Missing: The Body of Evidence Read online

  ‘Promise me you had nothing to do with his murder.’

  ‘What? Do you take me for an idiot, for God’s sake?’

  It wasn’t exactly a promise, but knowing he was unlikely to own up if he had; she gave him a summary of events since the last time she had seen him, including the visit to Dora’s, and opened up about her weird dreams and events with the glass breaking. The only thing she left out was her encounter with Bill. When she had finished, he sat on the corner of the bed and sighed.

  Her dad said, ‘Look, I’ve not been honest with you. I suppose you’d better know.’

  He patted the mattress and she joined him. ‘Your mother said she had a gift, and she suspected she had passed it on to you, but I never believed in all that mumbo jumbo. It wasn’t that you just had imaginary friends. You used to tell us about places you’d visited. I came home on leave one time and you described the canteen at Fort Bragg, but you’d never been there. Gotta say, it knocked me back. But, like I say, you grew out of it. Then the weirdest of things happened. I was in a tight spot, held down by sniper fire. Long and short is, I heard your mom’s voice and she guided me away from the danger. Trouble is, when I returned home she was in a coma in the hospital and never recovered, so we never got the chance to talk about it. Damnedest thing is, a few nights back, I dreamt she came to me in a dream and asked me to help you. I guessed I owed her that for all the shit I gave her.’

  His eyes glazed, and he averted his gaze, but continued.

  ‘I wouldn’t put too much on the mirror breaking. Maybe someone was drilling the wall from the other side, and as you say, all the other incidents have explanations. Anyway, back to business. Best you make your way to the Motel and first thing in the morning you need to see what your attorney has to say.’

  Nancy nodded in agreement, and smiled that Mom had listened to her plea. However, just what he meant by ‘all the shit I gave her’ she thought it best to leave well enough alone. Thoughts that he was helping out of some sense of guilt to Mom and not for any paternal feelings stabbed at her gut.

  ‘I’ll use a payphone to contact you. Tomorrow, I’m going to check out Mary, the spiritualist. She’s the only one who has a link to Astral. Maybe if I follow her, she can lead me to where they’re based.’

  ‘I don’t like that idea. Why don’t we set up surveillance through the boys? Maybe if we check her garbage it will throw up some clues?’

  Nancy chuckled.

  ‘Boys? For God’s sake, Dad, you’re all due for retirement.’

  ‘Don’t mock, we can still give the youngsters a run for their money.’

  ‘Yeah, but these aren’t war games.’

  He stroked his chin.

  ‘Maybe, listen, I don’t have another cell phone, but I have a kind of pager. If you are backed into a corner and can’t get to a phone, activate it and it’ll send me your GPS coordinates. I still say you should wait for us to follow that Mary. If you find where they’re based, report back, and for Christ sake don’t go in on your own, poking your nose around.’

  ‘I’ll be fine, don’t worry.’

  ‘Okay, say goodbye to the boys and I’ll dig out the pager.’

  Nancy followed him into the living room and left him rummaging in a chest of drawers.

  ‘If you’re in a tight spot, you can always stay in the bunker,’ Uncle Dave said.

  ‘No thanks, I had enough of that rat-infested-damp-hell hole when I was a kid.’

  He roared with laughter. ‘Time for a beer?’

  ‘Sorry, things to do.’

  Nancy wasn’t surprised he’d confided her circumstances to his lifelong buddies, but it still peeved her.

  ‘At least that punk isn’t around to testify against ya.’

  He ran his fingers across his throat and grinned. A shudder ran through her body at a vision of Uncle Dave skinning a deer with his hunting knife when she was a child. Her head shook the vision loose as her dad escorted her to the door. He handed her the GPS pager.

  ‘I know what you’re thinking, it’s written all over your face,’ Dad said.

  ‘Yeah, well, let’s just hope I’m thinking wrong, ’cause Uncle Dave, or not, when this is over there’ll be questions to ask.’

  ‘The question you need to be asking is why the hell that shit Logan and his buddy are stalling internal affairs, when Bill’s statement could probably clear you.’

  ‘What is it with you, Logan and Bill?’

  He opened the door and peeked out into the hall without answering.

  ‘All clear. Let me know how it goes with your attorney.’

  By the scowl on his face, he didn’t seem to be able to hustle her out of the nest and through the door quickly enough. At the bottom of the stairway, Nancy opened the exit door to sheets of rain pounding the parking lot. She cursed at having parked so far away. Pulling her jacket over her head, she made a dash for her car.

  Soaked through to her skin, the drive to the Motel was as uncomfortable for her body as it was for her mind dwelling on events. A glance in the rear-view mirror and her heart skipped. Flashing lights and the sound of a siren grew closer and louder. Tempered with the chances of crashing at speed on the wet road surface, the temptation to make a run for it was short lived and she slowed. The police car pulled out alongside her and sped past. Her entire body sighed and merged with her seat at the relief of seeing his taillights disappearing in the swirl of the downpour.

  She pulled in to the motel parking lot, parked outside the office and dashed inside. The guy at reception handed Nancy a key to her room. His gaze lingered longer than she was comfortable with and made her nervous. His fingers trembled and his cheeks flushed.

  ‘Is there a problem?’ Nancy asked.

  Chapter 57

  The room in the motel smelled musty. Nancy had not noticed it before, but there was clearly a problem, with water trickling down the wallpaper on one wall. She was just pleased to be out of the rain, showered and into a dry change of clothes. Lying on the bed, hands rested behind her head on the pillow, she stared at the ceiling and wondered where to begin her story for her attorney. Reaching out for her purse on the bedside table, she took out her notebook and ballpoint. Nancy chewed at the pen cover, searching for inspiration. Ideas formed and she started to take notes when her pen ran out of ink. Searching her mind, she hit on an alternative. She rolled off the bed and searched her jacket pockets for the Dictaphone Bill had given her and sat back on the bed. Her finger clicked the ON button and she began reciting.

  ‘There are three… no, two separate issues. The first is the…. Damn.’ The light went out the Dictaphone. ‘Batteries?’

  A battery popped out when she removed the cover. Her jaw dropped. What the… In a cavity behind where the battery had been, she saw a small object with a tail. It was smaller than the one her dad had removed from under the hood of her car, but it was obviously a tracking device.

  A rush of thoughts sent her mind into a dizzy spin. Bill? In her immediate recollection, she could not remember anyone who could have had access to the Dictaphone since Bill gave it to her. Fast-forwarding events, it struck her. She had taken off her jacket in Dad’s living room before talking to him in the bedroom. Nancy threw the Dictaphone against the wall.

  ‘God, what the hell is going on?’

  Leaping from the bed, Nancy scurried to the window and peeked through the curtains. A picture of the guy at reception came to mind. Maybe, she thought, it hadn’t been a lecherous ogle, but recognition of who she was. Nancy slapped her thigh and stamped a foot. Logan could have guessed she wasn’t staying at the apartment and sent out teams showing her photo to receptionists at hotels and motels in the area. Just what was so serious for him to do that and to put out an APB, escaped her reasoning. Her heart began to pound as a feeling of vulnerability descended. Whatever they wanted to speak to her about, she wanted to walk in with her head held high and not with a stoop and handcuffed, led like a common criminal. Going down to the station of her own volition, rather th
an skulking around, seemed like a preferable option.

  She grabbed her coat, purse and clothing bag and rushed out to her car using her coat to shelter her from the rain. Nancy set off onto the open road, the wipers struggling hard to keep the view ahead clear. Through the haze of rain hitting the windshield, a convoy of red and blue distorted, flashing lights approached in the opposite direction. Stepping on the gas pedal, she caught up with a truck in front of her and tucked in behind it. Four police cars sped past in her periphery vision and she saw them in her rear-view mirror turning into the motel parking lot. Four cars. Christ what do they think I’ve done? It crossed her mind that whoever was behind trying to frame her could possibly have concocted some other new frame up.

  The time on the dashboard clock read 12: 32. Any thoughts she had of going to the station after midnight, without an attorney in tow were put on hold. If they had something with which they could charge her, suffering the indignity of sleeping in a cell overnight wasn’t an option in her mind.

  It was slow going, driving towards her attorney’s office. Nancy turned down a side street and into the attorney’s parking lot. Parking up behind a garbage dumpster, she turned off the ignition and lights and sank into the seat. The rain pounded hard on the roof leaving her wondering if the hell she was about to endure was worth her pride. Being locked up had to be preferable. Nancy wound down the seat and did her best to curl into the foetal position.

  Paranoia festered. Bill… Logan… Kyle… internal affairs and the CIA. For all she knew, she reckoned they could all be working together out of some sense of loyalty for the good of America in protecting Astral and she was just collateral damage. Bill and Logan had been in the army together on some kind of Special Operation team. But Kyle? ‘Grrrrrr.’

  Growling and shaking her head did little to dispel the paranoia. Bill just seemed unlikely as a candidate to destroy her. But then, she didn’t really know him. Maybe she thought all the Kennedy bullshit he’d filled her head with was just that… bullshit. The more she thought about it, she wondered if he had planted it there for her to use in her defence to make her look stupid. Even worse, a notion drifted through her mind that maybe he had made the phone call from McDonald’s to tip off the gang, realized his mistake and had the gang set her up. If he had been on the take all along, it would make sense for him to need time to hide his misdemeanours. Perhaps Bill had something over Logan and that’s why Logan was stalling on Bill coming in to make a statement, for him to cover his tracks and not to give her a chance to clear her name. ‘But Kyle, damn him.’ The deliberations became even wilder, spinning ever faster until her mind, finally exhausted, shut down.

  Nancy entered the MRI scanning room. The radiologist’s face looked elongated and distorted, as if she was viewing him in a goldfish bowl. He grabbed her arm and with a push, launched her into the opening of the MRI scanner. The space around her expanded and she stood in what appeared to be a glass tube. The cylinder rumbled and she scrambled to her feet, only to tumble as it began to slowly rotate and it stretched out in her vision like a never ending tunnel. First Logan’s face appeared in front of her, then Bill’s, then the janitor and then Kyle. It was like a vision from Queens ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ video as one by one they sang the word ‘guilty’ holding the last note in a harmonious crescendo. Their faces faded, replaced by others. Her dad, the CIA agents and Mary haunted her, repeating the torture of the word guilty. All the while, the cylinder turned first one way, then the other, tossing her around. The movement stopped, leaving her dizzy and disorientated and she drew her knees to her chest. Total darkness and silence descended. A faint light appeared at the end of the tunnel, glowing brighter, followed by a rapping sound. Cracks appeared in the glass tube and disintegrated with shards of glass showering her as she screamed.

  More rapping sounds and she forced her eyelids open.

  Chapter 58

  Nancy’s body leaped in shock. Shards of light stabbed through her eyelids, which were partially stuck together. The sound of rapping knuckles on glass vibrated through her brain. A swipe of her hand across her lids and a face glowered at her through the car window. Her first instinct was to snicker at his appearance, but she managed to stifle her emotions. His hair was dyed black and greased backward, Elvis style, with long sideburns. The shirt collar sported a bootlace tie with a guitar toggle.

  ‘You’re in my space.’

  The night sleeping rough in the car had taken its toll. Awakening to the crick from hell in her neck and her toes curled with cramps, Nancy fought to get the words out.

  ‘Sorry, I have an appointment at nine with my attorney.’

  ‘Miss Roberts?’

  ‘That’s me.’

  It was hard to work out which to rub first, the pain in her neck or her toes. She pressed her toes on the pedals and rubbed her neck.

  ‘Jeff Hayward, I guess I’m your attorney.’ Nancy pressed the auto-window button. To the sound of whirring, the window opened. ‘I’ll block you in. We can shuffle the cars around after your appointment.’

  Nancy opened the car door and climbed out of the driver’s seat. Rising to her full height, she shook his hand and looked him up and down. His tight pants and snakeskin boots complemented his attempt at Elvis impersonation and made her wonder if he would be the right choice to represent her.

  ‘Do you have a bathroom where I can freshen up?’

  ‘Sure, there’s one in reception.’

  He scuttled off toward a back door to the offices. Nancy strolled around the parking lot until she felt comfortable walking. She returned to the car and took hold of her overnight bag before heading to reception.

  With a quick wash down in the bathroom, a squirt of deodorant and some freshly applied lipstick; she stood outside her attorney’s door. He must have seen her shadow through the frosted-glass door as there was no need to knock.

  ‘Come in.’

  The vision before her as she opened the door, gave her less confidence than his appearance. Piled high on every surface were files. Instead of the expected certificates on the walls, pictures of Elvis adorned every space. Jeff stepped forward and removed a pile of files from a chair.

  ‘Sit down and tell me what I can do for you. Sorry about the mess, we had a break-in this weekend.’

  ‘Did they take anything?’

  ‘Well, they opened the safe, but it’s always empty.’

  An adrenalin rush started palpitations. Her mind worked overtime.

  ‘What about the items I left with your receptionist? I asked her to keep them safe.’

  He opened his briefcase and took out an envelope and a file.

  ‘What’s so important about these?’

  Her body sighed.

  ‘You have them?’

  ‘Yeah, took them home.’

  Nancy fished in her purse and handed him the note from Bill.

  ‘You need to add this to the file. I don’t know where to start.’

  ‘The beginning is usually a good place.’

  Nancy had rehearsed this over a thousand times last night, but it came out a jumbled mess.

  ‘Whoa, steady on there. Slow down. So, let’s get this right, you’re a detective and someone is setting you up to say you’re on the take. You’re suspended and need to supply internal affairs with a copy of the trust deed from your mom’s estate and the provenance from the money used to buy your apartment. We have all that here, so no problem there. Now what are all these photos about?’

  Nancy explained as best she could, when he stopped her in mid-sentence.

  ‘Forget the conspiracy theories, why have they put out an APB on you?’

  ‘That’s just it, I don’t know.’

  He reached for the handset, picked it up and dialled a number.

  ‘Well, let’s find out.’ He put his hand to the mouthpiece. ‘Who is it again… Logan?’

  Nancy nodded and listened to the one-sided call as he introduced himself as her attorney and started asking questions. He pulled a notep
ad toward him and poised a pencil, ready to make notes.

  ‘And how exactly can she help you?’

  At that question, she wished he had put the phone on speaker.

  ‘Why the search warrant and APB.’

  He smiled toward her and winked.

  ‘Really? Two of them?’

  The pencil point broke as he pressed on the notepad; his smile replaced with a frown

  ‘So is she a suspect?’

  He looked directly into her eyes.

  ‘Okay, she’ll come in voluntarily, but I doubt she can be of help. We’re on our way.’

  With the handset back on the cradle, he chewed on the pencil and swivelled on his chair, all the while staring directly at her.

  ‘Well?’ Nancy gripped the chair armrests.

  ‘Hmm.’ He removed the pencil from his mouth and set it down on the desk. ‘They want to question you about not one, but two homicides.’

  Chapter 59

  Climbing the stairway to the office with Jeff, her attorney, following her, Nancy had not fancied the claustrophobic ride in the elevator, preferring the long walk to burn off some angst. Cold sweats appeared on her forehead as she approached the entrance to reception. She caught sight of Claire through the glass-swing doors and their eyes briefly met. Claire picked up the handset and kept looking over at Nancy, who breezed into reception, throwing both doors open and entered like a gust of wind.

  ‘Hi, Claire.’

  ‘Someone is on their way to meet you.’

  What, no “hon”?

  Claire averted her eyes and shuffled papers on her desk. The swing doors to the main office parted and Kyle rushed through, still sporting a band-aid on his forehead.

  ‘Thank goodness you arrived. Here, I bought you this to make up for the one ruined in the lake.’

  He thrust out his hand, holding a wristwatch and cocked his head to one side with a faint hopeful smile on his lips. Nancy posed akimbo, held her lips tight and tapped her foot before considering her reply.