The Mercenary Next Door (Rogues and Rescuers #2) - Lucy Leroux Page 0,85
hell did they get this? There were no cameras outside that dive.”
Silano picked up the bag with the printouts. “Once we saw this and worked out the angles, we found the camera. A grate concealed it. It feeds into a ramshackle system, but we studied the entire video. There are cameras trained on the front and rear entrance. They pick up most of the parking lot. Your Mustang passed close enough for them to get your license plate. We found your plate number scribbled on a post-it in the office trash can.”
“This pit has an office?”
“It’s an ancient metal desk in the storage room with a lot of crap piled on top of it.”
“I see.” Mason scowled at the mugshot. “So, what is this asshole saying?” he asked before noticing the expression on Laila’s face.
“What’s wrong?”
“You already changed your address with the DMV?” There was a tinge of disbelief in her tone.
Mason rolled his shoulders, discomfited. “Babe, you do that when you move—within ten days is the rule. I moved months ago.”
“But not one does that on time.” She still appeared inexplicably bewildered.
“Laila, baby, it’s the rules,” he said before taking her hand in his.
“Right.” Now, Laila seemed amused. She turned to the detective. “Can I ask—the last time you moved, how long did it take you to update your address?”
The detective smiled. “Coincidentally, I did it last month.”
“And when did you move?”
“Two years ago.”
The ladies exchanged a private smile.
Mason’s lips compressed. “Well, now I’m sorry for being so diligent if that’s how they found us.”
He twisted to face Silano again. “Although… I’m a little surprised the proprietors of the Stag and Stars to have the connections to run a license plate.”
Detective Silano dour face broke into a grin. “And that’s how we knew they had connections, starting with the Stag. Elmer and his brother don’t own the bar. The real owner is hidden by a few clever layers of paperwork—shell companies.”
Laila frowned. “So, who owns it?”
Silano held up a finger, checking the papers on her desk. Mason knew all this was for show. She was enjoying herself too much. “It’s why it took a few days for us to call you in. We had to double and triple check this because the name is Oscar Johansen.”
“Wait.” Laila sat up straighter. “That’s Bryce’s father, isn’t it?”
Detective Silano nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, do you know him?”
Laila glanced at him before looking back at the detective. “He was at all the Dubey functions. He was kind of rude, though—always on the phone in the background. More than once, he would catch Franklin’s eye and draw him aside for these little conferences. I was introduced to him at least three times before he bothered to learn my name.”
“Well, that tracks with what we know of him,” the detective said. “Oscar isn’t Franklin’s brother. He went to college with him, then married Franklin’s younger sister. He’s got a law degree he doesn’t use except to bludgeon people with it. He negotiates contracts for Franklin and manages the people around him. Closest we can tell is he’s sort of permanent family fixer. And he’s a distant cousin to Elmer Lugge.”
“Ah.” Mason exhaled sharply.
“Yeah.” The detective picked up a file. “Elmer and his cousin—who is not related to Oscar, by the way, both have rap sheets, mostly small-time stuff. But they cleaned up their act over five years ago when they took over the bar from the previous owner. Rumor has it the bar was payment for some work they’d done for someone important. They’ve bragged more than once that they have friends in high places.”
“So that’s their connection to Joseph,” Laila said. “We knew that whenever the boys got in trouble, they would call one of their dads.”
Mason silently agreed. But how quickly they got help didn’t, not really. They were able to get rid of Jasmine’s body too fast. But if Oscar had a pair of criminals indebted to him—a built-in clean-up crew—then that rapid timeline made sense.
A pained expression crossed Silano’s face. “There is something you should know. According to Elmer, Joseph Dubey and Bryce Johansen wanted Jasmine Elliot out of the Alpha Omega fraternity when they couldn’t rouse her because she’d had too much to drink. Elmer was supposed to take her inside the back way of the Stag and Stars so people would see her.”
Silano broke off to rub her head as if she were getting a headache. “We know now there was more in her system than just alcohol, but