Work to Do

Ooh, I got work to do, I got work baby
I got a job, yeah, I got work to do
I got work to do, everybody's got work to do

 

“What the sit-rep?”

It was obvious to Sean from the steely glint in Trixie’s eyes that today would be strictly business. He cleared his throat and began.

“Freeman will be here around four. She’s narrowed the choices down and has to select between two potential offices for the relocation you requested.

“If she doesn’t get a move on it, we’ll be done before she finds anything.”

Sean wisely ignored the comment and continued. “We’re done with Fireking. They’re clean and clearly a victim. We have several questions for you relative to why and how, but it almost looks like they were hacked because they could be hacked.” Sean paused to see if the boss had a comment, and then continued when he noted her resolute expression. “Agent Tibb’s last report is looking less and less likely he’s going to find out who opened that security hole at B3.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah. Freeman did fourteen background checks, three phone searches, and found one lost dog.” He checked his notes. “Mrs. Lydia Randolph’s miniature schnauzer, Bruiser.”

Trixie nodded. “What’s the status of the background checks for the fundraiser attendees?”

“Freeman passed them along to the Bureau for an assist.”

Trixie’s eyes narrowed and her lips pursed as she considered the information. “I see. We’ll revisit that when Freeman arrives. In the meantime, what are your questions for me relative to Fireking?”

Sean moved to the flip chart and quickly looked at the questions they had been debating.

“Who knew about the security hole at B3?”

Trixie thought for a moment. “Janiece Jackson was the first one. She’s Reid’s secretary.”

Sean scribbled the names on the flip chart as Trixie continued.

“Andy Foreman and Ian Blankenship were there. Reid requested Chris, Madji, and Ted work the problem. He also recommended Zelda Diamond. There were a host of other people in his office -- you know business types -- and then later his wife came in.” She frowned. “This is important. I think you may be on to something.”

“It could be,” he allowed. “It would be nice to know who knew, especially the females.”

“We could ask Janiece,” she suggested. “How discreetly do you want to handle it?”

Sean shrugged. “Just ask. I don’t think we need to be discreet about it. It’d be worth taking a harder look at everyone who knew.”

“Start with Janiece, and I’ll get you the rest of the names,” she promised. “Anything else?”

“Yeah … we were doing some brainstorming. Trying to figure out what we knew that we might have discounted. We’re both frustrated with Tibbs’ team. It doesn’t appear that they’re going to be able to discover who opened the hole. That’s why we wanted to know who knew it about it, and focus on those people, especially if it wasn’t a big number.”

“There’s always the chance it wasn’t someone there, but someone that they told. B3 is a pretty open company.”

“Do you think we should forget about it, then?”

“No way!” Trixie reassured him. “I think it’s a good idea. If there’s a chance it’s one of them, we’d be crazy not to take a hard look at each one.”

Trixie liked the way her team had been thinking. “Now, let’s discuss –” She stopped as Amy entered the room.

“Agent Freeman. Glad you could join us. Any luck on an office?”

“I’m happy to report that we have success. If you’ll sign this lease …” Amy paused as she pulled a sheaf of papers out of her briefcase. “… we can move in immediately.”

“Where is it?” Trixie stood up and leaned across the table to take the papers. “Midtown, like you wanted. It’s bigger than you requested, but it has everything we need, and it’s within our price range. There’s a customer conference room we can use for legitimate clients and another large room we can use as our war room that customers can’t access. It has five offices, a reception area, a storage room you can use for files, and a tiny kitchen. It’s perfectly perfect!”

Trixie looked up in surprise. Amy’s phrasing created a pang of regret within her as she wondered what Honey was doing that afternoon. Her thoughts drifted towards the future and how much fun she and Honey would have had searching Manhattan for suitable office space.

“Belden?”

“Huh?” Trixie looked up in surprise.

“Is something wrong, Boss?” Amy asked.

“No, this sounds okay. It’s bigger than we need. Do you think we should go look at it?”

“I can have Lisa meet us if you want to see it.” Amy shrugged. “It meets or exceeds all the requirements you gave me. If you want you can sublet two of the offices. Arrangements for the furniture and our equipment are complete. They can be installed with a 24-hour business day notice. We can move in Tuesday and be ready to work, order business cards, letter head, and the works with our new address on Wednesday.”

“Okay. Do it,” Trixie instructed. She paused as she picked up her pen and wondered if she should have Honey review the lease. She shook her head. It would only invite more unwanted questions if she did, so she signed her name with a flourish before handing the signed lease back to Amy. “Do you need a check?”

“Yes, first and last month rent and a security deposit.”

“I’ll get it when we finish. But first I want to talk about those background checks you sent off to the Bureau to have done.”

Amy gulped. “Uh, yeah, what about them?”

“I really wanted you and Barnes to take care of those. The Bureau’s going to run standard checks, just like they did on our suspects. They missed too much with standard background checks. ”

“Like what?” Amy looked puzzled.

“Like Grace Wheeler and Tammy Langham being friends since high school. They were college roommates.”

“What?” Sean asked, straightening suddenly.

“You heard me,” Trixie said. She tossed Sean her flash drive. “Load these updates to our database. I want more detailed background checks on every principal employee at our suspect companies, including our prime suspects. Even the ones we thought were cleared. I want to know every school they attended, every job they’ve held, even if it was washing dishes or working at a dry cleaner. If Mitsy Thornhill attended the same dance class as anyone else in any company, I want to know about it.”

Sean and Amy exchanged looks. “Got it, boss,” Sean replied. “Um, is there a problem?”

“Yeah, there’s a problem. The background checks the bureau did on these people aren’t worth a damn. There are too many holes. An intern could’ve done a better job.”

“Um, what about the other people attending the fundraiser?” Amy asked timidly.

“For now, we’re going to let the Bureau run their checks. But I want everything they come back with imported into our database. Every match between the fundraiser attendees and our list of candidates gets a second, more detailed look. Then you and Sean generate some reports on all the matches you find on the suspects.”

“Okay.” The relief on Amy’s face was obvious.

“Oh, and Freeman?”

“Yes, Boss?” she answered.

“You did the right thing with the background checks. Barnes told me all the cases you’ve handled. You didn’t have a chance to get started, and we’re going to need that information. But next time, just let me know. If Chief Walker were to ask me, I would’ve needed to know.”

“Got it.”

 

 

“Charlie, is there any chance at all you’re going to reconsider opening up your own firm?” Andie Newman smiled at the signed retainer agreement in her hand and the $50,000 check that accompanied it.

“Not a chance,” he grinned. “I thought this would make you happy.”

“Very happy,” she leaned back. “There’s not much else that would get me in here on a Sunday afternoon. You’re a fine lawyer, Charles Prescott. And one hell of a salesman on top of it.”

Charlie nodded. “Thanks, Andie. I appreciate it. Would now be a good time to ask for a favor?”

She cocked her head to one side. “Maybe. What is it?”

“Ellie. I want to take her with me.”

She nodded slowly. “You know we don’t have any of the administrative staff under employment contracts. You don’t need my permission to take her.”

“I know. But I’m not going to do it without your blessing.”

She nodded. “You have it. Anything else?”

“Yeah. I want my rolodex.”

Andie frowned. “What do you mean? Because the firm paid for it?”

“No, because it’s full of client information -- names, phone numbers, little notes about things. I’m more than happy to take a copy or leave you a copy, but I have information on a lot of judges and secretaries. I need that information.”

“Charlie, you could have taken that and I would’ve never known.” She gave him a piercing look as she sat up in her chair and grimaced. “I should have agreed to add your name to the firm.”

He grinned. “I’d be staying.”

“And now? If I agreed to add it now, would you stay?”

Charlie wasn’t able to hide his surprise. He took a moment to ponder the offer in front of him before shaking his head. “Thanks for the compliment, Andie, but no. I want to make it on my own. ”

She stood and shook his hand. “Take your secretary and your rolodex, Charlie. This account is worth much more to us than that.”

“Thanks, Andie. I appreciate the opportunity. Oh, and one piece of parting advice?”

“What?” she smiled.

“You need to do something with Riker. Give him some more responsibility or something. If you don’t, you’re going to lose him. He’s bored silly.”

“Noted.” She nodded. “Duly noted.”

 

 

“What else did you learn this weekend?” Sean asked as he worked on making Trixie’s changes to the case database.

“Plenty,” she replied. “Mitsy Thornhill has a new job.”

“What?” he looked up in surprise.

“You heard me. She’s going to work for Kingston Technology. Oh, and you’re going to love this. Our client, Maggie King, is the granddaughter of Jacob King. Margaret Gaitley, who we’d love to be our client, married the grandson of Andrew King. Jacob and Andrew were brothers, meaning in some convoluted way the two women are cousins-in-law. Their grandfather left Andrew and Jacob the legacy of a small company that manufactured home security and safety products.”

“Fireking?” Sean asked, intrigued by the story.

“Nope. Secure King was his company. They focused on home and apartment safety devices, including smoke alarms and door locks. The brothers couldn’t decide who would run the company, and under the terms of the will, since they couldn’t agree, Secure King was dissolved and they were each given fifty percent of the assets, provided any new company they started included the name of King.”

“So Fireking and Kingston were started.”

“Yes. Secure King was dissolved. Fireking took off with the fire extinguishers and smoke alarms, focusing on the patents related to fires, fire safety, etc. Kingston went with home security, developing and patenting several inventions related to key card locks, electronic locks and most recently biometric locks.”

Sean whistled. “Kingston sounds like a company that might be developing random key encryption technology.”

“Exactly!”

“Are we going to use Mitsy Thornhill to get into Kingston?” Amy asked.

“Nope,” Trixie smiled. “We’re using James Winthrop Frayne II.”

“Your friend?”

“The guy starting the school.”

“He’s the one behind the fundraiser we’re attending.”

Sean and Amy spoke together, their words jumbled.

Trixie held up her hand and nodded. “All of the above! Jim attended college with Mike King. They were roommates for two years during grad school.” Trixie was so excited by the discovery, she couldn’t stop a little cha-cha step as she delivered the news. “Mike is the only son of Margaret Gaitley and Mickey King of Kingston Technology.”

 

 

“I guess you’re surprised to see me,” William Thornhill stood outside Charlie’s door.

“Not really, sir.” He held the door open. “Please come in.”

William walked in and noted the clean and tastefully arranged apartment was nothing like the bachelor quarters he had imagined. The only signs that a wealthy and eligible bachelor owned the apartment were the vintage pinball machine, a top-of-the-line, oversized flat-screen plasma television, and a luxurious leather recliner.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Charlie offered, looking around and wondering how concerned he needed to be about the presence of Mitsy’s father.

“I don’t suppose you have any whiskey.”

“Yeah, sure. Scotch on the rocks?” he offered.

William frowned. “What are you drinking?”

“Beer, sir. It’s my Sunday evening beverage of choice while watching football.”

“Since when can you can watch football in April?”

“You can’t. But you can watch baseball. So I’m spending my Sunday catching up on the Yankees lineup and what happened during spring training.” He stopped when he saw the look on William Thornhill’s face. “Guess you’re a Mets’ man, huh?”

William shook his head. “Nope, a Yankee’s man as well. Who do they open against?”

“The Orioles, in Baltimore.”

William nodded towards the large television. “You know I think I will take one of those beers.”

“You got it. Have a seat.” He waved towards the chairs in front of the television and hurried to the kitchen, wondering what was up.

“Need a glass?” Charlie asked sticking his head out of the kitchen.

“Not if it’s in bottles,” William replied settling into the dark leather recliner.

Charlie smiled and crossed to hand an icy beer to the man he had hoped would one day be his father-in-law.

William took a healthy swallow. “Bitsy would croak if she saw me drinking out of the bottle. She has some expensive mugs she keeps in the freezer. I keep telling her those are great for a hot day after mowing the grass, but for every day drinking, a bottle of beer is best.”

Charlie’s eyebrows flew up. “You mow your own grass, sir?”

“What the hell are you implying, boy?” William growled.

“I can’t imagine it, sir. I mean your house here, well it doesn’t have a lawn, at least I don’t think it does.” Charlie racked his brain trying to determine if the Thornhill’s had a lawn at their luxurious penthouse.

William snorted. “No lawn. But I haven’t always lived in a Park Avenue penthouse.” He paused and gave Charlie a hard look. “Not everyone was born with a silver spoon in their mouth.”

“Mitsy was,” he replied, throwing back a swallow of beer. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You’re pissed because I sent her back home.”

William shook his head. “Nope. You did the only thing you could do. The truth is, Prescott, my girl still has a lot of growing up to do. Sometimes I forget how young she really is.” He waited and when Charlie said nothing he continued. “Are you going to wait for her to grow up?”

“Why?” He leaned forward, the beer bottle dangling between his knees as his elbows were propped on his thighs. “Why do you want to know?”

“Mitsy told me she stood you up last night,” he countered. “I figured you decided she was too immature when you told her not to come back. I was wondering if you were willing to wait.”

Charlie stood up. He paced back and forth while William sat quietly and drank his beer. Finally, frustrated, he pushed a hand through his hair and turned.

“Dammit! I don’t know,” he answered. “To be completely honest with you, I don’t know. I’ve been waiting for eight years as it is. I don’t know if I can wait much longer.”

William snorted. “Hasn’t looked to me like you’ve been letting the grass grow under your feet while you waited.”

Charlie started to snarl a response and stopped. He took a deep breath. “No, I haven’t. But I didn’t expect my number one competition to be her father, either.”

William’s eyes narrowed and he stood up to face Charlie. “I’m not so sure I like what you’re implying, Prescott.”

Charlie stepped forward. “I’m not implying anything. But when the girl you hope to ask to marry you ditches you right before one of the biggest business meetings of your career, to eat dinner with her perfectly healthy father, you have to wonder if you’ll ever come first. No offense, sir, but when I marry a girl, I want to come first. I’m not interested in being in second place, especially not after her father.”

“Are you going to make her choose between me and you?”

“No!” Charlie practically shouted.

“Do you think Mitsy should forget about her family just because she gets married?”

“Absolutely not!” he replied, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “Let me ask you, sir. How would you have felt if Mrs. Thornhill had stood you up to go cry on her daddy’s shoulder about how life was treating her? Would you like it? Or would you wonder if you were in love with an immature brat instead of a woman?”

William Thornhill sat down quietly. The silence grew and Charlie started to wonder if he had touched on a sensitive subject.

“I know what it’s like to have a future father-in-law who questions your motives,” he finally said. “I’d be lying to you if I told you that I liked it. It always annoyed me, even when Bitsy stood up to her father and married me anyway. I never appreciated my father-in-law until Melissa was born. That was the day that I completely understood why he treated me like he did.” He looked up at Charlie, who, in his agitation, was still standing. “I want my little girl to be completely happy. I want her to be with a man that loves her for herself, not for her family connections and definitely not for her money. I thought you might be that man, but she’s not very happy at the moment.”

“Does Mitsy know you’re here?” he asked.

“Hell, no!” he replied vehemently. “She’s already chewed most of the skin off my ass when she found out that I came to see you before.”

Charlie laughed. “I didn’t tell her, sir.”

“Yeah, I was the one that let that out. I had figured you for telling.”

Charlie sat down and the two men finished their beers in a companionable silence.

“You want another beer?” Charlie asked, as he drained the last drop out of his bottle.

“Yeah, don’t mind if I do. This is a comfortable chair. I can see why you like watching sports here.” He cast a look at Charlie. “Didn’t Mitsy try and talk you into moving the television and pinball machine into another room?”

“Yep, she sure did. I totally ignored her. I figured she could have things her way when we got a place together –” He stopped. “Sir, I meant after we were married.”

“I know, son. Now, what about that beer?”

 

 

“Did you ask Special Agent Belden about the woman with Charlie?” Amy asked as she handed Sean additional details on their suspects’ educational pursuits.

“No, I was waiting on you. Do you have the pictures?”

Amy nodded.

“Pictures of whom?” Trixie asked looking up from her computer.

“We wanted to ask you if you knew,” Sean explained.

“Where are they?” Trixie asked.

“Here.” Amy shuffled a few files on the large conference table they were sharing and located the correct one. “I printed them this morning before my meeting.” She handed the file to Trixie. “The dark-haired woman was with Charlie Prescott last night at Acme Meats and Seafood.”

Trixie looked with interest at the pictures and nodded thoughtfully. “Buffy Patterson,” she said thoughtfully, instantly recognizing the woman. “She’s engaged to someone who’s currently overseas. She attended the Winter Ball with Ben Riker.” Trixie paused, trying to remember what Ben had told her about the woman. “Her dad is a client of Connors, Ford, and Newman. He asked Riker to escort his daughter to the Heart Association fundraiser. I can’t imagine why Charlie would be with her instead of with Mitsy.”

“Who’s the couple they’re with?” Sean asked.

“I don’t know,” Trixie admitted.

“Can we find out? Use the bureau’s facial recognition database?” Freeman wanted to know.

“He’d only be in the database if he’s a suspected terrorist or a convicted felon,” Trixie reminded her. “Did it appear to be that kind of a meeting?”

Amy shook her head. “It was business. We hung around and had dessert and then coffee. We didn’t leave until they did.” She shot an apologetic look at Trixie. “We had to tip the waiter a hundred bucks because we kept the table so long.”

Trixie nodded her agreement, and Sean picked up the story. “At the end, the older man signed what looked like a contract, and he and Charlie shook hands. Do you think it was a real estate transaction? Maybe he helped this Buffy person sell her apartment or something.”

“I don’t think so,” Trixie answered slowly. “When I met her, she didn’t act as if she liked Charlie very much. I got the feeling it was mutual.”

“Do you think she’s related to Sam Patterson?” Sean asked, looking up from the database query he had just run.

Trixie snapped her fingers. “That’s it! She must be his daughter. Look it up, Freeman.”

Amy obliged and in less than a minute was nodding her head. “Elizabeth Ann Patterson aged 33, is the daughter of Samuel Wade Patterson and the late Mary Elizabeth Westwick Patterson. He owns Triad Properties, currently engaged in merger discussions with Torch Systems.”

Trixie frowned and tapped her pencil on the conference table. “Chief Walker told me to forget about Torch and Triad. They would get what they needed from the merger.”

“So they’ve been cleared?” Amy asked.

Trixie shook her head. “Don’t leave them out of our inquiries. I still want all those additional details on the principals of Torch and Triad. By the way, Kitty mentioned that she and Buffy Patterson both worked in marketing, but I had the distinct impression she was a member of the idle elite. Make a note to check that out as well.”

Amy again ran several queries and looking up she shook her head. “She doesn’t appear to work. According to most hits, she’s a ‘Page Six’ regular, and is reportedly engaged to a Jared Somer, who is on a long-term assignment in Paris.”

“Is it just me or wouldn’t a girl like Buffy want to be in Paris with her fiancée?” Sean asked.

“What are you saying, Barnes?” Trixie asked.

He shrugged. “I’m saying she’s not engaged to anyone. It’s a save-face cover story for some rich society bitch that’s been dumped.”