Bad News Travels
- Автор: Суэйн Джеймс
- Серия: Lancaster & Daniels #3
- Год: 2020
- Язык: английский
- Год: Thomas & Mercer
- ISBN: 978-1-5420-1644-5
- Жанр: Триллеры
Электронная книга - «Bad News Travels». Краткое содержание книги:
No sooner do they arrive than suspicions are aroused. There’s the pair of Russians who seem to be watching every move the family makes. A final, cryptic phone call Martin Daniels made to his granddaughter. Strange blood evidence on his estate. More than $1 million missing from Martin’s account. And his cell phone, wiped clean, along with clues to a double life. To Beth, it’s disturbingly clear: the man she loved was a stranger.
As she and Jon delve into Martin’s past, they have no idea where the secrets will take them. Or how dangerous it will be to expose the conspiracies, the cover-ups, and the terrible truths of Martin’s life — and death.
“What was the split?”
“Eighty/twenty, with Grady getting twenty.”
“That hardly seems fair.”
“Grady felt the same way, so he decided to film his guests on the sly, and later rent the videos to his customers.”
“How did he know they’d be having sex? They might just get drunk, and fall asleep.”
“He only turned the cameras on for couples on their honeymoon.”
“That’s brilliant.”
“I agree. The videos were a huge hit. The problem with porn is that the actors are faking their emotions, and the action feels forced. Grady’s videos were the real thing; his customers couldn’t get enough of them. They would often rent the entire collection during their stay.”
“What tripped him up?”
“A couple named Nate and Nancy Lovejoy.”
“Is that their real name?”
“Would I lie to you?”
“Go on.”
“The Lovejoys got married as teenagers, and took a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale for their honeymoon. The night before they departed, they stayed at the Sand Dollar. Five years later, they took another cruise, and stayed at the Sand Dollar again. They rented a video from the front desk called Hot Teens in Love. Guess who the stars were.”
“Nate and Nancy Lovejoy.”
“They went straight to the police. I was working the graveyard shift that night. They came into the station house in their pajamas.”
“Were they traumatized?”
“Absolutely. They were virgins when they got married. That video was the first time they’d ever had sex, and it was pretty wild.”
“You saw it?”
“Everyone in the station house saw it.”
“Poor kids.”
“We busted Grady the next day. He had quite an operation going. Every room in the Sand Dollar had a camera hidden in the ceiling, or behind a two-way mirror. We confiscated two hundred videos he’d made without his customers’ consent.”
“What a bastard.”
“Now here’s the interesting part, and why I brought this up in the first place,” he said. “After Grady’s arrest, his lawyer tried to cut a deal with the district attorney. If the state went light on Grady, the lawyer said that Grady would give us the name of the guy who outfitted his motel with the cameras.”
“What value was there in that?”
“The lawyer said that the guy had approached Grady with the idea. He claimed this guy had outfitted motels and B&Bs all over the state of Florida, and that the practice of secretly filming guests having sex was widespread.”
“Did you believe the lawyer?”
“We did. Grady was as dumb as a rock. He didn’t have the brains to conceive a scam on his own. The guy lived in Miami. We busted him a week later at his office. Someone told him we were coming, and he set his records on fire so we couldn’t get the names of the places he’d outfitted. He pleaded guilty and did eighteen months.”
“And you walked away knowing that there were motels and B&Bs in Florida that were in the porn business. Do you think the Gables Inn was one of them?”
“I do.”
“Based upon what? And don’t tell me your gut, because I’ll make you pay for dinner.”
“The Gables Inn fits the profile that I drew up. The guy was outfitting a motel in Miami called the Pink Flamingo when we arrested him. The Pink Flamingo was similar to the Sand Dollar in several ways. It was privately owned and barely making ends meet. The owners had also rented to hookers before the cops made them stop.”
“So your profile is a privately owned motel that’s struggling to get by with owners who will break the law to stay afloat.”
“That’s it.”
“If all of this is true, how do the Sokolovs fit into the picture?”
“This scam is well known in Florida. I’m guessing the Sokolovs heard about it, and looked around Saint Augustine for a B&B that had been outfitted. They found the Gables Inn, and struck a deal with the owners to secretly record Sykes.”
Jon’s logic was spotless. But that didn’t mean the owners of the Gables Inn would play ball with them. A sign announced that Palatka was five miles ahead.
“We need to find the hidden camera in the honeymoon suite, and pressure the owners into talking,” he said. “It shouldn’t be too hard.”
“But what if the honeymoon suite’s been stripped clean, and the camera’s gone?” she asked, hearing the doubt creep into her voice. “What then?”
“The camera’s still there,” he said confidently. “They’re not going to stop doing something that’s making money. Even if it is illegal.”
Chapter 33
A pair of copper statues of World War I soldiers greeted them as they crossed a bridge and entered Palatka’s downtown. It was growing dark, and the town had shut down for the night, the sidewalks deserted, with only a handful of cars.
The Gables Inn was on a side street that ran parallel to the river. A drive-by revealed a three-story house with faded paint and sagging gutters. It had once been pleasing to look at, but time and the elements had robbed it of its charm.
Beth parked on the next block and let the engine idle.
“So what’s our story going to be?” she said.
“Want to pretend we’re on our honeymoon?” he said.
She gave him a tiny smile. “Haven’t you heard? Marriages between law enforcement officers never last. Let’s just say we’re vacationing together.”
On their first date, they’d discussed why neither of them were married, even though they’d both been in long-term relationships with partners they’d liked. They’d come to the conclusion that they both put their work first, which made a permanent commitment difficult, if not impossible.
“Works for me,” he said. “Since I spoke to the manager, let me do the talking.”
“How do we explain our lack of luggage?”
He gave it some thought. People in the hospitality industry were wise to cops, and the absence of luggage would raise a red flag.
“I’ll tell the manager that the airline lost our luggage,” he said.
“That should work.”
They returned to the B&B. A sign on the lawn said PARK IN BACK OR GET TOWED. A narrow driveway led to a cleared area where Daniels parked.
“Not very hospitable, are they?” she said.
They walked around to the front and climbed the steps. The house had a wraparound porch where a half dozen cats were hanging out. Lancaster tried the front door, found it locked, and pressed the buzzer. Through the glass he spied a middle-aged woman with big hair manning the front desk. Her eyes were focused on something behind the counter that he guessed was either a small TV or a surveillance monitor. When she didn’t respond, he pressed the buzzer again and kept his finger down.
“That’s rude,” Beth said.
“Would you prefer I kick the door open?”
The big-haired woman snapped awake, as if from a deep slumber. She unlocked the front door with a practiced smile on her face. “You must be Jon. I’m Carrie, like the horror movie.” She laughed at her own joke. “Welcome to the Gables Inn.”
Carrie checked them in. Lancaster made sure to hide the detective’s badge attached to his wallet as he pulled out his credit card. Everything was going splendidly until Carrie asked what brought them to Palatka.
“We’re here on vacation, thought we’d see the sights,” he said.
Carrie eyed him. Most of her guests were either visiting an inmate at the prison, or did business with the prison, and weren’t tourists. He’d said the wrong thing.
“No luggage?” Carrie asked.
“The airline lost our bags,” he explained.
She bit her lower lip, clearly uneasy. He needed to calm her down.