Double Black Diamond (Mercy Watts Mysteries) Read Free Page A

slowly and found the old guy smiling at me. He waved and I stared. WTF. Spidermonkey was a member of AARP? No way. This had to be a joke. I walked over, wondering where the camera was that was undoubtedly recording my stupidity.  
    “Sit down, Miss Watts,” he said in a honeyed Southern accent, South Carolina unless I was mistaken.  
    “Seriously?” I asked.
    “Not what you were expecting?”  
    “Not quite.”  
    “I’m nothing like your uncle Morty, but the obese sweatpants look is overdone in my opinion.” He smiled and pointed at the chair. I sat down. I think my mouth was hanging open. He knew Uncle Morty personally. That was a surprise. Morty was Spidermonkey’s biggest competitor. He did all the work for my dad in investigations and I would’ve asked him to look into the house, except that he already knew the truth and wasn’t going to tell me.  
    The barista brought my latte and cinnamon roll. It smelled like Christmas, but I felt like Halloween when you never knew who was behind the mask.  
    “How do I know you’re really Spidermonkey?” I asked.  
    “I’m your cousin Chuck’s connection, if that helps. He’s seen me in person, one of the few that has. Call him. He’ll vouch.”  
    I sipped my latte and considered it. Chuck was my cousin by marriage and a huge pain in the ass. He was also a police detective and loyal to my dad. I didn’t want him to know what I was up to. He’d recently shown me some loyalty by keeping my first contact with Spidermonkey secret, but that was another case, and I didn’t expect the same thing to happen twice.  
    “You haven’t informed Chuck that you’re working for me?” I asked.
    “You asked me not to.” Spidermonkey smoothed his lime green sweater and adjusted his gold cuff links. How was this guy a hacker?
    “You told Chuck what I was up to in Honduras.”  
    “This case intrigues me and getting one over on Morty has its appeal, so I kept your confidence.”
    “Who are you?” I asked.
    “You mean how am I in this line of work?”
    “Exactly.”  
    “I retired about ten years ago. I was a stockbroker with an interest in the internet. I learned how to use it to my clients’ advantage and I was very good at finding information that companies didn’t want me to know. After I retired my beloved wife threatened to kill me if I didn’t find something to do and I became Spidermonkey. Are you ready to hear what I have to say?”  
    “Is it bad?” I asked, wincing.  
    “Does it matter?”  
    “No. Go ahead.”  
    “In my opinion the deal between the Bleds and your father was completely off the books. It was a verbal agreement with no paper trail. I know you’re worried about Brooks Bled finding out what the deal was. But I couldn’t find any evidence, so there’s no chance he will.”  
    “Uncle Morty hid some paperwork from me. There is something,” I said.  
    “Not about the deal. Your father’s a brilliant man. He didn’t commit it to paper or computer. I’m certain of this.”
    “Where did you look?”  
    He sipped his black coffee and smiled. “Everywhere. Morty had quite a firewall built around your parents and The Girls, but I got through it. Just a matter of time. I believe the paperwork is travel-related.”  
    “Why?” I asked.
    “Because Tommy Watts took a three-week vacation during the time the house was signed over to your mother.”  
    “Any trace of where he went?
    “No public transport. He may have driven or…”
    “Or?”
    “A private plane took off from Lambert on the first day of his vacation.”
    “What makes you think my dad was on it?”
    “It was a Bled plane. It took off at midnight. There was no manifest or flight plan.”  
    “Aren’t those required?”
    “You grew up in the Bled world. You know better. The Bleds make the rules, they don’t follow them.”
    I looked down into my cup at the dregs of foam clinging to the sides. Spidermonkey said something about power and money