Command Indecision (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (17 page)

"And the guns?"

"Couldn't tell you. Not my forte. The van had a logo like a florist’s on it. Flowers in a green circle. There was some lettering, but I didn't see what. I got a plate."

Solomon nodded.

"Did I do the right thing?" I asked, when he was silent for some time.

"Yes," he said, finally, his shoulders lifting slightly in a barely-there shrug.
Then,
"Maybe you shouldn't have chased them."

"They k
idnapped a woman in front of me!
"

"You were lucky they shot the tires out, rather than killing you straight away."
His voice was deadly cold, strained.

"Good point. At least the van is a lead," I added hopefully.

"Probably stolen."

There went my theory about rampaging, gun-toting florists.

"I think I should call this in," I said, tentatively. "Garrett said the fraud squad wanted to know why he looked up Jillian Connor; and Maddox and his partner were at her house. This might be connected to them." Much as I hated to help Maddox right now, I had to be the bigger person. Roxanne was hurt, maybe unconscious
,
and if not, then definitely afraid; and no one except us knew she was missing. Much as I understood the nature of keeping our investigations confidential, this was serious.
I had to tell someone.

"Keep us out of it," was all Solomon said, which I took as his consent.

I did the best thing I could think of under the circumstances, I called my brother.

"'Lo," said Garrett.

"It's me. Remember when I asked you to look up Jillian Connor and you got a visit from the fraud squad?"

"I can't tell you anything because I don't know anything," said Garrett, sounding tired. "And you know I wouldn't tell you anything anyway."

I bet he would if he needed an urgent babysitter, but that was a card to pull out another time.
"I know. Actually, I want you to give them some information."

"Go on."

I explained what I'd seen and waited while Garrett noted the location of Roxanne's car and the van details.

"I bet her car is stripped by the time I get someone
from Chester PD
out to check on it. What are you caught up in?" he asked, concern lacing his voice.

"I don't know," I replied, "but can you make sure that info gets to Maddox, please?"

"Want me to tell him it's from you?"

"No! Can you say it's an anonymous tip?"

"Will do. You owe me babysitting. A Saturday night," Garrett added before clicking off.

"He'll pass it on and keep us out of it," I said. Solomon nodded that he heard.

When we got back to the apartment, h
e ran his hands over every inch of me;
I think to reassure himself that I wasn't in any way hurt. Well, the rug burn I received after we didn't make it to the bedroom would probably chafe in the morning, but that was hardly as horrible as being beaten by the butt of a gun.

~

Ruth asked me to work an extra day. After weighing up the pros and cons of sitting at the apartment, mentally writing my will or working a new angle, I said I'd come in. It was no contest really.

I was
just
checking through Mitch's calendar, making sure he had everything he needed, when the door opened behind me and footsteps entered.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" said the voice behind me. It was a Boston accent, gruff and authoritative. "I'm looking for Captain Mitch McAuley."

"One moment." I plastered on a smile as I rose, a smile that froze as I turned. The speaker's voice didn’t ring a bell, but I recognized him all right. He was the man that came to Jillian's house when Solomon and I made a fast exit out the back. I didn't even need to see his badge. Close up, everything about him said
“
cop
”
, from the worn expression to the close-cut hair, from the navy suit to the striped
tie, knotted neatly about his neck
. My dad would have approved of his tie. He couldn't abide the elastic version
s. This was a proper knot, hand-
tied with pride.

R
ight behind him stood Maddox.

My heart pounded, and for a long moment, we stared at each other. I braced myself for the questions, but they never came. Looking at Maddox, I think he was as shocked as I.
He blinked.

"He's not here right now. Can I help you gentlemen with anything?" I asked as I approached the counter. Just my luck that Ruth was on an errand, leaving me to man the desk.
I couldn’t even hide. Well, I could. But it would make for some awkward moments, given that they had already seen me.

"We have a meeting with him in ten minutes. I'm Detective Hennessey and this is Detective Maddox." Detective Hennessey flashed his badge. Behind him, Maddox narrowed his eyes and flashed his too, not that he needed to, since I'd seen his badge on semi-regular evenings for the past few months.

I gulped. "Take a seat." I indicated to the small waiting area
with a flap of my hand. "I'm sure Captain McAuley will
be along soon."

"Thanks," said Hennessey, barely looking at me
as he turned away
.
Maddox gave me another narrow-eyed gaze, and inhaled deeply, his mouth tightening into a cross look I was very familiar with.

I flashed wide eyes at him
,
warning him completely unnecessarily to be careful, and returned to my desk,
moving my chair
slightly to the side
so I could see them from the corner of my eye. Hennessey picked up a newspaper and opened it to the sports section. Maddox crossed his arms, leaned back against the wall and burned a hole in me as I tried to focus my attention on the printout of Mitch's calendar. I cursed myself for not thinking to
actually
check with
whom his appointments were
. There it was, plain as day, the pair of them penciled in at the appointed hour.

After five minutes, which seemed to stretch on forever, the bell rang above the door and I looked up to see Mitch enter, a couple of manila files parked under one arm.

"Your two o'clock's here," I said, pas
sing him a sheaf of email print
outs as instructed by Ruth, and nodding towards Montgomery's finest.
And Maddox.

I
kept a careful eye on them
as they went through the motions of introductions and shaking hands; then I was dispatched to get coffee while they retreated to Mitch's office. I got them their drinks, adding sachets of creamer and sugar, and took them in, my listening ears set to “snoop.”

"Thanks. This is my assistant, Lexi. She just started so she won't be much help to you," Mitch explained, probably pre-empting any moves to interview me.

"That so?" Maddox took his coffee, his face unreadable, as he glanced up at me.

"My last assistant was Jillian Connor. I'm sure you've heard," said Mitch, his eyes fixed on the officers like I didn't matter.
“That is why you’re here?”

"Jillian Connor
is part of why we're here," agree
d Hennessey. "We're investigating the possible disappearance of her sister, Roxanne."

Mitch nodded as he rocked back in his chair. "She works on base
but she’s in catering
.
I haven’t heard anything about a disappearance.
Have you met Roxanne yet, Lexi?"

"I don't know her," I said, which was semi-truthful.

"Did you know the deceased?" Maddox asked
, careful to keep his face impassive.
"Jillian Connor?"

I shook my head and held still. "No. She passed away before I started."

"You haven't been on base long?"
He sipped his coffee and watched me with raised eyebrows. Hennessey apparently thought nothing of it. I was just an office administrator to him.

I held back the scowl. Maddox
was testing me and he knew it. "Just a week."
I passed the cup to Captain McAuley, who took it with a nod.

"Like I said, Lexi's new," Mitch cut in.

Maddox continued. "Did you happen to see Roxanne Connor around base? Perhaps you saw her in passing? She's about your height.
Brown hair
."

"Um, I don't know, maybe. There was a Roxanne who came by the office a
few
days ago. Could be the same one. Ruth would know, only she just stepped out." I kept it simple as my heart pounded. Clearly, he'd got Garrett's message.
I was glad about that.
I wonder if he knew it came via me, or if Garrett made up some story about a tip. Maybe he stuck it on an informant.

"We're investigating a report that she was kidnapped in
downtown Chester
last night."

"That's terrible." I feigned surprise.

"We got an anonymous tip."

I shrugged.

Maddox continued, "
We think s
he was snatched on her way home."

"Scary."

Maddox opened his mouth like he was going to ask another question, waiting for me to slip up, so instead, I jumped in. "Is she okay?" The
“
d
”
word was too sad to contemplate, but I had a feeling that things weren't looking good for Roxanne. What the hell could the sisters be involved in
that culminated in one being killed and the other kidnapped
?

"We don't know. We haven't found her yet."

"Well, I hope you find her." I edged backwards,
tray in hand, towards the door. Maddox's narrowed eyes watched
me leave.
He lifted one hand to stroke his jaw in the way he did when he was really, really cross.

"
There are
plenty of cameras around the area where she was reportedly kidnapped. I'm sure we'll get something interesting off the tapes." His voice had a warning tone in it.

"Uh, good luck?"
My voice pitched higher as
I edged out and shut the door softly, feeling sick. It hadn't occurred to me that there might be tapes. On the plus side, this was good because maybe the tapes picked up something that could help the police find Roxanne. On the down side, maybe I was on the tapes too, and within a day, Maddox would be able to confirm what he already suspected: that I hadn't resurrected my career as super temp and was, instead, working a job.

"Coming to lunch, Lexi?" ask
ed Gretchen, pausing by the
metal filing cabinet.

"Just going to finish this," I said, holding up the papers.

"Want me to bring something back for you?"

I darted a look over her shoulder. Mitch was talking
and Hennessey had opened a notepad, his pen poised over it
. "No. I'll get something later. Thanks."

"No problem." Gretchen walked away with Denise, leaving me alo
ne in the office. I watched the detectives
through the interior window while pretendin
g to file, wishing I could read lips. A
fter a while, they all stood, shaking hands again
,
and Mitch showed them out before shutting the door. Hennessey nodded to me as they left and Maddox shot a scowl at me, which I returned belligerently, relieved that he exited the building.

Grabbing
my cell phone
, I
fired off a message to Solomon, telling him Maddox had been here
on official business
.
As I hit “send,” I saw
Mitch pick
up his desk phone and jab
at the numbers, turning to look out the window.

A couple minutes later, my least favorite detective was back. He walked through the
reception desk
swinging door, right up behind me and I stiffened. Skidding my chair back, I stood, straightening my spine and raising my chin defiantly.

"You've got some explaining to do," he said
in a low voice, despite the empty office
.
He jabbed a finger at the door.
"My partner is out there thinking I'm a klutz for letting my cell phone fall out of my pocket, so make it quick."

I held my ground. "I don't have to explain anything to you."

"Sure you do. You message me that photo, don't return my calls, and apparently leave town. Then, surprise, surprise, I find you popping up during an investigation. I don't know which question I want answered first!"

"Pick one."

"Fine. Are you really temping?"

I cut a glance at Mitch. He was still on the phone, his body turned towards the window, his back to us. "Yes and no," I said.

"Which one?"

My eyebrows pinched together as I gave him an apologetic shrug.
"More towards the no."