by Dale Mayer
“He said you can make discreet inquiries and get to the bottom of this fast,” Emily said bluntly. “I’m hoping he’s right.”
“TxSAR has already asked us to look into it,” Ice said. “Naturally we would’ve uncovered your relationship with the three men, so it’s good you’re here.”
“My company is also prepared to hire you. We need to know what happened.”
Ice stood. “Come to my office.” She picked up her cup, realized Emily didn’t have one, motioned to the pot, and said, “Bring a cup with you if you want.”
Emily nodded gratefully. She stood, walked over to pour a cup of coffee, then turned to Ice, cup in hand. “Lead on.”
The two women disappeared from the room. Jace sat there for a long moment, then said, “Anybody else think that’s weird?”
“It’s weird, but it’s not that weird,” Merk said. “Most people have relationships with those they know. And that usually means the extended family of those they know. That’s how people meet. You go to a family gathering or a party and meet somebody. You have a relationship with them, but, in the process, you meet their extended family and friends, so the circle of who you know widens. Within that group you meet someone else. But she’s been in a relationship with three who have died with possibly large insurance payouts. That is weird. And puts her right in the middle of it all. But what we need to do is get the names of the latest deceased and find out if she knows the fourth man.”
“It’s a good thing she’s the one writing the checks, not the one cashing them.” Jace snorted. “She’d be at the top of our list.”
When Levi’s phone rang, he got up and left the room to answer it.
Jace watched him leave, but his mind was spinning with all they didn’t know. “We also need to find out if any other men from the same family are in the TxSAR ranks. And do any of them have a large life insurance policy? While we sort out the victims, we have to make sure there aren’t any more potential targets.”
*
Emily took a seat in Ice’s office, a large space with six desks in the room and still vacant space for more.
“This is quite the operation you have here,” she said.
“It’s coming along nicely,” Ice responded. “I’m sorry you’re in this mess. It appears you’re in the center of it all.”
“And that’s not where I want to be,” Emily said, her voice thin, wan. “Who would?”
“True enough.” They fell into a discussion of what Emily’s company needed from Legendary Security. Finally done, Ice turned her light-blue gaze on Emily. “Before you leave, is there anything else you need to tell us?”
Startled, Emily looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“Through this investigation we will get into everybody’s lives. And although I’m sure you telling us about the three men wasn’t the easiest, if there’s more, things you don’t want to tell us, we will find out. So it’s much easier to tell me now.”
Emily winced. “It’s not even bad.” She groaned, then studied Ice. “It’s just, growing up, I went through many different stages. This is my natural hair color now. When I was younger, I hated who I was, so I was always changing, trying to be someone else. Each of the men knew me as somebody else.” She shrugged. “I don’t even think it’s important that you know that. But it’s something I didn’t do particularly well. So, when you hear about their wives, girlfriends, know that one was a redhead, one had black hair, and one was blonde, but they were all me.”
Ice nodded, pulled out her notepad and jotted this down.
Emily found this painful, going through the names of the men she’d been with.
“The other thing is they all have different surnames. They don’t look alike. They don’t act alike. You wouldn’t know they were related.”
“And no need to feel bad even if you could tell they were related,” Ice said firmly. “We’re not in the Victorian times where you’re not allowed to have relationships out of wedlock.”
Emily laughed. “A darn good thing. Otherwise I would be in jail or worse.”
“So would most of us. Now let’s get to the men, one at a time. Can you remember what hair color you were using with each?”
“In high school I was a redhead. That was with Ronnie.”
“Ronnie?”
Emily pulled a notebook from her purse. “I made notes myself to figure out what the hell was going on at each time.” She flipped to the right page. “Ronnie Williamson was my high school sweetheart. We married one week after graduation. Split one year later.”
Ice nodded. “Next?”
Emily went to the next page. “That was Howard. His last name was Waterton. We only dated for about six months. I went with black hair at the time. Very short, cropped, like a pixie cut.”
Ice smiled and kept writing.
“The third man was Lyle Cowichan. And I was a blonde then.”
Ice laughed. “Did you find it made any difference?”
“Not one bit,” Emily said. “I still couldn’t change what was on the inside.”
Ice studied her. “Why would you want to?”
Emily winced. “I’ve always blamed myself for my little brother’s death in a house fire when we were growing up. I hated myself. So I spent decades trying to change into someone other than the person I saw in the mirror. The horrible big sister who couldn’t save her baby brother,” she said quietly. “I went through a number of shrinks and relationships where I tried to outrun my past. Finally I came to terms with the fact that I was only ten, and I probably wasn’t capable of doing very much more than I did, which was to get myself out.”
Sympathy filled Ice’s gaze. “The trials of childhood. They seem to follow us right into adulthood, no matter what we do.”
“In my case it didn’t help that my parents blamed me. They reminded me of it day in and day out for the rest of my growing years. Until my father drank himself to death, and my mother remarried. But I was part of her painful past, so let’s just say that I don’t see her at all.” Emily shook her head. “Why am I telling you this? I guess maybe it will help you understand why I need to know what’s going on with these cases. To make sure that three men I cared for, however briefly, who are now dead, have not died because of me.”
“Understood. I need your full name and the contact information for these men if you have it and how they’re related.”
“Their family tree is a little complicated. They are first cousins. Six daughters with eighteen children between them. All married so have different surnames. Several family members have since died.”
“Right. So I’ll draw a family tree. Do you have that information on you?”
Emily picked up her briefcase to pull out her file. “This is what I pulled together from the records.” She held out a copy. “You can keep it.”
Ice picked it up, took a look, and nodded. “This is helpful.” She turned toward Emily. “And how much are the payouts?”
“One million each for the three men.”
Ice nodded. “Do you know if any other family members are in TxSAR? And do you know if any other family members have life insurance policies?”
“I don’t,” Emily said. “I don’t have access to answer your first question. And we have hundreds of thousands of policies to sort through, with different surnames in the mix. I’ll look into it when I return to the office.”
“And how many children did the eighteen children have?”
“Twenty-two.” Emily laughed as Ice winced. “Exactly. And I don’t have all those names either. I’m trying to build that level of the tree. Then I’ll see if we hold policies on anyone else in the extended family.”
Levi walked in then. Emily turned and smiled at him. He leaned against one of the desks close to them. “Do you know a Richard Manton?”
Emily looked at him and frowned. “I’m not sure. I know several Richards.”
Levi gave a nod. “Maybe that’s a good thing.
“Why’s that?”
/> “He’s the fourth victim. The one they know was definitely murdered.”
Inside she could feel relief blossoming through her. That meant these men weren’t targeted because of her. “I’d have to see a photo of him to be sure, but the name isn’t ringing any bells.”
“I’m bringing up a photo now.” He tapped the tablet in his hand.
“This is what I have.” Ice turned the laptop her way. “Do you know this man?”
Emily looked at it and gasped. “Oh, my God! I do.” She sank back in the chair, a look of horror on her face. “He’s dead?”
“Yes. How do you know him?” Ice asked.
She shook her head. “Because Lyle had to get a restraining order against him for his wife.”
“Lyle, your ex-fiancé, the third dead man?”
“Yes. His wife was the girlfriend I found him in bed with. But apparently her ex-boyfriend wasn’t done with her yet. That’s him.”
“So you’re involved but not on a personal level this time. Good,” Ice stated. “How did you hear about the restraining order?”
“Friends in common. He was pointed out at a restaurant we were at one evening.” Bewildered she added, “I’m not sure what you mean by that first part, but, if you’re asking if I ever slept with Richard, the answer is no.”
Levi nodded. “Good enough. Make sure we have a way to contact you at all times. Everyone and anyone could be involved. We don’t know exactly what’s going on yet,” he said with a sharp look at her. “Stay safe.”
A little shaky she rose, shook hands with both of them, and followed Ice to the kitchen, Emily’s mind washed in pain. She understood Levi’s need to warn her, but it never occurred to her that this killer could be a threat to her. She didn’t love easy. To know three of the dead men were people she had cared about—two deeply—was a blow she struggled with. Knowing the fourth man was someone she knew also, well …
In the dining room again, she mustered up a smile for those gathered at the table. She didn’t quite understand how, or even if, they all belonged to this place, but she’d heard from Gunner that they were a large team.
As she walked toward the front door, one of the men hopped up, walked over, and held it open for her. In a low voice he asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Levi said I needed to make sure I stayed safe. There could be a connection, and the killer could be coming after me.”
“I’m sure he was saying that more as a warning. You’re not in TxSAR, and you’re not a part of the same family.”
She took a deep breath, nodded, and smiled. “Thank you for that.”
He held up his hand. “I’m Jace. If you need to get a hold of anybody here, you can contact any of us. We’ll be happy to help.”
She smiled. “Thank you.” She walked on alone to her vehicle.
He still stood there when she reversed out of the lot and headed to the main road. Once again she wondered at the wisdom of doing what she’d done. Should she have contacted them? Or had she opened herself up for a whole lot more pain?
Chapter 2
By the time Emily returned to her office, her boss, Wilson, waited for her. “Where were you?”
“Out in the field,” she said. “I spoke to Gunner about Legendary Security, then drove down to see them myself.”
“Do you think they’re reputable?” Wilson asked nervously.
She smiled. Dimpled and pudgy—everywhere—Wilson was one of the nicest men she knew. That he was blissfully married to an equally pear-shaped woman and had five children made Emily love him that much more. But when it came to the job and the company, he was a worrywart. And she was sure a heart attack awaited him somewhere in the next few years.
“They’re very reputable. We’re right to do this. It’s also won’t cost us much at all because TxSAR has already brought them in.”
At that Wilson’s eyebrows popped right up. “So they are also wondering if these deaths were suspicious?”
“I’m sure they are,” she said simply. “I’m equally sure TxSAR is covering their asses in case lawsuits come in.”
Wilson rolled his eyes at that. “What would we do without all the lovely lawsuits to keep the judicial system flowing?” he muttered and walked back into his small office. “We have a lot of other cases so don’t spend too much time on those,” he warned. “The head office is chewing on my butt again.”
She chuckled to herself. She wanted to say, Lots to chew on, but that was mean, and she wasn’t mean-hearted. But he made that comment probably once a day. And by now it had lost its bite.
Back in her cubicle, she sat to update her notes on the cases. She opened her own file and added the information on the fourth victim. Part of her job did require running down all kinds of information on people, and she was amazed at how much fraud existed in insurance claims.
The things people did to each other over money. She understood the appeal of having lots of money, but she’d much prefer to have friends and family rather than kill them off. Plus she earned her money the old-fashioned way, by working hard.
As she returned to her email, she found her in-box full, plus the physical folders on several pending investigations were stacked high on the side of her desk. She groaned at the sight. The topmost folder was an especially volatile subject. An elderly woman who’d been paying faithfully on a life insurance policy had now passed away. Her daughter was the beneficiary, and the grandchildren declared the daughter incompetent—just to get their hands on the life insurance proceeds. Emily had emails from lawyers on both sides of the issue. Technically it had nothing to do with her. The paperwork was legal and binding. The daughter was the beneficiary. That’s all there was to it. Only it was never that simple. Not with everyone trying to work the system to their advantage. The one grandson in particular was being very vocal about the mental state of his mother and why she shouldn’t get the money. Still it wasn’t Emily’s problem. Legal precedents had to be followed. But these kinds of issues kept crossing her desk and chewing up her time, which ate into her productivity.
By the time she closed the last folder, doing as much as she could on several different cases, the back of her neck was tight, and her forehead pounded with the start of a headache. She stood and realized the office was already empty. In fact, it looked like everybody was gone.
With a frown she checked her watch. She was a good forty minutes past her normal quitting time. “Crap.”
She’d take the time off another day because Wilson hated it when she claimed overtime. He was of the opinion that everyone should get their work done by closing time. The trouble was, in this job, the work was never done as she always had more open case files than she could possibly close. Right now she didn’t have any checks to write because she had no cases cleared. And she’d been doing this work for the company for four years. She found it fascinating and depressing at the same time. She loved writing checks she knew would make a difference in people’s lives. But it always came at a cost. In order for them to get the money, somebody had to die.
It always revived her love of humanity when the beneficiaries were devastated at the loss of their parent or child, enough that they hesitated taking the check. But too often it was the opposite. People would jump at the check and laugh all the way to the bank, making all kinds of heartless comments, like, “The old geezer gave me something.” “Bitch finally got hers.” “If I’d known that old miser had that kind of money, I’d have knocked her off decades ago.”
Emily wanted to go home and cleanse herself in the shower.
As she walked past Wilson’s office, the lights were off, and the door was closed. She frowned. It was unlike him to leave without saying goodbye. He was extremely conscientious normally. Always did a final check to make sure everybody was gone. Based on that habit he could still be here.
She pulled out her phone and called him. “Wilson, where are you?”
“I’m leaving the office now,” he said. “Where are you?�
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“By the front door. Is anybody else here?”
He laughed. “Turn and you will see me.”
She spun around, her phone at her ear, and saw him behind her with his big smile. She hung up her phone and tucked it into her pocket. “I didn’t see you before.”
Making a gesture, he smiled and motioned at her. “I was in the washroom. We can leave together.”
Outside they walked to the parking lot. “Are you nervous in the office alone?” he asked, a frown forming.
She shook her head. “No, I was just surprised.”
“That’s good. Have a good night.”
She got into her vehicle and waved at him. Then she pulled out of her space. Wilson was a caring man. He loved to go home to his family. She was heading home to an empty apartment, feeling down. Especially knowing three of the men she’d had relationships with had all passed away—and probably not naturally.
The trip to Legendary Security had given her a lot to think about.
She didn’t realize how bad their deaths were until she got home and looked into the details a little more. Particularly when she found out about the fourth man. She didn’t know him personally, but she definitely had a connection to him. With the initial three deaths, she’d lost an ex-husband, an ex-boyfriend, and an ex-fiancé. Did one have anything to do with the other? It was too much of a coincidence that they were from the same family and in TxSAR and connected to her. Yet it didn’t make any sense.
She hated ugly cases. She’d had a few. A mother who killed her son for the insurance money. Thankfully she’d been caught. But that wouldn’t bring back the little boy.
At home, she put on the teakettle, then got changed. She needed to look for the police reports from the deaths. The media had covered the two drownings because the men had been rescuing others. That made it worse. It was one thing dying by accident. That happened. It wasn’t good, but nobody was to blame. To consider this might be a criminal investigation …
As she made a simple salad, she went over her list of things to do. She needed to get an update from Ice. Or if she wasn’t available, she could call Jace. On the other hand, if they had found something, they’d contact her.