Resolved Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 3)

by T. E. Killian

  “Yes, sir.”

  He motioned to the door. “That will be all . . . for now.”

  As she passed through the door into Hilda’s office, Sonia knew her face was red since it felt so hot. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Hilda was motioning for her to come over to her desk.

  When Sonia complied, Hilda stood and leaned close to Sonia’s ear then said in almost a whisper, “He wants you to come back in ten minutes, Sonia.”

  The big smile on Hilda’s face eased much of the tension that had begun to build up inside Sonia and she let out a huge breath as she left the office.

  With only ten minutes to kill, Sonia decided not to go back to her office, so she stopped in at dispatch to talk to the two dispatchers on duty. She liked to do that at least once a week. Detectives weren’t on the radio as much as patrol and she liked to keep up a good relationship with all the dispatchers.

  After an almost relaxing conversation in dispatch, which turned out to be closer to fifteen minutes, Sonia was turning the corner in the hallway toward the chief’s office when she saw the back of Travers’ head as he was going out the front entrance.

  When she knocked at the chief’s open doorway, he was still sitting at his conference table. When he noticed her, he motioned for her to come in.

  “Please close the door Sonia.”

  Once Sonia was seated at the table with him, Winters smiled and said, “Sorry about that. I had to put up a front for him. After all, he does sign our paychecks.”

  When she didn’t say anything, he slapped his hands down flat on the table, but softly. “Okay, I guess you want me to explain that little scene.”

  Sonia began to breathe easier. “I would assume he is putting pressure on you so that I won’t interview him again.” She paused then said, “Just like all the other times and all the other people.”

  “That’s true to a certain extent, but I have a feeling that this time is at least a little bit different.”

  He leaned back in his chair and studied Sonia’s face for a moment. “Sonia, I have the utmost faith in your judgment and your detective skills.” Another pause as he looked down at his hands, which were still on the table. “Otherwise, I never would have let you loose on city government.”

  Sonia was waiting for the ‘but.’ She knew it had to be coming and braced herself for what might follow.

  Winters began to smile then laugh softly. “No, Sonia, there is no ‘but’ this time.” He laughed again at the surprised expression on her face.

  “I think what caused him to come in is that you somehow stumbled upon someone who is involved and they complained to Randy.”

  This time it appeared that he paused to think. “Or the one who is worried this time might just be the top dog himself.”

  Sonia had been thinking the same thing but was still reluctant to admit it, or even agree with the chief. She just wasn’t sure where the chief was coming from and whose side he might be on.

  She felt that he expected her to say something, so she said, “So, where do I go from here?”

  He snorted. “That’s a good question. I think the question that needs to be answered first is, do you intend to interview Randy again?”

  She thought about that for a moment and decided to be somewhat open with him about that. “I was leaning that way until now.”

  “And now?”

  “I’m there.”

  The chief stood and Sonia did as well.

  “That’s what I thought.” He ran his fingers through his close cropped hair. “Wait a day or two then call Hilda and she can set up an appointment for you.”

  He walked behind his desk and sat down. “Just a minute though. I was just thinking that it might be better if you interview at least two others before you interview him again.”

  As Sonia was settling down in her desk chair afterward, she was wondering how many more little bumps in the road she might run into before this case was closed.

  * * *

  Wayne was running late for his lunch with Bill Hogan. He had been surprised when Bill called him that morning to set it up. He’d heard how Bill had been mugged last night and didn’t expect him to be out and about so soon. But Bill had said he needed to talk to Wayne and he would do most anything for his friend.

  When Wayne approached the table where Bill was already sitting, he whistled softly. Bill’s face sure was a mess. Somebody had really worked him over.

  Bill laughed as Wayne approached and said, “Yeah, they really did a number on me didn’t they?”

  After they ordered, Bill turned back to Wayne and said, “I want to talk to you about Lieutenant Nordstrom.”

  That certainly grabbed Wayne’s attention.

  His face must have shown it, for Bill quickly said, “It’s not what you think. I just want to know what you think of her.”

  Again, Wayne’s face must have reflected his confusion.

  “The big question is do you think I can trust her?”

  Wayne grew angry so quickly that he almost hit his best friend. Probably the only thing that stopped him was the already battered condition of Bill’s face.

  Bill waved his hands in front of him with the palms toward Wayne. “I’m sorry. I’m not doing this very well. Okay, here’s what it is.” He blew out a breath. “Someone has already killed my dad for something they think he had. Now they think that I have it and I’m scared.”

  He pointed at his face. “Look what they’ve already done. I think they’ll kill me next time if I don’t give them what they want.”

  Wayne could feel his body relaxing from the fight mode it was in just seconds earlier. He began to see where Bill was coming from.

  “Okay, Bill, I finally know what you want to hear.” He looked off toward the entrance to the restaurant. “You and the other guys have a great family to go home to every night. I have nothing and it’s been working on me lately. But, I’m sure I’ve finally found the woman I would like to spend the rest of my life with.”

  He almost laughed at the incredulous look Bill was giving him now. “Yes, I haven’t told anyone else this yet, even Sonia, but I love her and I want to marry her. . . and if you tell anyone I’ll finish the job those goons did on your face.”

  They both laughed.

  “So in a roundabout way, my answer to your question is this. I would trust Sonia Nordstrom with my life, period.”

  If the situation hadn’t been so serious, Wayne would have laughed at the way Bill’s whole body seemed to relax, almost collapse, at that statement.

  Bill looked around the restaurant and Wayne followed his eyes. All the tables near them were empty.

  Bill leaned toward Wayne and said, “This morning, one of my crew was cleaning all the broken glass out of my truck from last night and he found something.”

  When all Wayne did was to lean toward Bill, he continued, “It’s a mini digital recorder. It was my dad’s. I played it and it’s something I’m sure the police will want to get their hands on.”

  Wayne was stunned. “ But Bill, you should be having this conversation with Sonia, not me.”

  “If I go to the police station, they’ll know and they’ll kill me.”

  Wayne could understand that line of reasoning. “Okay, why don’t I call Sonia and see if we can set something up for you to meet her somewhere away from the police station so you can give it to her.”

  When Bill nodded, Wayne pulled out his cell and called Sonia.

  Less than a minute later, Wayne turned back to Bill and said, “Okay, here’s the deal. Sonia’s going to meet us at her condo in thirty minutes. We’ll go ahead and finish our meals and then go over there. But, I know the owner here. I’ll get him to let you go out past the bathrooms and through the kitchen so you can wait for me at the back door. Then we’ll take my car to Sonia’s. That way if someone’s watching the front they won’t see where you went.”

  Everything worked great. Roberto readily agreed to let Bill go out the back door and they were steppin
g into the living area of Sonia’s condo a short time later.

  Sonia seated Bill in an armchair and she and Wayne took the sofa, which faced him. Wayne was pleased to see how Sonia was setting Bill at ease and not pushing him.

  Finally, Bill pulled a small package out of the lower pocket of his cargo pants and handed it to Sonia. “I think this is what those goons wanted me to give them last night.”

  Sonia pulled a small digital recorder out of the bag and looked back at Bill. “I hate to tell you this, but you and your family are still in danger.”

  When he leaned forward, she held out a hand as if to stop him. Then she said, “Is there any chance that you can take your family, including your mother, out of town for a few days? At least until we can be sure you’ll be safe here again?”

  Bill nodded. “Yes, my mother’s sister has been wanting her to come and spend some time with her in Tucson. I can pack up my wife and kids and take Mom down there for a few days.”

  “Okay, one of my detectives is sitting in his unmarked car out front right now. He’ll take you back to Roberto’s to get your truck then follow you home. Another detective will wait at your mother’s house until she’s ready and take her to your house. Then when everyone’s ready, both of them will escort you out of town, at least to the interstate. They won’t leave you until they’re certain that no one is following you.”

  She took one of her cards out of her purse, wrote on the back of it and handed it to him. “Take this and if you need help, before you get close to Phoenix, call my cell. If you need help after that, call the number on the back. That’s my brother who is a captain with Phoenix P.D. He’ll take care of you down there, okay?”

  Bill looked from the card in his hand back up at Sonia then over to Wayne. “She sure is everything you said she’d be.”

  They all laughed and then Wayne and Sonia walked with Bill out to the unmarked car to see him off.

  Once they were back inside, Sonia turned to Wayne and said, “Have you thought about the possibility that you may now be in danger due to the fact that you spent so much time with Bill today?”

  Wayne hadn’t thought about that. He quickly sat down on the sofa and Sonia sat next to him. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

  She reached out a hand and touched his arm with her fingertips. “Probably not, but you should be careful and watch for anybody following you. Call me immediately if you suspect anything, okay?”

  “Sure.” He had a thought and grinned. “I could just stay here and you could protect me.”

  She apparently didn’t take him seriously, because she laughed, held up the recorder, and said, “I need to get this down to the lab and get it checked out right away.”

  * * *

  Sonia didn’t make it home until eight that evening. She and some of the other detectives had eaten pizza that someone had called out for. She didn’t usually work through dinner that way, but this case was shaping up to be one of those almost 24/7 cases.

  Her stomach was slightly upset when she walked through the door and almost collapsed in her favorite chair. Maybe she shouldn’t have eaten that last slice of pepperoni pizza. She was tired, too tired to move even to get something to drink. So she sat there for ten minutes until she realized she was going to fall asleep sitting there. So she forced herself to get up. She grabbed a bottle of water on her way into her bedroom to change. Once there, she decided to take a shower, hoping that it might revive her some.

  Her thoughts turned to the digital recording that Bill Hogan had given her. The voices were clear to her. It was a recording of a conversation among three men, W. C. Hogan, Hamilton Baar, and Randy Travers. The lab was still analyzing it when she left the station but it sounded like something they could possibly move on. She would need to present it to the chief as soon as possible in the morning.

  She had been so tired and preoccupied that she had forgotten about the phone call that she had scheduled for nine o’clock. She was sitting in her chair brushing her long hair and sipping a Coke when the phone rang. She immediately remembered who was supposed to call. She was upset. She had wanted to prepare herself emotionally to talk to the woman who was claiming to be her long lost mother.

  Sonia let the phone ring five times in an attempt to clear her head and prepare as much as she could before talking to the woman.

  When she finally answered, the woman calling herself Errika said, “Oh thank goodness, Sonia. I was afraid you weren’t going to answer.”

  When Sonia didn’t respond, Errika continued, “Did you decide whether or not you will meet with me?”

  Even though Sonia and her dad had planned what she needed to say to the woman, she still had a difficult time getting the words out. What if this strange voice on the phone really was her mother? What then?

  She forced herself to say, “Yes, I’ll meet with you. But I can’t leave town right now. You’ll have to come here.”

  There was silence on the other end then a sniff. “Oh Sonia, you don’t know how happy you’ve made me. I so want to talk to you.”

  Sonia thought she was going to have to prompt her to make arrangements but Errika spoke again, “Oh my, I suppose you’re waiting for me to say when I can be there. Okay. I’m staying in Phoenix. How long does it take to get to Sycamore from here?”

  “Depending on where you are in the Phoenix area, no more than two and a half hours, probably more like two.”

  When there was no response, Sonia said, “Why don’t you meet me at the Denny’s here in Sycamore at noon tomorrow? It’s on the side of town you’ll be coming in on and easy to get to.”

  “Oh, Sonia, that’s just wonderful. I’ll be there.”

  “Wait, how will I know you?”

  There was an almost giggle then, “You’ll know me all right. I’ve seen recent photos of you and you look just like me.”

  She looked just like her mother? Or whoever this woman was? That unnerved her completely.

  Afterward, Sonia sat in her chair staring into her cold fireplace. What had she just done? She had a sinking feeling that her life was about to change and she was almost certain that it wasn’t going to get any better.

  Her dad was waiting for her to call him. She needed to do some thinking before she could call him. She had to prepare herself for his anger and attitude toward her mother.

  The next question was whether she wanted him to be there when she met with this woman. Well, no matter what the woman said about Sonia looking like her, she would still need her dad to make the positive identification. Then, the question was, did she want him sitting there with them? No, she had a feeling that Errika or whoever she was wouldn’t talk as freely with him there.

  She almost laughed. The woman wouldn’t be able to get a single word in with her dad sitting with them. No, that simply would not work. He would have to either leave or sit away from them.

  With her decision made, she picked up her phone and called her dad.

  He answered with, “Did she call again? Did you make arrangements to meet her?”

  “Hi Dad. Yes, she called and I’m meeting her tomorrow at the Denny’s here at noon.”

  “Okay, I’ll be at your office at eleven thirty then.”

  She thought about that for a second. Somehow, she didn’t think she had the whole story about when her mother left them. She needed to hear the whole story before she met with this woman claiming to be her mother.

  “No, Dad. Make it eleven. I want some answers from you before I meet this woman. I’ve gone my whole life wondering what really happened back then. I think I deserve to know now.”

  She knew she was pushing her luck with him. The silence on the other end told her that he was trying to regain control before answering her. Finally, she heard him blow out a loud breath and then he said, “Okay, I guess you do deserve to know all the details. I’ll be there at eleven.”

  She was about to hang up when he said, “Be prepared, you’re not going to like what I’m going to tell you.” />
  This time, after hanging up, she went into her bedroom and crawled into bed. After turning the light off, she lay there staring up at the ceiling. She hadn’t really been ready to go to bed, but it didn’t matter if she was sitting or lying down, she still couldn’t get her mind to wrap around all that was happening in her life.

  As she lay there, she felt like she had as a little girl when she had done something to upset her dad. She loved him and even now never wanted him to be angry with her.

  But so much was going on at once. She was almost overwhelmed by it all. She was investigating probably the biggest case of her career. A man whose dark good looks were even beginning to haunt her dreams was pursuing her for a relationship. Then to top it all off, tomorrow she was going to meet with a woman claiming to be her long lost mother.

  It was all just too much for her to handle. She closed her eyes, but she wasn’t the least bit sleepy so they popped open again.

  She was rescued from her thoughts when the phone rang again. This time it was Wayne, and she hadn’t realized it until then, but she really needed to talk to him right now.

  “Wayne, I’m so glad you called. I need to talk to someone or I think I’ll go crazy.”

  She could tell his humorous greeting of a moment ago was gone and he picked up on her seriousness. “Sure, I’m all ears.”

  “Okay.” She didn’t know where to begin. “I need to talk about something and I really don’t need advice or anything else. I just need to put my thoughts into words. Is it unfair of me to ask that of you?”

  “No. Sonia. You’re scaring me but go ahead and tell me. I’ll just listen, okay?”

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Last night someone claiming to be my mother called me. She said she wants to meet with me to talk. I don’t want to drag up all those painful memories of growing up without a mother. I don’t want to hear what she has to say. I don’t want to meet with her.”

  When Wayne remained silent, she said, “My dad is coming up tomorrow and I’m going to make him tell me all the details of when she left, before I meet with her at noon.”