Page 20 of Targeted at Christmas

“Welcome to the Kenniston Group, Agent Reid,” she told him, then introduced him to Terry Morikawa, her senior project manager.

Cooper shook his extended hand and said, “Thanks for the meeting.”

“We’re happy to cooperate in any way we can with your investigation,” Reese told him.

Terry seconded this with a nod, and said in a steady voice, “It was terrible to hear about what happened to Horace Eckhart.”

Reese pointed toward a trio of oversize rose-colored hip chairs that were kitty-cornered from one another in front of a row of floor-to-ceiling windows and said, “Let’s sit.”

Cooper followed her lead and took one of the chairs as Terry did the other. Time to get right to the point, Cooper thought, then reiterated levelly, “As I indicated over the phone, before his death, Horace Eckhart was being investigated for public corruption. We believe he was taking bribes from developers or architects he worked with so they could be given preferential treatment on projects under way. Though the motive for his murder is still unknown, Eckhart’s alleged misconduct as a public official is still being looked at.”

Reese ran a hand haphazardly through her hair. “If you’re insinuating that we offered Mr. Eckhart a bribe to cut corners with our developments, that’s absolutely false,” she insisted. “We would never offer building inspectors money or gifts to make sure our objectives are met. Or to give us a leg up on the competition.”

Hope that holds up when all is said and done, Cooper mused, sitting back. He shifted his gaze from Reese to Terry and back before responding tersely, “I’m not accusing you of any wrongdoing at the moment. But since Eckhart was the building inspector for several recent projects of yours, it’s incumbent upon me to see if anything was amiss along the way.”

Terry leaned forward and said steadfastly, “Every development project we have worked on has been in accordance with the standard regulations put forth by the industry. That includes making sure that we abide by the codes of conduct and professionalism established by the Phoenix Planning and Development Department—and verified through its building inspectors, such as Horace Eckhart.”

Reese added to this. “We keep meticulous records to that effect, Agent Reid, and would be happy to send them to you upon request.”

The fact that they were freely cooperating without advice or presence of counsel told Cooper that they were either confident in their position or had hidden their own culpability so deep that it would be hard to uncover. He chose to believe the former, while leaving enough room to revisit the developer should Frank come up with anything or something new warranted another hard look.

Cooper told them, since they offered this without need for a search warrant, “I’ll take you up on sending us the records of construction projects that, at any stage, were signed off on by Eckhart.” Let’s see if they measure up to the info provided by Gretchen Blanchett on Eckhart’s assignments, Cooper told himself. “That should clear up any lingering thoughts about your involvement in public corruption,” he added, mainly for their benefit.

“Fine,” Reese said laconically. “As I’ve indicated, we have nothing to hide or try to protect—apart from our reputation.”

Cooper nodded and, after standing, played on that last word in stating keenly, “For most honest companies, that alone is everything.”

“Exactly,” she maintained in an unshakable tone.

After leaving the office, believing that they had made a convincing case for their innocence, Cooper met with Frank in the lobby, and asked him, “Did you find out anything?”

Frank shook his head. “Not really. From what I gathered, everyone seemed to be fully committed to doing what they did—without stepping over the line in the process. What about you?”

Cooper told him the same, more or less. “Reese Kenniston and the project manager, Terry Morikawa, gave no hint of anything improper that went on between them and Eckhart. They claim they have the records to prove this.”

“Did you buy it?”

“Yeah, I think they’re probably on the level,” Cooper answered pensively. “But, as they say, the proof will be in the pudding, once we check out their records and see if they line up with our own. Until then, we can assume that someone else was bribing Horace Eckhart to get what they wanted out of him as a building inspector—and may have been willing to kill to keep the cat from getting out of the bag.”

THAT AFTERNOON, LEXI WAS running on a treadmill at Jameson’s Gym on West Indian School Road. Working out next to her was her friend and fellow architect, Pamela Rennick. With both being into fitness, it also gave them time from their busy lives to hang out together.

“I’m excited about the eco-friendly town house complex in Scottsdale that I’m fortunate enough to be a small part of in designing for Wolftyn Senmoore Developments,” Pamela remarked as she jogged on the treadmill, while wearing a pink quarter-zip exercise knit dress and white running shoes. “Who knows if any of my designs will make the final cut—but a girl from New York can always hope, right?”

“Absolutely, you can!” Lexi wanted to boost her friend’s confidence—which sometimes seemed to lag—in using her skills for the development project in the city that was a suburb of Phoenix in Maricopa County. “You’ve got this,” she told Pamela, going even further to instill confidence.

Pamela smiled at her. “You think?”

“Of course,” Lexi doubled down on this. “You can do whatever you set your mind to, Pam,” she said for short. “Including this project. Wolftyn Senmoore will see that. You’re amazing!”

“So are you,” Pamela said sweetly. “And thanks for the show of support.”

“Ditto.” Lexi grinned with sincerity as they picked up the pace in playfully trying to outdo the other.

After a moment or two, Pamela asked, “I wonder if they’re any closer to making an arrest in the murder of that building inspector?”

“Not sure,” Lexi admitted, as Cooper hadn’t shared much information with her on how the case was going. Nor did she feel there was any need to, per se. The fact that they were spending time together didn’t give her any special entitlement where it concerned his work for the FBI. On the other hand, as she had met Horace Eckhart and sought his advice along the way on the overall approval of projects where he was the building inspector, Lexi did feel somewhat of a kinship there. As such, she did really want to see his killer—or killers—brought to justice.

Pamela sighed. “Well, hopefully wherever this goes, it was an isolated incident and won’t get in the way of our work as architects for developers, who only want to build great things in Maricopa County.”