Uncorked (42 page)

When he was done reading the
letter, he wasn’t sure whether he should be happy, sad or angry. He probably
felt a bit of each. What infuriated him the most was the money she wired him,
but he knew that she might have done that because he had called her a
liability. When he said that, he hadn’t meant in a monetary way, but it bothered
him that she felt the need to do this. He thought they were beyond that, but he
guessed all bets were off when he decided to tell her it was over.

He dug through his jacket pocket
for the piece of paper with her new information. He dialed the number; and after
some hesitation, he pressed send and waited for her to answer. This time her
phone did not immediately go to voice mail, but waited five or six rings. He
left her a message asking her to call him.

Chella’s heart pounded
when she saw Mitch’s number appear
on her screen. She wondered how he got her number. After thinking about it, she
knew Craig must have been the culprit. Her phone beeped, and she saw that she
had a message from him. She bit the corner of her thumb as she listened to the
voice message.

“Hi, Chella. It’s me. Can you
please give me a call as soon as possible?”

She listened to the message over
and over again. After some thought, she decided it would be best if she did not
speak to him. However, she did not want him worrying about her, so she sent him
a text message.

Chella
Noon

Monday
November 28, 2011

8:34PM

Mitch, I’m
fine. Tell Emily I’m thinking about her, I miss her, and I’m sorry I can’t come
see her. In your life, I will always be a danger to you and your family, so I
think it would be best if I stayed away from you. There’s no need for you to
worry. I’m safe.

When he got the message from her,
it only frustrated him more. Not being able to speak to her and hear her voice
drove him insane. He couldn’t figure out how, but he knew he’d have to find a
way to get her to speak to him.

The following morning
Chella awoke to her ringing
phone. Glancing at the screen, she saw it was Detective Carter’s number.

“Hello?” she answered groggily.

“Hello, Ms. Noon. I’m sorry to
wake you.”

“No worries. What’s up?”

“I think your leaving might have
given us our big break. I have a few questions first, though.”

“Ask away.”

“Who did you tell you were
leaving or had left San Diego?”

“You and Craig, Kacy and Vicky. I
mentioned to Mitch’s daughter that I’d be out of town on Sunday, and Mitch
found out for sure yesterday. Why?”

“That package Mr. Mariani
received came within half an hour of your boss sending out your email to the
staff at Sheyenne International.”

“What a minute… what package?”

“He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Mr. Mariani received a package.
The note in it was what was most telling. It said, ‘Tell her running away won’t
fix anything. There’s more where this came from, and I intend to use them.’ For
someone to know you had left they would have had to receive the email, or you
would have had to tell them. Also, to get that package ready and have it
delivered in that amount of time tells me the suspect works at your office.”

“My God, Mitch didn’t tell me
about this. What was in the package?”

“The photos of you. I’m sorry.”

“So they’ve started their
distribution campaign,” she replied sarcastically.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Noon, but we’re
getting closer. I got clearance to have two undercover cops work in your
office. One will be replacing you. We’ll call her Nicolette Taylor. They’re
going to see what they can find out. In the meantime, we’ve done background
checks on all the employees who received the email.”

“Have you found out anything?”

“Nothing major, a few speeding
violations from some. The one thing that caught my attention was Jade. Did you
know she’s filed for bankruptcy twice?”

“What? No, but what would that
have to do with my case?”

“Nothing yet, but someone who’s
desperate for money might be willing to do certain things if they were paid.”

“Wow, Jade? Detective, I’ve
trusted her. She’s been in my home.”

“Well so far, we have motive and
opportunity for many of the crimes committed against you.”

“I can’t believe this. Are you
sure she’s the one?”

“No, I’m not. We still have a lot
of work to do and evidence to pull together, but it does look promising. I’m
not ruling anyone else out, yet, either.”

“Thank you. Detective, if this is
true and she can’t reach me, she might target Craig or Mitch. Can you please
have your officers keep an eye on them?”

“Consider it done.”

“Thank you so much for doing
this. I really appreciate your hard work.”

“Just doing my job, Ms. Noon.”

When Chella got off the phone,
she thought of all the times she had allowed Jade into her life, into her
personal space. Could it be true? Could she be the one behind all this? The
fact that she might be such a bad judge of character sent shivers through her
body.

She headed to the kitchen to make
herself a cup of coffee. She now spent her days reading, exercising; and after
visiting an art gallery in downtown Aspen it rekindled an old passion,
painting. Landscapes had always been her favorite. She had never-ending views
to inspire her for the next few weeks.

A few days later, she was working
on a piece when her phone rang. It could only be one of three people. The
screen flashed Detective Carter’s name.

“Detective...”

“Ms. Noon, how are you today?”

“I’m doing well, thank you. Any
news?”

“There’s been a new development,
but unfortunately it’s not good news.”

“What is it?”

“Late yesterday evening I got a
call from the Chief of Security at Sheyenne International. Someone sent out
three images of you to the entire staff of the company. The IT department was
able to delete it off the server, but it’s possible a few people might have
opened the email or downloaded the images before they were able to get to it.”

“Can you see my face in the
images?”

“Your hair is partially covering
your face, so you’re not easily recognizable. The IT department has restricted
the sending and receiving of attachments through company mail, but I want you
to be prepared for the possibility that at least a few of these images may be
out there.”

“I don’t know how to prepare for
that. Did Jade send them out?”

“We checked her computer last
night, but we didn’t find anything. That doesn’t mean she may not have used a
laptop or some other external device to do it. Ms. Noon, I know this is
difficult. We’re sending in our two undercover officers tomorrow. Hopefully,
we’ll get the evidence we need quickly.”

“Did the email mention my name?”

“No.”

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“I know you may not be up for
this now, but we’re having a meeting with Mr. Spencer and our officers today
before they head in tomorrow. We’d like you to be a part of that.”

“Sure, what time?”

“Two this afternoon.”

“Should I call you at that time?”

“Yes, but my number at the
office.”

“You’ll hear from me then.”

Her mood changed after that phone
call. Apart from her meeting later that afternoon, she did nothing for the rest
of the day. She knew it was by choice, but she felt so alone. She picked up her
phone to call Mitch many times, but she didn’t have the guts to actually make
the call. She missed him, she needed him, and for the first time since she
spoke to him a few days before, she so badly wanted to be with him. For the
first time since she left, she was starting the feel the effects of their
breakup.

It wasn’t supposed to be this
hard. She had done this for ten years. But after having Mitch in her life for
ten months, it was almost as if she didn’t remember how to shut people out of
her world. She tried to remember how she used to deal with this sort of thing
pre-Mitch, but the truth was, she had never had to deal with so much difficulty
in such a short period of time.

She perused the Aspen magazine on
the coffee table and decided to attend the town’s annual Christmas tree
lighting ceremony. She hoped it would help keep her mind off her troubles in
San Diego.

Mitch hung up
the phone with Detective Carter.
Mitch wanted to be with Chella. He knew she needed him. He wasn’t sure if it
was pride or her wanting to be in control or maybe she wanted to ensure
everyone was safe, but he knew she’d never call and ask for help, no matter how
much she needed it. He had no intention of sitting by and doing nothing. One
way or another, he would find out where she was.

After a bit of research on the
internet, he learned he’d be able to find out the area where she was if he knew
her IP address. He could find that out if she sent him an email. Without
further hesitation, he sent her a message and waited eagerly for her to reply.

Suddenly, he realized he was
doing all this for a woman that he was technically not in a relationship with.
A woman danger followed like a shadow. The image of Emily’s unconscious body
crept into his mind. The situation was impossible. He shut off his laptop,
stuffed his things into his briefcase and headed home.

The following day he would be
heading back to Santa Monica to spend time with his daughter. He thought about
going to see his mother. She had been to the hospital a few times to see Emily,
but he always conveniently disappeared when he knew she was coming.

Whether he wanted to admit it or
not, the latest situation with Chella reminded him of the day he found out his
mother was raped. He’d had that feeling again when the package was delivered
and again when Detective Carter told him some of the images might be
circulating. If it affected him this way, it must be torture for Chella. He
remembered his mom telling him how alone she felt after she was raped because
she had lost her best friend.

The next day, after visiting
Emily, Mitch went to see his mother. He knocked on the door and waited for a
response. Liz answered.

“Mitch… what are you doing here?”

“I came to visit Emily for the
weekend. I thought I’d come by to check on you,” he replied, kissing her on the
cheek.

“Come in. I made some pasta
primavera. You want some?”

“Sure. I miss your cooking,” he
replied, sitting at the island while she plated his portion.

“Is that all you miss?”

“I miss you too, Mom, but you’ve
made it hard for me to be around you.”

“I feel a bit badly about that.”

“Do you? Or are you saying that
because it’s what I want to hear?”

“It’s the truth. I have to admit
that it hurt when Charlotte was the one to call to tell me about Emily.”

“I didn’t need the added stress
of hearing you attacking the woman I’m in love with while I was preoccupied
with my daughter’s well-being.”

“How is she, anyway?”

“You should know she’s great. She
told me she saw you earlier today.”

“I’m talking about Chella.”

“Why do you care?”

“Let’s just say I had an epiphany
after the accident with Emily. And after a fight with Margery. She set me
straight.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Apparently Francesca overheard
some of Chella’s friends talking about me and my little stunt at your birthday
party. It really hurt her, and when she told her mother, she came over here and
we got into a huge fight over it.”

“What did she tell you?”

“Let’s just say I’m not willing
to lose my son
and
my best friend.”

“Why didn’t you call then?”

“I still hadn’t found a way to
swallow my pride. I can’t stand Chella. I probably will never like her, but I
promise you, from now on, I will respect her.”

Great. Just when things get
rocky, you come around…

“What’s wrong?” Liz asked.

“Nothing. Why?”

“I don’t know. Your expression.”

“I have no idea what you’re
taking about.”

“You’re lying to me. Emily said
something that caught my attention earlier. She said Chella didn’t come to
visit her, yet. That struck me as odd. Did the two of you break up?”

“Not really.”

“What do you mean ‘not really’?
It’s either yes or no.”

He looked down, circling his
temples with his fingers.