In Case of Death (The Adventures of Gabriel Celtic Book 3) (6 page)

“Change is scary…you scared the hell out of me when you showed up, but I’ve never regretted one moment of our time together.”

With that said I leaned back into the seat and started gently pushing the swing again.

“The reality is that with this case spread out like it is, I think we could use the help. And the guy’s story appeals to me. He’s been cast off like an old sock, with no consideration for any usefulness that might remain.”

“Plus,” I added as an afterthought, “He said he’d work for free.”

“Free?” Abby asked with a gleam in her eye as she stood up, offering her hand to help me up.

“Why didn’t you say so?”

I couldn’t help but smile as I stood up from the swing and started walking back to the house. Even though she had latched on to the cheap help aspect of our conversation, I believed that I had gotten through to her on another level as well.

It wasn’t always easy having a child, especially working with one. But I now believed that the rewards were well worth it.

“I’d like to meet this Preacher fellow, why don’t you see if he can come over for supper?”

I nodded with a smile and got out my notebook to look up his number. It was indeed turning into an interesting day!

Chapter 14

September 15, 1999

“I haven’t come up with much yet,” Abby declared as she entered the kitchen behind me. I had been sitting at the kitchen table, going over my notes and trying to brainstorm how to approach this case. I had been secretly hoping that Abby would come up with at least a thread of a clue to follow from the web. Apparently that was not to be the case.

“Nothing?” I asked as she sat down at the table carrying a small stack of papers.

“Oh, I found a few things,” she said as she handed the stack to me. “Background mostly, all of the men have information about them out there at least. While they are far from famous, they seem to be well known in their own circles…like your friend’s husband.

She reached over and pulled one of the paper clipped sections out of the pile. A color picture of Tom Lassiter appeared before me at the top of a page.

“This article is about him receiving some boring award from a petroleum engineering group. This is pretty typical of the men I looked up, well known in their field, and the company they work for…if they didn’t own it.”

I read through the article and turned to the second page where there was a picture of Tom receiving his reward…with May beaming towards the camera at his side.

“She’s pretty,” Abby said from over my shoulder. “That’s your old friend that hired us?”

“One of them,” I stated flatly as I finished reading the article. “The other is Raven Forester.”

“Ahhh…married to Calvin Forester!”

She dug through the pile and came up with a larger clipped together section.

“I have a lot of information on them!”

Paging through this stack, there were article after article of Calvin’s business accolades. Turning the next page, I was confronted with an image of Calvin with Raven hanging on his arm.

“They are big on the social circuit too, as you can see,” Abby piped in then. Leaning over my shoulder to look closer at the picture, “She’s stunning!”

I had to admit, I agreed with my daughter on the assessment of both of our clients. May had always been beautiful, inside and out. And stunning had also always described Raven’s looks, though not necessarily her inner being.

I again marveled at the change in the women I had witnessed today. Raven for her part had changed the most in my estimation. She seemed truly moved with concern for May’s loss, as well as her own. May hadn’t changed that much, she had always been a caring and concerned individual.

The biggest change was their sudden friendship, sudden at least to me. I would have never fathomed such a pair ever working together harmoniously, much less acting like sisters to one another.

I was shaking my head as I scanned the page when Abby asked, “What’s the matter?”

Shaken from my thoughts, I answered, “nothing,” before looking back down to my reading. “They are just different than I remember them is all.”

“I thought I might go ahead and run down to the sheriff’s department and see what I can find there,” Abby said as she gathered some notes together. “I’ll probably be back in a couple of hours.”

My ears picked up the rumbling of a car outside the house, but the implications of the sound escaped me as I watched Abby quickly gather up some items before running toward the door.

Looking back down at the picture of Raven, I was surprised to find that my pulse rate had risen slightly when I again took in her image. She was certainly still a very smart looking woman, and apparently those same reasons that had made me fall in love with her so long ago could still be triggered by her beauty.

“Bye!” I heard Abby exclaim as she reached the door.

A sudden realization hit me then as I looked up from the picture. Abby was turning the knob as I yelled out, “Abby wait!”

Turning back towards me with a puzzled look as she opened the door, I heard her quick intake of breath when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

“Holy Crap!”

Chapter 15

September 15, 1999

“I have another…project for you Hector.”

About damn time,
Hector thought to himself before answering.

“Good! Where to?”

“Indonesia this time…it may be a test of your language skills.”

A hodgepodge of a country, Hector knew there were over 700 languages and dialects spoken there.

“I’ll get by,” Hector said while keeping the excitement hidden from his voice. “I assume a packet with the details will arrive tomorrow?”

“I’ve changed that part around a little bit this time. I have a secure website that I will be using from now on. I will pass that information on to you by courier tomorrow. Memorize the IP address and your password, and then destroy the copy of the note you receive. You will need to keep this information in your head only…never write it down! Should anyone ever get wind of what I am doing, it would make it harder for them to track me.”

“Ok,” Hector replied evenly, while seething inside. He hated the internet! Although he had an internet connection, he very seldom used it…except for porn of course.

“Look for the package tomorrow,” Bill said before hanging up, “You have a week.”

The line went dead and Hector hung up the receiver.

“Indonesia huh?” he thought out loud as he went to his safe and dialed in the combination. Taking out a stack of passports, he shuffled through them as he worked through the pros and cons of each identity. Finally stopping when a name revealed itself in his hand, he lifted it to his face with a smile.

“I’ve missed you!” he said out loud as he opened the booklet, reliving the travels they had shared as he inhaled the scent of the paper.

“Guess what old friend? We’re going on a trip!”

Putting the rest of his collection back in the safe and spinning the dial to lock it, he moved to the desk to start his preparations.

“To Indonesia!”

Chapter 16

September 15, 1999

The man filled the doorway.

Abby took a step back as she looked up at the person in front of her. Caught off guard, her mind seemed to shift into overdrive, trying to assess her situation.

“Hello little lady…I’m Preacher. And you are Abby I assume?”

I looked at the clock on the wall and realized that it was already 6:00.

“Right on time Preacher,” I called from the table, “although we are running a little behind.”

“Oh crap,” Abby finally found her voice, “I forgot all about it!”

“Not to worry,” Preacher said as he held out his hand in greeting.

Abby grabbed his hand and shook it. “I’m terribly sorry…this case…the day got away from us.”

“Must be a pretty interesting case then,” Preacher said with a smile as he stepped into the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

By then I was up and offering my hand to him. “Come on in and have a seat Preacher, we’ll whip something up in a few minutes.”

The man in the pale blue blazer ambled over to the table and sat down. “Don’t go to any trouble on my account. I’m easy to please.”

I went over with Abby to the fridge to look around for something to eat. I knew that she had intended to fix a roast, but it was way too late to start that.

“How about the leftover chicken and the potato salad?” I asked Abby. She seemed unsure, so I asked Preacher if that was ok.

“Sounds wonderful to me… anything’s better than a microwave dinner!”

Abby pulled out the food and set it on the table while I busied myself making a fresh pot of coffee.

“Let’s eat…I’m starved!” Abby exclaimed as she reached for a piece of chicken.

“Would you mind,” Preacher questioned quietly, “If I were to say grace?”

I had gotten out of the habit since Betty had passed, but nodded as I bowed my head. While he said his short prayer, I wondered to myself what Abby’s religious beliefs were. To my mind, one’s faith was a very personal thing, and I had never thought to ask her about her beliefs.

After he said amen, we dug into the food with gusto, all of us seeming to be hungrier than we had thought. We talked of general things during the meal, the weather mostly. He also had some questions about where he could find this or that in town. Abby took point during this part of the conversation, being the expert in the family about finding
anything
.

After we had finished clearing the table and I had set out some fresh mugs of coffee, we got down to business. Abby had a multitude of questions as she sized up the potential of our visitor. Never coming across as mean, her questions were nonetheless pointed and detailed. As I listened to my daughter cross-examine him, I noticed again the hot feeling on the back of my neck. Rubbing it with my hand, I determined that I would need to get someone to look at it after this case was over.

During the whole interview, Preacher never backed away from anything Abby asked. The only things he couldn’t discuss were things he claimed he wasn’t allowed to discuss, which I had already warned her about.

Seeming finally satisfied, she looked at me as I nodded my head, and then turned back to him with outstretched hand.

“Welcome to our little company,” she said with a smile.

Taking her hand into his with a smile on his lips, he thanked her and then me in turn.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Abby said standing, “I think I’ll head down to the sheriff’s computer…see what I can dig up on these guys.”

Coming around the table, she gave me a hug before leaving. I looked over at Preacher, “Got time to get up to speed on this case?”

“I’ve got nothing but time,” Preacher beamed, “And I’d love to get into the case as soon as possible!”

We spent the rest of the evening going over details and getting to know each other.

I was really starting to like this guy!

Chapter 17

September 16, 1999

The flames rolled off the log, curling their way to the chimney before disappearing into a whiff of smoke. I took another sip of coffee as I relaxed in my dream chair, luxuriating in the warm comfort of the room.

My eyes suddenly felt very heavy, and it was an easy decision to give in to the lure of the next level. Setting down my mug, I closed my eyes as the room blanketed me in its embrace.

I found myself walking up to a familiar door on a cold fall night. Trying to discern the timeframe I was in, I could only recognize that it was May’s parent’s house from the old days.

May opened the door before I even knocked, reaching out and pulling me in by the lapel of my coat. She then kissed me soundly on the lips.

What the hell?

Pushing me away and looking me in the eyes, the bangs of her soft brown hair swayed as she shook her head, “I’m sorry, but I always wondered…”

She said it with determination, but there was the hint of softness around the eyes that made me want to melt. “If I’m dying or something…well, I just thought I’d like to know…sorry.”

I instantly remembered the night. We were 19, and had just come home for Thanksgiving break. May and I had arranged a meeting of our old school friends to discuss a very important and possibly dangerous phenomenon that we had all been experiencing.
(3)

As I raised my arm to reach for her, to tell her that I wasn’t sorry, that it was all I thought of some nights…there was a knock at the door. Glancing at the door, then back at me… she let go of my coat, hesitated, then proceeded to answer the door. The moment was gone.