Artair
Luna was wrung out from her adventures and asleep long before the clock struck midnight. Two things had happened while I'd been taking back the reins from my errant little flight risk.
Reg Reggie had been detained at Thames Valley Police station in Westminster, and our Dunnottar stalker, in Aberdeenshire, where my cousin was head of the Northeast division. One of his men had picked the guy up based on Luna's description.
I was a little surprised to find out that the two men were not one and the same, but it made sense that Reg Reggie would need people on the ground to do his dirty work for him. I left a note on the bedside stand and instructions with Graeme to ensure Lunadidn't wander off while I jetted over to London to see Reg Reggie for myself and hopefully learn more about his motives.
On my way, I stopped in Aberdeen to check on the man who accosted Luna on the hillside by Dunnottar Castle. My cousin allowed me to safely watch the interview while another officer interviewed Stan Jarvis. Stan was shown a picture of Luna and asked if he'd accosted her, which he vehemently denied. For each question asked, he responded with a negative. After an hour of the police getting nowhere with the man, I asked my cousin if I could speak with him.
“Why would you want to do that? You're a lawyer, Artair, you can't be going all vigilante on us.”
“I know, but I have information which may make him want to tell the truth.”
My cousin shook his head but opened the door and called the other man out while I stepped in to replace him. “This is not a private meeting, Mr. Jarvis. I assure you this conversation is being recorded.”
He looked anywhere but at me, his guilt glaringly obvious.
“You're not very good at this, are you, Stan? May I call you Stan? I mean, after all, you've been stalking my woman in Canada and followed her all the way here, so I feel we should be on a first-name basis.”
He glared at me but didn't respond; instead, he yelled at the mirror that he wanted a lawyer.
“I am a lawyer, Mr. Jarvis, and can certainly help you, but only if you're willing to tell the truth. What do you know about the podcaster, Reg Reggie?”
His eyes rounded, his jaw dropping low.
“You can stop pretending you know nothing, Stan. If you don't come clean, I'm afraid Mr. Reggie will, and I'm sure he'll throw you under the bus like he has every other patsy he's used to get what he wants.” I waited a few breaths, giving him time tocatch up. Then I stood. “Tick, tick, Stan, I'm a busy man; if you want to see daylight ever again, I suggest you confess to your part in all of this.”
I made my way to the door, counting down from five as I did. At 'one' he cried out. “Wait! I confess, itwasme who accosted Luna on the monument hill.”
Finally, we were getting somewhere. I strolled back to my vacated chair. “You have five minutes; make it count.”
Stan Jarvis confessed to having been a subscriber toFeetingFansand said he could be found under the online name00footlover. As it turned out, he was into some very specific kinks with feet. His father was the mayor of Vancouver, and when Reg Reggie uncovered some private videos showing what he did while watching feet on the site, he blackmailed Stan into becoming his accomplice.
“I swear I never meant to hurt Luna, but Reg said if I didn't get the footage, he'd publicize the videos of me, and that would ruin my father's career.” His statement echoed Luna's, as she'd said the same thing about mine.
“Reg Reggie is currently being questioned in London for cybercrimes. Your statement will help us take him down. Thank you, Mr. Jarvis; you have been extremely helpful.”
“Wait, what about me?”
“You will be free to go shortly, but you cannot leave the U.K. until the investigation is done. If you try, this will go far worse for you. Perhaps you should think about your life choices while awaiting trial, Stan. You're a young man and have your entire life ahead of you. I will do my best to get your charges dismissed, but you will never, and I mean ever, approach my woman again, is that clear?”
He gulped. “Yes, sir, and I'm sorry. I just reacted.”
He wasn't the only one. I thought back to almost a week ago when Luna ran off into the woods by the train station.
“Do better.” And with that, I left and headed to the airport for my trip to Westminster. Before takeoff, I called Graeme. “How is she?”
“How the heck should I know? She's inside and probably sleeping at this ungodly hour.”
I ignored his outburst. “Does your Uncle Alan still run his private investigation company?”
“He does, why?”
“I'm sending you a file on the guy from Dunnottar. I want your uncle on him and providing me with hourly reports on his actions and whereabouts.”
“That will cost you, but I'll get him to prioritize the case.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask how he was doing, but the jet was taking off. “Good. Provide him with my cell so I can text him any additional particulars.” I ended the call and leaned back in my chair, taking a black coffee and a breakfast sandwich from a member of my cabin crew.
