"Chain Reaction" Power Failure Book I

by Andrew Draper

After dropping Rambo off at his office, Aaron headed downstairs, toward Diversified Research Incorporated. His shoes sinking into the rich carpet as he made his way to the elevator, he exited at the 28th floor and turned right. Steps quickening, he moved down the long passage, working his way to a set of double doors at the end of the corridor.

  Pulling the door open, he jumped to one side while a tall man in a dark suit silently hurried past, a cell phone at his ear, a gold badge hanging from his jacket pocket.

  Excuse me! Aaron thought, you rude S.O.B.!

  He entered the reception area and discovered it crowded with police officers, a thin ribbon of yellow tape stretching from wall to wall.

  He approached tape, motioning to the nearest officer. “Who’s in charge here?”

  The officer pointed to a tall, slender woman at the other end of the room. The officer moved to her side and leaned close, whispering something in her ear.

  Aaron noted the brunette hair captured at the back of her head accented a beautiful oval face and flawless complexion.

  She looked up from her notes, made eye contact with Aaron, and began moving toward him.

  “Excuse me, I'm looking for the officer in charge,” Aaron said.

  “Well you found her, Mister…” She hesitated, allowing him to give his name.

  “I'm Aaron Casey. What’s all the commotion?”

  “I'm Special Agent Carla Raven of the FBI, and this is a crime scene. What is your business here?”

  “I'm trying to locate someone who works here, Jennifer Ryan.”

  Standing five-feet, nine inches tall, Carla Raven sported the athletic good looks and healthy glow of her Southern California upbringing, minus the blond hair and obligatory, though in her case unnecessary, silicone enhancements.

  Eyebrow lifting in curiosity, she responded to Aaron’s inquiry. “What is your interest in Miss Ryan?”

  “She is an acquaintance. I'm just trying to find her.”

  “When was the last time you saw her?” Carla said, removing a pad from the jacket of her form-fitting suit, and preparing to take notes.

  “She was at my home this morning, and when I came home this afternoon she was gone.”

  He pointed to all the activity. “What is going on here?”

  “I think I’ll ask the questions if you don’t mind,” she replied sharply, “You said Ms. Ryan was at your home this morning?”

  “Yes.”

  “Want to tell me why?” her tone left no question as to answering or not.

  “As I said, we are acquainted.”

  “What makes you think she would come here?”

  “I’d rather not say.”

  Carla took a deep breath, ample breasts drawing her jacket tight across her chest. Her stare hardened, the blue eyes boring into his. “And I’d rather not have to ask again.”

  He said nothing, his intense gaze never flinching from hers.

  She went on, undaunted. “Mr. Casey, I’m only going to say this once. I’m investigating a crime and Ms. Ryan is a lead. I want everything you know about her whereabouts between the hours of six p.m. Friday night and the present. No exceptions, no omissions. Understand?

  He considered his response for several seconds while his eyes met hers in a hard stare. He watched as she shifted stance from foot to foot in annoyance at the delay.

  “Well, I can tell you she didn’t kill anyone on Friday night.” He said, the voice steady and confident.

  “I didn’t say anyone was killed,” her condescending attitude was not lost on him.

  “Well, you’re a federal agent, so I figured it wasn’t a parking violation.”

  “You say she couldn’t have killed anyone, and how do you arrive at that conclusion?”

  Sarcasm gave his answer a hard edge. “The reason that I can say that with some degree of certainty, Agent Raven, is that I found her on the thirty-first floor of this very building at two o'clock Saturday morning and she was in no condition to harm anyone.”

  “Really? What do you mean by ‘no condition’, was she drunk or something?”

  Raven’s pen moved quickly, the shorthand’s complicated characters appearing on the pages as if by magic.

  “Not hardly.” he stopped to take a breath, once again seeing Jenny’s bruised and contused face flash before his eyes. He cleared his throat and went on. “She was beaten half to death and then dumped behind the trash bunker upstairs.”

  “What did you do, call 911?”

  He knew she was trying to bait him. He assumed she had already checked the 911 phone logs.

  “No, she asked me to get her out of the building and I did.”

  “So you took her to the hospital. Which one?”

  As she waited for him to answer, she pulled out her cell phone, and he knew she was ready to send a team to pick Ryan up.

  “None. I took her to my place and brought in a private nurse to look after her.”

  “If she was so badly injured, why didn't you take her to a hospital?”

  He raised his voice slightly, his irritation beginning to grow beyond his control. “Agent Raven is all this really necessary? The point is, she is missing and I’d like to find her…as quickly as possible.”

  Carla elevated her voice, matching his in volume and intensity. “Just answer the question, please.”

  “Well, if you must know, she was afraid to go to a hospital. She didn't think she would be safe there.”

  “And did she say why she wouldn't be safe in a hospital?”

  “I don't know Agent Raven,” he launched in angry retort, his frustration growing by the second. “Could it be because someone tried to kill her a few hours before?”

  “Did she tell you why someone would want to hurt her?”

  “No, she didn't”

  “How did she explain the attack?”

  “She was still pretty out of it and really didn't say much,” he said. “I thought it was a mugging. Was I wrong?”

  “You know I can't comment on an on-going investigation.” She said, her pen continuing to blaze across the pages.

  “Can you tell me who the victim was?” he asked.

  She paused for a second before answering. “It's already been released to the press. So, I guess it won't hurt. His name was Jackson Verde. He was an employee here.”

  His heart skipped several beats, fear freezing the breath in his chest.

  God, no! First Jenny gets attacked, now her boss is dead! What the hell is going on?

  He quickly put a tight lid on his vaulting emotions. “When did this happen?”

  “Friday night.”

  “How did he die?”

  “You know I can’t tell you that.” She chastised. “Let’s get back to Ryan. You said you found her on a different floor?”

  “Yes, up on 31,” he said, pointing toward the ceiling.”

  “Show me. Please.”

  Back in the elevator the ride took only seconds before the car stopped. Aaron pulled a small, brass key from his pocket and inserted into a lock on the wall-mounted control panel. He turned the key and a blast of arctic air hit the occupants as the doors slid aside.

  “After you.” He said.

  Raven wrapped both arms around her body against the cold. “It’s freezing in here. Why is it so cold?”

  “This floor is not under construction yet. It’s just storage for building materials, so I don’t have the heat on. No one except my guys are supposed to be up here.”

  He led her through the labyrinth of pallets to his field office; essentially a plywood box the size of a walk-in closet, located in the center of the crowded floor. He unlocked the door. Moving to a grey cabinet bolted to the wall, he opened the circuit breaker panel and flipped the switches one at a time, turning on the florescent lights bank by bank. The artificial illumination grew, driving back the dark shadows to reveal a maze of building materials neatly stacked, awaiting the skilled craftsmen who would transform them into elegant office s
pace.

  “I found her over there.” He pointed across the vast, cold expanse of the unfinished concrete.

  She followed him to the spot where he found Jenny, the floor marked with tiny drops of frozen blood.

  “Has anyone been up here since you found her?” she asked, her breath coming in small white puffs.

  “No. I have the only elevator key.”

  “Well, look at this.” She thought aloud, pointing to a black metal gate closed over a missing window. “Where does this lead?”

  “That’s a trash bunker,” he said. “It goes down the side of the building to a dumpster in the back parking lot. You use it to move stuff up or down. Kind of like a dumbwaiter.”

  “Could a suspect have gotten Verde’s body out of the building without anyone seeing him using this?”

  “I suppose it’s possible.”

  “Who has access to it?”

  “Only six people have keys, including me.”

  “I’ll need that list.”

  “Of course.”

  Continuing to write notes, she shifted her feet to and fro, trying to fend off the biting cold. “Let’s get out of here. We won’t learn anything more until forensics gets through.”

  Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out a business card and handed it to him. “Mr. Casey, you realize that if I wanted to, I could detain you as a material witness.”

  He said nothing.

  Her expression softened, but very little. “But, I have a feeling that you just walked into an ugly situation. Am I right?” she asked, more a statement than a question.

  “Yes, that's exactly what happened. I was just trying to help.”

  Her eyes again met his. “Okay, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt…for now…but if Ryan contacts you, you call me, or else its obstruction. Understand?”

  With no intention of ratting Jenny out, he lied through his teeth. “Don't worry Agent Raven. I just want her to be safe. If she calls or comes back, you’ll be the first to know.”

  “And I will need that list of people who have keys as soon as possible. Now, you said you work here, on this floor?”

  “Well, in a manner of speaking. I own Casey Construction.”

  He let the admission sink in before continuing with no small amount of pride. “I built this building.”

  “Really?”

  Clearly unimpressed, he could almost hear her mind switch gears. “One last thing…was the security system for the offices we came from part of the original work, or was it installed later?”

  “It was installed later, by some government types,” he let the intentional insult hang in the air before going on. “I didn't think too much about it. I didn't need to know, and I don't get paid to stick my nose in someone else’s business.”

  “So you don’t know if there are any surveillance cameras down there.”

  “I know there are some in the halls, but I don’t about the offices.”

  She closed her notebook. “That's all for now, but remember what I said. If Dr. Ryan contacts you, don't let me hear it from someone else.”

  “Okay. If I hear from her I’ll call you,” He scanned the room again and looked at his watch. “Agent Raven, I have a meeting to attend. I assume I’m free to go?”

  Carla answered him with a polite dismissal, and a second, thinly veiled, warning. “Yes. You can go, but don't plan any trips out of town for awhile. I may need to talk to you again.”

  He reached into his back pocket and drew out his wallet. Removing a business card, he passed it to her.

  “I won't. You can reach me faster through my office. It's on 30, suite 2. Here’s the number.”

  A few minutes later he stood in front of that very door. He went inside.