Third Eye Watch (A Serena Shaw Mystery) (14 page)

This daily ritual of theirs, Sam thought, was comforting. As he waited for her to get off the phone, his mind flashed back to the first time he had met Audrey. He had been a rookie agent and had met her, on only his second day as an FBI agent.

SAM – A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Ever since Sam had read “A Time to Kill,” he had wanted to become a lawyer. Like Jake Brigance; he saw himself fighting to prove the innocence of those who were wrongly accused. He was ecstatic, and his parents proud, when he received the acceptance letter, welcoming him to the University of Michigan Law School.

Then came 9/11.

When those planes flew into the twin towers, America changed. And like many others, Sam too felt a change coming. As the television channels replayed the scenes of terror over and over again; along with the entire country, Sam too mourned the deaths of his fellow Americans. And like the rest of the country, he too felt gripped by the patriotic fervor that enveloped America post 9/11.

His love for law was now superseded by his desire to do something directly to protect his country from the bad guys. So in January 2002, he applied to the FBI, not telling his parents or siblings until he had successfully completed the rigorous application process and screening.

When he told his family, his mom had cried, but he knew they were tears of pride; and his dad had awkwardly patted him on the back, and then turned away to hide his own tears. His siblings had whooped in joy and then placed their orders. 

“Bring me an FBI tee-shirt; black and in size small,” his sister demanded.

“I want a black one too, but larger, naturally,” his brother had chimed.

Families were like that.

The day before the first anniversary of 9/11, he was on a flight to Virginia, and on 9/11/2002, he began his 20-week training at the FBI farm in Quantico, which he thought was quite fitting.

Wanting to be closer to home, he had selected Detroit, Detroit, and Detroit as his top three desired offices for his first assignment. By week eight in training, he had received confirmation of his posting to the Detroit office.
His Quantico buddies had teased him that the only reason he had gotten his desired assignment, was because, “who the hell wanted to go to Detroit?” They had been surprised when he had given them the finger; until then, they’d never heard him curse or seen him display any crude gestures.

He counted his graduation day from Quantico as one of the happiest days of his life. His parents and siblings had attended the graduation and afterward over dinner, he had presented them all with T-shirts emblazoned with FBI and their names stenciled on the back. They had squealed so loudly with joy that to this day, he remained surprised they hadn’t been asked to leave by the stiff-lipped maître d, who had glared at them in disapproval for making his upper-class restaurant look common.

He had arrived back in Detroit the following week, and reported for duty, immediately being assigned to a newly formed division, VCET (Violent Crimes Enforcement Taskforce).

“Your partner is on her way. She’s a one-year veteran, and just transferred into this group today,” his ASAC told him, and then told him more about his partner.

Audrey Glennon was two months older than him, and had graduated from Quantico a year earlier. In fact, he told Sam, Audrey had graduated just a week before 9/11. She was a native Detroiter, and her family lived in the area too. And, he told her with a smile; she was richer than God.

When Sam met her, he thought she was a natural beauty; possessing a classic elegance that came naturally to people who had grown up with immense wealth.

Over the next few weeks, he had learned that her grandfather was Alex Simon Glennon, a famous Detroit-based businessman. He had been a refugee from Armenia, immigrating to the United States in 1921 and had worked as a machinist in New York, before moving to Detroit with his parents and siblings during the automotive boom.

Alex Simon had founded an automotive components company, which had gained a worldwide reputation for inventing innovative plumbing fixtures. An innovative design for a showerhead, developed in the eighties, continued to bring substantial profits to the company to this day. The company had experienced tremendous growth and was now listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Audrey’s grandfather had long-since retired and handed over the reins of the company to her dad and her aunt. Her cousins all worked in the family business, and Audrey was considered the black sheep of her family. But she remained her grandfather’s favorite, even though she had chosen the FBI over the family business.

She was featured in the news regularly with her family; attending charity events, film premiers and red carpet galas with the über wealthy; dressed in elegant gowns and wearing expensive jewelry while being photographed with the crème de la crème of Detroit.

He also learned first hand, that she was high-energy and sassy; dealing with the criminals they came across, with courage, wit, and sarcasm. On their second day, she had told him that she loved to drive, and he let her, finding out that she drove at only two speeds, start and stop. He had lived through that first drive at a breakneck speed; his body bruised from being “shaken, not stirred”, from her reckless driving.

Even so, they had never been in a crash, so he still let her drive, most of the time, but he never forgot to say a quick prayer before he got into the passenger seat.

Their first two months were spent on run-of-the-mill cases; bank robberies, extortions, kidnappings, and parole violations. They worked 12-14 hour days, seven days a week. Their workload never seemed to ease. But Sam loved being an federal agent, and felt that he had made the right decision; trading in his childhood love for law, for an even greater love, for his country.

A few weeks later, he had moved back home, not wanting to waste money on an apartment; given how little he was home. Besides, it made his mom happy to have one of her kids around.

He and Audrey got along well, and even more importantly, they worked well together. Even though she came from a super rich family, Audrey had no airs, and she never threw her weight around. Sam was very easygoing too, and their partnership flourished.

Thankfully, there were no sexual sparks between them. In addition to being partners, they were becoming friends, and he felt certain that they would remain friends throughout their lives.

xxxx

Their first major case came on a wintery March day. He recalled the events of that night as clearly as if they had happened last night.

It was 10 pm on a Sunday. They had just arrived at a downtown apartment, where a distraught young woman sat on a ninth-floor windowsill, poised to jump.

The super waited for them outside the apartment. He opened the door for them with his master key, and Audrey took the lead as planned, moving forward silently, and with agonizing slowness. She was just steps away, hovering outside the door which opened onto the balcony.

“Wait,” he whispered, stopping her with a gentle squeeze on her shoulder.

She stopped, arching one eyebrow in silent question.

“Let me do this,” he continued in a soft whisper.

Her eyes narrowed briefly; then she nodded and wordlessly stepped aside.

“Thanks,” he mouthed, then stepped forward, and looked at the woman, then came to attention as he stood still and closed his eyes to focus inwards. His awareness expanded as his breathing slowed, and his body relaxed. He saw a happy family, parents and kids, laughing and playing. He also saw a woman and a man fighting, a woman crying, and then silence.

He reached the surface of his consciousness and opened his eyes. It had only been seconds since he had switched places with Audrey. He threw a quick glance at Audrey; then nodded to her as he stepped forward.

He watched the woman as she perched precariously on the windowsill, one foot dangling outside the window. Her thin body was covered only in a transparent nightgown, offering her no protection against the blistery cold temperatures. He knew heavy snow was forecasted for the overnight hours.

Let’s get this done, he thought and crept closer.

He began speaking to the woman in a soft, soothing voice; telling her how much her parents loved her. He kept his voice low, and reminded her of her dreams and how much she had to look forward to in her life.
Barely ten minutes later, the woman swung her leg and jumped. Inside. It had been so sudden, and unexpected, that no one reacted at first. But then Sam motioned to the two uniforms who were standing behind them in the far corner, and they ran and grabbed the woman gently, pulling her further inside and covering her with a blanket.

The woman had pushed the uniforms away, and run to Sam to hug him fiercely, thanking and apologizing alternatively as tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes. Although she refused adamantly, saying she was fine, Sam convinced her to go to the hospital and get herself checked out for frostbite.

A few minutes later, he and Audrey departed the scene too. Sam got in the passenger seat, closed his eyes, and rested his pounding head back against the headrest.

Thankfully Audrey didn’t speak. He kept his eyes closed, taking soft, deep breaths to relax himself, and meditated to calm himself down after the intense adrenaline rush he had experienced when the girl had jumped.
When the car stopped, he opened his eyes and looked outside. They were in the parking lot of Denny’s, a 24-hour diner two blocks from their office. When he looked at Audrey, he found her watching him. He sighed; then nodded. His partner had a right to know.

xxxx

PRESENT DAY

Audrey hung up the phone, and began shutting down her computer. Sam cut short his trip down memory lane as she came around the desk, and perching on its edge in front of him.
“I left two messages for Lena yesterday. I’ve yet to hear back. What if…..?”

“Let’s not play
what if
,” he interrupted, and she nodded thoughtfully.

“Ok. I have a plan. The search warrant I had requested for her room was just issued. We’ll go to the Marriott and wait for a uniform to bring it there, and then we’ll search Lena’s room.”

“Ok.”

“Then I want to know all about your weekend.”

He rolled his eyes, and stood up saying, “we’ll see.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, but he avoided her gaze. Hah, she thought. She was a trained interrogator. Soon, she’d learn every detail about his weekend, and about his late night trip to Serena’s.

Her phone rang again as they walked to her vehicle. She hung up, then punching the accelerator, she pulled out of the parking garage and entered the expressway, peeking at Sam who was reclining on the passenger seat; his eyes closed, his breathing even.

“I drive, he meditates; the sign of a successful partnership,” she quipped, not noticing Sam’s grin.

She drove, her mind flashing back to their first meeting, and the case that cemented their friendship.

AUDREY - A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Audrey had joined the FBI to make a difference. Money had not been a motivation because she had plenty of it. She was rich, really, really rich.

She had been with the FBI for a year when she had been reassigned to a newly formed division, VCET, Violent Crime Enforcement Taskforce. Her new partner was Samvir Raina, a native Detroiter like her, and a recent graduate from Quantico.

They had clicked immediately even though they were polar opposites; where she was fiery-tempered, he was calm; where she was impatient, he had the patience of a saint; She was always ready to do jump into the fray, while he used tremendous restraint when they were in stressful situations.

He was also super-intelligent, and thoughtful. He remembered birthdays and brought flowers for the admins every week. When asked by others why he went out of his way to do so, he replied, “cause I like doing it.”

“Blatant brownnosing,” she’d tease him; but she knew that he really was a considerate person, generous with his money and his time.

He was serious eye-candy too. Tall, skin the color of honey, and handsome to the boot. Thankfully neither of them had at any time felt anything remotely sexual for each other. She knew agents who had tried being “partners with benefits.” It always ended badly.

He talked less and observed more. She had never seen him lose his temper or act frustrated, no matter what happened.

They had spent their first two months on petty crimes; kidnappings, attempted murder, extortions, drug deals gone bad, and so on.

Then came the case that changed their relationship dramatically.  The events of that night were clearly etched in her mind.

It had been a cold night, with predictions of heavy snowfall. A young woman was perched on the window of her ninth-floor apartment, threatening to jump. 

When they entered the apartment, Audrey had taken the lead, as per their game plan. But when she started to inch forward, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Let me take the lead.” Sam was saying.

Audrey was surprised. Hadn’t they agreed to handle it “woman to woman”?

But when she started to say something, the words wouldn’t come. Instead she felt mildly hypnotized by his gaze and without conscious thought, she found herself stepping aside, nodding at him to go ahead and do whatever.

Then she saw incredulously that Sam had stopped. His eyes were closed and he was frozen in place. Her astonishment grew when two minutes later he began speaking to the woman in a soothing tone, and when ten minutes later, it was all over.

Once the woman had been on her way to the hospital, they left to return to the office. Audrey glanced at Sam who was reclined in the passenger seat of her vehicle, and appeared to have fallen asleep.  She pulled into Denny’s and turned off the car, wondering if she should awaken him when Sam opened his eyes, looked outside and then at her. He nodded, and then got out, and she followed him in.

She ordered coffee and pie; strawberry for him, chocolate for her, and waited until the waitress finished serving them. Then she probed gently. “What just happened in there Sam?” 

“I don’t know what you mean.” He prevaricated.

“Don’t. You talked her down in ten minutes flat. I’m still in shock. And…..I saw you, closing your eyes and having a yoga moment.”

“A yoga moment?” his voice was light, but he didn’t smile.

“Sam!!” she warned.

“Ok,” he held up his hand. He ate a couple of bites of his pie, then put down his fork.

He looked her straight in the eye and told her.

“I see, and….err sense things, sort of like the boy in the movie, sixth sense. Except, I don’t see dead people walking”, he tried humor.

“What? Is this one of your stupid jokes?”