Deadly Pasts (Agent Nora Wexler Mysteries)

by CR Wiley

  The crisp morning air hinted at colder weather yet to come as Travis leaned against his truck in the parking lot. Boffman arrived five minutes late, in a black Cadillac, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, a lame attempt to be incognito.

  “What’s the rush?” Boffman asked, stuffing his hands in the hoodie’s front pocket. Travis took a long look at the man he’d worked directly under for years. They shared a mutual respect, but Travis knew Boffman had prickly side. Beating around the bush would only weaken his case.

  “Hackers got into the FBI servers.”

  Boffman flinched and became wary. It didn’t take him long at all to put it together.

  “I told her not disclose that to anybody…” Boffman began to grouse, but Travis cut him off.

  “Hey, give me a little credit. After you threw her out all she said was that she’d made a stupid mistake that came back to bite her. The only time she’d ever taken her nose out of the rulebook was to use Danny Paulk in Seattle, and the reason I know that is because I was right there next to her, meeting with him,” Travis said. Boffman’s eyebrows rose.

  “You were? Even if she didn’t pass him anything right in front of you doesn’t mean she didn’t open the door for him. Or maybe you were there and didn’t realize what changed hands. We can be honest and say your knowledge of our technical systems isn’t exactly elite.”

  Travis chewed his tongue to keep himself from fighting back. That wasn’t the road he wanted to go down, nor was that why he had called this meeting.

  “Lance, I get it. When it comes to sensitive intelligence, if there’s a loose plug the entire ship can go down. Knowing that Nora could’ve been an accessory to Paulk was more than enough to cut her loose. But I didn’t bring you out here just to disclose my presence. I’m here to offer my assistance with the case,” Travis said, forcing a smile.

  Boffman rubbed his arms and seemed to look past Travis.

  “Forgive me, but like I said, this kind of case isn’t exactly in your wheelhouse. If I put you in with the team, you wouldn’t know the first thing about encryption, salting, Heartbleed, and Poodle. I don’t even understand it all.”

  Travis nodded.

  “That’s true. But what I do understand is that you’re trying to track down these OpenSwordsed guys, and I’m guessing they aren’t being very forthcoming about their locations. Maybe I can lend a hand there. Paulk paid for a cup of coffee with a credit card, and I happened to see the number.”

  Travis mentioned it casually, enjoying the suddenly more attentive look on Boffman’s face. It was like dangling red meat in front of a dog.

  “Nothing gets by you, Travis. All right then, so what is it?”

  “So I’m on the case?”

  “You’re on the case,” Boffman said without hesitation.

  Travis popped the door to the truck. He climbed in and looked out the window. “Good. I’ll hand it over after I’ve had a full briefing,” he said, turning the key and putting the truck into drive.

  CHAPTER 5

  1428 SPRUCE STREET

  BERKELEY, CA

  A noise jolted Nora awake. The digital alarm clock in Caroline’s guest room read 5:35 a.m., about an hour earlier than Nora wanted to get up.

  Another loud thump came from the floor below.

  Sliding out of bed, Nora tiptoed in her night clothes to the door. On the way, she picked up a hefty candlestick with a square base. She would’ve much rather had her Glock, but it was taken away with the loss of her job. As long as she had the element of surprise, one knock would be all that was necessary.

  The bedroom door opened silently, and Nora took to the dark hallway. The other rooms were all closed and seemed completely undisturbed. The staircase required careful creeping, because some of the old wooden steps had an awful creak to them. Even in the near-perfect darkness, Nora remembered which ones were noisy from the way up the night before and stepped over them.

  Clacking and another thump sounded from around the corner. Someone was going through one of the closets. While making her approach, Nora noticed the open back door and kicked herself for assuming Caroline would take charge of locking it.

  The closet light was on, and someone was inside. Taking deep breaths and keeping her eyes on the figure, Nora crept up behind the closet door and held the candlestick back behind her head.

  Just as Nora rounded the end of the door, ready to strike, a young woman turned around with a shirt in her hand, saw Nora’s extended arm and pinched face, and shrieked.

  “It’ll look better on you,” the young woman gushed in full fright, tossing the shirt hanger and all. Nora lowered her arm. The young woman’s brown hair, high cheekbones, and slim figure all reminded Nora of Caroline.

  “You must be Caroline’s younger sister, Lauren. I’m Nora. But don’t you live on campus?”

  “I keep some clothes here and wanted to grab something before I went home for the night,” the girl explained. The thought of last night extending all the way to 5:30 a.m. jarred Nora with how much things had changed for her since college.

  “I’m so sorry. I was convinced that someone had broken in.”

  “Oh, well I kind of did. And it’s completely fine, if I thought there was someone I’d go after them with my teeth if I had to,” Lauren said. She went to pick up her bag from a nearby chair, giving Nora a better view of her very short skirt, midriff bearing white cotton top, and some party paint on her arms. She glanced back and caught Nora’s quizzical look.

  “You seem in really good shape for…”

  “For being out all night drinking?” Lauren said, laughing. “I don’t know what it is but alcohol doesn’t seem to affect me much. My sister thinks I’m a lush who’s drinking away her future, but I’ll go back to my dorm, get a few hours of sleep, and then study straight until the UCLA football game. And you know, it’s going to be a raucous night after that. But she only sees or hears about the partying. She’ll get off my back when she sees I’ve gotten all A’s at the end of the semester.”

  Nora smiled, seeing something of herself in Lauren. Although Nora couldn’t imagine maintaining that kind of schedule now, there was a time in her life when “partying hard” was to be taken literally and didn’t get in the way of her studies either.

  “Would you like to have a cup of tea before you go?” Nora asked, abandoning any thoughts of getting back to bed.

  “Tea? I don’t know if I can handle that…‌but I’ll try,” Lauren said.

  Soon they were in the kitchen, seated at a wooden table with mugs. Tea bags floated around in the hot water in front of them.

  “So what are you studying?” Nora asked.

  “Right now I’m taking the usual freshman smorgasbord. Chemistry, Journalism 101, Intro to Statistics, Media & Film, and Composition. What I really want to be doing is getting into health and genetic testing, so chemistry is the only class putting me on that track so far. How great would it be to identify that a woman has the BRCA1 gene and save her from getting breast cancer before her DNA can sabotage her existence? You know, a gene is bad when it’s actually named after breast cancer,” Lauren explained with enthusiasm.

  “Have you talked to Stephanie at all? She majored in chem and had all of these dreams about designing her own perfumes and makeup. That didn’t really work out for her, but I’m sure she knows all of the professors in the department and could give you some advice about whose classes to take,” Nora said.

  Lauren, who was tanner and shorter than her sister, took on a pensive look.

  “I did talk to Stephanie yesterday, about my classes and interests even, but she never mentioned anything about what she’d studied or wanted to do. Kind of strange.”

  “I’m sure it just didn’t pop into Steph’s head. Or maybe the pregnancy is making her forgetful,” Nora said, trying to assuage Lauren’s feeling about Steph. Fortunately it only took a moment for Lauren to bubble back to life.

  “But I actually don’t think I’ll need that much help with the department an
yway. My chemistry professor is Marshall Jaymin, and after telling him about what I want to do he’s really taken me under his wing. When I came here I expected to be just a face in a full lecture hall, but he always responds to my emails and makes time for me during his office hours,” Lauren said. She crossed her legs and took a sip of tea.

  “That’s so great,” Nora said, glad that Cal was coming through for another bright student. “I guess being able to establish a professional relationship with a mentor like that is one of the most crucial parts of excelling as a student.”

  Nora was about to go on when she heard footsteps on the creaky stairs. It was around 6 a.m., and there were still a few hours to burn before she could get started on her new mission. Caroline shuffled into the kitchen, her hair a complete mess and her shirt on backward, as if she’d been the one out all night going wild.

  “Somebody looks sexy,” Lauren said.

  “Give me a break,” Caroline said. “Grady was tossing and turning all night and I hardly got a wink of sleep.”

  Nora had heard only a little about Caroline’s boyfriend. Thank goodness for Travis, otherwise Nora would’ve arrived trailing in that department as well.

  “I hope he’ll be around today. I’d really like to meet him,” Nora said.

  “Yeah, I’m sure you’ll have a blast,” Caroline said.

  Nora furrowed her brow. “What’s that supposed to mean? Is there some kind of problem?”

  Caroline attempted to straighten out her hair but only ended up looking more of a mess.

  “In the words of Mae West, a man in the house is worth two on the street. We get along great, but he is always absorbed in his work for this Internet law firm. It takes a lot out of him, and I feel like it’s prevented us from really syncing up the way I’d like in a relationship.” Caroline went to the stove, poured herself a cup of hot water, and plucked a tea bag from the box.

  “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?” Lauren asked. Nora was startled and gratified to find the question directed at her.

  “Looks like I got here in the nick of time,” Caroline said, pulling over another chair. Nora tried not to blush.

  “Actually I am just getting started with someone, but it’s been a slow launch. Like you said, work has been getting in the way. Too much office and not enough romance, if you know what I mean. But as soon as I get home we’re hoping to speed things up.”

  “How about some details of the, you know, his hotness quotient?” Lauren said in an attempt to be coy about it. Nora leaned forward and indulged in a few particularly appealing memories.

  “His name’s Travis and he’s an Iraq war vet, now with the FBI. He’s a little over 6 feet tall with scruffy, dark hair, a perpetual five o’clock shadow, and brown eyes that can make you forget to breathe. He’s built up a lot of muscle over his years in the military and still works out a lot. His shoulders make the perfect pillow, his arms and chest are strong and lean, and his legs will make you remember what an asset they can be. One time he singlehandedly lifted a kayak into the back of his truck and I couldn’t get over what a perfect statue that would make.”

  “OK, I need to see a picture of this guy, pronto,” Caroline said.

  Nora shook her head. “I just had to replace my phone. I did have a picture of him while we were out on a hike, but it’s gone now.”

  Caroline sighed and pushed away her tea. “That’s a big disappointment. I don’t know how I’m going to overcome this. Is it too early to switch to liquor?”

  “It is if you’re planning to get anything done today,” Lauren said. “Which reminds me, I’ve got to get running. It was nice meeting you. Thanks for keeping the house safe, and I was serious about that shirt looking better on you. Take it with you and I guarantee you won’t have any trouble speeding things up.”

  Without another word, Lauren grabbed her bag and bolted for the door. Nora envied her energy and promised herself she’d muster it when she kicked off her investigation of Maria’s cold case.

  It took Stephanie a long time to get up and get ready, but soon enough she was escorting Nora and Caroline to the police station. The lounging officer on duty behind the counter got up in haste and spilled some of his coffee. There must not be much foot traffic in the mornings here, because the officer couldn’t look more surprised.

  “What can I do you for?” he said, tossing some napkins at the spill. Nora didn’t hesitate to take charge.

  “Hi, I’m looking for Detective Eardley,” she said, glancing around in the hopes of spotting the man who’d handled Maria’s initial investigation.

  “Eardley? Phew, he hasn’t been with us for quite some time,” the officer said. He ran a thumb over his moustache and waited.

  “Darn, that’s bad luck. We had a friend who was killed four years ago in this town, and the murder was never solved. We were hoping to get a copy of the police report. Her name was Maria Correa.”

  He looked them over for a moment.

  “Sure, I can get that for you. Watch the desk for me and make sure no one commits any crimes,” he joked.

  “I would if I could,” Nora muttered. “And can I get your name as well?”

  “Officer Plevy.”

  Nora thanked him and he disappeared around a corner. Another officer at a desk in the back watched them as he spoke on the phone. There were a few chairs against the wall, and Stephanie lowered herself onto one.

  “This isn’t going to prevent us from going to the game, is it? I don’t think I missed a single football game the entire time I went here,” she said, broaching a wide smile.

  “But can you remember any of them?” Caroline asked. “I drank too much, but you got blitzed every time.”

  “You make it sound like it’s a bad thing. I remember plenty and I won’t need anything to have a fabulous time at the game this afternoon. We’ll play detective for a bit, have lunch, and then cheer at the game until our throats are hoarse.”

  Nora pursed her lips, having a very different plan for the day in mind.

  “As much as I’d like to think I could track down a murderer in a couple of hours, there’s a good chance it’s going to take longer than that.”

  Stephanie took a deep breath and brushed away a strand of hair.

  “Whatever you want to do is fine, but I’m pregnant and have my limitations. I need to be sitting down at the stadium while the game is going on.”

  Officer Plevy returned with the photocopied police report in hand. Once Nora had it, the three of them left the station and sat on a bench under a tree to go through it privately. Within two seconds, a profound feeling of disappointment took hold of Nora.

  “This has to be the saddest police report ever written. Look, it’s only two pages long, there’s a smudge of chocolate or something in the corner, and there’s not enough detail in most of these points to even know what Detective Eardley was getting at. If I’d ever written a report like this I’d throw myself out of my job.”

  “What does it say anyway?” Caroline said.

  Nora sighed and scanned the pages.

  “Date and time. April 27th, 2010. Location. Next to 3250 Delaware Street near the corner of Milivia. Description of the victim. Twenty-one year old female of Latin descent by the name of Maria Correa. Petite, 5 foot 5 inches tall. Shoulder-length straight black hair. She wore low-riding ripped jeans and a silky red blouse with a plunging neck line. I’m surprised they didn’t get into her cup size. Victim suffered from a blow to the back of the head from a crowbar, which was found at the scene and taken into evidence. Oh right, it was a crowbar, not a bat. This led to profuse bleeding and the official cause of death was a fracture in the back of the skull and internal hemorrhaging.”

  Caroline didn’t have much of a stomach for these details and already looked pained, but she was holding herself together much better than the night before. Fortunately that was the goriest of the details.

  “There are a few other tidbits we can follow up on. The person who made the call is Jasper Sho
rn, a resident of 3250 Delaware. In his witness report, he described walking home around 2 a.m., seeing the body in the alley, and calling the cops. As best they could tell, no one else saw the body until the police arrived.

  “Talking to Jasper is one avenue to pursue, but what really has my mind going is the crowbar that was dropped at the scene, resulting in fingerprints that never provided a conclusive match. What made the assailant drop the weapon? If there was no one else around, it just seems stupid and careless. Besides, even if there wasn’t a match four years ago, it doesn’t mean there isn’t one now. Come on, let’s head back inside.”

  “Is it fine if I just wait here?” Steph asked.

  “Sure, we’ll be back in a jiffy.”

  Inside, Officer Plevy appeared much less flustered when Nora approached him and pointed to the section on the report about the crowbar and the prints. It took Nora a second to remember that she wasn’t with the FBI anymore.Simply ordering people to do things wasn’t going to work.

  “Officer Plevy, hi again, I need a really huge favor. It’s just eating me up inside that her killer could still be out there. The prints from the murder weapon are still on file. Is there any way you could run them again? Maybe that person got in trouble with the law for something else or even applied for a teaching job somewhere. Could you check them for me?” Nora asked.

  Plevy thumbed his moustache again and grimaced.

  “It might not look like it, but there’s a lot going on here today with the Cal, UCLA game and all. We’re pretty short-staffed, plus it’s the weekend, but I’ll go ahead and put it in the queue,” he said.

  Halfhearted responses like that made it clear to Nora that not much had changed when it came to Berkeley’s campus security. Most of the officers wanted nothing more than to watch the game, and those who couldn’t were resentful about it. Travis had taught her that a little charm could go a long way. She decided to pour it on in the hopes that she’d get the results back some time this century.