Insomniac

by P J Mann

  “Does your family speak any English? Sorry if that might sound rude, but I have no idea about what to expect.”

  “Don’t you worry, my mother and father do not speak English fluently, but they do speak enough to understand what you say and to make themselves understood,” Jonas replied as they reached the elevator to the parking garage.

  “Now you are starting to scare me,” said Justin with a chuckle.

  “Besides, there is still something I need to ascertain while I’m there. This means that we might have just a few days to spend with my family if we exclude the celebrations for Christmas day and New Year.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that I am not yet totally convinced of the reason why my cousin suddenly decided to give up the murder investigation. There is something he is not saying, and I am going to find out one way or another,” said Jonas.

  Justin didn’t reply, he couldn’t say whether Jonas was just overreacting to a decision that should have come a long time ago.

  I am wondering whether this is not going into a personal issue more than a professional one. He should just be happy that we can have our vacation as we planned since the beginning. Instead, it seems like he is trying to find something to keep him busy, Justin thought.

  “What are you thinking about, why you are suddenly so silent?” asked Jonas.

  Justin sighed, “I was just thinking about your cousin. I think that perhaps he came to the right decision, or eventually, his supervisor convinced him that his energies and efforts are also required to solve other cases. What I do not understand is why you are so interested in that case.”

  “You are right, and I do agree that he was taking that defeat too seriously. You cannot solve all the crimes that happen in this world. However, I know that he is not telling me the truth when he says that he decided to give up,” Jonas tried to explain. “You see, although I cannot say I had a close relationship with Giorgi, I know him enough to say that there should have been a better reason for him to give up.”

  “What if his supervisor made him choose between making this crime a personal obsession or to leave the Police?” Justin hazarded a guess.

  “He would have said so. Instead, he told me that his supervisor convinced him to let this go,” replied Jonas. “Perhaps for you, it is just a choice of words, but for me, it sounded like a way to hide something. In my family you just cannot convince a person, you have to force him or her.”

  Justin laughed heartily, “yes, I can confirm that this is absolutely true. Trying to convince you about something is practically mission impossible.”

  “We are genetically stubborn in my family.”

  “So I guess there is no chance for me to stop you from investigating on your cousin’s case…” Justin dared say.

  “I would appreciate if I could count on your help too. I know what you are thinking, and I promise you we will also have a great vacation. This will be just something small to think about, it won’t take the whole length of our visit,” Jonas assured.

  “What if it does?”

  “Then I will give you an extra bonus holiday, and I will count this as work, does it make you feel better?” proposed Jonas.

  “That sounds like a deal!”

  They reached the airport after a while, and for some time, neither of them spoke a word. Justin started to fear that he would have had a sort of working holiday.

  If I know Jonas the way I think I do, he will not give up, and perhaps he will start investigating on that case just to help his family. I am not sure whether he is doing this because of the outside pressure he received during the last period from his family, or because he really means to help his cousin. Either way, I am afraid I will have to figure out another vacation. Just this time, I will make sure to go on my own, just to avoid being stuck in job issues, Justin thought feeling amused about that.

  I am also wondering whether I should ask to be transferred to another department. Our relationship will surely benefit from being apart at least during the workday. I feel like my day at work doesn’t stop when I get home, and I spend time with him and we discuss cases that we are working on.

  “Are you still thinking about the holiday?” Jonas wondered interrupting Justin’s considerations.

  “Huh, no, I was thinking about the fact of getting transferred to another department. I would like to have our relationship more defined,” Justin admitted sheepishly.

  “I know,” Jonas sighed. “I was thinking about that too. We will miss your skills, but on the other hand, I feel like working together is going to affect the quality of our private life. I really love you, Justin, and the only thing I wish is to tell the whole world that you are mine and I am yours.”

  Justin held Jonas’ hand and smiled. “Then I guess there is only one thing to do, and that is starting the transfer process. You can start as soon as we come back home.”

  As they were waiting at the gate, Jonas’ telephone started to ring as he received a call from an unknown number. “What…” he wondered as he tried to figure out whether to answer or not.

  “Jonas Avaliani,” he replied.

  “Good morning Lieutenant, this is Janet Wilson. I work as an attorney for the US Embassy in Tbilisi,” she explained. “I am sorry to disturb you, but as I understood it correctly you will be in Tbilisi soon, is that correct?”

  Jonas remained silent for a moment puzzled about the unexpected call.

  “Yes, I am at the airport now, and my plane will leave soon. How can I help you?” He asked.

  “I met Officer Bochorishvili when he was investigating the murder of a prostitute. Since then we started to be close friends, and his determination in wanting to find the murderer soon became an obsession. He told me you have come to help him with the case,” she tried to explain something that wasn’t even clear in her mind either “You see, he is the kind of man that cannot be persuaded easily. When he has a target in his mind, there is nothing able to make him change his mind. However, some time ago, as we were talking, he simply declared that he was convinced to give up the case. Perhaps I don’t know him the way you do, but it sounded quite strange.”

  She took a pause to recollect her thoughts, “Giorgi is not the kind of Officer who can be just ’convinced’ to give up a case. Either it was an order, and if this is the case, I can’t question it, or there is something more going on behind the scenes that he’s not telling us.”

  Jonas nodded, “I am glad I am not the only one who thinks it this way. I moved to the US when I was a teenager, and since then I haven’t much had the chance to be in touch with my family. Therefore, I cannot really say that I know Giorgi like a brother, but I know him enough to find his change of mind quite suspicious. Since you are his close friend, do you have any idea about the reason for his sudden shift in attitude?”

  “He has been very vague about it. He said that he talked with his supervisor and that he convinced him to let the case be, but he seemed like he was not entirely convinced about what he was saying. I don’t know whether I can explain this to you, but it was like he was lying, and he wanted me to know about the lie. I know it sounds crazy but…”

  “I understand, and things are beginning to make sense,” considered Jonas. “Nevertheless, we also have to understand that if he was obeying a direct order coming from his supervisor, then his behavior is more than reasonable. If it wasn’t, then we need to delve deeper into those reasons.”

  “Sure, well, please take your time to talk to your cousin, and if there is anything new, I would appreciate if you could give me a call and explain his decision to me. I was starting to get a bit worried about him.”

  “Of course,” replied Jonas. “Well, I need to go now, I will have a talk with him and try to figure out what is wrong. At that point, I will call you and let you know what I could find out.”

  “Thanks,” replied Janet. “Have a safe trip, and welcome home!”

  Jonas hung up the phone and shook his head, thoughtfully.
r />   “Is there anything wrong?” Justin asked.

  “I don’t know, a friend of Giorgi’s called me, and she had the same impression I had about his sudden change of mind. Something tells me that I will put these two weeks as extra work and move your vacation to whenever you want,” Jonas said lowering his gaze. He felt ashamed for having ruined Justin’s holiday plan. He knew Justin was waiting for this opportunity to not just spend some time together, but also to visit a new country.

  Justin grimaced at Jonas, but he understood the situation, “It doesn’t matter, if I have to be totally honest with you, this case started to intrigue me, so I am also curious to know what will come out of it. Count me in and don’t you even think that you can get all the fun for yourself.”

  Jonas smiled broadly, “I love you, but we are not going to investigate on that case. First, because it is out of our jurisdiction, and second because this has probably nothing to do with the case but with the strange behavior of my cousin.”

  “Maybe yes, and maybe no. What I think is that there is a very close connection between the unsolved case, the sudden change of mind of the detective and the pressure received from his supervisor… and I am rarely wrong.”

  “That’s why I will be sorry to lose a detective of your caliber; you have an amazing instinct, have I told you I love you madly?” Jonas replied smiling.

  “I love you too, but now we need to get on that plane, or it will leave without us.”

  It was late afternoon, and Gabriel just parked the car in front of the building where his apartment was. It was a long time since he heard from anyone involved in what happened in the hotel during the therapy. He was also sure that he could continue his life and forget about the whole mess when his telephone started ringing and a known telephone number appeared. He wanted to be able to just ignore it and avoid answering, but he knew that this wouldn’t have made things any easier.

  “Hello,” he replied with a busy tone, as he was closing the door of his apartment.

  “Well hello, you sound busy. I hope I am not interrupting anything urgent,” Mr. M. replied sarcastically.

  “No, you are not disturbing me,” he replied with a sigh. “What can I do for you?”

  “I thought that in a family there is no need for a specific reason to call each other,” Mr. M. said.

  “So, this is a courtesy call?” Gabriel didn’t believe it for a second. Although it was true and, in a family, calling each other is generally not necessarily connected with a particular reason, in his case the situation was different. His family was not a regular one and particularly since they got involved in that project, ‘normal’ wasn’t the right adjective to describe it.

  Mr. M. smiled, “You can call it that way. The nosy Georgian detective has been taken care of, and we made sure that he won’t intrude any longer into our businesses. His obsession with discovering the killer of that prostitute was becoming a problem, and I was afraid that sooner or later, he might have taken the right path. Particularly because I knew that he is a cousin of Lieutenant Avaliani, who might have connected the primary suspect, Mr. Jackson, and the strange case of Mrs. Lynn together.”

  “So, this means that everything is solved, at least for now.”

  “Yes, but perhaps you might help us with the next stage of the project. We have a patient, and we have a drug ready to be tested. This should be able to give results within a couple of weeks, maybe less” Mr. M. explained. “What I need from you is a victim…”

  “A victim?” Gabriel wondered.

  “Yes, generally it is Dr. Wright who takes care of this, but it seems like his conscience is starting to bother him and prefers not to have anything to do with the murder itself, besides testing the drug and developing the right hypnosis routine to be used with the drug,” Mr. M. explained.

  “So I need to do the dirty work,” said Gabriel annoyed.

  “You knew perfectly what you agreed to, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “No but, my patience has a limit, and I want results, I plan on giving you one whole month to bring me the victim,” he replied hanging up the conversation without waiting for Gabriel to reply.

  “It is always a pleasure talking to you,” said Gabriel sarcastically, throwing the telephone on the couch.

  “Oh well, I think I have already someone in my mind so I can take it easy, and that’s exactly what I am going to do from now on.”

  He grabbed the telephone and switched it off, determined not to allow anyone to bother him at least for the rest of the day, “or maybe even the whole month.”

  Janet got out of her apartment, she started feeling claustrophobic, and the wait for Giorgi’s cousin became unbearable. Certainly, when Giorgi’s superior declared the case closed, there shouldn’t be any question from him to follow the orders. The problem is that his superior closed it a long time ago, but he still continued to search for the culprit. I believe there is more than just an order behind Giorgi’s decision, she thought shivering at the cold gust of wind, in that cold December afternoon.

  She needed some oxygen to think clearly and cool down her nerves. I need to talk to this Iona, he is the only one who can help me to confirm my suspicions. I don’t believe Ethan Jackson killed that prostitute, but his presence at the hotel might have not be accidental. Someone wanted him to be there when the girl was murdered. The questions are, who and why?

  She walked the streets of Tbilisi and stopped in front of the window of a shop decorated for the Christmas season. A jolly Santa Claus was smiling between gifts and snowflakes.

  She smiled.

  “It would be great if Santa Claus really existed and could grant me one wish, this Christmas,” she said aloud.

  “And what that would be?” said a voice from behind her.

  She turned herself surprised to find an old man dressed like Santa Claus, smiling at her.

  “I wish to find the truth and untie an intricate knot that keeps me from being at peace with myself and the rest of the world,” she sighed.

  “I will see what I can do for you,” he winked, handing her a bough of holly.

  “Thanks, I appreciate, she replied giggling as the man started to walk away.

  “Never lose hope and have a merry Christmas!” He yelled, walking away distributing sprigs of holly to the passers-by.

  She looked down at the holly he gave her. She took a deep breath and decided to stop thinking about her problems until she could have a talk with Giorgi’s cousin.

  “I guess there is nothing I can do, but to wait. He will be here soon,” she shook her head, and continued to walk in the direction of her apartment. Just like magic, she could finally enjoy the view of the decorated streets and shop’s windows, and perhaps her heart felt a bit of the peace she was hoping for.

  About The Author

  Hello! That is the end of the second book of this series, I hope you enjoyed it.

  I was born in 1973 in a small town in Italy. In my career, I’ve edited and wrote several scientific papers on geology and engineering, with emphasis on final disposal for spent nuclear waste. However, I come from a very complex background. I graduated from the Art Institute of Perugia (Italy), but pursued further studies in geosciences and environmental geosciences. I am passionate about photography, and I love observing nature and human’s societies from every perspective.

  Through my novels, I aim to propose a new way to look at human relationships, cultures, and beliefs.

  You can find me also on Facebook:

  https://www.facebook.com/paperpenandinkwell

  https://www.facebook.com/PJ.Mann.paperpenandinkwell

  Twitter:

  https://twitter.com/PjMann2016

  And of course, my website:

  https://pjmann2016.wixsite.com/pjmann

  One last thing, if you enjoyed this novel, I would truly appreciate if you’d leave a review on Amazon.

  Other Books By P. J. MANN

  A Tale of a Rough Diamond (2016)

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bsp; Deadly Deception - Book 1 (2018)

  The Ghosts of Morgan Street (2018)