The Exposé 3 Read Online Free Page A

room.
    What he wants most...
    I think hard. Dax has been
stressed since the moment I met him -- and all because of these
anonymous notes. He wants to find out who’s threatening him.
Which means if I can deliver that name to him, he might give me the
time of day.
    I can get back on the inside for
my story again, and shake my guilt, all in one move.
    For
the first time in days, I feel some hope. I rummage in my purse and
pull out the card I found in his apartment. Dimas Developments. It’s
not much, but I need to start somewhere.
    “Are you OK finishing up
here alone?” I call to Tasha. “I have some work to do.”
    “Sure, go ahead.”
Tasha sticks her head out. “I can’t decide, so I’ll
just get both!”
     
    *
     
    Armed
with just the business card and company name, I decide to do some
old-school sleuthing. I head to City Hall, and spend hours combing
through company registration records before I find the filing for
Dimas: CEO, Nikolai Dimas. I check the names against business
licenses and property deeds, until finally something pops.
    Nikolai
was an early investor in Dax’s first club.
    Interesting.
    I
look for more recent activity, and finally find it. Dimas has been
buying up buildings down by the waterfront.
    I’ve
been stuck down here in the records vault all afternoon, so I take
the info and go see the place for myself. The neighborhood is pretty
run-down and sketchy: tenement buildings, and busted warehouse lots.
I walk the streets and wonder why someone would be pouring money into
this part of town: there’s no subway, no coffee shops or
stores, and no office buildings either. And the waterfront is a
no-build zone: it’s all environmental protection, nothing but
ugly wetlands too.
    What
is Dimas up to?
    Down
the block, I can see someone hauling trash bags full of possessions
out of one of the buildings on my list, so I go over to check it out.
It’s a harried-looking woman, trying to pack three kids and a
bunch of boxes into a rusting old car.
    “Here,
let me help,” I say, grabbing one of the bags.
    She looks at me suspiciously,
until I put it in the car. “Thanks,” she says slowly.
    “You guys moving?” I
ask in a friendly voice.
    She nods. “Not like we have
a choice.”
    “You got evicted?”
    “They
tried. Got half the building out, but our lease runs ‘til the
end of the year,” she explains, “They can’t make us
go. I checked with Legal Aid. So they just turned the water off
instead, had their guys come play loud music all night next door
until we couldn’t take anymore. My kids need to sleep, you
know?”
    “That’s
terrible,” I gasp. “Who would do something like that?”
    “Nobody
nice.” The woman shakes her head. “These guys, they care
about nothing except money. I heard they’re tearing the
building down, putting up luxury condos.”
    “Do you have someplace to
go?” I frown.
    “My
sister’s place, in New Jersey.” She looks worn-out. “But
then I have to get to work here, every day. Hector!” she yells,
to one of the kids playing in the street. “Don’t touch
that!”
    I
help her load up the car. “I’m sorry this happened. Good
luck with the new place,” I offer, feeling helpless.
    She
glances past me, and her gaze turns fearful. “You shouldn’t
be asking questions around here,” she says quickly, “Come
on, kids.”
    I
turn to see what made her scared. A couple of guys are loitering on
the other side of the street, watching us. They’re
tough-looking, muscular and scowling. One of them pulls out his phone
and makes a call.
    The woman shoves the kids in the
car and drives away, but the men don’t move. They stay there,
watching me.
    I quickly start walking in the
other direction, but when I turn back to check, the men are following
me: slowly strolling, about half a block back.
    I walk quicker, almost breaking
into a run as I head for a busier area. One block, two… every
step I take, I’m scared to turn in case they’re drawing
near. When