Chrono Inquisitor (Gods Be Damned) (25 page)

Olena blushed even more than she already had.

I felt my cheeks grow a little hotter as well.

Ranger-son wasn’t as amused as Mrs. Beit had been though. “We have work to do,” he said with an angry ‘rip your head off’ glare, and then walked to the exit.

I took
Olena’s hand in mine, kissed it, and bowed. “See you in the morning?” I asked.

“Morning?” Nora questioned, apparently no longer amused.

“Mr.,” she paused. “I’m sorry, I don’t actually know your name,” Olena said.

I started to say it, but Nora beat me to it. “Inquisitor
Travis Yan
.”

Olena’s
eyes widened a bit. Nora had emphasized my name intentionally and Olena recognized it.

How could I have been so stupid? It was obvious that they would both know Sam, which meant they probably knew about me in some fashion, probably nothing good, considering Sam and I had been married for most of our lives and the marriage had ended badly.

I smiled. “Never mind,” I said. “It was inconsiderate for me to assume.”

I watched her stumble for a reply. Saw the dilemma get tossed around on her face. She liked me. That was clear. But now she knew who I was.

Was she friends with Sam? They were rivals, but sometimes that forms a friendship. I had to admit, now that I’d had a taste of her, I wanted seconds, thirds, and even more. I wanted to sample her wares in as many ways as that could be interpreted. A part of me felt guilty and ashamed that she could be Sam’s friend, but then an equal part of me felt even more turned on by it.

“Be here at seven sharp,” she finally said. “And you better show. I don’t make breakfast for just anybody.”

I caught Mrs. Beit out of the corner of my eye. She was not happy.

“Seven it is,” I said, and quickly got the hell out of there.

I rushed out of the apartment and caught up with Ranger-son just as he reached the elevator.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

“So, what’d we learn?” I asked.

“
We
didn’t learn anything. You’re lucky she even talked to us after you made an ass of yourself.”

So that’s how it was going to be. He’d blame the failure of the investigation on me. I just couldn’t understand why he wanted the Horsemen to take over. He definitely knew something. That was obvious. Confronting him wouldn’t get me closer to the truth. I decided to play along. For the moment.

“You want to talk about being an ass. I’m not the one who said ‘good evening’ to a woman whose husband had just been murdered.”

He looked like he was going to punch me. “It was an honest mistake. I was trying to be polite. Something I doubt you’re even capable of doing?”

“Hey, I resent that. I knew better than to say good evening. Besides, I tried to make up for your shit mistake.”

“Yes, and that turned out so well. What in the world made you think it was a good idea to make out with her friend, especially after she told you to leave?”

“Hey, don’t blame me. I can’t help it if women find me irresistible. Ms. Sawyer came on to me just as much as I came on to her. Besides, Mrs. Beit was amused.” Or at least she had been.

Ranger-son wasn’t though. He shook his head and pushed the button for the elevator.

“So, we didn’t get anything?” I asked.

“Mrs. Beit gave us a few leads. The first one is a man named Shepard Cook.”

“Because Beit failed to follow through with his promise of using Cook’s company?”

“How do you know that?” he asked.

“I have my sources. I don’t think it was him though.”

“Do you know the man?”

“Not personally, but while you were talking with Mrs. Beit, I was talking with Ms. Sawyer, who just so happens to work for Mr. Cook.”

“And what from your conversation causes you to believe that Mr. Cook is innocent?”

“That this wasn’t the first time Cook got shafted by Beit.”

“Meaning?”

“I don’t think that this recent event was enough of a motivation for Cook to kill Beit. It’s a little petty and too obvious. So what, he lost the contract, his company is still successful. I’m sure there’s plenty of other contracts.”

“Murder is rarely logical, even when it’s planned. The fact that this wasn’t the first time Mr. Beit disappointed Mr. Cook actually increases the motive for revenge. Besides, at the moment we have no evidence, and with no way to prove that Mr. Cook was responsible, he could get away with it.”

“True, but I’m still not feeling Cook is responsible.”

“By your own admission, you don’t know the man, and therefore I assume your
intuition
stems from a conversation you had with someone whom you were just making out with, and who would appear to have a vested interest in her boss being innocent.”

“Well when you put it like that.”

“How about on this next interview, you just be a fly on the wall and leave the real work to me. No more getting so personable with the people involved with the case.”

“But what if Cook forces himself on me? It would be impolite of me to deny him.”

Without warning, he twisted and elbowed me in the gut, sending my diaphragm into shock. He then threw me up against the wall and pinned me to it.

“Consider this your only warning,” he said. “I don’t find you funny. I don’t like you. I never have.”

Never? We’d only known each other for not even two hours.

“If I had my way I’d throw you in a pit with your deputy,” he said. “And if you fuck up my investigation, I’ll do just that. Do I make myself crystal fucking clear you piece of shit?”

While he was throwing me against the wall, I’d slipped my hand into my pocket and palmed my FireAnt wand I always kept on me. It was too bad the only exposed skin on him was his face and hands, but that was his problem, not mine.

I let my anger get the better of me.

Time to teach Ranger-son some manners.

‹That would not be a wise course of action. I suggest you refrain and cede to his demands,
›
Kali said, always the voice of annoyance.

‹“No fucking way. I’m sick of him thinking he’s superior to me. It’s time I show him that he can’t push me around.”›

‹Now would not be a good time to engage him to prove your equal position.›

‹“I never said I was equal to this shit head.”›

‹That is beside the point. You are supposed to be working together to solve this case. Based on my analysis of his personality, doing what you intend to do, you would not succeed. Rather, it would only make matters worse and would increase the unlikelihood of you finding Mr. Beit’s murderer.›

‹“Fuck the case. He’s already sabotaging it. I’ve been pushed around too much lately, and I’m fucking sick of it.”›

‹I understand your predicament, and so I suggest a compromise.›

‹
“Yeah, what’s that?”›

‹Let Ranger Stevenson have this moment. Later, when the time is right, I will inform you when to prove your point, and I will assist you in executing it to its maximum potential.›

She knew me too well sometimes. Knew exactly what to say to make me see things her way. ‹“Fine. And you better fucking follow through.”›

‹But of course.›

“Did you hear me?” Ranger-son asked, pressing me harder against the wall.

“Clear as glass,” I answered with a forced grin.

“Good,” he said, and with one last shove, released me.

Shepard Cook wasn’t actually a shareholder of the resort, so we made our way back to the tenth story of the Quest hotel. We walked in silence, both of us brooding. It turned out that Cook’s suite was directly below mine.

Maybe dickwad would let me swing by my suite when we were done with Cook.

When we got to the door, Ranger-son pressed the call button.

A reasonable amount of time later, after confirming with security that Mr. Cook was indeed in his suite, an incredibly muscled, big, black, bear of a man answered the door.

“What’s on the horizon, fellas?” the man said with a smile as wide as the sky. It was easy to tell that he’d been crying and was now putting on a happy face to cover it up. It was hard not to catch the alcohol on his breath. His mytes had to have been working overtime just to keep him standing.

“Mr. Cook?” Ranger-son asked.

“My friends call me
Shep, and I’m friends with everyone.” Mr. Cook said, extending his hand.

Ranger-son took it without hesitation.

Fucking asshole.

“I’m Major Kody Stevenson of the Texas Rangers, but please, call me Kody,” he said with a tip of his hat.

“Mighty fine to meet ya, Kody.”

Shep
, not wearing a hat, simply nodded his head, and then extended his hand towards me.

I took it and felt like I was shaking hands with a polar bear, the man’s hand was so big in comparison to mine. Surprisingly though, the shake was…dainty?

“Name’s Travis,” I said, since it seemed we were all operating on a first name basis.

“Pleasure to meet ya,”
Shep said.

I smiled and nodded.

“Now we know each other’s names, and now we’re all friends,” Shep said.

If only saying it made it true.

“May we come in?” Ranger-son asked.

“Of course, of course. All friends are welcome in my abode. Please, won’t ya join me for a drink.”

Olena was right, Mr. Cook had been drinking and it seemed he didn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

Shep
stepped aside and waved the two of us in.

“Unfortunately, we’re on duty, all we can accept is water,” Ranger-son said. “The sun is setting. So to speak.”

“Nonsense,” Shep replied. “Texans are born with a nice cold beer in our blood, and now that we’re all friends, you can’t rightly refuse my hospitality. Unless of course we aren’t actually friends.”

“A couple of Lone Stars would be welcomed with open palms,” Ranger-son conceded.

Shep slapped him on the back, forcing him to shift his foot forward for stability.

“Now that’s what I thought.”

Minutes later the three of us were seated in Shep’s lounge, each with a beer at least half gone. Though it didn’t matter, because I was on duty, the mytes were eliminating the alcohol the moment it touched my tongue.

As far as I could tell, Cook’s suite had the exact same floor plan as mine, but they were decorated differently. While my suite had a warm welcoming feel due to its open windows, light amber colored woods with their gold trim, and the straw colored walls; Cook’s suite didn’t have as many windows, and the wood was darker, but not as dark as that of the lobby. Instead of gold, it was accentuated in silver. The walls were also more of a whiskey color. But then that might have been because I had whiskey on the mind. I’d never been much of a beer drinker, preferring the harder stuff.

“All right fellas, what can I do ya for?”

“What’s your affiliation with the
Beits and their company Social Arches?” Ranger-son asked.

“You fellas the Rangers looking into his death?”

He nodded.

Again I was surprised that he allowed others to think I was a Ranger as well.

“Thought so. I’ve known Julius for, oh, I’d say the last fifty-five years. We went to college together. Lost track for a while though. Then met again something to the tune of forty years ago.”

“And how would you classify your relationship now?”

“That would be a little hard to categorize, now wouldn’t it, with Julius being deceased and all.”

I saw a bit of irritation on Ranger-son’s face.

Serves you right you pompous ass.

I took a swig of my beer to try and hide my satisfied smile.

“Pardon my ill choice of words. How was your relationship before Mr. Beit’s passing?”

“Look, we’re all friends now, so what do ya say we stop beating around the bush. You’re here because I’m sure you’ve heard about the recent hostility I’ve had towards Julius, am I correct?”

Ranger-son nodded. “We are. Would you mind expounding on the circumstances relating to these recent hostilities?”

“I wish I could be of more help fellas, but there really isn’t much to say. Julius and Nora’s company won the bid overseeing the construction of the new capital. A couple months ago Julius said that he wanted my company to oversee the safety and security specs of the deal. Of course, things don’t always work out like you
want’em to. There’s committees, and boards, and lawyers. Lots of legal bullshit and red tape. Long story short, things didn’t work out. Shit happens. Sometimes life throws you a curveball. Can’t always hit a homerun. Was I pissed? Hell yeah. That contract would have been a huge boon to my business. Money aside, the prestige alone was worth taking the job for free. Not that I would’ve.”

“We understand that this sort of thing has happened before,” Ranger-son said.

“Like I said, shit happens.”

“Have you ever threatened Mr. Beit?”

Shep paused. “I’m sure I have on a number of occasions, but never seriously. Julius and I, we were good friends. He was like a brother to me. Do you have any siblings Kody?”

“I have an older sister.”

“You ever threatened her?”

He laughed. “Yeah, when I was a lot younger, though.”

“Wish I could say that I’ve matured more than I have, but it’s sometimes better to accept who you are then it is to keep pretending you’re something you’re not. I’ll admit that my temper sometimes gets the better of me, but believe me, this old dog doesn’t have any bite left in him, not after all I’ve seen and done.”

Ranger-son looked like he was either making a mental note or consulting his CerA.

“Were you at the banquet dinner earlier?”

“Yeah, same as everyone else.”

Shep suddenly looked at me with new eyes.

“You were there, weren’t you? I thought you looked familiar.”

I gulped down the rest of my beer. Ranger-son had wanted me to remain quiet, and so that’s exactly what I was going to do.

He must have come to that conclusion because he spoke up, “He was there undercover.”

“Did Travis lose his tongue?” Shep asked suspiciously looking at Ranger-son.

“He’s probably in link with someone regarding the case.”

Shep seemed to accept that answer so he turned his attention away from me.

“What about after the dinner, during drinks?” Ranger-son asked.

“Yeah, I stuck around, socializing with everyone until Ms. Matsuzaki’s presentation started.”

“I understand that she’s your main competitor and the one who stole the contract out from under you.”

I caught Ranger-son’s not so subtle manipulation of events, but then again, it could be the truth.