“The innuendo was heavy, but I think it was just alcohol.”
“I assume you have a plan, because you’re far too calm if you don’t have one.”
“For years, I’ve set aside ready capital with low returns like public sector bonds, gold, currencies, and treasury bills. It’s sizable. I’m going to wait until the price of Kerr Inc. stock is low enough and use my private fund to buy it up. I named it the Nessie fund—the monster in the lake no one has ever seen.”
“Your purchase of the stock will signal you feel confident about the company and drive the price of the stock up. Will you sell then? Or will the financial police think you’re doing something shady?”
“Financial police?” I can’t keep in a huff of laughter. Tiny curls up and punches me.
“I’m sorry. Not everyone goes to trading school.”
I swallow back any hint of a smile. “The SEC. Yes, that could be Louis’s goal. He might suspect that I have a contingency fund. But I doctored several reports that he stole from the company, including the SunCorp one. I believe he’ll use that information to buy his way into another holding company, perhaps a hedge fund. When they use it to make, buy, or sell decisions based on his inaccurate information, Louis will be blackballed from Wall Street. He’s not even notorious enough to be able to give inspirational speeches on how to sell shit like Jordan Belfort. My guess is he’ll have trouble getting a managerial position at a big box story in Jersey.”
“Ouch. But I guess he deserves it. When did you do the doctoring?”
“Last week. I figured that if he was going to act it would be when I took the weekend to go to Connecticut. This coming week will be busy. I’ll be making sure that all my ducks are in a row when the SEC does come calling.” I pull us both upright and rise to get the paperwork that I’d printed out. “Along with investigating Louis, I had Jake check up on the Hedders.”
Tiny’s face screws up like she’s smelled something rotten. “What about them?”
“They’re bad news, both of them,” I say. I’m not going to reveal to her the creepy part about Malcolm hiring a new prostitute who looks like her, but I do relate the information Jake gathered about the elder Hedder. “The police don’t have any new leads. Mitch is a suspect, but he has an alibi.”
She looks at the print outs I’m holding. “I just can’t see Mitch using physical violence against someone.”
“It’s not a violent crime. She took the wrong cocktail of prescription medications. It could have been a mistake, or someone could have mixed them purposely.”
“Killing someone is a violent crime.” She frowns. “It doesn’t fit Mitch. He’s an unfaithful jerk, but not a killer.”
“He’s someone you haven’t seen since you were sixteen,” I remind her gently. “People change. You don’t know what Mitch Hedder has been up to for the last nine years. What we do know is that despite not being gainfully employed since he ran out on your mom, he has been able to amass enough money to enjoy an extended stay at the Plaza. Those rooms run close to a thousand bucks a night. Does that square with the Mitch you know?”
She shakes her head slowly. “No. He’s never had that much money. I don’t know where he got it, but killing? That’s a huge deal, Ian.”
“I’m telling you all of this for a reason.” I pick up another sheet of paper. “I have Steve because a man with a lot of money can’t be too careful. It’s unlikely that I’d ever be in danger, but we know from what happened a couple of weeks ago that someone out there doesn’t like me much. I’ve had Steve drive you around because I want you to have the convenience of a driver but also because I need you to be safe.”
“The bodyguard,” she says with great distaste.
“I know you don’t like this, but tomorrow I’m going to share the news of our engagement. While I’m not famous, this city loves to gossip, and for a short time, you’re going to be of interest. I’m not going to have an ounce of serenity if you aren’t protected, so it’s either you have Steve with you all the time or you have your own handpicked bodyguard.”
With a sigh, she rises and walks over to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Hudson. “And I don’t get a say?”
“You do in who follows you around.”
“But not in being free.”
“You won’t even know the person is there.”
“Every time I go out, someone is going to follow me around, and you’re saying that I won’t even know?”
“You don’t seem to mind Steve.” I say implacably.
She waves her hand. “He’s like a friend. A silent, surly friend.”
“You can hire another one like him.”
“I knew this was coming,” she sighs. “But I don’t like this,” she says.
“Noted.”
“Who then?”
I read aloud from the profiles of the four different people Jake has suggested for her. Three are former military. Two Special Forces and a Marine. The fourth is a former policewoman who left her job after her partner was killed on a drug bust. She’d been accused of participating in under-the-table dealings, but Jake believed that these were false accusations from the actual dirty cops. I trusted Jake.
“I want Marcie, the woman,” she decides.
“Good choice. That’s who I would’ve picked.” I set the papers on the table. “Now that we’ve done all the hard stuff, let’s go upstairs. It’s been far too long since I’ve been inside you, and I’ve a hankering for some dessert.”
Later, after a long bout of lovemaking, Tiny asks. “Why would you have picked Marcie? Is she pretty?”
“I have no idea. I would’ve picked her because I’m a jealous motherfucker and I don’t want another man spending that much time with you.”
“You never said anything.”
“Because I’m not a stupid f**ker. Just a jealous one. I know better than to tell you what to do.”
“Is that right?” she says, shifting provocatively on top of me. “I distinctly remember you barking orders at me not thirty minutes ago.”
“Except here in the bedroom.” My dormant c**k is rising between us. “Get on your knees and grab the headboard.”
“Or else?”