“Alright,” he said, as he motioned for her to take a seat. “What’s going on, Emily?”
“I have received an e-mail from someone.”
“Another multimillionaire seeking to find out whether or not their twenty-some-odd wife is cheating on him with another man. The answer is, yes. It is always yes.”
“No. It’s from an anonymous person and they have provided only vague information and they want to meet you.”
“Do we know what they want?”
“No sir, there is no information that can tell me what they want, but they seem paranoid. I think it would be worth the trip.”
David thought on it for a moment and finally nodded. “It won’t hurt anything to go ahead and see what’s going on. Where are we going to do this meeting?”
“You’ll be going to the Aubrey Plaza and meeting them around seven.”
“Me? I would feel much more comfortable if you would come with me.”
Emily nodded, “That sounds wonderful, and I’m looking forward to it.”
###
Olivia was sitting at the computer screen waiting for a response back from the private investigator. She was on edge and felt tears sting her eyes. She heard Mar walking behind her. They were no longer at her husband’s residence, now they were in a sketchy motel. She had not heard from James and she knew something was wrong. If who she thought was behind it truly was, they would have sent some form of correspondence to her, but there had been nothing. Of course she didn’t know what was going on, and she needed to know. She had to get answers.
“You have not slept for the past two days, Olivia. Please get some rest.”
Looking away from her computer screen, she looked up to see her sister. Marissa hadn’t given up her life for this, but Olivia had. Marissa was still working, but Olivia was paranoid and knew it. When Olivia was sixteen she had made a promise to Marissa that all of this would go away. She promised to protect her and she was not doing a good enough job. She was failing her; she was failing James.
“I keep wondering if he is still alive. I keep wanting to know if they have him. I don’t want him to be found dead. I don’t want this to happen to him.”
“James knew what had happened and he knew how to be cautious. He was the one who taught us hyper-vigilance and he’s probably lying low somewhere. He is most likely protecting you. If he felt he was being watched, he would lead them away from you and you know that.”
“That is a possibility, but there is no knowing. I need to know for sure that he is alright. I just keep having these images in my head. The way that we found… the way that we found Mom.”
“We put him in jail,” Marissa said. “I know we got the right man.”
“But we still never knew why he did it. We never understood the connection.”
“Whatever that connection, is it was reestablished when you got emancipated and you went digging into it. We were safe and no one knew we had seen anything.”
Olivia felt as if she had been slapped and bowed her head. Marissa was absolutely correct. Whatever was happening now was surely her own fault and she couldn’t prevent it. She wanted to be able to prevent it.
“Look,” Marissa began. “We know his name and we know he was there… and we know he had more than one victim. The only thing we don’t know is why. Neither of us ever knew that and James knew we would never be able to handle the truth.”
She was thinking about James and remembered how they had met. He had been there that night when she was looking for those answers. She had never launched an investigation before, and had she been smart she would have known who Carlisle Castro was. He was a mob boss and had ordered the hits on dozens of people. Somehow he knew when she’d launched her own investigation and people had been sent out to eliminate her. James was a patrol officer at the time and he’d found her—shot and bleeding out. He took care of her thereafter. It was those events that led Castro to go to prison, and she had fallen in love with James.
“I know you’re right, but it’s so damn difficult. Especially since the Lieutenant doesn’t even know what the hell is going on. It seems as if everything that had happened never did.”
“No one in Primer would know about what happened, or that it was why we moved here. Look, we can’t be certain that Castro is behind this, but we’ll find out.”
“I know, and that is why I hired an investigator,” she said. Her eyes glanced back to her screen and saw she had a response. They had agreed to meet her and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Why would you trust a complete stranger?”
“It’s better than going to the cops, Marissa. Obviously, they haven’t proven to be much help since it has been about a week since he’s been missing.”
“Fine, it’s your call, and I will support it. But Olivia, please go and get some sleep. You really do need it. Especially if you’re going out.”
Olivia looked to her sister and saw so much of their mother in her. She took a deep breath and reluctantly went to sleep; not wanting to admit that Marissa had been right.
###
They were sitting at a booth waiting for their mystery client to arrive. Emily looked astonishing. She was wearing a red blouse and a black pencil skirt. He had noticed that she had been dressing differently the past few days and he wondered why. Obviously he wasn’t able to ask her, because he knew how awkward it would be and he was trying to avoid it… at all cost.
She met his gaze and he attempted to look away, but was not able to do so.
“Is something the matter?”
“No, Emily. I’m just a little anxious, is all.”
“I could not agree with you more.”
David was silent and he knew she wanted this to be different than any of the other cases they had taken. They both knew the longer they were out of cases, the quicker their funds would be depleted. David sensed two women walking over towards them.
The hostess walked on over with them. “Are these the guests you have been waiting for?”
Emily was the one to answer, and both of them sat down. David could tell they were under a lot of stress and he wondered what was going on with them. He looked at each of them and waited for the formal introductions.
“My name is David Orlando,” he began. “I am the private investigator you wanted to speak with. This is my assistant, Emily Valentini.”
“My name is Olivia Shapiro and this is my friend, Marissa Hughes,” she said, as she gestured over towards her friend. David couldn’t believe it, however. They seemed to share similarities, but he let it go for now. He knew it was better to wait to hear what they wanted before making statements about what he saw.
“And how would we be able to assist you?”
They both shared a look and seemed to share the same level of discomfort. “My husband— James—he has been missing for several days now. The police have been little help to us, and I’m beginning to worry about him.”
“Do you know any reason why the police wouldn’t show any interest?”
“Because my husband works with them, and none of them had noticed anything awry. I told them that he hasn’t returned home, and they haven’t told me anything.”
“Does he have any enemies that you know of?”
David watched as she hesitated, and it seemed that there was something she knew but she was debating about telling them. “He is a police officer, so I’m sure he has a list of people that would want him to disappear.”
Looking over at Emily, he could tell she too seemed to think they were hiding something, but she smiled to them. “I think we will be more than interested in taking this case.”
“That is wonderful,” she said. David could hear the relief in her voice and he wondered what really was going on. He wanted to skip dinner to start working on everything, but their waitress brought out the appetizers.
“What are you able to tell me about your husband, Mrs. Shapiro?”
She look
ed at him and fed him a story.
Chapter 8
David had thrown his coffee cup across the room, and he heard it as it shattered on the wall. Thankfully it was empty, but he couldn’t help but hate it when people lied to him. He was a private investigator for goodness sake, he had to look into the lives of everyone. What he’d found made his blood boil. Mrs. Shapiro was not who she was claiming to be, and he wanted answers.
He heard his door being knocked on. He didn’t want Emily to see him like this; he didn’t want her to see how angry he could get over something so small.
“Boss,” she said, as she opened the door. “Is everything alright?”
She already knew that answer, and he wasn’t even sure why she was asking in the first place. “Can you come in?”
Emily opened the door and seemed somewhat nervous. Whenever he was angry, she seemed to be afraid to come near him. David was somewhat violent, but he would never hurt a human being; just inanimate objects.
“I know you’ve found something.”
“Yes, and I’m not too thrilled by it. Would you be able to do your thing to get me the information that I need to proceed?”
“I won’t be able to gain access to that database,” she said. She was moving away from him as if she was afraid of his reaction. “That is the only one I will never go into.”
“Do you mind giving me a reason?”
Emily bit her lower lip and she nodded. “They are in witness protection for a reason, and if we go ahead and poke into it, we can easily be impeding on something going on that we shouldn’t be involved in. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a target.”
“I never thought you could be scared.”
“It isn’t that I’m scared. I just don’t hack into something I know I’ll be caught hacking into.”
“Great, now we have to see if they’d even allow us to get any information about this so we can even proceed. I hate damn politics!”
Emily was looking at him and he could tell she was worried about him. She finally spoke. “I know someone who would be able to help get me what I need from those files. If you don’t mind, I can go ahead and step out for a little while.”
“If you are able to get me the information I need that would be perfect.”
He realized she hadn’t moved. She was watching him and took a step towards him. “Boss, I hope you know that everything is going to work itself out. I know it is frustrating trying to work with someone who isn’t forthcoming about the real situation, but we have to think that there’s a reason for it.”
He couldn’t deny she was right, and all he was able to do was nod. Emily took another step forward and he noticed how she hesitated. It was as if she wanted to comfort him in such a way that would make everything awkward, and she finally took a step back. “I’ll be back,” she said, as she left.
###
She walked down to the elevator and stepped inside. It was cramped because the janitor was in there. He wore ratty clothing, but despite that, he was clean shaven and he stood tall and proud. She had noticed him several times and she knew that there was something more to this man than what met the eye.
As they were riding down, he got off at the floor below her own and she headed into the lobby. Tom was not there today and she knew what had happened. It was a sad thought, and it was one that she had to immediately push to the back of her mind.
Stepping outside, she was looking around the building. She knew where all the cameras were for the next two blocks, and she walked down to one of the phone booths. Putting her hands in her pockets she was feeling around for loose change and finally found some.
She dialed a number she had memorized back when she was twenty, and now she was finally making the call.
“This is Benjamin Kingsley,” he said, into the phone. He had a deep voice and she had only met him in person once before. He was one of those men you would see on the street and automatically know you had to avoid him. It was just the way he carried himself, but he had to do as such and she knew that.
“This is Emily Valentini,” she said into the line. “I have a favor to ask you. Would you be able to meet me?”
“Of course Miss Valentini. I will see you within the hour.”
She heard the click as he disconnected the line, and immediately began walking. Benjamin Kingsley had proven himself more than useful and she knew she could trust him with everything. He had after all protected her back when the accident occurred, even though he knew it was not an accident.
She made it to the building down the street. It was an old post office that had been around since the town had first originated. She knew this place had been designed as a fortress, and it being a post office was just its own façade. It did double as something else, and it was something no one else thought it would be.
Walking inside, she went to the post office boxes. She made her way down to where the door was. On her key ring was the only key she needed, and she inserted it into the door. She heard a click as it unlocked and pushed the door open. For the moment she was alone, and she knew that she had to sit and wait.
It didn’t take him long to arrive and he took a seat as well. This room was used for other post office boxes, and only a few people had access to it. Most of the people that used this room had something to do with witness protection, and the reason they used a room that looked to be like a storage closet was to protect others.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Emily felt as if her throat was dry but she spoke. “I need to know who Olivia and James Shapiro are, along with Marissa Hughes.”
Her eyes were studying his face and she was not surprised when he did not show any form of emotion or recognition. That was his job after all, and she was waiting for him to speak. He needed to give her some information.
“How do you know them?”
“Mrs. Shapiro and Marissa contacted my employer the other day, and they are wanting to find out where Mr. Shapiro disappeared to. Everything is sealed and we are unable to obtain the information we need to do a proper investigation.”
He moved around uncomfortably for a moment and nodded. “I do not like divulging this information to you, or to anyone else for that matter, especially not without the proper clearance, but I trust you Miss Valentini. I will help you, but I will limit your knowledge.”
Emily nodded. Any bit of information would be able to help at this point. He began to tell her the story.
Chapter 9
David was sitting in the office alone, and it had been about two hours since Emily disappeared. He wondered where she had gone, but it was probably best that he didn’t ask her too many questions. She respected his privacy and he had to do the same for her. He heard someone knock on the main office door.
Getting up, he walked over and opened the door. Standing there was Marissa Hughes with a forced smile on her face. It was obvious that something was wrong.
“I know you are going to find out eventually,” she said. She was beginning to pace and he could tell she was somewhat uncomfortable. “But there are a few things that my sister and I are hiding.”
He was not able to respond right away, but he looked at her with wonder. Why was she telling him this? Why couldn’t they have told him the day before?
“Olivia is my older sister,” she began. “We changed our names and moved away so we could get away from what had haunted us when we were younger. Olivia is paranoid that someone from our past has come back.”
“And the reason neither of you felt the need to tell me beforehand was because?”
“It was her decision not to tell you. Olivia is very paranoid and it takes a lot for her to trust someone. She has to analyze every situation and she makes a guess to the outcome. I don’t think she trusted you, but I know that the more you know, the better it will be for us.”
David nodded and looked to Marissa. “What are your real names?”
“Olivia’s n
ame is Teresa and mine is Samantha. Anderson is our last name. Our mother was Daniella and she was murdered when we were young. Teresa investigated it and she stumbled upon something that made us have to go into hiding.”
He was watching her face, attempting to tell whether or not she was lying, and soon became sure she was telling him the truth. He nodded. “Thank you for the information. So do you think whoever is behind this had something to do with what you stumbled upon?”
“I doubt it, but at least by knowing about us you will be able to eliminate a few people off of the list.”
David could hear how anxious she was. It was as if she was needing to go. “Is there somewhere you need to go?”
“Yes,” she admitted. “I work across town, and I need to leave to get back there.”
“Then by all means,” he said. “And if there is anything else you can provide you can call me.”
She nodded as she walked out. As the door shut behind her, David was in deep thought. He wondered what that was all about and he didn’t seem to like it all too much. The way she was acting was odd, and even if she was trying to get somewhere on time, she might well have been different. He couldn’t shake the feeling that she was hiding something from him, and the information she’d given him was supposed to point him in one direction, at the exclusion of any other.
###
Emily stepped back into the office and saw that David had his door open and was lying on his couch. He seemed to be deep in thought and she knew there was something on his mind. He wanted to get everything resolved, and the information she had compiled would be able to help, at least she was hoping so.
Lightly tapping on his open door, he motioned for her to come in. “I have some information that you might find useful.”
“If it is just their real names, Marissa—a.k.a. Samantha—was here not too long ago, and telling me they had different names before.”
“I have more than just their real names,” she began. “I have the reason why they needed to go into witness protection, and the reason they are still part of it.”
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