AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The man seemed to take her pushback in stride. “A hundred up front.”
Harris slipped a hand from her pocket and held it out for the man to shake. He did so with a smile on his face. “What information do you need from me?” she asked.
“We’ll start with the address.”
Cassie settled into a chair as Harris gave the man the address of the jewelry store, which he typed into the computer. Harris had told her the owner was listed as a John Richards, but when the detective had tried to dig deeper, she found that no such person existed. She needed the city’s records.
“Limitless Holdings,” the man said.
“I’m going to need a little more than that, uh—”
“Gerry.”
“Gerry.” Harris flashed him a million-watt smile. “Owners, addresses, phone numbers if you’ve got them.”
Gerry didn’t seem deterred by the fact that Harris was letting him off easy. In fact, he seemed to thrive on the contention. “Limitless Holdings is owned by John Richards.”
“Fake name. Keep looking.”
Gerry tapped away on his keyboard. “John Richards is also part owner of King Richard & Co.”
“Who owns it with him?”
“Ah, let’s see.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Richard Johnson. Ha. I see what he did there.”
“Very clever.” Harris’s tone indicated she thought it was anything but. “I doubt that’s a real name, either. Keep looking.”
“The addresses match, and when I search for that property—yes, it belongs to a different company. Annex, LLC.”
“Owner?”
“None listed.” He held up a finger before Harris could interrupt. “But there is a lawyer listed. A Mr. Don A. Reed. A quick search and”—he paused to hit enter and watch the page load—“seems like we hit the real deal. He’s got an office not far from here.”
“Perfect.” She nodded toward the computer. “Print that out for me, will you?”
“Ah.” The man looked nervous for the first time. “Paper trail.”
“I could always take a picture of your screen.” Harris held up her phone, clearly aiming it at him. “Would that be better?”
Gerry’s hand shot up, hiding his face from the camera. “I’ll print it out.”
“Wonderful!” Harris’s chipper voice laced with insincerity.
Gerry hit a button on his keyboard, and the printer behind him started chugging away. He turned away from Harris, as though he didn’t trust her not to sneak a picture of him after all. When the papers had slid into the tray, he grabbed them and held them out for the detective.
Harris slipped her hand from her pocket where it had been resting, shaking his hand with her own while she took the papers in the other. “It was a pleasure, Gerry. You have a nice day.”
The man didn’t bother responding. Even the two hundred dollars didn’t seem enough to put him at ease over the idea of possibly seeing the paperwork traced back to him. But when Cassie cast one last glance over her shoulders on the way out, he had already returned to work as though nothing had happened within the last fifteen minutes.
Harris was nearly skipping to the elevator, like she hadn’t just paid off a city official to give her information that should’ve taken a week through the proper channels. Cassie wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. She was grateful they had a new lead, but if any of this came to light in court, it could cost them a conviction.
The elevators closed, and Harris turned to Cassie. “Jonesy, huh? Where’d you get that name?”
Cassie tapped the side of her head. “I had a tingle.”
“A tingle?”
She shrugged. “Don’t know what else to call it. Had a tingle in the back of my head. Name just sort of came to me. I said it. It worked.”
