Jan Coffey Suspense Box Set: Volume Two: Three Complete Novels: Road Kill, Puppet Master, Cross Wired

by Jan Coffey

  Alanna had arranged for her to move to an assisted living facility in Mountain View where she had her own room and all her meals and her needs were taken care of. But that was only the beginning. Now more than ever, Lucia wanted to be closer to Alanna. They spent most Sundays together. And one other day in the week, Alanna had to bring her abuela back to her apartment so that Lucia could cook every meal her granddaughter would need for the following week.

  Ray’s accident had affected Lucia, too. She’d liked him, had doted on him when he’d been around, and had taken his death pretty hard. It was sad that Alanna couldn’t share the news of Ray being alive with her abuela. And even more tragic for all of them, Alanna couldn’t imagine how her grandmother would function if she herself were to disappear forever. Alanna was the only real family her abuela had.

  Lucia had left Alanna’s grandfather years before Alanna was born, but he had passed away five years ago. After the last of Lucia’s older brother and sisters back in Mexico died, her contact with relatives south of the border had gradually and then finally stopped. Neither of them had seen Alanna’s mother in almost thirty years. They didn’t know where she was or how she lived. Alanna knew that Lucia’s loss of her only daughter still gave the old woman great pain. Her grandmother was alone now, except for Alanna.

  Guilt was beginning to gnaw holes in Alanna’s conscience. But it was even more than guilt, she told herself. It was how she felt for Lucia. She didn’t know how she could walk away from the woman who’d been there for her all these years. The parent, the foundation of her life, the reason for the strong person that she’d become. She loved Lucia as much as Ray…perhaps more.

  Alanna knew it was true. She loved her abuela more than she valued her own life.

  Sitting at her desk, deep in thought, Alanna struggled as she swam in a deep sea of emotions. She was trying to consider every aspect of their plans and the consequences of their actions. She didn’t know how it could work. It was impossible. Her life was too complicated. She couldn’t just walk away.

  A knock on her open door startled her. She turned away from the computer screen and the email that she’d been staring at for some time. She hadn’t read a single line of it.

  “Is this a good time now, Alanna?”

  Phil Evans and Jill Goldman were waiting at her door. Phil had mentioned that it was critical that they get together with her today. Alanna motioned for them to come in.

  “Are you okay?” Phil asked.

  Alanna touched her cheeks. They were hot. She felt flushed. She took a sip of water from her cup, tried to focus on the now, on her job, and on what was important to the people who depended on her.

  “I’m fine…fine. Too much thinking.” Alanna tapped her forehead trying to lighten the mood. “The wiring is smoldering up here.”

  “Tomorrow is the big day,” Jill said.

  Since the day Ray appeared, Alanna had found herself beginning to warm up to the young engineer. In fact, she had included Jill in the team that would be making a major presentations to some of the big brass and their guests tomorrow. She knew the quickest way to move up the ranks in this place and earn more money was to put yourself in a position where the top administrators could see you. You had to show them you were capable, comfortable communicating, and proud of the work you were doing.

  “I’m sure you’ll do great,” Alanna assured the young woman.

  “I emailed you my section of the presentation. I hope it was okay,” Jill said.

  “It’s fine. Remember to make eye contact. Don’t read it. Talk to it.”

  “We have three brand new members of the Congressional House Science oversight committee who will be in attendance tomorrow,” Phil reminded her. “These guys know almost nothing about what we do, or what the consequences will be if our funding gets cut. And two of them, apparently, are hot on cutting federal spending in space programs.”

  This happened every year when the new blood in Congress meant the shuffling of committee members. The new members had to be briefed and won over on the importance of what they were doing.

  “We’re relying on you to dazzle them with your stats and knowledge,” Phil told her.

  “You mean scare them,” Alanna corrected.

  “Shock and awe. Impress the hell out of them. It always works. You’re great at it.”

  Alanna knew Phil believed what he said. In fact, everyone who worked on the project seemed to think it. For as many years as Alanna had been involved with managing projects, the grants had been flowing. Other program budgets got cut, but hers grew in size and funding. She was considered a good risk. She delivered what she promised. But it was more than a simple presentation that made everything work. Still, Alanna knew that was a start. So she always made sure she and her team were prepared. She’d be ready tomorrow, too.

  Her phone rang. Alanna looked at the display and knew the call was from Ray. Guilt tore at her. She wanted to answer the call. At the same time, she couldn’t excuse herself when they were just starting the meeting. She knew Phil’s tendency to get extremely nervous when it came time to justify his paycheck. He wouldn’t be happy until they’d gone over every point that they were going to tell their audience tomorrow. For Jill’s sake, Alanna thought, that was a good approach right now, anyway. The phone stopped ringing.

  “With defense spending what it is in the Middle East, we’ll be facing the toughest critique of our budget that we’ve seen in years. We’ve got to persuade the—”

  The phone rang again.

  “Give me one second, will you?” she told them, grabbing the handset and turning her back to them.

  “I left my coffee on my desk,” she heard Phil say as he got up to leave the office.

  Alanna pressed the phone to her ear and tried to keep her voice level. “Dr. Mendes.”

  She was right. It was Ray.

  “We can’t see each other tonight,” Ray said softly.

  She should have been disappointed, but relief washed through her. Her own response surprised her. Still, she knew it was the rational, punctual part of her telling her that her team needed time to get ready for the presentation tomorrow.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “It’s okay.” She remembered Jill was still in her office.

  “I’ll promise to make it up to you, in a few different—”

  “Something unexpected come up?” she interrupted, trying to sound as casual as she could. She could feel her face heating up. She knew exactly how he would try to make it up to her.

  “There’s someone with you?”

  “Yes.” Alanna got up and moved to the bookcase behind her desk, putting some distance between herself and the young engineer.

  “I’ll call you when I can.”

  “I’ll be working late tonight,” she told him.

  There was a pause. “You give them too much of yourself. Start weaning them. They have to learn to do without you.”

  She recognized the reprimanding tone. He knew her well enough to know that there were times when her job took priority over everything else. She allowed it to happen. She’d always wanted it this way. And he knew it.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, hoping to know the real source of his problem.

  He waited a long moment before answering. “I might have to go away.”

  Her heart sank. “Alone?”

  “This time…but don’t worry. I’ll be back, love. There’s someone that I have to see.”

  “Who?”

  “I told you before, Ali. I can’t talk about this. But the meeting might give us a way past all this,” he said in a confident tone.

  She didn’t know how anything or anyone could get them out of this jam. Thinking about the effect of their disappearing on her grandmother had been sobering. This meeting with Phil and Jill was another reminder how indispensable she was when it came to NASA’s STEREO mission project. There was no way she could just walk away from it overnight. Alanna couldn’t admit it, but she wasn’t sure if s
he wanted to walk away, at all. The logical side of her brain was already slapping her around, forcing her to face reality.

  “How can I contact you?” she asked hurriedly, realizing both of them had been silent for a while. They needed to talk. Find a way. If they didn’t go away together, maybe they could still see each somehow. Things would be different now that she knew he was alive.

  “I’ll text you. You can always text me back if something urgent comes up,” he told her. “You can’t call me at that number.”

  “It’s important for us to get together before a decision is made,” she reminded him.

  “We will. I’ll let you know,” he said softly. “I love you, Ali. Please trust me. Now I have to go.”

  All logic aside, her throat constricted as Ray hung up. She stood where she was, her back to Jill, pretending that she was still on the phone. She fought the surging emotions. Disappointment, confusion, indecision. She had to put herself back together. Alanna didn’t want Ray to meet with this person, thinking that she was free to walk away from her responsibilities.

  “Okay, sounds great,” she finally said into the phone to no one. “Goodbye.”

  She turned around, placing the phone back on the handset. She was relieved to see Phil wasn’t back from getting his coffee.

  “I’m sorry,” Jill said quietly.

  Alanna looked at the young engineer curiously. “What for?”

  “For eavesdropping. For not leaving your office when you were on the phone.”

  Alanna doubted the other woman could have heard much—or had made any sense of what the conversation was about.

  “It was okay for you to stay. I can be pretty blunt when I need my privacy.”

  “Oh, I know,” Jill said sheepishly. “Do you know the morning that I intruded on you on the bus, a pool started in the department about what time I’d be fired?”

  “You mean I could have made some money on you after all?” Alanna asked.

  Phil walked back in with his super-sized mug filled to the brim with fresh coffee. “Okay, are we ready to focus on tomorrow?”

  Alanna was relieved. As upset as she’d been a few minutes ago by Ray’s phone call, she now could channel her attention toward only one thing—keeping her twin satellites in space.

  CHAPTER 17

  DESPAIR

  New York Presbyterian Hospital

  Sometimes, when a life is on the line, the choice between right and wrong, between legal and illegal, is a not a choice at all. David Collier certainly had no choice. There was only one path to take. And wherever this path led, he’d take it with open eyes to the very end if it meant giving his daughter a chance to live.

  The man who’d been eager to interview him, Hank Diarte, had been the same man who handed him the letter from the clinic in Germany. After David had failed to show up for the interview, Diarte had called David’s house, and the babysitter had told the man about the emergency with Leah. Diarte had then come to the hospital. Little had been said immediately about the job David would be doing, and in a way, it mattered even less to David. Diarte was offering him a way to keep his daughter alive. He would have time to ask questions later.

  David met with Leah’s pediatrician and nephrologist once Leah was admitted to the hospital. He was given a brief explanation of what was being done. The blood transfusion had helped, but there were still more tests they were running. When David told them about the arrangement that had been made for his daughter with the clinic in Germany, both men became quite enthused—and obviously relieved. The pediatrician immediately suggested that they conduct a conference call with the doctors who would be taking over Leah’s care once she flew to Europe. It was important to discuss the best possible preparation now for the treatment the German doctors would be providing.

  As they went off to work out the logistics of the call, David joined Diarte in the hall. This was the first chance he’d had to speak with the man since meeting him downstairs in the waiting area of the emergency room. Now, David had time to ask his questions.

  “Mr. Diarte, how did you know about my daughter’s condition? How is it that you already contacted the clinic in Germany? How do you know that was the best chance of treatment we have?” He asked.

  “The same way that we have all of your background information. There’s a great deal that we know about you, Mr. Collier.”

  A lot of David’s background was public information from court records. But Leah’s medical files were private, and yet these people had accessed them.

  “But, how was it that your employer made the decision to contact the clinic and make the arrangements? You had not even interviewed me yet. There was so much that you must not have known about me.”

  “From the first, we understood the critical condition that your daughter is in,” Diarte told him. “We sensed the urgency. We wished to waste no time.”

  “But what if I’m not the best candidate for the position?” he pressed.

  “We are very thorough in our research regarding candidates. You are the best candidate, Mr. Collier. We knew that before we even contacted you. The job is yours. The interview was only a formality.”

  David remembered the letter from the clinic was dated before the first call from Diarte. “And what if I’d decided the position wasn’t right for me? What if I still decide that?”

  The other man smiled. “My employer decided that the urgency of your daughter’s situation needed to be addressed…no matter what the outcome of our discussions regarding the position.”

  “That is very generous of your employer.”

  “Perhaps, Mr. Collier, but not foolish. The risks were weighed. We felt certain that we could come to terms with you about this position.”

  They stood by a vending machine in an area off the large lounge designated for the pediatric wing. A dozen or so clearly apprehensive parents or relatives were scattered around the lounge. David jingled the quarters he was holding in his hand. He couldn’t focus on what to get out of the machine.

  “What is it you’d like me to do?” he asked.

  “The project begins with a short term travel assignment. A couple of weeks at the most.”

  “But what is it you want me to do?” David asked again.

  “The position will involve the auditing of some files connected with an international banking concern.”

  “Auditing,” David repeated, not believing what was being said. No one would pay the kind of expense Leah’s treatment would accrue to hire an auditor. “You are aware of my qualifications.”

  “As I said, we know exactly what your qualifications are, Mr. Collier,” Diarte said putting money in the vending machine. “But there is no real need to discuss the project in detail right now. You have something here that needs your attention first. So long as we’re agreed on the compensatory package we discussed on the phone.”

  “You mentioned nothing of the medical benefits that were arranged in Germany.”

  “At that time, the criticality of it wasn’t apparent to us,” Diarte told him.

  “I assume numbers need to be adjusted to take into effect the expense your employer is assuming,” David said. He was willing to work for free—he’d do anything, so long as Leah’s health was restored.

  “You will find my employer very generous when it comes to monetary arrangements. But as far as the nature of the work itself, we can discuss the full range of your responsibilities once your daughter’s health has stabilized.”

  Whoever these people were, David thought, he appreciated the fact that they understood his priorities. Even so, he’d barely escaped going to prison once before. He wasn’t willing to be the fall guy in another scam.

  CHAPTER 18

  FEAR

  Istanbul, Turkey

  Steven was pleased and surprised to find a Foreign Service Officer from the U.S. Consulate in Ankara waiting for them at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport. The FSO introduced himself as Joe Finley, and from the looks of him, he couldn’t have been much o
lder than Nathan.

  “My superiors are nearly certain that there has been no foul play involved,” he told them. “Mr. and Mrs. Galvin, we believe your son will show up any day now. He’s probably off on some tourist excursion. This happens all the time.”

  Denial was one thing that pushed Kei to the edge. Steven took his wife’s hand, squeezing gently. He had to take charge before she exploded on him.

  “How old are you, Mr. Finley?” Steven asked.

  “Twenty-four, sir.”

  “And how long have you been here in Turkey?”

  “Eight months, sir. This is a fascinating country. There is so much to see.”

  “Are you in the habit of taking off sightseeing without a word to anyone for a week at a time?” Steven asked as they were waved through a special gate at customs.

  “Whenever I get a chance,” he said brightly. “Turkey is so different from Idaho, let me tell you. Of course, as an FSO, I need to let the consulate know where I’m going.”

  Finley continued to chat. Steven glanced at Kei. Large sunglasses covered her eyes. She gave no indication that she was being comforted by anything the young man was telling them. At least, she hadn’t strangled him. Yet.

  The Turkish translator and the driver that Steven had arranged for met them by the terminal exit doors. Finley told them that he had been directed to stay with them for as long as they needed or until their son reappeared.

  Galvin figured this special attention had something to do with the phone call he’d made to his old friend Paul Hersey before leaving the U.S. The four-term senator from Pennsylvania had held posts in the State Department under two different presidents and had even served as an Interim-Ambassador to the UN. Paul definitely had connections with many top people in the Foreign Service, and he’d told Steven he’d be more than happy to help.