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“Sure.”
I end the call and answer Tessa’s.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Where are you? Mancuso wants to put together a combined task force. Looks like we haven’t been completely sidelined. We’re supposed to meet back at the station in twenty minutes.”
Shit. I’m not sure how far out I drove, but I don’t think I’ll make it back in twenty.
“If you can stall a little? I’ll be there in thirty. Tops.”
“I’ll do my best, but you owe me an explanation. You did something to piss off Bridget Larson’s mother; it took me half an hour to get her to even talk to me.”
Shit.
“I’ve gotta go if I’m to be there in half an hour,” I brush her off.
She grunts and then grumbles, “Hurry the hell up,” before hanging up.
I’m surprised to find only Mancuso, Savvy, and Tessa in the conference room when I walk in half an hour later. The other two agents he walked in with this morning are nowhere in sight.
“Where is your team?”
“At the Carriage House. We’ve decided to keep our presence here low profile.”
The Carriage House is a bed-and-breakfast just outside town. Not a bad place if they want to stay under the radar; I don’t think it’s that busy during the colder season.
“Any particular reason?” I’m curious to know.
“I was just about to get into that. Have a seat.”
I claim the chair next to Tessa’s and across from the agent.
“The names Henry Bennet and HDLink popped up in two separate active investigations into suspected development fraud, one just outside Leavenworth, and one in Oregon,” he explains. “In both cases large properties were purchased for one type of development but built as another. A sports complex turned into a casino, and an assisted living facility became a hotel. Necessary permits were issued, and zoning bylaws amended before the public even got wind of what was going on. The way some of these things were pushed through the regulatory bodies, it seems obvious some strong-arming has taken place, but corruption is not an easy crime to investigate. That’s why both investigations are taking place quietly and behind closed doors, and we’ve been asked to do the same.”
I’ve dealt with some cases of development fraud when I was still with the CdAPD, but nothing quite of the scale Mancuso is describing.
“Do you think it’s possible that’s what’s going on here?” Savvy asks.
“Don’t know yet, but it sure is suspicious those two names would pop up in another real estate related issue.”
“I don’t believe in coincidence,” I offer.
Mancuso turns to me. “Neither do I, my friend.”
“So, how are you going to investigate if you want to stay under the radar?” Tessa points out.
He grins her way.
“By letting you guys do the legwork.”
Dana
* * *
By the time seven o’clock rolls around, I’ve convinced myself I’ve been ditched and ghosted.
I’m not sure what happened with Rick today, but it’s clear something did. His behavior at the hospital was so out of character for the man I thought I was getting to know.
