LIES OF THE PHOENIX (A Lieutenant Cassidy Mystery Book 1)

by Jeanne Tosti

  Ben raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything.

  “Exactly! That’s what I’m thinking, too,” she said with a knowing nod. “He blew into town, and now he’s left just as fast. Sarah thinks he was called away suddenly on business and for some reason hasn’t been able to contact her. I told her to call his office today and see if they know where he is. If not, I’m taking her to the police to file a missing person’s report.”

  A lot of other things ran through Ben’s mind, but he hadn’t been invited by Sarah to intrude on her problems and he needed to respect her privacy. He just said, “Yes, filing a missing person’s report with the police would be a good place to start.” Then his own curiosity got the best of him. “What do you know about this Jordan guy before he showed up in Chicago?”

  “Nothing really. He worked in investments and finance in Los Angeles, and then moved here to take a similar job. I don’t think he has any family, at least Sarah never mentioned any. I never was comfortable with Jordan. I always felt he was trying too hard to impress her and to fit into her life.”

  “Maybe he’ll call her today. At least I hope he does. Do you think he could have a girlfriend on the side? Sarah seems too nice to be hooked up with a deadbeat philanderer.”

  “I don’t know. Jordan is hard to read. He was always sociable, but you never felt like you knew who he was. She never said she had any concerns about him. All I ever heard about were the cutesy signs of affections he showered on her. He certainly had the opportunity to be seeing someone else; he was gone a lot on business.”

  Ruth placed a plate of scrambled eggs, toast and bacon in front of Ben and then sat down beside him with a cup of coffee and toast.

  “Where’s your breakfast?” Ben asked.

  “Oh, I’m not a breakfast person. Toast and coffee is all I want. Besides, I can’t stand cooked eggs.”

  Ben tasted his eggs and they were delicious. “I have a couple of meetings downtown today. I’ll be back later—that is, if you’ll still have me. I know two house guests can be a lot of work.”

  “Nonsense! You’re welcome to stay as long as you like. You should know by now that we thrive on bedlam in this house. I’m not sure how long Sarah will be here, but as long as you’re happy with the sofa bed, it’s yours. Don’t bother to close it up. I have a mattress pad I want to put on it. It should make it more comfortable for you.”

  Chapter 12

  SARAH AWOKE AND rolled onto her back. She laid there staring at the ceiling for several minutes. Her mind was trying to orient itself and sort the real from the unreal. For that brief instance after awakening she had a sense that everything was as it should be, but then reality came crashing back in. That hollow feeling that had taken up residence in her gut returned and she forced herself to get out of bed.

  She went to the kitchen. Ruth was busy putting dishes into the dishwasher. The kids were off playing on the open sofa bed hoping that their mother was distracted enough not to notice. Eric had left for work and Ben had gone downtown to his meetings.

  “How about some eggs?” Ruth offered.

  Sarah slid into a seat at the counter, “No, a cup of coffee would be good, though.”

  Ruth poured her a cup of coffee and set a plate of hot toast and several types of jam on the counter in front of her despite Sarah’s objections. She then refilled her own cup of coffee and took a seat beside Sarah.

  “How are you feeling?” Ruth asked.

  “O.K., I guess. I already checked my phone and called home this morning. There was nothing.”

  “Give his office a call and see what you can find out. I’m taking the kids to the babysitter. I have meetings with a couple of clients this morning, but I’ll be home around lunch time. We’ll figure out what to do after that if there is no news.”

  “You know, it just occurred to me, I don’t even have Jordan’s office number. I’ll have to look it up. I’ve always just called his cell phone,” Sarah said despondently,

  Ruth finished her coffee and went to shower and dress. When she was done she went to the den to collect the things she would need for her client meetings. She loaded materials into her decorator’s portfolio and then downloaded some designs onto a computer memory stick so she could leave them with one of her clients.

  Brandon and Kaye were dressed and ready to go to the sitter, but they were now getting restless waiting to leave. Brandon was pretending to be a Tyrannosaurus rex as he chased Kaye around the coffee table in the family room. Kaye squealed in pretend fright each time he roared and gnashed his teeth.

  “You two settle down. Brandon, keep an eye on your sister and quit chasing her. We’ll be leaving in a minute.” Ruth walked into the kitchen where Sarah was still sitting at the counter staring into her coffee cup. “Don’t forget, I’ll be back around noon. Call me if you hear from Jordan.” She looked at Sarah and then said in a serious tone, “Promise me you’ll call if you need anything.” Sarah nodded. Ruth shooed the kids out to the car and gave a last wave to Sarah as she closed the front door.

  Sarah stood there for a moment looking at the closed door. Everyone was gone and the house was silent. Now she was alone with her thoughts. All the misgivings of yesterday started to envelop her again. She glanced at the clock. It was after 9:00 a.m. She should call Jordan’s office.

  She went to Ruth’s computer and did a search for J.K. Reston Global Securities. The corporate website popped up on the screen. She dialed the number and a receptionist answered.

  “Good morning. Reston Global. How may I direct your call?”

  “Hi, this is Jordan Lawrence’s wife. I’d like to speak to his administrative assistant, please.”

  There was a pause on the line and then the receptionist said, “I’m sorry. We don’t have anyone by that name on our employees’ list.”

  Sarah answered curtly, “You must be looking at an old employee list or something. He’s been working there for months. My husband is Jordan Lawrence. He’s an accounts manager there.”

  The receptionist was quiet for a moment and then said, “One moment, please hold.” Sarah waited for a couple of minutes and then the receptionist came back on the line. “Mrs. Lawrence, is it? I’m sorry; we don’t have anyone by that name employed with us. I did check with Human Resources when I put you on hold and they verified that there is no Jordan Lawrence working here. Perhaps you have a wrong number.”

  The receptionist’s words hit her like a bolt of lightning. “You’re wrong! He goes to work there all the time. Let me talk to the office manager or someone in charge.” Panic was setting in. She felt like she was in a nightmare and she was willing herself to wake up, but it wasn’t happening.

  “Perhaps you should try contacting your husband and double checking the contact information you were given. Maybe you’re confused about the name of the company or were given a wrong phone number.”

  “No. Let me talk to someone else—”

  “I’m sorry. He is not employed here and there is nothing else we can do for you. Have a nice day. Goodbye.” The receptionist hung up.

  Sarah stared at the phone in disbelief. She didn’t know what to do. Several minutes passed and then she reluctantly called the only other person who might know what was going on, Kyle Mason.

  The phone rang six times before Kyle picked up. “Hello, Sarah. What’s up? Have you heard from Jordan?”

  “No. Something else, something that scares me. I called his office and they said he doesn’t work there! They’ve never heard of him. Do you know what is going on?”

  “Huh. That is strange.” It took a few seconds before Kyle said anything else and then his tone seemed strange. “No, I don’t have any idea why that would be. Sounds like our Jordan has a few secrets he was keeping to himself. You’re sure he didn’t leave you anything. Like a note or a package, right?”

  “I’m sure. Nothing,” Sarah said. This conversation wasn’t helping her at all.

  “Say, did you and Jordan have a get-a-way place? Like a vacation c
ondo, or a cabin? Someplace that Jordan may have gone for, uh, privacy or a little vacation?”

  “No, we couldn’t afford anything like that. We wanted to buy a house in the suburbs and we were trying to save money for a down payment. Why would he want to go on vacation without me anyway?”

  “Oh, yeah, right.” There was another odd pause in the conversation. Then Kyle said, “I don’t know what to tell you about his employer. Are you sure you had the right phone number?’

  Kyle was not helping and she just wanted to get off the phone. “O.K., I have to go. I just wanted to know if you knew any reason why Reston Global would say he didn’t work there.”

  “Reston Global!” Kyle guffawed and then composed himself, “Uh, no, I don’t know why they would say that. Listen, I’m having trouble with my cell phone so you may not be able to reach me at this number again. I will keep in touch, though. If I hear from him, I will let you know.”

  The call ended and Sarah was at a loss as to what to do next. She had to come to terms with reality—she barely knew the man she had married. He had told her that he had no family and that he had previously worked in Los Angeles, but that’s all she knew. She had no way to know if that was even true. The only friend that Jordan ever mentioned was Kyle. Fear was pushing aside the other emotions she was feeling.

  If Jordan didn’t work at Reston Global, where did he work? Did he have a job at all? Now she wasn’t sure. Where did he get the money that they had been living on and spending? Where did he go when he was out of town for business?

  Jordan was the finance expert so she had willingly left all the household money matters to him. Her paycheck was directly deposited into their checking account and she assumed it was the same for his, although she never bothered to check. She had a credit card that Jordan paid when he did the bills, and he always gave her whatever cash she wanted. She hadn’t bothered to monitor the checking or savings account balance. They had talked about buying a house in the suburbs and the need to be frugal in order to save for a down payment. Jordan had said he was putting a portion of the money they earned aside for that purpose each month, but she never went into the account to see if he actually did it. She trusted him; she had no reason not to.

  She poured herself another cup of coffee and went back to the computer. She pulled up the bank website and entered her password. The accounts page opened. She clicked on the checking account number and the statement page popped up onto the screen. Sarah scanned through the deposits and debits. Her pay check deposits all were there, as was a monthly cash deposit of five thousand dollars made by Jordan. All the debits appeared to be for legitimate household expenditures and a few routine ATM cash withdrawals, several of which she recalled making herself. There was also a regular transfer of fifteen hundred dollars into their savings account each month. There were no paycheck deposits from Reston Global, however. Nothing seemed to be out of order except for the monthly cash deposit of five thousand dollars. Even if she had found and questioned the cash deposits she would have deferred to whatever explanation he gave given his financial background.

  She clicked over to the savings account and everything on that statement seemed just as normal. The balance had grown by fifteen hundred dollars each month since she and Jordan had been married. She was relieved by what she saw, but changed the password on both accounts and the pass code on the ATM card nonetheless. She then called the bank and instructed them to freeze the accounts until she could get to the bank to change them over to new accounts.

  Maybe I’m overreacting. What if I’m misjudging Jordan? He may have an explanation for all this, she thought. Then the images of coming home to a dark house, no notes or phone calls, the missing clothes and overnight bag, and the call to Reston Global pushed those thoughts aside. She needed to protect herself now and would deal with the consequences when and if Jordan decided to return. If—the word stung her. It was the first time she had genuinely considered the possibility that he might not come back and it made her feel even more miserable.

  She pulled out her credit card and called the customer service number on the back. A service agent answered and asked for information verifying her identity which Sarah provided.

  “I’m concerned that there may have been some fraudulent activity on my account and I’d like to check on any charges made over the last few days,” Sarah said.

  The service agent walked Sarah through each charge made to the account over the last three days. There were no large purchases and no cash withdrawals. Every charge seemed to be a legitimate household expense.

  “If you are concerned that your account information has been compromised, we can cancel your present card and issue you a new one just to be on the safe side,” the service agent said.

  “Yes, I think that would be good. Thank you.”

  She hung up the phone and stared at it for a long while. Nothing seemed to be out of line with the bank accounts or credit cards, but she felt better blocking everything until she figured out what was going on. She didn’t know what to do next. All she could do was wait for Ruth to return home. Maybe she would have some ideas.

  Chapter 13

  DETECTIVE NORA CASTLE was seated in Alec Cassidy’s office when a clerk tapped on the door. “Excuse me, Lieutenant, there’s a call from the L.A.P.D. for Nora.”

  “Thanks, Mark. Put the call through to my office.” The phone buzzed and Cassidy put it on speaker. He answered, “Lieutenant Cassidy and Detective Castle here.”

  A voice came over the speaker, “This is Lieutenant Jennings, L.A. Homicide. I was just getting back to Detective Castle on her inquiry to our department.”

  “Thanks. We appreciate the assistance. What do you have for us?” said Cassidy.

  “We ran facial recognition on your dead perp. Got a hit. His name is Vladimir Zykov. He has been on our Organized Crime Unit’s watch list for some time. He’s been connected to a number of high profile robberies and syndicate murders here in the L.A. area over the last several years. He’s a pro, commanding top dollar. We’ve never had enough to arrest and charge him. He’s been good at covering his tracks and flying under the radar.”

  “The name is Russian. Any connection there?” Cassidy queried.

  “Yes, he was the son of an old school Russian crime boss. Came to the U.S. as a teenager. He broke away from the family business and has been free lancing trying to make a name for himself. We’ve seen several of these second and third generation guys shopping their wares in the underworld market. Vladimir Zykov has popped up with associations to various crime organizations in our area. His specialty was high end theft and murder for hire. Guess we can cross him off our list now thanks to your vic, Jordan Lawrence.”

  “Has he been working for anyone in particular lately?” Cassidy asked.

  “He’s been laying low for the last six months according to our Organized Crime Unit. Before that, they suspected him in a major art theft from one of our rich and famous and the murder of a high profile crime family member that was warring for turf with another organization.”

  Nora broke in, “Strange that a pro like Zykov would be in Chicago robbing houses. Any thoughts on that?”

  Cassidy smiled. Nora was starting to take the lead.

  “Yeah,” said Jennings. “Zykov had to be hired by someone to do your Chicago job. We have no history on him ever working independently. He only did jobs for the elite of organized crime, no low level stuff. Zykov wouldn’t have entered that house without a fixed goal in mind. He was either looking for something specific or going in for a hit, or maybe both. You should be asking yourself, what connection do your victims have to organized crime?”

  Nora scribbled a note to Cassidy and he nodded his head in agreement.

  “We’ve had our suspicions that the husband, Jordan Lawrence, isn’t telling us everything,” Nora said. “Do you think you could run a check on him to see if anything pops up out there in L.A.?”

  “Already did that. His name is not in our system. Not ev
en a driver’s license,” said Jennings.

  “No driver’s license?” She shot a surprised look at Cassidy and quickly added, “Can I send you his photo to see if you get a hit on facial recognition?”

  “Sure, be happy to run him for you,” Jennings said. “But listen, if you find evidence of an organized crime connection I would ask that you let our Organized Crime Unit know. It may play into something that they are working on. Lieutenant Paul Kozlow heads up that unit. I’ll forward his contact information to you. I’ve already filled him in on Zykov. If I can do anything else for you, just let me know.”

  “Thanks, Lieutenant,” Nora said. “We really appreciate all your help.”

  Cassidy clicked off the speaker phone and looked at Nora. “No California driver’s license listed under the name Jordan Lawrence means that Lawrence may be an alias he is using here in Chicago. It’s time to start looking more closely into our victim.”

  Nora nodded agreement, jotted some notes on the pad of paper in her lap and then said, “That may explain why the break-in was when the Lawrences were at home—he wanted to retrieve what he came for and then eliminate any witnesses. Jordan Lawrence just out maneuvered him.”

  Cassidy smiled. Nora was coming along fine. She was starting to put things together for herself. He stared vacantly across the room sorting through the files in his own brain. “If organized crime is involved, this is not over. Zykov was an expendable hired pawn. He didn’t achieve his objective and his L. A. employers may now be looking to other alternatives. We need to talk to the Lawrences again.”

  Chapter 14

  RUTH WALKED THROUGH the front door and Ben trailed in behind her. Sarah was sitting on the couch, her face drained and expressionless. Ruth sensed something was very wrong. Sarah looked at Ruth and immediately broke into tears. In ragged breaths she told Ruth about the phone call to Jordan’s office. Ruth was stunned by what she heard.