Don't Look Like a Seal Pt. 05

"She charged you?" She asked.

"She charged at me," I clarified. "She spun, came in fast then broke deep again. I took that as a sign that I should move my ass so I took a deep breath, dove under and started swimming as fast as I could under the water. It was a harrowing swim at least in my mind because with every kick I swear I felt my flipper bump her nose and every murky shadow I could see beneath me was her just about to explode into a burst of speed about to cut me in two."

"Then what happened?" Karly asked from right behind us.

Michelle jumped at the sound of her voice. I had seen her coming out of the corner of my eye but didn't say anything.

"Jesus, Karly, you about gave me a heart attack!" Michelle gasped.

"Sorry, sis," Karly said. "You jumped out of your skin but Ken here barely moved. I guess I didn't scare you."

"Nope, I saw you coming. Red hair and a bright morning kind of makes you stick out. That and I heard the gate squeak when you opened it," I told her.

"Thanks for the warning, Kenny," Michelle complained playfully.

"It's not like she poses a danger to us," I commented.

"You haven't known her as long as I have," Michelle remarked.

"Hey! I resent that remark," Karly said.

"No, you resemble that remark, sweetie, but I love you anyways," Michelle smiled.

"Love you too, now can Kenny finish his story? What happened next?" Karly asked as she took a seat beside Michelle.

"Nothing really, I climbed aboard my boat faster than I've climbed aboard any boat before and kind of collapsed there to catch my breath," I answered.

"That ending kind of blows," Karly complained.

"Karly!" Michelle exclaimed while I shook my head.

"What? It does," She stated.

"Red, would you prefer the shark to have taken one of my legs off or worse?" I asked.

"Of course not, Kenny, but it could have least chomped on the boat or something I guess," She answered. "Ooo or did that thing where they leap out of the water and tried to grab you!"

"I'm thankful that she did neither," I sighed. "It was dramatic enough as it was for my tastes."

"Karly, did you need something?" Michelle asked.

"Oh yeah," Karly said. "Sorry, I got wrapped up in the story. I came out here because I found my camera and wanted to get some pictures of you before you take off."

"Karly, I'm here for another couple of weeks at least," Michelle said.

"I know but you and Kenny are here now so I would like some with my two heroes from yesterday," she stated as she lifted her camera.

"Karly, I look like..." Michelle started to complain but was shushed by Karly.

"The sister that I love," She said. "Now shush and scoot over closer to Kenny."

Michelle knew that there was no use in arguing further so she slid closer until our shoulders touched then we both smiled at Karly.

"You guys are too cute," Karly commented as she hopped to her feet to line up her shot. "Stay like that."

She snapped a couple of photos then motioned toward Michelle.

"Michelle, lean into him like you were earlier," She told her.

"Just how long have you been watching us?" Michelle asked.

"I plead the fifth now put your head back on his shoulder like you had earlier and don't argue cause you've already done it once," Karly argued.

Michelle looked at me but I just shrugged.

"She's your sister ," I told her.

"All right, but if she asks you to grab my ass, I'm out." Michelle whispered to me.

We both laughed and Karly got a great shot of that.

"You guys are gonna love this one." She said as she came over to show us.

Michelle looked first, smiled for a moment but then frowned.

"I should be getting in. I've got a lot of stuff to do for this Australia thing," She was up and already back inside the fence before Karly and I could react.

"Wow, that was abrupt," Karly commented as the gate closed behind Michelle.

"Okay, so it wasn't just me then," I stated.

"Definitely not just you," She answered. "Do you think it had anything to do with this?"

She showed me the picture she just took. I looked at Michelle and I caught mid-laughter then shrugged.

"I don't see how it could be," I said. "It looks like just a couple of happy people sitting on the beach to me."

* * *

As I walked Karly back in I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Alex's number.

"Hey, are you still here at the estate?" I asked when he answered.

"Shouldn't you be in bed right now?" He asked.

"I should be but I need to run something down. Wanna help out?" I asked.

"I had to cover your shift, Ken," He said. "I'm looking for some rack time myself and since when do you ask for help from anyone?"

"Since I got thrown through a window," I answered.

"I think that you just want to drive my car again," He chuckled.

"I do but not today," I said. "What do you say?"

"Meet me at my car," He sighed. "This trip had better be worth it."

"We'll find out soon enough," I muttered after I hung up and headed for Alex's Jag.

Alex had got there before me and nodded as I approached.

"Joe said you didn't get in until just before sunrise," He said. "Do I want to know where you were?"

"Ran down a lead then met up with Jamie and Jas for breakfast," I answered as vaguely as I could as we got into his car.

"Lead huh? Where are we headed?" He asked as he started the engine.

We started down the driveway as I answered.

"Ever hear of a P.I. named McNeill?" I asked.

"Doesn't ring any bells," He answered. "Who is this guy and why are we going to see him?"

I explained what I had learned from Yuri but made sure to leave his name out of it.

"You trust this source of yours that you won't tell me about?" He asked.

"Debatable but with this, yes," I answered him honestly.

He sighed and shook his head.

"Just like the old days," He muttered as he pulled onto the main road.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"The old days," he repeated. "When you got cryptic over something the hair on the back of my neck would stand up. It's doing it again now."

"You should worry more about the party tonight than this," I said.

"I can worry about several things at once," Alex stated. "Especially where you're involved."

"You still aren't funny, Alex," I sighed. "Let's get this done. I need a nap."

****

We arrived at a shabby looking older strip mall that was just off the main drag in Myrtle Beach. I nodded toward the farthest end of it and Alex shook his head.

"You can't be serious," He muttered as he pulled to a stop outside of McNeill's office.

"We can't all have office's in nice places, Alex," I reminded him. "My office is a boat."

"You're part fish so of course it is," He shook his head. "How are we going to play this? Good cop. Bad cop?"

"That's a little clichéd isn't it?" I chuckled. "I was thinking that you would go in there all gung ho and demand the info."

"Demand it huh?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said. "You're a big, intimidating former Seal. McNeill will fold in seconds."

Alex eyed me warily for a moment before he spoke.

"Why do I think that you're playing me here?" He asked.

"Paranoia," I chuckled.

"And just what will you be doing while I'm being... how did you put it? Intimidating?" He asked.

"I'll be leaning against the door and trying to look like I'm your muscle," I shared. "This will work. Trust me."

"Trust you? You?" He said then laughed as he got out of his car.

I followed him out into the humid morning air and toward McNeill's office. I stepped in before Alex, nodded at the woman behind the desk then reached up for the security camera that I knew to be there.

"Hi, Erin," I greeted her as I unplugged the camera. "How's it going?"

Erin Adams smiled even as she shook her head.

"It was going all right," She answered then nodded toward the camera. "I'm guessing that this isn't a social call."

"This one is here on business," I said as I jerked my thumb toward Alex. "I'm just the muscle."

She laughed at that as I introduced Alex and Erin to each other.

"If he's your muscle then I hope you have a back up plan," She joked.

I shook my head while Alex chuckled and looked at me.

"I like her already, Ken," He stated.

"Just go get the info out of McNeill so I can get some sleep, Alex," I grumbled as I nodded toward the office door.

Alex nodded, put his game face on then threw open McNeill's door. It slammed against the wall which caused McNeill to jump.

"What the fuck!?" McNeill shouted. "Who in the fuck are you, buddy?"

"I'm a man that's here for some fucking information and you are going to give it to me," Alex stated in his scariest sounding voice.

I did my best not to chuckle. Alex's scary voice isn't all that scary but he does look pretty imposing. Erin gave me a worried look so I gave her a smile and went to the door. McNeill spotted me, pointed then shouted at me.

"Grayson! You're behind this shit? Get this fucker out of my office right goddamn now!" He shouted.

"I'm just here for the free mints," I commented as I reached for the door that Alex slammed open. "I'll leave you two gentlemen to whatever this is. Good luck, McNeill. He looks like a tough guy."

I closed the door and heard the shouting start as I went back to Erin's desk. She shook her head at me as she slid her keyboard in front of her.

"What are you and your pal there looking for? Some poor sap get set up by my wonderful boss again?" She asked with a sigh.

"You need a new boss, Erin," I told her. "And no, not this time around. He set up someone with the local muscle. We're looking at who might be behind it."

"I knew there was something up with that big cash payout he had me deposit," Erin muttered.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she went to pull up the information. The shouting in the office had gotten louder and I would have sworn that I heard some glass breaking at one point but Alex could take care of himself.

"Oh he thinks that he's cute," Erin commented as she continued to type. "He put that info in his own little private file that he thinks I don't know about. Ooo, password protected too."

"I'm so great," I ventured a guess at the password.

She shook her head and continued to type. After a couple of tries she chuckled and shook her head.

"Password," She shared. "He really is that much of an idiot."

She turned the screen so I could see it.

"What am I looking for?" She asked.

"Any larger than normal transactions? Or anything paid to Club Violete?" I asked as I looked over her shoulder.

"The strip club?" She asked as she scrolled down. "I suppose that you don't mean his usual expenses there."

I shook my head and skimmed over the account along with her. Nothing jumped out at me but Erin hummed then highlighted a payment.

"This one is weird," She pointed out. "See here?"

I read a name of a business that I didn't recognize then shook my head.

"What makes that one weird?" I asked.

"It started up around a month ago then we've got regular payments from it up until... yesterday," She said as she switched tabs. "You're in the same business as we are, Ken. Have you ever had a client pay you weekly and in this sum?"

"If I did I would be looking for a nice cozy place to retire," I shared. "Can you..."

"Jot this down for you and forget that it happened," She picked up as she wrote down the company name, the dates of the payments along with the amounts. "I don't know what you're talking about, Ken."

"No you don't, Angel," I smiled at her as I pocketed the piece of paper just as Alex stormed out of the office.

"Come on, Grayson. We're done here!" He huffed as he stomped toward the door.

I managed not to laugh as I got to my feet. I snagged a card that Erin was waving at me and pocketed it as well before I followed Alex out into the parking lot.

"Well that was a huge waste of fucking time!" He exclaimed as we reached his car.

"Was it?" I asked as I pulled out the scrap of paper that Erin had written the info on.

"You... I... what?" He asked confused.

"You were the distraction. I got the info," I nodded. "Yes, I got it from Erin and if you're on the lookout for a great office assistant then you should give her a call. Later today in fact."

I handed him the paper and the card that Erin slipped me. It had her cell number on it and I knew why. She had been looking for a change of jobs for awhile and she saw this as her shot to move up. I agreed that it was time. Alex looked over both then nodded.

"We'll get Joe to look into this business and..." He started to say but I cut him off.

"We'll do no such thing," I said as I pulled out my cell phone and called Det. Young. She answered on the first ring.

"How's the head, Ken?" She asked.

"Still attached," I answered. "We've got some information for you that you're going to want to run down."

"Where do you want to meet?" She asked.

"Come by the estate. Alex will pass it on to you when you get there," I answered her. "We'll be there in ten minutes."

"Bobby and I will be there in fifteen," She stated then hung up.

I hung up and Alex was looking at me oddly.

"Are you all right, Grayson?" He asked. "I never thought that you would turn things over to the cops."

"I'm tired, Alex," I told him. "I just want some sleep and the police can track down these guys. Finding them isn't our job."

"Yeah but..." He started to say but I put my hand up to stop him.

"Call Erin today and offer her a job," I said then leaned my head back to try and rest.

He nodded, started the car and headed back to the estate to get ready for the party.

****

"We're doing your make up, Michelle," Addison insisted as she, Karly and Michelle were in Addison's room getting ready for the party.

"I'm not sure that I'm going," Michelle said. "Karly needs..."

"Karly needs you to go have fun with a certain guard, Michelle," Karly stated with a grin.

"Not happening," Michelle said. "I leave in a couple of weeks. I am not starting something with Kenny that I can't finish."

"I guarantee that you can finish..." Addison started to say until Michelle's glare silenced her. "I'm just saying, Michelle."

"I'll thank you not to say anything, Addison," Michelle said.

"He'll want to see you," Karly said. "Be it for two hours or two weeks, Michelle and you know I'm telling you the truth."

Michelle scowled at the sisters for a long moment then shook her head.

"Muted make up," She ordered Addison. "Don't make me look slutty or anything."

"Not slutty. Got it," Addison giggled as she turned Michelle toward the mirror in her room and started to work on her.

****

Alex was going over his people's roles for the night when Cassidy walked up to him.

"I want Grayson on fence duty," He stated and started to walk away but stopped when Alex answered him.

"Ken is inside working the party," Alex answered. "I've got Weiss and Chance doubling up with your men on the perimeter."

"That wasn't a request, Kortesis," Cassidy said. "I don't want him anywhere near the family."

"You don't run where I put my men," Alex answered. "Ken is inside and if you have a problem with that you can take it up with Mr. Voss or Mrs. Voss since it's her party."

"If I take it up with them then you and your little team will be tossed out of here!" Cassidy threatened.

"Not before tonight we won't," Alex countered. "Now go get your men ready or go whine to the Voss'. I have things to do."

Cassidy stood there for a moment before he narrowed his eyes and stomped out of the room.

"That could have gone better," Joe chimed in via the earpiece.

"Maybe so but I haven't had that great of a morning and he pushes my buttons now too," Alex sighed as he looked over his duty sheet.

"Just him or did the detectives stopping by have anything to do with your mood?" Joe asked.

"That was actually a good thing. Ken found us a solid lead on this and they are going to run it down," Alex shared. "Honestly I was surprised that he didn't want to run it down himself but he was thrown through a window already. Maybe that knocked some sense into that head of his."

"Maybe so," Joe answered. "We're ready for tonight right, boss?"

"Ready as we can be, Joe," Alex answered with a sigh.

"You think there's going to be trouble?" He asked.

"I always expect trouble, Joe. From both sides of this thing it seems," Alex answered.

"Did we ever find out anything more about Addison's trip to Belarus?" Joe asked.

"Not yet," Alex said. "I've been putting it off but I need to get that done."

"After the party," Joe told him. "I saw the dress that she's going to be wearing and trust me when I say that you don't want to miss it by questioning her before hand."

Alex chuckled and shook his head.

"I will take that advice, Joe," He smiled. "I'm on my way to you to look over our camera set ups for tonight. See you in a few."

****

The guests had started to arrive and all the guards were in place. I was surprised when Alex told me that I was to work the hall where the party was taking place. He gave me a glare when I questioned him so I backed off and started to mingle among the guests. I was doing my best to blend into the background and was succeeding until Mrs. Voss came out and hooked her arm in mine.

"Mr. Grayson," She greeted me. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, ma'am," I answered as she steered me through the gathering crowd. "Thank you for asking. You look stunning."

"Thank you for saying so, Kenneth" She smiled as she patted my hand. "Walk me to my husband?"

"Of course," I nodded and started to escort her.

She wore a flowing silver dress that looked as regal as she carried herself. Mr. Voss was across the hall from us. He nodded and we started toward him. Mrs. Voss greeted a few guests then moved us to the base of their split staircase where Mr. Voss awaited us.

"My girls like to make an entrance," Mrs. Voss giggled as she nodded toward the upper landing.

I looked up and saw three visions of beauty ready to descend the stairs. Michelle was bracketed by Karly on her left and Addison on her right. Karly was clad in a sleeveless white sheath dress that set off the red in her hair. It was what one would consider conservative but it was just tight enough to show off her womanly curves. Addison was in a navy blue dress that was the polar opposite of conservative. It had a plunging neckline that ended just above her belly button and showed off her tanned and taut tummy. Most of the men's eyes in attendance were drawn to her show of skin but my eyes were locked on the vision of beauty between the ravishing sisters. Michelle wore a shimmering emerald colored dress that had a more conservative but still plunging neckline that, if not for Addison's display of flesh, would have drawn a lot more stares.

"Wow," I murmured as they started down the stairs toward us and I managed not to drool outright when their movement revealed the slit in Michelle's dress that exposed her amazing legs.

Mrs. Voss giggled as Mr. Voss joined us. He chuckled and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't forget to breathe, Ken," He chuckled.

Michelle overheard him and smiled as she reached the bottom step.

"Forgetting to breathe, Kenny?" Karly asked with a grin.

"You take my breath away, Red," I smiled at her. "You look beautiful."

"I clean up nice at times," She smiled then nudged Michelle forward.

"Michelle, you look absolutely gorgeous," I stated.

"Some would even say breathtaking," Mr. Voss smiled then kissed each of the girls on their cheeks before he and Mrs. Voss departed to chat up some other guests.

"Karly, we should mingle," Addison said.

"But what if Kenny forgets to breathe again?" She giggled and gave me a wink.

"Don't worry about that," Cassidy said as he walked over to us. "He was just about to make a sweep of the kitchen and the upper floor. Right, Grayson?"