I need to find this killer soon.
Besides the threat of death to the Syndicate, mayhem triggered low profit. Who would want to be outside when everyone’s dying from stray bullets or gangs at war?
I had to discover the murderer before Chanel joined the investigation.
She finished her scotch, left the balcony, and headed into her office. “I called you for a few reasons.”
“Okay.” I followed her.
She went to her desk, picked up a large wooden box, and handed it to me. “According to Romeo’s will, in any event of Romeo dying without having any children, he wanted to give you his family guns.”
Shocked, I almost lost my voice. “Me?”
“He called you his brother.”
A shiver ran through me. I took the box and was about to open it.
“Please, don’t.” She swallowed. “The velvet in the case. . .the guns. . .it all smells like him. I can’t take it.”
“I understand.”
“There’s another reason why I called.” She went to her bar. “I need your help with something else.”
“You do?”
“I’m sorry to stress you out like this.”
“Chanel, I’m happy to help you.” I set the box back down on the desk. “You’re not stressing me out. I’m here for you.”
She poured herself more scotch. “There are two things I need help with, and I don’t want the rest of the Syndicate to know.”
“What two things?”
“First, my husband has been missing. I need your help with finding him.”
That’s easy. I know exactly where he is.
Chanel continued, “He left yesterday afternoon and hasn’t come back yet. And I won’t lie to you, Dima. This is typical behavior from Pedro. But I hoped that he would be different since. . .”
“I understand.”
“With Romeo’s death, people are wondering if I can even rule. Pedro being gone makes me look bad. It shows I don’t even have control within my marriage. Killer Crows are whispering a lot. I’m close to shooting someone just because.”
“You said this is typical behavior.” I tilted my head to the side. “Pedro usually disappears?”
“Not disappear, but sometimes he doesn’t come back home at night. He’ll leave out the house in the evening and venture off to whatever bed he chooses to lay in for that night. However, by morning he’s usually home before the staff appears.”
I hadn’t realized things were so bad between them. While I knew it wasn’t going to be a happy marriage, I figured Pedro would have tried to make it work.
“Do you love Pedro?”
“Does it matter?” She drank from her glass. “I would have loved a different sort of life, but I wasn’t born into that type of family. You ask me about love? There’s only two things that are in my heart.”
“And what’s that?”
“The first is family. Blood over everything. Second is money. Dollars make sense. Emotions are bullshit.” She looked at the glass. “Can you find Pedro for me?”
I nodded with confidence. “I’m Dima. Of course.”
But do I need to bring him back alive?
“I’m serious.” She shook her head. “And I need this to remain private. Tension is always rising between the Coffin Cheaters and Killer Crows. The Cheaters think Pedro should be in charge due to him being a man.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“But, I should rule.”
“You will, Chanel. Trust me on that.”
“You sound so confident. I wish I felt the same way.” She set the bottle of scotch down and went over to her computer, gesturing for me to come. “The next matter is even more difficult. Honestly, I’m not sure if you can help me with this.”
I went over to her.
She tapped a button on her keyboard. Her computer screen went from black to white. Then, the screen showed a video that had been on pause. “I have a problem with Lei.”
You sure do, but I don‘t need a video to see that.
She pressed a button.
The video played.
It was security footage. The angle looked like the camera was located on the ceiling of her balcony. I glanced over my shoulder and spotted the camera that the footage would have come from.
And then I returned my attention to the computer screen.
The footage showed the lake. A few times the screen blinked and out with white lines. A woman’s shrill cries sounded and then left.
I leaned forward. “What the hell was that?”
“That’s just a ghost.” She fast forwarded. “That’s not the problem.”
“Excellent because I can’t help with that.”
The one time, I spent the night at the Jones’ Mansion as a kid, the Jones Family and even staff constantly repeated one rule to me—never to leave my room after 10pm. Young Chanel would sprinkle salt in the doorway of the room I slept in. She would even put salt on the windowsill. Following her, Romeo placed an open bible in my room too. Apparently, it was supposed to let the ghosts know not to harm me.
When I was asked to spend the night the second time, I politely declined.