Missing Link

by Varun Vashist

  "What?" Jake said almost spilling his coffee. It was as though Kiara had found out his secrets. "Don't beat around the bush. I am sensing you are up to something."

  Kiara smiled, "Well… we have a lot in common. Going against the norm; doing something out of the jurisdiction; going to any length for justice to happen etc."

  Jake's face turned red, "What do you want?"

  "Your breakfast," Waitress placed the tray and left. Kiara took a bite from her sandwich and then a sip of the coffee.

  "This is good," she said in a teasing tone, "You come here often?"

  Jake was now at his wit's end, "What do you want?"

  Kiara knew he had tested him enough. She looked around to find out if someone was overhearing them. Once assured she looked back at him.

  "I suspect there is something big going on here. Someone in the town knows the secrets of Coopers. He wants to blackmail them and for that he wants my help," she said while pretending to eat her breakfast.

  "Can you be more discreet?"

  "Ok. Someone has gotten his hands on Chris Cooper's personal diary. He left some pages in my room yesterday. He has found out my identity, I guess. And, now he wants something from me. Maybe, he wants me to approach Cooper Industries and get money for them."

  "What rubbish?" Jake said while nodding his head, "It does not work that way. And what was in those pages?"

  Now it was Kiara's turn to feel a bit let down. "Well, to be precise, nothing that revealing. It has some rants about how to achieve success and all that stuff that makes the business successful."

  "So, nothing significant," Jake said casually, "And, how are you so sure that it was from his diary?"

  "I saw the same pages in my office earlier and they were placed in the report that was prepared by the panel."

  "What panel?" Jake asked.

  "Cooper Industries wanted to thwart the talks about the pollution in the blue leaf lake and the violation of human rights. They created a panel of major journalists who studied and found that there were no violations. However, the lake did need some revamp as it was old and had pollution caused by the locals. So, they wanted to get it restored and take the credit. I was given that report to study about Kingston."

  "What a cover up?" Jake shook his head, "And, then they expect the local support."

  Kiara smiled at Jake's reaction. Jake noticed that, "What are you smiling about?"

  "Well, as far as I know, Harrison seems to be more inclined towards the Cooper Industries. But, his most trusted man looks like having a soft corner for the town people."

  "What are you implying at?" Jake asked in frustration.

  "We will come to that later," Kiara said making Jake groan in angst. "First, let me finish."

  "The person who left those pages knew that I was carrying that report. That's why he searched my bags for it and kept the pages inside it. Now he can be a hero or a villain depending on whether he wants me to expose Cooper Industries or if he wants money from them by blackmailing them."

  "What do you want from me?" Jake asked the question that concerned him.

  "I want to find who is behind this and need your help in that," she said softly, "You know the place and people better than anyone."

  "And what makes you feel that I will help. What if I tell this to Harrison? He will get your ass kicked out of here in a minute."

  "Well, you have much more experience in getting ass kicked. That's why?" she said and winked at him.

  Jake looked at her and took a deep breath, "Do you know something about me that is making you believe you can blackmail me into this?"

  "Not blackmail. I will convince you," she said confidently.

  "Well, then convince me in the next two minutes or else I am going to leave," Jake gave an ultimatum.

  "Jake Carter; total field experience: eight years. Total experience in getting ass kicked: almost the same," Kiara said mockingly. Jake squirmed a bit but continued listening.

  "In the last eight years, you have been suspended four times. Mostly for your unconventional ways to bring out the truth, like tying a suspect upside down for the whole night or for threatening the lawyers defending the suspects. You have a special taste for drug dealers and wife beaters. But, you got one step better the last time. You planted clues to get the suspect convicted. Suspensions were not working for you. So, finally they kicked you out of Boston and sent you here thinking the only way to stop you is by sending you somewhere without any cases."

  Jake looked blankly at her for a few moments thinking who the hell was she?

  "Where did you get all this information?" he asked while looking around as if his secret was out.

  "I have my resources," she said while thinking about Bob. A shiver ran down her spine thinking about him. But, she pretended to remain calm. She was in the driver's seat and did not want to forgo her position.

  "So, you know now that it would be impossible to work with me, then?" he said, trying to escape the trap.

  "No…no.. I haven't finished the story yet," Kiara smiled and stopped.

  Jake shook his head in frustration and gestured her to continue.

  "When I checked your record, I was surprised to see that you had not handled any case in the last six months. I tried to find a reason and studied all the cases that you handled after joining here. I found one thing common in all cases that you handled. Unlike other people working for Harrison, only in your cases the town people were found not guilty or if found guilty, they were let off easily. Maybe, that is why you don't have any cases for past six months as your goals are not matching with those of Harrison's," Kiara said and paused, "Six months without breaking some bones. It must be eating you from inside."

  With that she looked into his eyes. She could read that he had dropped his guard a little and now it was her time to do so.

  "I know you can't stand injustice and that’s why I can trust you," she said quietly." You know the locals. It will make my work way easier."

  Jake looked at her and heaved a sigh, "I have certain ways of doing things. But, I can't risk my career for someone whom I met a day back."

  "Well, here is the deal. You get me what I want and I promise I will get you out of Kingston,"

  Jake looked at her, "And, how will you do that?"

  "That you leave on me. You tell me if you will help or not?"

  "Ok. What do you want?" Jake asked finally.

  Kiara leaned a little further," Well, I suspect someone in this town having deep ties with Cooper Industries is trying to use insider information to blackmail Chris Cooper. I need your help to trace this person for me. The whole town thinks I am here as a student. I don't want to blow my cover. You know everything about this place. You can use your contacts to find out who this person is."

  "And, suppose we find this person. What do you intend to achieve out of this?"

  "I feel that whatever happened to Cooper Industries last week has some deep secret to it; something that has big names involved in it. And, now I suspect its roots are in Kingston. We unearth this person; we will be able to shake the whole chain," Kiara said in a single breath.

  "And, you are doing this because…" Jake was still not sure what Kiara's intention were.

  "If I feel something is wrong, I don't wait for orders. And, now I am pretty much involved in it as well. I suspect more documents coming my way from the pursuer. Is that a reason enough for you?"

  Jake looked around and then came near her, " If this thing is as deep as you say, this is going to rattle everyone; from Kingston to Portland to New York. I am not sure if I am willing to take such a deep dive. I don't care about my job, but I would rather prefer to lose it for my own assignment and not on someone else's hunch. "

  Kiara did not know what to say. She had trusted him with all the information that she had. She was still thinking when Jake got up.

  "Gotta go. Duty time,"

  As he was about to leave, Kiara remembered something. She got up at once.

  "One more t
hing. The person who left those papers circled one of the names from the team who prepared the report,"

  "What name?"

  "Sarah Edwards," Kiara said with some disappointment, "I looked up her name but could not find anything."

  "Let's wait and watch then," Jake said and walked away. Kiara looked at him for a moment and then sat down finishing her breakfast. She knew she could trust him, but before taking his help she should know what she wanted. She had to think of her next steps. She was still baffled by the letters and was wondering if that person was around. She scanned the whole café one more time. Beside two old couples and a group of college going students, no one was there.

  As she finished, the waitress came immediately with the bill as if she was keeping an eye on her. Kiara paid her, but the waitress did not budge. She had given a good tip, she thought.

  "You want something?" she asked while getting up.

  The waitress looked at her, but did not say anything. Kiara read her expressions. She knew what it was. Some motherly advice was about to come her way.

  "You should stay away from him," she said softly, "He is not good for you."

  Kiara smiled sheepishly, "Oh..no..no.. I am not interested in him."

  "Well, I don't think so. The way you two were leaning towards each other and speaking in a hush -hush. Margaret is never wrong about these things..never."

  Kiara almost blushed when she got a wind of what the waitress was implying at. Jake was good looking, but dating him.. NO. Suddenly she remembered she was drifting away from the conversation. Why are you even getting that idea? she said to herself.

  "Actually, I am here for my college project. I have to check how the factory is doing…I mean its effect on the environment of Kingston. Jake has been assigned to help me on that."

  The waitress shook her head, "I heard they had made a report earlier blaming us for the pollution."

  Kiara was taken aback a little. May be that's why she saw people nodding their head on recognizing her the other evening.

  "Don't worry… I will only publish the facts," she tried to assure her. The look on the waitress's face gave the impression that she was not convinced.

  "I promise you.." she reassured further.

  "What if your boyfriend tells you to do otherwise?" she said calmly. Kiara looked at her. She was not mocking her, but was serious.

  "He is not my boyfriend," she said in exasperation. "We were not on a date."

  The waitress did not say anything and left. Kiara kept looking at her. She shook her head trying to bring herself back to reality. She stood there for a few seconds and then came out.

  Her first attempt had gone futile and she had risked all the information she had. Though, she was pretty sure that Jake won't share it with Harrison. He too hated the guts of Harrison. But, then he was right. She was in Kingston for just one day. She needed much more time to understand the place and the people.

  She turned towards Paul's house when the thought about the waitress crossed her mind. How could she think of her having a date with Jake and then having the nerve to imply that she was doing wrong? Did she look that naïve? A dozen of thugs could testify otherwise.

  She checked the door. It was locked. She heaved a sigh of relief and entered.

  "A date with your partner. That sure is a recipe for disaster," she murmured while crashing on the couch. Suddenly something struck her.

  "A date… yes…How could have I not noticed?" she almost yelled.

  She ran towards the bedroom and shuffled through the diary pages. She opened her laptop and searched for Jan 14, 2013 for News related to Cooper Industries.

  "Oh.. This is good," she mumbled while scrolling down.

  "Cooper Industries year on year profit rose by 110% and most of that profit came from their chemical business. This has come at a time when the entire chemical industry is going through a slump. Eyebrows were also raised earlier last year when they had won a billion dollar contract despite being a young company. The growth results have only added fuel to the fire.

  However, what made bigger News than the financial results is the press conference that was headed by William Cooper post the declaration of the results. He tried to evade all the questions related to the actual reasons behind the growth and when one of the reporters quizzed him further, he left the conference at once.

  However, this did not stop there. Instead of staying away from the media, Chris Cooper, the son of William Cooper and the Managing Director of Cooper Industries used his influence to get the above mentioned reporter fired. There have been repetitive requests from Cooper Industries to downplay this News, but we feel that the confidence of Chris Cooper has reached the level of arrogance and the media needs to rein it."

  "Wow..So it started from here," Kiara read the diary page again. "It makes sense now. He looks really excited about the success he had at achieving those figures and also using his influence on the media. No doubt he made enemies everywhere."

  Kiara tried to find any other news related to the incident. To her surprise the whole internet was full of them. "You should keep an eye on the financial world Kiara. It is quite interesting."

  Following the day of the incident, there was a furor in the media. It was as if the media had an agenda against the Cooper Industries. Every publication was carrying articles about how they had ruined the blue leaf lake and how the human rights violation was taking place in Kingston. Chris had not done right by getting the reporter removed. The whole journalistic fraternity had come together in his support.

  Kiara kept reading the subsequent day's news when suddenly after a few days the news about the incident completely stopped. In fact, some of the publications had given an unconditional apology to Cooper industries. Some had even mentioned that they were misled by the reporter who had challenged the Cooper's. Kiara was baffled by the U-turn. She checked the date on the news. It was 22nd January. The same date as the second page of the diary. She read the page again. What was the way around and who are Chris's pawn?

  He could not have possibly bribed all the publications. It sounds risky and why would he wait for a week before making the offer.

  She again started searching the net. There was nothing unusual. She started walking across the room thinking what it could be. She tried searching again, but with the same results. Suddenly, she happened to glance at the report.

  She typed the title of the report and googled it. Her face lit up at what she saw.

  'To settle down all the uproar about the wrongdoings of Cooper Industries in Kingston, Mr. Chris Cooper has approached the media and has asked for an independent panel to be formed that will assess the situation and make recommendations. The Daily News Union has been entrusted the task to finalize the people who will head the panel and will ensure that there is no bias. In addition, Mr. Cooper has agreed to donate five percent of the profit from Cooper chemicals for the development of Kingston and the surrounding area. This money will be given even if the reports suggest that there is no harm done by Cooper Industries to the local environment. This money in no way is to be considered as an agreement from Cooper Industries that blue leaf lake needs attention. It was agreed with the government when the contract was signed. The timing of its release is just coincidental."

  "So, the father has a tiff in the press conference; the son in a knee jerk reaction gets the reporter removed. Media goes against them and when aid is announced, the media stops the news. It is a nexus." Kiara sighed while joining all the links.

  She was still thinking about it when the phone rang. She looked at the unknown number.

  "Hello,"

  "Kiara, it's Jake," Jake said from the other end.

  "Hi, Jake. From where did you get my number?" she asked with surprise.

  "I took it from Harrison,"

  "Oh.. so you told him everything?" she said angrily.

  "I would never do that. I called to tell about something else. Did you read the news?"

  Kiara did not understand, "What
news?"

  "The girl…Sarah Edwards.." he was interrupted by Kiara.

  "What about her?"

  "She was kidnapped yesterday," Jake said slowly while looking around.

  "What?" Kiara shouted.

  "And, you were right. There is something big going on in Kingston," Jake said in a low voice.

  "What do you mean?"

  "She was kidnapped from Portland while on her way to Kingston,"

  "What?"

  "Yes, she knows something that Coopers don't want to reach Kingston," he added further.

  There was a momentary silence, "Ok.. I need to go. But, now I am with you. See you tomorrow."

  With that, he disconnected. Kiara fell on the bed. "What is going on here? "

  Things were happening fast and there was something that the people behind it wanted from her. She was the only person who was warned about Sarah's kidnap. And, they knew beforehand that she was coming to Kingston. Probably, they knew her intentions too. If it was for ransom, then Kiara was of no use. She did not know Sarah or her family. Besides, she was not sure if Sarah was a big catch for them. She was working for the Cooper's on a temporary assignment. She could not be having a background strong enough to pay her kidnappers. So ransom was out of the question. Maybe, she knows some secrets that could hurt Cooper Industries and the Cooper's wanted to stop her from reaching Kingston.

  The thought made her feel a spark run through her body, "How could have I missed this? They don't know my identity yet. They are warning me about what could happen if I try to do what Sarah was going to do. So, if I want my safety, I should either leave or make a report that favors them."

  The challenge made her excitement palpable. She started walking across the room. This assignment was turning out to be her kind. The immediate thing needed to be done was to find out Sarah's secret. What secrets she was carrying and why was she coming to Kingston?

  Chapter 5

  Kiara was too excited to sleep. She kept thinking about the case. The plot was getting murkier and Sarah was the key that could unravel the Pandora's Box. She looked at her watch; it was getting late. There were things that she wanted to do, but for that she had to wait till morning. She counted till ten and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down. After a lot of struggle, she fell asleep at around three.