Four Days Famous: A Mylas Grey Mystery (Mylas Grey Mysteries Book 4) Read online

  Four Days Famous

  A Mylas Grey Mystery

  Book IV

  by Luana Ehrlich

  Copyright © 2022 Luana Ehrlich

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  You’re invited to visit the author’s website here: LuanaEhrlich.com

  All books by Luana Ehrlich are available on Amazon here

  When you sign up for the author’s newsletter here, you’ll also receive a FREE download of One Step Back, the prequel to the Titus Ray Thriller Series.

  To James Ehrlich,

  the most mysterious man I know,

  and the love of my life.

  Complete List of Books

  by Luana Ehrlich

  Luana is the USA Today bestselling author of Titus Ray Thrillers and Mylas Grey Mysteries. Each book can be read as a standalone novel, but for readers who prefer the series experience, the following order is suggested.

  The Titus Ray Thriller Series:

  One Step Back, the prequel to One Night in Tehran

  One Night in Tehran, Book I

  Two Days in Caracas, Book II

  Three Weeks in Washington, Book III

  Four Months in Cuba, Book IV

  Five Years in Yemen, Book V

  Two Steps Forward, Book VI

  Three Steps Away, Book VII

  Four Steps Missed, Book VIII

  The Ben Mitchell/Titus Ray Thriller Series:

  (While these novels are Titus Ray Thrillers, they also feature Ben Mitchell.)

  Ben in Love, Book I—chronologically, this book follows Two Steps Forward

  Ben in Charge, Book II—chronologically, this book follows Three Steps Away

  The Mylas Grey Mystery Series:

  One Day Gone, Book I

  Two Days Taken, Book II

  Three Days Clueless, Book III

  Four Days Famous, Book IV

  The Silas McKay Suspense Series: (Coming 2022)

  One Wonders, Book I

  Two Believe, Book II

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  PART ONE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  PART TWO

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  PART THREE

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  PART FOUR

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  A NOTE TO MY READERS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  BONUS EXCERPT

  PART ONE

  Chapter 1

  Monday, January 3

  I had a strategy in mind, an intricate plan, a method I’d carefully conceived and put together over a period of several days.

  I reviewed it one last time before I left my new office building at the corner of L Street and 15th Street in Washington, D.C., and drove over to the Russell Senate Office Building on Constitution Avenue.

  For the past six years, I’d been working in the Russell Building as the chief investigator for Senator Davis Allen, the senior senator from Missouri and the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

  Senator Allen had his own investigators—he called them the R & I Group—to look into the backgrounds of the President’s judiciary nominees before they were questioned by his committee members.

  Although I found the work interesting, and I enjoyed my time on Capitol Hill, I was no longer employed by Senator Davis Allen.

  A month ago, I turned in my letter of resignation.

  My two-week notice didn’t make the senator very happy, but despite his reluctance to see me go, he wished me good luck with my new endeavor.

  To call Mylas Grey Investigations my new endeavor seemed odd to me, probably because I’d been thinking about starting my own private investigation agency for several years now.

  After making the decision—which happened over the Thanksgiving holidays—I immediately put together a business plan, talked to a realtor about finding me an office building, and hired my first investigator, one of three I planned to have at the agency.

  I offered the first position to Leslie Irving, a private detective I met when I was interviewing people for the vacant deputy investigator position in the R & I Group several months ago.

  At the time, I thought Leslie was the ideal candidate.

  Unfortunately, Senator Allen had his own agenda and offered the position to Charlie Hayes, a former homicide detective, who happened to be the son of one of the senator’s wealthiest donors.

  Truth be told, I was pretty upset at the senator for making that choice. Now though, I was happy Charlie was the deputy investigator for the R & I Group, because that meant Leslie Irving was available to come to work for me at Mylas Grey Investigations.

  In a way, I felt obligated to offer Leslie the position because when I ran into her at the airport when I was flying back to my hometown of Columbia, Missouri, for Thanksgiving, she asked me if I was still considering opening my own private investigation agency, and that discussion prompted me to move forward with the idea.

  Once I put the wheels in motion, things proceeded at a rapid pace. A week after I resigned from the R & I Group, I signed the papers on an office building, hired an administrative assistant, and began interviewing personnel for my surveillance teams.

  Leslie, who’d previously worked for the Bowman Detective Agency, gave me the names of some people at Bowman she thought would be willing to change jobs, especially if they received a raise.

  Chase Reed, my new surveillance supervisor, was one of them.

  As I told Leslie, my philosophy in staffing Mylas Grey Investigations was to hire the very best people, pay them a top wage, and encourage them to excel at their positions by giving them all the resources they needed to get the job done.

  For my part, as the CEO of Mylas Grey Investigations, the main resource I needed to run a top-notch agency—besides a swanky office building, well-trained investigators, and a competent staff—was someone who was a research nut, a computer guru, and a data genius.

  In other words, I needed someone like Nina Rivers, the data specialist in the R & I Group in Senator Allen’s office.

  Except, I didn’t want someone like Nina Rivers. I wanted Nina Rivers herself. That was the reason I’d come up with my strategy, my intricate plan, my carefully conceived method—maybe scheme was a better word for it—to get Nina to come to work for me.

  The success of my plan depended on two things, timing and execution. If either one of them was off, my cunningly devised plot would go down in flames.

  That couldn’t happen.

  * * * * * *

  When I became the chief investigator for Senator Allen in the R & I Group, it took me several months before I figured out how to work with Nina Rivers,
a widow in her late 50s who’d been a member of Senator Allen’s staff even before he ran for Congress.

  Once I learned how Nina operated, getting results from her proved to be fairly easy, and as an added bonus, her work product increased dramatically. In most instances, Nina’s work product consisted of gathering background information on a judicial nominee.

  However, it could also include obtaining personal details about a congressional member, other political figures, or just about anyone.

  I quickly discovered Nina was capable of finding out a myriad of facts about any situation or person on the planet, and the secret to having her ferret out such details was to acknowledge she was an expert at finding out stuff. Once she came up with something, then the next step was to shower her with accolades.

  Such kudos often compelled her to dig even deeper, which was why the information the R & I Group presented to Senator Allen on a judicial nominee usually filled up a large color-tabbed notebook, a notebook Nina referred to as an investigative casebook.

  A few weeks ago, when I called Nina and Charlie into my office and told them I was leaving the R & I Group to start Mylas Grey Investigations, I felt sure Nina would be so excited about the prospect, she would immediately want to talk to me about joining my agency.

  That didn’t happen. She didn’t request a meeting.

  She didn’t even seem that excited about it. In fact, for several days after my announcement, she would hardly speak to me.

  However, Charlie made up for it.

  He was obviously excited about my departure, but I figured that was because he thought there was a good chance Senator Allen would appoint him as the chief investigator in my place.

  He was right about that, although Senator Allen didn’t offer him the position until my last day on the job.

  Charlie accepted it without hesitation.

  * * * * * *

  After making my announcement, I gave Nina a few days to process my resignation before I stopped by her office to discuss it with her.

  Of course, I didn’t tell her that’s why I dropped in on her.

  I pretended it was about a background check on Deborah Norris, a nominee for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

  When I walked into Nina’s office, she was staring at one of the three computer monitors on the twelve-foot-long credenza behind her desk. On the desk itself there were two open laptops.

  “Have you turned up anything interesting about Judge Norris?” I asked, plopping myself down in the chair in front of her desk. “I’m meeting with Senator Allen about the judge tomorrow.”

  “As far as I can tell, Judge Norris has a clean record. I haven’t seen any red flags in her background. Sorry if that disappoints you.”

  Nina’s blue eyes twinkled as she made this comment, so I took that as a good sign she was over being mad at me for leaving.

  “Why would that disappoint me?” I asked. “I’m glad to hear the judge is a model citizen and an excellent nominee.”

  Nina pushed a lock of red hair away from her eyes. “I find that hard to believe, Mylas. Judicial nominees who have skeletons in their closets are your favorites. I’m sure that’s why you decided to leave us. There weren’t enough of those nominees.”

  “You think I’m starting my own agency because this job lacks excitement?”

  “I’m sure of it, but I hope you won’t be disappointed. Surveys show private investigators spend the majority of their time running surveillance on people, and I happen to know you hate running surveillance.”

  “That’s why I plan to have several surveillance teams on my staff, as well as a surveillance supervisor.”

  “No two-person office for you?”

  “It’ll be first class all the way. I’m sure with the contacts I’ve made on Capitol Hill, plus the clients from my lawyering days, I’ll have enough business to keep several investigators and a couple of surveillance teams busy.”

  Nina saw the world in terms of data, statistics, and numbers, so it didn’t surprise me when she said, “It sounds like you’ve already got a dozen people on your payroll. If that’s true, then you’ll also need an office manager, a receptionist, and a couple of secretaries to handle the administrative details. Do you realize that?”

  “Yes, and I also plan to hire someone to handle the computer side of things.”

  I paused a moment, thinking she would take the hint, but she went off in a different direction instead.

  “I’d like to meet that person, if for no other reason than to hear what they call themselves. What title will you give them?”

  I hadn’t given it any thought, so I quickly made up something.

  “I’m thinking of advertising the position as an investigative research analyst.”

  She nodded. “That makes sense. I’ve always thought my data specialist title wasn’t adequate enough for what I do here.”

  I saw her comment as an open invitation, so I said, “Well, Nina, if you’d like to come to work for Mylas Grey Investigations, I’ll let you pick your own title. You can even name your own salary.”

  She shook her head back and forth. “Statistics prove long-time employees who leave their positions are seldom satisfied after making a change. Initially, there’s a honeymoon period, but after that, things go downhill.”

  “I hadn’t heard that before.”

  She smiled. “That’s why you need a data specialist.”

  I gestured at her with both hands. “Seriously, Nina, I’d love for you to come to work for me. Would you at least think about it?”

  She shrugged. “Sure, Mylas, I’ll give it some thought, but you’d be better off paying a headhunter to find the right person for your agency. I can’t see myself making a change right now.”

  I immediately pounced on the “right now” of her rejection and tried to further entice her by pointing out she’d be able to furnish her office with the most up-to-date office furniture and equipment available.

  Despite the fact she had a love affair with office supply stores and always insisted on having the latest electronics, when I made this offer, she didn’t seem all that impressed with it.

  As I left her office that day, I made the decision to let the matter rest and try again in a couple of days.

  However, when I brought up the subject a few days later, she still wasn’t interested. “Thanks for the opportunity, Mylas, but I’ve decided to stick around here. I know dozens of people on Capitol Hill who are more qualified than me to be your research analyst, so I’m sure you won’t have any trouble filling the position.”

  After expressing my regret that she was turning down my offer, I asked her if she’d mind emailing me the names of anyone on The Hill she thought might be interested in leaving government service and coming to work for Mylas Grey Investigations.

  “Uh . . . okay . . . I . . . uh . . . suppose I could send you some names.”

  When I heard the hesitancy in her voice, I quickly realized I should have presented my job offer in a much different way.

  Now, as I walked in the doors of SR335, Senator Allen’s office suite at the Russell Building, I was ready to put my strategy—yes, my scheme—into play. If it didn’t work, I would move on.

  Even though I was often accused of being obsessive, I knew when to let things go.

  Most of the time.

  * * * * * *

  Naturally, I didn’t let anyone know what the real purpose of my visit to SR335 was. Supposedly, I was there to see Nathan Lockett.

  Lockett was Senator Allen’s chief of staff and my immediate supervisor, or at least he was until I handed him my key card on my last day in the office two weeks ago.

  Despite the fact Lockett had been my boss, I considered him my best friend. Our friendship didn’t happen overnight, though.

  In fact, it took us several years to get there.

  Part of the reason it took us so long was because he was a man of faith, and until recently, I hardly knew the meaning of the word. Besides that, I was a Kan
sas City Chiefs fan, and he was a Washington football fan, and there was nothing compatible about that.

  Our backgrounds were also a lot different.

  Before becoming Senator Allen’s chief of staff, Lockett spent twenty years in the Air Force as an intelligence officer, whereas I was involved in a prestigious D.C. law firm for fifteen years before joining Senator Allen’s staff.

  These barriers to our friendship lessened over time, and then last year, they disappeared altogether when I was in Columbia, Missouri, and met a woman named Whitney Engel who caused me to question my rejection of Christianity.

  Eventually, after talking things over with Whitney and hearing her explain several verses in the Bible to me, I made my own commitment of faith and became a Christian myself.

  Lockett’s reaction to my newfound faith was predictable—he congratulated me on making a wise decision—but he also invited me to start attending church with him and his wife, Diana.

  I enjoyed the pastor’s sermons so much, I began going to Grace Fellowship Church in Ashton Heights on a regular basis.

  Yesterday, when I saw Lockett at church, I mentioned I was looking for someone to lease office space in the building I’d recently purchased for Mylas Grey Investigations, and he suggested I stop by his office today so we could discuss some possibilities.

  Because I figured we could do that over the phone, I wondered if he had an ulterior motive for wanting to see me in person.

  However, since I’d already made plans to make a third pitch to Nina about coming to work for MGI, I decided not to question him about it, although I was still a little suspicious.

  Now, as Lockett opened the door to his office, and I saw Senator Davis Allen occupying one of his leather club chairs, my suspicions were confirmed—Lockett definitely had an ulterior motive for wanting to see me in person.