Graceless (The Charlie Davies Mysteries Book 3)

by Clare Kauter

  “He’s sent some bad people to prison, Charlie.” Adam turned to Tim. “Anyone get out recently that I should look into?”

  Tim shook his head. “Only Mickey the Mouse.”

  “Mickey Mouse?”

  “Mickey Szumowski,” Adam explained. “Low level drug dealer. I don’t think he’d have the brains for this.”

  Tim shook his head. “No way.”

  “Who else could it be?”

  “Why are you ignoring the dudes that tried to kill him?” I asked. “That seems like something of an oversight.”

  “Because if it was them they would have just killed her, waited until I found her body and then killed me too.”

  Yeesh, they sounded like nice guys.

  “Besides, they think he’s dead. Even if they figured out he was still alive they don’t know his real name,” said Adam. “It’s not them.”

  I nodded. That seemed fair. “Right. So if it’s not Mickey Mouse or those guys, who else could it be?”

  Tim shrugged. “I don’t know.” He sounded lost and I wanted to give him a hug, but I was worried if I touched him I’d rupture something. He still looked pretty rough and I hoped Adam would be able to convince him to go back to hospital.

  “Alright,” said Adam. “Tim, you and I are going to go through all of your emails and old case files and see if we can find anyone who might have it in for you.”

  Tim did not look impressed. “Great. So we’ll be stuck in the hospital for the next ten years doing nothing while Grace is out there in the hands of a psycho.”

  “It’s our best chance at this stage.”

  “I want to be out there looking!”

  “And if you find her, what then? If someone hugs you too hard when you’re in this state they’ll probably rupture your spleen,” said Adam. Phew, lucky I’d held off. “You should be in hospital, and that’s where we’re going. We’re doing paperwork and that’s the end of it.”

  “Right,” I said. “What do you need me to do, Adam?”

  “Man the reception desk,” said Adam.

  “But –”

  “That’s your job. Go and do it.”

  “I want to help.”

  “If they try and make contact, Charlie, they may call you,” Adam said. “If we find anything in Tim’s files, I might have some background information I’ll need you to look up for me as well.”

  I walked back to my desk feeling deflated. I wanted to help in a real, tangible way, not just a token way like answering the phone. Maybe Adam was mad at me for breaking into his place. Or perhaps he just recognised that I was totally useless and definitely shouldn’t be trusted at a crime scene. Still, I thought we were buddies now. Why was he excluding me from all the important stuff?

  Every phone call that morning I panicked and answered too quickly, hoping for it to be news about Grace but hoping for it to not be news about Grace at the same time. I wondered if the person who had taken her was the same person who had beaten Tim up. Although Adam and Tim didn’t appear to think so, it seemed like too much of a coincidence to me. Of course, I wasn’t exactly Australia’s number one detective. I hoped to hell Adam and Tim were right about it not being those guys, because if that’s what they could do to a grown man (and self defence instructor, for fuck’s sake), I didn’t want to think for a moment about what they could do to a little girl.

  Tim and Adam had headed back to the hospital and I had no idea what was going on. I wished someone would call me and give me some news. Anything. Even if it was just that the investigators were still looking. The wait was killing me.

  A buzz at the front door jolted me out of my thoughts. I looked down at the screen and froze. As the receptionist, it was my job to let clients in the front door when they buzzed. Then I would call or message whichever employee was working with them to come down and collect their client. I didn’t think the person at the door now had an appointment, though.

  It was James McKenzie.

  What should I do? I knew I had to let him in, but what then? Adam had advised me to act normal, but that was going to be hard. I no longer trusted James as far as I could throw him – which, with my severe lack of upper body strength, was really not far at all. I probably wasn’t even capable of dragging him along the ground. (Not that I was planning on having to dispose of his lifeless corpse any time soon.)

  Trying to calm my breathing, I pressed the button and let him in.

  “Morning,” he said, walking over to my desk with a takeaway coffee cup in each hand. He sat one on the desk in front of me. “I got you a soy chai. Thought you could use it.”

  “What? Why?”

  He frowned at my weird response. “Because it’s Monday morning. I figured you might need a pick-me-up, and since you don’t drink coffee I got the next best thing.”

  “Thank you,” I said, acting totally naturally. “That’s very kind of you. It’s so nice to have such considerate friends. Have I told you how much you mean to me lately?”

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Um, how about everything?

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re being nice.”

  “So?” I said, my niceness quickly evaporating. “Sometimes I’m nice. That doesn’t mean anything is wrong.”

  “So there’s nothing wrong? OK. Sorry.”

  “I didn’t say there wasn’t anything wrong. I just said that there wasn’t necessarily something wrong just because I’m being nice.”

  To his credit, James didn’t look even slightly fazed. He’d known me for a long time.

  “So there is something wrong?” he said.

  “Yes!”

  He gave a single nod. “So what’s wrong?”

  “Grace is missing.”

  “You lost her?”

  “What? No! She disappeared after I gave her back. Although I’m slightly offended by the insinuation that I’m incapable of babysitting a child without misplacing her.”

  “Charlie, you are incapable of babysitting a child. You’re incapable of babysitting yourself. Anyway,” he said, cutting me off before I had a chance to defend myself, “that’s beside the point. How long has she been gone?”

  I shrugged. “They’re not sure. She disappeared some time last night.”

  “That’s awful. How are Tim and his sister holding up?”

  “Tim’s a mess,” I said. “His entrails are all but dragging on the floor and yet he still managed to escape the hospital and make his way here. I don’t know about Ellie. She’s still at home with the cops, waiting to hear something.”

  “Are they assuming it’s a kidnapping?”

  I shrugged. “I think that’s what the police reckon, but I’m pretty sure everyone here thinks she was taken.”

  James nodded. “She didn’t strike me as the kind of kid who would just wander off or run away. And then there’s the fact that she’s Tim’s niece.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Someone – or a group of someones – beat him half to death on the weekend.”

  “More like fifteen sixteenths to death.”

  James frowned and smiled at the same time. (Is there a word for that? Friled? Smowned?) “Charlie, sometimes you’re kind of weird.”

  “I’ve heard that once or twice.”

  He shook his head. “Anyway, surely the people who attacked Tim are behind this, right?”

  “Tim didn’t seem to think so. Neither did Adam.”

  “Really?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I already asked them.”

  “Why do they think that?”

  “Apparently if they were the same people and they found Tim’s niece, they would have just killed her and then finished Tim off too.”

  James grimaced. “I guess that makes sense, but it still seems like too much of a coincidence. They should look into it anyway.”

  I nodded. I agreed with him, but hey, what did I know? As Adam had kindly pointed out, I was just the receptionist.

  James took
his mobile from his pocket.

  “I’m gonna call Joe and see if I can find out anything,” he said. I nodded eagerly. Joe Winton was his cop friend who I was guessing was currently on duty and would be able to keep us updated. James swiped at his screen and put the phone to his ear. He walked down the corridor and spoke quietly, probably not wanting to seem rude by making a call in front of me. I showed no such politeness, craning my neck to try and listen in. I wasn’t able to catch much, but I noticed that James seemed agitated. Five minutes later, James hung up. His jaw was set and I could tell he was not pleased with what he’d heard.

  “You were right. Apparently they’re operating under the assumption that Gracie wandered off of her own accord,” said James.

  “But that’s ridiculous. She’s far too responsible to do anything like that.”

  “I know, and I told Joe that, but seeing as there hasn’t been any ransom request they don’t really have a lot to go on. There’s no evidence that anyone broke in, and some of her clothes and toys are gone.”

  I was slightly taken aback. That didn’t seem like something a kidnapper would do – take spare clothes for his victim to change into. I found it hard to believe that Gracie would have just taken off, though. She was such a happy kid, and she obviously loved Tim a lot. The only thing I could think of was that maybe she’d sneaked out to try and visit him in hospital, but that didn’t make any sense. She’d already been to visit him that day, and her mum would have taken her back again any time she wanted. Besides, why would she have taken several changes of clothes if she was just going to visit Tim? No, that didn’t make sense. It must have just been the kidnapper trying to cover his tracks. But why would a kidnapper try to cover their tracks? Wasn’t the point of taking a kid to get some sort of ransom? What was the point of abducting someone if nobody knew about it?

  I sighed. Sure, it made sense to think she’d run away, but the police were wasting their time. They didn’t know Gracie. I’d only spent a day with her and I could tell she wasn’t the kind of kid who’d just wander off. She was the kind of kid who’d be a CEO by age 20. The kidnapping theory wasn’t entirely without holes, but it made a lot more sense than the alternative.

  James sat down at the spare seat behind my reception desk and jiggled his leg impatiently. I noticed that he had dark circles under his eyes. He took a sip of his coffee and then put his hand to his mouth, stifling a yawn.

  “Big night?” I asked.

  He sighed. “I was working. I should still be in bed, but I was meant to have a business meeting at eight, then the guy called and cancelled.”

  “Do you ever think that maybe just having one full-time job would be a better idea?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, it probably would be. I’m telling you, after the crap I had to deal with last night I was considering turning in my badge.”

  “That bad?”

  James usually loved being a cop. I personally didn’t understand it, but then his sense of right and wrong was much more in line with the law than my own.

  He nodded. “We arrested a couple of drunk guys who were fighting and one spat on me.”

  “Gross.”

  “Yeah. And then a couple of cadavers went missing from the hospital.”

  “You mean, like, dead people?”

  “Yep.”

  “So the zombie apocalypse has begun?”

  He laughed. “Perhaps.”

  “You have an alternate theory?”

  “Apparently med students have a reputation for stealing cadavers and taking them around the town. Dressing them up and leaving them in cafes to freak people out, you know.”

  I shuddered. “That’s gross.”

  “I know. And what’s worse is that one of the corpses was a little girl. Like, stealing an adult for kicks is bad enough, but taking a dead kid is just horrible.”

  “Trust you to cheer me up by talking about dead kids.”

  He grimaced. “Sorry. Probably wasn’t the best thing to bring up right now.”

  I sipped my chai latte as we sat there in silence. Both of us wanted to do something, but James was off-duty and the cops wouldn’t listen to him about Gracie, and I’d been relegated to my desk. Our silence was interrupted by a buzz at the front door. Whoever was standing there was carrying a bunch of flowers with a big heart-shaped helium balloon. It was blocking their face so I couldn’t see who they were. I answered the intercom.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi,” said the voice. “I’ve got a delivery.”

  “Who for?”

  “I was told to just leave it at the front desk.”

  James and I looked at each other and I closed the intercom.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Let her in. Might be nothing.”

  I buzzed her in. She walked to my desk and set her load down. The box of flowers was filled with pink carnations and the balloon had a picture of a teddy bear on it alongside the words Good Luck.

  “Was there a message sent with these?” I asked.

  “Just the card,” said the lady.

  James thanked her while I signed for the package. He took a business card and after a brief round of questioning sent her on her way. She just did deliveries – she had no idea who’d ordered the flowers or what they looked like. He took the message out of its envelope and read it aloud.

  “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  “Jeez,” I said. “Do you think this is from the kidnapper?”

  James looked at me. “I don’t know,” he said finally.

  “Who else would it be from?”

  He hesitated.

  “What?”

  “Well, you don’t exactly have the shortest list of enemies, Charlie. It could be anyone.”

  My jaw dropped. “How dare you!”

  “I’m sorry sweetie, but how many people have tried to kill you in the past few months alone?”

  “Only a couple! And they both tried to kill you too!”

  “Yes, but I’m a cop. That’s part of my job. You just naturally piss people off.”

  I glared at him. “It hardly seems fair that you’re blaming me for the fact that other people want to murder me.”

  “I’m not blaming you, I’m just saying that you have a tendency to – uh – upset people.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off.

  “But we should still report this. I’ll call the station. You should tell Adam.”

  I nodded and picked up the phone on my desk while James made his call.

  “What’s up?” said Adam when he answered.

  “I got a balloon.”

  He was silent for a moment. “Good for you.”

  “Like, a threatening balloon. I don’t know if it was meant for me or if it has something to do with the case,” I explained.

  “What exactly constitutes a threatening balloon?”

  “It said ‘good luck’ and –”

  “Good luck? Well, I’m convinced.”

  “And it has a note. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  “Sure it’s not from some creepy guy you met on Tinder? I can help you out with that, but it might have to wait until we find Grace.”

  I rolled my eyes. “No, it’s not from any of my hundreds of potential suitors,” I said. “I thought maybe it was meant for Tim. That it has something to do with Gracie.”

  “Was it addressed to him?”

  “No. The delivery woman said she was told to leave it at the front desk.”

  “Which makes it far more likely it was meant for you,” he said. “It’s not exactly surprising. You don’t have the best social skills.”

  “Coming from you?”

  “I need to get back to work,” said Adam. “Investigating real leads. Have fun answering the phone. Let me know if anyone brings you hostile chocolates.”

  “That’s not funny,” I said.

  “Bye,” said Adam. He hung up.

  James had finished his phone c
all by then too.

  “They don’t think the balloon is significant,” he said. “Everyone seemed to think it was, uh, probably meant for you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s what Adam said too.”

  “I think we should try to find out who sent it either way,” said James. “If it gives us a clue about who might have taken Grace, great. Otherwise it would be good to know who is out to get you. Get your bag.”

  I blinked. “What?”

  “Let’s go.”

  “I’m working,” I said slowly.

  “There’s a missing child, Charlie. Priorities.”

  “Adam told me to stay here.”

  “And you do so love to be ordered around.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You might be mega rich, James, but some of us actually need our jobs.”

  “Adam’s at the hospital with Tim, right?”

  “Yes…”

  “And where’s Harry?”

  “Overseas.”

  “So let’s live a little. They’re not going to find out you’re gone. Everyone’s scrambling today. No one cares what you’re doing. Patch the calls through to someone else and let’s go and visit the florist.”

  “Couldn’t we just call them?”

  “My charms work better in person.” That made sense. James was a smooth talker when he wanted to be, but when people were looking at him he didn’t even need to open his mouth to charm them. “Besides, they’re not going to fire you if you solve a kidnapping.”

  He did have a point there.

  I took a deep breath. “Alright,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Really? We’re taking your Ferrari?”

  We’d left the office building and walked out onto the street where James was parked. His black Ferrari California was a couple of years old now but still in pristine condition. And just as ostentatious as ever.

  James shrugged. “What’s the problem?”

  “It doesn’t exactly blend in, James.”

  “Like your Mustang is any less conspicuous. It’s this or the Tesla. You may remember, you wrote off my last inconspicuous car with a steel bar.”