The Return of the Fallen Angels Book Club (A Hollis Morgan Mystery 3) (15 page)

“Ah, John’s still gone. Too bad! But I guess that means you’re free to go out,” Stephanie teased.

“No, you’re wrong,” Hollis protested. “John doesn’t get back until Sunday night. But I’m still allowed to play with my own friends even if he’s in town.”

“Okay, that’s all I wanted to know. There’s a fashion show and luncheon this Saturday at Nordstrom.”

“Okay, I’m game. I could use a diversion from work.”

She signaled the waitress for the check and a to-go box. She wasn’t hungry.

“S
helby is missing again.” Rena’s voice sounded strained, even on the phone.

Hollis looked up at the ceiling in disgust. “This is ridiculous. What happened now?”

“Darol called me,” Rena said. “Since you talked them into that agreement, they’ve been trying to re-bond. She was supposed to pick him up from the doctor’s office yesterday, but she never showed up.” Rena paused. “It’s not like her, Hollis.”

“Rena, I’ve gone through this before. I foolishly believed her when she promised not to do it again.” Hollis doodled a series of concentric circles. “Give it another two days. Then give me a call.”

Rena sighed. “I don’t blame you for not wanting to trust her, but there’s more.”

Hollis wanted to kick herself for asking, “What?”

“I spoke with Sonny and Joy and they said they don’t know where she is, but I don’t believe them. They sounded a little too … too … sugary,” Rena said. “I think they are holding Shelby.”

Hollis heaved a deep sigh. “Where do you think she is?”

“At the house.”

“That’s impossible. The agent is showing the house. Don’t you think he would let me know if someone was being held captive there?” Hollis tried to think back to their tour of the house. Was there a place where you could hide a person? “Where are Sonny and Joy staying now?”

Rena said, “I’m not sure, maybe a motel. Sonny said they were getting an apartment in about a week if Shelby didn’t allow them to stay.”

“Call Sonny and see if you can arrange for you and me to meet with him, Darol, and Joy—today, if at all possible.” Hollis tabbed through her contact list. “I’ll call the realtor.”

“When do you want to meet with them?”

Hollis said, “Later today; otherwise, first thing in the morning.”

“Okay, I’ll call you back with the arrangements.” Rena hung up.

Hollis paused to clear her thoughts before punching in the number for the real estate office.

“Kevin, I was calling to check on the brokers’ open. How did it go?”

“Ah, Hollis, didn’t you get my message? I cancelled the brokers’ open per your instructions. In fact, in my message I was letting you know that I have someone who might be interested in the purchase, and we might not need to have the open house.”

Hollis shook her head to let the information sink in. “I didn’t cancel the open house and I didn’t get your message. Where did you leave it?”

“I didn’t,” Kevin said. “Your assistant said that you were ill and that she would forward my message. If the cancellation didn’t come from you, then who—”

“I think I know who. Was my supposed assistant male or female?”

“Female. She called me two days before the brokers’ open. I just had time to cancel it.”

He paused. “What does this mean? I know you told me you were having problems with some of the family members.”

Hollis hesitated before answering, “What this means is, I am not ill and I didn’t cancel the open house. Probably one of the family members faked a call to you.” She rubbed her eyes. “I may have to get an injunction.”

“Sounds like you’ve got some real issues. Look, it may all work out anyway; my tentative buyer is out town until mid-week. So we have some time to get things back on track. But I’m going to need the new key,” Kevin said.

“What? There’s no new key.”

“Well, the ones you gave me don’t work anymore. I went by to take some pictures yesterday, but I couldn’t get in.”

Hollis could feel a surge of red creeping up her chest.

“Can you hold off until tomorrow afternoon? I will try to have things wrapped up by then.”

“Sure, just give me a call.”

Hollis looked up to see Tiffany standing in her doorway.

“Hollis, you had a call come through on our main line while you were on the phone. Here’s the message.”

She was afraid to read the slip of paper.
What else?

It was from Rena. The gang of three would meet with them at Dolly’s Diner at nine o’clock the next morning. Hollis was frustrated that they weren’t meeting today, but she wanted to meet with the three together, and there was nothing else she could do. She just hoped that Shelby was okay.

Their story had better be good.

Tucked between small store fronts on Park Boulevard, Dolly’s Diner was located in East Oakland near Lake Merritt. Hollis had never been there before, but after eating their lemon pancake special, she was ready to put it on her list of best breakfast places. She and Rena had agreed to arrive early and enjoy breakfast before their meeting with the Pattersons. They sat side by side on one side of the table to leave room across from them for the family.

The portions were large, the menu expansive, and the food divine.

“I hope they weren’t counting on getting a free meal.” Rena wiped her mouth. “I can’t believe they changed the locks again.” She raised her voice. “And I can’t believe they’re holding Shelby.”

“I’d believe it.” Hollis took a long sip of her tea. “I am more determined than ever to make sure Shelby sells this house and gets on with her life. But what I can’t believe is that it’s her own stepfather who is doing this to her.”

They’d just finished their meal and ordered a second cup of tea when Darol, Sonny, and Joy walked into the restaurant.

Darol looked strained and the siblings looked distracted and nervous. As usual he was dressed nattily—in tan Dockers and a V-neck dark-green T-shirt. His children, on the other hand, look bedraggled. Their hair appeared finger-combed and their jeans and T-shirts were rumpled and stained.

“Ms. Morgan, Rena.” Darol sat down and gave an almost imperceptible nod to his children, who sat on either side of him. “I wanted us to get together to talk this through before things got out of hand.”

Hollis looked at him in amazement.

“Mr. Patterson, things are already out of hand.” She was having a difficult time keeping her voice even. “First, Shelby is missing, the locks have been changed on the house without my approval, and the house sale has been stalled. I would most definitely say that things have gotten out of hand.”

Rena folded her arms across her chest. “Darol, where is Shelby?”

He shrugged. “Don’t look at me, Rena. Remember, I’m the one who called and told you she hadn’t shown up.”

Hollis sat back in her chair. “Let me put it to you this way. If Shelby doesn’t contact me by the six o’clock this evening, I’m going to the police and I’m going to point them in your direction.” She pointed at each of them separately. “Each of you.”

Darol licked his lips. Sonny and Joy discovered a fascination with the edge of the table.

He reached out with open hands. “I’m telling you I don’t know where she is.”

Hollis nodded. “Great. You can tell it to the police.” She looked at the Sonny and Joy. “What about you two. No idea where Shelby could be?”

They looked everywhere but at each other and vigorously shook their heads.

They were lying.

“Okay, I’m not buying it. Where is she?” she snapped.

“Nobody made sure that I could go to college.” Joy’s hands were shaking. “We only wanted to make her change her mind. We just wanted to get her to see how bad things were going to be for us.”

Darol’s face was contorted with anger as he turned to his children. “You mean you’re holding Shelby somewhere? Even after I told you I had a plan to work things out, you defied me?”

Sonny straightened. “Dad, we couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. We know you don’t have any money. Then I lost the car wash job and Joy hasn’t gotten her cosmetology license yet.” He sighed. “So, we thought if we just had a little time with her … talked with her ….”

“Are you two crazy?” Rena’s eyes flashed anger. “Excuse me, but your excuses are really pitiful. Where the hell is Shelby?”

Joy’s tears were already trailing down her face. “We’re not making excuses. We thought it could be like the boy who cried wolf. She hid out on her own the first time, didn’t she?” She put her hand on her father’s sleeve. “Dad, we just wanted to stop things from going ahead so fast until we could get Shelby to see our side.”

Darol shook his head. “I can’t believe you defied me,” he repeated.

Hollis could not contain her exasperation. “Where
is
Shelby?”

Joy wiped her eyes with the napkin and murmured, “In the house.”

“I knew it,” Rena said, shaking her head.

Sonny and Joy started speaking at once.

“She’s safe and comfortable,” Joy said, her eyes looking apologetically at her father.

“She’s in the basement,” Sonny said. “Remember that little room? We would hide and play in there as kids. There’s a light, and I put an air mattress and a radio in there. We never left her alone, I mean in the house. One of us was always there. Except for now, ’cuz we’re here.”

Hollis couldn’t keep the alarm out of her voice. “Wait, is she locked up?”

Darol looked in disbelief at his children and rose from the table. “Let’s go.”

Rena and Hollis paid the bill and dashed out to the car with Darol on their heels.

“Ms. Morgan, I didn’t know about this thing with Shelby,” his voice cracked. “I just needed a couple of more days. I think … I thought we could work this out.”

Rena gave him a stern look. “Darol, how did you think what you were doing was ever going to work out?”

Darol truly did not seem to know anything of his adult children’s actions. Hollis read his resignation in the set of his jaw. Whatever his plan had been, he seemed to realize it had gone out the window. He quietly placed the house key in Hollis’ outstretched hand.

Hollis wanted to reach Shelby as quickly as possible. Rena got into her car and Hollis moved away from the lot into traffic. Darol said they would meet them at the house. Hollis wondered if she should have insisted on them following, but it was too late now, and her first priority was Shelby.

Hollis and Rena spoke little on the drive to San Lucian. Both were thinking of how frightened the young girl must be. The new key easily fit the front door lock and they entered the darkened living room. Hollis turned on the lights.

“Over here,” Rena said, walking toward the kitchen. She opened a door to a staircase leading down to the basement. She turned on the light. “I’ve been downstairs but I’ve never seen this storage area they talked about.”

The basement was cluttered with boxes, old furniture, toys, and yard tools. Sonny and Joy must have blocked the entrance to the storage room.

“Shelby … Shelby, it’s Hollis and Rena! Can you hear me?” Hollis shouted.

Rena yelled, “Shelby, where are you?” She began pulling things away from the wall.

They continued to call out but their efforts were met with silence.

Hollis’ eyes traveled along the dimensions of the wall. A tall stack of chairs and small tables stood along the side of one wall, revealing tracks in the dust. She began to bring down the tower of cardboard boxes.

“Rena, help me. I think it’s behind here.”

They worked quickly in tandem, handing off the boxes one to the other until a door appeared.

It was locked with a deadbolt latch.

Hollis pulled back the latch and pushed in on the door. She hit resistance. “Shelby, can you hear me?”

Silence.

Rena came to her side, and they shoved at the heavy object blocking the door until Hollis was able to squeeze in.

Shelby’s body lay crumpled and limp.

Rena stepped in and gasped, “Oh, my God, is she dead?”

Hollis bent over the young girl. She had a head wound that was bleeding, but her heart had a strong beat and Hollis could feel her breath against her hand.

“Rena, call 911.”

Where were Darol and company now?

T
he paramedics had no trouble getting Shelby’s vital signs back to normal. Two of them placed her on a stretcher and lifted her up the stairs to the outside.

The third medic pointed to an object lying on its side. “It looks like she fell and hit her head against that disconnected radiator. See? There’s blood along the end panel. She’s stabilized and we’ll take her to emergency. The head wound will require an examination to assess the extent of the injury.”

“I’m her family,” Rena said. “Let me ride with her.”

They all moved out the front door and onto the sidewalk.

Hollis noticed a uniformed police officer walking toward them.

“Rena, you go ahead with the ambulance,” Hollis said, motioning. I’ll speak with the police.”

He came up to her. “Detective Lane, ma’am, were you the one who made the call? Can I have your name?”

Hollis gave him her name and summed up the situation. “So, we left her family and rushed here. They were supposed to meet us.”

“I see. Can you give me their names and descriptions? I’m going to need you to come to the station and give us a statement. I can have your car driven by a patrolman.”

“The police already have their descriptions,” Hollis said. “There’s been an ongoing family dispute. And I can drive my own car.”

“Yes, ma’am, but this could be the scene of a kidnapping. I would like you to ride with us for your own safety. There’s another car arriving shortly to take you to the station. I need a few more minutes here to oversee processing the house as a potential crime scene. Then I’ll talk with you at the station.”

Not again.

Hollis knew there was little point in objecting.

After fifteen minutes of answering questions and providing what information she knew to Lane and another officer, Hollis could feel the shift of her status moving from possible suspect to person with key evidence. Shortly after she arrived, Mosley entered with a slight smile and a shake of his head.

He handed her a cup of tea. She brought him up to speed with the events of the morning.

“Ms. Morgan, what was your impression of the Pattersons? They appear to have dropped off the face of the earth for the last couple of hours. There’s an APB out for the three of them and their car.”

Hollis’ eyes narrowed. “The family seems pretty dysfunctional to me, and believe me I would know because I come from one.” She bit her bottom lip. “They seemed desperate, illogical, and nervous. But … but I don’t think they would have seriously hurt Shelby. How is she? Do you know?”

“As of an hour ago she regained consciousness for a short while. We told her where she was and then she blacked out again. She woke up again a few minutes ago and told us we could talk to you and Rena Gabriel about her condition. She was articulate and stayed awake longer than the last time, so the doctors don’t think there’s been any damage to her brain. But they won’t know until she wakes up for good. It’s just going to take a little while.”

The door burst open, and a young female officer stood with a grin. “We’ve got ’em. They’re bringing in the Pattersons.”

Mosley stood. “Well, Ms. Morgan, I’m sure you’re anxious to go check on your client. Your car is in the lot next door. With proof of identification, the attendant will give you the keys.”

Hollis was anxious to go to the hospital. “Thank you, I’ll check back with you for an update.”

Rena, sitting in the waiting room, jumped up to give Hollis a hug when she came in and said, “I’ve been on the phone with the Patterson family. They’re relieved that Shelby is okay and no real harm was done. Now they’ve got Sonny and Joy to worry about. I halfway regret bringing you into this mess, but the other half is happy it was you.”

Hollis shrugged. “You brought me my first client. Years from now we’ll shake our heads over a glass of wine, remembering.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Any news from the doctors?”

“She released them to talk to us, and I told them I wanted to be apprised of her condition.” Rena started to tear up. “They said she’s still rolling in and out of consciousness, but she’s staying awake longer each time.”

Pulling out a tissue, she dabbed at her nose.

Hollis nodded. “The police are bringing in Darol, Sonny, and Joy now. How did they ever think that the way to work this out was by locking up Shelby?”

Rena tapped the arm of her chair with her finger. “Their logic, or lack thereof, is unbelievable. I can’t get over this.”

“You know, I don’t think Darol knew. He seemed genuinely surprised at his children’s plan.”

“What’s going to happen now?”

Hollis shrugged. “It’s up to Shelby. If … when she comes through this, she can press charges, make sure her house gets sold quickly, and get on with her life.”

“So they’ll go to jail.” Rena looked down at her hands.

“Maybe,” Hollis said. “Worst case scenario is they go to jail for a very long time. Kidnapping is serious. But before we speculate, let’s take it one step at a time. There’s enough drama to go around.”

They were both silent for the next few minutes until the door opened and a doctor came toward them, reading from a clipboard. He was short, with wire-rim glasses and a fringe of hair encircling his bald head.

“That’s her doctor,” Rena whispered.

“Miss Gabriel, your cousin is going to be all right. Her vitals are strong and right now she’s resting. She’ll have a bad headache for a few days, but we’ll give her medication to relieve the pain. Does she live alone?”

“Er … yes.” Rena faltered. “She lives at home in Southern California, but she can stay with me until she’s better.”

The doctor looked at his watch. “Good. We’ll just need to watch her for a few days, make sure she’s back to normal. There’s no need to bring her back unless she has physical complaints. I’ll send her prescription to the pharmacy.” He turned to leave.

Hollis nudged Rena and motioned to the rooms.

“Oh,” Rena said. “When can we see her? This is her attorney.”

He paused and looked up at them. “You can go in now.” He started flipping through pages on his clipboard again. “However, I had to inform the police that she was awake. They’re on their way.”

Shelby woke later that afternoon. Hollis and Rena were at her bedside while she gave her story to the police.

It seems that a basement door hinge pin was literally Shelby’s downfall. When Joy locked her up that morning to leave for Dolly’s Diner, Shelby banged on the door, slipped, and hit her head on a metal radiator stored in the room. Of course, the police took note that she was being held against her will, but Shelby insisted she wasn’t in any danger—that it was a just a family quarrel. Besides, she wanted to get released to fly home to Los Angeles as soon as she could.

The good news was that Shelby seemed to have matured somewhat since the incident. She agreed to consider an agreement for letting Darol stay in the house. Hollis quickly emailed a draft to the Pattersons in LA so the family could advise Shelby.

Shelby beamed when the doctor said she was well enough to fly to Los Angeles and participate in the Patterson family meeting. It was to be a confab of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Denise promised to call Rena and Hollis as soon as it was over.

The weekend passed, and now it was Monday morning, and still no word.

Hollis distracted herself with two matters George had put in her basket. It helped to keep her thoughts from her two worrisome clients. She’d gone into probate because the law was clear and usually appreciated by all concerned. Instead she found herself with clients she wasn’t even sure
she
appreciated.

She smiled at the slip of paper Vince left in her office mailbox. He was taking his GED general study tests today. Maybe, just maybe, she was having a positive influence on someone’s life, and she liked the fact that it might be Vince. She wished him well.

It was close to noon, but she wasn’t hungry. She didn’t want to leave the office before she heard from Denise or Rena. She didn’t have to wait long.

“Sorry for getting back to you later than I said, but it took forever to get these crazy people to come to an agreement.” Denise sounded exasperated. “Go ahead and sell the house. Shelby will give a share of the proceeds to Darol to help him find a new place; maybe after he gets a job and back on his feet, he can buy his own home. Anyway, we need you to get as much for the house as you can.”

“Wait a minute, Denise. Shelby is my client. I’ll have to talk with her directly,” Hollis said. “Is she there?”

“Er … no. I’ll have to have her call you when she gets back.” Denise hesitated. “Either way the house can go on the market. That didn’t change.”

“I’d rather give Shelby an update first. Just have her call me on my cellphone when she gets back,” Hollis said.

“Sure … but ….”

Hollis rolled her eyes. “What’s going on Denise, where’s Shelby?”

“She went for a walk; she said she wanted some fresh air.” Denise cleared her throat. “We took a vote, and except for one person, we were all in agreement.”

“Let me guess. That one person was Shelby.”

Denise gave a restrained laugh. “Yes, but she finally caved. She’s a bit miffed now, but she’ll be okay. I’ll tell her to get in touch with you as soon as she returns.”

Hollis went back to her paperwork. The phone rang. This time it was Todd, who insisted on seeing her that afternoon. She agreed to meet him for lunch at the deli where they had met before.

“Todd, can you give me some idea what you want to see me about?” she said. “I’m ready to file the trust.”

“I’d rather talk to you in person,” he said. “I’ve discovered something I think you should know before you file the trust.”

On that mysterious note, what could she do but meet with him?

At the deli there were only a few tables filled with patrons taking a time-out. If Todd was irritated at her lateness, he didn’t show it. He was wearing a pair of dark glasses and reading the paper. As she approached the table, he stood up.

“I’m so sorry for being late. The phone rang just as I was going out the door.” Hollis breezed in and took the chair across from him.

“Hey, don’t worry. It gave me a chance to catch up on the news.” He waved the paper. “When you’re in prison, you don’t think about how much crime there is out here. There are a lot of criminals out on the street.”

Hollis laughed at his dark humor. “It can be kind of scary sometimes.”

“Look, I have to talk to you about Frances and the trust.”

Just then his phone must have vibrated and he glanced at the screen.

“Sorry, I just got a call I need to return, and I think I drank one too many cups of coffee while waiting for you. Give me a few minutes. I won’t be long.”

“Go on. I can check my email and send a couple of texts.”

Hollis settled in.