Halfway to the Truth (11 page)

Six Weeks Later …

Her phone rang at eight in the morning.

“Hi Reese, we haven’t talked in a while.”

“Shelley! It’s good to hear your voice. I wondered who would be calling this early.”

“I thought I’d try to catch you before you left. Do you have time to meet for lunch today?”

“Yeah, I think so. Where and when?”

“Do you know where the Sisters of the New South restaurant is located?”

“Sure! I’ve been wanting to go there. Their food has received some pretty good reviews.”

“How about 12:30 then?”

“Great, see you there.”

Reese returned her attention to getting dressed for work. With all that had happened recently, she had been remiss in keeping in touch with Shelley. She was glad that she called her; it would be good to see a friendly face.

The Sisters of the New South restaurant was alive with the lunch crowd when Reese arrived. She quickly scanned the outdoor seating area for signs of Shelley, but not seeing her, she went inside.

Shelley was positioned at a small table in the corner and waved her over. They kissed each other on the cheek and sat down.

“It’s such a beautiful day outside,” Shelley started, “I would have preferred to sit outside, but you saw that there were no tables available.”

“This is fine! How have you been?”

“Great! Chief Daniels sends his regards.”

“You been talking to him?”

“Yes, and we’ve been together a couple times since you and I went to New Harmony. Twice there and one trip to Atlanta for the weekend.”

“My, my! Aren’t you two becoming quite familiar?”

“How about you?” Shelley asked. “Still seeing Nikolaus?”

“Yes, I am. We’ve been getting very close.”

“Come on, how close?” Shelley interrogated.

“Well, I’ve been spending time at his beach house when the time permits. But with my new position at the company, I’ve really been busy studying up on their operation and going over things with the legal department.”

“Is he any good?” Shelley asked with interest.

“I could ask you the same thing about the Chief, but I won’t. How’s he doing anyway?”

“He’s the same; very content to live in New Harmony. Your old editor is retiring at the end of summer, I’m thinking about taking over his duties there.”

“Really? That’s great Shelley. What about Doug?”

“He’s still stewing about you leaving. I think he regrets the way he handled it though. I haven’t said one word to him about me possibly leaving. I’m not sure how I’m going to handle that yet.”

The waitress brought them drinks and took their lunch order.

“I hope you don’t mind that I ordered us iced tea,” Shelley said before proceeding.

Reese acknowledged that it was a good choice.

“Have you learned anything more about what’s going on in the red zone?”

“Oh that!” Reese casually replied. “Yes, I have. Matter of fact, Nikolaus took me there a few weeks ago to show me everything. It’s not as mysterious as we all thought. They bring in truckloads of electronic waste a few times a week and store it in the warehouse. Thursdays they load them in containers and put them on a ship which leaves Friday. It’s a legitimate part of their business.”

“Doug heard a rumor that they were going to expand that operation. Any truth to that?”

“Yes, that’s true. I’m being interviewed tomorrow by a CNN reporter on just that subject. I had my own misgivings about that part of the business. But after I discussed it with Viktor and told him my concern about the employee who developed a bad cough from working with the materials, he agreed to take added precautions.”

“How does Nikolaus feel about all this?”

“It was his idea to expand the E-waste side of their business, but he wasn’t happy that I discussed it with his father before talking to him. He’s been cool toward me since.”

The server interrupted their conversation when she delivered their food.

“What do you think is Nikolaus’ problem?” Shelley asked peppering her tilapia.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, “maybe because he wants more autonomy handling the shipyard operation. He told his father they didn’t need to take extra precautions handling the E-waste. They have already been using special liners in the containers that exceed federal guidelines and doing more would just lead to unnecessary expenses.”

“So you don’t believe there is anything more to the story?” Shelley asked between bites of her fish.

“What do you mean?” Reese requested.

“Aren’t you curious about what happens with all that stuff when it gets to wherever it’s going?”

“A little, but I don’t have time to think about it now. Why are you asking me that?”

“Doug thinks there’s more…”

“
Doug always thinks there’s more
! Especially when it comes to the Drakos family. What’s his problem anyway?” she said slightly perturbed. “They have nothing to hide and you can tell him I said that!”

“Whoa, I’m on your side, remember?” Shelley exclaimed putting up her hands. “I just wanted to let you know he’s still interested in what’s going on. He tried getting in touch with Scratch, but it appears Scratch left the company and went to join a Greenpeace group. And with Greenfield gone, he needs to develop another lead.”

“Well he sure as hell isn’t getting it from me!”

“Fine Reese, I don’t think he was expecting any help from you anyway.” Shelley paused, “Is it okay that I tell him we had lunch and you’ve checked it all out and are satisfied with everything? Maybe he’ll back off a bit.”

Reese regained some of her composure. “I’m sorry. Yeah, you can tell him whatever you want. I don’t think it will do any good though. Something is really eating at that man.”

“Let’s change the subject. How do you like working for Viktor?”

Reese moved her food around with her fork. “Better than I would have imagined,” she said, looking up at Shelley. “After my CNN interview tomorrow, I’m supposed to fly to Washington D.C. with two of his lawyers and provide information to a transportation committee. Drakos Shipping and other large carriers have staked a position that the federal harbor system needs updating. Apparently foreign ports are better equipped to handle the larger ships than here in the U.S.”

“Wow!” said Shelley. “You able to discuss all that already?”

“I’ve been reading day and night for the past several weeks to make myself smart on the topic. But, the lawyers have been involved with this issue for a while; I’ll mostly be reading from a canned script. I can probably handle general questions if they come up though.”

“I’m impressed girl. Maybe you found your calling?”

“We’ll see,” she replied. “But this is cutting into my relationship with Nikolaus. I think he would prefer I still worked for the
Savannah Daily
. He’s never said it directly, but I don’t believe he wants me involved with the business. And, he seems particularly distressed that his father likes me so much. So what am I to do?”

“I wish I could tell you,” Shelley said, laying a hand over Reese’s, “but you’ll have to work it out. I never would have believed you to be the type to fall for Nikolaus. Is he really that good in bed?”

It must have been the way Shelley asked her, but she broke out in a laugh.

“You only have one thing on your mind since you met the Chief, and I don’t want to hear about it. For Pete’s sake, he’s like an older brother to me. But if you really have to know, yes, Nikolaus is terrific.”

“Okay, I won’t ask you anymore,” she said, folding her napkin and laying it on the table. “I’m glad we got together. Let’s not make them so far apart though, I miss you.”

“I miss you too. Tell the Chief, the next time you see him, that I’m alright. I know he worries about me. Listen, I have to go but we’ll talk soon okay?”

Reese reached for the bill but Shelley grabbed it first.

“Lunch is on you next time,” she said. “I’m going to hang around and have another ice tea. I have some calls to make. But you take care of yourself, you hear?”

She gave Shelley a parting kiss on the cheek and left the restaurant.

It was exactly 4:30
P.M.
when Shelley stuck her head in Doug’s office.

“We just got word a small plane crashed at Beaufort County airport. Bobby and a reporter are on their way.”

Doug checked the clock on the wall. “We’ll have enough time to meet the deadline for getting the story into the morning edition. Do you mind staying late tonight and see what you can find out from local authorities?”

“No problem. You call the printing room to hold off printing and I’ll go grab us some Chinese from down the street.”

“It’s been raining all day, you sure you want to go out in it?

“I won’t melt. You like their Chicken Lo Mein don’t you?”

He nodded, grabbing his desk telephone. “Throw in an order of Crab Rangoon too,” he yelled as she left.

“This is Doug,” he said when his call was answered, “we’re going to have a new headline for tomorrow so hold off doing the final print. What? I can’t hear you…. Yes, I’ll wait,” he impatiently said.

As he waited for the other party to clear up the noise interference between them, Doug fished through his desk for a pencil with a tip on it and made some notes.

Two minutes later… “What the hell was that all about?” he asked.

Hearing the response, “You guys need to be more concerned about working than listening to loud music. This is a business not a discotheque. Is your department head there?” He waited again until he heard a new voice.

“You need to take charge down there. We’ve had this conversation before. If you can’t do the job, then we’ll find somebody that can. Now, what I called about was we’re replacing tomorrow’s headline with a story that is still unfolding. We have two people heading out to Beaufort County to cover a plane crash. I figure in this weather, it’s about two hours there and back, plus time to find out what happened and get some photos. So, we’re probably looking at running the final print by eight or nine o’clock tonight. Everything but the front page can be printed. Do you think you can handle that?” He hung up the receiver before he could hear any lame excuses.

Suddenly a figure entered his doorway. The man took off his rain-soaked hat and coat and hung them on a stand in a corner behind the door, then he sat in a chair facing Doug.

“
You
!” Doug said incredulously, almost coming out of his chair. “
What the hell are you doing here
?”

“It’s time we set the record straight Doug,” Viktor said, crossing his legs.

Doug sat back in his chair, his fingers wrapped tightly around the wooden armrests as he looked into the eyes of his nemesis. He did not try to hide the look of contempt that was written all over his face.

“There’s nothing to set straight! I know who you are and what you are!”

“Do you Doug?” Viktor calmly asked. “Or have you just used all these years to make yourself believe what you want to think about me?”

Unbeknownst to the pair, Shelley had returned with their dinner. As she came around a corner, she saw Viktor through the window and backed around the corner. Leaning, her back against the wall, she listened.

Viktor continued, “We used to be good friends; you knew me. I never understood why you thought I was responsible for what happened. Neither one of us could have foreseen what was coming. Like you, I have been tormented with,
what could I have done to change what happened
. But there was nothing I could do!” he said with sorrow in his voice.

“
Nothing you could do
?” Doug exploded as though he were possessed. “
You could have stopped it.
”

“
Stopped it
? I didn’t even know it was happening! I never saw any signs, did you? If you did, why didn’t
you
stop it?”

“
Dammit! You killed my sister
!” Doug yelled.

Shelley almost dropped the bag she was carrying when she heard Doug’s exclamation. As she wrestled with the bag to keep it from falling, she hoped her presence hadn’t been noticed. She peeked around the corner to see if her eavesdropping had been discovered. What she saw instead was that the intensity between them blocked out any intrusions from outside the office. She remained focused on their dialogue.

“Look, I always knew you blamed me for her death. But think about it, did I ever do anything to lead her on? Yes, I was a womanizer and still am, but I never gave her any indication that I was interested in her. She took her own life and I don’t know how you can hold me responsible for that?”

“Evelyn loved you, Viktor and you knew it!”

“I know she loved me, but I thought it was the kind of love a sister gives to a brother. I never saw her in any other way, and that’s the way I believed she felt about me. It was her own fantasy that caused her to take those sleeping pills. Not anything that I did.”

“You drove her to it, whether you intended to or not. And I’ll never forgive you!”

Viktor rose from his chair and grabbed his hat and coat off the rack. Before he left, he closed with, “I was hoping that we could put this behind us; it happened so many years ago. But I can see you aren’t willing to deal with the truth, which is ironic for a guy with a newspaper background. You better find a way to put that ghost to rest or it’ll destroy you. Good bye Doug.”

When Shelley saw Viktor get up to leave, she thought it was time to make her move from her hiding position and made an effort to accidently bump into him. With a surprised look on her face she engaged him.

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in!”

“He’s leaving Shelley, let him go,” Doug commanded.

Viktor didn’t even look at Shelley or acknowledge her wisecrack as he donned his hat and made his way to the elevator.

“What was all that about?” she asked, acting like she didn’t know.

“Nothing,” Doug said defiant. “Nothing at all.”

He came out from behind his desk and grabbed his own coat. “Look, sorry you went to the trouble to get dinner but I’m not hungry now. Can you handle this story without me?”

“Sure Doug,” she reassured.

As soon as Doug had left the floor, Shelley’s first instinct was to call Reese. But she thought better of it and decided on a different course of action.

That weekend, Shelley made it a point to drive to New Harmony and see Chief Daniels. Her intention this time, wasn’t for love, it was to get him to help her learn more about what happened to the sister of Doug Williams. She knew Rob would have access to more information than what she could find out using the internet.

She found him sitting in his office.

“Well this is a surprise,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “I didn’t expect to see you until next weekend. What’s up, because I’m not getting the feeling this is a social call?”

Over the next few minutes she brought him up to date.

“Do you believe that?” she said to him after telling him what she overheard.

“So what, people take their own life all the time,” he responded, “what’s so different about her? Love does strange things to people. Usually, it’s the rejected killing the rejecter.”

“But don’t you see, Doug never mentioned a word about his sister Evelyn. And it explains why he and Viktor have been feuding all these years. With something like that eating at you, don’t you think he would have talked about it?”

“Nope! Everyone deals with tragedy differently. He chose to keep it locked away.”

The Chief paused, “Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because we’ve got to know more about what happened and you have the means to do it.”

“You mean you want me to use police databases to find out what really happened?”

“Yes! I got a few leads off the internet, but we need more.”

“I can’t Shelley. That would be unethical,” he said, folding his hands across his lap.

“Look,” she implored, “we aren’t just nosing around to satisfy my curiosity. Reese is stuck in the middle between Viktor and his son Nikolaus. She could be in some sort of danger herself. Wouldn’t you want to make sure there’s nothing to worry about?”

He leaned forward and started to shuffle papers on his desk. “She’s a big girl and knows how to take care of herself. She’s told me that more than once.”

“Will you at least think about it?” Shelley insisted. “If you decide not to check it out, I’ll understand. But in case you do, here’s some information to get you started.” She passed him an envelope with notes in it.