Page 38 of Dirty Liars

“They’ll eventually have to give over the information,” he said. “But they can certainly delay us for a time. Fortunately, we have Doug. And Margot.”

“Speaking of Doug,” I said. “Wasn’t he supposed to track where Max Ortega went after he dropped off the victims?”

Jack’s brows rose as he dialed Doug, and he waited while the phone rang. And rang. “No answer.”

“Just send him a text,” I said. “Maybe he’s taking Oscar out.”

“Nobody wants to talk on the phone anymore,” Jack said, shaking his head.

“Nowyousound like your mother,” I said, laughing.

Jack’s phone buzzed a couple of seconds later and he put it on speakerphone when he answered.

“What have you got for me, Doug?” Jack asked.

“Well, Oscar ate my pizza,” he said. “Pulled the whole thing off the counter and scarfed it down before I could save any of it. I had to order a whole other one. But then the pizza didn’t agree too good with Oscar, so we had a close call. And I put the kitchen rug in the washing machine, so don’t worry about that. Oscar did the rest of his business outside, but man, was it gross. Total waste of a good pizza.”

Jack had just closed his eyes as he listened to Doug, and I felt my stomach lurch at the thought of what Oscar might have in store for us later. Oscar was the ugliest and cutest dog ever, and though he was smarter than a lot of humans I knew, he was a dumpster diver at heart. When we didn’t keep an eye on him he would break into the pantry and help himself. He and Doug together were doing a lot of damage to our grocery bill.

“Sounds like you have everything under control,” Jack said.

“I’m a man of action,” he said. “Plus I aced my exam. The scores posted this morning. I keep getting job offers from different places. I mean, the money sounds good, but the jobs sound boring. Anyway, I don’t mind school so much. It’s not very challenging, but every once in a while an assignment will give me a thread for a new concept that needs to be developed. And I still want to be a cop, so I’m not sure what to do with that.”

“You’ll be an asset wherever you go,” Jack said patiently. “Doug, did you find out anything about where the car went after the Vasilios got out at the resort?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “The car was clear as day on the security footage. Black luxury sedan, Virginia plates 2361 Echo Charlie. Facial recognition confirmed Max Ortega as the driver. I pulled a deep background check on him if you need it. I had to get back into the Pentagon files to get to the good stuff. Did you know they haven’t upgraded their security since the first time I broke in? Who’s in charge of that place?”

“It’s a question many ask,” Jack said. “Go ahead and save the file. I’ll read it when I get home. Did Ortega leave the grounds?”

“Yes,” Doug said. “The car went through the guard gate three minutes after midnight, drove up to the front entrance. Ortega got out of the vehicle and opened the door for Theo, he was sitting behind the driver’s side, and the doorman came and opened the back passenger door for Chloe. The trunk was popped and the bellmen grabbed all the luggage. Chloe was carrying her purse, and she stumbled a little coming out of the car.”

“Yeah, she was over the legal limit,” Jack said.

“She looks it,” Doug said. “These are really great quality security cameras. Everything is very clear.”

“I’ll make sure to let Oliver Harris know you approve,” Jack said dryly. “Did Ortega follow them inside?”

“No,” Doug said. “He and Theo spoke a few words to each other, and then Ortega got back into the car and drove away. The vehicle left through the security gate at twelve twenty-two. I checked Ortega’s credit card receipts and he paid for a night at the Holiday Inn in King George. Their security cameras are on network so I was able to tap in and see he arrived at the hotel at one thirty.”

“Interesting,” Jack said. “Why did it take him an hour to go to a hotel that was only twenty minutes away?”

“I’ll text you his address and you can ask him in person,” Doug said. “Apparently he lives in the carriage house of Theo’s Newcastle property.”

“Why would he stay in a hotel instead of just driving home?” I asked.

“Maybe because he had to get up early,” Doug said. “He arrived back at The Mad King the next morning at seven thirty-five. I checked the flight logs at Passaqua Airport and the Vasilios private plane was scheduled to depart at nine o’clock on the morning of the murder.”

“So Ortega arrived as scheduled, but when Theo and Chloe didn’t show up he alerted Oliver Harris to ring them up?”

“It would appear so,” Doug said. “Ortega went into the resort and he and Harris are shown leaving on a golf cart together.”

“Really?” Jack asked, looking at me with brows raised. “Send me that address. We’re heading to talk to him now. You secured this line before you called me, didn’t you?”

“What am I, an amateur?” Doug asked. “Of course I did.”

“Good. We’ve been delayed again getting a deep background check on Theo Vasilios.”

“Say no more,” Doug said. “See you tonight.”

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