Broken Ferns (Lei Crime ) by Toby Neal Read Free Book Online

refrigerator and looked inside.
    Hernandez returned. “Dr. Witherspoon, he like me keep some supplies on hand for if they return unexpected. Cheese, eggs, bread, some lunch meat and fruit…”
    Lei pulled out the interior drawer. “Nothing in here at all.”
    “Yeah, that’s what I told the other agent—he cleaned out the fridge.”
    Ken returned, carrying a couple of faxed sheets. “Quite a haul here. Mr. Hernandez, can you step out a moment and give us some privacy?”
    Hernandez’s white brows twitched and he huffed out, offense in every stiff line of his body. Ken looked at Lei, his straight dark brows drawn together with concern.
    “There were at least ten thousand dollars in that safe and a good deal of jewelry. There was a loaded gun in there, too. Walther PPK.”
    “The gun of the James Bond fan. That raises the stakes.” Lei felt her heart sink for the burglar with an attitude who’d stolen a Chihuahua and left behind smiley faces. Her intuition was still telling her this wasn’t an adult—but they had little to go on in developing a profile.
    “Yeah. We have to be prepared to use deadly force now.” Ken didn’t look any happier than Lei felt. “Let’s get on the road. We still have interviews down at Paradise Air.”

Chapter 6
    Lei pushed at ringlets springing free from the bobby-pinned bun she’d corralled them into, using the mirror over the sink of Paradise Air’s employee restroom. A shadow moved behind her, and a hefty-built woman in a Paradise-Air-logo-covered aloha shirt moved in behind her.
    “You the FBI agent here to talk to us?”
    Lei turned, extended her hand. “Yes, one of them. Special Agent Lei Texeira.”
    “Reynalda Tamayose.” The woman waved a little in lieu of shaking. “I came in to wash.”
    “Sure.” Lei moved aside so Reynalda could wash her hands. “Yes, we’re investigating the theft of a small aircraft from Max Smiley’s house.”
    “Probably that little silver toy Hummel of his.” Reynalda made a face at herself in the mirror, checking her teeth. They were unnaturally white. The woman’s face had the immobility of Botox and the patina of a good deal of makeup. “I’m one of the personnel managers. Been with the company since it was just Max and his first couple of pilots back in the early eighties.”
    “We were wondering about some of the workplace policies, especially around health care and vacation. According to some of the correspondence Mr. Smiley gave us, employees weren’t happy with the conditions.”
    “Mr. Smiley going to get to see the notes from the interview?”
    “Of course not. Everything to do with the investigation is confidential.”
    “Then I’ve got a few things to say.” Reynalda led the way out of the restroom. “I’d like to be interviewed first.”
    Lei followed her to the conference room they’d been assigned for the interviews. It didn’t look like it had been updated since the company began in the eighties: mint-green wall-to-wall, flattened by the tracks of chairs, was leavened by a Pegge Hopper print in faded pastel tones on one wall.
    Ken Yamada was setting up a small video camera on a tripod as they entered. Lei made introductions. “Special Agent Yamada, this is Reynalda Tamayose, one of the personnel managers.”
    “Welcome, Reynalda. Thanks so much for helping out with the investigation.” The smile Ken gave Reynalda was so brilliant, so warm, Lei saw the older woman get melty in the knees as she sank into one of the molded plastic chairs.
    “Of course. Anything I can do.”
    Lei signaled him to turn on the equipment, and as he did so, Lei stated the woman’s name, the date and time, and hurried on, eager to ride the wave of disclosure begun in the restroom.
    “So, Reynalda. You’ve been with the company how long?”
    “Thirty years. Since the beginning.” Lei saw the woman sneak a once-over at Ken.
    “And you’ve known Max Smiley all that time?”
    “Yes.”
    “What kind of employer would you