating the bank code he needed. Why not let the pros give it a try?

“Okay,” Adam replied slowly, as if he were reluctant to go along with this. “I’ll need to be present.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I-”

“Then I won’t grant access.”

“All right, all right. First thing in the morning. It won’t take my boys more than an hour or two-tops.”

FROM A ROOM DOWN THE HALL, Tyler listened to every word. He’d been testing a new gadget. It was a pricey Mont Blanc pen fitted with a microphone the size of a pinhead. It transmitted everything said within a ten-foot radius to a receiver concealed in a deck of playing cards. The receiver was so powerful that it could be located anywhere within a half mile of the pen.

What was on the disc that was so important to his father? Why did Adam insist on being present? Maybe Adam wanted to make certain his father’s men didn’t remove anything. That didn’t make sense. The pros his father would use wouldn’t be common thieves. He was missing something here.

Then the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in his brain suddenly fell into place. His father must have been in business with Calvin Hunter. He thought a moment. It could only have been weapons. His father was supposed to be a consultant, but that must have been a cover story.

Tyler couldn’t help wondering if money might be hidden somewhere in Calvin Hunter’s home. That would account for Adam’s interest. The disc provided an excuse to search. After all, his father worked with private militias as well as foreign governments on weapons deals. So had Calvin Hunter. They could have been paid “off the books” in gold or even diamonds.

He toyed with the idea of going in and looking himself. After all, he had been a detective. Nah, he decided. If Adam had searched the home, the disc-or whatever-wasn’t easy to find.

He heard the men standing and shut off the receiver by pressing a microdot on the phony pack of cards. He sprinted out the side door and raced to his car. He was out of the lot before the men emerged from the building.

This crap with his father had made Tyler think about money. A lot of money. His father could live another twenty or even thirty years.

Granted, Tyler was making decent money, but Holly deserved the best. He smiled to himself, thinking about Adam’s comment. He did have a woman he was interested in. Holly needed to know as soon as possible.

Tyler tried her cell number again but it immediately kicked into voice mail. He’d lied when he’d said Holly was waiting for him. They’d had an early dinner, then she’d claimed female problems were bothering her. She’d gone home. Tyler had picked up a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. He’d taken them to her walkup flat in Coronado but she wasn’t there.

Where the fuck could she be? Why would she lie? She couldn’t possibly have another guy. No way. She spent too many nights with him.

He needed to present her with a whopper of a diamond. Once they set a date to be married, he would feel better. Not even his frustration with his father could bring him down then.