“Does he know I’m here?” Julian asked. He’d never met Mena’s boss, Beaujean Ali. Even though Mena had spoken highly of the man, Julian wondered what kind of owner would harbor a fugitive? Why would Beaujean take the risk?
“He doesn’t want to know, that’s part of the deal,” Hakeem explained. “As you can see, everything that you need to investigate and figure out what Dumay is up to is down here. Sunny made sure we got the best computers and hooked you up to a high-powered network to perform your search.”
Simon said, “Getting in and out of this place will be tricky. Security won’t be looking to bust you, though. Just don’t get caught by any of the museum visitors. The last thing you need is one of them to report a sighting of the fallen hero on the grounds.”
“Trust me, I won’t be seen,” Julian said.
Zale walked over to a small file cabinet and opened the bottom drawer. “You got a couple of Beretta M9s, enough bullets to last for months, a few burner phones and some clothes in here.”
“Looks like I have everything I need.” Julian swung his legs out of the bed and stood slowly.
“There’s something you need to know,” Hakeem said as he walked to the computer and opened a file from the desktop. “Glaze hacked into the St. Basil Police Department servers and found out that the cops brought Mena in for questioning a couple nights ago.”
“Mena?” Julian said, heart thundering in his chest. “What did they want to talk to her about?”
“They think she hired her former assistant, a gal named Uma Fischer, to help the two of you bribe the guards assigned to watch Dumay. Last we heard, they will issue an arrest warrant for Mena as soon as they locate Uma,” Simon said.
“Fuck!” Julian slammed his fist against the table, sending office supplies to the floor. “She wasn’t involved in any of this.”
“Phone records show calls between Uma and Mena around the time that Uma was getting cash to bribe the officers and meeting with one of them to deliver the money,” Hakeem said.
“The cops aren’t close to finding Uma and without her to corroborate their theory, they won’t arrest Mena,” Zale said.
Hakeem added, “Problem is, we haven’t been able to find Uma either.”
Simon said, “I know you need to get your own ass out of trouble, but you might want to spend some time helping your lady out of this jam.”
“This changes everything,” Julian said, resisting the urge to slam his fist through the wall. “Dumay tricked me and got me arrested in the courthouse. Now she’s going after Mena and she’s using Uma to do it. If the cops find Uma, she’ll probably lie and tell them that Mena was involved in the bribes.”
Zale nodded. “You’ve got to find Uma before the cops do.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Julian said.
Chapter Thirty-One
The circular driveway of Harmony Towers was more crowded than normal. Drivers honked and valet attendants raced through the gridlock, frantically trying to retrieve cars for waiting residents and park the cars of those arriving.
Leaving the penthouse hadn’t been Mena’s idea. Beaujean had summoned her to his home to discuss important gallery business. After learning from the cops about Beaujean’s connection to organized crime, refusing to meet him wouldn’t be in her best interest. She wanted nothing more than to remain camped out by her phones and computer, hoping and praying that Julian would try to reach out to her. But she knew in her heart the call wasn’t coming. There was nothing she could do to help Julian.
Mena motioned for the attendant, then asked for her car to be retrieved. The young man nodded, then sprinted along the sidewalk toward the entrance to the underground parking lot. Rubbing her arms, Mena stepped out of the way of a stream of tourists heading toward the front doors of the tower. The group was rowdy and likely headed to join the hundreds of others waiting to get into Solar After Dark.
“Mena?”
Turning toward the soft voice behind her, Mena groaned inwardly as Stella Young walked toward her. Life had been much simpler the first time she’d met Stella the morning of Priscilla Dumay’s trial. Mena had plans to help the woman make a love connection with Kendrick, but that had all faded away when Julian was arrested.
“Hi Stella,” Mena said, then glanced backward, hoping the attendant would pull her car into the driveway soon.
“Hi, I thought that was you. I’ve been watching the news, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what you must be going through,” Stella said, her eyes creased with concern and sympathy.
“Thanks,” Mena mumbled.
“Do the cops have any more news about what happened to Julian? Where he could be?”
“There are no leads. The police don’t know who took Julian or why. But I know who was behind this. Priscilla,” Mena said, venom laced in her words.
“But Priscilla is still in a coma,” Stella responded
“You think that really matters? Priscilla still wants to kill us. She doesn’t need to be conscious when others are so willing to sell their souls for money and do her dirty work. I just hope and pray that Julian is okay. That Priscilla didn’t give the orders for him to be—”
