by Dave Daren
“Oh, okay. Sorry,” Leo apologized again. “So, yeah. Watts just said there was a meeting, and that I really needed to be there.”
“We think the board may be planning to vote for the new chairman tonight so I really need your shares,” Anna explained. “I know Watts has made you an offer, and if it’s like the one he made me, it’s a ridiculously low number. I’m offering fair market value, Leo. It’s a lot more money in your pocket.”
“Uh-huh,” was Leo’s first comment. After yet another interminable pause, he added, “Look, I want to talk about this in person. You can give me the details when I get there.”
The rude little prick hung up then.
“Well, that was strange,” Anna snapped.
“Do you think he might have been drinking?” I asked.
“Maybe,” Anna sighed. “Though I can’t imagine the rental agency would give him a car if he was really that wasted.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Well, now we wait,” Anna remarked. “Do you like Uno?”
“Haven’t played it in years, but I think I could pick it up again pretty quickly,” I replied.
“Good, because it was the only deck of cards I could find in the house when I went through it last year, and before you ask, no TV. I had the cable turned off.”
“Uno it is then,” I said with mock resignation.
Anna swatted playfully at my arm, and I held the limb in imaginary pain.
“My hero,” she proclaimed as she gave me an eye roll and stood up.
“All I need is a cape,” I pointed out.
“And a cool name for the car,” she replied. It was my turn to swat at her but she ducked just outside my reach. She danced across the floor to a small chest and retrieved a pack of Uno cards from the top drawer.
I hate to admit it, but we lost track of time. We traded stories about our youth while we tried to outmaneuver each other with our Draw Four and Wild Cards. We might have been there all night if my own phone hadn’t rung.
“Hey, Sofia, what’s up?” I asked by way of greeting.
“Not much,” she replied. “I just wanted to let you know that Roberto says it’s going to be closer to a week. They have to order some parts.”
“It takes a week to order parts for a Honda?” I asked suspiciously. In my experience, car parts tended to arrive pretty quickly.
“Off the books, remember?” Sofia said. “So, what’s Leo like?”
“He’s not here yet,” I replied as I glanced at my watch. “In fact, he’s overdue.”
“Maybe he changed his mind?” Sofia suggested.
“He made it to LA,” I mused. “In fact, he called as he was getting on the interstate.”
“Maybe he got lost.”
“On the way to his childhood home?” I asked sceptically. I noticed Anna had checked the time as well, and her expression had turned from happy-go-lucky to worried.
“Do you want me to call someone?” Sofia asked.
“No,” I sighed. “I’ll give him a little more time. If he doesn’t show, I’ll call the sheriff’s office.”
“Where could he be?” Anna wondered after I got off the phone with Sofia.
“We can’t wait too much longer if we’re going to make the meeting,” I replied.
And just like that, the mood went from fun to somber. Leo, I decided, had a lot to answer for.
I gave Leo as much time as I could, but when he was still M.I.A. and refused to answer the twenty-plus calls Anna made to his phone, I decided to call Detective Bosko. Bosko was a member of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, and he’d been helpful during the Lauren Fullerton case. We’d exchanged numbers though I hadn’t needed to use it before tonight.
Bosko answered after the second ring with a brisk, “Bosko.”
“Detective Bosko,” I said, “This is Vincent Creed.”
“Mr. Creed. What can I do for you tonight? Got another client here in Thousand Oaks?”
“No,” I replied. “I’m here in Ventura. I’m meeting someone but he’s now three hours late.”
“Traffic?” Bosko suggested.
“No, he was coming from LAX. He called to say he was on his way but that was all I’ve heard from him.”
I heard Bosko type something into his computer and then he said, “Traffic’s been flowing pretty well so no reason for any delays. Maybe he just got lost.”
“It’s the house where he grew up,” I said.
“Oh.” I could tell that I had Bosko’s attention now. “Is this missing man tied up with a case you’re working on?”
“Yes,” I admitted.
“What kind of case?” Bosko asked.
“You know I can’t give you any details,” I replied. “But there might be some bad people involved.”
“Mmmm….” was all Bosko offered.
“Look, can I file a missing persons report?”
“You can,” Bosko sighed, “But since you’re talking about an adult, no one’s going to do much about it. If he’s still missing tomorrow, then they might go looking.”
“Well, it’s better than nothing,” I muttered.
“Look, if he was at LAX the last time you heard from him, then you need to call LAPD. I know a guy there who can take the report and at least get it into the system. It won’t be a top priority, but if there’s not much going on in the city tonight, it might make it to the shift briefing.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“I’ll keep an ear to the chatter as well,” he volunteered. “Just in case anything gets called in.”
Bosko was true to his word, and we’d barely ended our call when he texted me with the number for Sergeant Sanders. Sergeant Sanders turned out to be a taciturn old coot, but he took Leo’s information and swore that he would get the word out to the units to keep an eye open for anyone matching Leo’s description.
“The police are looking,” I assured Anna after I finished talking to Sergeant Sanders. “But we need to leave if we’re going to make that meeting.”
“All right,” she said sadly. “Maybe Leo will be there.”
I couldn’t decide if that would be a good thing or a bad thing so I just let her comment go. Anna locked up, and we piled back into the Explorer. I offered to drive this time so Anna could keep calling Leo. She turned the keys over without a word, and I knew that she was genuinely worried about her brother.
We made good time on the 101 until we hit the 5 exchange near Burbank. A tractor trailer had tipped over, spilling a load of logs across the entire highway. We were trapped on the 101 with no way to get around the mess and nowhere to go until the wood was cleared.
Anna barely noticed. She had dialed Leo’s number nonstop since we’d left and still no answer. Anna had left messages the first few times but now she simply dialed and hung up.
“We won’t make it,” I said as I watched a tow truck try to right the trailer.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Anna wailed as tears formed in her eyes. “Why won’t Leo answer?”
There was nothing I could say, so I just squeezed her hand. She was trembling, and I wished I could offer her a hug at that moment, but the Explorer was not designed with human contact in mind. She wiped a tear away from her cheek and drew a deep breath.
“We can deal with whatever happens,” I said.
“Yes,” she agreed with a nod. She finally set her phone down and turned her attention to the mess outside.
“Watts will be named chairman,” she sighed.
“Probably,” I agreed. “But I’ll file for a TRO in the morning.”
“Okay,” she said.
“It’s a start,” I assured her, “And it will protect the company while we build our case.”
Anna nodded, but she said nothing else. We sat quietly and watched as various attempts were made to clear the road. Eventually, one clever soul simply started rolling the logs out of the way. A cheer went up from the captive audience.
Anna’s phone rang. She snatched
it up and checked the number.
“Watts,” she said, and her disappointment was palpable.
“Put him on speaker,” I told her.
“Okay,” she agreed. She took another deep breath and then answered with, “Tucker, we’re stuck on the 101 but it looks like the road is nearly clear. We should be there soon.”
“Anna,” Watts’s voice boomed from the phone. “No need to hurry. The meeting has ended. We had enough shares present. I’m happy to say that I’ve been elected as the full chairman and not just the acting chairman.”
Anna stared at the phone like it had turned into a snake. “How could you have enough shares to hold the meeting?” she demanded angrily.
“Anna,” Watts soothed in a smarmy tone. “We have your brother’s shares.”
“What?” Anna shouted.
“Your brother’s shares,” Watts repeated. “He agreed to sell them to us last week, and he signed the contract just a few days ago. Didn’t he tell you?”
“No,” Anna snapped, though I wasn’t sure if she was answering Watts’s question or denying what he’d just said.
“Well, with his shares we had a quorum, so we decided to start the meeting,” Watts explained.
“If he’d already sold the shares to you, why was he flying out here?” Anna demanded.
“Oh, dear,” Watts said sadly. “I do hate to get involved in private family affairs.”
Both Anna and I snorted at that one.
“Be that as it may,” Watts continued, “what Leo told me was that he was tired of taking instructions from you. He just wanted out of the company, and we could provide him with cash immediately, not sometime in the future. He sold all but one share back to the company. He was coming out to vote his one share for me as a final thumbing of the nose to you.”
Anna was trembling again, but I could see the anger in her eyes and when she finally spoke, her voice snapped like a whip. “Where is he?”
“Who?” Watts asked blandly.
“Leo,” Anna said through gritted teeth.
“Well, I assumed he was with you. Are you saying he’s not?”
Anna hung up at that point, too angry to even speak. Traffic had started moving slowly forward again, and I kept my eyes firmly on the road.
“Leo wouldn’t do that,” Anna finally said. “He wouldn’t stab me in the back like that. If he was going to sell his shares to Watts, he would tell me.”
“Why would Watts think Leo was with us?” I wondered aloud. “Leo only agreed to meet with you after he’d already talked to Watts. I suppose he could have called Watts back, but that seems unnecessary if what Watts says is true.”
“I don’t know,” Anna sighed. “I don’t know anything anymore.”
“Don’t give up,” I said as I risked a glance at Anna. “I’m all over this. First thing tomorrow, we stop Watts’ appointment. Then we go after the rest of them.”
Conversation in the Explorer ground to a halt. My own mind wrote and rewrote the motion I needed to file in the morning. Anna was lost in her own world as well, and I guessed that Leo probably had a prominent role in whatever revenge she was dreaming up.
“We should eat,” I suggested as we closed in on downtown LA.
“I’m not really hungry,” Anna replied.
“You are,” I assured her. “You just don’t realize it.”
“But you do?” she asked. I heard just a hint of humor there, and it made me happy. Anna might have been knocked down, but she wasn’t out.
“Yup, I can tell. My stomach has been talking to your stomach,” I replied.
Anna snorted, but she didn’t protest when I turned onto the local streets. I found an IHOP and pulled into the lot.
“Pancakes?” Anna asked.
“Trust me, when you’re feeling this sad, pancakes are like manna from heaven,” I replied.
“You’re unbelievable,” she said but she climbed out of the SUV and started towards the door while I was still collecting my jacket.
By the time I made it inside, Anna was already seated at a booth. The waitress arrived in record time and took our order for coffee, one short stack and one full stack.
“Will we be able to get the restraining order?” Anna asked after two cups of steaming coffee had been deposited on our table.
“I think so,” I said. “Especially if we get a sympathetic judge.”
“You’ll be working all night,” she commented.
“Probably,” I admitted. “But if you don’t want to be alone, I can set up shop at Denise’s.”
“No,” Anna said with a sad smile. “I’d rather be alone tonight. I need the space to think. Besides, Heath will keep me company.”
“Are you sure?” I pushed.
“About Heath? Absolutely. He’s a sucker for a good chin rub,” Anna replied. She gave me a wink, and I laughed.
“As long as you’re safe,” I said after I’d caught my breath. “If you need anything or decide you want to talk, call me. I can be there in no time.”
“In your swanky new undercover car,” she added.
“We could always go for a late night spin,” I suggested.
The pancakes arrived, and we contented ourselves with glopping on butter and syrup to our respective stacks. I smothered mine with plenty of warm almost-maple syrup while Anna considered the fruitier options. After some serious thought, she poured a hefty dose of blueberry syrup on her short stack.
“They used to have a boysenberry syrup,” she sighed. “I must have used half the bottle every time we hit an IHOP when I was a kid.”
“Butter pecan was my vice,” I replied.
We polished off our pancakes and refilled our coffee mugs.
“I’ll drop you off at the office,” Anna stated.
“I’ll drive you home,” I offered. “I can Uber it from there.”
“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind,” she replied. “I’d rather just drop you off.”
My phone rang, and we both froze for a moment. I felt Anna tense as I checked the number and then took the call.
“Creed,” I said.
“Hey, Creed, I may have something on your missing person,” Bosko announced without introduction.
“Good or bad?” I asked.
“Bad, sorry to say,” Bosko replied. “Local cops in Pismo Beach responded to a possible jumper call. Body was found at the bottom of the cliffs there. The driver’s license is for Leonardo Bernardi. Rental car in the lot is signed in his name as well.”
Damn.
“Pismo Beach,” I repeated aloud.
“Yeah. Locals are treating it as a suicide,” Bosko said, and I heard a hesitation in his voice.
“But?” I encouraged.
“The body was found right after he jumped by a woman jogging on the beach. She claims that there was someone at the top of the cliffs, looking over the edge when she went to check on your friend. She called out that she was calling 9-1-1. Guy was gone when the cops arrived.”
“Huh,” I remarked.
“Locals need to do the notification,” Bosko hinted.
“Right,” I said. “If you’ve got a number, I’ll call. Maybe set something up for tomorrow.”
“I’ll shoot you a text,” he agreed.
“What?” Anna demanded after I ended the call.
“It’s Leo,” I sighed. “They’ve found him.”
“Where?” she asked quietly. Her eyes glistened with a fresh set of tears.
“Pismo Beach. The locals think he jumped off the cliffs.”
Anna’s jaw fell open, and she stared at me in shock. “That… That makes no sense,” she finally stammered. “There’s just so much that’s wrong with that.”
“I know,” I tried to reassure her. “But all they have right now is a body at the bottom of the cliffs. They might find something during the autopsy.”
“Autopsy,” Anna repeated as she choked back a sob.
“I’ll call in the morning to set up an appointment,” I continued. “They�
�ll need someone to identify him, someone who knows what he looks like.”
Anna grimaced. “That would be me,” she replied.
“As soon as I finish in court, we can drive up there,” I offered.
“No,” Anna decided. She shook her head, scattering tears across her cheeks. “I can do this on my own. You need to focus on Watts. That man took away my father, and now he’s taken my brother. He won’t take anything else from me.”
She was fierce and beautiful in that moment, a warrior-goddess brought to life. If we hadn’t been sitting in a booth at IHOP, I would have gotten down on one knee and pledged my eternal loyalty. Instead, I grasped her hand in mine and held on.
“Tonight--” I started.
“No,” Anna snapped. “This doesn’t change anything. I drop you off, then head home. I have some work of my own to do anyway.”
A few of the other patrons had glanced at our booth, and I took this as a signal that we should leave. I tossed some bills on the table, and we made our way back to the SUV. Anna refused to talk during the trip to my office, and when we arrived, she offered me a muted goodnight only. I watched the SUV until it was out of sight, then forced myself back upstairs. There would be no sleep tonight.
Chapter 5
Law school is largely about learning the ins and outs of the legal system and how to frame your arguments to best take advantage of that system. Every professor in every class is focused on that objective. It’s all big picture stuff with very little detail on the nitty-gritty of every day legal work.
I was lucky to have one professor who would pass along kernels of really helpful information, the kind of information that would actually be important in the day-to-day running of a law office. Things like: never piss off the court clerk, make sure you have a box of tissues handy for your clients, and always keep a clean suit in your office.
I was very glad I’d listened to that last bit of advice. The request for the TRO had taken all night, and I still had to get Anna’s signature on the supporting affidavit before I could deliver it to the court. I cleaned up as well as I could in the community bathroom, then tossed on the fresh suit, and pulled the Caddy out of drydock.
I arrived at Anna’s hidey-hole about half and an hour before the courts opened for the day and I could tell she hadn’t slept either. Her cheeks looked pale and some of the luster was gone from her eyes. She met me at the door with a pen to sign the affidavit in her hand.