Broken Trust (Missing in Action Trilogy Book 1) (8 page)

Closing the door behind them, she pushed him against the door. While her lips were being pressed against his he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt as he was thinking about Sheila.

Three Months Later

There had been no cases, but at least there were less angry people calling in. That afternoon he was on the couch in his office; Sheila had bought him a television he had hooked up and he had been watching countless movies and series of shows to pass the time. All the while he had been waiting for someone to walk through the doors or to even e-mail Sheila, but nothing had happened. Nothing had transpired and he was becoming irritable.

He heard his landline ring and shot up, getting to his phone as quickly as he could. “John Watson,” he said into the line.

“Hey John, this is Nancy. I was just calling to check in on you and to see if maybe you wanted to get together again.”

He was silent for a moment as he was thinking on it. Part of him wanted to go out with her again. She was a great distraction, but he was not in the mood. He wanted to take a break from her and finally found his voice.

“Uh, right now I am sort of busy. How about I call you and then we can make arrangements?”

“Sure, I suppose. Well, bye then.”

She hung up. John looked at the phone for a moment. He needed to change this number for more than one reason now. He hung up the line and heard Sheila knocking on the door.

“Come in,” he said.

“Boss, I think we need to talk about something.”

“Alright,” he said as he motioned for her to take a seat. “What’s going on Sheila?”

“I have received an e-mail from someone.”

“Another multi-millionaire who is seeking to find out whether or not their twenty-some-odd wife is cheating on him with another man. The answer is, yes. It is always yes.”

“No. It is from an anonymous person and they have given me vague information and they want to meet you.”

“Do we know what they want?”

“No sir, there is no information that can tell me what they want, but they seem paranoid. I think it would be worth the trip.”

John thought on it for a moment and finally nodded. “It won’t hurt anything to go ahead and see what’s going on. Where are we going to do this meeting?”

“You’ll be going to the Aubrey Plaza and meeting them around seven.”

“Me? I would feel so much more comfortable if you would be there with me.”

Sheila nodded. “That sounds wonderful and I’m looking forward to it.”

***

Olivia was sitting at the computer screen waiting for a response back from the private investigator. She was on edge and she felt tears sting at her eyes. She heard Mar walking behind her. They were no longer at her husband’s residence, now they were in a sketchy motel. She had not heard from James and she knew something was wrong. If who she thought was behind it truly was they would have sent some form of correspondence to her, but there had been nothing. Of course she didn’t know what was going on and she needed to know. She needed answers.

“You have not slept for the past two days Olivia. Please get your rest.”

Looking away from her computer screen she looked to see her sister. She had not given up her life for this, but she had. Marissa was still working, but she was paranoid and she knew it. When Olivia was sixteen she had made a promise to Marissa that all of this would go away. She promised to protect her and she was not doing a good enough job. She was failing her; she was failing James.

“I keep wondering if he is still alive. I keep wanting to know if
they
have him. I don’t want him to be found dead. I don’t want this to happen to him.”

“James knew what had happened and he knew how to be cautious. He was the one who taught us hyper vigilance and he’s probably laying low somewhere. He is most likely protecting you. If he felt he was being watched he would lead them away from you and you know that.”

“That is a possibility, but there is no knowing. I need to know for sure that he is alright. I just keep having these images in my head. The way that we found – the way that we found mom.”

“We put him in jail,” Marissa said. “I know we got the right man.”

“But we still never knew why he did it. We never understood the connection.”

“Whatever that connection is it was reestablished when you got emancipated and you went digging into it. We were safe and no one knew we had seen anything.”

Olivia felt as if she had been slapped and bowed her head. Marissa was absolutely correct. Whatever was happening now was surely her own fault and she couldn’t prevent it. She wanted to be able to prevent it.

“Look,” Marissa began. “We know his name and we know he was there and we know he had more than one victim. The only thing we don’t know is why. Neither of us ever knew that and James knew we would never be able to handle the truth.”

She was thinking about James and remembered how they had met. He had been there that night when she was looking for those answers. She had never launched an investigation before, and had she been smart she would have known who Carlisle Castro was. He was a mob boss and he had ordered the hits on dozens of people. Somehow they knew when she’d launched her own investigation and had been sent out to eliminate her. James was a patrol officer at the time and he’d found her shot and bleeding out. He took care of her thereafter. It was from those events that led Castro to go to prison and she had fallen in love with James.

“I know you’re right, but it’s so damn difficult. Especially since the Lieutenant doesn’t even know what the hell is going on. It seems as if everything that had happened never did.”

“No one in Primer would know about what had happened and that was why we moved here. Look, we can’t be certain that Castro is behind it, but we’ll find out.”

“I know, and that is why I hired an investigator,” she said. Her eyes glanced back to her screen and saw she had a response. They had agreed to meet her and she took a sigh of relief.

“Why would you trust a complete stranger?”

“It’s better than going to the cops. Obviously they haven’t proven to be much help since it has been about a week since he’s been gone.”

“Fine, it’s your call, and I will support it. Olivia please go and get some sleep. You really do need it. Especially if you are going out.”

Olivia looked to her sister and saw so much of their mother in her. She took in a deep breath and reluctantly went to sleep; she didn’t want to admit she had been right.

***

They were sitting at a booth waiting for their mystery client to arrive. Sheila looked astonishing. She was wearing a red blouse and a black pencil skirt. He had noticed she had been dressing differently the past few days and he wondered why. Obviously he wasn’t able to ask her because he knew how awkward it would be and he was trying to avoid it at all cost.

She met his gaze and he attempted to look away but he was not able to do so.

“Is something the matter?”

“No, Sheila. I’m just a little anxious is all.”

“I could not agree with you more.”

John was silent and he knew she wanted this to be different than any other cases they had taken. They both knew the longer they were out of cases the quicker their funds would dry out. John sensed two women walking over towards them.

The hostess walked on over with them. “Are these the guests you have been waiting for?”

Sheila was the one to answer and both of them sat down. John could tell they were under a lot of stress and he wondered what was going on with them. He looked at each of them and waited for the formal introductions.

“My name is John Watson,” he began. “I am the private investigator you wanted to speak with. This is my assistant Sheila Awret.”

“My name is Olivia Shapiro and this is my friend Marissa Hughes,” she said as she gestured over towards her friend. John couldn’t believe it however. They seemed to share similarities, but he let it go for now. He knew it was better to wait to hear what they wanted before making statements about what he saw.

“And how would we be able to assist you?”

They both shared a look and they seemed to share the same level of discomfort. “My husband, James, he has been missing for several days now. The police have been little help to us and I’m beginning to worry about him.”

“Do you know why the police would not show any interest?”

“Because my husband works with them and none of them had noticed anything awry. I have told them that he hasn’t returned home and they haven’t told me anything.”

“Does he have any enemies that you know of?”

John watched as she hesitated and it seemed that there was something she knew but she was debating about telling them. “He is a police officer so I’m sure he has a list of people that would want him to disappear.”

Looking over towards Sheila, she too seemed to think they were hiding something but she smiled to them. “I think we will be more than interested in taking this case.”

“That is wonderful,” she said. John could hear the relief in her voice and he wondered what really was going on. He wanted to skip dinner to start working on everything but their waitress brought out the appetizers.

“What are you able to tell me about your husband Mrs. Shapiro?”

She looked at him and fed him a story.

John had thrown his coffee cup across the room and he heard it as it shattered on the wall; thankfully it was empty, but he could not help but hate it when people lied to him. He was a private investigator for goodness sake, he had to look into the lives of everyone. What he’d found made his blood boil. Mrs. Shapiro was not who she was claiming to be and he wanted answers.

He heard his door being knocked on. He didn’t want Sheila to see him like this; he didn’t want her to see how angry he could get over something so small.

“Boss,” she said as she opened the door. “Is everything alright?”

She already knew that answer and he wasn’t even sure why she was asking in the first place. “Can you come in?”

Sheila opened the door entirely and seemed somewhat nervous. Whenever he was angry, she seemed to be afraid to go near him. John was somewhat violent, but he would never hurt a human being; just inanimate objects.

“I know you’ve found something.”

“Yes, and I’m not too thrilled by it. – Would you be able to do your own thing to get me the information that I need to proceed?”

“I won’t be able to gain access to that database,” she said. She was moving away from him as if she was afraid of his reaction. “That is the only one I will never go into.”

“Do you mind giving me a reason?”

Sheila bit her lower lip and she nodded. “They are in witness protection for a reason and if we go ahead and poke into it, we can easily be impeding on something going on that we shouldn’t be involved in. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be a target.”

“I never thought you could be scared.”

“It isn’t that I’m scared. I just don’t hack into something I know I’ll be caught hacking into.”

“Great, now we have to see if they’d even allow us to get any information about this so we can even proceed. I hate damn politics!”

Sheila was looking at him and he could tell she was indeed worried about him. She finally spoke. “I know someone who would be able to help get me what I need from those files. If you don’t mind, I can go ahead and step out for a little while.”

“If you are able to get me the information I need that would be perfect.”

He realized she hadn’t moved. She was watching him and took a step towards him. “Boss, I hope you know that everything is going to work itself out. I know it’s frustrating trying to work with someone who isn’t forthcoming about the real situation, but we have to think that there’s a reason for it.”

He couldn’t deny she was right and all he was able to do was nod. Sheila took another step forward and he noticed how she hesitated. It was as if she wanted to comfort him in such a way that would make everything awkward and she finally took a step back. “I will be back,” she said as she left.

***

She walked down to the elevator and stepped inside. It was cramped because the janitor was in here. He wore ratty clothing, but despite that, he was clean shaven and he stood tall and proud. She had noticed him several times and she knew that there was something more to this man than what met the eye.

As they were riding down, he got off at the floor above her own and she headed into the lobby. Tom was not there today and she knew what had happened. It was a sad thought and it was one that she had to immediately push to the back of her mind.

Stepping outside she was looking around the building. She knew where all the cameras were for the next two blocks and she walked down to one of the phone booths. Putting her hands in her pockets she was feeling around for loose change and finally found some.

She dialed a number she had memorized back when she was twenty and now she was finally making the call.

“This is Benjamin Kingsley,” he said into the phone. He had a deep voice and she had only met him in person once before. He was one of those men you would see on the street and you knew you had to avoid him. It was just the way he carried himself, but he had to do as such and she knew that.

“This is Sheila Awret,” she said into the line. “I have a favor to ask you. Would you be able to meet me?”

“Of course Miss Awret. I will see you within the hour.”

She heard as he disconnected the line and began walking. Benjamin Kingsley had proven himself more than useful and she knew she could trust him with everything. He had after all protected her back when the accident happened. However, he knew it was not an accident.

She made it to the building down the street. It was an old post office that had been around since the town had first originated. She knew this place had been designed as a fortress and it being a post office was just its own façade. It did double as something else and it was something no one else thought it would be.

Walking inside, she went to the post office boxes. She made her way down to where the door was. On her key ring was the only key she needed and she inserted it into the door. She heard a click as it unlocked and pushed the door open. For the moment she was alone and she knew that she had to sit and wait.