Shattered Secrets

by Jane M. Choate

  He didn’t believe for a moment that the people who had taken Chantry would let the man go once they had what they wanted. If anything, they’d be more likely than ever to kill him, and Olivia as well.

  There was something else Sal hadn’t told Olivia. They were into day two of the kidnapping, maybe more seeing as how Chantry had been unreachable two days before that. The second day was a threshold. Any possibility of a positive resolution decreased substantially after that. The situation tended to harden up, the danger to the victim rising dramatically.

  Sal hadn’t shared his worries with Olivia yet. She needed time to regroup before facing the next hard truths.

  The police department wasn’t filled with bored cops and surly criminals as television shows depicted. Instead, it looked like any other office made up of professional men and women going about their jobs in a purposeful fashion. The occasional shout or cry didn’t cause a dozen guns to be drawn. No, the atmosphere was one of grim purpose, flavored with the smells of old coffee and new sweat.

  Sal had been in his fair share of PDs during the last several years of working for S&J. They were much like the military, with a clearly established chain of command and organizational hierarchy.

  He steered Olivia to the desk sergeant where they stated their names and business to the efficient-looking woman behind the desk. A raised brow and the order to have a seat was her only response.

  When a detective appeared, Olivia and Sal stood, followed him through the bull pen and went inside an office. He closed the door behind them. “Detective Richard Nynan. Now suppose you tell me what this is all about.”

  Sal opened the box, indicated the finger inside and gave an overview of what had transpired.

  “You say this belongs to your boss?” Nynan asked Olivia.

  She nodded. “I recognized the ring.”

  “No chance it could have been removed from your boss’s finger and put on—” he gestured to the severed digit “—whoever this belongs to?”

  “No. The ring was custom-made for Calvin, I mean, Mr. Chantry, to reach the joint of his finger, just like it does. See how the stone tapers at the top?”

  “Okay. That helps.” Nynan made notes on a legal pad. “I think I have it all.” He fixed his attention on Olivia. “You have no idea what the kidnappers want?”

  “As I told you the first six times you asked the question, no, I don’t.”

  “Sorry. Just trying to get things straight in my mind.” He put down his pen, scratched behind his ear. “It doesn’t fit the pattern of an ordinary kidnapping. Usually, kidnappers make their demands up front. They want their payoff right away, whether it’s money or something else.” Once again, he looked at Olivia. “This court case you talked about—could the kidnapping have something to do with that?”

  “It’s possible,” she said thoughtfully. “If it goes the way I think it will, the company is going to have to pay out a huge compensation package. Twenty-one families are involved.”

  “So it’s back to money.”

  Sal had remained silent during the exchange, listening and thinking. He saw where the detective was going with this. “You think the kidnappers are going to barter for Chantry’s firm pulling out of the case.”

  Nynan nodded. “I think it’s a strong possibility. As Ms. Hammond said, there’s bound to be a big compensation package.”

  “But even if we did pull out of the case, some other firm would take over,” Olivia pointed out. “It doesn’t make sense.”

  They’d been over this again and again but kept circling back to it.

  “Why kidnap Chantry?” Nynan asked, more to himself than to Sal and Olivia. “Why him?” A few minutes later, Nynan stood. “I think I have all that I need for the moment. I’m sorry about your boss,” he said to Olivia.

  She nodded. “Me, too.”

  Outside, the Georgia sun beat down on those foolish enough to spend more than a minute under its unrelenting rays. Sal hurried Olivia to his truck, helped her inside, then circled it to slide in on the driver’s side. He punched up the AC.

  “I hope we did the right thing,” she said. “What can the police do that we can’t?”

  “They have resources we can’t hope to match.”

  Her phone chirped. She switched it to speaker phone. “Yes?”

  “You disobeyed orders.” A pause gave emphasis to the next words. “Involve the police again and your boss will be returned to you in pieces.”

  * * *

  Olivia was barely holding it together.

  She knew it. Felt it. First the men in her office threatening her. Then the call about Calvin. The box with his finger. The second call. How much more could she take without falling apart?

  In the meantime, she still had a case to try, the most important case of her career. Yes, there’d be some prestige to it. More important, though, was the precedent it would set that no company, however big, could pass off fake medicines for real ones and get away with it.

  The parents, she knew, could use the money to pay off astronomical medical bills, but nothing could restore their families, make up for the unthinkable loss they’d endured. No amount could atone for the loss of a child.

  “I need to work,” she told Sal. Of course, the case needed work. But more than that, she needed the purpose of it, the satisfaction of making a difference. A smile slid over her lips. Her daddy had always said that when you had a problem, take it to the Lord first, then get to work. He had lived that right up until the end.

  “Okay. But I’m staying close.”

  Sal’s words reminded her of his innate goodness. He didn’t back down from trouble; nor did he turn away from those in need.

  Covertly, Olivia studied the man beside her. Two years ago, she’d thought she’d known him, but then he’d walked away, shattering her dreams and her heart. They’d gone their separate ways. Not without regret, at least on her part. Though she’d dated other men since then, none had touched her heart the way Sal had. None had come close to measuring up to him.

  Olivia didn’t deceive herself—she was risking her heart by asking Sal for help. She had briefly thought of calling Shelley Judd instead but had immediately rejected the idea. Shelley was nearing the last month of pregnancy. No way could Olivia involve her friend in this.

  She and Sal had shared something special, or at least she thought they had. Shelley had introduced the two of them on one of Olivia’s frequent trips to Atlanta to see her friend.

  From that moment on, Olivia had known that this was a man who could become important in her life.

  Within a week, they were spending every spare minute together, unwilling to let a moment go by without being close. They were so attuned to each other that they could finish the other’s sentences.

  When she had returned to Savannah, Sal had followed. It had been a glorious six weeks of heady happiness and foolish dreams. Then, without warning, he told her that things weren’t working out and she’d do better to find someone else. She thought she’d moved on until she’d seen him again and knew that she hadn’t moved on at all.

  “I don’t know what I would have done without you these last two days.” The acknowledgment caused her cheeks to redden.

  “You would have managed, but I’m glad I was here.”

  Her stomach did a jittery dance at the warmth of his words. As though aware of her thoughts, he drew her to him and held her. Just held her. Did he know that was what she needed at that precise moment?

  And then she remembered her vow to keep him at arm’s length. Letting Sal back into her life had been a risk from the beginning. She had to remember why he was here.

  Pushing away from him, she gathered strength, but her breathing was ragged. Not from the effort of putting some distance between them but from the knowledge that she needed the distance if she were to
maintain her sanity.

  Sal had always had that effect on her. It wasn’t his size, though that was impressive. It wasn’t his unflinching courage that was so much a part of him. It was the overall package, strength tempered by gentleness, honesty and compassion.

  She and Sal didn’t say much on the way to the office. Once there, she planned to go over depositions while he headed to Calvin’s office.

  “I want to get a handle on your boss,” he said in explanation. “If I learn more about him, maybe I can predict how he’ll react to the kidnappers. It might help us down the road.”

  It made sense. Only a few of the partners and associates had arrived, so she was able to get Sal into Calvin’s private office without attracting attention.

  Olivia spent the next hour working on witness depositions, preparing motions that would be reviewed by the court and writing a brief. The work was tedious, but it soothed the ragged thoughts that swirled through her mind.

  How did the kidnappers know what she was doing practically before she did? How had they known she’d called Sal? How did they know she and Sal had gone to the police? She trusted the employees of Chantry & Hammond implicitly and couldn’t imagine any of them kidnapping Calvin, but that didn’t answer the question.

  In many ways, the law firm was her family. When her father and Calvin had started it decades ago, they’d built more than a business. They’d forged a family of friends. How could she suspect anyone who worked there of spying on her, of abducting Calvin?

  She’d lost her father five years ago to a blood clot that had moved from his leg to his heart with frightening speed. It had been Calvin who had stood beside her at her father’s graveside and held her as she wept. She’d turned to him with work and personal problems, depending on his experience and pragmatic nature.

  How would she survive if something happened to him? She had to get him back. She had to.

  The prayer that sprang to her lips came without thought. Taking her problems to the Lord was second nature, had been since the time she’d been a small child, frightened by one of the sudden thunderstorms that frequently punctuated Georgia summer evenings.

  “Whenever you’re afraid, there’s always Someone you can turn to,” her mother had told the then five-year-old Olivia.

  “You and Daddy,” Olivia said confidently, secure now in her mother’s arms.

  “Daddy and I may not always be here,” her mother said softly. “But the Lord will. Turn to Him. He’ll never let you down.”

  Laura Hammond was gone less than a year later, taken by cancer. Olivia had often wondered if her mother had known even then that her time with her daughter would be limited and had wanted to teach her the importance of going to the Lord in prayer.

  Olivia tucked the memories away to focus on the present. Though she’d felt a measure of peace after pouring out her heart to God, she was still gripped by paralyzing fear and the awful knowledge that she was responsible for getting Calvin back.

  * * *

  Sal had done some thinking of his own. Whoever took Calvin Chantry knew the man, knew what cases he was working on. Chances were that someone at the law firm was involved, at least peripherally.

  Sal’s lips narrowed at the thought of someone Olivia knew, someone she worked with, putting her through this. Whoever was behind this would pay.

  He headed to Olivia’s office, found her at her computer, a look of consternation on her face.

  “I’ve written hundreds of briefs before. Why can’t I write this one?”

  The question didn’t need an answer as they both knew why. “I want to do some snooping. I believe one or more of the people in your office is involved in this. The timing fits. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  Olivia’s denial wasn’t as emphatic as he’d expected. He looked at her keenly, saw the doubt in her eyes. “You’ve already thought of it.”

  Her nod confirmed it. “You’re right. I did. But I can’t believe it. Calvin’s like a father to everyone there. Many of the people have been here since my father was still alive.”

  “Think, Olivia.” Sal kept his voice quiet but let a thread of steel run through it. “Someone had to know Chantry’s schedule. Where and when they could snatch him. That means someone on the inside. Someone he trusted.” Sal paused. “Someone you trust.”

  She pressed her fingertips to her eyes. “I can’t believe it. We’re family. We go to birthday parties for each other’s children. We have a Christmas gift exchange and a Fourth of July barbecue.”

  Sal sighed. Time for a different tack. “You read the scriptures, right?”

  Olivia nodded. “Every night.”

  “Then you know that they’re full of stories of brothers killing brothers. Sons killing fathers. Cain and Abel come to mind.”

  “That’s different.” There was enough starch in her voice to iron a dozen shirts.

  “Is it? Or is it only that you know the people at the office and like them?”

  “Okay,” she said, resentment filling her voice. “You win. Someone at the office may have had something to do with Calvin’s kidnapping. How do we find out who it is?” And some of the starch evaporated.

  “We’re going to do a little digging. Ask a few questions. See if we make anyone nervous.”

  “How’re we going to explain what you’re doing there?”

  “We stick to the truth as much as possible and tell everyone I’m here to make security upgrades.”

  “I guess that works.”

  “We’ll make it work. This is our best chance.” He took her hands, squeezed them gently before releasing them. “I can’t promise that we’ll get your boss back. But I can promise to do everything I can to make it happen.”

  She squared her shoulders. “If spying on my coworkers is what it takes to bring Calvin home safely, then that’s what we’ll do. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.” The starch was back.

  “I didn’t think you would.”

  FIVE

  Olivia introduced Sal as a security expert.

  “Bryan Hewston, Salvatore Santonni,” she said to a colleague. “Bryan’s one of the best litigators in the firm.”

  Bryan preened a bit. Olivia hadn’t exaggerated. Bryan was a top-notch litigator in the boardroom and the courtroom, but he relied too much on his charm without putting in the necessary work to back up his arguments.

  It occasionally made for hard feelings, especially when she had been chosen as lead counsel on the pharmaceutical case over him. She knew he’d wanted the case, primarily for the publicity it would bring along with his part of the settlement, not because he believed in it.

  She did. That was why she’d fought for it.

  Bryan had been noticeably cool ever since Calvin had assigned the case to her. She’d shrugged it off. There would always be some in-fighting in a law office. She didn’t have to like it to accept the reality of it.

  Sal stuck out his hand and, after a brief hesitation, the other man took it. “Glad to meet you.”

  “Same here,” Bryan said with his million-watt smile. The man had charisma by the boatload and knew how to use it. He was great with clients but, in her opinion at least, lacked the discipline to carry through with a case. “Look, Olivia, if this case is too much for you to handle on your own, I can pitch in.”

  “No,” she said quickly. “I’m fine.”

  He darted a doubtful look her way. She didn’t blame him. A glance in the mirror that morning had confirmed what she already knew. Her naturally fair skin was now paper-white, her features pinched, her eyes like sunken sockets.

  “You look a little peaked.”

  “Long nights,” she said lightly.

  She hoped the worry and fear didn’t show in her voice. She wasn’t adept at lying. Not that it was a skill she wanted to develop, b
ut she occasionally wished that her face didn’t broadcast her every feeling.

  “Let me know if you decide you need help,” he said and walked away.

  Olivia bit back a sigh that hovered on her lips. It wasn’t the first time he’d insinuated that the workload was too much for her. It probably wouldn’t be the last.

  Vicky Newman, another associate and full-time flirt, sashayed over. It didn’t take her long, Olivia thought a bit waspishly, to zero in on Sal. She made the introductions, noting that Vicky made certain that Sal knew she was single within minutes of meeting him.

  Though Olivia had nothing against the other woman, Vicky had been noticeably cool to Olivia ever since she had briefly dated a man Vicky was attracted to. In addition, Vicky, like Bryan, had resented that Olivia had been given the case against the drug company.

  Olivia continued the casual introductions until Sal had met everyone, including the mail room delivery man.

  “Seems like a decent bunch of people,” he said when they ended up in her office.

  “That’s what I told you.” She tried to keep the impatience from her voice, but some of it leaked through. “No one here would hurt Calvin. Or me. It just isn’t possible.” She had to believe that. If not, much of what she held dear was false.

  “I’m sorry this hurts you. But we have to look at every possibility.”

  “Due diligence and all that. And I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did earlier. I lashed out at you when you were only trying to help. It’s just that Calvin is special. If something happens to him...” Tears stung her eyes, trickled down her cheeks. She swiped at them. “Sorry. Crying isn’t my style.”

  “I know.” With that, Sal drew her to him in a one-sided hug. His touch was gentle, but there was a quiet strength to it, reminding her that he was a man a woman could lean on. With that, she pulled away. She wasn’t some helpless woman needing a man. She’d always stood on her own feet and intended on keeping it that way.