“I’ve worked hard in life. But I’ve also realized that with my success comes a responsibility to give breaks to guys that didn’t get them.”
“Well, I’m sure that speech will get you a warm round of applause and a stringy chicken dinner at the Rotary Club,” said Maclean, “but right now, my bullshit meter is going right off the scale. You’d better start telling me the truth or I will personally visit every one of your CEO party pals at their head offices and ask them if they are aware that prostitution is illegal in this jurisdiction. Then I will send a press release to every media outlet in the city letting them know that your company hired a hooker to give hand jobs to the movers and shakers of Seattle, and now she’s dead. How does that sound, Mr. Griffin?”
Jason sighed anxiously. “Look, I’m almost broke. That’s the truth. My dad left this company in really bad shape. By the time he died, we were two months away from bankruptcy. The company would have gone straight down the toilet if I hadn’t laid off most of the regular mechanics and changed the business model toward executive charters. You may not approve of that party I threw, but I’ve got three confirmed charters out of it so far, and seven more likely prospects. And it hasn’t even been a week. As for Cody, I get federal and state assistance with his salary to upgrade his skills and a tax credit. He’s basically free labor. I wanted to tell you the truth about him, but I really didn’t think he did it—still don’t—and I can’t afford to lose him. He’s the last employee I’ve got, and until I get the cash flow from those flights to Mexico, I’m screwed. I can’t afford to pay anybody else to take over from him.”
“Well, then I think you’ve got a problem. Because when I ran a check on him last night, along with finding out about his extensive criminal record, I also got his address. And I went by there to question him. But guess what I found? An empty apartment.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. He moved to a new place at the beginning of October. His new address won’t be in the records until my bookkeeper processes the next cycle of paychecks, which is next Friday. His new address is in my office. Everything’s cool.”
“No everything is not cool, Mr. Griffin. Because Cody North is supposed to be here and he isn’t.”
“He’s always been super reliable. This is literally the first time he’s ever been late. Why don’t we go inside; I’ll call him and find out what’s going on and we’ll sort this out.”
“Okay, let’s go,” said Maclean.
Jason unlocked the front door, turned off the alarm, and flicked the lights on.
“Cody? You here, man? Cody, yo!”
There was no answer.
“Does Cody often lurk around in here with the lights off?” asked Maclean, betraying more than a little sarcasm.
“No,” replied Jason patiently, “but once in a while if he’s working late and starting early, he sleeps here in one of the planes or in the back of the van.”
“Does he own a vehicle?”
“No. I’m not able to pay him much ’til I get this place back on its feet. He can’t afford a car of his own, so I let him use the company vehicle after hours.”
“You trust him with your own property. How magnanimous,” said Maclean. “But I didn’t see your van parked outside. And I don’t see it anywhere in the hangar either. This makes me very concerned, Mr. Griffin.”
“Look, I know Cody’s done some pretty bad things. But when they showed me his criminal file, and I found out his background, it seemed a lot of it was because of circumstance and lousy breaks. I mean, you read his life history and you think, ‘There but for the grace of God go I,’ you know?”
“There but for the grace of God go you indeed. Because if Cody North turns out to be the murderer and you helped him get away because you concealed his criminal past from me, I will charge you with being an accessory to homicide. And the fact that Cody North is not here when he’s supposed to be gives me great cause for alarm.”
“Look, I’m calling him right now. You’ll see that everything’s fine.”
Jason took out his cell phone and hit the speed dial. He listened impatiently as the phone rang through to voice mail. “Hey Cody, it’s me. Where are you, man? I’m at the hangar. You’re supposed to be here. Call me as soon as you get this, okay? It’s urgent.”
“I’m getting a very bad feeling about this,” said Maclean. “I would like Cody’s new address right now.”
“Yeah, sure. 345 Tamarack Way, Apartment 202. Maybe he slept in or something. Like I said, he’s super dependable, but he does like to party, and he does like the ladies.”
“Yeah, right,” said Maclean. “He likes the ladies so much he may have killed two and sexually assaulted several more. That we know of.”
“Look, I’m sure if you go to his apartment, this will all be sorted out.”
“Assuming he’s not halfway to Mexico by now. What’s the make and plate number of the company van?”