Missing: The Body of Evidence (38 page)

‘That’s her.’ It was her dad’s voice.

Two men helped her to her feet and released
the cuffs.

Nancy let out a giggle at the sight of Dad
and the boys. They were stripped down to their boxers. Her giggles were soon
stifled when she noticed her dad’s arm bandaged.

‘Are you hurt?’

‘Just a flesh wound. A goon in the tunnel
pulled a Saturday-night special on me.’

Blondie?
‘Where
is he?’

‘In a body bag.’ Nancy gulped. Dad pointed
to two men in suits who stood next to him. ‘Agent Smyth, FBI and Agent
Radowski, Homeland Security.’

Introductions over, she had pressing things
on her mind.

‘David, the boy in the room with me, he…’

‘Don’t worry. He’s on his way to the
hospital in an air ambulance. It looks as though you need a medic,’ Radowski
said.

‘I’m fine.’

‘Sorry about stripping your dad and his
friends, but we had to make sure they didn’t get confused with our guys and for
them to slip away, because we need them for debrief,’ Smyth said. ‘We’re going
to need to debrief you too. Not everyone is accounted for, we have one body
missing.’

Nancy reached inside her pocket and removed
her handkerchief with the coffee cup.

‘Take this, check it for DNA and pass your
results on to CSI. I think the results will clear up your body count, especially
when you take a look at this recording and add the two together.’

Nancy removed Dad’s pen from her top pocket
and handed it over.

The unmistakable voice of Logan called out.

‘For God’s sake, when you lot have finished
exchanging pleasantries how about releasing us. Nancy, tell them who we are.
God, damn it.’

Nancy moved up close to Smyth and
whispered.

‘You can release Bill and Kyle, but let
Logan stew a while.’

They released Kyle first and he hurried
over to Nancy. People were talking around her, but it was as if their voices
were reverberating with a metallic sound. Everything around her started to spin
and her legs weakened.

Above the din she, heard Kyle’s voice cry
out.

‘Medic…’

Missing: The Body of Evidence.

Two weeks later; LA hospital recovery room
.

In her private room, Nancy sat up in bed
waiting for her visitor. Her body trembled as the clock on the wall hit seven
p.m. Her fingers played with the white envelope in her hands. She had rehearsed
for this meeting ever since the phone call she had made earlier in the day
after a visit from Tracy, her new friend. Somehow, she didn’t feel prepared.

A tap on the door and in walked Bill. He
carried a huge bunch of flowers and a smile to match. He set the flowers in a
vase on the bedside table

‘How’s the patient?’

‘The surgeon says I’m doing fine. Thanks
for the flowers.’

‘No problem. What does it feel like to be
reinstated at work with full honours and no blemishes?’

‘Doesn’t make any difference for now, I’m
still on sick leave. And, guess what? Homeland Security has offered me work
this morning if I fully recover.’

‘What will you do?’

‘To be honest, I’m not thinking about it,
but it
is
an option. I’m just taking one day at a time.’

‘Sensible. Logan says the recording
Homeland Security passed on to the department, of events at Astral, was heavily
edited.’

‘It doesn’t surprise me. But, to be honest,
I can’t remember everything that happened after having surgery for the aneurism
in my brain. I’m just lucky Homeland Security arranged for a surgeon to be
flown here, because there wasn’t one available. The surgeon says my memory may
be messed up. I sure keep thinking weird things happened at Astral, but as the
surgeon says, the damage may have been causing hallucinations and mood swings
long before the surgery. I’m just pleased they left enough of the professor’s
confession on the recording to vindicate me.’

‘How’s it going with Kyle?’

‘One day at a time like everything else. To
be honest though, I’ve stared my future in the face on that score, and I live
in hope. We’ve talked, and he still wants me to move in with him, but we’ve
settled for a compromise. I’ll stay at his mother’s to recover when I'm
released from here, and he’ll stay at his apartment. That way I get introduced
as his mom’s friend to his daughter and we’ll take it from there.’

The small talk out of the way, an
uncomfortable silence descended. Bill was first to break.

‘Well, out with it. I’ve only stayed away
because of your dad. You made it sound urgent that you wanted to see me. Not
that I’m not pleased you phoned. Hell, I’ve been phoning every day to see how
you are, and I think Kyle is getting tired of me asking him to repeat
everything you’ve said.’

Nancy felt heat flush her cheeks and
fiddled some more with the envelope.

‘Look, Bill. I feel I owe you this. I just
want you to listen. When I stayed at Dad’s apartment, I found some things in
his papers and a sealed envelope addressed to me. It was only for me to see if
he died. At first I left the letter unopened, but later I sneaked back into his
room and opened it.’

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see
him fidgeting on his chair and he closed his eyes.

‘I know what the feud is between you two
and it needs to be out in the open.’ His eyes popped wide open and he covered
his mouth with his hands. ‘Bill, I love you as a dear friend, but… but you’re
not my dad.’

‘But…’

‘Don’t say anything. You need to read this.’

He took the envelope and removed the
contents.

‘It’s the DNA results after tests on my
dad’s hair, some of my mom’s hair and a swab from me.’

Tears rolled from his eyes and poured down
his cheeks, but he made no sound as he studied the results. Nancy passed him a
tissue.

‘I… I’m sorry Nancy, but everything was
done out of friendship for your mom and your dad. It all turned sour after that
when your dad was convinced I was having an affair with your mom and I wasn’t.
You have to remember there were no test tube babies in those days. Your mom and
your dad were devastated when he discovered they couldn’t have children and you
know… well, we sort of made an arrangement.’

‘Well, obviously there was a slim chance he
could have children and his hospital tests were wrong, because it worked. It
all explains why he’s treated me the way he has over the years. The letter
apologizes, but I need to hear it from his lips.’

‘Have you told him?’

‘No, I don’t know how. I only found out
this morning when Tracy brought the results.’

He shuffled on his chair and wiped the
tears from his eyes.

‘I know how. Your dad and I started all
this and
we
need to finish it. I’ll give him the results. You’ve
suffered enough.’

‘No, you can’t.’

‘I can and I will. Don’t forget, I’ve
suffered too.’

‘I can imagine. Does Logan know about all
this?’

‘Yeah. That’s why he’s hard on you at
times, but only for your benefit. It’s also why he’s covered for you while we
tried to get to the bottom of what was happening.’

He stuffed the envelope in his jacket
pocket and reached out to give her a hug. She whispered in his ear.

‘Were you the one who fired off a warning
shot at those punks who were going to mug me.’

He kissed her cheek and laughed.

‘Yeah, but don’t tell the wife. I’d have
done it whether you were my daughter or not. You know, I wish you had been my
daughter.’

His eyes glazed and his lips expressed a
faint smile, but couldn’t hide his inner grief. He took her hand and gave it a
gentle squeeze.

‘I know. Sorry. How about we settle for favourite
niece and I can call you, Uncle Bill.’

‘Sounds good to me. Wait, I need to freshen
up in the bathroom.’ Tears streamed from his eyes again and he looked away. ‘Sorry
about the tears. This is all something of a shock.’

He turned and left the room. Nancy’s inner
strength deserted her and she sobbed. Holding her head in her hands, a lifetime
of pain flashed through her mind.

‘Oh, Mom, what a mess. All those years of
misery. You must have suffered with me.’

She took a tissue and dried the tears,
taking slow even breaths to gain composure. Bill walked back into the room.

‘Hey, don’t cry. We all have a new
beginning, your dad included, once the old fart’s eaten humble pie. It will all
be fine. Come on, smile. Changing the subject, did you know Astral has closed
down and they’ve emptied and boarded up the building?’

‘No, I’ve not heard. I’ve also not heard
about anything that happened with David, either, other than the agent from
Homeland Security said he’d be well looked after. I’m guessing you had to sign
the secrecy papers like me.’

‘Yeah, I signed. Well, at least they’re out
of business. Oh, here, that reminds me, I forgot, I’ve brought you today’s
newspaper.’

The door opened and in walked Kyle. Bill
turned to him.

‘I’m just leaving, important business to
attend to tonight,’ Bill said.

Kyle shook Bill’s hand. Bill tossed the
newspaper on the bed and winked at Nancy.

‘I’ll leave you two love birds to it.’

‘See you later,’ Kyle said.

Nancy picked up the newspaper and read the
headline.

China accuses
America of compromising their defence software.

China has today blamed America for
inserting a computer virus into their defence system computer software. They
claim that their entire system ground to a halt during the American fleet
exercises in the South China seas yesterday as tensions rise over China’s claim
for territorial rights over a group of strategic Japanese islands.

They further claim that this is the second
attempt to compromise their defences, after their software engineers
successfully fought off an attempt to hack into their system two weeks ago. The
state department says that their claims are nonsense and they should look
nearer to home. Further…

‘Hello, Nance, I’m
here.’

‘What? Oh, yeah, hi, hon. Love you.’

‘Love you, too. Now how was your day?’

Nancy’s thoughts lingered on the newspaper
article. She couldn’t understand at first why it caught her interest.

‘My day? Oh yeah.’ She glanced at the
newspaper and set it aside. ‘Kyle, I’ve been thinking, I may have a solution to
Logan not liking us working together. Let me tell you about this job offer I’ve
had from Homeland Security.’

Dear reader

You have now reached the end of Missing: The Body of Evidence. I
would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading my story and to
ask you if you have enjoyed it to leave a review on the books page which will
help other readers to consider the story for a read. If you have any thoughts
you wish to share with me on my work, please feel free to email me at,
[email protected]. For a list of my other work, please visit my author
page.

Kind regards

Declan Conner

Full-length serial killer thriller.

Lunch Break Thrillers, 12 not so short
stories.

Available as single shorts, or in the
compilation.