© 2022 Phylicia Joannis
“It’s too dangerous.”
Penny shook her head at me and I scowled, crossing my arms as I sat on her couch. It was small but, unlike Jameson’s place, her furniture was stain free. She was right, of course. What I was thinking was dangerous. But the Bordertown apartment fire and Mitchell Blume’s hand in it were all I could think of.
I found myself obsessed, poring over any article with Mitchell Blume’s name on it. He’d been a very powerful man. And he had secrets. Ones worth killing for.
“I need to get down there,” I stated.
“No you don’t. Someone else should do it.”
“Who else, Penny? The police?”
“Yes! This is their job, not ours.”
I shook my head. “No police. If my mother finds out I’m still alive, I’m dead.”
“They’ll protect you.”
“If they got to Jameson, they can get to me, too.”
Penny’s eyebrows crinkled, and she rubbed her temples. “What do you think you’ll find over there, anyway?”
“I don’t know. A clue, maybe?”
“Bordertown isn’t a sunny suburb, you know. People get knifed there in broad daylight. My brother and I used to live on that side of town. Besides, that old apartment building is condemned and full of squatters.”
“That’s something else that bothers me. Why didn’t they rebuild it, or tear it down completely? Why let it turn into a slum?”
“I don’t know. It’s been that way since I moved here, but that was only a few years ago. Charles would probably know.” Her eyes grew watery and she sniffed. I knew she was worried about him.
“I’m sure he’ll be okay.” I tried to offer a word of comfort. After his collapse, Penny had rushed him to the hospital. I’d agreed to meet her at her place rather than join her. I still needed to stay out of sight.
From Penny’s account it was a good call. They managed to stabilize Jameson, but whatever made him sick was suspicious enough for the police to get involved. Without her connection to Simon, Penny might not have made it back to her place at all.
Penny and I both knew something was up. Jameson had been looking into the mayor, putting himself at risk. But Mitchell Blume was dead. Hurting Jameson didn’t make any sense. Unless someone else didn’t want Mayor Blume’s secrets getting out.
Penny dabbed at her eyes and checked a message on her phone. “Simon sent me the information he got from Charles. Do you wanna take a look at it?”
She turned on her laptop, and we looked at the information together. Most of it was gibberish to me. Shell companies, subsidiaries, things that I couldn’t make heads or tails of. But then I saw a familiar name.
“That’s my mother’s last name. What is this?” I asked Penny, pointing at the screen.
“Um, well, all public companies list their owners and investors. This is the company information for the PilTech group.”
“And Richard Ellison? That’s the owner?”
“Looks like it.”
“What does that company do?”
Penny scrolled through another page. “Looks like it’s an investment company. They seem to specialize in projects related to city development and infrastructure.” I made a face and Penny chuckled. “Real estate and roads and stuff.”
“So would a company like that invest in stuff like Mitchell Blume’s initiative?”
Penny nodded. “According to Charles, they awarded a corporate grant to the Department of Transportation three years ago. He highlighted the terms of the grant here. They had to purchase equipment with technology provided by BioTech. And there’s a footnote here about BioTech. MBI subsidiary, possible shell company. Hmm.”
“What is MBI?” I asked.
“Mitchell Blume Industries.” Penny looked back at the computer and squinted. “Huh. That’s strange.” She copied an address from the page and pasted it into another window. “Guess where the official address of BioTech is located?”
“Where?”
“The Bordertown apartment complex.” I leaned in closer to the screen and Penny sighed. “Someone’s gotta go down there.”
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