Missing: The Body of Evidence Read online

  ‘Have you ever had someone with high static electricity cause the machine problems?’

  ‘Claustrophobia, yes. Static, no. Look, I’d rather you saw a doctor before you leave.’

  ‘Sorry, I have to go, I’m fine, honestly. Write to me, when your machine is repaired.’

  Jim had a look of concern etched across his face.

  ‘Do you have any pain at all? Or do you have any weakness in your left arm?’

  Nancy ran her hand over the left side of her head.

  ‘No, nothing at all, and my left arm feels fine.’

  ‘Then just read this for me.’

  He picked up a magazine from the side table and handed it to her.

  Nancy read the opening paragraph of an article without faltering as Jim covered first her left eye and then her right eye.

  ‘Satisfied?’

  ‘I’m not a doctor, but you seem okay. Like I said, that was some machine malfunction.’

  Nancy eased herself onto her feet, collected her jacket and purse and walked out into the corridor. She hesitated at the elevator, shrugged, and then walked on to exit down the stairway.

  I need to get to my computer. Something doesn’t add up.

  Chapter 45

  Her surroundings in the Westside Pavilion Mall became a blur of activity, with a befuddlement of sound. She couldn’t figure out how to reduce the profusion of thoughts and images bouncing around in her mind; like dodgem cars at a fair ground—all going in circles somewhere—and yet nowhere. Each thought careened into one another and left a dark cast behind the socket of her eyes, with no resolution to put her on a clear path forward. An ominous thought percolated, that her gravestone should be inscribed ‘Here lies Nancy Roberts. In life all she ever wanted was to be.’ What the ‘be’ was meant to signify she couldn’t be sure. Happy, content, successful, a mother, a wife; maybe it meant all of those. If it meant it was to be a life free of stress, it eluded her present situation. One thing was for sure, the way things were headed, it was none of those.

  ‘Espresso.’ said the waiter and set the coffee down on the table.

  ‘Thank you.’

  The aroma of the thick black liquid and the explosion on her taste buds gave her an immediate rush as she took a sip. Children laughing and chuckling, played a game of catch-me around the tables of the Mall coffee lounge. She wondered if their innocence would somehow rub off on her if she ran after them and tagged them.

  Get a grip, girl.

  She glanced at her cell phone on the table, and hoped Kyle would call. The odds of the ringtone sounding were not good. Only three people in the world had the number, her dad, Kyle’s mom and Logan. She had Kyle’s mom down as protective and doubted she would give Kyle the number if she knew what the situation was with her and internal affairs, even if he begged her. Dad never phoned, and the last person she wanted to have a call from was Logan, unless it was to give her the all clear.

  The old man’s words of comfort at the cemetery came to mind. Nancy rummaged in her purse and found the slip of paper with the number for the Spiritualist Church. She placed the slip on the table and smoothed it out. Her fingers drummed the table and her eyes bounced between her cell phone and the scrawled number. Confidence to make the call eluded her, but the need to make the call and to try for a connection with her mom overpowered her. With the number tapped into the phone, her finger hesitated over the SEND button. Finally, she pressed the button and placed the phone to her ear. The call connected and she hung up and set the phone back on the table. Nancy stared at the phone. Without warning, it rang and she reared back on her chair.

  Nancy grabbed the phone and answered.

  ‘Yes, who is it.’

  An internal prayer pleaded for it to be Kyle.

  ‘Jed, from the Spiritualist Church.’

  Logic escaped her thought process, so disappointed that it wasn’t Kyle.

  ‘How did you get this number?’

  ‘Well, I didn’t read your mind, if that’s what you’re thinking. The number came up on the switchboard display.’

  ‘Of course,’ she answered, to the sound of a belly laugh. Nancy wound her neck back into place. ‘I... I was just wondering how you go about talking to a spiritualist.’

  ‘Sorry, we’re closed for refurbishment. I’m just the janitor.’

  ‘Is there no one I can speak to at all?’

  ‘I can give you an address of a woman in my neighbourhood.’

  Nancy took a pen from her purse, turned over the slip and wrote down the woman’s name and address.’

  ‘Does she have a telephone number?’

  ‘Hell no, I don’t even think she has the electric connected.’ He laughed. ‘Just call around, she has an open door. I’d say she’d be expecting you, but it would be a pun too far.’

  Yeah right. The call ended, she gathered the slip of paper and placed it in her purse with her cell phone. Maybe tomorrow? She looked at the Mall clock. First, Dad, he should be finishing work now. Nancy finished her coffee, paid the check and set off to her car, which was parked on the roof space.

  Exiting the Mall, Nancy picked up the Santa Monica Boulevard and drove through Beverly Hills. She wondered if maybe she would have been better working as a budding actress waiting tables, rather than being a cop. By now, she reckoned she could have been married to some rich film producer, until her looks faded and he traded her in for a newer model. It wouldn’t have been all that bad, when she thought that she could have cried about it all the way through the divorce settlement and come out the other end retired.

  The drive was slow and tedious, but the heavy traffic kept her mind occupied as she hit the Hollywood Freeway and then picked up Ventura on the final stretch to her dad’s apartment. The engine of her Ford started to splutter. With her foot pressed hard on the gas pedal, she turned onto Meredith Avenue, but the car just responded with jerks, managing to make the last fifty yards to the outside of his apartment.

  ‘Damn, don’t let me get marooned here.’

  She turned off the ignition and after a few more fits and starts, the engine died. A glance over at her dad’s apartment showed his car and work van parked in the apartment parking lot. At least he’s at home. After what she had been through, visiting him didn’t seem like such a big deal. At least she knew he would listen without interruption. Whether or not he offered her any opinion, simply talking about her problems would, she hoped, be enough therapy. She picked up her dad’s bag off the passenger seat and rested it on her knees. An inner strength took hold and she wasted no time getting to the apartment, knocked on the door and waited. He opened the door, drenched from head to toe and with a bath towel wrapped around his waist.

  ‘You do pick your moments.’

  She thrust the bag at him; he took it, turned and walked down the hallway. She followed and mocked his greeting under her breath and pulled a face. He disappeared into his bedroom and she went on into the living room and sat down.

  The headlines on his newspaper caught her eye and she snatched it from coffee table. ‘Miraculous escape from wildfire.’ the headline read with a sub heading. ‘Heroin, LAPD Detective Nancy Roberts, saves her partner from certain death.’

  They hadn’t wasted any time investigating, what with a statement from Dave, the handyman, and an almost word for word account of what took place from her statement with Rob. In a footnote at the end was a quote from Logan. ‘They’re both on sick leave recovering and I hope you will allow them peace and quiet to recover from their ordeal.’

  She wondered if that’s why she hadn’t been charged yet, to save the police department from the embarrassment until the news had passed, and if that is what John meant by a ‘political settlement.’

  ‘I see you’re quite the star,’ said Dad, as he walked into the room dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, and snatched the newspaper from her grasp. ‘Come to gloat?’

  ‘That’s not why I’m here, it’s not what they’ve written, it’s what they have left out I need to te
ll you about, it’s quite serious and I have no one else I can talk to. But first; I want you to look at my car, it’s got a misfire, or I’ll have to stay in my old room and get someone to fix it tomorrow.’

  ‘Keys.’

  She tossed the keys to him and he left the room. She imagined the thought of her having to stay the night spurred him into action. There was a rummaging sound in the hallway closet and then she heard the apartment door close.

  Nancy made a coffee and waited. There wasn’t a long wait when she heard the apartment door open.

  ‘What’s this about?’ Dad asked and threw a small object on coffee table.

  It was a small black object the size of a shirt button with a wire tail about two inches long.

  ‘Is that what the problem was with the misfire?’

  ‘Could be, the misfire was just a loose connection on the spark plug. Don’t you know what this is?’

  ‘Not got a clue, what do you mean ‘could be’? Tell me.’

  Chapter 46

  There was an uncomfortable silence as Nancy sat across from her dad, and she awaited his answer as to what the device could be in his hand. He huffed and puffed, shuffling on the seat cushion and avoided her gaze. The flowers from Dad at her mom’s tombstone reminded her that behind his heartless exterior, there was hidden a man who had grieved for twenty-five years.

  Luckily, for her, he had never brought home a series of aunties as the other girls at school experienced. At least, she thought, he had saved her from that trauma during her childhood. She couldn’t argue that he wasn’t always there for her with extra-curricular activities, but they had all been manly pursuits. Not for her the pretty dresses, make up and giggly-girly sleepovers, and definitely no date for the prom. Instead, in her childhood, it was all camping, hunting, judo, weapons training and target practice. No wonder she was ostracized at school and they considered her butch.

  It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in boys when puberty arrived, and it wasn’t that the boys didn’t give her sideways lecherous looks, but asking her out on a date, she reckoned they would have ended up with her in the cold shoulder stakes. It was no wonder they gave her a wide birth. It also didn’t help that she had to whup a few of them along the way to stop the taunts of boys and girls alike. Nancy let out a snicker at recollections of some of the spats. She saw a strange look in her dad’s eyes as he glanced her way and detected what she thought was the onset of tears.

  ‘What’s wrong, Dad.’

  ‘Nothing, just tired. You know, you do look the spit of your mom.’

  ‘Thanks, but I think I have your eyes and I definitely have your will to win.’

  His cheeks reddened and he coughed and spluttered, as if distracting himself from a moment of weakness. He rested his elbow on the scuffed arm of his chair, covered his face with his oversized hand and shook his head.

  ‘More like nurture than nature,’ he mumbled under his breath. ‘Anyway, back to business. When did your car start misfiring?’

  It took some thinking about and then it struck her. Her car started to act up on her visit to Kelly’s house when she went to ask him to come into the station to give his fingerprints. For the life in her, she could not work out the day, so much had happened since then. Nancy ran her fingers on the side of her head, relieved that there was no pain.

  ‘Last week sometime. Maybe the middle of the week.’

  ‘Hmm, and what’s so serious that you need to eat into my down time?’

  With the original question forgotten, she started to tell him about her situation. Apart from a few tutts and sighs, she could not work out if his noises were out of sympathy, or disdain. His facial expression gave nothing away. Twenty minutes in, he leaned forward on his chair, rested his elbows on his knees, and covered his face with his hands. It was hard to know if he was asleep or listening intently. Nancy finished her account, but he remained motionless.

  ‘Have you heard a word I have said?’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m thinking. So really, you’re not on sick leave, you’ve been taken off duty awaiting dishonourable discharge, pending the outcome of your court martial.’

  ‘It’s not the army, but yes, I suppose.’

  ‘And this all came about after going on a mission with Bill?’

  He seemed to choke on Bill’s name and ran his tongue over his teeth, spitting out some debris, as if Bill’s name brought a bad taste to his mouth.

  ‘Why mention Bill? I doubt he has anything to do with it; he’s on vacation for two weeks and then he retires. I don’t think I’ll ever see him again.’

  ‘Good, because the way I see it is, he visits you on Sunday and doesn’t warn you what’s going down with his buddy Logan or internal affairs. What a shit.’

  ‘What do you mean buddy?’

  He clearly knew who Logan and Bill were from somewhere in his past, but he simply clammed up and fired another question.

  ‘Did your car misfire start before, or after you had dealings with the young thug on Piru Street?’

  ‘Before, I think. No, after. Damn I can’t remember; it’s in my notebook back at the apartment.’

  ‘Think… I need to know for sure, so try and remember later. What else have you been working on, that you could have stepped on someone’s toes?’

  Nancy poured out all the events concerning the Professor’s death and the suicide of Kelly. This time, she had her dad’s undivided attention. When she finished her account, he leaned forward, picked up the object from her car, and twirled it around in his fingers. She decided to quit while she was ahead and not to tell him about her health worries, or about all the strange events of her dreams and the mishaps with the broken glass, although it was all still troubling her.

  ‘What’s so important about when my car started to chug?’

  ‘Well, depending on when your car started to misfire, I reckon this was placed under your hood by either the internal affairs guys, or the CIA and they caught your plug lead under the hood in the process.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘God, are you that naive, I root them out every day of the week at work. It’s a tracking device.’

  ‘Sorry, of course, I just can’t think straight. So then I wasn’t paranoid, someone was following me.’

  ‘Looks that way.’

  ‘But that means no one could have followed us to the cabin, I left my car at Kyle’s mom’s.’

  ‘And did you watch for a vehicle following?’

  ‘Well, no, I slept all the way.’

  ‘Did you tell anyone you were going to the Pine Mountains?’

  ‘No, I discussed it with Kyle at my apartment, that’s all.’

  ‘Your apartment?’ He sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. ‘Did you get a photo from the security cameras at Wal-Mart where the professor bought the lasagne?’

  Nancy slapped her forehead with an open palm.

  ‘Damn. No, I never thought, and in any case, Logan said I wasn’t to keep digging.’

  He rolled his eyes.

  ‘And they wonder why the crime detection rate is going down. Grab your coat and purse. I’ll put this tracker back under your hood and follow you home. You can get your notebook and a change of clothes. We’ll leave your car there and we can drive back in mine.’

  His offer left her with her eyes popping.

  ‘Here, you mean stay here?’

  ‘You can’t sleep at your apartment, trust me, I’m guessing you’re in my territory now. Do you have a gun?’

  ‘No, like I said, they took my police issue from me. Do you think I need a gun?’

  Her dad shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘Doesn’t everyone need one?’

  He seemed to have lost ten years and to have left behind the shadow of a man with only twelve months to retirement. He sprang into action. Unlocking his gun cabinet, he pulled out a 9 mil, together with an ammunition clip.

  ‘Here, put these in your purse, but keep the ammo clip separate. If anyone st
ops you, say you’re taking it in for repair for me, there’s a screw missing, but it’ll still fire.’

  ‘But how will I get around without my car?’

  ‘I’ll rent one in my name tomorrow and put you as the driver.’

  He took another 9 mil from the cabinet and slipped it in his belt. Nancy glanced at the ceiling. Thanks for whispering in his ear, Mom. Nancy wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘my territory now’ but he clearly knew and he had a plan in mind.

  Chapter 47

  Teaming up with her dad had left Nancy bemused. On the drive over to her apartment, she thought about her relationship with her dad, and wondered if she had exaggerated bad memories from her childhood, which drowned out any shared tender moments, thereby tainting her perception of him. Maybe, she thought, this was the reason she had nothing but bad recollections and they had spilled over into her adult life. There was no doubt about it, she considered him an ogre and at times, he had scared the hell out of her. Dark thoughts of the defining split with her dad surfaced. When she had given him the news of her acceptance into the police training academy, she thought he would have been delighted that all his mentoring had paid off and all the pain put to some good. Instead, he withdrew into a dark mood. All she got was the cold shoulder and he stopped talking to her, save for a few grunts. Goodness knows what he had against the police force.

  Two weeks later, she moved into her own rented apartment. One cup, one saucer and one plate; in fact she only had one of everything, including a sleeping bag for a bed and no furnishings. The hurt and tears that flowed on her first night alone in the world still haunted and screwed up her insides to this day. The only comfort she took from being cast out of the nest was that it left her with the determination to make something of herself and to prove she needed no one for support, especially a man.

  Nancy shrugged her shoulders. From the moistness in her eyes, a single tear ran down her cheek, onto her lip and she wiped it away with her tongue. A thought grabbed her attention that events had conspired to deny her the only chance she had ever had at ending her solitary existence. The new life she hoped to have shared with Kyle now seemed impossible. At first, her throat clammed up as she fought her emotions, but then the tears streamed and she eased off the gas pedal.