“Is there a problem?”
“We just need to look around,” Ian stated firmly as he wasn’t ready to tell this guy that Junior had been murdered.
“I can’t let you in without a warrant,” the doorman said.
“Thought you might ask for that.” Ian held out his phone and displayed the warrant.
“No.” He shook his head. “That won’t do. I need to see an official one. You know, in print.”
“Fine,” Ian said. “Give me access to your network, and I’ll print it.”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
Londyn leaned closer. “The judge signed the document electronically. It’s valid.”
The doorman crossed his arms. “But I don’t have anything to show my supervisor when he asks. I’ve been written up twice for not following protocol. This would be my last chance, and I could lose my job.”
“Like I mentioned,” Ian said. “I can print this one. Just give me access.”
A uniformed security guard standing in the corner crossed to them. “Is there a problem here?”
Ian flashed his badge, and Londyn turned to look at the guard.
“Oh, Ms. Steele,” the guard said. “I didn’t know it was you.”
Ian noticed the Steele Guardians logo on the guard’s chest. He worked for Londyn’s family’s business, which supplied security guards for large corporations.
The guard smiled at her. “Can I be of assistance?”
“We need to get into unit 706, and this nice man says he needs our warrant in print before he’ll let us in.”
“Well, I do,” the doorman stated.
“Can’t we make an exception just this one time,” the guard said. “They can show me the electronic warrant too, and I can vouch for you having seen it. I can also join them in the condo to observe.”
“Fine.” The doorman handed a passkey to the guard and locked gazes. “You make me regret this, and I do the same for you.”
The guard gave a sharp nod and led Ian and Londyn across the tiled lobby and into the elevator, where he stuck the passkey in and punched number seven. “I’m Damon, by the way. Damon Rochester.”
“Thank you for your help, Damon,” Londyn said. “It won’t go unnoticed.”
“Good to hear.” He preened as the elevator whisked them up to the seventh floor and a light-filled hallway.
Damon shoved the key into unit 706’s lock and stood back. “I know I told him I’d come in with you, but you’ll want privacy. I’ll hang right out here.”
Londyn cast him a quick smile, and Ian entered while he had the chance. He heard her footsteps behind him.
“Remind me to bring you along all the time,” Ian said as he strode down a short hallway, past a kitchen, and into a wide great room with windows overlooking the city. “Million-dollar view.”
Londyn mumbled something, but she was already across the room at a metal bookshelf looking through closed boxes. The room was filled with contemporary furniture and decor, and Ian figured a professional had decorated the place.
“Sure doesn’t look like the kind of place I thought Junior would end up living in. It’s spotless.” Ian noticed a laptop on a glass-and-metal table. He made a mental note to have forensics take it into evidence right away, and he needed to pick up Junior’s belongings from the medical examiner in case his pockets held anything of interest.
The reunion flyer lay on the table next to the computer, and Junior had circled the blurb mentioning Malone’s service recognition along with her picture. He’d written next to it,Tell her then. Mom too.
Ian took a picture of the paper where it lay, then put on gloves and held out the flyer to Londyn. “Look at this.”
She left the shelf behind and peered at the paper. “If he meant the accident, seems odd that he would tell his mother as well.”
