Missing: The Body of Evidence Page 20

  Through the hazy mist in her eyes, the orange glow of a street light formed an iris that emitted shards of light. She checked the rear-view mirror, and saw there were no vehicles following. Her dad’s instructions were clear, and from experience, she knew not to go against his orders. She was to drive to her apartment and he would follow five minutes later. Once at her apartment she was to wait inside her hallway and to leave the door unlocked. It all seemed on the melodramatic side, but she thought it best to humour him, especially as he had found the tracking device. All the same, left to her thoughts, a sense of dread descended as to what he had in mind once they arrived at her apartment.

  Turning into the cul-de-sac, she parked and turned off the ignition. Nancy took a tissue from her purse and dried her eyes. Slipping out of her seat, she locked the car door and walked slowly to the entrance. Her eyes darted in all directions, but her head remained facing directly ahead. She hit the timer-light switch at the entrance, took off her shoes and tiptoed up the stairway. Strangely, she felt relaxed; no heart pounding and no cold shivers. But then, this was her fortress and once inside she thought the world could go to hell. Turning the key in her lock, the door creaked open and she turned on the light, closing the door behind her without engaging the bolt. Taking the gun and ammo from her purse, she clipped the rounds into position and waited.

  In the ten minutes that she lingered in the hallway, time slowed down and it felt as though he would never arrive. Nancy wondered if the expedition to her apartment was some sort of last fling for her dad, to make him appear to be somebody in the eyes of the world. As an ex-marine and now a lowly security guard, she had the idea that his actions were not out of some paternal instinct to rescue a daughter in distress; rather it was a means of making himself important and for him to try and capture one last buzz of a mission. The urge to check her answer phone to see if either Kyle, or his mom had phoned, tore away at her insides, but a vision of her dad growling instructions at her, kept her will power in check. Her neck craned, ever listening. Footsteps on the stairway made their way to her door and stopped. Her dad’s voice whispered.

  ‘It’s me.’

  She tucked her gun into her trousers belt. The door opened, her dad held his fingers to his lips and then ran his finger and thumb across them in the manner of a zipper closing. Nancy wanted to laugh, but held back and followed him along the hallway and into the living room. The games they played when she was young hung in her mind. In those days, she latched onto every instruction fearing her life depended on following his words to the letter, but any respect she may have held for him was long gone, leaving only disappointment.

  He closed the curtains, switched on the television and then turned on the light in the living room. At his side, he held an aluminium case, not unlike the one CSI Tracy used. She stood and watched, amused, as he unclasped the fasteners of the case and took out what looked like a baton. His eyes inspected the ceiling and walls, before he disappeared into the other rooms.

  On returning to the room, he flicked a switch on the side of the baton grip and started to waft it around the furnishings. Standing in front of the painting of the Pine Mountain landscape, he ran the baton over the surface. A red neon light glowed and flashed on the shaft in his hands. First, he placed his finger on his lips, and then planted two fingers pointing to his eyes and then directed both fingers at her. With a hand signal, he beckoned her to join him. Nancy’s jaw dropped open when he lifted the picture away from the wall and he took a picture of the discovery on his cell phone. There was a cream button object with a wire tail, not unlike the tracker device. Listening device? The pit of her gut twisted at the thought that her privacy had been violated. He held up four fingers and pointed to the device. She assumed he had found four of the bugs. Her legs weakened and she flopped down with a thump on the sofa. Gently, he placed the frame against the wall and then walked to the kitchen.

  A trance descended as she stared at the picture of the cabin. Recollection of the upturned toilet seat and her adjusting the picture frame danced through her mind. Try as she may she couldn’t recall if it was before or after she met Bill at McDonald’s. The left side of her head throbbed as she continued to gaze at the landscape.

  Nancy imagined floating over the scene at the cabin in the aftermath of the wildfire. It was a night, but the moon allowed her to see the dark spherical shape of where the fire had destroyed the trees and brush. The smell of burning pine hung in the air. She floated down to the parking area next to the blackened stone of the chimney stack, where once the cabin stood. She sensed someone watching her and did a three-sixty.

  ‘You should have left when I told you. It’s not safe here, he can find you. Leave now.’

  It was the haunting voice of David, Kelly’s son, but he was nowhere in sight. An arm gripped her shoulder. The vision wavered. She rubbed her eyes and opened them to a flood of light.

  The visions in her over-imaginative dreams were becoming a worry, but mindful of what the doctor said, she thought it all part of her deep psyche telling her she needed to get out of her situation and start life afresh. Her dad stood in front of her, he looked concerned, and held up four fingers and a thumb. Five bugs? He took her by the hand and led her to the computer desk. She sat at the desk and her dad manoeuvred behind the computer, handing her a disc. Nancy switched on the computer and placed the disc in the drive.

  A box on the screen appeared inviting her to press return to start an anti-virus scan. Her dad fidgeted the camera perched on the top of the screen between his fingers and peeled off a label to reveal a red neon light and then replaced the label. He shook his head and made a cut sign with his fingers across his throat. Nancy’s finger hovered over the return key to start the anti-virus disc and diverted to turn off the computer. Her dad pointed for her to go to the kitchen and he picked up a pen and a sheet of paper from the print tray. In the kitchen, he set the sheet of paper down on the work surface and wrote a message.

  ‘Five listening devices. Telephone bugged. Computer hacked. They have control of computer camera. Turn on radio in bedroom. Get clothes and notebook. Do it quietly. Surveillance van in next cul-de-sac. We’ll leave by the fire exit.’

  Nancy glanced at her dad as they made their way to the bedroom. He appeared to her as a stranger and she realized just how little she knew about him. She wondered just what sort of security guard could pick up all these cloak and dagger skills.

  In the bedroom, he closed the blinds and handed her a black-garbage bag he had picked up from the kitchen. She turned on the radio and then pointed to her baggage case on the top of the clothes closet, but he shook his head. Nancy filled the black bag with enough changes of clothes for a week. A rummage around on the shelves in her closet, and she picked up her work purse, checking that the notebook was safe inside. Lifting the blinds at one corner, she picked up her old police officer badge off the sill. Her dad sat on the corner of the bed, raised his eyebrows and tilted his head and he watched as she slipped the badge into her jacket pocket.

  As an afterthought, Nancy didn’t feel comfortable carrying her dad’s gun, and reopened the closet door. From the bottom shelf, she retrieved a shoebox. The pit of her stomach churned at the lightness of the box and she set it down on the bed. Her eyes darted from her dad to the box; she opened the lid and removed the shoes and crepe paper. Her eyes popped with her worst fear realized... the 38-calibre handgun was missing. Nancy bit her lip, signalled for him to wait. She headed for the kitchen. Nancy scribbled a note, before returning to the bedroom and handed her dad the note. He rolled his eyes as he read her note, took the pen and paper and wrote a message for her.

  ‘Worry about it after.’

  He crumpled the paper and put it in his pocket.

  She turned off the light and radio, and then they walked quietly to the living room. Her dad walked over to the computer table and picked up the crystal ornament, presented to her at the station, inspected it and then set it down. He nodded his head in what she hoped was ap
proval and took the bag of clothes from her. Nancy walked over to the sofa and lifted the cushion. A cold wave trickled down to her toes and a red mist descended. The case file Tracy had given her for the incident with the professor was missing.

  Chapter 48

  Light from the passing street lamps intermittently illuminated the inside of the car. Hair whiplashed her face from the vortex created on the back seat with the driver’s window open to the elements. The back of her dad’s motionless head, gave the impression this was just a normal outing, save for his alert eyes repeatedly darting to the rear-view. A man of few words, he left Nancy alone with tortured thoughts. The more she tried to put events of the past week into some sort of logical order, the more scrambled they became. Slouched down on the rear seat, she rummaged through her purse and felt what she was looking for. She held Tracy’s pen drive to her lips, kissed it and then replaced it in her purse. Recovering her notebook, her fingers flicked the pages. Her skin crawled as she found the notes for the day of the gang bust. The day, time and date flashed on the page as if lit by a strobe light as they hit a built up area at speed. Images passed through her mind of her taking a bath the night before she met Bill at McDonald’s. A raised toilet seat and the vision of her adjusting the slanted picture frame, honed her memory to the sequence of events.

  The car geared down to the sound of clicking, and an orange light flashing from the dashboard. An overhead green traffic light signal told the story they were nearing her dad’s apartment.

  ‘Stay low, I’m going to park around back.’

  Tops of Palm trees silhouetted against the night sky passed by and the car turned again, before her dad parked the car.

  ‘Wait here. I’ll go and open the fire door.’

  The situation with all the spy stuff was hard to comprehend. As she waited for him to return, a feeling she was on the outside looking in on her situation sent an icy blast running through her body. The rear car door opened and her dad picked up her sack of clothes. Nancy eased out of the back seat and closed the car door, following her dad through the fire exit and up the stairway to the apartment.

  ‘Black, two sugars and make it strong, that last one was like witch piss.’

  He opened the door to her old bedroom with the garbage bag over his shoulder and she walked on by to the kitchen.

  Why take my gun from the shoebox?

  Nancy set the coffee mugs down on the table and sat opposite her dad.

  ‘That’s some shit you’re in,’ Dad said

  ‘I guess, but what the hell do I do?’

  ‘First, stop feeling sorry for yourself and thinking like a civilian. Get your detective head on. We’ll copy the photos of the bugs onto a couple of discs. I’ve taken a picture of the surveillance van but it’s not clear, so I wrote down the registration number.’

  ‘What then?’

  ‘I’m guessing you need an attorney.’

  ‘But I haven’t done anything.’

  ‘Listen, this is not boy scout stuff. Do as you’re told. Tomorrow, first thing, report the gun stolen and get a chit of the report. I doubt internal affairs would steal a gun. Then go to an attorney, give him a copy of the disc and the chit and explain about the suspension. Before that, we’ll hire a car, and you need to book into a motel.’

  ‘Motel?’

  ‘Whoever is watching you will know about this address.’

  ‘CIA?’

  ‘Could be, but there are private agencies. They don’t all work for the goodies. Maybe it’s someone you’ve busted, holding a grudge.’

  ‘Do I tell Logan?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘Where the hell did you pick all this surveillance stuff from anyway, I thought you guarded buildings? I’ve never heard of anyone hacking and controlling a computer camera.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I started out as a security guard, but I now work for the industrial espionage and personal security division. Peeping Tom software to take control of computer cameras, as someone has done with yours, is old hat. The tape over the neon light was the thing that gave it away.’

  ‘Why not tell Logan? He was the one that bought me time by saying Bill couldn’t be contacted.’

  ‘And why would he do that? Maybe he wanted to give you enough time and rope to hang yourself. Trust no one, and wait and see what your attorney says. In the meantime, use a disguise, and only use payphones.’

  ‘What do you have against Bill and Logan?’

  His penetrating gaze went right through her and he scowled.

  ‘No reason. It could be that it would be better for everyone to think you are still at the apartment, so we can feed them misinformation until we can figure a way out of the mess.’

  We? ‘And how do I do that?’

  ‘Park away from the apartment, knock on a neighbour’s window around back, tell them you’ve lost your key and to let you in through the fire door. Then use something to block the catch so you can come and go as you please.’

  Thoughts of the, We, gave comfort that she was not alone and maybe the start of rebuilding some sort of relationship that only twenty-four hours earlier would have been impossible. Nancy smiled.

  ‘Thanks for all this, Dad.’

  He shuffled awkwardly on his seat and averted his gaze.

  ‘It’s what your mom would have expected. Thank me when you’re in the clear. Time for bed, we need you alert tomorrow to work out a plan and to start some digging.’

  Nancy walked out of the room to her bedroom.

  What Mom would have expected? The words cut, as if he had sliced the nice fruit decorations from a cake and devoured them in one bite.

  Her bedroom had not changed since the day she left, fifteen years ago. Trophies for her winning judo and rifle shooting competitions covered the dresser. Nancy emptied the sack of clothes onto the bed and opened the closet to put them away. Her judo and fatigues outfits still hung there. On the top shelf lay a stack of survival books. The memorabilia reminded her of the life she had walked away from, and hoped never to return to, in her furthest nightmares. Shoulders sagged and with heavy eyelids, Nancy collapsed on to the bed. Exhausted mentally and physically, taking a shower could wait until the morning. She struggled out of her clothes, dumped them on the floor, and wriggled under the duvet.

  Lying there, she knew her dad was right. She needed to shrug off the emotional day’s events, to become organized, and to put her future with Kyle on a back burner however much it hurt. Tomorrow would be about surviving the here and now. Sitting back and doing nothing, leaving her future in the hands of the authorities, wasn’t in her nature... nor was it an option. She made an oath... her fight back to clear her name would begin in the morning.

  Chapter 49

  Disorientated, Nancy awoke at the sound of a thud. She sat upright, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her dad sat in a chair facing the bed and stooped to pick up his gun without taking his gaze from hers. She had puffs around her eyes and they smarted with what felt like grit when she rubbed them.

  ‘You talk in your sleep. Who’s David?’

  ‘Don’t know. I slept like a baby. What are you doing in here?’

  ‘I’ve been here all night, just in case things escalate.’

  Escalate? She had a good idea who David was, but had no recollections of a dream. The last thing she wanted was to tell him about her visions. His gesture was appreciated, even more so when he asked if she wanted a coffee and left the room.

  Showering and dressing, she joined him in the kitchen and sat at the table.

  ‘What have you got planned after we pick up the rental car?’ he asked. ‘I’m going to have to work.’

  ‘First, report the missing gun. Then I need to go to the bank to collect a bank card and to withdraw some cash, I’m low on funds to book into a motel.’

  ‘Don’t go using your card outside the bank. Whoever is putting tabs on you can trace your movements through purchases.’

  ‘I’m not stupid. I am a detective.’

&nbs
p; ‘All the same, I’ll loan you some cash, you don’t want to draw out a large amount.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘What then?’

  ‘I’ll dye my hair when I get into a motel, but first I need to go to the apartment. Logan will be phoning. After that, I’ll go to see an attorney.’

  ‘Do you want me to arrange to have the punk who made the deposit picked up? I know people who could get to the truth.’

  ‘No way, it’ll only make matters worse. Besides, Logan said he’s gone to ground.’

  ‘My friends wouldn’t just ask questions in the neighbourhood, I’m sure they could find him by stepping on a few toes.’

  His offer amazed her and she wondered just who these people were that he knew. She could see from his expression that he was deadly earnest.

  ‘Listen, Dad, I appreciate the offer, but I prefer to do my own digging.’

  ‘Okay, but the offer is there. I’ll be doing my own investigating when I get to work and I’ll check out the registration number on the surveillance van.’

  ‘But... oh never mind.’

  Whatever murky world he moved in, she concluded it was best not to know. They finished their coffees, he handed her some bills, a copy of the photographs on a computer disc and they set off to the car rental company.

  ***

  With all the formalities completed, he tossed her the key to the rental car. Nancy turned to her dad and gave him a hug. His hands stayed limp by his side.

  ‘Thanks, Dad.’

  His cheeks rouged, at odds with the coldness of his stance and she peeled away to save his embarrassment. Maybe, she thought, it was a little too soon for him show any affection, but at least they were making headway.