Hide 'N Seek (24 page)

“I’m at Beck’s office,” Jamie cut her off. “Carlos should be arriving at your house in about ten minutes to get you.”

“Why? Have you heard from Sydney?” Jamie didn’t answer and her heart leaped in her chest. “Jamie—” The doorbell rang and she looked towards the door and saw the large shadow through the frosted glass window part of the door. “I think he’s here.”

“Good. He’ll fill you in,” Jamie said and hung up the phone before she could get another word in.

“What’s going on?” Markie asked Carlos when she opened the door. He was dressed in a pale green mesh T-shirt under a lime green leather jacket, jeans and cowboy boots. Not one of his better fashion decisions. Then she remembered he was working as a bouncer at a nightclub where a run away girl was spotted. He probably came straight from the club.

“The Ryder case,” he said when he caught her checking out his outfit. “She was a no show.”

As much as she was concerned about the missing thirteen year old, Sydney was the only person she wanted to know about.

“I just got off the phone with Jamie. He said you would fill me in.”

“We can talk on the way,” Carlos said pushing her gently towards the bedroom. “Get dressed.”

Ten minutes later Markie was dressed in jeans and a white shirt. When she emerged from the bedroom Carlos was coming out of the kitchen with the pictures she’d left on the table.

“Ready.” He handed her the pictures.

She nodded securing her gun in her shoulder holster then grabbed her handbag.

Carlos opened the front door, stepped out onto the veranda and stopped. She ran into his back and had to grab onto his jacket to keep from falling backward. He didn’t seem to notice as his eyes searched the street watching the passing cars and pedestrians all the while his body guarding her. He was on hyper alert and she wanted to know why.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Then she noticed Beck’s SUV parked in her driveway. “Why are you driving Beck’s vehicle?”

He didn’t say a word until they were inside the Navigator and after he put in a call to Jamie to tell him they were on their way.

“Well?” Her patience stretched to the limit.

“We heard from a woman who we believe kidnapped Sydney.”

Markie felt the color drain from her face. She willed herself to remain calm as she focused on Carlos’ words. They had heard from a woman who
they
believed had Sydney. The
‘they’
she assumed would be Jamie and Beck. There was nothing definite. They were still unsure.

“Why do you believe this woman kidnapped Sydney?”

“She called Beck. The conversation between them was recorded. Jamie wants you to hear it. One more thing, Sam O’Malley is involved. You’ll know more about his involvement when we get to Beck’s office.”

Markie snapped her head around to look at Carlos, but he kept his eyes focused on the road. It appeared that was all he was going to say and she didn’t press him.

Carlos merged onto I-93 North heading to Boston as Markie sat back reflecting on the events of the last seven days. From Sydney’s disappearance to her relationship with Beck, everything seemed to be spinning out of control.

She was used to being in control and not having decisions made for her. Yet that’s what was happening. They were driving Beck’s Navigator and if she was a betting person she would lay odds that Beck had something to do with it. Not just something, a lot.

Why did she need an escort to Beck’s office? They could’ve called her and she could’ve found her way there by herself. What was Sam O’Malley doing at Beck’s office? Markie had a feeling that Beck could answer all her questions.

Then it all came together in her mind. Beck recognized the woman in the picture and called O’Malley that would explain why Monika Beck’s case was reopened. Peter Kingston said so.

Another revelation hit her like a head on collision. The woman in the picture was Monika Beck. Beck recognized her and he kept it from her.

He lied to her. Why? The woman in the picture, his ex, had Sydney. Monika had changed her appearance and Beck knew it from the beginning.

That had to be it. Monika Beck was still alive. Markie felt sick to her stomach.

B
eck looked up from his conversation at the table with O’Malley when Marklynn entered the conference room. O’Malley had arrived half an hour after Beck’s call and they had been locked behind closed doorstrying to figure out the best plan of action. O’Malley and Booker were at odds about something so they were on their own.

Six hours after Phoenix’s call they were still scrambling to catch the woman and locate Sydney. They were close. O’Malley was waiting for a call. Beck wanted to wait until O’Malley had the woman’s address before he called Marklynn, but Jamie wouldn’t allow it.

Jamie had said she would be angry. Angry was an understatement. Marklynn had taken one look at the surveillance equipment and O’Malley and came to the conclusion that they had excluded her from something important.

Soft brown eyes that had been filled with laugher when they were making love last night were cold and unyielding. He should have understood what finding her sister meant to her and the responsibility she’d placed upon herself to do so.

“I see I’m late, gentlemen.” Her voice matched her chilling tone and Beck immediately regretted his decision about not calling her earlier. Jamie wasn’t immune either.

Beck looked over at Jamie who was sitting in front of his laptop. Jamie said nothing, but his eyes spoke volumes with the “I told you so.” He was on his own.

“You’re right on time,” Sam said and got up from the table to greet Markie when she entered the room. He extended his hand to her. “I’m afraid I commandeered Beck’s boardroom, but it couldn’t be helped.”

“It’s been a while and several phone calls I might add,” she said and shook his hand.

“You look well,” O’Malley said and flashed her a smile that lit up his face. It seemed as though he was trying to turn an awkward situation around but Marklynn wasn’t having any of that.

“As well as one can be with a truck load of money,” Marklynn said.

Surprise registered on O’Malley’s face and she gave him a knowing look. Markie had mentioned to him about what some of her former colleagues had said about her settlement.

She dropped her handbag on the table and sat down in the chair turning to face O’Malley. The detective sat at the edge of the table beside her, his arms folded across his wide chest.

Dressed in black combat gear, complete with boots and cap, O’Malley looked like a man on a mission and they needed him right now. Phoenix was on the loose and the threat of more violence had everyone on edge.

Silence engulfed the room. It was as if everyone knew what needed to be said, but no one wanted to go first. No one wanted to tell Marklynn that Phoenix had taken her sister.

“You want to tell me what you’re doing here?” Markie asked not wasting any more time.

O’Malley looked at Beck before he spoke. “Beck came to me with this picture.” He placed the picture on the table in front of Marklynn. “He thought he recognized the woman.”

“His ex-wife.” Markie rubbed her temples. She raked her hand through her hair then dropped her elbows on the table. “Monika Beck is still alive.”

There was a sharp edge in her voice when she spoke. She didn’t look at him. Hard eyes fixed on O’Malley. Beck knew then that things would never be the same between them again.

“It’s not Monika. It’s Melanie her sister.”

“Melanie? I’ve heard that name. She called the publisher of the magazine.” Markie looked over at Jamie for confirmation and he nodded. “She has Sydney. Why?”

“Marklynn—” Beck attempted to join the conversation but Jamie cut him off.

“Yes. We believe so but we haven’t spoken to Sydney,” Jamie said. He got up from the laptop and stopped a few feet away from Marklynn at the table. “What proof do you have, O’Malley that the woman in that picture is Melanie? We were able to remove the shadow from the woman’s face in the photo, but we still don’t know who she is.”

“It’s Melanie,” O’Malley said. “She has been in and out of mental institutions since the age of sixteen. According to the report I got from the last hospital she was committed to four years ago, before she disappeared, she suffers from delusions and hallucinations. Schizophrenia was also thrown in the mix. Bottom line—she has mental issues.”

O’Malley handed Marklynn a dossier on Melanie. Beck already knew what was in the file. Monika had gone to see her sister after their divorce. The hospital verified the visit. After Monika’s visit, Melanie disappeared and Monika was dead.

The report went on to say Melanie didn’t have much contact with other people when she was growing up, just her computer. Their parents, Roberta and Kennedy Daniels didn’t spend a lot of time with their two daughters, Monika and Melanie. They were raised by nannies.

The two sisters were close growing up until Monika befriended a boy in high school. Melanie tried to kill the boy. It was then the family realized that something was wrong with Melanie and shipped her off to a mental institution. They’d forgotten about Melanie. Now she wanted to ensure that everyone remembered her.

Melanie showed all of them, Beck thought. With her father’s money, Melanie earned a degree in computer science. With her
mental issues
, as O’Malley had called them, she was able to get an education and worked for a computer company until she was fired. Details of her firing were not disclosed.

According to O’Malley, the last time the Daniels’ heard from Melanie was when Monika died, right before Melanie disappeared from the hospital. It was Melanie who informed them of Monika’s death, not the police.

The woman was his sister-in-law and he never knew she existed. Monika had kept it from him.

Marklynn looked up from the file in front of her and stared at O’Malley. Beck knew that look. He had been on the receiving end several times. She was ready for battle.

“Is Monika still alive?”

“No,” O’Malley replied glancing at Beck.

Marklynn wasn’t finished with O’Malley yet and they all knew it. They didn’t have long to wait for the fireworks.

“Are you sure? Based on the police report I’ve seen you weren’t so sure four years ago. You had no dead body to prove your case,” her eyes challenged.

“My hands were tied back then. I’m sure now.”

“How?”

Beck thought O’Malley would fill her in on their discussion at the café but nothing was said.

“I know. You can’t say,” Markie said. Can you at least tell me where you got all this information on Melanie?”

“Most of it from the hospital.”

“Can you tell me why Melanie told her parents about Monika’s death before the police? That would mean—”

“Melanie killed her sister,” O’Malley concluded. “If that information had come out at the time then Melanie would have been a suspect as well as…”

“Beck,” she finished shaking her head not hiding the bitterness in her voice. “I just found out about that. It says here,” Markie pointed to a paragraph on the page in front of her, “she goes by the name of Phoenix. Greek mythology? The mythical firebird?”

“That’s the information I got from Jamie. He also said Malcolm is quite taken with her,” O’Malley said.

Markie turned to the next page in the file and Beck watched as her hand paused on the page. She stiffened.

“What is it?” Beck asked moving closer to Marklynn. He wanted to put his arms around her, to protect her. Yet, with every piece of information she uncovered had widened the distance between them even further. She wanted nothing to do with him least of all comfort and it broke his heart.

“Monika’s birthday was three months ago. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” Beck replied wondering where she was going with her line of question.

“I believe that’s when Beck Security Systems started having problems.”

“I don’t understand.” Beck said. Then it hit him like a fist in the gut. What they had been trying to figure out all along, the “why now question” was staring him in the face.

“That’s it,” Jamie said slapping his forehead. “We just found our connection. Why Melanie started when she did.”

“Monika’s birthday is the trigger. It seems Melanie has been reborn into her sister’s identity and has taken over her life,” Markie said agreeing with Jamie. “Which means in her mind she believes she is married to Beck.” She turned her gaze to O’Malley. “Tell me you know where she is, O’Malley or at least you have a starting point.”

“I got a lead from the hospital. We found a post office box that led to an address in Chinatown. We’re waiting for a search warrant. Oh, another thing,” O’Malley reached for a file folder behind him on the table and flipped it open. “The pickup that tried to run you over, we found it abandoned yesterday. There were two sets of fingerprints taken from the pickup. One matched the set taken from Sydney’s apartment. There is an APB out for a Frank Wang and Lee Kane.”

“Anything else?” She said to O’Malley. He shook his head.

“Yeah. The recording,” Jamie said.

Beck didn’t agree with Jamie about playing the recording of his conversation with Phoenix back to Marklynn. He thought it would do more harm than good and O’Malley agreed. Jamie dug his heels in and when he started the tape, Beck saw the color drain from Marklynn’s face.

•  •  •

The boardroom was a sleek design from the cabinets to the massive mahogany table. They were in a room where multimillion-dollar deals were made, but not today.

Today, Markie sat up straight in the chair listening to the exchange between Beck and Phoenix as a chill ran down her spine.

Phoenix’s voice sounded normal at first, like she was chatting to an old lover. She kept calling Beck darling as if she was on intimate terms with him, but with each rejection from Beck her behavior became more erratic and hostile.

Markie froze when the woman ended the phone conversation with,
“You give me my money or I’ll kill Sydney and then your precious girlfriend.”

She felt lightheaded and grabbed the edge of the table for support. The woman wanted to kill Sydney over what? Money? Even though she was already sitting down she felt as though she was going to pass out. Jamie rested his hands on her shoulders.