In Case of Death (The Adventures of Gabriel Celtic Book 3) (10 page)

I remembered that May had become an attorney, and asked her if she still practiced.

“Not really,” she said, jumping up again to refill our cups. “I never did fall in love with it as a career. I worked at it when I could, but took a lot of time off here and there to be with my kids.”

She returned with the two steaming cups of coffee, and sat down once more before finishing her thought.

“I donate my services now to local charities and nonprofits. At least now I feel like I’m contributing to something important.”

I nodded, her charity work fit what I would have imagined May doing with her life.

Looking at my watch, “I’d better get at it May.”

“Oh, of course,” she said as she stood and walked around the table. Grabbing my hand, she said, “Follow me,” as she started down a short hallway.

Entering Tom Lassiter’s office was like night and day compared to Calvin Forrester’s. Although not exactly messy, it could better be described as organized chaos. While one desk sat against an outside wall, there was another facing the door in front of it. To the side of these stood a huge old drafting table, the wheeled desk chair able to traverse to either of the three easily.

The rest of the room was filled with bookcases, filing cabinets, and corkboards filled with papers. A whiteboard stood in front of the window to the side, both sides of it filled with drawings and mathematical equations that looked like Egyptian hieroglyphics to me.

“It’s rather a mess,” May admitted as she looked around overwhelmed. “I haven’t had the heart to tackle it yet I’m afraid.”

“As it turns out,” I started, “It’s probably a good thing you didn’t.”

May smiled, squeezing my hand quickly before releasing it. “I’ll let you get started then. I’ll have some lunch for you later if that’s ok.”

“Sure thing May, thanks!”

I went to the chair and sat down. Trying a few drawers, I found that none of them were locked. Taking out my notebook, I set it on the first desk and started once more with the center drawer in front of me. This time, however, the drawer was filled to the brim with papers. Some were in folders, but most were loose stacks that filled the depth of the drawer to the top.

“This might take awhile,”
I thought as I reached in for the first stack.

Chapter 24

September 17, 1999

By the time May returned to retrieve me for lunch, I had just started on the second desk. I had just determined that I needed to speed up my search or I would never get out of here. Assuming that anything to do with actual engineering would probably not be pertinent, I was hoping that scanning quickly through these would not adversely affect my case.

“Having any luck?” May asked cheerily when she entered the office.

“Not that I know of,” I answered truthfully as I stood and pocketed my notebook. Creaky joints again slowed me momentarily as they rebelled against my standing.

“I hope you don’t mind, I made ham sandwiches for lunch. It’s not very exciting I’m afraid.”

Smiling at the simplicity, my mind went momentarily to the fancy lunch of yesterday.

“Nope, sounds great to me.”

I caught myself once more glancing at May’s shapely figure as I followed her down the hallway.

“Dammit!”
I thought as I reproached myself once again.

“Iced tea ok?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, iced tea is fine.”

Thankfully she hadn’t seemed to notice my distraction as I quietly gave a sigh of relief.

Lunch was great as we too caught up on each other’s lives of the last thirty years. Surprisingly, she seemed to find stories of my exploits exciting as she asked pertinent questions about some of the details that I had glossed over. In turn, the stability of her life up to the point of Tom’s death made me somewhat wistful for a more ‘normal’ life.

“I’m so happy that Abby found you,” she gushed when the conversation had worked its way around to kids. “She seems like a fantastic girl!”

“She is!” I agreed wholeheartedly, “She’s an amazing young woman. Anybody would be lucky to have her as a daughter.”

May smiled knowingly. “Maybe so, but it seems that she has definitely found the right family in you!”

It was my turn to beam, and I did, brightly!

I couldn’t help but notice that I was more than relaxed around my old friend. Although I had totally enjoyed my visit with Raven the day before, I found that I could more easily be myself around May. There was a tension surrounding my time with Raven that I couldn’t quite put a finger on, besides the obvious sexual tension of course.

Whether it was connected to the way she unceremoniously dumped me all of those years ago, I couldn’t be certain. I would hope that I was a little better than that though.

“Would you like some coffee for your afternoon?” May asked. “I can bring it in to you.”

“You read my mind!” I said with a smile as I got up from the table.

“I always could Gabe,” she replied with a smile as she stood and made her way to the coffee maker.

I thought back on our time together decades ago as I started back to the office. I suddenly realized that she was right, I just hadn’t caught on to it back then I guess. There had been numerous times when we had been together that she had exhibited an uncanny knack of knowing what I was thinking. Whether it was finishing my sentences or just stating something before I could get it out of my mouth, it seemed that the connection was there.

I smiled at this as I made my way once again to the desk chair. Although I still had a long day ahead of me, it now didn’t seem quite so overwhelming.

Chapter 25

September 17, 1999

Hector eyed the pieces of Plexiglas in his hands with a discerning eye.

“Perfect!”

A skill he had obtained while in prison, he had refined shank making to an art. Even the scored line below the handle was the perfect depth, leaving the plastic strong enough to shove into the body yet easily broken off once inserted.

The plastic shanks had become his preferred method of
executing
his duties.

Hector giggled at the analogy.

Taking both of the weapons to his suitcase, he easily pulled up the Velcro attached lining, inserting one of the blades into the carved out foam interior.

Refastening the lining, he moved to the other side and repeated the process. He was as confident that they wouldn’t be detected as he had been the dozen times he had done it before.

Smiling at his ingenuity, he busied himself with the rest of the preparations. He wouldn’t need a lot of clothes, as everybody wore the same thing in Indonesia. Western clothing was typically worn for every day, and some sort of sarong outfit for more formal gatherings.

He was hoping to be able to find a setting where he could use the sarong outfit, as he would be better able to hide the weapons as he blended into his surroundings.

Checking his watch, he realized that the cab would be out front in five minutes to take him to the airport. Ready except for one item, he made his way to the mirror to fit the wig onto his head. Adding the longer dark hair brought his chosen identity swiftly to the fore.

“Beautiful,” he said as he quickly combed it out.

A horn sounded outside his apartment as he closed the lid to his suitcase. Thankfully, he had chosen a late flight. He should be able to make it to the cab without any of his neighbors noticing his current identity.

Taking another quick glance into the mirror, he stated simply, “You’re on!”

Instantly, his alter identity took over his thought process, allowing him to think as the second person would think, and react as the second person would react.

Smiling confidently into the mirror, the person formerly known as Hector picked up the suitcase and headed toward the door. There was nothing left to do but to
execute
the contract.

The new identity giggled at the analogy.

Chapter 26

September 17, 1999

Bill inhaled the aroma of the city as he walked up the steps to the courthouse. The familiar scent of Cincinnati chili reminded him that he was hungry, and he quickly decided to stop for a three-way after he finished his business.

Making his way to the Recorder’s office by memory, he mentally clicked off the names of a couple of the ladies there that he liked to use. It had been a while since he had been here last, three years to be exact.

Pushing through the glass door, he immediately spotted Elaine, his favorite.

“Hello Elaine,” he grinned as he stepped up to her window, “Remember me?”

The bored woman looked up with annoyance, taking a couple of moments to recognize the visitor. A smile finally spread across her face however when she identified her new customer.

“Bill! Long time no see.”

She had always liked Bill, even going to lunch with him a few years back. She had once hoped for a relationship with him when she was younger, but he had seemed immune to her advances. Just as well she thought now, he lived too far away and seemed to travel extensively.

“What brings you back to our fair city again?”

“Just need to record a Trust for my client Mr. Justin James,” he smiled as he flipped the latches of his attaché case and pulled out a document, “Transferring some real estate holdings, the usual.”

As Elaine turned to retrieve the relevant forms, Bill heard a name that sent a bone chilling tingle down his spine.

Glancing to his left, he observed a nice looking young woman in the next window. As she glanced around the room as she waited, their eyes met momentarily before he quickly forced his back down to the papers now in front of him. Flustered beyond belief, he concentrated on slowing his breathing as he pretended to read the documents.

She had asked about Larry Callestrano! Or more importantly, she had asked about any filings in regard to Larry Callestrano.

His heart was trying to beat out of his chest as he mentally strained to calm himself.

“You ok Bill?” Elaine asked with concern as she noticed his nervous demeanor.

Trying to slough off her concern with a smile, “Oh yeah, probably just my breakfast fighting me back. I’ll be fine in a moment.”

Glancing left once more, he had a few moments to observe the other woman again. She was Asian, but seemed to have some Caucasian features as well. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a loose bun, with those chopstick-looking things like you see in the movies somehow holding the whole thing together. 

Why was she looking into Larry? She definitely wasn’t one of his kids; he had met all of them. Maybe she was a daughter-in-law?

“Here you go Bill,” Elaine interrupted his thoughts again, “just sign here.”

Bill signed where indicated, then watched as Elaine did a bunch of stamping and signing of her own. Paying her in cash, he nervously waited for his receipt.

“All done Bill, come back more often, we don’t get to see you much anymore.”

Bill nodded absently as he put the paperwork away and pushed the latches of the attaché closed. Disconcerted by the girl next to him, he was still unsure why as he quickly left the office and then the courthouse.

His previous hunger was forgotten as he passed the restaurant and headed quickly to his car.

Chapter 27

September 18, 1999

I was going over my notes of the two previous day’s investigations when I heard a knock on the door.  A smiling Preacher greeted me when I pulled it open, offering his hand before entering.

“You look happy,” I smiled as he entered the kitchen.

“Just love my job,” he admitted as he took a seat. “It’s good to feel useful again.”

Setting his Bible down on the table beside him, he took my offered cup of coffee with thanks.

Abby reappeared from her bedroom and refilled her cup from the pot. As everyone got settled I gave some halfhearted thought to this “grownup” meeting we were about to start. When I had quit the Prosecutor’s office last year, I literally had no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.

Nor did I care at that moment.

But I can truthfully say that starting my own company was the furthest thing from my mind. In reality, it was Abby that had suggested it first, and she had more or less convinced me from there.

Giving it some thought, I soon realized that it would probably be the only way I could continue doing what I was trained to do without finding a job farther away. Even though Allen had eventually offered me my job back, I knew that it could never be the same again, either working for him or with any of the other agencies in the county.