Distortion: Moonlighters Series: Book Two

by Terri Blackstock

  She went into Bob’s office, turned on the light. The contents of his bookshelves and drawers lay on the floor. She was grateful she’d had his laptop with her at Jay’s, so they hadn’t gotten that. She’d had Michael retrieve it from Jay’s and turn it over to Max.

  “If there was anything important here,” Juliet said, “I think they would have taken it.”

  “Yeah, but we should look anyway,” Michael said. “There might be something they didn’t recognize, but it might mean something to you. I think your best bet is to go through his drawers and whatever files are left. And if you notice something missing, tell us about that too.” He set his own laptop on Bob’s desk and pulled his chair up to it. “I’ll go through his computer files.”

  “How will you do that? I thought you gave his laptop to the police.”

  “Yeah, I did. But first I copied his hard drive.”

  Cathy high-fived him. “Nice.”

  “I’ll work through his computer files and see what I can dig up about those airline tickets and trips out of town. Also, did you read through his e-mails?”

  “No, not yet,” Juliet said.

  “I’ll do that too. Do you have a file for your credit card statements? Did they get it?”

  Juliet pointed to a drawer on the floor. “Well, that’s the drawer. I think he kept those kinds of files there. He’s a pretty organized person.” She caught herself speaking in the present tense, but didn’t have the heart to correct it. She lifted the drawer and slid it back into the desk. The files that had been in it were spilled across the floor. She stacked them on the table.

  “Cathy and I could do a search of things in his closet,” Holly added. “Check his pockets?”

  Juliet nodded. “His clothes are all over the floor.”

  “I’ll feel right at home,” Holly said. “Okay, if there’s anything we need to see, just come get us.”

  As Michael sat at the computer, Juliet put the rest of the drawers back into his desk—the desk she’d been so thrilled to find in an antique store. She had sent it out to be refinished before moving it into the office, and it had come back looking brand new and as opulent as Bob liked.

  She stacked more of the messy files and papers on the desk and sorted through them. She studied a business card for a security alarm company—it wasn’t the one they used for their home. She turned it over and found the name Sid Griffin in Bob’s handwriting. She set it on the desk to show Michael, then flipped through more papers, finding the usual items—envelopes, prescription pads. She looked through each item, hoping for a clue, something that would tell her why Bob had other bank accounts and why these killers had been after him and invaded their home. There had to be a solid explanation, something that would relieve her pain and restore her memory of Bob as a good man.

  She found nothing significant. She knelt and gathered up more papers. A map of the Bahamas stopped her. “This must have been for his trip to Nassau.”

  Michael rolled his chair to her, took the map, and unfolded it on the desk. Bob had jotted notes in the margin and circled an area on the map.

  “I always wanted to go to the Bahamas,” Juliet said. “Why wouldn’t he have taken me?”

  Michael shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  She slid the business card to him. “I also found this. It’s not the security company that monitors our alarm system here.”

  “ ‘Sid Griffin, Owner,’ ” Michael read. “I know him. We were rookie cops together. His company usually does commercial security systems. Heavy-duty stuff. So maybe they wired Bob’s office. Should be easy enough to find out.”

  Holly came back into the study. “Juliet, I just found something that’s kind of interesting.”

  Juliet looked up with dread. “What is it?”

  “I decided to look through your suitcases and see if Bob left anything inside. The small one on his side of the closet had this wallet in it.”

  “But his wallet with his license and credit cards was in his personal effects. I have it in the box the police gave me.”

  “This is a different one,” Holly said. “And it has some credit cards in it. American Express and—”

  “No,” Juliet said again. “We don’t have an American Express account. We only use my debit card, which is a Visa. I don’t like debt, so we agreed not to run up credit cards. He had another debit card for his office account, but that’s all.”

  Holly brought her the wallet. Juliet took it and looked through it. “I didn’t know about any of these accounts.”

  “One more thing.” Holly brandished a key on a small ring. “I found this key in his shaving kit. Did he keep an extra one there?”

  Juliet took the key chain and looked at the key. “This isn’t our house key. It’s not even shaped the same. I don’t know what this key goes to.”

  “Okay,” Holly said. “Just thought I’d ask.”

  “Leave it here,” Michael said. “We need to make note of it.”

  Feeling a twisting in her gut, Juliet turned back to the stacks of papers. The intruders had taken most of their financial papers. “Is there a way to access these accounts online?”

  “Maybe.” Michael turned back to his computer. “His computer had a key chain app that captures his password so he doesn’t have to remember it every time. If he ever accessed it on his computer, it’ll probably be here.” His voice trailed off as he looked. “Score! He has passwords for American Express and Discover.”

  Juliet stood behind him as he pulled up the American Express account and opened the last statement. An itemized list of charges filled the screen. He scrolled to May.

  “Ten charges in a row from the Bahamas,” he said.

  Juliet swallowed the knot in her throat. She studied the statement—restaurants, hotel, a rental car. All the week he was supposed to be in Denver.

  She felt the blood draining from her face, and her head felt light.

  Max had said the DEA suspected Bob was involved in the drug trade. Was it even possible?

  She saw charges from a dress shop, a boutique, a hair salon. “What is all this? Why would he be buying stuff there? He didn’t bring anything home for me. I would remember.”

  Cathy met Michael’s eyes, and suddenly it hit Juliet. Clearly, he’d kept his secret activities confined to these accounts so she wouldn’t see them. But who was buying things at those women’s shops? She let out a broken sigh. “I told you, Cathy. Another woman.”

  “Honey,” Cathy said in a weak voice. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation.”

  “Or maybe there’s not,” Juliet said. “Maybe these cards are related to those bank accounts. I don’t know what to think.”

  Cathy sighed. “Are you sure you’re up to this? We could take you to Jay’s and you could sleep. You need rest. We could come back and do this ourselves.”

  “No, I can’t rest,” she said. “I have to see this for myself. I have to know.”

  Her hands trembled as she trudged on, searching for clues. They searched until it was almost morning, and she realized she needed to get home to be with the boys. They would want to know where she had been all night.

  She went back to Jay’s, weary and shaken, sick over what her findings revealed about the man to whom she had committed her life.

  CHAPTER 16

  Holly took a four-hour nap, then dragged herself out of bed. There were a couple of conventions in town, and the taxi service needed all hands on deck. She needed the money, so she had no choice. She got a large cup of coffee from her favorite convenience store and drank it for breakfast. The baby didn’t take it well. Hyped on caffeine, her child kicked like a martial artist all morning.

  When things finally slowed, she went to her favorite hole-in-the-wall diner, where a lot of her friends hung out for lunch. She went in and spoke to some of them, scattered at tables, then headed to the counter.

  “Holly!” her friend Deena cried from behind the counter. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to cal
l you.”

  Holly vaguely remembered seeing a missed call from Deena. She slipped onto a stool and dropped her purse on the one beside her. “Yeah, I’ve been busy.”

  “Well, you look like death warmed over.”

  “Tired. Haven’t slept much. Hit me with some coffee, will you?”

  Deena poured her a cup. “I wanted to see if you were going to Nate’s party last night. It was fun but I left early because you weren’t there. Why didn’t you call me back?”

  Holly took a long sip and felt the baby squirm again. Maybe she should have ordered decaf. “Had a death in the family. My brother-in-law was murdered.”

  Deena’s mouth fell open, revealing her tongue ring. “You’re kidding.”

  “Wish I was.”

  “Wasn’t your sister-in-law murdered a few months ago?”

  “Yeah. And my brother-in-law to be. Makes me glad I don’t have a significant other. It’s like a family curse or something.”

  “Are they connected?”

  “No. Just a lovely coincidence, apparently. But it’s weird, right?”

  “Some coincidence.” Deena drew in a deep breath. “What happened?”

  “He was shot at the U-Haul place. He’d helped me move that day.”

  She gasped. “I heard about that. Dr. Cole?”

  “Yeah, you know him?”

  “He was my doctor. He was your brother-in-law?”

  “Yep.”

  “Wow.” She leaned over the counter. “I mean . . . Wow! Dr. Cole . . . he was my favorite person in the whole world.”

  Holly narrowed her eyes. “Why did you go to him? You don’t have back problems.”

  Deena winked. “He thought I did. Is anybody taking over his practice?”

  “I don’t know yet.” Holly shook her head. “Wait. Are you telling me you liked to go to him because he’d prescribe you drugs?”

  Deena looked from side to side, then lowered her voice even more. “Just so I’d have some when I need them.”

  Holly’s eyebrows shot up. “Like what?” She’d known for years that Deena took painkillers recreationally, but lately Holly had seen her popping them more and more. Holly rarely mentioned it. It was none of her business. But now . . . “So how did it work?” she asked.

  “I provided him with nice, neat medical records, and he took me at my word about my medical history and refilled my scripts without too many questions.”

  “Seriously? He didn’t order new tests?”

  “No. That’s why so many of his patients loved him.”

  Holly tried not to look shocked. “So . . . you know other people who did this, then?”

  Deena’s boss walked by, and she snapped to attention. “So you want the usual?”

  Holly tried to refocus. “Yeah, eating for two. And would you pour this out and give me decaf so my baby will stop tapdancing on my bladder?”

  “Right. Hamburger and fries. No onions. Best prenatal meal a baby could hope for.”

  “Lay off, will you? I eat healthy. I just need comfort food today.”

  Laughing, Deena put the order in and turned back to Holly. Holly lowered her voice. “So . . . you knew other people who went to him with the same MO?”

  “Sure. He was known to be . . . kind of easy. He saw a different person about every five minutes, so he didn’t take time to question us much. As long as we had paperwork, he took us at our word.”

  “For anything you wanted?”

  “No, just painkillers.”

  “So . . . what did you get? Lortab? Oxycontin?”

  “Yeah, and the new one. Opana.”

  Holly had never heard of Opana. “What is that?”

  “Oh, you gotta try it, girl.”

  Holly had no idea that Deena’s drug use had gotten that bad. “No thanks. I need all my brain cells.”

  Holly had been known to take pills when she was partying, but she had never gone far down that road. And she hadn’t done it at all since she’d found out she was pregnant. From where she sat now, it seemed a little . . . sad.

  So Bob was a favorite among drug seekers, but it didn’t sound as if he had done anything illegal. At least, nothing anyone could pin him down for. But surely he would recognize fake records when he saw them.

  She scarfed down her food, then hurried out and called Michael and Cathy on three-way to tell them what she’d learned.

  “So what does this tell us?” Cathy asked.

  “Not much,” Michael said. “Just that Bob wasn’t above all this. He relaxed his standards for more money.”

  “Could this be why the DEA was watching him?” Holly asked.

  “Maybe, but if so, they wouldn’t have gotten very far. Bob wasn’t stupid. He would make sure he was covered legally. Really, this only tells us about where he was morally.”

  “Didn’t his lies and secret bank accounts already tell us that?”

  “Yeah. I think we need to get into his office, see what we can find. And talk to his nurse and secretary.”

  They agreed to meet at Jay’s and talk to Juliet.

  Holly hoped her sister had the strength to keep digging.

  CHAPTER 17

  Juliet had slept for a few hours while the boys played video games. Jay had taken Jackson to school, but she had let her own boys stay home. She didn’t want them out in public with some lunatic threatening their lives. Besides, they were both still in mourning, and kids could be insensitive. Sending them back to fourth and seventh grades before they were ready could be like throwing them to the wolves.

  Jay was working at home today so they didn’t have to be alone. When the doorbell rang, she sprang up and ran to the staircase. “Don’t answer that!” she yelled down to Zach, who was already in the foyer.

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “Just . . . let me.”

  She looked out the peephole and saw Cathy and Holly. Relieved, she opened the door. “Thank goodness it’s you.”

  “We had a key, but I didn’t want to scare you,” Cathy said as they came in. “I tried texting, but you didn’t answer.”

  “I was sleeping.” Juliet raked her fingers through her short cropped hair, smoothing it down.

  “Can we talk to you?” Holly asked.

  Juliet tried to read her sister’s expression. Something was wrong. She turned to Zach. “Zach, go play with your brother.”

  “Abe fell asleep on the couch,” he said.

  “You could probably use a nap too.”

  “I’m not tired.”

  Juliet blew out her frustration. “Then go take advantage of having the PlayStation all to yourself.”

  Muttering something under his breath, Zach headed back into the family room.

  Juliet nodded toward the stairs. “Let’s talk in the bedroom.”

  Her sisters followed her up the stairs and into the guest room where she’d been sleeping. She climbed back onto the bed and hugged her pillow to her chest, as if that would protect her from what she was about to hear.

  Cathy sat on one corner, legs pulled beneath her. Holly took the other corner. Juliet wondered how long it had been since the three of them had sat like this on the same bed, telling secrets. Only this time she didn’t want to know the secrets. “What did you find out?”

  Holly told her of her conversation at the diner. When she finished, Juliet slid off the bed, went to the window, and looked out. The day was growing tired, but she didn’t even know what time it was.

  She fantasized about grabbing her purse and the kids, getting in the car, and driving as far as her gas would take her, never looking back. If she could just ignore all these revelations, she could grieve like an ordinary widow.

  “We have to search his office,” Cathy said. “We need to call his secretary. His nurse. See what they can tell us. I’ll do it if you want.”

  Juliet dragged her thoughts back and turned from the window. “No, I need to hear it for myself. And they’re more likely to tell me things than you. They know me.”

 
“Can you do it now?” Holly asked. “Because the sooner we figure all this out, the sooner we can track down the people making these threats.”

  Juliet stood there for a moment, her head swimming. She couldn’t breathe, and she thought she might faint. She bent over, hands on her knees, and tried to draw in a long breath. Then she forced herself to straighten. “Okay. Yes, you’re right. The sooner the better.”

  She sat back down on the bed and grabbed her phone. Did she still have the numbers of Bob’s employees? She had entered them years ago when she’d planned a surprise birthday party for him and had to contact them at home. Her underarms felt wet as she found the name of his nurse, Tracy. Perspiration beaded on her lip.

  The phone rang once, then someone picked up. “Hello?” Tracy sounded out of breath.

  “Tracy? This is Juliet Cole.”

  Tracy let out a hard breath. “It said Bob Cole on the caller ID. Freaked me out.”

  Juliet glanced up at her sisters. “Yeah, our phones are under his name. I’m sorry.”

  “No, I’m sorry. Juliet, how are you?”

  Juliet put it on speaker so Cathy and Holly could hear. “I’m doing okay. Thanks for asking. How about you and the rest of the staff?”

  “We’re all so upset. We don’t know what to do. We realize we can’t go to work. But if you need us to wrap things up, box up the files, refer the patients to someone else, we’re all happy to do that. We weren’t expecting to have our jobs end so suddenly.”

  Juliet hadn’t even considered that. “I . . . I don’t really know how to handle that. But if I can, I’ll try to make sure you get paychecks at least through the rest of the month. But I need to ask you some things about the office.”

  “Sure.”

  “I know Bob did surgery on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He saw patients the rest of the time, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Were they referrals from other doctors?”

  “Sometimes, but not always. We kept Wednesdays for Medicaid patients, and a lot of them didn’t have referrals.”

  “So how did he know they weren’t drug seekers?”

  “They brought their records. Why do you ask?”

  “I’m just wondering if he . . . if he ever did things that didn’t seem right . . . like prescribing drugs to people who didn’t really have back problems?”