by Maria Pease
My mind rewound to the biggest fuck-up of my life. I drew in a deep breath and decided I’d better figure out how to get myself out of this mess. First, I needed to figure out where I was. Time for an inventory. The temperature was comfortable, so I knew I had to be inside a temperature-controlled room. The garage would’ve been freezing since our nights this time of year were dipping into the 30’s. As my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, I concluded I was likely in Wally’s house. I searched my brain to recall the exact layout.
The padding underneath me told me I was probably in one of the bedrooms. Pain shot through my shoulders so I carefully shifted my body upwards and tucked my legs under me so I could slide myself up to a sitting position. Once the pressure was off, I felt the restraints and discovered that I was tied up with a rope, not zip ties as I’d expected. The rope was wrapped around my wrists several times with a large knot that faced downward. After some maneuvering, the rope loosened and once I’d untied the first knot, it slipped off easily. I dropped to my knees and quietly explored my surroundings. I still wore my coat and could feel my keys and the papers in my pocket.
I didn’t want to chance opening the door, so I moved to the window and unlocked it. The click echoed through the room and I froze, listening for any movement. Hearing none, I slowly pushed the window up, released the screen and climbed out. As soon as my feet hit the grass, I sprinted out of the gate and to the Jeep.
As I was about to jump in, a large figure grabbed me from behind and clamped a hand over my mouth. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I kicked and punched, fighting to break free.
“Sam, it’s me! Frank! We’ve got to get you out of here.” He released his grip and opened the door.
I climbed over to the passenger seat as he jumped in and started it up. Neither one of us spoke until we were inside the safety of the office.
“I’m so sorry.” Tears poured down my face and my voice caught in my throat.
“You okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. Frank, I totally screwed up.”
“You were doing your job.”
“But –”
“Look. It happened. Let it go. We still have a job to do.”
“How did you find me?”
“When I didn’t hear back from you after a few hours, I became concerned and headed over to find your Jeep. I saw the car in the driveway, so I knew you were either hiding or had been discovered. When Wally left, I went to find you just as you were running out. Did you know they’d left?”
“No, I didn’t hear a thing. I just got the restraints off and got out of there. I guess I just got lucky,” I said.
“You sure did. If they had caught you trying to escape, they would’ve killed you.”
I gulped.
“Okay. Now that you’re safe, I need you to tell me exactly what happened.”
“I just want to go home.”
“You know the drill, Sam. You have to tell me everything.”
I started from the beginning and filled him in on every detail I could remember. He wrote it all down and prodded for me to recall more.
“Okay, when you saw them leave, you tried to get in through the side door and found it locked, so you went through the garage door?”
“Yes.”
“And you searched the garage and found a stack of the Backpage newspaper, bags of pot and some white crystal substance that you believe was cocaine, as well as some lab equipment. Then, you attempted to get inside the house and found the door locked, so you headed back out through the garage, except when you raised the garage door, two men were standing outside, Wally and one of his thugs?”
“That’s right,” I said.
“They knocked you out, tied you up and put you in a dark room.”
I hesitated. “Well, actually, I saw stars, felt woozy and fell. I think I might’ve fainted.”
“Wait, what?”
“I don’t know if they knocked me out,” I admitted.
“You said your head felt like it was going to explode. Like you’d been hit with a bat.”
“I know. It did hurt – it still does – but I may have hit it on something as I went down.”
“So, you’re telling me you came face-to-face with two deranged men and you fainted?”
“Well, they did tie me up.”
“Yes. We know they’re bad guys. It’s just when you said you went down, I thought they’d knocked you out.”
“What difference does it make, Frank? They tied me up and held me against my will!”
“I’m not trying to minimize that. I just need all the details so when the cops question me, I can give them accurate information, that’s all.”
“The cops? You called the cops?”
“Not yet, but I have to. It’s what we do when someone is tied up and held against their will. It’s called kidnapping.”
Crap.
Frank reached for his phone and I put my hand gently on his and looked at him. He glanced up at me.
I took in a deep breath. “Frank, I know we need to report this. I do. It’s just we’re so close to getting Michael home. We had him standing in front of us. If we call the cops, it’s going to put Wally and his crew on alert and Michael could disappear forever. Is that really what we want? I don’t think it is. All they know is some crazy woman broke into Wally’s garage, fainted, then ran away. That’s it. The cops are just going to complicate the situation.”
“Sam …”
I looked into his eyes. “Please, don’t do this, Frank.”
He put the phone down and paced the floor, evaluating the situation. He frowned, and I suspected his background as a cop was weighing heavily on his mind. When he finally stopped, my heart pounded hard in my chest.
“This is against my better judgment, but you have a point. The cops will slow everything down, and at the same time alert them that your appearance in the garage was more than just a stupid stunt.”
Wow. I think Frank just called me stupid.
“Sam, if we’re going to do this, you can’t say a word about it. Not to anyone. That includes Alana and Jake.”
Chapter 31
I awoke to the sweet sound of raindrops tapping on my window and decided to relish in that comfortable, cozy place between sleep and wakefulness for a bit longer. I must’ve needed the sleep because when I finally dragged myself out of bed, it was almost noon. I hadn’t slept that late since I was in college and I expected the stress of the job was taking its toll.
I brushed my teeth and looked at my reflection in the mirror, wondering what the hell I’d been thinking. Allowing Wally to see me in the elevator had been a big mistake, but meeting him face-to-face in his garage had been fatal. How was I going to track him if he could recognize me? I knew it was time to put Plan B into action.
By getting kidnapped, I’d unintentionally stood up Jan. I’d need her help to put Plan B into motion, so when I got her on the phone, I had no choice but to make up a story. I chose to go with an old standby – I’d been stuck on the side of the road after a tire blowout and my cell had died. I felt bad about lying, but I’d been sworn to secrecy; all I could do was tell her how sorry I was. Thankfully, she bought it and agreed to meet with me at the Bluewater Grill on Ynez Road at 6:30 PM.
As I waited for my coffee to brew, my stomach made it clear that I had neglected it long enough. Since I hadn’t been to the grocery store in a while, my choices were limited. I found frost-bitten English muffins in my freezer and tossed one in my toaster oven until it was extra crispy. A little peach jelly and peanut butter was all I needed. I drank my coffee and watched the rain as I ate.
As I stood under a hot shower, I couldn’t stop reliving the moment when I realized there were sneakers inches from my nose. I tried to piece together the events that followed, hoping to redeem myself with Frank, but I had no memory of anything after seeing those stars. I decided I had to let it go.
I put on a black sweater, jeans and black boots, added some make-up and dried my
hair. Grabbing my keys on the way out, I threw my hood over my head and hurried through the rain. I had just started the Jeep and switched on the wipers when my phone buzzed. It was Jake. I tossed it in my purse, unanswered.
I pulled into the lot and I saw that Frank had picked up his truck from Wally’s neighborhood and Alana had not yet arrived. “Good morning,” I said, closing the door behind me.
“You mean, good afternoon. I was just about to call you. How are you feeling?”
“Actually, I feel like a big loser. Getting caught was a rookie move and it never should’ve happened.”
“I was thinking … Maybe we need to give you some distance from this case. You could take some time off.”
“Frank, I don’t need distance or any time off! Look, I get it. I’m too eager to get to the bottom of all this. For God’s sake, we have several missing teenagers and a few that are dead. I can’t get answers sitting behind a desk!”
“Sam, you’ve got to chill out. There’s only so much we can do.”
“I’m not chilling out! You have to keep me on this case, Frank. I need this.”
Frank stared at me then shook his head. “You take it all too personally. It’s not healthy.”
“Frank, please …”
The door flew open and Alana rushed in. “Geez, it’s blowing out there!” She pushed the door closed.
“How’s the studying going?” I asked.
“Shoot me!”
“That good, huh?” Frank said.
“Would you hire me if I just quit?”
“No quitting!” he demanded.
We all settled in and got to work. As Alana checked social media for any new leads, I put Plan B together. Since I’d have to keep my distance from Wally, I needed another angle and knew just who I wanted to target. Whether she knew it or not, I was counting on Jan to help. In this town, when you’re with the newspaper, you do a lot of favors to get a story. As one of Temecula’s most popular reporters, Jan Jones dug in deep and got to the bottom of stories that no other reporter could crack. She was tough, fair, and told it like it was, and for some reason, people trusted her anyway.
“I have to go,” Alana said, putting on her raincoat. “Another mid-term.”
“Was there anything on Wally’s accounts?” I asked.
“No. It’s like he’s gone underground. There hasn’t been anything since a few days ago.”
“A few days ago? What happened a few days ago?”
“He sent a message to Katy about how great it would be when they could finally be together.”
“You didn’t tell me about that.”
“You weren’t here, so I told Frank.”
I looked at Frank. “Really? Why didn’t you tell me about that?”
“Sam, it was out of nowhere. Katy hadn’t had any communication with him. He’s baiting her.”
“I know. Isn’t that the point?”
“Um, I’m sorry, but I have to go or I’m going to be late.” Alana moved to the door.
“Okay. We’ll see you tomorrow,” I said.
“I have a group project meeting in the morning, so I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.”
“All right. Good luck on the test.” I watched her leave then moved to Frank’s desk and sat in the chair across from him.
“Frank, we set up those accounts so we could find out what Wally was up to. If he’s sending Katy messages about being together, he’s obviously trying to get her to feel something for him. We created her background so she was an easy target. I think we need to follow up on this. He’s pushing forward despite the fact that Katy has remained distant. This is important to our case. Why would you keep that from me?”
“Look, to be honest, I’m worried you’ve become obsessed with this case.”
“I’m trying to find out what is going on. It’s my job!”
“You’re ignoring the rest of your life. When was the last time you did something fun?”
“I just went to dinner with Cookie, Hector and Jake! We didn’t even talk about the case.” My cell buzzed. I glanced at it and set it back down on the desk.
“Are you going to answer that?” Frank asked.
“It’s Jake.”
“Yeah, so what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t want to lie to him about what happened.”
“This is what I’m talking about, Sam. All you have to do is tell him you were working late. It’s no big deal.”
I grabbed my phone, put on my raincoat, walked out onto the balcony and dialed Jake. He didn’t even know I’d been missing. Apparently, he’d remembered I was supposed to meet with Jan and hadn’t wanted to disturb me, so he headed home and had gone to bed early. I’d been completely stressed out for nothing. Of course, when he asked me to come over for dinner, I had to tell him Jan had rescheduled for tonight due to an emergency. Before hanging up, he said he’d head over to my place later. I thought about telling him not to come but realized Frank had a point about me ignoring my life.
As I stood outside, the wind picked up, slinging rain in all directions. The thick clouds dropped in the sky and it grew even darker. I went inside and found Frank putting on his coat.
“How’s the kid?”
“Good.”
“Did he ask where you were?”
“No. He didn’t even know I was missing.”
“See? You had your panties in a bunch over nothing.”
“So, are we good, Frank? You’re not really taking me off the case, are you?”
“We’re fine and no, Sam, I’m not taking you off the case. Just try to stay out of trouble, will you?”
“I will.” I wished it were true.
“I’m heading out. Monique is cooking for me tonight, so I need to do some shopping.”
“That’s really nice. So, things are good with you two?”
“Everything is amazing, Sam.”
It was almost time to meet Jan, so I put on some lip-gloss and headed out. Despite the heavy winds and piercing rain, I found the Bluewater Grille as busy as ever. Inside, I saw no sign of Jan, so I went to the bar and ordered a glass of chardonnay. As I sipped my wine, I realized something was odd. I didn’t feel like myself. I was worried the experience of being tied up and left in a dark room was affecting my outlook, even though it had only been for about six hours. As I thought about it, I realized I had to get tough. I was done with my pity party. In order to get control of myself, I needed to lose the insecurity and put on my big girl pants.
Seeing Jan made me realize I couldn’t allow the scared little girl to control my behavior. Sure, I had doubts, but the reason I loved this job was because it wasn’t about me. All my attention and effort were geared toward saving someone else and it made me feel really good and, sometimes, a little brave.
By the time Jan had ordered a glass of chardonnay, I was ready to get down to business.
Chapter 32
The hostess led us to a table in the back and gave us menus. Jan and I caught up for several minutes before picking them up. Although we hadn’t seen each other in several months, it felt like it had been yesterday. She looked terrific, as always, with her frosted blond hair pulled up in a twisted bun. She wore a black suit with a red silk blouse and heels and carried her signature crème-colored Kate Spade bag which held everything imaginable.
After our waiter came by for the second time, we picked up on the hint and ordered chicken Caesar salads and a bottle of La Crema Chardonnay. As we talked, I wondered why we didn’t get together more often, knowing deep down that she had a full line-up of people waiting to spend time with her.
Once our salads arrived and our wine glasses had been filled, Jan began asking questions. “So, how’s Frank?”
“He’s doing well. As a matter of fact, he’s newly engaged.”
“Isn’t he still married?”
“Yeah. You know Frank; he doesn’t worry about the detail
s when it comes to his personal life.” As the words left my mouth, I remembered Jan and Frank had dated briefly a few years back.
“That’s for sure. He never even thought to mention he was married. I think that was when he was with wife number two. To his credit, he signed the papers as soon as they arrived. Unfortunately, the misrepresentation put a damper on the relationship. I just hate being in the dark.”
“I’m sorry. I totally forgot,” I muttered, not knowing what else to say.
“So, tell me what you’re working on these days?”
I didn’t want to say too much, so I kept it vague. “I’ve got a somewhat complicated case. There are several players and although I’m still putting the pieces together, I could use your help.”
“I’ll do what I can, Sam. What do you have in mind?”
“I need to go undercover as a reporter. Can you help me do that?”
“Come to the paper tomorrow morning and I’ll have my editor get you the proper credentials.”
“That’s it? Don’t you want more details?”
“Sam, we’ve known each other for a while now and I know you’re as dedicated to your work as I am to mine. Am I right?”
“Of course.”
“Then that’s all I need to know, but Roger may want more details, so be ready for that.”
“Okay, thanks,” I sat for a moment, pondering my next move. “Hey, do you happen to know Chanel Pinkay?”
“Do I know her? Who do you think you’re dealing with here? Of course, I do.”
“Any chance you can get me an introduction? I mean, once I’m undercover?”
“Sure. I’ll snoop around and find out where she’ll be in the next few days. Any reason why you’re so eager to meet her?”
“She may be helpful in my case. I’m still working on the details,” I lied.
I paid the check and we were left to sit and chat while we finished our wine. Jan told me about some of her most interesting stories and the crazy details behind them. I wasn’t aware that many years ago, as a new reporter, she’d followed a high-profile story that had spanned over several years. Apparently, the story had won her several awards, as well as recognition among her peers. As she put it, it was the story that had given her a career.