Broken Trust (Missing in Action Trilogy Book 1)

by H. B. Rae

  “Are you mad at me?”

  “No,” she said. He realized that it seemed she was struggling to breathe. He looked at her and he wondered if there was something else wrong.

  “Sheila you don’t look too good.”

  “Thanks,” she smiled. “I just don’t like being cramped in with a lot of people. I get really anxious.”

  He understood. She was claustrophobic and he realized she was facing one of her fears as well as he was his own. He took his seat beside her and they were silent for a moment.

  “Do you need me to do anything to make you more comfortable?”

  “I’ll be fine,” she insisted. “I have my own way of coping with it,” she said as she pulled out an MP3 Player. He nodded. Music seemed to be the remedy to all of her issues. She zoned out, he pulled out his files and he began to read over everything. It was good to review everything more than once because there was always something that may have been missed.

  >

  Chapter 11

  They were being escorted up a flight of stairs by Mrs. Geerdes. Her long black hair was in a wave of curls and she was glowing. John could tell she was only a few months pregnant. When they had finally made it to the second floor, she turned to them and spoke, “My husband is a very busy man and it’s surprising he even agreed to meet with you. Especially with this topic.”

  Sheila smiled slightly. “Would it be alright if I stayed out here with you? I am just his assistant and I’m only here for reservations and such.”

  Mrs. Geerdes returned the smile and she agreed, as they had thought she would. She walked over to the first door on the left and knocked on it three times before entering. “John Watson is here to speak with you.”

  John didn’t hear anything but he was motioned to go inside. He glanced over his shoulder at Sheila and she walked away with Mrs. Geerdes. He stepped into the office and saw Jason sitting there reading over a few sheets of paper.

  “Please sit down,” he said and John found a seat. It was not as comfortable as his chairs, but he doubted people came to Jason’s home office often. He knew what type of business he was running anyhow and he knew anyone that walked through those doors were known criminals or those who were too good at what they did to never get caught.

  “John Richard Watson,” he said without even looking up from his files. “You are different than most people that want to ask me questions. You are not a cop and yet here you are wanting to know so much about Carlisle Castro. I do think it’s odd you have taken an interest in this. Especially as seeing as how you live in another state all together.”

  “It is a very interesting case,” he began.

  “I do agree with you, but it still makes me wonder why someone is just now wanting to further investigate what had happened. Especially after he’d been proven guilty.”

  “Well,” John said as he adjusted in his chair. “There has been another murder in my town. Her name is Natalie Granger and she died the same exact way that the three women died. I was looking to see if there was any way there was a connection.”

  “I do assure you Mr. Watson that the killer is behind bars.”

  “Why do you think your friend was responsible for these deaths?”

  He watched as he hesitated for a moment. “Carlisle Castro was a good man, but that is just how he looked. If anyone knew his family they could tell you otherwise. He didn’t come from good people and being as successful as he was made it so he could, you know, do things without worrying about the consequences.”

  “There was never a record on Carlisle Castro before those girls were murdered, how can you explain that?”

  Jason leaned back in his chair, “He was good at not getting caught. There were things we used to do together and neither of us got caught doing it.”

  “Would you mind giving me an example?”

  “As a matter of fact I do. You see I am successful now. I have a gorgeous wife and a child on the way and I’m not going to start telling you the sort of things I had done as a kid. They are irrelevant.”

  “I do understand,” he began. “So how do you feel being a father?”

  “Well I have never had a child before.”

  “I thought you has a son. Wasn’t his name Emilio?”

  Jason shook his head. “You are misinformed. I have no idea who you are speaking of.”

  “Kathleen Winters had your son and his name was Emilio, was it not?”

  “My relationship with Kathleen was not exactly traditional and we were not in a serious relationship. We would sleep together and that was it. There was nothing more to our relationship than that.”

  “And why would you suspect that you were not the father?”

  “Because Kathleen was a slut,” he said with distaste. “There was no proof I was the father of Emilio and truthfully I wouldn’t have wanted to be his father. I am happy I’m having a child with a woman that is actually faithful.”

  “So are you telling me you had no motives to have killed Kathleen?”

  “I have absolutely no motive to kill her. There was nothing about her that is worth going to prison for.”

  “Then would you mind telling me why Carlisle Castro was the one who would kill her if she wasn’t worth it?”

  Jason moved his chair so he could be closer to his desk and shook his head. “I didn’t suspect him of anything. He was not that type of person. Yes we did some things I hope to God my child never does, but he was not a killer. However, I was wrong since they found evidence that he was there when Kathleen died. Hell they even proved he had motive to go ahead and kill her.”

  “Did he have motive, or do you just think he did?”

  Jason shrugged and for a moment it seemed as if he was actually deep in thought. “Look, Carlisle did have motive – not just for killing Kathleen, but he also had motive to kill Lorraine and Daniella as well, but everyone had more motive than he did.”

  “Would you mind telling me what the motive is for him to kill all three of them?”

  “I didn’t even tell the cops that so why the hell should I tell you?”

  “Because I am not the cops and it’s as simple as that. I’m here because I was asked to investigate this for someone and that is what I’m doing. There is nothing more to it than that.”

  “Can you assure me that nothing I tell you will backfire on me?”

  John nodded, “I promise you that. All I need is this information and you are the only one who can provide it.”

  He nodded. “Alright, I will tell you, but this all starts with Daniella. She and Castro were neighbors back in the day. I knew her too. In fact all of us neighbors knew one another. All of us were about the same age. I was the oldest out of all of them. Anyways, it was Daniella, her brother Robert, along with William and Alicia Gemangini. We were all in high school when Castro and Daniella started dating. They were serious for one another but they broke it off the first time. Daniella and Robert’s mother died. She was found murdered in their home, but no one knew what had happened to her. It was later discovered that someone had broken into the residence and they were searching for something. She had gotten home and they killed her. It was a gunshot to the chest.

  “At that time, Daniella was only seventeen and Robert was nineteen. They were living with the Gemangini family. Daniella started to have a relationship with William. Carlisle wasn’t too thrilled when he found out, but he was leaving the state and he was going to Jersey to be with his Uncle Lenny. Then we all learned that Daniella was pregnant but she had a miscarriage, or that is how the story goes.

  “Anyways during all of this was when Robert was arrested and he was pretty much in and out of jail ever since then. Carlisle met Lorraine and he got her pregnant with twins. They had a daughter, Felicia, and a son they named Wyatt. Lorraine refused to marry him and that was a big disappointment to him, but he respected her wishes. She moved from Jersey up to Maine and opened up her own business. From there, Castro moved back here after his uncle passed away, he took his inh
eritance and opened Castro Industries. He and Daniella were on speaking terms again and she got knocked up with Teresa, but the only thing about it was Teresa was not his daughter. William is the actual father, but no one other than Alicia knew and she had been the one to tell me. The thought was that maybe Castro found out about that, but I don’t think he would have killed her all of those years later to be honest, and then three years later was when Daniella had his daughter Samantha.”

  “What made Castro and Daniella separate again?”

  “Daniella would not leave the Gemangini family alone. She continued to associate herself with them even though they were tied in with the mob. I have always believed she had stayed because of her brother, but Castro was not going to have anything to do with it and so he left. He told her he was not going to be part of their lives, and I think he mostly said that to possibly make her rethink everything, but that didn’t work.”

  “Do you truthfully think Castro snapped and he did kill those women?”

  “He could have snapped, but I doubt he did. I strongly believe someone else has the means and opportunities and I do believe it’s someone who had an agenda against him.”

  “But wait a minute,” he said as he was thinking about this. “How does Castro have a connection to Kathleen, you know, other than you?”

  “As I have already told you, she was not faithful and she had betrayed me. He was sleeping with her too, but he had not known I was with her. In fact, I don’t know a person who didn’t sleep with Kathleen, but that is not the point. You see Castro was married,” he said. “It was not a big wedding, it was something they just did at the court house.”

  “Who was he married to?”

  “Her name was Angela Edwards and they had been married for only a year before everything went public. She divorced him and since he didn’t get a prenuptial agreement that bitch took a lot from him. I have talked to him once since then and he has assured me that he hadn’t slept with Kathleen in a while. He said he had broken it off with her because he wanted to be faithful.”

  “So what were his motives for all of them? Would you be able to walk me through all of this,” John asked intrigued. Jason began to tell him everything.

  Chapter 12

  Sheila was waiting for John in the sitting room and was talking to Mrs. Geerdes as if she had known her all of her life. He had always wondered how women were able to do that. Sometimes they were the best of friends before they even spoke a word and other times they had drawn a conclusion that the other was an outright bitch. Whatever the case he knew they were beyond weird.

  When she saw him, she got up and walked over towards him. “I hope you were able to get all the information that was needed,” she said.

  “I did, thank you.”

  Mrs. Geerdes opened the door for them and they walked out to the rental car. It was a Prius and it surely was not John’s choice in a vehicle, but Sheila thought it was a good idea. He wanted to tell her what his true feelings were towards it but he refrained. They got in and he started the car.

  Once they were pulling away, Sheila spoke, “Boss, did you learn anything of interest?”

  “I surely did, and what about yourself?”

  “She does not know too much about anything to be honest. There was nothing she was able to tell me that I didn’t already know, but I have a feeling she was playing me for a fool.”

  “Did she happen to give you a first name?”

  “No. We mostly talked about – well it is nothing important to be truthful.”

  “Why do I get the sense that you are hiding something from me?”

  Sheila shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe your perception is a little off, it has been a long week for the both of us.”

  “I see. Well, do you think that instead of doing a web-chat we can actually go and see Castro?”

  “Let me make a phone call and see if we would be able to do so. Don’t be surprised if they shoot us down though.”

  John looked at her and he wondered what she was hiding. He knew she was upset with him, but she shouldn’t be. He had apologized for making them late to board the plane, but they did make it. While he was driving down the road, he wondered what was on her mind. He needed to know and he felt as though he should be apologizing for a lot more.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “I could eat,” she finally said.

  ***

  They found a diner about three blocks away and he couldn’t help but notice how much better Doubles was than this. His father kept his diner maintained; impeccable – and here it was mediocre. He felt as if he couldn’t trust if the dishes his food was being served on were actually cleaned thoroughly.

  He was looking at his plate of fries and felt as if he was going to be sick. He realized Sheila was on her tablet. She appeared to be monitoring something and looked up at him.

  “I still haven’t heard anything about going to see him today. It is still possible they won’t allow us to see him. We really don’t have any real reason to actually go there. They were fine doing the web-chat.”

  John shook his head. “It would be so much easier to see him in person. We can actually read his emotions to certain things.”

  “Like you are any good at that,” she said as she began to eat a fry.

  Looking at Sheila, he wasn’t too sure where any of this was coming from. He finally found his voice. “What is the matter with you? You aren’t ever like this.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know how to describe it,” he admitted. “But the normal you doesn’t let anything get to her and here you are letting everything seem to bother you. Obviously there is something on your mind, but for whatever reason you don’t seem to be comfortable talking to me.”

  “You are my superior, not my friend. If something is bothering me I can deal with it on my own. That was something I was taught to do and that is something that is not going to be changing any time soon.”

  “Sheila,” he said as he reached an open hand to her. She moved away from him and he moved back. “There is something affecting our working relationship and I will do anything I can to fix it.”

  “Boss, after this case I don’t think I want to work with you anymore.”

  John sat there unsure of what to do and he just watched her. There was something he should say – there had to be something to fix this but he was at a loss for words as always. He realized by him not saying something he had just lost whatever he and Sheila had.

  “Why? I thought this is the type of work you wanted to get into.”

  “I thought it was and now that I am working with you on this I think I want to do something else with my life. Thank you for this opportunity though.”

  “Why do I get this feeling there is something else you aren’t telling me?”

  “If something was truly upsetting me I would tell you, but I’m fine. My mind is a little preoccupied at the moment, but nothing on my mind concerns you.”

  He could not help but feel the tension between them. He flagged down the waiter and asked for the check. John wasn’t too sure what was going to happen next.

  Chapter 13

  Olivia was waking up and she looked at the clock that was on the bedside table. She couldn’t believe she had slept for seven hours. She did not even remember falling asleep. As she was sitting up in bed she noticed Marissa sitting in a chair reading a novel, from the looks of it. She looked up at her.

  “It is about time you woke up,” she smiled softly. “Is everything alright? Are you feeling okay?”

  It took her a minute to process everything that was going on in her mind and she thought about how she was feeling. She was not too sure about what was going on. She spoke, “I – I’m not too sure. I suppose I am a little confused, but I guess there is just a lot going on right now.”

  Marissa got up and walked over towards her. “You have been under a lot of stress and you probably needed the sleep. You know what you need? – Coffee. You go ahead and get showe
red and I can go grab us something.”

  Removing the covers, she got up and looked at her sister. “Have you heard anything new from our investigator?”

  “No, for now he does not seem to be getting anywhere. Those reviews about how phenomenal he is must have been false. He keeps disappearing and whenever I ask him what is going on he doesn’t have an answer for me. Maybe you should just stop utilizing the services he claims to be giving you and start working this on your own.”

  “I don’t even know where to start. There is just so much going on and if Castro is behind this maybe he is sending someone out here to take care of us. Maybe he is afraid we know something else.”

  “Well he is in jail and we don’t know anything else about him. Maybe there is something else from James’ past that caught up with him. Or maybe he is with someone else.”

  “Oh really,” she asked sharply. “He would seriously disappear from my life, on our anniversary, without an explanation. I don’t think he would actually do something like that.”

  “Did you really know him though Olivia? Your relationship with him sprung out of nowhere. You had been left in the street for dead and he happened to save you. What if they left you in the streets knowing he would go out there to save you – and that the two of you would form a bond because of it? Maybe all of this has been a set up to get the two of you together, and you see how well it worked. Maybe that is why he didn’t change his name. He wanted you to be found.”

  Olivia couldn’t help but feel doubt. No, James would never do that to her. They had been so attached to one another and yet here she was alone and had no idea where he was. Not even people from the police station wanted to help. Was it possible that he just didn’t want to deal with her any longer? Is it possible he was just playing her? She didn’t want to believe this was a possibility. She had given him her heart and she didn’t want any of this to be true. She loved him and she could not admit it to herself that he could do such a thing. She had to have known him better than that.