Blood And Steel

Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Steel and McCall arrived at the Trent Shipping yard. The whole place was in a massive fenced off area. Several large warehouses stood in rows, each of which had six trucks of different sizes parked with their trailers backed up to the loading bays.

A tall five-storey building sat in the centre of the industrial estate, with two large warehouses either side of it. Large billboards crowned their upper levels, advertising the company. The large building was the main office, the central hub. Its windows were blackened by the glare of the morning sun. McCall pulled up to the front gate, where a tall security guard waited. She had seen him get out of his booth as she approached. As she stopped, he smiled pleasantly. She noticed that the man was in his late fifties, but he looked as if he was in good physical shape.

Steel wasn’t sure if his welcome was just natural courtesy, the fact an attractive woman like McCall was there, or if he was just happy to see someone new.

“Good morning, how can I help you folks?” the guard asked. His eye contacts never left McCall, even when Steel showed his shield at the same time as she did.

“We are with NYPD, and we would like to speak to whoever is in charge here,” McCall said with a smile and a bat of the eyelids. The guard directed them to a parking lot next to the main building. McCall thanked him and left the guard with a broad smile that Steel suspected he wouldn’t lose for quite a while.

She pulled up to the parking space the guard had instructed her to use. There were several other visitors’ parking spaces, all of them empty. The front entrance was just around the corner from where she had parked her beloved Mustang. Steel got out and immediately looked up at the five-storey building. Cream coloured walls and smoked windows made the structure look more like a Manhattan office than a shipping headquarters.

The two detectives entered the lobby through automatic doors. The room was huge, with white tiled floors and cream painted walls. Small potted ferns and palms were dotted strategically around the place, breaking up the sterile colour. Steel and McCall stood for a moment taking in the layout of the place. Steel smiled as he gazed over at the front desk and the two attractive ladies at the reception. McCall gave him a quick look and shook her head in disbelief.

“Unbelievable,” she groaned and headed for the two women who were sitting behind a long wooden information desk. On the front of the light wooden frontage was the company name in brass lettering. Steel reckoned it was more likely to be imitation ‘stay bright’ rather than metal. This would be more practical since brass needs to be cleaned regularly, what’s more, it picked up every fingerprint and scratch. As they approached the desk, a tall woman met them halfway along the floor. She wore a light blue skirt suit and white blouse that was open at the neck, and she had a broad smile to match. She tossed her head, flirtatiously. Her long, wavy, fiery red hair brushed past her shoulders. McCall had wondered if she had popped a couple of buttons after seeing Steel: enticing his interest more as a distraction tactic than a ‘come-on.’

“You must be the detectives,” she began. “I am Helen Adler, Mr Adams’s personnel assistant.” Her voice was husky as if she had just had a glass of Jim Beam to gargle with.

“Of course, you are,” Steel replied, raising an eyebrow. McCall rolled her eyes then smiled before shaking the woman’s hand.

“This is Detective John Steel, and I am Detective Samantha McCall,” she said.

The woman smiled back at McCall, but there was a different kind of smile on her face for Steel.

“If you follow me, I will take you to see Mr Adams,” Helen Adler said in a sultry voice. They followed her to the brass-coloured elevator doors, whose surfaces had a strange texture. Small indents covered the bright metal, almost as if it had been attacked with a pin hammer. Steel walked behind the two women. His concentration was on checking the security and cameras. There were two large men at the main entrance and two more at the elevator. Each was dressed in a black suit with white shirt, black tie, and the bulge in their jackets indicated that they were ‘packing.’ He nodded to one of the men as they waited for the doors to open. The man nodded back after eyeing up Steel and McCall. The doors slid open, and Steel let the ladies enter first. As they closed, Steel saw the man he had greeted touch his ear, after which he shot Steel a glance before saying something into his wrist microphone. Suddenly, Steel had an uneasy feeling. The ride up was quiet. The only interaction was Helen checking Steel out in the walled mirrors. He smiled at her failed attempt to be discreet.

As the doors slid, open Helen walked out first with McCall and Steel following not far behind. Steel noted two more men at the elevator doors. A long corridor led them to another desk by a large window, next to which was a wooden double door. To the right was a corner couch, which Steel figured was in the waiting area. Helen smiled and nodded to another woman who sat behind the desk: this was Adams’s secretary. The woman was in her thirties with black hair and a black skirt suit. Helen knocked on the door, then entered. McCall and Steel followed her into a large office. The whole of the right wall was made of glass and showed a fantastic view of the parking lot and the warehouse with the billboards. The only greenery in view were the trees that had been planted in the parking lot. To the left, there was a long cabinet that housed awards for industry and a couple of sport trophies. At the end of the large room sat a large metal and oak desk, behind which sat a man. He was a large built man with broad shoulders and a square head. His neatly cut grey hair was gelled and styled, and he wore a suit that probably cost enough to pay for McCall’s rent for the next three months. As he rose to meet them, Steel noted that the shipping giant was all of five foot eight. But what he lacked in height he made up for with self-confidence.

“Mr Adams, may I present Detectives Samantha McCall and John Steel?” Helen’s gravelly voice almost purred Steel’s name. David Adams looked frantic and annoyed as he gathered up some papers and stuck them into a leather case.

“What’s up, detectives? Has my chauffeur forgotten to pay her parking tickets again?” He growled the question whilst shaking his head.

“What?” McCall said, almost shocked at his abrupt manner. “No, we are homicide detectives, and we would like to ask you some questions about one of your employees.”

“Well, it had better be about my overseas financial adviser. At least then she might have an excuse for not being here five minutes before a major deal!” Adams yelled, standing up and heading for the door.

“And who is that exactly, if I may ask?” Steel said, hoping his gut was wrong.

“Amber Taylor. The funny thing is, she has never missed a day’s work until now,” Helen Adler said. Her tone was filled with confusion, as well as a hint of worry.

“Look, can’t this wait?” Adams barked as if the thought of two homicide detectives asking about his people didn’t bother him. “I’m a very busy man.”

“Actually, no, it can’t,” McCall said. “We’re investigating the murder of one of your employees. Amber Taylor, to be precise.” Samantha McCall’s eyes were fixed on Adams’s face, to try to gauge his reaction.

“What? Amber’s dead? How? When?” Adams said, looking alarmed and shocked as he walked back to his chair and collapsed into it.

“Last night, someone attacked her in her apartment.” McCall watched the businessman’s face as she delivered the news. She could tell if someone was genuine or not, and he seemed to pass the test.

“What exactly was it that she did here?” Steel asked as he put back a glass award that was in the shape of an eagle that he had been examining. Steel turned slowly to face Adams, making sure he gave Helen a quick smile as he did so.

“She was one of my top financial managers, she handled a lot of overseas business, export and import, that sort of thing,” Adams replied, but his gaze never left his large monitor that was on the right corner of his desk. Anyone else might have considered this as evidence that he was avoiding eye contact, but Steel knew that the man could see himself in the reflection.

“Do you know of any reason anyone would want to kill her? Any rivalry in the office, an ex-boyfriend perhaps?” McCall asked, knowing sometimes it was people the victims knew who were the most likely to be their murderers. Money, jealousy, and love were all good motives to kill.

“No. Everyone loved her. She got on great with all of us. As for a boyfriend, I’m afraid I couldn’t say. She liked to keep her private life private,” Adams said, shrugging his shoulders and raising his hands.

“I guess you could speak to Rebecca Miles, she worked closely with Amber,” Helen said. Her gaze was on Adams as he just sat there staring at his monitor. “Maybe she knows something.”

McCall nodded after jotting down the woman’s name. Adams looked up at the two detectives then shot out of his seat.

“Miss Adler will help you with anything you need.” Adams’s voice trembled as he spoke. He grabbed his leather pouch bag and left the room, leaving Steel and McCall looking at each other in surprise at the man’s strange behaviour.

“Please follow me, I’ll take you to see Rebecca,” Helen said, leading them out of the room.

“So, it’s Miss Adler, is it?” Steel said with a playful tone. McCall rolled her eyes and wished she had come alone.

Rebecca Miles, or ‘Becca’ as her friends called her, was busy getting some files together. Steel could see by her demeanour she had not yet been told of her friend’s fate. She was around five foot six with short hazelnut-coloured hair and was young and attractive – Steel reckoned she was in her late twenties. Becca was clearly a ‘fresh catch’ from one of the many prestigious universities – probably Stanford or Columbia. Steel smiled as they approached, seeing that she was singing away to herself. He noticed the earplug headphone in her ear as she danced around, sorting out the paperwork.

“Becca?” Helen shouted just as Becca reached a high note, or at least tried to. “BECCA!” Helen shouted louder, causing the young woman to jump. Paper was tossed into the air like confetti. Becca pulled out her headphone and switch off her music wired from her phone.

“Sorry, Miss Adler, I didn’t hear you,” she explained. “I’ve been trying to get all this paperwork sorted for the meeting.” She knelt to retrieve the scattered documents, and Steel crouched down, joining her on the floor. She looked up at the gallant man dressed in black and smiled. He returned the smile as he gave her a handful of papers.

“Becca, these people are with the police. Something has happened to Amber.” Helen’s words were soft and full of compassion, almost like a mother giving a child some bad news.

“What? No! Is she OK?” Becca asked, her voice sounding dry as if all the moisture in her mouth had dried up. McCall always hated this part; the part of the interview when she could see the person grasping the hope that whatever had happened, it didn’t involve death, at worst that it was just a bad accident. She hated the part where she had to crush that one hope.

“I am afraid she was found dead in her apartment last night,” McCall explained. Becca stumbled back towards the office chair. Steel rushed forward and caught her as she dropped just short of her target. Sam McCall rushed forward and pushed the chair closer so that Steel could place her down comfortably. Becca’s face was pale, her eyes were wide, and her mouth was moving but failed to produce words. Helen grabbed one of the bottles of water that was on a side table. She handed it to Steel, who cracked the top and placed the mouth of the bottle to Becca’s lips. She took a small sip then her eyes looked directly at Steel. She saw her own reflection in his dark sunglasses. Becca smiled and thanked him. Steel stood up straight and moved back, giving the shocked woman some space.

“Are you alright now?” he asked. She nodded and took another sip before wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her blue blouse.

“So, what happened? Was it an accident?” she asked.

Steel shook his head and passed Becca a cotton handkerchief he had gotten from the inside breast pocket of his jacket.

“I am afraid not. Someone broke into her apartment and attacked her,” he explained. He could see that Amber and Becca had been close. Hopefully, they’d been close enough to have shared some secrets.

“Who did this to her?” Becca’s tone changed as she began to get over the initial shock.

“That’s what we are trying to find out. I can see you two were good friends. Can you tell us anything? Did she have any problems with anyone? Work colleagues, old boyfriends, maybe? Is there anything you can think of?” Steel asked, his voice soft.

Becca shook her head after thinking for a moment.

“She was seeing some guy for a while. I think he was a cop or a security guard, I can’t remember. That ended kinda bad. He used to call her up all the time, saying how she had used him.” Becca looked away as if she was straining to remember details.

“This ex, did he have a name?” asked McCall with pad and pen at the ready.

“Tony, I think … Yeah, that was it. Tony. Medium build with dark hair. Had an Italian look about him.”

McCall looked at Steel, who had the same unhappy expression on his face as she had.

“Oh bollocks,” Steel said, knowing what they had to do next.