by Dale Mayer
“I can see the company covering Todd’s and Wynn’s life as a favor to the grandparents, but why would the company cover the paragliding school?”
“Because that’s where Wynn worked. Apparently the grandparents have been upping her life insurance coverage the entire time she’s been out competing. Started when she was a teenager, and they haven’t stopped. Same thing with Todd.”
“Interesting,” Tanner said. “Of course Todd was injured, but he didn’t die. Wynn too. She didn’t die. Her gear was badly damaged, and maybe that’s covered somewhere, but she didn’t die, and she didn’t need any medical care.”
“And she’s been incredibly lucky the whole time,” Tesla said. “So Hartman has continued to cover her.”
Tanner tapped the table with his fingers. “Interesting concept. I’m not sure I really like the idea though.”
“So we’re back to the case of who benefits if Wynn dies.”
“The grandparents, the school and Todd.”
Cut and dry, just like that. He frowned and looked at it. “She doesn’t compete anymore. She’s still doing endorsements, but they have dropped off a lot. So keeping her alive wouldn’t bring anybody any money. I just wonder if anybody else would benefit from her death.”
Tesla shrugged. “I can only tell you what the computers can find, not what people have for intrinsic values. If somebody hated her, there’s no better thing than to know she’s dead.”
“Unless it’s to see her suffer every day,” Tanner said. “As in the death of her brother or him being crippled, like he is currently.”
“That’s not very nice to think about,” Tesla said, “but, as we well know, human nature isn’t always very nice.”
Chapter 10
An hour later Wynn was still muttering over her files when the front doorbell rang. She walked through the shop to the house and into the main entryway. When she peered through the glass window, she was surprised to see two police officers. Those assigned to her sabotage case had told her that they were still working on it and that they’d call with any further updates. That had been seven days ago. And these were not the officers assigned to her sabotage case.
She opened the door and smiled. “Hi. What can I do for you?”
They stood, a frown on their faces. One said, “I thought you contacted us?”
A voice behind her called out, “Yes, we did.”
She turned to look at Todd. “You phoned the police?”
His face was grim as he nodded. “Yes, absolutely. It’s time to bring in more help.”
She stepped aside, though she frowned.
The cops looked from one to the other, and one asked, “What’s going on here?”
Todd said, “Come to the kitchen, and we’ll explain.”
In the kitchen Wynn put on coffee while she listened to Todd explain the nightmare the last few months had become. Once the cops realized her paraglider had been sabotaged, and she and Todd had had two earlier break-ins and now a third one earlier today, where the office had been accessed each time, they got more interested.
“My brother already reported the sabotage, about nine days ago,” Wynn said. “We can give you the names of the detectives running that investigation, but they told me that they’d call with updates, and I haven’t heard from them since.”
“Yes, we’d like their names.”
Todd pulled out two business cards and shared them with the two officers.
“But you didn’t report the B&Es at that time?”
“Well, there was only one then,” Wynn responded, instantly feeling lame.
The two officers confirmed that with their cold stares.
When the coffee was done, Wynn brought the pot to the table with four cups, then pulled out cream and sugar. She sat down by her brother and pitched in as the questions were asked. And they came strong and steady. By the time she was done, she felt worn out. In fact, these two asked way more questions that the detectives on her sabotage case.
Laid bare like that, she wondered if maybe Todd had been correct in calling the police. Again.
“Ma’am, I don’t understand why you would wait so long to report any of this when you seemed to be having multiple problems for over three months now.”
“I kept pushing it off,” she confessed. “Not wanting to believe there was anything serious about this.”
Both cops just stared at her. Finally the older one spoke. “Maybe not for being run off the road. Maybe not even for the pillar falling near you at work. But it shouldn’t take three B&Es here before you call us. Yet, I have to say, it’s the sabotage that almost killed you that has me shaking my head. You have ten years professional paragliding experience, and, when your own equipment is tampered with, you don’t think it’s serious?”
She winced. “Okay, so I was in denial. Then I got fired, and that just overtook everything else.”
The other cop raised an eyebrow. “You do realize how your own actions are making you look very suspicious to us, don’t you, ma’am?” He paused but only for a second, not really expecting her to answer. “And how we are the professionals as to these criminal activities? And how we need all the information, not the things you feel are pertinent? Maybe that’s why you haven’t heard from the detectives on your sabotage report. You didn’t give them all the info to work with. Because we will decide what is pertinent and what is not.”
With a tiny shrug, she didn’t answer his question.
“Why did you get fired?”
Clumsily she tried to explain that too. But she eventually fell silent, saying, “I know it sounds pretty lame.”
The older cop wrote down some more notes, asked her for the school’s contact information.
She gave him both of the owners’ names and several of the other people involved.
“I want the name of the person who drove the bus of students and who drove the equipment there too. I want the names of the other trainers who were up there with you instructing these SEAL units. And whoever else we can contact to confirm the events of that day.”
Todd snorted. “You can contact the local SEALs units out of Coronado. Mason was there, as was Tanner, and at least another four or five of them, I believe.”
Wynn smiled and nodded. “We had sixteen SEALs that day, two teams of eight.”
“Well, that helps with your credibility,” said the older cop.
The other policeman looked at her and asked, “And one of them helped in your rescue?”
Again she smiled and nodded. “Yes. I have to admit that I’m very grateful I had experienced men who knew what to do in emergencies. If it had been any other of our groups that I take up all the time, the outcome would have been very different.”
“Would it have been fatal?”
“Ninety-nine percent positive, yes,” she said. “Depending on three things—when the glider collapsed, the speed I was traveling and the impact zone—I probably wouldn’t have regained consciousness. However, there are some crazy stories of people who have survived all kinds of things, so it’s possible I would have survived. But, I think, in the general population, the impression would be that that would have been an instant death.”
“Instead you had a SEAL student help you, and, with your instructions, he redirected you both to the river, and you were both saved.”
“Yes, but at a cost,” she said. “I almost drowned as I was caught between the two wings.”
The men frowned as they contemplated what she’d been through.
She sat back, tugged a cup of coffee closer to her and said, “But, if somebody was trying to kill me, that should have done it.”
“And then the break-in this morning?”
She pointed to the window. “The footprints are still in the garden outside the window.”
They nodded. “We want to look for fingerprints too, plus take photos.”
“Do whatever you need to do. I’m happy to help in any way.” With the cops’ doubtful looks, she added, “Really. Finally.
I’ll cooperate fully.” Restless she got up and paced the small room. “Do you need me, or can I return to my office?”
He nodded. “Go on to your office. We’ll catch up when needed. We’ll take a look around, get an idea of the layout, take some photos, and, if we think there’s enough need, we’ll call in a forensic ID team to take the next step.”
The corners of her mouth turned down at the thought. It was such an odd thing to consider everybody poking around in their private lives. But Todd was right. When it was laid out like this, there was definitely something going on. She gave a curt nod and walked back to her office.
She glanced at her watch and realized she was supposed to meet Tanner for lunch. As a matter of fact, her phone, which she’d left in her office, was ringing as she entered. She picked it up and said, “Hello?”
“Are you okay?” Tanner asked. “I’ve been calling for the last ten minutes.”
“Sorry, the cops are here.”
She tried to explain, but Tanner interrupted. “Change of plans then. I’ll pick up lunch for three and bring it there.” And he hung up.
She sighed. She glanced up and around, but the room was empty. Todd hadn’t followed her. She dropped the phone on her desk and sat down. For a moment, just a short moment, she buried her face in her hands. She had no death wish and certainly no plans to continue dealing with some intruder here. It was all very unnerving to consider somebody had targeted her. She’d spent her life being very focused on her passion. Sure, there had been people who hadn’t been terribly impressed with her climb to glory, but it wasn’t like she was getting mega-million-dollar endorsements either. She and Todd did fine, but it certainly wasn’t enough for both of them to retire on.
Distracting herself with business, she brought up her email program and went through the pending ones, responding to each one as she came to it. Anything to keep her mind busy, not on the police doing their thing or on Tanner, who would blow through the place, larger than life as he was, and would ensure that the cops knew exactly what was going on.
There was just something about alpha males. And yet, it was nice that everybody had stepped up, doing what they felt was right. As much as she had argued with Todd about calling in the police, both times, she knew Tanner would back her brother in that decision 100 percent.
“Just what I need,” she grouched.
More emails poured in. She focused on work and felt a little better as she got something done. When there was a cough at the door, she looked up, found Tanner standing there, holding a couple brown paper bags in front of him.
She smiled. “I don’t know what your long-term plan is, but you’ll break Todd’s heart if you keep bringing him food and then suddenly stop.”
“It’s not just Todd I’m bringing food for now,” he said. “It’s you too.”
“I was hoping to go out for lunch,” she confessed. “Anything to get away from this nightmare.”
“Understood. But, if I need to talk to the cops, it’s better that I’m here.”
“Your name is on their list, so, if you can confirm with them everything I already said, then that would be good.”
He laughed. “Depends on what you said. But I’ll give him the truth.”
She followed him back out to see one of the cops talking to Todd, asking more questions. When Tanner and Wynn entered the room, the cop looked up, narrowed his gaze at Tanner and said, “And who are you?”
Tanner placed the bags on the kitchen table, turned and shook the cop’s hand, explaining who he was and that he’d been there that day of Wynn’s paraglider accident. That started off the questions and the comments as Tanner gave his version of the events.
She found it hard to listen to him. It was one thing to explain what she’d been through, but she’d been in such a state, dealing with the problems at that moment, that she hadn’t considered how his view would be slightly different and a little more graphic. By the time he was done, she felt more shaken than ever.
To keep busy she unloaded the paper bags and put on fresh coffee. When the cop was done with Tanner, the policeman walked back out to find his partner.
Tanner turned and looked at her. “Can we eat now?”
“Absolutely.” Todd rubbed his hands together. “Is that butter chicken I smell?”
Tanner chuckled. “Indian food all the way.”
There was fresh naan bread, rice, curry and the yogurt dish she loved so much. She sat down with a happy sigh. “Considering it’s been such a shitty morning, this works just fine.”
“Now that we’ve all dealt with the cops, you need to tell me what happened this morning,”
She shook her head. “After we eat. I’m too damn tired of repeating myself right now.”
She ate while Todd explained. Tanner’s questions were hard and fast.
She finally raised her hands, palms up, and said, “Obviously this is just one long nightmare that won’t go away.”
“It’ll go away,” Tanner said, “but it has to get solved first. You need to check your cell phones and make sure there are no trackers. You need to check your vehicles on a regular basis to make sure nobody’s tracking you. You never take the same route home twice in a row. If there’s something you do now, a routine, like, going to the gym every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, that stops now.” His voice was curt. “And you go nowhere alone.”
Her jaw dropped as she listened to his instructions—no make that orders—and she could feel her temper building.
And he knew it. He narrowed his gaze and pointed his fork at her. “No arguments. You’ve already done it your way. And that’s not working. Now we do it my way.”
She slowly lowered her knife and fork. With her temper bubbling up within her, she asked, “Who died and made you boss?”
“The fact is, if we do it my way, you don’t die, and your brother isn’t left alone,” he snapped.
That was a hell of a reminder. She cast a sideways glance at Todd, but he was busy eating his butter chicken, a big smirk on his face. “Oh, you like this, don’t you?” She glared at him.
He nodded. “You’ve needed somebody to stand up to you for a long time,” he said. “And I have no intention of being an only grandchild, thank you very much. I’ve already lost Mom and Dad. I don’t want to lose you too.”
The look in his eye was too real. There had been just the two of them for so long that she understood.
Todd covered her hand with his and said, “Remember how you felt when I had my accident?”
That did it. The rest of her temper slid out. She sagged in place and nodded. Then she leaned over, dropped her head onto Todd’s shoulder and said, “The worst day of my life. I figured for sure you were gone, and I was so angry, so hurt that you’d leave me.”
“Exactly. There’s just been us, and, if anything happens to you, there’s just me. Don’t do that to me.”
She lifted her head, turned her attention back to her plate, more to give her something to think about instead of the tears threatening to drop, and nodded. “Okay, fine. But he doesn’t have to be so arrogant.”
“He,” Tanner said for emphasis with a note of wry humor, “isn’t being arrogant. He’s making a point.”
She shot him a resentful look. “Conceited, arrogant and a know-it-all.”
He thought about it and shrugged. “Oh, well, deal with it.”
At that, Todd burst out laughing. He attacked the rest of his food with cheerful enthusiasm.
She shook her head, her lips tightened into a thin line. “I think you like this way too much.”
“If the shoe was on the other foot,” Todd said gleefully, “you would too.”
She could accept that. Laughing slightly, she resumed eating again. By the time she was done with her plate, she realized the men were serving up seconds. When Tanner held up the dish for her, she shook her head. “I’m good, thanks.”
By the time they had all finally finished eating, and the coffee was poured, the older police officer came bac
k in and said they had finished here and were leaving.
“I do have one thing to report that should set your mind at ease,” the older cop said. “Your latest intruder, from this morning, seemed to have used the delivery to your front door to gain access to the house. Not the window.” He paused and looked at Wynn. “By your account, you did not lock the door when you left it to get the hand truck.”
She nodded.
“From the footprints outside the garden window, and the foreign fingerprints we found both inside and outside that window, we’ve reconstructed the intruder’s movements. He both raised and lowered the window. He seems to have used the window to prevent being caught inside and crouched in your garden. Then he climbed back through the window into the house to escape, probably via the front door. He didn’t bother to put the screen back on the window, so we figure he was in a hurry. Either he has been watching your movements or just caught a very lucky break to drive by when the delivery man was here and took advantage of that.”
“So,” Wynn spoke, turning to her brother, “the intruder was here when we searched for him earlier. But we were looking for him in the workshop, not in the house.” She visibly shuddered, turned toward the police officer. “Doesn’t make me feel any better overall, but at least we can still keep that window open. It helps to cool that one side of the workshop.”
“We’ll give you further updates as we find out more details. And we’ll increase our drive-bys past your house, both day and night. Otherwise”—he stared directly at Wynn—“do not hesitate to update us with any more odd occurrences in your life.”
Wynn sighed and seemed properly chastised.
“We will, Officer.” Todd nodded. “I’ll come and lock the door behind you.” He followed them out to the front door.
She sat and waited until she could hear the click after he said goodbye. Then she started to relax. “I really don’t like having very many people in my space,” she said.
“It’s always hard, isn’t it? Strangers coming and going, feeling the invasion, the lack of privacy.”
“A sense of violation,” she added. “To think somebody came in here, deliberately trying to hurt us, not physically, but business-wise, it’s just a creepy feeling. I didn’t have a ton of girlfriends growing up, so I didn’t have that real close connection with others in a group. It’s always been just Todd and me. Such a horrible feeling to think somebody in the outside world is trying to harm us.”