Guardian Angels – Ambivalent - 5

A few minutes later Vic said, "Keefe Investigations doesn't exist."

"But you said the car was registered to them."

"All he would have needed was proper identification and papers saying he owned the car. Those are easily gotten if you know the right people."

"Meaning they'd be forgeries."

"Got it in one. So I'd be willing to bet the address he gave is as bogus as everything else." Vic tapped a couple of keys on the keyboard. "Yep. Unless he's set up in a vacant lot in the middle of the warehouse district, it's definitely bogus."

"Damnú air!" Paddy muttered.

Vic chuckled. "Can I presume that means damn it in… whatever?"

"Gaelic," Paddy replied, "and it does. So I'm stuck in limbo unless Mr. Keefe shows up at the shelter again."

"Looks like. Tell you what, let me do some checking around. Describe him to me."

"Average build, average height, probably mid-forties, dark hair, thin lips, blue eyes."

"That helps...not. Any scars, tattoos, other identifying marks?"

"Not that I noticed." Paddy smiled slightly. "No wasp tat on his neck, unfortunately."

Vic snorted. "I take it you read that book?"

"The first and the second. I haven't gotten around to 'Hornet's Nest' yet."

"Who has?" Vic asked, laughing. "Okay, back to Mr. Keefe. How was he dressed?"

"Slacks, a blue shirt. He looked businesslike but not formal. He had a messenger bag."

"Still no help. The car?"

"Green sedan, whitewalls. Wait…" Paddy closed his eyes. "Okay, I only saw one side of it, but there was only one whitewall. The other tire was just black."

"Now that does help. Make and model?"

Paddy shrugged. "Doesn't it say in the information for the license plates?"

"If he told the truth, it's a Chevy Malibu, two years old."

"The big if," Paddy grumbled.

"Yeah. So what we have is a man who claims to be a licensed investigator for a company that doesn't exist. Paddy, you'd better hope he shows up at the shelter again or we might never find him."

Paddy blew out a long breath. "If he does, it'll be because he's figured out Mike is who he's looking for."

"Which I suspect wouldn't be a good thing, since it's obvious Mike's father couldn't have hired him. We have to come up with a reason why someone else wants to locate Mike."

"And that means I get to make friends with him somehow."

"You can't pick his brain?"

"For what? Unless he's come to the same conclusions we have he's not going to be thinking along those lines. Even if he has, it could take a lot of careful questioning to come up with someone in his past that has a reason to want him found. I can't do that mentally."

"So, make friends with him like you said. And…" Vic grinned, "Don't pop in on him the way you and Dom did with us. You'd probably scare him to death."

"Point made. Okay, thanks for your help. I better get back there and figure out a legit way to make his acquaintance."

"Any time. If you need anything else call or drop in."

"Believe me, I will." Paddy grinned. "I like learning how to be a PI."

Vic chuckled. "Like you learned a lot today."

"I found out almost any information is available if you know where to look. And I know the sites you went to, and how you accessed them. That's a start."

"Reading my mind? I though that wasn't allowed."

Paddy just shrugged. "Needs must when the devil drives."

"Says the angel," Vic replied with a bit a amusement just as Paddy vanished from his office.